A/N: Hi! Thanks for the kind words on the first chapter. Hopefully you'll continue to enjoy the story as it progresses. Sorry the first two chapters are so short, I'm trying to cut the future content into bigger chunks for a more satisfying read. As a clarification, this story takes place during the summer between Season 4 and 5, and will continue to be in JD's POV for the foreseeable future.

Disclaimer: I don't own Scubs or any of the characters, sadly. I just make them dance once in a while.

Thankfully, nobody noticed that I was late for rounds. I arrived in the ICU to find Dr. Kelso being surrounded by a swarm of nurses, interns and residents. He had a flyer in his hand, about to affix it to the small bulletin board in the middle of the room.

"Alright, all you asinine apple-polishers, gather 'round. Next week is the annual NMA conference. It's kind of a big to-do and I'd really rather just go myself as usual and leave you all here to wallow in your self-pity, but Enid's having surgery to remove a neuroma between her toes and wants me around for moral support for some Godforsaken reason. I'd normally tell her to suck it up and move the surgery back, but damned if she hasn't been actually using that treadmill I bought her for her birthday, and I want to get her ass back up on it ASAP. So anyways, since Enid and I won't be going, two spots just opened up. I'll be taking applications from you imbeciles. You have until Thursday to get them in to me, and I'll post the names up here on Friday so you can either gloat or do whatever it is you folks do when you don't get something you want. I'm not really sure what that would be, as I'm not often in that situation. I honestly don't care which of you people ends up going, as long as I don't hear any stories about gorgeous Asian showgirls or giant pots won at the craps table upon your return." Kelso turned and began to make his way out of the crowd, suddenly tired of being the center of attention. Murmurs of interest piped up around him as he threaded his way between the onlookers.

Elliot cocked her head at him as he left. "But, um, Dr. Kelso?" she began, "why would Enid go with you to a medical conference? Wouldn't that be boring for her?"

Dr. Kelso paused just in front of me and turned back to the group. "Because, the conference is in Vegas, baby!" He flashed his patented Bob Kelso Grin at her before resuming his customary scowl and continued on his way.

I could see Elliot's expression brighten with excitement as the crown clamored around her, squeezing her back in towards the flyer. Their murmurs turned into squeals of anticipation as they considered a week in Las Vegas. Notebooks were flipped open and dates were taken down, and I could hear people planning already what shows they'd be seeing and which clubs they'd be attending.

I hung back, more than a little warily. I remembered the last time I'd gone to a big conference, and the whole thing had not gone down well. There was the whole finding an interesting case study thing, which was kind of embarrassing in a "Hey do you mind if I examine you like an insect and put your body and life story up on display" way. The plane ride was horrible, the hotel was barely passable, and the conference itself was dominated by men that looked, talked and smelled pretty much like Dr. Kelso. Don't get me wrong, I went to a couple of really great seminars and brought back some useful information, but the whole experience as a whole left a bad taste in my mouth. Add to all of that the Dr. Cox-style brow beatings I had to endure before, during (don't ask) and after the trip, and it was pretty much one of my worst experiences as an intern. Speaking of brow beatings…

I felt Dr. Cox suddenly looming behind me. He can be so damn stealthy sometimes. "Whattaya say there, Dory? Gonna go ahead and jump right on into the thick of the guppies swarming around that chunk o' chum that old bull shark Bobbo laid out for ya? Bet he's circling around right now, grinning and rubbing his hands together and wondering what tasty little morsel he's gonna catch with this bait."

I shot Dr. Cox my patented "The Crap Are You Talking About?" glance over my shoulder. I was partially curious if he'd actually watched Finding Nemo or if he just knew that there was a ditzy girl fish in it. Man, I love Ellen. But I was also baffled by his comment about Dr. Kelso. I decided to voice that issue rather than the one about the movie, even though I knew that HE knew what I was thinking about Finding Nemo. Got to mix it up once in a while, ya know? "What? Dr. Kelso said he doesn't care who goes. He's probably going to draw names out of a hat or something."

