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'm glad you all enjoyed the last chapter, and I hope you all enjoy this one. Read and Review.

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 X: The Rope Goes Taut

"Where the determination is, the way can be found." George S. Clason

Today was supposed to be a good day. Perry was being released from the hospital after two days, with orders to rest his shoulder and ice it daily. He was lucky that the bullet hadn't broken his collarbone or done any other major damage. After JD got off, he was supposed to go over to Perry's apartment. However, today was not turning out to be a good day; in fact it was turning into the exact opposite.

His day started going down hill when he woke up; he'd felt run down and tired. It got worse after he got to work and looked at Caitlin Howards' chart. While the inflammation in her gallbladder had gone down, the pneumonia she'd been suffering from had yet to get any better. Until then, they still couldn't go through with the surgery, which Caitlin was not going to be happy about.

Trying his best to appear optimistic, JD entered Caitlin's room. He was used to seeing her mother or father in the room in the evenings after they got off work, but during the day, Caitlin was either by herself, entertained by books, or with her older brother. Today was one of the days she was by herself; she appeared to be reading a comic book. Over her hospital gown, Caitlin was wearing a sweatshirt with Six Flags across the front.

"Hey, Cat."

"Hey, Dr. Dorian." She put her book to the side. "What is the news today?"

"Well...the inflammation in your gallbladder is gone, but unfortunately, your pneumonia isn't really healing up."

Caitlin scoffed. "I could have told you that."

"Is your chest still feeling tight?"

Caitlin nodded. "Mom won't let me forget that if I had just gone to health services, this probably would never have happened."

"We're still going to have postpone your surgery."

Caitlin sighed, and JD felt bad for the young girl. "I figured you were going say that."

"I just don't feel safe clearing you for surgery with the condition your lungs are in."

"That's probably for the better. There's no use not having a gallbladder that won't cause you pain if you're dead."

"That's morbid way of looking at it, but yes." JD looked again at Caitlin's sweatshirt. "When did you go to Six Flags."

"In October. There is one about an hour away from my college."

"That's cool."

Caitlin nodded. "Yeah. My roommate and I are planning on going back in April when they reopen."

"What was your favorite ride?"

Without hesitation, Caitlin replied, "Skycoaster."

"Is that a roller coaster?"

Caitlin laughed, which quickly turning into a hacking cough. After a minute or two of coughing, Caitlin cleared her throat. "It is so much better than a roller coaster. They put you in this harness and then hook you up to this cable, which is hooked to this huge tower. Then, they pull you back to just a few feet short of the top of the tower, and on the count of three, you pull the release cord and swing down. It is amazing! I did it with my roommate and her boyfriend."

JD smiled. "That sounds cool, but terrifying."

"It is, but it is so worth it. Every horrifying second is so worth when you swing down. For one second, you're completely weightless. It is so amazing and worth every terrifying second."

"Maybe one day I'll have to try that."

"It's worth it."

JD checked his watch and then yawned; he knew that him and Turk had stayed up a little late the night before, but he really shouldn't have been that tired. "I have to get going, Cat. Feel better."

"Thanks, Dr. Dorian."

JD gave Caitlin a reassuring smile as he turned to leave the hospital room just as Caitlin picked her book back up.

His next stop was Max Cannon's room. While Caitlin's news hadn't been the greatest, at least her gallbladder was back to "normal", there was unfortunately no goods news for Max. They'd put him on a third antibiotic, and yet it had done no good. JD was now at the point where he was going to have to give Max's parents one of their last options.

Standing before Max's room, JD took a deep breath; he was not looking forward to this. JD stepped into Max's room and gave the family a small smile. "Hey, Max," said JD quietly. "How are you feeling today?"

"My knee hurts," answered Max, "and it's itchy."

"Try not to scratch it," replied JD. "That'll just make it hurt worse." JD looked up at Dean and Hannah. "May I speak with you two out in that hall?"

Dean and Hannah gave JD a strange look but nodded slowly. They followed JD out into the hall without a word.

"Dr. Dorian," said Dean, after they were about ten feet from Max's door, "what exactly is going on?"

