Title: The Plunge

Author: Ryo314

Rating: T

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the concept of Scrubs.

Summary: An accident brings Perry and JD closer...a lot closer.

Note: I feel horrible because I forgot to thank Wolfie for being an awesome beta once again. Everyone: Wolfie Rocks! The next chapter should be up 11/17/08.

Warning: This is a slash story: JD/Perry. If you do not like these stories, please stop reading because all flames based on the fact this is a slash story will be cruelly mocked along with their flamer in the next chapter.

The Plunge

Chapter II: The Floor Falls Out

"Anything I've ever done that ultimately was worthwhile...initially scared me to death." Betty Bender

Perry's return to consciousness was not pleasant. He was cold, his shoulders ached, and his head hurt. Well, that last one was an understatement; his head felt like it was going to explode. As he slowly gained more of his senses, Perry became aware of an odd pressure going across his chest and a cold that was slowly moving up his body.

"What happened?" Perry thought as he slowly opened his eyes. He was staring at his steering wheel, and water was lapping around his calves, but the world around him seemed to be tilted. Realization suddenly dawned on him. "We wrecked!" Perry shouted in a hoarse voice. "Into the river! Newbie!?"

Perry quickly turned his head, aggravating the pain in his shoulders and causing his vision to swim, and stared at the limp figure in the passenger's seat. JD was slumped like a rag doll against his seatbelt, a jagged gash making its way across his forehead. The car had struck the water at angle causing the water level in the car to be uneven; while it was only hitting Perry's knees, it was already up around JD's chest.

"We have to get out of here!" Perry unhooked his seatbelt, which caused his already aching body to fall against the steering wheel. With a tremendous amount of effort, Perry pushed himself up and moved over to JD. For a second, his vision darkened, but after a moment, he regained control of his eyesight.

"JD," said Perry, gently lifting the younger doctor's head; blood was also dripping from his nose. "JD!?" He got no response.

With a shaking hand, Perry checked JD's pulse. He found a fast but steady beat and breathed a sighed of relief. Looking around the small car, which was quickly becoming a prison of water, Perry knew they had to get out. Deciding that leaving JD hooked in would keep his head above water, Perry made his way back over to the driver's side and tried to open the door, but the water on the outside was keeping it shut. "This is bad!"

Perry looked around frantically and saw that the back window had somehow shattered during the crash. Standing on the dash and nearly loosing his balance, Perry jammed his elbow into the window causing the broken glass to fall from the frame. He closed his eyes to keep the glass out of them and then turned back to JD. Perry panicked when he saw the water was now up around JD's face. Perry slipped back down to the front seat and rested his knees on the dashboard. At the moment, he was cursing himself for having such a small car.

As he gently lifted JD's head above the water, Perry searched for the seatbelt buckle. It took a moment, but Perry finally managed to get the damn thing unhooked. Catching the unconscious JD, Perry carefully made his way to the newly broken back window. It wasn't an easy task, but Perry managed to get them both out of the wrecked car.

Setting JD on the rain soaked ground, Perry checked the younger doctor's pulse. Fear surged through him when he couldn't find one. Dammit! He was only under for a minute at most.

"Dammit, Newbie!" Perry tilted JD's head back and made sure his airway was clear. Without hesitation, Perry started CPR.

"This...one...two...three...cannot be...four....five...breath....happening....Come on...one...two...three...Newbie...four...five...breath...Please...Newbie...one...two...three ...four...five...please! Breathe!"

Suddenly, JD started coughing and instinctively turned on his side, and Perry held his shoulder so he didn't fall back. "JD!" said Perry, his voice full of worry. "JD, can you hear me?"

JD coughed up another mouthful of water and then rolled back onto his back. He looked up at Perry, obviously confused. "What-what..." JD coughed up some more water. "What hap-happened?"

"We wrecked, Newbie. Turns out, you were right which I am only saying because you look so damn miserable."

JD squinted his eyes, probably to keep the rain out of his eyes, and then reached up toward Perry's forehead. "You-you're bleeding..."

