Chapter Text
Dennis Whitaker had always drawn the short end of the stick. He had four older brothers and was the only “daughter”. He was 13 when he came out as transgender to his parents, and that's when the beatings got worse. His family barely spoke to him, and if they did, it was usually fighting or commanding him to go and work outside on the farm. His brothers loved forcing him to do all the bad jobs around the farm and beating him up all the time. School wasn't much better for him he had no friends and was constantly being chased around or beaten up for dressing like a boy. He was a really smart boy, excelled in all his classes and all the teachers adored him. Thats how he found himself getting accepted into med school prematurely at the age of 16. That's when he decided he'd run away from home and never look back.
That night, he packed a bag of his very little belongings and his cash he had been saving up from his job at the local ice cream parlour. He walked right out the front door with his bag and nobody even noticed. Nobody even went looking for the boy, or even put out a missing person case, nobody called.
His first two years of med school were the best two years of his life. Because the boy was under 18, the University paid for his student accommodation, but after that, he had to fend for himself.
That's how he found himself on the streets of Pittsburgh, tucked into an alley after his first ever shift at PTMC. His first shift had just so happened to be the day of the PittFest shooting, which again was simply him drawing the short end of the stick.
He was sitting on the pavement, squashed between two dusmpster trying to hide himself away. He didn't have any clean clothes to change into after work, so he was sitting in blood stained scrubs and a hoodie, shivering away.
He heard footsteps approaching, so he quickly brought his knees to his chest and stuck his hood up in an attempt to hide.
“Hi im Doctor Abbot. I'm here as part of the PTMC street team. Am I able to be of medical assistance?” the voice called out.
Dennis' heart stopped. Shit. One of his co workers where going to find out he's homeless and he's going to get kicked out.
It wasn't overly bright outside, but there was still enough light for Abbot to see a small figure huddled away in what looked like blood stained clothes.
“Look, man im not here to hurt you i just wanna help. Are you hurt or injured anywhere? I can patch you up and refer you to the hospital.” The man started to approach slowly, and Dennis could feel himself panicking
“I'm good, thanks,” he choked out. He prayed Abott wouldnt recognise his voice.
“Would you like some food and water. If you won't let me look you over atleast let me give you something to keep you hydrated and full.”
There was a beat before Dennis nodded, still not looking up. Abbott crouched down and placed his backpack on the ground with a small thud. He took out two water bottles and placed them down at his feet before taking out a bag of protein bars and such.
“Here, I know it's not much, but I can help you out, help you find a shelter for the night.” Abbott took a good look at the person sat infront of him. There was no way this person was over the age of 18 he looked so small. “Hey bud, how old are you?”
Dennis thought on wether he should lie or tell the truth. He opted for the latter. “18.”
Abbot's heart broke. Seeing this young man on the streets, helpless and with nowhere to go. Just then, Dennis shifted to reach for the water bottle, and his hood dropped.
Dennis panicked when he looked up and saw that Abbott had recognised him. He made the split second decisions to run off and bolt into the distance, leaving his belongings behind with Abbott.
Abbott felt like a brick had hit him. One of the med students working at his hospital was homeless. And he was so young. He didn't have much time to think before Dennis had bolted off.
“Dennis, wait!” he shouted as he tried to run off after the young man, but failed as he didn't have his running leg on. “Shit!” He stood in the alleyway staring at where Dennis had run off. He made his way back and grabbed his and Deniss’s things. He searched around in his pocket before fishing his phone out. He clicked on his husband's contact and waited for him to pick up.
“Jack?” came a rough voice coming from the other end of the phone.
“Yeah, hi, uh, you know the student doctor Whitaker? You know he's homeless?” Jack almost shouted the words out at Robby.
“What? Jack whats going on?” Robby sounded very disoriented, like he'd just woken up.
“I was just out on street team, and I saw someone, and obviously I went over to help, and he's just there. I spooked him because now hes ran of and I have his things. Robby, I don't know what to do. I need to find him.”Jack was starting to sound very panicked, and Robby was starting to pick up on that.
“Hey, babe its ok. Look, just drive around nearby and look for him, ok? I'll get the guest bedroom set up for when you find him. I have his number, let me give it to you, see if you can call him, ok?”
“Ok.” Was all hed managed to say.
“Its gonna be. I'm going to go, but call me if you need anything. Ok?”
“O-ok Mike, I love you.”
“Love you to”
Jack hung up first. He stuffed his phone in his pocket before grabbing his and Dennis’s stuff before walking quickly to his car. He dump the stuff in his passenger seat before he took his phone out and connected it to the car. He keyeyd in the number Robby gave him before he started driving. He started calling but it went straight to voicemail.
He started the car and started to drive around the areas nearby hoping that the boy hadnt gone far.