A/N: Once again, I really appreciate all of the reviews! I had an incredibly stressful week, but hopefully it won't show in the chapter.
Review Responses:
Yuffie's Ninja Insanity -- Man, sometimes it surprises me how many puns and allusions are in this story. Rereading the chapters, I come across countless words and phrases foreshadowing the abuse and submission. So, uh...nice pun.
The pills go in your mouth -- Great question. I didn't think about the whole Daniel/Dan thing until I had the first chapter written. I did not intend to make that connection, the name Daniel actually came from Daniel Jackson from Stargate, who the character was originally going to be more like. It does parallel well since both Dan the brother and Daniel call JD Johnny. But it wasn't intended.
abby -- I appreciate you mentioning that you thought Dr. Cox's rants were accurate. His rants were one thing that I realized while reading Scrubs fanfiction would be the most difficult thing to recreate, so it's nice to hear that I'm getting it down!
Raising a Hand
by LQ Aredhel
Chapter Four
JD was shocked the next morning when, still half asleep, he saw in the mirror the light green bruise across his left cheek bone. He tenderly prodded it and hissed; it was still sore. Wow, he thought. Daniel was really upset. He'd never been slapped hard enough for it to leave a mark before. It looked gross.
He sighed and got ready for work. He was grateful that both Carla and Turk were at already at the hospital; he didn't want to have to explain himself before he had time to come up with a good excuse. JD remembered how Carla had looked at him when he told her that he met his new friend at a bar. She was concerned, even then, that he couldn't take care of himself. She would only freak out more if she saw the bruise. She would blow everything way out of proportion and probably never let JD out of her sight. Then again, JD considered, that way she'd feel guilty about forcing all of my friends to abandon me for two weeks.
He shook his head. That was petty. Truthfully, JD just wanted to forget about those two weeks. The embarrassment, the loneliness...he probably spoke more often to Dr. Cox than he did to Carla, Turk, and Elliot combined. He just wanted to push it all to the back of his mind and forget about it.
Well, except for the parts with Daniel, of course. He could admit that they shared a strange relationship, but it was functional. He enjoyed the time he spent with Daniel; it was relaxing, a sort of group therapy where he was comfortable enough to say anything. Daniel's outburst yesterday had really confused him; but, after an unusually…indelicate…make-out session, Daniel seemed to go back to normal. They talked for a while, and JD promised to come over at least every other day. He'd even tried to convince Daniel to come to his apartment and meet his friends, but Daniel didn't really seem interested. He simply said that they wouldn't understand they're relationship, which was true. JD really didn't want what he was doing to get out.
Despite this, JD was becoming more accustomed to the relationship; instead of waking up and blaming the previous night on his drinks (whether he had one or four), he could shrug off his actions as strange but completely of his own will. He was the one who met Daniel's tongue in his mouth with his own, not the alcohol. It no longer made him panic or feel gross; in fact, he always felt refreshed the next day at knowing that there was someone out there who knew all of his secrets and with whom he felt comfortable enough to let down his defenses. It was very reassuring.
So JD strolled into work that morning, the bruise across his cheek bone completely forgotten.
Work that day was glorious. He didn't see Elliot because she had the day off, but every time he saw Turk in the hallway he grinned and made a stupid joke just to see Turk react, smile back and giggle with him. Every time he stopped at the nurse's station Carla asked him how he was and talked about her and Turk trying new things to conceive: information which JD could probably have done without, but he listened anyway, just happy to be talked to. After two weeks of silence it was thrilling to be able to communicate with his friends again. Even the anger at being avoided in the first place had almost completely faded away. Things really were going back to normal.
Around one, Turk and Carla invited JD to eat lunch with them at the coffee shop across the street from the hospital.
Yes! JD thought. We even get to go out and hang out! It was heaven.
Only moments after they exited the building into the bright sunlight, Carla gasped and grabbed JD by the shoulders.
"What is that?" she demanded of a stunned JD.
"Huh?"
Turk looked just as confused, then he smirked. "Baby, that's just JD's nose. It's always been like that."
JD shot him a hurt look. "Hey, I like my nose."
"No that," Carla said angrily, and pointed at JD's left cheek. "What is that bruise? How did you get a bruise? What happened? I don't remember you having that yesterday."
"Oh." JD grimaced. Here we go… "It's nothing," he assured her. How to word this… "I got into a little argument—"
"What?" Carla demanded again, her voice rising. "Someone just punched you in the face? Were you out at the bar again?"
"Uh…." Okay, that wasn't going to work. He stumbled through a new excuse, "I actually got into an argument with Rowdy and he tripped me and I fell into the wall."
