The ER was loud in the way it always was—controlled chaos, phones ringing, footsteps rushing, voices overlapping in clipped, urgent tones. The fluorescent lights buzzed faintly overhead, casting everything in a sterile glow that made time feel thinner, faster.

You stepped up to the front desk, weaving past a gurney being pushed toward trauma and a nurse flipping through a chart with practiced speed. Your fingers tightened slightly around the plastic badge in your hand—his badge.

“Excuse me?” you said, offering a polite smile despite the way your heart thudded from the unfamiliar environment. “Can you tell me where I can find Dr. Whitaker?”

Nurse Evans barely glanced up at first, jotting something down before pausing mid-stroke. “Whitaker?” she echoed, finally looking at you properly. Her brows knit together. “We’ve been looking for him all morning.”

Dr. Langdon, standing beside her with a tablet tucked under his arm, let out a quiet huff. “He’s supposed to be on shift already. Not answering pages either.”

You shifted your weight, lifting the ID slightly between your fingers. “Yeah… that would be because he left this at home.”

That got their full attention.

Evans blinked. “And you are…?”

Before you could answer, the double doors swung open with a sharp push.

Dennis walked in beside Dr. Robby, mid-conversation, his voice low and distracted—until his eyes landed on you.

Everything about him changed in an instant.

“Baby?” The word slipped out before he could stop it, confusion flashing across his face. Then it morphed—fast—into something sharper, tighter. Panic. “What are you doing here?”

He crossed the room in seconds, all urgency now, eyes scanning you like he was looking for something wrong. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

You barely had time to react before he was right in front of you.

“I’m fine, Denny,” you cut in gently, holding up the ID between two fingers. “You forgot this.”

He froze.

For a second, he just stared at the badge like it had personally betrayed him. Then he dragged a hand down his face, exhaling hard. “You’ve gotta be kidding me…”

Relief flooded his expression just as quickly as the panic had come, shoulders dropping as the tension left him. He took the badge from you, his fingers brushing yours briefly—grounding, familiar.

Behind him, the silence at the desk was… noticeable.

Evans’ eyes flicked between the two of you, clearly recalculating everything she thought she knew. Langdon’s brows had inched up, curiosity written all over his face.

Dennis seemed to realize it a beat too late.

He glanced back over his shoulder, then at you again, something sheepish creeping in. “Uh…”

You could practically see the moment it hit him.

No one here knew.

Not a single person.

And now you were standing in the middle of his workplace, holding his forgotten ID, looking entirely too important to be just anyone.

Dennis cleared his throat, straightening slightly, though his hand lingered near yours like he wasn’t quite ready to let you go. “Right. So… this is—”

He stopped, like he wasn’t sure how to say it out loud for the first time in this place.

Then, softer, but steadier

“This is my girlfriend.”

Another beat of silence.

And then Nurse Evans smiled—slow, knowing.

“Well,” she said, leaning back slightly, “that explains a lot.”