(Okay, yeah, you all can smack me for not getting this up yesterday. Sorry, busy day yesterday; by the time I remembered that I was supposed to update, my brain had sort of switched off. Anyways, thanks again for all the comments; I'm glad to see that you're all enjoying this. Feel free to leave me concrit (concrete criticism) as well if you so desire; I'm always up for improvements. Despite my stupidity, the Saturday update schedule seems reasonable enough, and since this chapter is a bit late, it means you won't have to wait so long for the next ;D)
Perry didn't shout when he woke up this time. Instead, he awoke to the silence of his own bedroom, which was quieter than the night before. He attributed the silence to the absence of Jordan's light snoring; she'd gotten so fed up that she'd taken Jack and gone to her mother's house for the weekend. If only she'd gone the night before, he mused, she would've missed his spectacular sleep-speaking habits.
He didn't get out of bed this time, and instead rolled over, looking out the window and into the Californian night sky. A sequel to his dream, he hadn't expected that. Usually his dreams were isolated incidents, but apparently his brain liked torturing him, because that was what these dreams were to him.
Was his brain trying to tell him something? Was Jordan going to hurt JD or something like that? Perry doubted that Jordan would go to that extreme to get what she wanted, and besides, what could she want from JD? It's not like he was threatening to her in any way…
Would she hurt JD to get back at me?, he thought to himself. No, that was just stupid, wasn't it? He was JD's… just say it, mentor… and that wasn't anything to feel threatened by. So how could she feel threatened by JD?
He rolled over again, this time staring at the wall. JD's cries for help were still haunting him, and he felt guilt ridden for not being able to help. It was only a damned dream!, he thought to himself, smacking his forehead. Besides, it wasn't like he was trying to hurt JD. He was attempting to save him, for fuck's sake! So why did it seem like he was to blame for what was happening to JD? Why were JD's eyes so accusatory?
That was the second night that Perry had trouble falling asleep, and it was worse than the night before.
>>
The next day saw Perry heading to work on four hours of sleep, and that was a scary thing indeed. Cranky, insomniac Perry made even Kelso hide for most of the day, and everyone with a brain kept out of his way as he shuffled down the hall, snapping orders to people and stealing people's coffee randomly out of their hands. They all knew not to complain, and he was happy to note that no one dared shoot him a dirty look all morning.
Even JD was smart enough to keep away. Or maybe, Perry mused, he was still pissed off at the other doctor. Either option suited Perry just fine, because it meant getting to go a whole morning without the kid appearing behind him every two seconds to ask another nagging, annoying question. So by the time his break rolled around, Perry was slightly tolerable to the world.
Everyone knew his break time for that day, and was therefore clear away from the lounge during that period. Everyone, Perry noted, except JD. He saw the man flopped on the couch as he entered, channel turned to a cartoon show. Tsk tsk Newbie, to be killed while watching Sponge Bob. Not a good cliché in sight for that death.
"Hookay, did you not get the memo? Because it clearly stated that everyone was to avoid pissing me off until at least two, and you've managed to be about three hours early from that mark. Good job. Now either move or prepare to be destroyed." By this time, he'd moved from the doorway and was standing in front of JD, blocking his view to the television.
Apparently, JD had grown a pair, because he ignored Perry, staring- if it was possible- through Perry and to the television set. Perry swiped at the side of his nose angrily. Today was so not the day for you to play 'I'm a big girl now.'
"So you've decided to become mute before you die? Really, it's a good change, I'm all for it. In fact, if you weren't the giant obstacle right now between me and my soaps, I might be doing one of your little dorky dances."
No response. What the fuck? Every other person in the hospital would be cringing by now, but JD kept intently staring at Perry's face level, without actually staring at his face, and seemed to be actively attempting to listen to the show. In the silence, JD chuckled a few times at random jokes, and Perry could swear his eyes were following the characters.
Oh, he was so dead.
"Damnit, Newbie!" Perry shouted, breaking the silence. He was fuming now, and the strength of his voice actually caused JD to jump slightly and finally focus on him. "Stop acting like a bratty teenager and listen to me!"
"If anyone is acting immaturely, it's you," JD said quietly.
Time stood still. The earth stopped rotating. JD had openly defied Perry Cox, and even death threats were no effect. Perry wondered for a moment if the space time continuum had somehow torn when he wasn't looking, and if he had been somehow thrust into an alternate dimension. Maybe one where Jordan was as sweet as Elliot, or where Bob Kelso gave out kittens, or where Ted had a full head of hair. Whatever new dimension this was, Perry did not like it. So he did the only thing he could think of.
He stormed out.
Sure, it wasn't exactly the apocalyptic end to JD that he'd threatened, but by god, if JD was going to go and be randomly out of character, then Perry was going to as well. Maybe he'd actually pay attention now.
