pressure machine. / THE PITT

EVERY STEP, GOTTA KEEP IT CLEAN.

According to statistics online, approximately 0.27% of patients admitted to the Emergency Department in an American hospital die during their visit. This means approximately 3 patients for every 1000 ED visits end up in the morgue. 3 families notified of their loved ones death, 3 hearts stopped, 3 lives ended.

Carys Lane was supposed to be one of the 3.

Before she was meant to die, people used to describe Carys in an annoyingly optimistic array of synonyms.

Genius. Prodigy. Champion.

Graduating high school at 13-years-old, Carys, alongside her childhood best friend and fellow virtuoso Victoria Javadi, began her first year of undergraduate education with the intention of attending medical school. The two girls had it all planned out. They would go to the same school, work at the same hospital, and eventually, choose the same specialty. For Victoria, their plan is all about spite, to prove something to her overly controlling mother and to make something of a situation that isn't entirely her own. For Carys, it's about finding herself, figuring out how to make the rest of her body catch up with her overactive mind. Academics have always come easy to her, but medicine is a chance for her to finally use that mind for something good.

But that was before.

Before one of her professors got it in his head that her mind wasn't meant for her at all. Before he started seeing her as something belonging to him, and him alone. Before Vic comes back to their dorm one night to find Carys' bed empty, her things trashed, and a trail of blood speckling the carpet.

Carys Lane is missing for 72 hours before they finally find her, beaten to within an inch of her life, her professor lying several feet away, knocked unconscious by a bloodied crowbar still clutched in Carys' twitching hands.

When she finally arrives in the ED, no one expects her to survive. Her injuries are too severe, her head trauma too extensive that even if she does live, there is no chance she'll ever regain full cognitive ability.

And yet...

When she finally leaves the hospital, her heart still beating and her mind still intact, people begin to describe Carys differently.

Miracle case. Trauma survivor. Medical anomaly.

The "Carys Lane" case quickly becomes known worldwide, a new precedent set in the world of emergency medicine, and Carys, grieving, broken, and still too smart for her own good, suddenly finds herself at the centre of it all.

So when she arrives to the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Centre for her first day in the ED on the anniversary of her rescue, her plans are simple: forget about the past and focus on making it through this shift unscathed. But when it comes to the Pitt, Carys quickly comes to realize, things never turn out the way you want.

SOPHIE THATCHER AS...

carys lane. / MS3

&&&.

NOAH WYLE & SHAWN HATOSY AS...

michael "robby" robinavitch. / ATTENDING
jack abbot. / ATTENDING

&&&.

PATRICK BALL & TRACY IFEACHOR AS...

frank langdon. / SENIOR RESIDENT
heather collins. / SENIOR RESIDENT

&&&.

SUPRIYA GANESH, FIONA DOURIF, & TAYLOR DEARDEN AS...

samira mohan. / R3
cassie mckay. / R2
melissa "mel" king. / R2

&&&.

ISA BRIONES, GERRAN HOWELL, & SHABANA AZEEZ AS...

trinity santos. / INTERN
dennis whitaker. / MS4
victoria javadi. / MS3

&&&.

the pitt cast. / RESPECTIVE CHARACTERS

TRIGGER WARNINGS. / depictions of medical procedures, blood, gore, violence, mental illness, suicidal ideation, mentions of child SA, child abuse, physical violence against a minor, kidnapping, PTSD, death, and other content typically seen in medical shows. please read at your own risk and prioritize your mental wellbeing first.

DEDICATIONS. / jonbernthaI , runlikeh3ll , -stellaric , junebluesfever , fireestar + all other "the pitt" fans and creators on this app <33

AUTHOR'S NOTE...

carys 🤝 whitaker
#inthetrenches

i. / hello hello and welcome to PRESSURE MACHINE!! binge watched the pitt in two days and just finished my second rewatch soooo i guess you could say i'm a little obsessed, and this fic was bound to happen. there are like three, maybe four pitt fics on here right now, which is an absolute crime, so PRESSURE MACHINE is my little addition to our small but ever-growing fandom.

ii. / PRESSURE MACHINE follows 19-year-old MS3 carys lane, my beautiful little traumatized genius, who enters the pitt for her first day in the ED alongside javadi, her best friend since childhood, as well as santos and whitaker (my babies!!!). the minute she arrives, everybody immediately recognizes her name from the infamous "carys lane" case and her miracle recovery from her injuries at the hands of her professor, which all of them studied in their exams. this is an obvious point of contention for carys as she tries to forget about what happened to her, yet everything and everyone seems to remind her of it.

iii. / as you can probably tell from the summary and the trigger warnings, PRESSURE MACHINE deals with some pretty heavy topics, especially regarding carys' past. there's no easy way to talk about what she went through, and i will not be shying away in writing how it's affected her. however, there will not be any physical descriptions of the professor or her time being kidnapped, so there is nothing graphic regarding the incident that is actually on the page, but it will be referenced. i completely understand if these topics are too upsetting to read, so please prioritize your mental health first before continuing on with this fic!!

iv. / carys as a character is incredibly complex, having never fully worked through her trauma but getting as close to it as she possibly can without confronting the worst of it. she's a genius, but oftentimes can find her mind moving faster than the rest of her. she prefers to watch rather than speak up, but when she sees a person in need she doesn't hesitate to step in and lend a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on. godddd she's really just a precious little cinnamon roll at heart who everyone wants to adopt the minute they lay eyes on her i can't wait for you to meet her!

v. / last but not least, this fic, at it's core, is about the relationships carys builds with the rest of the ED, because what is the pitt if not one giant dysfunctional family? a family that includes: robby and abbot being carys' ER dads, javadi and carys working through their strained but incredibly deep friendship together, the med students crashing out together, mel and carys bonding time (with the dog!!), carys and santos partners in crime (i will not take any criticism on my girl!!), whitaker and carys battling each other on who can have the worst shift possible, and much much more 🤗🤗

vi. / thank you to anyone who gives this fic a chance, i hope you enjoy!

IT'S MINE, NOW.

© ASTRXIDS , 2025.