Dr. Cox snorted and rolled his eyes at that. He had his arms folded tightly over his chest, and he did his wobbling Weeble impression. "And how long have you worked here now, Newbie? You should know how continuing ed works in this dump by now. Bobbo only picks the truly worthy, or those he wants to torment especially, depending on his mood at the time. I'm guessing this one's going to be a torture fest based on the fact that he's obviously paHISSED that he doesn't get to take the trip back home to Sin City this time around. He'll end up choosing a couple of idiots who'll end up either being ridiculously beholden to him for an extended period of time or extremely irritated by whatever series of events he has planned out for them. I mean gawsh, Angel, the man doesn't have a good bone in his body. Or piece of cartilage, for that matter."

I watched Dr. Cox for a moment after he was through ranting. He didn't look especially angry, more resigned than anything. I wondered what he was thinking about, but didn't get a chance to ask him. He stalked off just as Turk slammed open the door to the ICU, surgical posse in tow. He marched up to Carla, who was chit-chatting with another nurse on the outskirts of the feeding frenzy, and swept her up into a bear hug. She swatted playfully at him, but gave him a peck as he set her down. "I heard something about a trip to Vegas, baby, Baby! Whatcha say to that mess? Wanna get funky down in L-V-Town?"

Carla grinned at Turk, grasping his hands and swinging them playfully back and forth. "I don't know, Buppy. I always imagined our first real vacation to be in a place that we'd be sharing with less than three million people. Someplace beautiful, intimate, you know, somewhere we can get away from it all. We could take the boat out to Catalina, rent a little house for the weekend…" She looked hopefully up at him, batting her eyelashes.

Dismayed, Turk put on his rationalizing face. "Aww, Baby! You know I would LOVE that. You so know it. But this is VEGAS!" He squeaked out the last word, his rationalizing face giving way to his pouty face. "Think about it! The amazing food, sexy clubs, awesome shows! Oh oh oh, and there's a big prize fight at Caesar's that weekend! Dayum, that would be so cool! You'd have a blast, Baby! Come ON!"

"I would have a blast? Those all sound like things that would interest you. Do you really think I'd enjoy any of that?" Carla placed her hands on her hips, daring Turk to continue.

He continued. "You WOULD enjoy it!" Then, under his breath, "… if you loved me."

Carla gasped. "Oh no you DIDN'T! You did NOT just say that! We are having a talk right now!" She snagged Turk by the ear and dragged him out of the ICU. His arms flailed towards me as he was pulled away. I shrugged at him, miming as though I had a shovel and was digging myself deeper and deeper into a hole. He flipped me off just before he rounded the corner, disappearing from view.

"JD," whined Elliot, who has appeared in front of me. I jumped a little, having not seen her approach. "What do I do? I mean, it's such a great opportunity. Did you see some of the speakers listed? Dr. Bergquist from John's Hopkins is going to be there! He's the author of two of my endocrinology textbooks! It'd be like five days of pure knowledge pouring right into my brain." She sighed heavily. "But on the other hand, what if I get stuck going to this thing with a complete moron? What if it's Doug? What if it's Mickhead? What if it's…" she shuddered, "Dr. Zeltzer? I'd probably be dragged into some horrible lawsuit involving him, a couple of dead hooker, and that tiger that belongs to those two gay magicians."

I scoffed. "Siegfried and Roy aren't gay. They're just two men with fabulous hair who spend most of their time together in various states of undress, even while they're at work, which involves playing with giant kitties." Elliot could be so sterotypical sometimes. You'd make an ass out of you and me, Elliot. you AND me. Sheesh.

"Whatever," Elliot muttered, clearly uninterested in the truth. Then she looked at me as though seeing me for the first time today. "What about you, JD? Are you doing to put your name in?"

And there it was. The question had finally been posed to me, and I didn't have a way out. I glanced over my shoulder again, but Dr. Cox wasn't in sight. That lessened my anxiety some, but not much. "I don't know yet," was the best I could do. So we stood there, two of the least decisive doctors on the planet, staring at each other and thinking about possibilities. It could be fun to go, especially with Elliot. It wouldn't happen that way, though, and I know she was thinking the same thing. We weren't quite right yet. I don't think we could take one day, let alone five, together in a city where we didn't know anyone else. If one of us got a spot the other would probably bail.

The crowd was starting to disperse. Guess it was time to start rounds.