A sigh escaped J.D.'s lips as he woke up to a new day of stressful interns, flocks of patients and the usual rants from doctor Cox. He instantly knew that this will not be a good day, not because of the said reasons, but because today he was starting a new treatment.

Unbeknown to anyone but Turk, J.D. had been struggling with serious health problems since the age of 3. He was born with his left kidney smaller than the right and it had taken a toll on his entire childhood, as well as his adulthood. In fact, he could not point to a single spot in his life where he wasn't constantly troubled by all the antibiotic treatments he had to endure and their side effects. The problem he had always caused repeated urinary tract infections or, for short, UTI's.

When he turned 18, a blood test confirmed more damage to his health: he was positive for Epstein-Barr, a virus that caused his system to manifest allergic reactions, even though he wasn't allergic to anything. His immune system was so low because of all the antibiotic treatments that he literally felt in a continuous game of Russian roulette. If he presented another UTI, he had to be started on more antibiotics which would crash any progress he made with the other problem.

Today was June 18th, his birthday. He was turning 28… And his mind was on one memory alone…

-24 years ago-

"Mommy… Mommy, I'm sick…"

A three year old J.D. was shaking his mother's arm at 5 a.m. His mother woke up just as J.D. started running towards the bathroom. He emptied all the content of his stomach, thing that left him powerless. With tears in her eyes, his mother carried him to bed again.

"Baby, try and get some more sleep. I know you're ill, but I know a certain boy that turns 4 today, yes?"

J.D. smiled tiredly and drifted to sleep. His mother searched the halls for the doctor that was on call that night. That's right, J.D. was in the hospital for more research on his condition and his mother insisted that she stayed with him during this time.

"Excuse me doctor, but my son has been feeling really ill these past days. Are you sure this is normal?"

The doctor put a comforting arm on her shoulder.

"Yes Mrs. Dorian, I assure you that they are just the side effects from the antibiotics he is currently on. Since the virus we're dealing with here is E. Coli, it is a bit difficult to get rid of, especially since, in your son's case, it is resistant to almost all of the other treatments. We had no choice but to put him on the stronger ones that the virus was sensitive to."

She nodded and made her way back to the room her son was in to try and get a wink of sleep.

J.D. slowly opened his eyes to the light of a new day. He looked over to the clock on the side table and noticed it was only 9 a.m. Since his mom was still asleep, he decided to open the window and listen to the singing birds for a while. It was, after all, a beautiful Sunday morning and his birthday as well. Looking to his right, he noticed the park was already half full with other kids and their parents. The children seemed to be having so much fun… They all had wide smiles on their faces and the occasional laughter could be heard all the way to J.D.'s window. A solitary tear escaped his eye as countless thoughts, unfit for a 4 year old, made their way into his mind. Why couldn't he be like the children in the park?

"Honey, happy birthday!"

His mother went to hug him when she noticed that he was crying.

"John, sweetie, what's the matter?"

J.D. looked up and, with a quivering voice, asked:

"Mommy, am I not allowed to be like the others because I'm a monster?"

His mother gasped and could not believe her ears. With tears in her eyes, she hugged her son and assured him that what was happening had nothing to do with not being able to be in the park with the others. With a promise that they would soon pay the park a visit, J.D. wiped his tears and prepared for the morning procedure he had to go through, which was an urography.

Basically, J.D. had to lay still on an x-ray table, while a tube was inserted in the back of his hand to shoot a special dye through his bloodstream and all the way to the kidneys to see if there were any specific problems that caused all the pain and UTI's. It was also known as an intravenous urogram or IVU.

His mother, along with the doctor, explained to him as best they could that every five minutes he had to hold his breath and that during the procedure he had to lay still as well.

With tears in his eyes, J.D. told them that he understood and asked for his teddy bear, at the time being his only friend.

"I'm so sorry honey, but we cannot bring foreign objects near you during the x-ray…"

J.D. nodded and just looked at the ceiling as his mother stepped out of the room.

After the procedure was over, J.D. and his mother headed for the hospital lounge. As soon as they came through the doors, three nurses and his doctor shouted "Happy birthday, Johnny!". J.D. smiled widely and, even though it was a hospital, he couldn't have been happier that he actually got a cake and presents as well.

From then on, everyone knew J.D. as the boy who always smiled. Known only to him, the day he blew those candles, a part of his soul had actually died…

-Present time-

Only when looking in the mirror that morning did J.D. realize that he started crying somewhere along the way of this memory. He took a shower, changed into his scrubs and rode the long way to Sacred Heart on his scooter, Sasha.

Entering the hospital, he could already make out that it was going to be a busy day, since Elliot and Carla both had the day off.

"Morning, Scooter! Nice day for a prank, isn't it?"

J.D. rolled his eyes at the Janitor and continued on his way to the nurse's desk, where doctor Cox, as well as doctor Kelso were discussing a patient. As he asked Laverne for the charts of that day, he could hear something along the lines of "5 year old girl" and "E. Coli". He frowned, thinking that the memories of this morning took a strain on him. Just as he was about to see his first patient for the day, a whistle pierced his ears.

"Newbie, come!"

J.D. sighed and turned towards doctor Cox.

"Now, Marcia, I know how unfair you think it is that Barbie and Carla shoved their work on you, but by God, get it through your thick little head once and for all: life isn't fair. The reason I am repeating myself is because I need you to take on an extra case for today and before you start whining on me again, little Betty, you should know that Bobbo will have your soul if you don't take the damn case, mkay?"

While preparing for a wise ass remark from the kid, Perry didn't expect what came next. He literally saw the blood drain from J.D.'s face as he read the chart.