Summary: JD refuses to leave Perry behind. Turk refuses to leave JD behind.
Author's Note: I was sleep-writing and this came out. This story is pointless. Don't read it. If you read this story, your IQ will drop at least a dozen points. It's pure PWP JD/Cox angst that makes no sense. I don't know where they are, I don't know what they're doing, why they're there or what happened. There's no canonical reason why this situation would ever even occur and I'm committing FanFiction suicide by posting it. But hell, here it is. Do enjoy the angst.
Perry Cox
PenPatronus
Story #9:
The Last of Yourself
The building exploded.
JD coughed and found his sight as blocked as his lungs. A black fog surrounded him, swirling upwards where the ceiling used to be, fueled by piles of burning debris. "Dr. Cox!" he yelled. He gasped and wheezed into the sleeve of his navy scrubs and fought his way to his feet. "Jack! Perry!"
A dozen firefighters streamed past, most carrying or helping injured civilians. One grabbed JD by the elbow and tried to tug him along. "Let's go, doc, there's nobody left alive!"
JD's stomach clenched. "No—I have to find my friends."
"These walls won't last five minutes! Get out of here!"
But JD fought his way further into the building, terrified of what he would (or wouldn't) find. "Oh dammit—PERRY!"
For a moment he thought he heard his name, but wondered if it was just the wind sucking smoke out of the building. But then, "Newbie…Newbie!"
JD was led to a pile of debris on top of an overturned wall. But the structure wasn't against the floor. Something was propping it up and when JD bent to look he gasped. "Oh, God."
"It's ok, Jack, you can crawl out now."
"Daddy…"
Dr. Cox was on all fours, the weight of the debris held back only by his strength. Jack was attached to one of his father's arms, covered in dirt, his eyes clenched in fear. If Cox's brace against the wall weakened, both he and Jack would be crushed. If the situation weren't so serious, JD would threaten to tickle him.
JD leapt back to his feet and threw all of his weight and strength against the wall. Meanwhile Cox inched forward. JD held the wall up, grunting and sweating with effort as Jack whimpered below him. And then another rumble began. The rest of the ceiling was caving in. Chunks of wood clattered around them and the fires brightened.
"Jack…crawl out…daddy can't hold this up forever…" Cox coughed and JD could hear the blood in his lungs. "Jack—" There was another rumble, followed by distant crashes, and then nearby ones. "Newbie, get Jack!"
Abandoning his efforts to hold up the debris, JD reached beneath it, grabbed the 4-year-old and yanked just as Cox's strength gave out and the pile collapsed on top of him. With the screaming Jack held protectively to his chest, JD rolled out of the way, over cement blocks and through ashes. "Daddy!" Jack wiggled out of JD's grasp and crawled back towards his father. Coughing, tripping and suddenly crying, JD followed and snatched the child up before he reached the scene. Only Cox's head and ones shoulder and arm could be seen through the debris around him. The parts of him not covered in dirt were sticky with blood, but his eyes were open and alert.
"DAD!"
"JD, get my son out of here!" Perry arched in pain and desperation, but he couldn't move. Blood was on the teeth he bared in pain. "JD, go!"
JD obliged. Though Jack kicked and screamed at him and pieces of tile and cement continued to rain down, he fought through it all to get Jack to safety.
The last thing he heard from Perry Cox was "Don't come back for me!"
---
"There!" Carla pointed, and Turk followed her line of sight to the shadowy figures emerging from the smoke surrounding the building.
"JD!" Turk and Carla rushed forward.
"Carla, take him!" JD pushed a hysterical Jack into her arms and after scanning JD to make sure he was all right, Carla jogged to the nearby ambulance.
"Where's Cox?" Turk asked.
"He's stuck in there." JD pivoted and began to jog back to the building when Turk literally tackled him to the ground.
"John Dorian, you are NOT going back inside!"
JD punched him. Punched Turk right in the jaw and sprinted forward. "JD!"
He found Cox where he left him, but still and silent, his arm broken but cushioning his cheek. JD knelt beside his mentor, and was relieved when Cox stirred.
"Jack?"
"Safe with Carla."
Perry smiled and slumped back against his arm.
"Hang on, Perry." JD pressed his palm to Perry's cheek before he went looking for something to scoot beneath the wall, bracing it so he could pull Cox out. There was nothing: everything was either too small to fit or too big to move or on fire. JD cursed.
Just then the wall furthest from them collapsed. A maelstrom of debris was whipped up like a sandstorm. JD dove back to Cox and protected him. Splinters rained down on their heads and a brick bounced off JD's shoulder. The noise woke up Perry, who glared up at JD.
"Newbie, get the hell out of here!"
JD shook his head. "No way."
"Kid, there's going to be a domino effect in half a second. Kelso will be pissed if both of his best doctors are killed."
At a loss and in his own pain, JD slumped to the floor. He wasn't strong enough to move the wall, and he wasn't about to leave. He leaned his face next to Cox's and placed his palm on the older man's shoulder. "I'm not going anywhere," he whispered.
Perry shook away from JD and smacked him before suddenly running his fingers through the younger man's hair. His eyes were glazed but focused on JD and they were sad…so sad. Cox seemed to reach inside and gather something from deep within: the last he had of himself.
"Listen to me, Newbie. This is why, as a doctor, you have got to keep people, everyone, at an arm's, possibly a full-body's length. That's what I learned from Ben's death. People you care about will die…and you have to let them die." Tears filled JD's eyes, and he let them. "What the hell do I have to do to get you out of here?"
JD chuckled. "You know what I want."
"I can't hug you, right now, kid." Perry winced and coughed and barely managed to keep his eyes open, struggling to remain conscious. Cox took a deep breath. "JD, I am so very proud of you, son. I'm honored to have taught you, and I love you." There were tears in his eyes as well, but he didn't have the strength to wipe at them. "Now go," he whispered. "Go."
"JD!"
"Turk? Turk!" JD leapt to his feet and sure enough, Christopher Turk was struggling towards him through the fog.
"I couldn't leave you here, man," Turk explained. He pulled JD into a hug, then looked down at Cox. "Is he alive?"
Cox's eyes were closed. He was unconscious. "Help me," JD said. He lifted up the wall, and with Turk's added strength they got it off of Cox's body, and managed to inch him out using their feet. They just got Cox into Turk's arms when the remainder of the building began to fall.
