WUHOO! I've updated! Read and enjoy!

Chapter 10-Surf's Up!

The hospital corridors echoed with silence and vibrated off the walls. It seemed as though every single doctor and nurse had found something to do… Like go have a coffee break…. At the same time.

Jesse considered the thought while trying to drown out the everlasting and somehow overpowering silence, which was much too loud to bear at this point. The scent of the intoxicating fumes of disinfectant bombarded his nostrils, almost sending him into fits of nausea. It would have been a very tempting thought, had it not been for his ribs. Although Jesse sat there in his hospital bed thinking about how awful life was for the day-to-day patients of this ward, he still couldn't get rid of that ringing silence. It was driving him crazy!

He was saved from counting the dots on the ceiling when Jack came in…. Alone. Jesse didn't like that word. It was never a good thing when someone came in with a serious look on his or her face alone. Was it? No Jesse scolded himself, it was never good. Attempting to revive a long dead smile, Jesse looked up at his doctor…. colleague…friend…. It was one of the three, but they all were the same to him.

" Hey, how you feeling?" Jack asked, trying to open up a conversation.

" Bored." Horrified. Jack had to smile at this.

" You know, you DO have a TV in this room." He said, pointing to the remote sitting on the bedside table, then up to the television on the wall.

" Have you SEEN what channels they have here? They could bore a corpse to death." Jack laughed, knowing perfectly well that the shows they allowed the patients to watch were, well, boring. He had tried convincing Norman to get cable, but there was no reasoning with the man!

"Hey Jack." Said Jesse, getting the man's attention away from TV and back to his patient. " How's the investigation going? I know it's only been a few days, but…" Jesse trailed off, not sure what to say.

" Nothing, sorry kid." Jack sighed, knowing how hard everything had been for Travis. Then he perked up, remembering the slight good news he had. "But I do have good news.." He was interrupted by Jesse.

" You just saved a bunch of money on your can insurance by switching to Gieco. I know." The older man chuckled before continuing.

" Um, no, although I did a few months ago. That's not the point. The good news is that you are being released from the hospital!" Jack's happy face melted when he saw Jesse's look of pure horror. " What is it? What's wrong?"

" No, please no. I… I'm safer here then at home. Really. I'm alright here." The young intern pleaded.

" Don't worry about that. Mark already said you're perfectly welcome to stay at his house. In fact, he's forcing you to stay at his house." Jack laughed at the comically confused look on Jesse's face. " I know what you mean Jesse, I still get that look on MY face every time Mark does that. But believe me, you'll get used to it. And don't worry, his place is safe, I mean, come on, his son's a cop." Jack's smile eased away from the fake grin and into a real one when he saw Jesse relax…Slightly.

Jesse nodded, forcing himself to calm down enough to breathe. With a sigh, he lay back down on the pillows, and after a brief goodbye with Jack, contended himself with counting those damn dots on the ceiling.

" So, how does it feel to be free?" Asked Steve, as he led the way through to hospital corridors, Jesse by his side. He had been released that morning and was now anticipating being a guest at the Sloan residence. He had been told far too many times not to worry, and that he wasn't imposing, but he couldn't help feeling slightly disoriented by the whole situation. " Jesse, how do you like the beach?" Was the only thing Steve could think of to start a conversation as they waited for the elevator to arrive, a long and grueling process.

" I wouldn't know, I've never been to a beach." Jesse replied, looking up at the bewildered cop. Apparently, he was supposed to say yes, so he thought up something nice to say. " But, I've seen it on TV, it looks really nice, and I wouldn't mind learning how to surf, it looks life fun." Jesse stopped as the cop's face returned to a smile as he patted the young doctor gently on the shoulder.

" I'll teach you." Now it was Jesse's turn to look shocked, not realizing until now what had just come out of his mouth. He couldn't surf! He could barely control his car for God's sake!

" Teach me…. To surf?" At receiving a nod, Jesse brightened up a little. Maybe it wont be SO bad. He thought, allowing himself to imagine the waves he had seen on Bay Watch hit the sand before heading back in a majestic grace. It looked nice. " Okay, sure." The elevator arrived, and as Steve looked at his watch, he thought that the three minutes and fifty-four seconds it had taken the elevator to get there was record time. The two men stepped in, and after a brief second of Steve pushing the button of the flour they were headed to, a new wave of questions struck Jesse. " When will you have time to teach me…Are you sure it's safe…W" Steve stopped him before he had time to finish his next question.

" I'll teach you when you get better, and yes it's safe as long as you know how to do it." The elevator stopped with a not-so reassuring thunk that Steve ignored from years of using it and Jesse eyed wearily. Somehow, surfing sounded safer then riding that elevator.

Upon arrival at the beach house, Jesse stared at it with aw. It was beautiful, big, and it stood on, well, a beach.

" So, you live here?" Jesse asked with great admiration, still quite amazed with the house.

" Yeah, my dad and I share it. He gets the upstairs and I live at the bottom. Pretty nice arrangement, wouldn't you say?" Steve replied, it was all he could do to keep himself from bursting into fits of laughter at the young man's astonishment. All he got was a nod as Jesse's eyes remained fixed on the house, his mouth agape. After letting a few more minutes pass, Steve decided to break the silence. " Well, we better get inside before my dad starts worrying."

Yeah, yeah, I know, too short, right? Sorry, but please, review and I'll update as soon as I can…