I still can't believe how many reviews I have got. Yey! I feel so popular. I thought this time I would reply to the reviews. I won't be doing this every chapter because I feel it interrupts the flow, but just as a treat:P
Vegela – Thanks for constant support with this story, I really do appreciate your reviews and I'm so glad you're enjoying the story!
Purerandomness – Yes, I think it did hurt JD a lot, lol. God help me, I love JDA. Thanks for the positive review :D Keep reading!
Mistress Anei Kasai – Sorry for keeping you waiting so long, I've had my nursing studying to contend with! But finally this chapter is up! Hope you like!
The pills go in your mouth – Awesome name by the way. Lol. Yeah, sorry about all the cliffhangers. It drives me mad when I read other people's stories and they do that, now I'm doing it myself :D
Erica – That's exactly what I was aiming for really. I want the reader to have absolutely no idea what is going to happen and I love twists and turns. Trust me, we're not quite done with them yet either. Thanks!! Hopefully, I won't make it too complicated though!
Vaoni – Lol, don't die! I hope this chapter resuscitates you!
LilviorX – Thanks for the review! I'm really glad your enjoying the story. I won't give you any spoilers really, but I do have to say unfortunately there's not gonna be any slash! Please don't kill me. I don't really think it's a realistic ending for this story but don't worry, there will be some good Coxy and JD moments later on, but not slashy :P Sorry :D
Bree1387 – Thanks for the tip about hyperglycemia, lol. I really need to get my nursing head on :D Would have really messed up the story had you not noticed! Glad you're enjoying.
PurplePebble – I'm glad you're enjoying. Yeah, it's taken a long vacation this time! I've known what I've wanted to write for ages, it's just writing it that's been the problem. I've been putting off writing the first paragraph for a long time. But finally here it is, hope you enjoy!
Vindictive Muse – I hate Dave too! Lol, but he's great to write. I still don't feel I've gotten enough depth out of the character yet though, so in later chapters I think I will delve a little deeper! At the moment, he kinda feels like a B Movie criminal or something! Lol, thanks for the review!
Pinching – DUN DUN DUN! Is it Elliot? Is it not? The wait is over:D Thanks for the review!
Rabid-squirell-3 – I'll throw a pillow on the floor to cushion your fall! Thank you for your reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying!
Alexa – Thank you for the review. To be honest, I don't really want to comment on any of that really. But I appreciate your compliments and please keep reading!
I-Shave-Clowns – Ah, a proposal, thank you:P I'm glad you're enjoying!
Fiona – Thank you!! (sorry I gotta cut these short now, it's kind of taking over the page, lol)
Psamiad – Yeah, Cox was unnecessarily mean but he was trying to see how far he could push JD before he snapped. Plus, it makes the aftermath all the more interesting! Thanks for the review :D
Sanskrit – Thank you! Hope I haven't kept you waiting too loooooong.
Iconic Superheroes – Yes, this is pretty sick. And I have worried at times whether it's been too graphic, but that really is only a couple of chapters and most of the graphic stuff is done with now, it has been rather exhausting to write but I wanted to get across the true horror of what his friends were watching. I'm glad you like it though, keep reviewing!
Isabella Rosellini – Yeah, in my head he's my lover too, haha! Glad your enjoying!
OKAY, please don't be too confused by the beginning of this chapter. May seem an odd way of doing things but it works in my head :D Enjoy! This is a pretty short chapter by the way! Sorry!
I don't really know where I am at the moment. I feel completely at peace. It's strange, like floating. As corny as it sounds... My mind feels clear... unburdened. Like it's been set free from a lifetime of captivity. I can almost feel a cool, soothing breeze sweeping through my mind, cleansing everything it touches. I feel clean. Am I dead? At this moment, I really don't know... I could be. If I am, I don't think I mind too much... this place is too pleasant.
Somewhere in the distance I can hear soft voices. I can't make out what they are saying, but each time they speak, they grow louder. They're coaxing me back to a place I'm not sure I want to go. I'm torn. In these voices I can hear sorrow and torment, with each word a little bit of this peace is stripped away. I can't remember how I've ended up in this place, but now I'm here, I'm not sure I want to leave. But for some reason I'm being pulled back. The voices are growing louder as I'm being dragged away from my eden. Slowly, everything grows darker, until all that was once light is gone. The voices have become faint mumblings, but there is a steady beeping sound which is already driving me insane.
