Haveeee a Countdown! :D Admittedly, a bit of a filler chapter. Also, I'm just going to go ahead and assume people aren't reviewing as um, they've already read it before. But I like reviews, they make me feel special!
The changes are mostly spelling, grammar, etc, yup. :)
'Seven Things In My Room.'
It sounded like an essay title. For a few seconds, JD was 14 again, and stuck with writing 2000 words on "What family means to me". He shook the memory away, and returned to the present world- staring at a sheet of lined paper. A completely empty sheet of lined paper, barring that title.
Dr Jones was definitely a freak, JD decided. First ten regrets, then seven things in his room?
"As a grounding exercise, to try and calm you when you become stressed. And to make you consider what's precious to you- and why." The psychiatrist had said.
How was that going to help? JD didn't know, but out of boredom, he had decided to try and do the list. But everything he chose he had found some deep meaning for and had become terrified of writing anything at all.
Fuck it, he decided. The first seven things he saw were going down on his list, and then he was going to throw it in a drawer and forget about it.
The first thing he saw was his wallet. He'd been out to buy a newspaper, a stupid habit he'd gotten into. He liked checking it for medical updates. All he ever got was a list of food he shouldn't eat to avoid cancer, but was a bit late for that. Plus it changed every week, often contradicting itself. Red wine is bad, it's good, don't eat meat, eat meat… JD had stopped trusting newspapers a while ago.
There wasn't much money left in the wallet. There would stop being money altogether if he didn't start working. That scared him a little. Suddenly his mind was running away with it.
When… no, if he became to unwell to work, what would happen? Dan could hardly support him. Turk, Carla, Elliot… no, he didn't want to see, or think about his friends at the moment. They'd be worrying about it. Stupid cancer, making them worry, stupid wallet making him worry. All the same, he added it to his list.
1. Wallet (money troubles)
He headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water, pausing at the cupboard. He opened it up, picked up a packet of crisps. Water forgotten, he walked back to his room.
"I will eat these." He said forcefully to himself on the way. "I will." But it didn't work. He opened them, took a single crisp and tried to eat it. It tasted like cardboard in his mouth. He couldn't eat anymore. Groaning, he threw the packet across the room. Then, thinking, he wrote that down.
2) Uneaten crisps (not hungry anymore)
JD sighed, and went to use the toilet.
No, inner monologue. He said to himself. I am not just putting it off. JD spent a long time in his bathroom, finding various things to do. He checked the ingredients in all his shampoos (7 different bottles and a lot more palm oil than he was happy with). He alphabetized his medical cabinet. He even weighed himself, surprised but unhappy that he had lost a fair amount. He thought of the uneaten crisps.
Heading back to the bedroom, he froze, staring at the pot of hair gel on his bedside table. Something struck him that hadn't before, even when he was picking up shampoos. He wrote it down before he could talk himself out of it, tell himself it wouldn't happen.
3) Hair gel (hair loss)
Back to the table, writing down things on automatic.
4) Holiday brochure
Life, he supposed. How many holidays would he have? Nodding to himself, he scribbled (life) after it. 4 down, 3 to go.
He supposed he would have to put the scrubs in the corner down, wouldn't he? He wasn't even sure why he had them. Kelso would freak. But all the same they were there, and so he added them to the list.
5) Scrubs (work)
Trying desperately to think of the final two, he was suddenly shocked into life by the opening notes of the Gilmore Girls theme tune. He picked his vibrating mobile phone up and flipped it open. But as he did, it stopped ringing.
One missed call
Unknown number
"Helpful" he scowled to himself. Staring at the phone, he had another brainwave.
6) Mobile phone (friends)
He held the phone in his hand for a moment, looking at it until his screensaver kicked in.
It was a picture of the hospital from last year, one of the group pictures Bob Kelso (well, Bob Kelso forced by Carla) had insisted on. The older doctors clumped together at the back, reminding JD of the cool kids who would sit at the back of the bus, laughing and shouting.
The interns formed a scared mess at the front. Somewhere in the middle stood JD, Turk, Carla and Elliot, smiling and close together. Next to JD stood Dr Cox, who was desperately trying to look like he wasn't with them. Groaning inwardly, JD forced himself to write the last point, being as vague as he could.
7) Photograph (Love)
The pencil had just left the paper when he heard a knock at the door. He froze, and waited, trying not to even breathe. There was a pause, and then the knock came again.
Do I want to answer it? He wondered. Who is it? Turk? Elliot?
"Who's there?" He called, mouth dry. No answer came.
"Hello?" He called again. Still nothing. He stumbled towards the door, tugged it open. He looked left, then right.
"What the hell?" He yelled angrily. Nobody was there. He flicked his head around again, but there was definitely no one. He slammed the door shut and went back inside.
Just out of sight, around the corner, sat Perry Cox. He leaned against the wall, breathing heavily from running so fast.
"What was I thinking?" He hissed to himself. "Stupid, stupid, stupid." He banged his head against the wall, freezing for a second as he realised it might make someone come out. But when no one arrived he stood up, more than ready to leave. He cast one glance back to JD's door.
"No." He said to himself, as he walked away. "No." Still murmuring that word, he headed back to his apartment, where he intended to drink until receipts, absences and suspicions left his mind for good.