Turk nodded behind Carla. "That dog can be so petty sometimes." JD nodded with him.
Carla scoffed and let go of JD. They all began walking again. "You know," Carla began, "if you guys would stop leaving that thing all over the place, you wouldn't be tripping over him."
"Oh, Carla. You're so wise." JD gave her a big smile and huggled her arm. Carla just rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smile.
Behind Carla's back, JD and Turk gave each other the thumbs up; Carla had referred to Rowdy as 'him'! It was a step in the right direction.
A couple of hours after lunch, when JD had once again completely forgotten about the bruise across his cheek, Dr. Cox suddenly popped up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder, causing JD, who had been deeply mesmerized by Mrs. Barsol's chart, to jump and squeak.
"Well good morning there, Newbie. I've been trying to get your attention for the past few minutes and despite my mounting rage you continue to ignore me." There was a tight grin on his twitching face.
JD instinctively took a step back. "I'm sorry Dr. Cox, I'm just trying to figure out what to do with Mrs. Barsol. The chemo didn't seem to work at all, her stats are all dropp—"
"That's great news, Stephanie. Now if you could just focus on me long enough for me to berate you, sign over half my patients to you, and send you on your way, well, that would just be super dandy."
"Dr. Cox, I can't take half your patients, I've really got to figure this—"
"Oh calm down, Newbie, I just need you to look after a couple of comatose patients while I head home for what Jordan has deemed a 'moose tracks emergency'". He laughed humorlessly, most of his anger faded. "And, God help me, it's only been four hours since I last saw her and Jack so I'm due for some fresh humiliation any minute now." He looked back up at JD, smile gone, and slammed two charts down on the nurse's station. "I split the rest of my patients among the actual doctors so that I don't have to worry about you killing anyone."
He turned to go and JD took the opportunity to roll his eyes.
Cox turned back a few feet away. "Oh, and Newbie?"
JD's eyes widened. Had he seen the eye roll?
"Yes, Dr. Cox?" he replied with as much kiss-ass respect as he could muster.
"I thought you broke up with your boyfriend?" JD just gave him a confused look. "Looks like he's still at it." He tapped his own cheek and smirked.
JD felt his face go red. "I tripped!" he shouted to Dr. Cox's retreating back.
Cox just turned and chanted "perfect hair, perfect eyes, and a slight anger problem," as he sauntered down the hall. JD blushed even harder.
Determined to ignore his mentor's taunting, JD quickly glanced over the comatose patients' charts; they were both stable. He was actually surprised that Dr. Cox hadn't given him half his patients like he said he would; it was almost a kind gesture. Almost. Cox had actually seemed stressed out and a little tired. Maybe he just didn't have the energy to really screw over JD's day.
Maybe tomorrow, JD decided.
Despite being thrilled at getting to speak with his friends and Dr. Cox little gesture of almost-kindness, JD still ended up having a bad day. In the end, there were really no other options for Mrs. Barsol, and he was forced to break the news to her that she was going to die. Just like that. JD had been playing games and talking with her for months, but it would be over soon. He didn't think he'd ever get used to this.
Elliot was changing into her scrubs as JD entered the locker room to get ready to go home.
"I heard you got a nasty bruise," Elliot told him, looking interested.
JD shook his head as he pulled his things out of his locker. "It's not that bad. I just tripped over Rowdy."
Elliot, completely dressed and ready for work, took his chin in her hands and inspected his face. "Yeah, it's not that bad. It's actually kind of hard to see."
"Apparently, it's easier in the daylight."
She let go of his face and stuffed her backpack into her locker. "You know, you should tell people you got into a fight or something. Tripping over a stuffed dog really isn't that impressive."
JD smiled at her. "Would you be impressed if I got into a bar fight?" Or slapped by the guy I've been making out with for the past two weeks?
Elliot shrugged. "Maybe. Hey, we should do something tomorrow, we haven't done anything together in ages."
"Definitely," he agreed. "I'm free tomorrow night." JD figured that he could see Daniel tonight so that he could spend tomorrow night with Elliot.
"Sounds great!" She had such a pretty smile. "I'll see you tomorrow."
JD walked by Mrs. Barsol's room on his way out of the hospital and happened to glance in to see the elderly woman moving chess pieces across a board all by herself. He suddenly felt sick, knowing that she was going to die soon and she was all alone. So, taking a deep breath, JD entered the room and played a few games of chess with her. They talked about little things like what was on television and by the end of their third game, Mrs. Barsol was smiling and laughing. JD left the hospital thinking that he should have felt happier since he'd made her smile and feel less alone, but it all just made him sadder that she had to die.
