AN: #16 in The Great One-Shot Expulsion...And, as the title suggests, there is a character death warning...in case you didn't catch that part...
Disclaimer: I do not own the television show Scrubs. I do not own the characters of the television show Scrubs.
The Death of Jack Sullivan:
On his fifth birthday, Jack throws up on the cake. Perry rolls his eyes, and the other kids chorus with a resounding, "Eeeeew!" But JD is prepared, whipping out an extra cake from the fridge and trying to keep his I-told-you-so dance inside his head.
That night, Jack is sick again. JD chalks it up to too much birthday cake and rubs the boy's back as he pukes into the toilet. Perry leans in the bathroom doorway, wondering how his young lover is so good with children.
When Jack's sickness only gets worse, Perry takes him to the hospital, trusting no one but JD to run the tests. JD is touched...until he gets the results back and has to tell both Perry and Jordan that their only son has leukemia.
Jack's hair falls out after the first few treatments of chemotherapy. Perry and JD shave their heads to make him feel better. JD sits in the pediatrics ward with him when Perry is working and Jordan is busy. He makes funny faces and brings him new toys. Jack smiles when he doesn't feel sick.
Before Jack's sixth birthday, they are burying him in the Sullivan family plot. JD wants nothing more than to be at Perry's side the whole time, but he steps aside, allowing people to console the grieving parents. He stands at a fair distance, watching Perry numbly shake hands and nod his head as people offer their condolences. He grits his teeth as various family members spot him and immediately begin to whisper. He says absolutely nothing, allowing the disdainful looks and ignoring the shaking of heads. Even when Jack's grandmother, Evie Sullivan, approaches him with a "How dare you show up here" and a sharp slap to the face, he remains emotionless.
Because this is not his pain. He really has no right to be here. Who was he to Jack? No one, truthfully.
And then Perry is there beside him, wiping away tears he hadn't been aware of and gently running the pad of his thumb over the red, irritated skin of his stinging cheek.
"I'm sorry," Perry whispers, his own tears having yet to fall.
JD shakes his head, swallowing hard and glancing around—anywhere but at the older man. "Nothing to be sorry about." The words are husky, barely audible.
"You don't deserve this."
And those are just the words that JD needs to delve deep inside himself and smile the very last smile he has left—the one that Jack will take with him into his grave.
"Neither do you."