elmo-doodle: the word count for this chapter without the author's notes, is 2222. Weird, huh? Normally, I would update at night, but since I'm off school sick, I'm posting it this afternoon! It sucks being ill- there's some new bug floating about making you sick everytime you eat something. I've been living off soup for the past 4 days. Ew. Anyway, cookies to the people who recognise the DoctorWho jiggery-pokery talk ;]
Also, gonna do this now: a huge, HUGE thank you to everyone who was subscribed and reviewed! Seriously, you guys are awesome! Should I name yas? I think I will! ElementalAnimal (first reviewer of the story!), Itachi. Oh Enka. (who begged for slash, hehe), sj9, licorice-bear (who 'threatened' me to update =] ), Lauren, Bells of Tomorrow (who is a FANTASTIC Scrubswriter! I'm honoured that this story has captured your attention!), Graffiti2dMyHeart (we saw each other on DeviantArt/Livejournal. Check out her artwork- she's awesome!), Joanna Helper (who gave me a Rant Review, which made me giggle! It was very Cox-ish!), Veritas4Eternity, She'sAManiac, Phoenix on cloud nine, BlueSouledShadowDragon.
Basically, ya'll rock. Seriously =]. Enjoy!
Chapter Five
"Hey, baby!" Turk said as Carla walked in to the apartment carrying JD. "Hey, buddy, I have great news!"
"Did youu find the owld man?" JD asked.
"No, but the guy I found on the internet is his brother," Turk said. "I told him what had happened and apparently this isn't the first time the old man has done something like this and then took off."
"Really?" JD said. "What else did he say?"
"He said that we can go and see him tomorrow," Turk replied. "He lives on the other side of town, and since it's my day off tomorrow I can take you to him!"
"Awesome!" JD said, smiling. Finally, some progress was being made...
"That's wonderful, baby," Carla said, and she gave Turk a quick kiss on the lips. "I'm gonna get JD changed in to his pyjamas and then we can watch that DVD you've been going on about all week."
"What DVD?" JD asked.
"Ghost Rider," Turk told him. "Hell, yeah!"
"Nuh-uh, Bambi," Carla said. "You are too young to watch it."
"But Carla," JD whined.
"Nope. You're still tired and I'm not gonna let you lose out on valuable sleep by watching a movie."
"Sorry, buddy," Turk said. "We'll watch it together when you're fixed."
"Okay," JD sighed, and Carla carried him into his bedroom.
Turk finished typing his reply to the old man's brother (Kevin) and used one of the online maps to figure out exactly where he was going tomorrow, and if there was anything entertaining around there for him and JD to check out.
After a few minutes of browsing, Turk jumped in surprise as Carla entered the room and stormed over to the phone beside Turk.
"Baby?" he asked, hesitantly.
Carla gave him a look that said "not now" as she dialled a number and held the handset to her ear. A moment or two later she began to speak.
"I know you can hear this voice message right now, you big chicken," Carla said heatedly, "so you better listen up. I was changing JD in to his pyjamas and I noticed a bruise on his side that was definitely not there this morning. If he got hurt while you were meant to be watching him, I will make you pay. JD isn't saying how it got there, which just proves that it happened while he was at your place. I promise you, Perry, if JD had actually said that he hurt himself this afternoon, believe me, I would be over at your apartment so fast that you wouldn't even have time to say, "Ow, my crotch!". You should count yourself lucky that I can restrain myself. I'll see you tomorrow." She hung up.
"Baby...?"
Carla glared. "What?
"Nothing, sweetie."
* *
"Alright, mini-Vanilla Bear, are you ready to rock?"
JD giggled as Turk picked him up. "You betcha, giant-Chocolate Bear! Have you got the Youth Box?" he added.
Turk patted his trouser leg. "In my pocket, little buddy! Now let's go see that guy so that we can start having some fun today!"
"Yeah!"
The morning walk across the town didn't take as long as JD would have expected. There wasn't much traffic because it was still pretty early, and Turk could walk quite fast when he wanted to. It seemed like there were at their destination in no time at all.
