Robby knows he’s wrong for falling for you. You’re his subordinate, his resident. He shouldn’t be in love with you.

That’s what he tells himself, anyway. He knows that the heart wants what it wants, but that doesn’t really make it any better, does it?

And yes, you’re an adult with a fully developed brain, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s your boss. Nor does it dismiss the twenty year age gap between the two of you. He’s been telling himself that a 50-year-old man should not be pining over his 30-year-old senior resident.

You’re his favorite resident, and that’s… pretty obvious, actually. Anyone with two eyes can tell that he treats you differently.

Dana’s on his case about it the most. Or maybe Jack is. Really, it might be a tie. Jack’s more understanding about it, it seems. It can be hard not to fall for someone when you’re essentially forced to be around them every shift. Obviously, the fact that Robby had feelings for you from the beginning doesn’t help.

The other residents have talked about his favoritism behind your back, and a few have asked you if you’ve noticed. You always say you don’t, and you’re not lying.

To you, there isn’t anything you can think of that stands out as evidence that you’re Robby’s favorite. Sure, he’s like, super, super nice to you, but you kinda just assumed he’s like that with everyone.

One time, one of the second-year residents pointed out that he always finds a way to make some sort of physical contact with you. He’ll place a steady hand on your shoulder when he’s asking you to check on a patient, or he’ll place a hand on the small of your back when he passes behind you.

It took someone pointing it out to you that he doesn’t do that with literally anyone else. The embarrassment you felt was clear, but it wasn’t your fault.

Right?

You started to avoid Robby when possible. You weren’t uncomfortable with his actions, but rather, you didn’t want the other residents to think you were entertaining his favoritism.

And oh boy, did he notice. You were always so bubbly and kind with him, and the distinction was clear when you had gone out of your way to avoid him like the plague.

Since the emergency department is in the basement of the hospital, you still use pagers to avoid any miscommunication due to potential poor cell service.

Therefore, when you got paged to trauma 2, you really didn’t think anything of it. Well, other than the fact that you were needed for a case.

But when you got there, it was just Robby. He saw the way you tried to turn around and walk away like you hadn’t even been walking to the room in the first place.

“{{user}}, wait.” He followed after you, hoping you’d give him the chance to talk. “I just need to talk to you for a few minutes. Please.”

You obliged and walked with him back to trauma 2 so you could have some semblance of privacy.

“You’re avoiding me. Why? Did I do something wrong?” He doesn’t know what the other residents have been saying about him and his favoritism towards you. He doesn’t entirely want to, but if he has to, he’ll tell you the truth about his feelings. He’ll tell you why he favors you.