JD let out a sigh; he hated this part of his job. "The newest antibiotic that we put Max on isn't working, and the infection has begun to spread."

"So..." said Hannah, obviously worried, "you'll have to put him on another?"

"Mrs. Cannon, we have already tried three very strong antibiotics; I don't think trying a fourth will do any good."

"So what are you going to do?" demanded Dean. "You're not giving up, are you?" Max's father looked angry.

"Of course not," replied JD, almost insulted. "I'm here to tell you the next action to take."

"What is it?" asked Hannah.

JD took a deep breath. "I suggest we amputate Max's leg."

"What?!" said Hannah and Dean in unison.

"The infection in Max's knee has begun to spread. Antibiotics are not doing any good, and if we don't do something to fight it soon, the results won't be good."

"No," said Dean. "I will not let you amputate my son's leg."

I won't be the actually person amputating his son's leg.

"Look, Mr. Cannon, you have heard from the nurses that your son's fever has been increasing over the last few days. His body is getting weaker, and pretty soon, his body won't be able to fight off the spread of the infection."

"I am not going to let you amputate my son's leg. There has to be something else you can do...try another antibiotic or something."

"Another antibiotic won't do any good," JD tried to get through the man's head.

"How do you know unless you try?" demanded Dean.

JD sighed. "Mr. Cannon-"

Dean put his finger in JD's face. "Look, Dr. Dorian, you try another antibiotic or something that doesn't involve cutting off my son's leg, or I will ask that my son be assigned a new doctor." Dean put his arm around his wife's shoulders and returned to their son's room without another word.

JD stood in the hall dumbstruck; he couldn't believe what had just happened. He'd told the man one of his son's few options at the moment, and the man had accused him of giving up. JD felt sick; not in the "I'm gonna throw up way," but in the "I can't believe that just happened way."

JD walked toward the hall in which Turk had found out about him and Perry a week before. He leaned against the wall and sank down to the floor. He had to think of a way to convince Mr. and Mrs. Cannon to go ahead with the surgery; if they didn't...JD didn't want to think about what could happen if they didn't go ahead with the surgery. Until then, he was going to have to think of some other way to keep the infection in check.

JD leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes. He probably should go down to get some lunch since he hadn't really eaten breakfast, he'd slept in because he and Turk had stayed up late watching a marathon of The Gorge Lopez Show, but at the moment, he didn't want to move from the spot he'd settled in. He was just so tired, and his body was aching.

JD didn't know how long he'd been sitting there when a loud voice startled him from his circling thoughts. It's not like it really mattered though; he hadn't really thought of anything that was going to help Max other than tying his father down while his son was in surgery.

"Hey, Matilda, what are you doing decorating that hallway with your depressed form?"

JD didn't have to look up to know who it was, but he did anyway. Perry was standing above him with his arm in a sling. "How's your arm?" asked JD quietly, pushing himself back to his feet.

"It feels like it's connected to a shoulder that was shot, and then hit against an IV pole."

"You know it wouldn't have hit the IV pole if you hadn't gotten so angry at the cops. They were just trying to do their jobs."

"There's only so many times I can tell them I didn't know what the guy looked like because his hat was pulled down over his face." Perry studied him for a moment. "Why were you crying, Lucy? Did someone use you eyeliner without asking?"

"I wasn't crying," replied JD quickly.

"Really?" said Perry. He reached forward with his good hand and touched the side of JD's face. "It's looks like you've been crying; it's a good thing you didn't wear makeup today or else it would have been ruined."

JD reached up and felt his face; he could feel the remnants of tear streaks on his face. He could feel himself beginning to turn red, mainly because he hadn't been aware of the fact he was crying. "What's going on, JD?" asked Perry. While his voice may still have had a bite to him, JD could tell the older man was concerned when he used his real name.

"It's one of my patients," replied JD quietly. "His name is Max, and he has an infection in his knee." JD took a deep breath. "All of the antibiotics I've tried so far aren't working, and the infection has begun to spread. I don't...I don't know what to do." JD leaned his head back against the wall and struggled to keep from crying; at least this time he knew he was about to cry.

