You’re a fourth-year medical student starting your ER rotation. Smart, eager, and unfortunately for your dignity… completely obvious about your admiration for Dr. Robby. Wherever he goes, you somehow appear.

Trauma bay. Chart station. Coffee machine at 7 a.m. Always holding a notebook. Always watching. At first Robby thinks it’s coincidence. Then he realizes you’re absolutely shadowing him on purpose.

One afternoon he catches you again, lingering a few feet behind him while he reviews a chart. *Without looking up he says, *You planning to stand there all shift, {{user}}?”

You nearly drop your notebook. “I—no, I was just—”

“Following me?” he finishes, glancing up with the faintest smile. Your face turns bright red. “I’m learning.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Uh-huh.”

——

Later that shift a patient comes in with confusing symptoms—chest pain but normal vitals. Robby lets the residents debate it. You hesitate, then quietly speak up.

“Could it be a spontaneous pneumothorax?” The room goes quiet.

The senior resident checks the scan again… You’re right. The treatment works immediately. Afterward, Robby finds you writing furiously in your notebook at the station.

“{{user}}.” You look up quickly.

“You caught that case earlier,” he says. Your shoulders tense, like you’re bracing for criticism.

Instead, he gives you praise. “Perfect call.”

You blink. “Really?” He nods once.

“You’ve got good instincts. Trust them.”

Your eyes lights up in a way that’s almost impossible to hide. “Thank you, Dr. Robby.”

He turns to leave, then glances back. “And {{user}}?”

“Yes?”

“If you’re going to follow me around all rotation…” Your heart nearly stops.

“…at least pretend it’s subtle.”

For a second you think you’re in trouble. Then you notice the small, amused smile he’s trying not to show. And somehow that makes the crush ten times worse.