Disclaimer: The standard disclaimer. A must. Most of the characters come from Diagnosis Murder which I obviously don't own. But you could have figured that out on your own, couldn't you?

Lucky

Chapter 1: Unexpected Guest

It was before 11 o' clock this Thursday morning, and the hallways of Community General were uncharacteristically quiet. Quiet at least until the lunch hour when the most bizarre injuries were apt to occur. At that time, the staff would be kept busy, but until then, there were only the usual rounds to make.

Dr. Jesse Travis sat leaning back in a chair in the doctor's lounge, a cup filled with coffee held in his right hand. He glanced down at the dark liquid in the cup, wondering why they all relied so much on coffee to keep them going throughout the day. They were doctors and nurses after all; all of them well aware of the hazards of caffeine.

"De-caf next time," he murmured to himself as he drained the cup. He always told himself that, never listened, but kept saying it anyway.

His coffee gone, he stood and turned to face the trashcan by the door. A quick game of trashcan basketball would wake him up more than the near-tasteless coffee had. He cast a cautious glance out into the hallway to be certain that no one was walking by. Satisfied, he walked a bit further from the door, then turned and aimed.

"He shoots," he announced to himself. To his dismay, the cup flew past the trashcan and out the door. It landed in the hallway next to none other than Dr. Amanda Bentley. She looked down at the cup and then at Jesse, an amused expression on her face.

"Stick to being a doctor Jess. You won't hurt anyone that way," she teased him as she walked past the fallen cup and into the room. He only smiled sheepishly as he went to retrieve the "basketball." After depositing it carefully in the trashcan, he turned back to Amanda, who was busy pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"So, Amanda," he ventured as he sat back down in one of the chairs. "You on break too?"

She turned around to face him but remained silent as she tasted her drink. Not much like a café or even the coffee she made at home, but at least it was warm, and a few spoonfuls of sugar would definitely improve its taste.

"Not exactly, but I'm done in the path lab for now," she finally answered as she sat down as well. "What about you, Jess? Isn't your shift almost over?"

He shrugged as he replied, "You know, I've been here so long I can't even remember any more."

She looked him over carefully, noticing the faint traces of dark circles under his eyes.

"You didn't do another double shift, did you?"

He nodded, avoiding her disapproving eyes before he rested his forehead on the side of the table. What he really wanted to do was lie down on the couch, but he knew that the moment he relaxed, he would inevitably fall asleep. The hard wood of the table was a poor substitute, but at least it was uncomfortable enough to prevent him from dozing off.

"James fed me some story about it being his girlfriend's birthday, and how he wanted to do something special for her," he explained, still not lifting his head. He should have said no, but he was too easily persuaded. How many hours had he been at the hospital anyway?

Amanda opened her mouth to chide him for agreeing to double shifts so often, but a page over the hospital intercom pre-empted her.

"Dr. Travis, please report to the nurses' station."

He finally lifted his head from the table but made no motion to stand. Now that he was sitting down, he had lost any momentum he might have had. He felt too tired now to even move, much less walk all the way to the nurses' station.

"Come on, Jesse," prompted Amanda as she stood up. She was going to head back to the pathology lab anyway, so she might as well accompany him, if only to make sure he didn't collapse on his way there.

He groaned as he stood up slowly. This was the last time he would agree to a double shift. He'd be perfectly alert if he were actually attending to a patient, but it was much harder to fight off this wave of drowsiness when there was nothing for him to do, save the paperwork he usually avoided.

They made their way silently through the mostly empty hallway until they reached the nurses' station.

"Call for me?" Jesse asked the nurse behind the desk. She glanced up at him with a look of mild annoyance on her face.

"Good, you're here," she began as she stood up. She was a plump middle-aged woman, who obviously did not like when her daily routine was interrupted, as, judging by the look on her face, it had been today. "There's a young woman in that room who is absolutely adamant about seeing you."

Jesse looked at her a bit more alert, his curiosity aroused. Amanda glanced over at him, one of her eyebrows raised.

"Uh, did she say why?" he asked hastily when he noticed Amanda's none-too-discreet look.

"Well, she came in about fifteen minutes ago with a minor injury," explained the nurse, moving her hands about as she spoke. "She let one of the nurses treat her, but she insisted the entire time that she had to see you."

"Do you have her name?" he questioned, hoping the name would shed some light on the young woman's intention.