Perry stepped forward and put his arm around JD's shoulders. "JD, I think you know what you have to tell Max's parents next."

JD swallowed hard. "I did. I told them that Max's leg would have to amputated to stop the spread of infection."

"So what-"

Before Perry could even finish, JD was talking again, only now, he was soundly a bit hysterical. "The dad refused. He said he would not let me amputate his son's leg. He told me to find some other way to take care of his son or else he was going to find another doctor." JD felt all the frustration that had been building up inside of him about Max's illness was suddenly being released; he felt the tears slipping down the side of his face. "I don't know what to do, Perry."

Normally, Perry would have been annoyed at JD for calling him "Perry" while they were at the hospital, but at the moment, Perry didn't have the heart to be mean to the kid. He'd make up for it later. "It's not your fault the kid's dad is a moron, Newbie."

"The kid might die, Perry."

"You just need to keep talking to him. Nail it into his head that amputating the leg will save his son's life."

"What if-"

"Keep telling him!"

JD sighed and wiped at his eyes. "Okay. What if I can't convince him? Do you think you could talk to him? Like as a second opinion...or just scare him into doing it."

"I don't think scaring a patient's father into agreeing to a surgery is really what doctors are meant to do, Newbie."

"But you'll do it, right?"

Perry replied without hesitation. "Yeah."

JD smiled and wiped at his eyes again. "He's seven years old, Perry. I can't let him die. I just...I just can't." The smile had disappeared, and the tears were coming on stronger.

Perry pulled JD closer. "JD, you're a good doctor; in no way would you just let the kid die."

The added closeness seemed to do little good for JD's shot nerves. Perry pulled JD into a tight hug, using his good arm, and kissed JD on the forehead. While Perry was never know for being the best comforter in the world, he was trying his best to help JD. He just stood there with his arm around JD as the younger man continued to try and get a hold of his nerves.

XVIIIIV

The two men in the usually empty hall didn't know that someone had come down there looking for JD because his wife had instructed him to apologize to the young doctor. He was surprised by what he saw and a little put off; he hadn't known that his son's doctor was gay. It didn't really matter, he guessed, but it still was a bit shocking. Without guying down to talk to the young doctor, the man turned around and returned to his son's room.

XVIIIIV

The day had been for too long for Perry. After JD had finally gotten a handle on his emotions, the younger doctor had gone back to his rounds, but not before a brief "goodbye". Perry then started on his way back to his apartment, but not before Carla could do her own bit of worrying about him. While he would have killed for that attention from Carla awhile ago, Perry just kind of found it annoying now, especially since he really just wanted to get back to his apartment and take a nap.

Once he got outside the hospital, Perry had begun to head down to the bus stop in hopes of catching his normal bus; he couldn't wait until the insurance company gave him the money to get a new car. Suddenly, he stopped. The memories from the mugging came back in a flood and taking the route he'd taken a few days before didn't seem like a good idea. Perry decided that heading down to the bus stop that was about a block away in the other direction was probably a good idea, and without wasting another minute, a slightly paler Perry headed off in the other direction.

The ride back on the bus wasn't horrible. Since it was toward the middle of the day, there were very few children riding the bus with their parents, so that made the ride a little more peaceful. However, the old woman who got one about three stops before Perry was supposed to get off did not make his ride change for the better. She couldn't seem to hear when the bus driver told her that her bus pass had expired. After several minutes of trying to get through to the woman, the bus driver gave up and allowed her to take a seat on the bus.

The old woman had decided that, despite the fact there were numerous empty seats on the bus, she needed to sit right next to Perry. She sat down next to him along with all of her bags. The old woman gave him a smile and then immediately began talking to him.

"Where are you headed?" she asked loudly.

"My house."

"Where do you live?"

"Hopefully nowhere near you."

The old woman either didn't hear him or was ignoring what he had said because she just continued talking. "What did you do to your arm?"

"I didn't do anything to it."

"What happened?"

"I was mugged." Perry paused for a moment. Why was he even answering this old woman's questions. "Why are you talking to me?"

The old woman ignored his question again, and Perry was beginning to wonder if she wasn't hard of hearing but had a case of selective hearing. "That is awful. What did they do to your arm?"