Perry reached up to his head, brushing past JD's hand, and felt a long gash on his head. He pulled his hand away and watched as the rain washed away the blood. "I'm a little more concerned about you, Newbie."

"You-you are?"

Perry couldn't take it anymore. Leaning down quickly, Perry captured JD's lips with his own. For a moment, JD seemed stunned, but the younger man quickly gave in. The kiss continued for a moment until JD tensed up and abruptly pulled away. At first, Perry thought it was because JD was uncomfortable, but only seconds after breaking the kiss, JD rolled back to his side and coughed up more water.

"You kissed me," mumbled JD as he turned back toward Perry.

"At least you're coherent enough to registrar that," said Perry, slowly checking JD over for further injuries. "Can you tell me what hurts?"

"Everything."

"Be a little more specific, Andrea. You're a doctor."

"I think my right wrist may be broken."

Perry nodded and gently took hold of JD's right arm; he was very aware of the slight wince JD gave. His wrist had begun to swell, and Perry suspected that the younger doctor's diagnosis was correct. "We need to get you to a hospital."

"What abou-about you?"

"Chances are I'll be heading there with you." Perry set a comforting had on JD's shoulder and reached into his pocket. He knew full well that neither of them would survive out in the weather long with their injuries. Both of them had head injuries and there was a good chance that hypothermia was already settling in. It was late November, meaning that the rain and the river were unbearably cold, and the temperature outside was hardly above freezing.

For a brief second, Perry found himself praying as he pulled out his cellphone. There was a damn good chance that it wasn't going to be working, but Perry thanked the god he didn't believe in when he saw that not only was the phone still working, but it had signal.

For a moment, the numbers swam in front of his eyes, but after a few blinks, Perry could see straight again. Dialing quickly, Perry called the closest hospital to their location: Sacred Heart.

"This is Dr. Cox! I need an ambulance quick; there's been a wreck." Perry looked around, assisted by a bolt of lightening, and then gave the receiver his best guess at his location. "Dr. Dorian is with me. Broken wrist, head injury, and possible hypothermia." He paused for a moment. "Hurry!"

Pressing the end button hard to vent some of his anger, Perry shoved the phone back into his pocket and turned his attention back to JD. The younger doctor's eyes had slipped shut, and Perry nearly panicked. "JD!" Perry shouted, giving JD's shoulder a gentle shake. "Newbie!"

JD's eyes snapped open, and he stared up at Perry. "'m cold," muttered JD.

"So am I," thought Perry, but for the moment, he kept that to himself. "I know, JD, but an ambulance is on its way."

"Sleepy." JD started to close his eyes, but Perry shook his again.

"Stay awake, Newbie. You know how dangerous it is to sleep with a head injury."

"You too."

"Yeah, but I'm not the one falling asleep."

JD shook his head. "You the one...kissed me." JD's brow creased in confusion. "Why did...kiss me?"

"Please, Newbie, can we discuss that when you aren't so out of it...or never?"

JD shook his head again and then began struggling to sit up.

"What are you doing, JD?" said Perry, gently taking hold of JD's shoulder when it looked as though he was going to fall. JD ignored him and threw his arms around Perry's neck. The older doctor couldn't help but notice how cold JD's lips were as they pressed against his, but at the same time, Perry didn't care. The kiss went on for nearly a minute, and then JD finally pulled away for air. Perry, however, didn't set him back on the ground though. Instead, he held him.

If anyone asked later, Perry would say it was to try and keep the poor kid warm, but both Perry and JD both knew the real reason deep down. As Perry sat along the side of the river holding JD, they both vaguely noticed that the storm was slowly stopping.

XVIIIIV

JD had lost consciousness about ten minutes before the ambulance arrived, but Perry had continued to hold him despite that fact. He finally laid him back down on the ground when he heard the sirens of the ambulance and struggled to his feet so he could wave the ambulance down. He breathed a sigh of relief when the ambulance stopped.