"It's around here somewhere," the nurse murmured as she shuffled through some of the many papers on the desk, but before she could find it, the much-spoken-about young woman stepped into the hallway. "Well, there she is," pointed out the nurse as they all turned to look at her. She stared back at them for a moment before a wide smile spread across her face.

"Jesse!" cried the young woman as she dropped the oversized black bag she carried. Heedless of the quizzical glances she was given, she ran across the tiled floor of the hospital.

"Zoey!" he exclaimed, surprise being a word not great enough to describe his expression.

She all but lunged at him, wrapping her slender arms around him.

"Oh my gosh! I've missed you so much!" she told him, hugging him tighter. He quickly returned the embrace as his expression changed from one of shock to one of pure delight.

"Zoey, what are you doing here? I never would have thought to even look for you until at least next week," he said to her as she released him.

"I know, I'm early, but I just couldn't wait any longer," she explained, shrugging casually. "What's the matter?" she asked, giving him a playful smile. "Did I come at a bad time?"

He laughed aloud before answering, "No, no, not at all. You just surprised me."

It was then that he noticed Amanda giving him one of her "looks."

"Ah, where are my manners? Zoey, this is Dr. Amanda Bentley," he introduced the young woman to his colleague.

"Oh!" exclaimed the girl, clapping her hands together. "Jess has told me so much about you. It's a pleasure to meet you," she fairly gushed.

"Likewise," responded Amanda curtly, returning the girl's raving with a quick nod. "Dr. Travis, could I see you for a moment?"

"Uh yeah, sure," he agreed somewhat hesitantly as he wondered why Amanda's tone had suddenly turned so frosty. He turned to the young woman before continuing, "Zoey, why don't you go pick up your bag over there? I'll be right back."

"Okay," she replied, a bit puzzled but still smiling.

Amanda waited until she was fairly certain the girl was out of hearing range before turning on him.

"Jesse, what do you think you're doing?" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

For a moment, he remained silent, unnerved by Amanda's somewhat threatening stance. What was she talking about?

Seeing that he had nothing to say or was at least incapable of speaking at the moment, she continued, "She's a patient, Jesse. Are you out of your mind?"

"A-a patient," he stuttered, confused.

"Yes, a patient. And so young? Doctors have had their careers ruined for less, Jesse."

Slowly it dawned upon him what she was implying. He forced himself to conceal a grin as he looked over at the young woman. Two young male hospital orderlies had appeared from out of nowhere to offer their assistance in carrying her bag. She smiled at them as she assured them that she was quite capable of carrying her own bag.

"Jesse, your personal life is none of my business, but" she trailed off as she noticed his failed attempt to cover his mirth. "Why are you laughing?"

"I'll explain in a minute," he told her, still grinning. "But let's find Mark first. I don't want to have to explain more than once."

"Jesse, what is going on?" Amanda persisted. Now that he had that impish grin on his face, she was more curious than disapproving. He didn't answer, only motioned for the young woman to rejoin them.

"What's up?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to one side.

"We're going to go find Mark. You remember, Dr. Sloan?" he asked her as they walked in the direction of Mark's office.

"Yeah, after everything you've told me about him, how could I forget?" she returned, flashing him a quick smile. "So, I really get to meet him?"

Jesse nodded as he cast a quick glance back at Amanda, who was trailing slightly behind them. She was watching him intently, her arms crossed. She hated when he did this, when he knew something she didn't and tried oh-so-hard to torment her with it. It was working too.

"Here we are," he announced to the young woman as they stopped in front of the office door. He opened the door cautiously and peeked inside. "Got a minute, Mark?"

Dr. Mark Sloan glanced up from the paperwork that threatened to engulf his desk entirely. He took his glasses off as he yawned.

"Of course," he answered, his answer muffled by the yawn. "Come on in."

Jesse grinned, then opened the door to let the young woman and Amanda enter the office. Amanda walked over to Mark's desk while the young woman remained standing slightly behind Jesse.

"Oh, hello there," greeted Dr. Sloan when he noticed the young woman.

Amanda cast Jesse a look that clearly told him not to make her wait any longer.

"Mark, Amanda," he began, looking at each of them. He paused for a moment as he then cast a quick glance at the young woman.

"This is Zoey, my little sister."

And so ends Chapter 1. A bit short, I know. ^_^ Lovely way to end it tho, wouldn't you say? Hee hee. Hope you liked it. Tell me, please? Okay.

~Azuri

dbzazuri@yahoo.com