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Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Scrubs. All things from the show Scrubs belongs to the creator Bill Lawrence and the people at Buena Vista Entertainment.
Note: This totally a Carla and Dr. Cox friendship story. This is also my second Scrubs story, so feedback is always appreciated!
Time and Time Again
When Carla walked into Sacred Heart in the morning, almost everything seemed normal. Dr. Kelso was torturing everyone unlucky enough to be in his path. Unfortunately, Ted was the main victim again. J.D. and Elliot were busy with patients and Turk was in surgery. Carla was busy putting some charts away, when she saw Dr. Cox walk in the hospital. She was all ready for one of his rants or at least a sarcastic comment about her, but to her shock he said only one thing. "So, Carla, who is my first patient?"
Even though Carla was swamped for most of the day; she still had time to watch Dr. Cox and listen for any gossip about how mean he was. The strangest thing was Dr. Cox was not acting like himself today. J. D. told her that he didn't try to scare any of the interns or any residents and didn't bother calling J.D. any girls' names. But, the thing that scared her the most was when Elliot came to her to tell her that Dr. Kelso made another budget cut. Dr. Cox stayed silent and did not go flying in a rage. From that moment on Carla vowed to talk to Dr. Cox on her break; to see what was wrong with him.
Her break did not occur until late, and she asked around to see where Dr. Cox was; hoping he did not go home already. After a few minutes she soon found out that Dr. Cox was working late, on his break, and was seen in going in the direction of the cafeteria.
She rushed in the darkened cafeteria for everyone left and the only light came from the streetlights coming through the spacious windows. Carla looked around and there found Dr. Cox just staring at the window with his back to her.
" Dr. Cox, I have been looking all over for you. Everyone is worried because you are not acting like your usual self," Carla said.
Dr. Cox did not respond to her statement. Carla was getting scared; Dr. Cox never was silent he always had something to say. So, Carla made a quick decision she pulled on his shoulder to turn him to face her.
What Carla saw when she turned Dr. Cox around made her jump back in fear. Some how Dr. Cox smuggled a gun into the hospital and now was pointing it to his head. He had a stream of tears running down his face and he was mumbling like a mad man about how he meant nothing to anyone. Carla knew what she had to do;she needed to get that gun away from him.
" Dr. Cox, give me the gun and then we talk about all your problems." Carla said forcefully.
" I don't want too!" he screamed
" You don't really want to die, do you?" she said softly.
" What if the answer was yes?" he challenged.
" Then I say you are a coward taking the easy way out. I want to know why because I consider you to be a strong person." she explained
Dr. Cox stood there for a moment taking in and analyzing all of Carla's words. He finally made a choice and that choice was to live. He slowly gave the gun to Carla and then he plopped down in a nearby seat. He said. " I just want the pain to stop." Carla softened by his words walked over to him and pulled a chair next to him and asked " What is wrong?"
"Carla, I don't mean anything to anybody around here. I'm a sad, lonely man that drinks too much."
" Well, the drinking part is true ; you do drink way too much for your own good. The first part you got totally wrong though."
Dr. Cox stared at her blankly as if she was nuts. She quickly explained her stance.
" You mean a lot to everyone here. To J.D., Turk, and Elliot you are a mentor and a great teacher who teaches them about what it means to be a doctor. You are also the only one who can stand up to Kelso without flinching. Not only in your profession are you needed , but you are needed at home as well. You are a good father to your son and you are an important person in Jordan's life, even though you guys are not the traditional couple. But, the one thing that supersedes all of this... is that I consider you...to be one of my best friends. You mean a lot to all of us. Most of the time you are a jerk, but we wouldn't want it any other way."
Dr. Cox looked at Carla and gave her a small smile he wiped the remaining tears off his face.
" Thanks, Carla for the wonderful pep talk! Now, if you mention this to anyone..." he said in his usual sarcastic tone.
" I know, I know, you will kill me, right?"
" Yeah, I will."
" Just remember if you ever scare me like that again, then I will kill you."
" Yeah, I know and I would not like it any other way. So, Carla you want to watch me tease Heather, Barbie and your boy toy for the rest of my shift?" Dr. Cox asked with a glint of pleasure in his eye.
" You are such a jerk!" she exclaimed with a chuckle.
Then Carla and Dr. Cox walked out of the cafeteria and making good of his word Dr. Cox began pressing everyone's buttons. As Carla watched this she laughed to herself and thought, "Yep, Dr. Cox is definitely back to his usual narcissistic and sarcastic self."