Suddenly, my mind feels heavy. I feel heavy. A shudder of reaction moves through me as I take a deep breath. I move my head to reacquaint myself with my body, it feels heavy, and almost foreign. To be honest, I nearly forgot it was there.
After what seemed like hours, which in reality was probably only a minute or two, the voices finally started to make sense. It was like emerging from underwater after holding your breath for a long time. Everything was much clearer.
"JD?... JD.. open your eyes sweetie. Talk to me."
I knew that voice... Carla. She had been the one calling me back. I couldn't help but smile slightly at the thought of her mothering me.
"Sweetie, come on... Don't you smile at me! Please, try to open your eyes."
Suddenly, I felt my heavy eyelids try to open. It's strange, I had almost completely forgotten that I had eyes that needed to be opened. No wonder it was so dark.
"That's it, try again."
Obviously didn't succeed on the first attempt. I feel my heavy eyelids try to force themselves open again. A flash of dim light slid through the slight gaps but once again, the weight of my eyelids and the lack of control I seemed to have over my body at the moment drew them to a close.
"Come on JD, you can do it."
And I believed her. Third time lucky! This time my eyelids managed to slide open and amazingly, stay open. Everything was blurred. The room wasn't particularly bright, it was obviously night time. As my eyes tried to focus I heard Carla shout for a doctor. It took a while, but eventually my vision was clear... thank God.
As the feeling returned to my limbs I started to feel whole again and realized that Carla was holding onto my hand. I felt kinda cheated because in movies whenever anyone wakes up in hospital, they always say 'where am I?'. But I knew just where I was.
I managed to focus on Carla's face, she had tears in her eyes but she was smiling. Although she seemed completely happy and excited to see me (who wouldn't be?), something was wrong. She looked tired, her face was drawn through obvious lack of sleep, her usually perfect curly hair hadn't been touched by a brush for God knows how long and her eyes were dark with worry and sorrow. Then the second most common question hit me as I tried to find my voice.
"W-what happened?"
Unfortunately, Carla was given no time to answer as the doctor swept her out of JD's way. However, he could still feel her reassuring grip on his hand telling him she wasn't going anywhere.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Burne. Welcome back. Sorry about shifting Carla out of your sight for a little while but I just need to do a couple of checks with you to make sure that everything's working fine for you upstairs, okay?"
JD nodded silently in response, obviously having a little trouble taking in everything the doctor had said.
"Okay, I'm sure you know the drill, I'm just going to check your eyes," He shined the light into JD's eyes causing him to squint slightly at the sudden intensity. "Okay, great. Everything looks normal. Now I just need to ask you a few easy questions, if you have any difficulty thinking of an answer, don't worry. This is just an initial check and it's quite common to experience a little memory loss so soon after waking up. Okay?"
Once again, JD nodded silently.
"Right, great. Okay, can you please tell me your full name?"
JD looked at the doctor as if he had jumped off another planet. He never realized how stupid he must have sounded asking patients those sorts of questions.
"I never said the questions were hard, I'm sorry, you know aswell I do. This has to be done."
JD's voice broke as he tested his vocal chords for a second time.
"J-Jonathan Michael Dorian."
"Okay, and where are you right now?"
"Sacred Heart Hospital."
"Great, how old are you Jonathan?"
"Please, call me JD. I'm 28."
"Okay, JD, and do you know why you are here?"
Oh God, I can't think for the life of me why I might be here!
I close my eyes and try to think, when I realize I have no memory of any injuries my eyes shoot open. I know I'm looking at the man and he is talking to me but I'm not hearing any words. My heart must have skipped about ten beats. How can I not remember? Something so major and I can't remember. I can feel myself panicking and my breathing is getting heavier. I think I'm starting to hyperventilate, I shift my arms to try to sit myself up but an excruciating pain shoots through my wrists and my ribs. I feel light headed, I'm going to pass out. I can hear voices telling me to calm down and stop moving, then a broad hand clasps me on the shoulder. I flinch as the pain in my ribs takes me back to my painful memories, they all come flooding through as the gates open. They flash before my eyes like lightning bolts in a storm, each one stronger than the last. When I feel I can't experience anymore, blissful darkness rescues me.