The guy, Kevin, lived in an apartment block like almost every other person in the city. It looked like a pretty well-kept place, from what JD could see as Turk approached the door and pressed the buzzer for apartment twelve.
"Hello?" a British-accented voice crackled through the machine.
"Is this Kevin Walker?" Turk asked.
"Yes. Christopher Turk?"
"That's me!"
"Okay- hang on, I'll buzz you in. Come on up." Turk pushed the door open when the buzzer went off, and he began to make his way up the stairs to the second floor.
Kevin Walker was already standing with his apartment door open.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr Turk," Kevin said, shaking his hand.
"It's just Turk, actually," Turk replied, grinning at the man, whose eyes went to JD next.
"And I assume you are JD?" he said.
JD nodded. "Yeah, hey."
Kevin Walker was a man of probably about forty-years-old. He had a short beard that was the same colour as his long brown hair. He was tall, slim, and casually dressed for their meeting.
"Please, come in," he said, stepping aside from them. "Take a seat."
"Thanks," Turk said and he set JD down on the couch before sitting next to him. Kevin took the armchair opposite them.
"Do you have the box with you?" he asked.
"Yeah," Turk said and he pulled the trinket out of his pocket and tossed it to the Kevin, who caught it easily.
"Blimey, it is a lot smaller than I remember it," he remarked as he turned it over in his hands. "A little darker in shade too... It shrank roughly about the same time that you did," he said to JD. He sighed. "My brother always enjoyed playing pranks on unsuspecting people... I'm afraid to say that it is unlikely that you will ever see him again; he's very good at disguising himself."
"Is there anything you can do?" JD asked, frowning.
"Hmm? Oh! Of course, young man," Kevin said, smiling kindly. "It is relatively simple... but it could take some time. I have to recharge the device and then reverse the polarity of the energy, so that it makes you grow, not shrink."
"How long should that take?" Turk asked.
"About five days," Kevin replied. "And I'd need to test it first, just to make sure that JD does grown instead of becoming younger. God, I hate my brother sometimes. I always have to clean up after him."
JD nodded- big brothers could be an absolute pain.
"So, five days, then?" Turk said.
"And time to test it... roughly, a week," Kevin replied. "Can you manage for another seven days?"
"Yeah, we have three other people willing to help out," Turk responded.
"Brilliant! Now, can I interest you to some breakfast? I'd feel like a terrible host if I didn't!"
* *
"Turk! What are you doing here?" Carla asked as her husband as he walked towards the nurses' station with JD.
"Do I need a reason to come see my baby?" Turk said and he kissed Carla on the cheek. "I know that you get off for lunch soon so I thought we could get lunch together."
Carla smiled at him. "I'm off in about five minutes," she said. "Can you go save us a table in the cafeteria?"
"Sure thing, baby," Turk said.
"Doctor Turkleton!" Bob Kelso said, with a fake smile, as he came and dropped a file on the counter. "How wonderful to see you at the hospital on your day off! And I thought you didn't have a life outside of work."
"Actually, sir, I came here to get lunch with my wife," Turk defended himself.
"I don't care," Kelso deadpanned. He noticed JD in Turk's arms. "Stealing children from the infantry since you can't get Nurse Turkleton pregnant?"
"Whoa," Turk said, frowning and looking shocked. "I'll get my baby pregnant when I get my baby pregnant."
"Ignore him, Turk," Carla said. "That's Matthew, my nephew, sir."
"Like I said: I don't care," Kelso said, before faking a smile again. "Have a nice day."
"Asshole," JD muttered as he watched Kelso walk away.
"You watch your language, Matthew," Carla scolded him.
"I'm twenty-eight," JD mumbled. "I can say what I want."
"Of course you can, buddy," Turk said. "I'll see you downstairs, sweetie."
"Okay."
* *
"Turk!" Elliot called, waving her friend over to the table that she was sitting. When she saw JD she almost erupted in happiness. "Oh my god! You brought J-"
"I brought Matthew, Carla's nephew," Turk quickly corrected her, in case anybody heard her. "Remember - Carla's looking after him for a while?"
