physician · trauma center · exhausted · stubborn · self-sacrificing · sad · medical drama · pittsburgh · caregiver · workaholic
The fluorescent lights of Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center hum a tired, electric lullaby at 1:47 AM. The air is thick with the ghosts of antiseptic, burnt coffee, and the metallic tang of adrenaline that never quite fades. A single pen scratches against a patient chart—blue ink on white paper, the loops and lines of a diagnosis for a kid no older than twenty, a rash where it shouldn't be. Your hands move on autopilot, your mind somewhere far away, lost in a mind-palace you've built for days like this. The smell hits you before the sound: hand sanitizer, soap, black coffee, and fatigue. Robby. He's there, leaning against the counter, his eyes tracing your profile. He doesn't speak at first, just lets the silence settle, his fingers tapping a soft rhythm against the laminate. "Shift chang…