Carla stood by the window of JD's hospital room. She had to get out of the suffocating atmosphere for just a few minutes at least. She had spent most of the past week at the hospital watching over Turk after he was admitted into hospital in a diabetic coma. Unfortunately, JD had given him too much insulin after forgetting to check the amount in the syringe. Luckily, he was only unconscious for a day and a half. But it was enough to keep Carla busy worrying for a week. Turk was still being kept in hospital because of Carla's paranoia that they should still be keeping an eye on him and thanks to her persistence, Kelso had agreed to him staying a few more days. Mainly for the peace and quiet.
However, this had only caused problems with Turk's family who wanted him home for his father's funeral. They had managed to delay it for another three days but were unwilling to postpone any longer. Deep down, Carla had made Turk stay in hospital because she knew he was having difficulty deciding whether to leave JD when he still could have died. Thankfully, now with JD awake, Turk would go to his father's funeral without worrying about losing his best friend.
The last week had been extremely stressful for Carla. Unfortunately, she'd had to deal with the chance of losing her husband, his best friend, dealing with Turk's distraught family over the phone, talking to Elliot and trying to reassure her and talking to the police. Whilst, all the while she was dealing with her own issues and fears after facing the barrel of a gun over and over.
The stress was taking it's toll on all of them. If anything, they looked worse than they did when they actually left the apartment that day. Since then, everyone had been in a state of shock. Grief had been consuming them all.
Dark circles shadowed Carla's eyes as she turned to find Laverne walking Turk up in a wheelchair. Turk gave Carla a ghost of a smile.
"Baby, was the wheelchair really necessary?"
She looked away from her husband matching his small smile and glanced into JD's room again where the smile left her face.
"It's late and I knew you'd be tired."
Laverne put her hand on Carla's shoulder.
"I've called Marshmallow. She said she would be here soon. You look like you need a strong coffee."
Laverne took a quick glance in JD's direction and shook her head, sadness filling her eyes. Her hand slipped gently off Carla's shoulder as she left to make her a hot coffee.
"Thanks, mama."
Both, husband and wife stood in silence for a few minutes staring at the broken form that was their friend. Neither really knowing what to say. Both, knowing there really wasn't a lot they could say. They both knew that JD would never be the same person again after everything that had happened. They couldn't even consider themselves the same people they were before. Never mind him. It didn't seem right, that someone so sweet and innocent as JD could have been hiding such horrible secrets. It didn't seem right that someone that naive and immature should be lying in a hospital bed beaten and scarred both on the inside and out. Out of all of the emotions Turk and Carla had been feeling over the past week, anger seemed to be the one it all came back to. Anger ate away at them. Anger at Dave. Anger at themselves. Anger at each other. But in the end, none of it helped. All that was important at the moment was helping JD.
"Dr. Burne has sedated him. He should be coming round soon," Carla spoke quietly. When Turk looked surprised she continued talking. "He couldn't remember what happened, but after a minute or so I think it started coming back to him. I don't know what triggered it. But he panicked and there was nothing else he could do. He would only have injured himself... But like I said. He'll be coming round soon."
Turk nodded quietly and turned back to watching his friend.
Suddenly the sound of running caught Turk and Carla's attention. They both looked to find Elliot racing down the corridor towards them. She reached the slightly amused looking couple and ground to a halt trying to stop herself from entering a coughing fit. She managed to grind some words out between her heavy breathing.
"How... is he?..."
Turk tried to suppress a grin as he watched Elliot attempt to regain her composure.
"You enjoy cardio then, huh?"
Elliot gave Turk a look that could kill as Carla clipped him around the head and began telling Elliot what she had just told her husband. Then all they could do was wait.
Waking up the second time was a lot easier than the first. I knew where I was, who the voices belonged to and unfortunately, why I was here. My body felt more like my own, but there was a lot more pain this time, my ribs were aching like crazy and for some reason my wrists were stinging. I can't relate to any injuries to my wrists though. From what I can remember they were fine.