"He's over here!" Perry shouted as the EMTs jumped from the back of the ambulance carrying their supplies. He led them over to where JD lay on the ground and then stepped back to let them do their work. Perry wanted to be helping, but the rational voice in the back of his head, which rarely saw the light of day, told him that he would be no help to JD in the condition he was in.

"How long has he been unconscious?" asked one of the EMTs, a short brunette girl.

"About ten minutes. I-I had him talking for a while before that. He wasn't breathing earlier; he swallowed a lot of water."

While the brunette dealt with JD, the other EMT, a tall blond guy, turned his attention to Perry. "Have you been having any nausea, dizziness, pain?" the EMT asked as he forced Perry to sit down on the ground.

"I was in a car wreck!" shouted Perry. "My entire body is in pain!"

"You can add irritability to that," mumbled the brunette behind them.

The two EMTs continued talking, and Perry suddenly became aware of every ache and pain in his body, the burning in his shoulders, and just how cold he felt. He realized that the adrenalin he had from taking care of JD was wearing off, and his body was giving in to its injuries.

"Dr. Cox!?" shouted the blond EMT. "Dr. Cox?!"

Perry couldn't force himself to respond as the edges of his vision darkened dramatically. He was never aware of his back striking the ground or the blond EMT frantically starting in on emergency procedures.

XVIIIIV

JD was floating; it was a nice feeling. What was even better about it was that it was warm. He couldn't quite remember what had happened earlier, but he did remember that he had been cold. Why had he been so cold?

JD slowly became aware of a distant voice calling to him. "Bambi..." There was a pause. "Bambi...Bambi, it's time to wake up."

Slowly, JD's other senses started coming back to him, and in the back of his mind, the doctor part of him told him that he was regaining consciousness. JD smelled the distinct smell of antiseptic, heard a TV in the distance in addition to the voice calling to him, and became very aware of the pain in his head. With what seemed like a tremendous amount of effort, JD opened his eyes; the lights in the room were dimmed, but through the shadows, JD saw Carla standing at the edge of his bed, smiling down at him.

"It's about time you woke up, Bambi. We've been worried about you."

JD rolled his head to the side, trying to escape the pain. "Wha -pened?" JD croaked out. Carla turned away for a moment and then turned back, holding a small cup of what. She helped him take a few sips, and the JD spoke again. "What happened?"

"You and Dr. Cox were in a car wreck. His car went right into a river."

JD closed his eyes as his choppy memories of the event came back. His eyes snapped open, and he looked back to Carla. "Where's Dr. Cox?"

"He's in another room."

"Is he okay?"

"He has a concussion, and we had to treat him for mild hypothermia, but he's okay. His left shoulder is going to be pretty sore for awhile though."

"Why?"

"He bruised a muscle in his shoulder." She paused for a moment and brushed a stray hair out of JD's eyes. "Want to hear your list?"

"Give it to me," mumbled JD, feeling his eyes start to grow heavy.

"You broke your right wrist. We are monitoring your lungs because you apparently swallowed some water; that is more of just a precaution though. You don't have a concussion, but you did need stitches in your forehead. Plus, you also had to be treated for hypothermia. You really shouldn't go swimming in November, Bambi." She set her hand on JD's head, much like a mother would do with their child.

JD slowly lifted his right arm, and smiled when he saw the lime green cast. "Cool," he whispered, gently setting his arm back down.

"Turk picked out the color; Elliot tried to get them to put pink on you."

"Where are they?"

"Elliot is making her rounds, and Turk is in surgery."

JD's brow creased in confusion. "How long have I been out?"

"Most the night. You woke up a few times when they brought you in, but after determining you didn't have a concussion, the doctor gave you a sedative to help you sleep. I really should be informing him that you are awake."

"When can I get out of here?"

Carla smiled. "You should be patient, Bambi. You just woke up, but I'm sure your doctor can give you an estimate." She bent down and kissed the area just to the side of the bandage on his forehead. "You had us so worried, Bambi. I'm so glad you're okay."

