Carla and Lavern were in their normal spot behind the counter at the nurse's station. They were about three hours away from the end of their shift. From their vintage point behind the counter, the two women were able to hear and see a lot of what went on around the hospital. Not much got past them. And Dr. Cox certainly hadn't. The ladies had noticed the excessive consumption of coffee. And they had noticed that he was working non-stop, without any interest in taking a break or even stopping to tear apart an intern's confidance.
The miserable doctor himself walked up to the nurse's station unsuspecting. He grabbed his fourth patient's file that night and started flipping through it.
"Hey, Dr. Cox?"
"Huh?" Cox looked up at Carla.
"Are you okay?"
"Aaargh!" Dr. Cox growled and beat his file against his head several times.
"Gees, Perry. Take it easy."
Dr. Cox put down his file, leaned his elbows on the counter and buried his face in his hands. "You ladies are never gunna leave me alone."
"I take it we're not the first," Lavern said on the side.
Carla leaned over the counter to Cox. "Look Perry. Anybody who knows you can tell you are not having a good day."
"Do I ever?" he asked sarcastically.
Carla gave him a 'shut up' look and continued. "I am a nurse, you are surrounded by doctors, this is a hospital. It doesn't take long for someone to notice."
Cox looked up from his hands. His eyes were darker and red. Carla had never seen the man in such a pitiful state.
"Did you take the muffin from Bambi?"
Cox rolled his eyes and mumbled into his hands, "No."
"Perry, Bambi really wants to help you. But if you don't want him bothering you then you should do something about this problem of yours, because everyone can tell…" Carla paused. "Is it Jordan?"
"If I hear you say that name one more time, I am going to make myself believe that you are someone other than Carla so that I do not regret it for the rest of my life when I throw you off the roof along with everyone else who pisses me off tonight…" he stared at Carla's unblinking gaze for a minute. "Yes, it's Jordan."
"Oh, Perry…"
"Appbupbupbup!" Cox said standing upright and holding up his hands. "No pity party. That just makes it worse! I am going to finish my shift and go pass out in the on-call room until my next shift. Any problem with that? Wait don't…"
"Yes. You need to apologize to Bambi. He's worried sick about you. Eat a muffin for his sake. For the love of God, you're cheeks are hollow and you're pale as a ghost. Bambi won't be happy till he sees you eat something."
"Is the little girl really that worried about me?"
"Yes. You should go talk to him. And you should eat something."
Cox and Carla looked at each other for a minute. Eventually Cox grabbed his file off the counter and started walking down the hall. He flipped through the file absentmindedly as his thoughts raced. He knew JD was fond of him, and that he worried about him to some extent. JD cared a lot for his friends. Although, he wasn't sure if JD considered him a friend. Mentor, that's what he was. The father he never had. The hug that he wanted so badly. The tin man who needed a heart. That's what he was… And when he showed JD the smallest bit of approval, the boy glowed so brightly… But it was nothing more than that, right? Cox ran a hand over his face. Why was he pushing away something so sweet and warm when most men could only dream of it? Because, pushing him away seemed to be keeping him around so far, that's why. What if being nice would do the opposite? What if it didn't? Why the hell was he thinking about this so much? What was he, a girl? Oh my god!
He turned into his next patient's room. It was the thug from 4 nights ago. "Let me guess. Infection?"
"Man, I don't know." The kid shrugged. "Das what dat hot nurse told me. She stupid. I just got a fever. Infections don't cause fevers."
"Listen Puff Daddy, you are the ignorant one in this situation. First of all, when you're screwing around with a weapon, make sure that the safety is on, second make sure you know how to use the damn thing, third don't shoot yourself in the leg you moron, and fourthYES an infection does cause a fever, you IDIOT!"
"What you sayin?" the kid stood up wanting to face him off.
"I'm sayin, that you do not talk about my nurses like that, especially when you have no idea what the hell you're talking about! I'm sayin that you're a nitwit. And I'm sayin that if you don't sit your ass back down I will call security."
"Damn, man." The kid sat back on the bed.
Dr. Cox huffed. "Thanks." He looked back down at his chart. "Alright, I'm going to give you a prescription for prednisone and…" he started swaying. He was suddenly lightheaded and he could feel his heart racing spastically. His hand clutched his chest automatically. The world around him started spinning. He caught himself on the edge of Puff Daddy's cot to keep from falling. He forced some coughs and tensed all the muscles in his body. After a minute of this, he felt his heart begin to slow down again. His body felt week and he suddenly felt extremely tired.
"Hey man, you iight?"
Dr. Cox looked up at the kid and gave him a quick nod. He stood up and recomposed himself as best he could. "Okay, Puff Daddy. I'm…" He stopped for a breath, "…gunna give this prescription to one of my very well educated nurses and she'll take care of you."
The kid nodded and watched as Dr. Cox walked slowly out of the privacy curtain.
Okay, that was it. When he starts showing signs of illness in front of patients, he needs to get some rest. He handed off the file to one of the nurses and left for the on-call room.