Dun, dun dun! Last chapter! I'd like to thank you all for reading, and for reviewing! It's been great!

I'd like to know what you think of this - I sort of think that maybe the story ends too quickly, and that JD is perhaps a little out of character, both for the actual show and for my story. But I don't know.

I didn't see JD the next day. Or the next. Or the next. I went into the hospital and was told that he'd taken his first couple of days off in a year as he was moving into a new apartment. I was torn between leaving him be and going and sticking my nose in to see how everything was working out. Well, I say I was torn, but I knew the entire time which side was going to win out.

That was why, on the fourth day, after visiting the address I had frightened out of one of the nurses, I was waiting somewhat impatiently for the front door to open. When it finally did, Newbie was standing in front of me in jeans and a T-shirt.

"Hi." I greeted lamely. He raised an eyebrow, a very, very small smile playing on his lips.

"You don't need to seem so taken aback. You were expecting me to be here, right? " Inwardly, I was flooded with relief that he seemed to be ok. Not back to how he used to be, certainly, but better.

"Well, yeah, but… I don't know." I eventually said, shrugging. He rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, did you want something?" I froze for a second, unsure of what I'd actually intended to do here. In the end, I returned to something I knew I'd done a long time ago.

"We're going out for a drink." I told him, and after taking a second to check he was wearing shoes, I grabbed his arm and pulled him to my car.

I drove us to the same bar we'd gone to on that first day, though we took a seat at a table in the corner rather than at the bar.

"So how are you?" I asked, interrupting the silence.

"I don't know… As good as I can be, I guess."

"The hospital said you took a few days off to move." I said as a question. He shrugged.

"I talked to my mom, and… Well living with her isn't going to work out." He was quite for a few minutes, lost in his thoughts, though not one of his old day dreams. Quite honestly, I didn't really believe I'd ever see one of those again. Still now wasn't the time to bring that up. I could read between the lines after all; looked like his mom really meant what she said. "She's going to live with her sister, somewhere." He added.

"Oh." I replied. "What about you?" He shrugged.

"I…I don't know. I think I'm gonna stay here." I was shocked. I'd thought that he'd love to come home.

"Wh…What?"

"Come one, Perry. I just bought my own place here and I'm doing well at the hospital." He hesitated for a second. "Harsh as it sounds, I think getting away from my friends at Sacred Heart has let me the kind of doctor I've always wanted to be." I got the impression that when he said 'friends' he was including me too. I supposed what he sad was fair. As nice as it was to have good friends at work, it was easy to get reliant on them. And in terms of developing as a doctor, it was probably easier for him not to have any outside demands on him. He seemed to have sensed my disappointment (I was finally able to admit that that was how I felt) at what he'd said as he carried on. "I mean I might come back eventually, in a few years, but for now…" I took a long sip of my drink and he followed suit.

"How are you doing? You know…emotionally." I still wasn't quite able to say that without a tinge of sarcasm.

"I'm…I'm ok." He didn't say anything more, but I understand. He didn't mean ok, as in 'I'm fine', he meant ok as in 'I'm totally lost but I'm not comfortable delving that deep into my emotions right now.' I'd been there myself. But I knew that to help him, he'd have to say a little more.

"Do…Do you still think it's your fault?" He nodded slowly.

"Don't get me wrong, it means a lot that you don't blame me, but… I can't change how I feel." He paused to take another drink. "I'm…God this is going to sound soppy…but I'm not sure who I am anymore." We looked at each other and both chuckled. That was pretty much the end of any deep conversation we had that day.

I popped round to JD's apartment the next day. I really needed to get back to the hospital, and although I didn't want to leave so soon after getting through to him, I didn't really have a choice.

We were sat in his living room, neither of us saying anything until we'd finished our coffee.

"Well, Newbie, it's been good seeing you again." He nodded.

"You should come again." He invited, although it sounded a bit empty. I didn't expect to see him again any time soon. He wanted space, and I understood that.

"Er…I was wondering, what am I supposed to be telling your gal pals when I get back?" He shrugged.

"Do you really need to tell them anything?" I rolled my eyes.

"You have met them." He shrugged. I sighed. "Look it, the way I see it is I can either tell them the truth, and they'll be visiting you and phoning you every minute of the day, or I can tell them you're fine and dandy, and they'll be visiting you and phoning you every minute of the day. So which would you prefer?"

"You could just tell them I'm busy." He suggested.

"Ok, here's an idea. How about you come back with me and tell them whatever the hell you want." He stiffened.

"Perry, I've already said that-"

"I don't mean to stay. I mean that if you dropped by to say hi, that should buy me…oh, at least a week of them not bothering me."

"How can I do that?!" He blurted out, standing up. "Huh? 'Cause I could swear we talked yesterday about how lost I am right now." I stood up to.

"It's easy, Mary-Beth. You stare off into the distance and say stupid things all the time. No one will be any the wiser. So you've got between now and when I get to the bottom of the stairs, because someone didn't see fit to live in an apartment block with an elevator, to make you mind up." I turned and stormed out the front door and marched down the steps.

By the time I'd reached the parking lot, I'd given up on him chasing after me and suspected that I'd never hear from him again. But he always did surprise me.

"I can't be him anymore." He called after me. I froze. "I can't stare off into the distance without thinking about everything I want to ignore, and I can't say stupid random stuff without all the things I want to hide from them coming out. I can't even pretend to be him anymore." I turned around to face him, a small smile on my face.

"Then you're going to have to find someone new to be, Newbie. And I'm willing to bet that to do that you need to really think about who you used to be. So are you coming?" I opened the car door on the driver's side.

"Yeah. I think I am."

The End

I'm actually really proud of myself. This is really the first multi-story chapter I've ever finished. It's also the first story I've ever really had any reviews for.

Thanks!