Holy effing eff, I updated. I'd be excited but now we have to worry about the plagues and the four horsemen of death (go me, quoting House on a Scrubs fic. That takes skill.)

Summary: An accident befalls JD, and though all his basic memories like speaking, counting and even his ability as a doctor remains, all but one personal memory is lost, and only Dr. Cox can help him! Will JD ever be able to function properly again? Will he even ever remember who he is? And what's this rivalry between Cox and Turk[CoxJD

Rating: Um, I think it's rated T for now because of the blood, but since it's a CoxJD fanfic, who knows? Maybe I might have to bump up the rating later ...

Regular text.

"Speaking."

Thinking.

(Author's notes within story.)

Chapter Seven: Delayed Reaction

It was dark and quiet. Perry didn't know where he was, but he liked it. Someone was against him, someone he liked. Perry smiled against their skin and felt them wrap their arms around him. A name formed unbidden on his lips.

"JD… "

"Mm, what?"

Perry leapt out of bed. A dream. It was just a dream. Oh. He looked back at the bed to see JD slowly waking up, apparently responding to the sound of his name. He blinked sleepily up at Perry, smiling, and gave a little wave.

"Jesus, what time is it?" Perry muttered and pressed to light button on his watch. Past eight. Carla must've arranged it so no one bothered them, knowing they both needed some rest.

What she hadn't been aware of was that that rest had been in the same bed.

JD sat up, a smile plastered to his face. "Ah, I feel great!" He rubbed his head. Not a single voice. He looked to Perry, then back to the bed, and frowned. "Why were we in the same bed?"

"If you know what's good for you, Newbie, we weren't." The implied threat made JD draw back. For some reason though, the younger doctor didn't quite grasp the threat. There was a twist of emotion under the prickliness that JD sensed, and it wasn't anger. In fact, it was easy to tell what Perry was feeling, as easy as seeing. Perhaps a remnant of his temporary ability.

"Ah, okay, Dr. Cox. Whatever you say." They stared at each other, tension palpable in the air. Tension Perry craved too much to stand. He headed for the door.

"Geez, I can't believe I wasted my afternoon in-" Perry stopped dead. Twisting the door knob, he tensed. It wouldn't budge. Frantically, he turned it harder and yanked. No wonder no one had bothered them- it was locked. Perry kicked the door, which rattled, but remained obstinately unopened. "Damn door!"

JD got up and swayed. Instinctively, Perry clasped his arm and steadied him, then pulled away as if burned. That was way too close…

"What, we're stuck in here?" JD tried the door himself, not as violently though. "Crap!" he exclaimed, then gave a little laugh. "What will the nurses think when they let us out in the morning?"

Perry paled. Oh no, no, no, the nurses would not be letting them out in the morning. He didn't think he could stand a night alone with his own personal Newbie, and even if he did resist either: a) strangling him, or b) … something more tempting at the moment, then the rumors would still be like a bad rash- annoying and persistent. He pressed his face to the long window, cupping his hands against the light. He would have to find someone trustworthy to call over and let them out.

He patted his pockets and found his cell phone- which was dead. After the rain incident, he'd left it in the car overnight and its sad, sad little battery life hadn't made it through the day without a charge. Perry turned to JD, who in turn examined his pockets- he didn't have his cell phone with him.

"This is ridiculous!" Perry exclaimed and looked back out the little window. Maybe two people had gone by in the past five minutes, both nurses. Not the kind of person who needed to be letting the infamous Dr. Cox and his protégé JD out of a locked on-call room.

They waited. Finding someone trustworthy was more difficult than he thought. Once, the Janitor had walked by, but it was JD who jumped up and the man promptly kept walking. Perry swore to beat him over the head with a variety of janitorial objects afterwards. None of Newbie's little girlfriends walked by. They were either home or too busy to stop by the on-call room.

Eventually, Perry sat down on the cot next to JD. Worse came to worse, he would punch through the little window and open the door from the outside. Anything was better than being discovered in the morning. JD looked sideways at him, unsure of what to say to his agitated mentor. He took a breath to speak and Perry interrupted him.

"Don't even think about it, Newbie." To his surprise, JD narrowed his eyes, emanating anger. It was strangely powerful, but Perry didn't let his surprise show.

JD stood up and moved across the room. It was literally painful- the contradiction of Perry's outer action and inner emotion. Without thinking, JD muttered, "Why don't you just tell me how you really feel."

Many people would grant that Perry was not the calmest person, or that he contained rage or even annoyance well. He worked his ass off almost everyday and therefore felt that he had the right to yell at people when it appealed to him then go home and watch his sports and drink his scotch. Now was one of those appealing moments, though a quiet, scalding voice was more effective than a senseless, yelling rage.

"Look here, Newbie, I didn't ask to deal with you. Carla is someone that I would say I have a vague emotion for that is something other than annoyance, and I did her a favor. Don't think that means anything more than it does, because it doesn't." He then twisted the metaphorical knife where it hurt most. "Had anyone else asked, I wouldn't have done it. To tell you the truth, Scarlet, I don't care about you. I really don't. Now be a good little girl and leave me alone."

JD was silent, recoiling from the stinging remark. It really hurt- both the words and the now-major inner/outer contradiction. In fact, it was giving him a headache.

A headache. He had to take some sort of action now. Like a dog traumatized after being hit by a truck, the sound of the headache's engine spurred JD to stand up for himself and fix the unnatural opposition in Perry's head.

"No, you look-"

"Oh, here we go. Mariska's gonna throw a hissy."

JD glared silently, the emanating anger intensifying. Perry felt the pressure of it now, and felt the slightest regret. So this was what it was like to fear Newbie.

"Dr. Cox," JD said calmly. The shift in tone was so surprising that Perry didn't interrupt him. "I don't like this situation any more than you. It's confusing, aggravating and painful, but we can't lie to ourselves." JD flinched at the notion. It actually hurt. "I admit there's something weird going on and I can sense it in you, too." JD got up and walked towards Perry. Perry leaned back, so confused at the power change that he was speechless. JD stopped just inches in front of the older doctor. "So look me in the eye, and tell me the truth."

Perry didn't tell JD the truth. He slowly brought his hands to JD's head and pulled him down, and kissed him. JD went rigid in surprise, then went with it. His headache was melting away. Perry's inner and outer selves were coinciding and it felt great- almost as great as what was happening. Perry breathed harder and pulled JD down, gripping his arms and pressing forward.

"Hello?" The door rattled. "Anyone in there?" With the lights out, the intern couldn't see in the room. Perry leapt up and knocked back on the door.

"Hey! Let me out!" It swung open and Perry brushed passed the confused young man. Leaving JD where he sat, Perry strode down the hall, into the elevator, out the front doors and to his car, all the while his mind whirling. That did not just happen, that did not just happen...

Perry went home and went straight for the scotch. He needed some serious mind-numbing sports and alcohol. That did not just happen...

He touched his lips when he finally sat down. JD had just been there, just moment ago... The roar of the TV couldn't compete with the dark, quiet room in Perry's head, where someone Perry liked was against him. His mind whirled and the scotch only made it more chaotic. That did not just happen…

He fell back and stared at the ceiling, suddenly extremely aware. The unthinkable had just happened, and no matter what he told himself, he wanted more.

Whoooo! Go me! I updated, oh yeah! XD Ok, now EIGHTY of you have this story on your alert list- i expected at least a few reviews. It's only fair. I hope to update when i get back next week but you know me. I don't update. Like, ever. But i will, according to the response I get from this chappie! I love you, readers.