It took all of Perry's strength not to go back in there and throttle JD. In fact, he had to go into a storage closet and use a broom handle as a substitute. This created a very awkward position when the janitor walked in on him, but even the janitor knew not to mess with Perry today, and it only took a twenty dollar bribe to keep this incident under wraps.
Finally, when he was calm enough to function without swiping the side of his nose every three seconds, he decided to go back into the lounge and defeat this 'new JD' menace once and for all. There would be explosions, light saber battles, crazy car chases… and now he was starting to daydream like JD again. Damnit.
By the time he focused again, his feet had taken him to the lounge door. He peered through the window, but instead of picking out the item he would use to bludgeon JD to death, his eyes opened in surprise when he saw the man he was looking for.
JD was crying. What the hell? Perry had never made JD cry before, at least, not in public. Then again, he didn't realize that he was being watched, so technically, this could be a normal ritual for him. He could've disturbed JD's… crying time. This wasn't Perry's usual break time anyway, so for all he knew, everybody else knew to leave JD alone when times like this came around.
He watched silently as JD brushed away tears, face contorted into miserable pain. No, this wasn't some ritualized catharsis that JD did daily or weekly. This had a definite purpose, Perry was sure of that. What could this possibly be about?
You know what this is about, you idiot, Perry thought to himself. This is about your inability to give a shit about anyone else, so you end up taking your anger out on the poor kid. But surely he'd yelled at Newbie worse than this before? Wha…
It hit Perry like a brick wall. JD had asked him if they could talk about something. Obviously, Perry mused, it was affecting the kid enough to warrant an overreaction to one of Perry's rants. Well, tough. Perry wasn't going to feel guilty about making the kid cry; not if it was only partially his fault.
His emotions said otherwise, as he felt his annoyance wane slightly into… good god, he was actually sympathizing with the kid. What the hell was wrong with him?
Perry decided to leave before he turned into a sobbing mess of guilt ridden goop. However, it took him a few minutes before he could tear himself away from JD silently sobbing in the other room. And if his pager hadn't decided to vibrate just then, Perry had a feeling he might've opened that door and let the kid see a different side of Perry Cox than the one he'd shown moments before.
>>
The first thing he heard when he woke up was the sound of screaming. Horrible, horrible screaming.
Perry covered his ears, moaning and trying to block out the sounds coming out of the darkness. What made it worse was that he recognized the voice.
It was JD's. No doubt about it, the kid was in pain, and that was causing Perry's brain to go into full on panic mode. He sat up slowly, opening his eyes and looking around. Again, there was nothing to see but the ceiling lamp swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Perry once again cursed the glass box he was trapped inside, thinking for a moment that this must be what animals at a zoo or pet store felt like.
The screams continued, and Perry began slamming his fists against the glass, desperate for them to stop. He began to match them in tone and volume, hoping to block them out or maybe get JD to hear him and somehow be reassured that he at least shared some of the pain. Of course, he couldn't exactly say he was in as much pain as the kid had to have been at the moment.
Eventually, it became too much, and Perry curled into a ball, covering his ears once more. He began to hum to himself, vibrations echoing in his eardrums, but nothing worked. He was just about to begin banging his head against the glass when the screaming stopped.
The silence, he reflected, might've been worse than the screaming. He wondered what it meant. Was JD gagged now? Unconscious? Dead? He refused to think about the last one, instead hoping that they'd just stopped torturing the poor kid.
Apparently, he'd gotten his wish, as he heard a sliding sound, and the woman from before walked into the light, dragging a rope behind her. It ended, tied around JD's waist, and she dragged him to the center of the pool of light, letting him rest there, clearly unconscious, but, to Perry's relief, still breathing. There was a gash on his right cheek, slashed over the cut from before, and then Perry realized that his right leg was in an awkward position. "You broke his fucking leg!" he shouted, standing up and glaring at the woman in the most disgusted, angry face he could conjure. She said nothing, only stared back.
"How the fuck could you do that to him, Jordan?" he asked, voice dropping to desperation. "What did he ever do to you? How could you hurt him like that… why?"
There was silence, and she walked off, back into the blackness.
Perry dropped to his knees, grasping his face in his hands and sobbing into them. "What the fuck is going on?" he whispered to himself, leaning back against the glass. "Why is this happening?"
He calmed himself down enough to look over to JD, who was still unconscious. "JD!" he called out. There was no response. "JD!" he yelled, louder than before. Again, nothing.
"NEWBIE?!"
Perry sighed with relief when a groan escaped his protégé's lips. Slowly, JD's eyes opened, filled with apprehension at first. When he saw Perry, however, he gave the older man a slight smile, croaking "Hey, Dr. Cox," from parched lips. He coughed, and then winced.