I feel a soft hand stroking my forehead, I can't help but flinch. I inwardly slap myself, I can't offend people like that. I was only just starting to get out of that habit! Thankfully, the hand doesn't shift and I open my eyes to be greeted by two pretty blue ones.
"Hey, JD."
I manage to croak out the words 'Hey Elliot' and she smiles sadly at the weakness of my voice. All of a sudden I feel frustrated. I wish people wouldn't give me that sympathetic look. I feel embarrassed enough as it is without having my last bit of dignity snatched away by everyone's sympathy. I want to scream, I want to cry, I want to make them realize how much I hate them for knowing this much about me. For having seen my weaknesses and for now knowing that I have little or no strengths. Suddenly, I want the bed to swallow me. I turn away from Elliot to find Turk standing to my other side.
"Hey, man. You okay? You were out for a week you know! At one point we thought we were gonna lose you!"
"Yeah, JD.. you died once," Elliot reiterated the point with tears sliding down her cheeks. "If we'd have lost you..." She couldn't say anymore, she just bent over JD and placed a kiss on his forehead.
I resisted the urge to yell at her to get off me. It wasn't her fault. It wasn't any of their faults. If anything, they should be blaming me for causing them so much trouble. They all look so tired. Taking a second glance at Turk, I notice something I didn't realize before... hospital gown? What the hell?
Once again, I try to squeak out some words.
"Turk,... why... are you wearing... hospital... gown?"
I see him shoot a worried look to Carla, this isn't good.
"Um, well... My diabetes has been actin' up."
I look between Turk, Carla and Elliot and there is obviously something they aren't telling me. As I'm about to tell them that I don't believe their lies I catch a glimpse of my wrist as I go to itch my face. My wrist is wrapped in bandage but peeking out from underneath is the end of some sutures. I look to my other wrist and it appears to be in the same condition. I look from one to the other in disbelief. When did this happen?
Carla was the only on to speak up after seeing the horrified look on JD's face. There was no way she could hide him from this truth.
"Sweetie, he, um... he slit your wrists."
Although JD had already figured that out for himself, hearing it out loud came as a shock to him and his head abruptly shot up to meet Carla's gaze.
She continued, "You lost a lot of blood. In the end you needed a blood transfusion, luckily that saved you. But like Elliot said, we nearly lost you at one point."
I found myself speechless. There were so many questions whirling around in my head at that moment. I didn't even know where to start. What happened? How did we get out? When did he slit my wrists? Is he still alive?
Carla continued her story.
"The police were called after some people upstairs heard gunshots," Carla looked gingerly towards JD. "But I'm sorry honey... he got away."
The information didn't seem to be sinking into JD's mind. Carla, Turk and Elliot had been watching him thoroughly and since he found out that his wrists had been slit he had yet to give any obvious reactions. It was almost as if he was in his own little world. But all of a sudden, something dawned on him and a look of pure horror spread across his face.
"Where is Dr. Cox?" He asked, voice shaking.
His three friends exchanged another knowing look and Carla grabbed hold of his hand.
"He's not going to be coming, sweetie."
Oh my God, my head is spinning. They gave each other that look where they know something they don't want to tell me. Oh God, oh God, she said something about gunshots! What if Dr. Cox has been shot? What if he's dead? That would be all because of me! I want to ask her why, what's happened, what she means... but I can't find the words. I feel completely exasperated. I think she can tell because she carries on talking.
"He's not been hurt, don't worry... but, um..." She looked up at Turk and Elliot who both nod to her to carry on.
Oh God, there's a but! What's with the bloody dramatic pause????!! All of a sudden the frustration wells up inside of me and I find myself badgering Carla to tell me.
"What? What?... What the hell is it??" The irritation is clear in my voice, I don't mean to be rude to Carla, but it's so frustrating being kept in the dark.
Tears welled up in Carla's eyes as she prepared herself for what she was about to say.
"Um, well I don't think Dr. Cox will be coming for a while 'cause um... Jordan's dead."
Oh.