Perry rolled his eyes; maybe the truth would get her to shut up. "He shot me."

"How horrible!" She looked out the bus window. "Could you pull the cord for me?"

Perry sighed but reached up and pulled the cord; at least the old woman would be getting off the bus.

"I hope you have someone at your house who is going to be taking good care of you," said the old woman as she gathered her bags. "Have a good evening." The old woman gave him a smile, and Perry gave him a brief smirk in return. The old woman got off the bus leaving Perry in peace.

The rest of his bus ride was rather uneventful, but even so, Perry was glad when he got back to his apartment. He unlocked the door and breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped into the apartment. Perry hadn't really wanted to tell anyone at the hospital, but his shoulder was actually bothering him. It was tender and sudden movements made the pain flair. He was just glad that he had been able to convince Carla that he didn't need a ride back to his apartment; it wasn't that he had really wanted to take the bus, but he hadn't wanted to ride with someone who was going to do nothing but ask if he was okay. He had been getting enough of that from JD over the last two days while he was in the hospital; he put up with it from the younger doctor mainly because he didn't want to have to deal with JD's "protectors" if he told the younger man off, but he was not going to deal with it from other people.

With a sigh, Perry sat down carefully on the couch, as to not hurt his shoulder, and closed his eyes. He was tired, and a brief nap was not going to kill him.

XVIIIIV

A light knocking on the door managed to wake Perry up a few hours later. With a groan, Perry pushed himself up off the couch and headed over to the door. He already knew who was going to be on the other side, but he'd locked the door so he couldn't just tell him to come on in. Perry pulled open the door and was greeted by a Chinese-carrying Newbie.

"I brought some dinner," said JD, giving Perry a tired, half-hearted smile. It was obvious that he still hadn't completely recovered from earlier that day.

"And how many fortune cookies did you have them to your order?" Perry opened the door all the way, and JD walked into the apartment.

JD turned slightly red. "I didn't ask for extra cookies." He held the bag of Chinese food tighter. "They just like to give out a lot of fortune cookies."

"Sure they do, Lynn," muttered Perry as he went to the kitchen to grab some silverware. Coming back into the living room, Perry saw that JD had set the food on the coffee table and sat down on the couch. His head was leaning against the back of the couch, and his eyes were closed. "Ah....does someone need a nap?"

JD opened his eyes and slowly sat back up. "Um...I'm...I was up late last night."

"Were you and Gandhi painting each other's nails?"

"Watching George Lopez," muttered JD with a yawn.

Perry shook his head and set his good hand on JD's shoulder; he was surprised by the warmth it had. "Hey, Patrica, have you been taking care of yourself?"

"Of course." JD yawned again.

"Then why does it feel as though you have a fever?"

JD shrugged. "Your apartment is warm?" He paused, and Perry saw JD furrow his brows with his eyes closed. "I jogged here?"

"Really?" asked Perry sarcastically.

The younger doctor shook his head. "No."

Perry sighed. "Carol, be honest, how do you feel?"

"Tired."

"Maybe you should get some sleep?"

JD opened his eyes and sat up. "But I said I would come over tonight; I don't want to leave."

Perry sighed. "I didn't say you had to leave, Newbie. I may have been thinking it, but I didn't say it."

JD seemed tired enough that he didn't seem to completely grasp what Perry had just said. "Huh?"

Perry shook his head. "Get up, Carly."

"Are you making me leave?" JD pushed himself up using his good hand.

"No," replied Perry. "I'm making you sleep. Now come with me."

JD followed Perry to his bedroom and sat down on the bed when the older man told him to. He yawned as Perry pushed him back onto the bed, and he was asleep only seconds after his head hit the pillow. Perry rolled his eyes and then used his good arm to remove JD's shoes.

"Newbie, if you tell anyone about this I will hurt you."

Perry then returned to the living room to gather up the Chinese food and put it in the fridge before it went bad. Today had not gone exactly as he had planned.

XVIIIIV

I hope you all enjoyed the Chapter. I'm off to try and pass my CS class. Wish me luck.