A/N: Thank you for the reviews; they made my day :) Also, I corrected that mistake about "Christ Turk". Made me giggle though.

There's nothing worse than that tug somewhere between your heart and your stomach which can only signal a very bad thought, especially when it's coupled with the realisation that you may have been a little hasty in following your tray of egg salad and pudding to greener pastures. I'm halfway to paediatrics, cradling my right hand – definitely bruised and probably broken from countless "egg salad fives" from Todd at lunch - when that feeling, somewhere between heartache and nausea, creeps up on me.

'You mean no one has even told him yet?'

Carla's indignant, slightly Spanish accented voice reaches my ears only too clearly. I pause, mid-step, and tilt my head to the side, listening intently.

'I cannot believe this!' She continues, 'Of all the things that he needs to know, this is the most important one!'

'Well he obviously doesn't know, does he?' Elliot's voice chimes in, just as defensively, 'It's typical. It's just so typical that Doctor C-'

I slide up to the nurse's station, smooth as jello, and grin at them both.

'Whatcha talkin' about?' I ask sweetly.

They instantly smile back and, as though in practised unison, shrug their shoulders, put their heads on one side and reply: 'Nothing!'

I eye them suspiciously, but they are saved by the bell, or should I say, the telephone.

'Is there a Winona here?' Asks a nurse I don't recognise, as she casts her eyes around the room, 'There's a call for a Winona.'

I sigh and feel my shoulders sag a little.

'That's me,' I mutter.

She looks at me almost worriedly, 'No, I don't think-'

'Trust me, lady,' I assure her, and reach out for the handset.

'Ah, sweetums,' says Doctor Cox's voice from the end of the line, 'Glad you were back from the salon in time to take my call.'

'Hello Perry,' I say in my haughtiest voice, 'How's the weather where you are?'

'Blah blah blah – enough with the chit chat,' he replies, 'I know I said I would be back at the hospital today, but plans changed, so I won't be in until tomorrow. Think you can remember that?'

'Mmm,' I murmur obediently.

'Atta girl,' Cox says before hanging up the phone.

'Well I hope it's raining!' I retort and then slam the receiver down into its cradle. I pause for a second, lift the handset again and add, 'Really hard!'

When I go to lift the telephone for the third time, Carla puts a hand on my arm to stop me.

'JD?' She says, 'He's gone.'

I look down at my shoes, 'I know,' I sigh.

'Do you miss him?' She asks.

'No,' I reply, too quickly.

She looks at me with an expression that makes me want to know what she's thinking.

'Good,' she nods and gives me a half smile.
As she turns to go, the words fall out of my mouth before I realise that I'm saying them.

'Do you think he misses me?' I ask in a rush.

She looks at me with that unreadable look on her face.

'I hope so,' is all that she says.

That night, my shift ends at seven and I stroll through the hospital with my jacket and backpack on to meet Turk, Elliot and Carla at the front desk. They're all waiting for me as I approach. I smile fondly to myself at my friends. My urban family. Just as I'm about to relay my sentimental thoughts to them on the subject, guaranteed to make Carla say 'Aww!', and possibly even make Elliot cry, the automatic doors at the front of the hospital slide open and Jordan walks in.

Jordan is Doctor Cox's ex-wife. They have a baby and, as far as I can tell, are very happy together, as long as they stay divorced. In my head, thunder rolls and lightning slices through the air whenever Jordan appears anywhere. I often wonder where she hides her broomstick. She nods in our general direction, which would seem like a polite gesture if you didn't know, as I do, that she is merely alerting the flying monkeys as to who her next chosen victims are. Elliot clearly doesn't know about the monkeys. She bounds up to Jordan and we, begrudgingly, follow.

'Hey Jordan!' Elliot grins enthusiastically.

'Oh look,' Jordan replies, 'It's the contents of the Mystery Machine. Here's a tip: it was either the creepy janitor, or the Mayor all along.'

Elliot either ignores her, or just plain doesn't get it. 'What are you doing here so late?' She asks instead.

'I needed to pick up some papers. We only just got home from New England and I'm exhausted. Perry insisted on dragging me round at least twenty different houses, half of which looked like something out of The Brady Bunch. They're all so perfect and bland. I don't know why he would even want to buy a house like that.'

I let out a snort of incredulous laughter, 'Why would Doctor Cox want to buy a house in New England?' I ask.

Jordan looks at me with an expression that says, 'You do the math, genius.'

Realisation dawns on me like a slap in the face. I look round at my friends. They all look back at me with the same worried and guilty expressions.

'You knew about this?' I ask them in disbelief.

I get no reply. We all know the answer anyway. Carla and Elliot's secret conversation and everybody's sad expressions at lunch begin to make sense.

'Why didn't he tell me?' I ask nobody in particular. Nobody answers.

I nod, even though I don't understand. I feel like an idiot.

'But JD,' Elliot says quickly, sounding desperate, 'This is just a change. You love change, remember? Change is your new favourite thing!'

Everybody in the group cringes visibly except Elliot. I turn away wordlessly and walk away towards the main doors of Sacred Heart.

'JD…' Turk says in a tired, sympathetic voice, trailing off to nothing because he knows form experience that it's no use.

'JD, wait!' I hear Carla and Elliot call after me.

'Gee,' Jordan says as I'm walking through the doors, so that I can hardly hear her, 'I almost feel bad for the kid.'