Elliot blinked in confusion before catching on. "Right! Of course! I knew that! Hey, Matthew," she said towards JD.
"Hiya!" JD replied.
Elliot started aw-ing over him again, and Turk just handed him over to her. "Watch him while I go get some food."
"Okay," Elliot said, not really hearing him as she focused all her attention on JD. "How are you?"
"Fine," JD mumbled quietly so he didn't attract any attention. "We found a guy who is helping me get back to normal."
"That's great," Elliot said, but she was more focused on fixing his hair and straightening his clothes. JD sighed and found himself strangely interested in a strand of Elliot's blonde hair. He reached out and grasped his hand around it.
"Hm," he hummed, a look of concentration spreading across his face.
"What is it?" Elliot asked.
"When Turk and I were talking to the guy," JD began, still concentrating hard, "he said that I'm gonna be acting more like a baby the longer I'm in this state. I'll still remember who I am and I'll have all my memories, but the baby's mind is going to become more prominent. I've named him "Johnny"," JD said, smiling.
Elliot laughed and held JD up slightly so that he was standing on her legs, but she fully supported him. "Don't worry, we'll look after you no matter what," she said, then she looked over at the table parallel to theirs. "Right, Doctor Cox?"
JD's head snapped around and sure enough, there was Perry sitting at the other table, unsuccessfully hiding himself behind a magazine.
"Dammit," he muttered, throwing the magazine down. "You're not as blonde as I thought you were, Barbie."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Elliot said. "Hey, JD, I'm looking after you tomorrow, right?"
"It's 'Matthew', Elliot," Carla told her, as she and Turk sat down at the table with their trays. Turk took the seat beside Elliot and Carla sat opposite him. Perry even picked up his cup of coffee and went over to sit beside Carla.
"That's too confusing," Elliot replied.
"For your small brain, I'm sure it is," Perry said, with his proud grin.
"That's the third time today," Elliot muttered, put-off. JD reached out and sympathetically patted her cheek. "Awww!" Elliot cooed, and she set JD back on her knee and cuddled him. JD sighed but accepted the attention. He didn't really mind, anyway.
"So, Turk," Carla said, "what did ... Kevin? ... say?"
As Turk started to repeat what Kevin had told him earlier, JD felt his attention wander. Stupid one-year-old baby mind, he thought mildly as he looked around for something more interesting to focus on. Hello, shiny object, he thought as he noticed the utensils on Elliot's lunch tray. He reached out, randomly grabbed one a picked it up. Something in his mind noted that it wasn't safe for a baby to hold a knife, no matter how blunt it was. Without really thinking, JD proceeded to put the knife in his mouth.
The utensil was quickly but gently pulled away from him by large hands. JD made a small noise of protest but then the hands lifted him out of Elliot's lap, and he found himself being held in front of Perry.
"Newbie," Perry said softly, but sternly, "repeat after me: I will nawt put sharp objects in to my mouth no matter how strong the urge is."
"I will not put sharp objects in my mouth," JD mumbled, ashamed. "Sowwy," he added, and he lowered his head.
"Good, NewbieBaby," Perry said. He handed JD to a shocked Carla. He noticed that the others were giving him strange looks. "What?" he almost growled.
"Nothing," they all muttered, but Carla had a small look of knowing in her eyes.
It's like he's completely transformed whenever he even touches Bambi, she thought. "So, you said Kevin is going to phone in a few days?" she asked Turk, while Perry continued to look slightly confused at their reaction.
When JD was settled on Carla's lap, he reached out to her lunch tray and picked a grape off of the plate when she wasn't looking. He popped it in to his mouth, quite proud that no-one had seen him. However, whenever he turned his head he noticed than Perry was looking at him with a lightly amused expression. He offered Perry a toothy-baby smile. JD could have sworn that he saw the corners of Perry's mouth twitch up before the older man tuned in to listen to what Turk was saying.
elmo-doodle: too much? out-of-character? I'll admit, this one was slightly filler-ish. =] Remember, cookies (and possibly apple cider, since I have a can of it in the fridge from when I bought it on Saturday, but haven't been able to drink it because i'm sick!) for all you lovely reviewers!