Carla turned to leave the room, but JD suddenly stopped her. "Wait!" Carla turned back around. "Are you sure Dr. Cox is okay?"

"I'm sure, JD. His car might not be, but Dr. Cox is fine."

XVIIIIV

Perry was not fine. In fact, he was far from it. His head hurt like a son of a bitch, he couldn't seem to quite get warm, and his shoulder was killing him. Yes, altogether, Perry was very far from fine. It didn't help that the doctor who was treating him, just happened to be one of his annoying interns.

"After you are discharged, you need to ice your shoulder and keep it-"

"I know what to do for a bruised muscle," Perry nearly shouted. "I am a freaking doctor!"

The intern looked pale. "Well...um...Dr. Cox..."

"I'll give you five seconds to get out of my room. One...two...three..." The intern was gone, and Perry was pretty sure he saw a puff of smoke where the intern had been. With a sigh, Perry closed his eyes and rested his head back against the pillow. He only got a few seconds of peace though.

"Do you always have to make the interns run away in fright?"

Perry opened his eyes and saw Carla leaning against the door frame, arms crossed. "I wasn't really in the mood to hear him try and act like a doctor. My head is already killing me." He closed his eyes for a moment but then opened them again. "I've been asking every moron who walked in here, but none of them could give me a straight answer: how's Newbie?"

Carla walked into the hospital room and over to the side of Perry's bed. "He's okay. His wrist his broken and he was suffering from hypothermia when he was brought in, but he's going to be okay. They are keeping on eye on his lungs since he swallowed a decent amount of water."

Perry closed his eyes and let out a long sigh of relief. "Good."

Carla's eyebrows went up. "Is the big bad Perry Cox actually showing concern for Bambi?"

Perry opened his eyes again and glared at her. "Shut it."

Carla crossed her arms again. "Excuse me?"

Perry clenched his teeth. "Nothing."

Carla shook her head and was about to leave when Perry suddenly grabbed hold of her arm. "Wait!"

"What?" asked Carla, obviously concerned.

"Where is Newbie's room?"

"Just two rooms down from your's." She titled her head and stared at him. "Why?"

Perry didn't answer. He threw back the blankets that were covering him and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"Perry, what are you doing?"

"I am going down to Newbie's room."

"You have a concussion; you'll probably fall over before you even get down to his room."

"I will not," retorted Perry, sounding very similar to an angry child. He stood up quickly from his bed, but, as if just to prove Carla right, the world in front of him dimmed. Perry began to lose his balance, but two hands steadied him.

"Yeah. Don't listen to the nurse...even though she was right!" Perry heard Carla nearly shout as the world came back into focus.

"I re-he-eally don't need you lecturing me right now, Carla." He pressed a hand to his aching forehead, careful to avoid the stitches. "I just need to get down to Newbie's room."

"Are you going to yell at him?"

"No, I am not going to yell at him."

Carla studied him carefully, obviously trying to decide if he was lying. She apparently believed he wasn't going to cause any harm to her Bambi because the suspicious look left her face, and she sighed loudly. "I'm gonna go get you a wheelchair. Do not try and get up again." She was waving her finger at him like he was a little child.

"I don't need a wheelchair!"

"Yes, you do. I'm not gonna have you fainting in the hall."

Carla turned and walked out of the room just as Perry shouted, "I don't faint!" He was Dr.-freaking-Cox, and he did not faint. Newbie fainted, but not him.

It only took a minute for Carla to get a wheelchair and return to Perry's room. It was obvious he was unhappy with the mode of transportation, but with an annoyed huff, he allowed Carla to help him into the chair. She figured he must really want to see JD if he was willing to ride twenty feet down the hall in a wheelchair.

"I can get there myself," said Perry angrily when Carla began to push him.

"You're supposed to be resting that shoulder. You yelled at that intern you were a doctor, you should know you're supposed to be resting that shoulder."

Perry huffed again as Carla pushed him out of the room and down the hall. "I can't fucking believe this. Newbie had better be alright, or I am going to kill him."

XVIIIIV