JD's long, ebony lashes fluttered as he slowly came to. Though groggy, he could discern he was back in the hospital, though he had no idea why. A girl sat beside him, with long light brown hair and eyes. She smiled timidly at him and gave him a glass of water to sip.

"Thanks," JD said softly but with puzzlement. "I'm JD," he said.

"Sylvia," the girl answered, her smile turning warmer.

JD raised a hand to his head. "Sorry, Sylvia, do I know you? I mean, things are so muddled for me, but you seem somewhat familiar to me."

"I help out in the hospital," the girl replied. "Nurse Elaine said you have been sedated. Oh," she caught herself, flushing. "I don't know if I was supposed to tell you that."

"It's okay – I won't get you in trouble," JD said quickly. Then he sighed. "Wish I knew what is going on," he muttered to himself. Focusing on the girl, he said "Are you interested in becoming a nurse? Or a doctor," he added hastily, remembering how Casey would have hit him for being sexist.

"I … I don't know," the girl stammered. She was twisting her hands together. "I like to help people . . . but I freeze and don't know what to do and get scared I'll do something wrong. And when I try to be stronger and braver . . . well, it doesn't work out either." She lifted a finger and bit the nail. JD noticed the other nails were ragged and bitten as well. "I bet you are never scared," she added.

JD shook his head. "All the time. Scared I will make mistakes, get one of my teammates hurt . . ." JD paused. "Do you know where my teammates are?"

Sylvia opened her mouth, but Elaine entered, smiling at her favorite patient.

"So you decided to wake up," she teased, taking his pulse and checking his forehead for fever.

"Elaine, why am I here? I am fine."

"You let my new helper and I determine that, JD. Has Sylvia been taking care of you?"

"She's great," JD answered automatically, missing the pleased expression on Sylvia's face. "Did I do something wrong? Are the guys ok? They're not out on bust without me? I never am here in the hospital without at least Buck . . ." and he blushed, feeling he was sounding like a helpless child, but JD was scared, and he didn't know why he was scared.

Sylvia stood up and backed up, staring at JD's worried face.

"Now, now, you just lay back," Elaine scolded as JD began to sit up. "All will be back shortly. They just went to get answers about who hurt you. No one hurts my Kid and gets away with it, and I know they feel the same way." Elaine's mouth tightened and her eyes flashed. "And when they do find out what happened, I wouldn't want to be any one who had anything to do with hurting you."

There was a barely audible gasp from Sylvia and she fled the room, almost colliding with Buck and Dr. Mathews.

"After I see JD," Buck was saying, holding a handkerchief to his face as he entered the room, booming, "Hi, Kid!" Josiah followed, holding onto to a still wobbly Ezra, then a limping Chris glaring at the wheelchair a nurse was trying to get him into; Vin holding a towel up to his head and finally Nathan.

"Don't you worry at all, Kid!" Buck said. "We're all here to take care of you!"

JD's eyes opened wide looking from man to man. "Take care of ME?" he squeaked. "Look at you! And I'm the one if the hospital?" His mouth opened and closed twice and then he began to laugh softly, then more loudly as the other stared at him, puzzled.

Buck, relieved that his little brother was laughing, joined in, forgetting to keep his handkerchief up.

JD stopped laughing, eyes wide with horror. "Buck! What happened to your mustache?"

Elaine's hand went to her mouth.

JD knew the mustache was Buck's pride and joy, and now a third of it was cut off with some bleeding still above his lip.

"Hell, Kid, don't worry about that," he said, flashing a smile. "I'd give up a hundred mustaches for you. You are worth a lot more than that."

"Yeah, JD, we got to take care of a lot of "miscreants" as Ez calls them. Josiah got to go "Old Testament" on them."

"And you all sustained injuries," Dr. Mathews reproved as he and Elaine were checking the men. "Even Nathan," he added as Nathan frowned and then eyes his scuffed up hands.

"Never saw such a group of ugly Neanderthals as those ruffians at the T-Rex," Ezra grimaced.

Sylvia had peeked into the room at hearing JD's laughter, and then gasped as a large hand landed on her shoulder, causing her to drop the cup of water she was holding.

JD's eyes were unseeing as the phrases 'you're worth more', 'T-Rex' and seeing Sylvia holding the water. . . "No!" he screamed suddenly, sitting up in the bed. "Don't drink that! Let her go! Run! Run!" he screamed at Sylvia, whose eyes widened as she began to shake.

"What's going on in here?" a man bellowed as he entered the room, staring at the injured men and wild-eyed boy.

Buck and Vin grasped JD's arms as he fought them, still screaming at Sylvia and fighting to get to the man. "Let me go! Let me go!" JD began to sob until his eyes rolled back and he collapsed. Buck scooped him up, placing him back in the bed.

Sylvia, with a sob, took off down the corridor. The others were gathered around the pale boy lying on the bed.

"Has that boy gone completely mad?" the man demanded. "Larabee, I knew you were out of your mind letting a Kid on your team!"

Chris turned at the sound of his name. "Keep out of this, Jankowsky! You have no business being here!" he growled, displeased that one of his greatest detractors was witnessing JD's breakdown.

"No business!" Lou Jankowsky roared. "That . . . that brat scared my daughter, Sylvia! She's timid enough without this kind of insanity!"

"Daddy!" Sylvia had reappeared, still shaking. "Daddy, let's go. I want to go home," she beseeched him, tugging at his large arm.

"Mr. Jankowsky," Dr. Mathews said firmly. "You need to leave my patient alone and take Sylvia home."

As Elaine firmly herded him to the door, he had the final word. "You haven't heard the last of this, Larabee, or any of you!"

Elaine shut the door behind him then leaned against it.

Ezra, bemused and holding his head, groaned. "Is this the Twilight Zone?"

The team looked at JD, and then each other. Each was wondering the same thing.

TBC