"Kid… I'm sorry." Perry stared at JD, eyes as sad and worn as the other man's. "I feel like somehow this is my fault. If I hadn't wanted to take that damned shortcut… and now…" He pressed a hand to his forehead, cursing every god he could think of. It didn't matter if they were real or not, it was all of their faults anyways.
"It's ok Dr. Cox." JD began coughing again, but continued speaking when his body had calmed down. "I understand. If I need to get hurt, it's only because it'll help you in the end, right?"
Perry's head shot up, eyes filled with confusion. "What are you talking about, Newbie?" he asked. "How will it help me?"
JD only smiled. As Perry watched, he closed his eyes, and slipped back into unconsciousness. "Newbie? NEWBIE!" Perry lunged forwards, slamming his fists back and forth into the glass. "DAMNIT, NEWBIE, ANSWER ME! TELL ME WHAT YOU MEAN!"
The only response was the hanging silence in the air. Perry blacked out long before he'd used up the last of his strength against the glass wall, fading back into the blackness; the picture of the broken JD burned into the back of his skull.
>>
Perry was getting tired of this.
When he woke up this time, the first thing he did was get out of bed and grab a glass of scotch. He didn't care if it wouldn't help, people should always have a soothing drink after a nightmare, and considering his nightmares, Perry wished he could drown in a bottle of the stuff. Stupid work in the morning.
It might've been one in the morning, but that didn't stop Perry Cox from picking up the phone and dialing JD's cell phone. He paced anxiously as the ringer came on, and was just about to leave a message, when the prerecorded female voice stopped, and a groggy, male one started.
"Dr. Cox?"
"Newbie, good. You're up."
"Up…? What the fuck? It's one in the morning. Why the hell are you calling me now?"
"I need to talk to you."
"AT ONE IN THE GODDAMNED MORNING?"
Ok, he was definitely awake now. Perry didn't feel like arguing however, so he decided to change the tone to a serious one.
"I'm… worried."
"…oh."
Now JD was listening. Perry noted with amusement that the kid could go from raging angry, to slightly concerned but calm, in all of three seconds.
"Aren't you even going to ask what about?"
"Well, what about?"
"… you."
Perry wondered if the universe could take two breaches of the natural order in one day. Perry Cox, worried about another human being? It was inconceivable. Of course, Wallace Shawn had uttered those same words in The Princess Bride, and look what happened to him. But Perry was worried less about a duel of intelligence to the death at that moment, and more about the person he was currently on the phone with.
"Dr. Cox, if this is a joke, I'll… well, I'll do something to annoy you. Really, really badly."
"It's not." Perry heard himself utter the words in complete seriousness, and for the first time, realized what he was doing. The fact that he didn't mind that he was opening up made his brain do a double-take, but he pressed onwards. "You haven't been yourself lately. Yeah, I know I can be an ass, but not enough to get you to…" Perry was walking a thin line now. He could reveal that he'd seen JD crying, but would JD get mad and hang up, or actually listen to him?
He decided to take a chance. "… to get you to cry."
The line was silent for a moment, and Perry was afraid that JD had hung up. His fears were calmed, however, when JD spoke again. "So you saw that, huh?"
"You, blubbering on yourself? Kind of hard to miss."
"You were looking through the doorway."
"Huh? How'd you know?"
Perry thought he could hear JD blushing. "I, um, saw you come up to the door out of the corner of my eye. I didn't want to scare you away though."
"You tell anyone about this-"
"-and my death will be quick and painful, got that." JD gave a little chuckle, and Perry was surprised to find himself laughing along with the kid. Hey, he was tired, and it was early in the morning. It wasn't because JD was actually funny or anything, or that his giggle made Perry's stomach jump a little. Nope, those were total coincidences.
"So let me cut to the chase. You wanted to talk about something? There's a bar, Murphy's, down the street from my house. We could walk down there, have a few beers, maybe find a cute guy for you to go home with." Perry was pleased to hear JD laugh at this. "What do you say?"
"Sure, Dr. Cox. I'll go on a date with you."
Perry's eyes widened, but when he heard JD laughing over the phone, he calmed down, pushing away the feelings welling up in his throat. "In your dreams, Newbie," he said. "Now get some sleep."
"Goodnight, Dr. Cox."
"Night, Newbie. Oh, by the way, do me a favor."
"What's that?"
"Promise me you'll never go into darkened alleyways alone?"
"Uh…"
"Yeah I know, weird request: just do it, okay?" Perry waited, hoping JD would take him seriously.
"Alright."
(Note: Wallace Shawn played Vizzini in the film version of The Princess Bride. Great book, highly recommend you read it, and the movie is still my favorite movie of all time. If the little joke there threw you for a loop, go Wiki the film to see what the hell Perry was talking about :D)