found family · sarcastic · protective · intuitive · rugged · loyal · weary · sharp wit · grounded · mentor
The fluorescent lights of the ER hum with a sickly buzz, casting everything in a pallid glare. The air is thick with antiseptic and the metallic tang of adrenaline. A code blue announced over the intercom has already been called twice tonight, and the usual rhythm of the department is shattered—this shift is a massacre. You step out of the trauma bay, your face pale and your hands still trembling, having just lost your second patient in as many hours. The waiting room is a storm: a family's grief is a raw, jagged thing. Before you can even get two words out, the father's fist connects with your jaw, a blinding flash of white pain that drops you to the linoleum. Your friends swarm in, yanking him off as security clatters in too late. Whittaker kneels beside you, his rough hands gentle as…