JD arrived at Daniel's house at around ten p.m., about an hour later than he normally arrived. Daniel casually mentioned the time, and asked that JD try to be more consistent with his timing.
"Sure," was all JD said in reply, still feeling down from work.
They watched Hostel, and JD drank more than normal, mostly due to being unable to lose himself in the story line; he ended up still being sad about Mrs. Barsol while being terrified of getting cut up because he was American at the same time. By the end of the movie he had his arm wrapped around Daniel's.
"I am never visiting Eastern Europe," JD announced when Daniel turned off the DVD player.
Daniel chuckled. "The movie obviously wasn't made by the Office of Tourism," he replied, smirking. "But it certainly shines some light on the perception of Americans by other nations."
"Was that what that was all about?" JD asked, his words slightly slurred. "I thought it was just a gore movie."
Daniel smiled at him and leaned in close to his face so that JD could feel his breath on his lips. "Yeah, it was just a gore movie." He closed the distance and kissed him lightly and moved away.
JD was pretty sure that he wasn't just tipsy; he was pretty drunk by this point, and that light airy kiss had felt extra extra good. And when Daniel cozied up to him on the couch, JD melted into his warmth, completely relaxed.
"So why'd you drink so much today?" Daniel asked casually. JD smiled; Daniel was so perceptive, he always knew when something was wrong.
JD told him about Mrs. Barsol (accidentally referring to her as Mrs. Bar-of-Soap several times).
"Even though everything else was going great today, like Dr. Cox not being too mean to me, and Carla and Turk and Elliot all talking to me, nothing could really make up for it, you know? And I had to tell her myself, to her face, that she was going to die and I was going to sit by and watch it happen."
"Wow," Daniel commented when JD broke off. "I can't imagine having to deal with things like that on a regular basis. How do you manage it?"
"I don't know." JD took another drink of his sixth beer. "I don't really have a choice; I just have to get over it. That's what Dr. Cox would say, that's what Kelso would say. Just move on and pretend that she never existed? Pretend that all of my patients are going to live because I'm a good doctor and I'm doing my best, even though that might not have anything to do with it. It's just hard."
"Yeah." Daniel was stroking the back of JD's neck, almost massaging it. It felt good.
"And I think there's something wrong with Dr. Cox," JD continued. "He has always tired. His rants are still annoying, but like today he could have left me with an extra six patients to deal with but he just gave me a couple of comatose patients. He's probably just stressed out. He has a kid now, you know, who's always running around and probably pooping on things. That's what kids do, right? I've never had one."
"This Dr. Cox sounds like kind of a jerk," Daniel broke in.
JD laughed. "Uh, yeah. But he's also an amazing doctor, a great mentor, and he has the body of Adonis." He added in his head: The lucky bastard.
Daniel looked shocked. "You like this Dr. Cox?"
"Sure, he's…really caring on the inside…I'm pretty sure."
"Johnny," Daniel began, appearing unsure of himself. "You don't do any of this stuff with Dr. Cox, do you?"
JD scoffed. "God, no! He refuses to go out with me, and I don't think he likes horror films. He's more of a sports guy…."
"You've asked him out?"
"Yeah," JD admitted, "but he just won't open up to anyone, especially me since apparently I'm too girly."
Daniel sighed in relief. "So he only likes manly men?"
JD turned to look at him, suddenly a little confused. "I guess so. I think he's friends with the janitor."
Daniel smiled at him. "I'm sorry that you had a bad day. Maybe you should just stay away from Dr. Cox. I mean, maybe it's best to just give up on him since he's such an ass about you wanting to start a relationship with him."
JD tried to think about it as hard as he could, but his mind was all fuzzy. "I guess so."
"Good." Daniel leaned in closer and kissed his way down JD's cheek to his neck.
JD moaned. "That's nice," he murmured. He felt Daniel smirk against his neck.
Suddenly Daniel was straddling him, his mouth still paying close attention to his neck. JD leaned back against the couch and let his mind wander away, completely letting himself go to Daniel's touch.
Ten hours later, JD woke up in a familiar situation. He was in a familiar room with a familiar pounding in his head. But when he looked down, he saw an unfamiliar arm stretched across his, for some reason, unclothed stomach. He looked up to see Daniel's sleeping face squished into a pillow next to him.
The familiar feeling of panic crept into JD's system while he began to recall the events of the previous night.
"Oh fuck," breathlessly, was all he could say.