elmo-doodle: Holla!! Sorry for the week delay-- I might actually change my updates to every Tuesday night/Wednesday, since two updates a week are hard to squeeze in with all the school work I have to do. Anywhoo, thank you for all your kind reviews! When I got home from Venice and I opened my emails, I had 11 reviews! You have no idea how much that made me smile! Venice was awesome, despite that fact that it rained for two of the three days we were there (it was sunny on the day we travelled home. Typical, lol) We were all wearing wellie boots, and we got such weird looks from everyone there ^_^ Ookay, before you read this chapter, check this out -- It's baby JD from chapter 7, drawn by BlueSouledShadowDragon, The link to it is on my profile, because for some reason it's not letting me put the link in with this chapter. It's extremely cute! Another thank you for drawing it =) Oh, one last thing-- I've set up a poll on my profile about what [SCRUBS] story you'd like to see next. There's three to chose from, methinks. If you want any more information on them, send me a PM and I'll explain it some more!
Disclaimer: Does anyone actually believe that I own [SCRUBS]? If I did, every JD and Perry scene would have gone veeeery differently.
Chapter Nine
JD was still bursting in to little spouts of giggles when he and Perry arrived back at Perry's apartment. "I can't believe I said that to the Chief of Medicine!" he said, following Perry through the doorway. "And I got away with it!"
Perry rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Newbie, I say that to him every other day."
"I know-- but still..."
Perry couldn't help smiling as JD began to laugh again. Honestly, he himself was shocked and proud of JD saying that straight to Kelso's face. JD would never have done anything like that on a normal day, but then again this hadn't been the normal sort of two weeks.
"Okay, Newbie," Perry said, shutting the door. "I'm going to get changed, and if you can stay calm for the next five minutes I might just have some ice cream in the freezer to give ya."
JD's eyes went so wide it was comical. "There's ice cream?!"
"Yes, Newbie, there's ice cream."
"Awesome!" JD began to jump up and down but quickly calmed himself. "I'll be calm-- I'll just sit over here..." He wandered over to the couch and clambered up on to it, sitting as still as he could.
Perry shook his head and went in to his room to change. When he emerged in clean clothes, JD was still sitting obediently on the couch, his legs gently swinging back and forth. When he saw Perry, he erupted in to a massive smile.
"Yeah, okay," Perry said, "come in to the kitchen."
JD whispered a triumphant "yes!" and hopped of the couch, following behind Perry. When he reached the kitchen, Perry lifted JD up on to one of the chairs and then opened the freezer. JD watched in amusement and Perry scooped out some ice cream in to a bowl for him, and then set it in front of him.
"There ya go," Perry said, something in his mind telling him that he'd regret doing that later.
"Thanks, Doctor Cox!" JD said, smiling widely and picking up the spoon. Perry smiled and began to go about making himself some coffee.
* *
He was right in thinking that giving JD ice cream was a mistake. It did nothing to remove the previous giddiness-- it just seemed to make it more intensified.
Perry sat on the couch, trying to watch a re-run of some game that was on last week but he couldn't concentrate on the TV for the life of him. JD was running laps around the room, his arms spread out and making noises like an aeroplane. He had been doing this for the last ten minutes, and the kid showed no sign of letting up.
"Doctor Cox?" JD said, jumping up on to the couch and bouncing slightly.
"What is it, Newbie?"
"I'm bored," JD stated simply, smiling at his mentor.
Perry frowned slightly. "Why don't'cha go play with your toys?"
"Nope," JD said shaking his head. "I wanna play with you!"
This time Perry quirked an eyebrow at him. "Newbie, I'm trying to watch the game."
"No, you're not," JD said, pouting. "It's a replay and it's over."
Perry looked over at the TV and indeed saw that the repeat of the game was over, and some movie was beginning to play. He watched the titles for a moment, unaware of JD subtly moving around him. Perry growled when the words "X MEN" flashed across the screen. No way was he about to watch a movie based around Hugh Jackman. He reached over to the coffee table to grab the remote, only to find that it wasn't there.
"What the hell?" he muttered, as he began to check around the couch. A stifled giggling brought his attention to JD standing on the other side of the couch, his hands held behind his back. "Newbie... what have ya got there?"
"Nothing," JD lied, biting his lip to try and stop himself from smiling.
"Newbie..."
JD giggled and hopped off the couch, revealing that he was holding on to the remote.
"Oh, no you don't," Perry muttered, pushing himself off the chair and chasing after JD. "There is now way in hell that I am watching a movie with Hugh Jackman in this house! Give me the remote, Newbie!"
"Nope!" JD grinned, dodging out of the way as Perry almost managed to grab him. He was pretty fast for his age and he could change direction remarkably quickly.
"Oh, you get back here, Newbie!" Perry said, settling for a slow jog and letting a smile grace his features. So, JD wanted to play?
"You can't catch me!" JD giggled as he ran around the couch.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that, Cassy," Perry said, always just a few feet behind JD.
JD giggled even more, and he sped up as he rounded the couch. But as he turned his tripped over his feet and things went from fun to disaster. JD fell quickly and hit his head, hard, off the coffee table beside the seat. He landed heavily on his arm with a shocked cry.
"JD!" Perry shouted and he hurried over to where he had fallen. He knelt down beside JD and gently lifted the boy in to a sitting position. "Newbie, talk to me!"
JD opened his eyes which were suddenly filled with tears. Before Perry could do anything, JD began to cry.
"Newbie," Perry said softly. He picked the boy and cradled him against his chest. "Don't cry, Newbie..." He pulled the boy back slightly to assess the damage. There was a cut on his forehead that was beginning to bleed lightly, and JD was holding his left arm against his body. Perry could have taken care of him at his home, but he realised that he First Aid Kit didn't have the appropriate supplies, and JD's desperate wails were piercing through Perry's heart. "Come on," he said. "We gotta take you to the hospital."
* *
Perry entered Sacred Heart through the front doors carrying JD on his hip. The younger boy had his head buried in to Perry's neck, and the older doctor was sure that he was still crying, judging by the wetness he felt.
"How you doing there, Newbie?" Perry asked in a low voice, so that he didn't attract any unwanted attention.
"'m dizzy," JD whispered. "It hurts."
"Don't worry; we'll get you sorted, kid." Perry briefly wondered where he should check first for Carla. Oh, shit... Carla was going to kill him. He continued to walk quickly, but not too fast, towards where he suspected Carla would be hanging around.
He was right. Perry whistled sharply at Carla and Elliot as he walked past the nurses' station. Carla looked up in surprise to see him at the hospital, with JD in his arms, nonetheless.
"Doctor Cox, what are you-?"
Perry nodded in the direction of an empty room and quickly went inside. Carla and Elliot looked at each other and scurried out from behind the counter and followed him in, shutting the door behind them. JD lifted his head away from Perry's neck to look at his friends. Carla and Elliot saw that his eyes were red from crying.
"What's going on?" Carla demanded.
"It was an accident," Perry began, hoping that it would somehow calm her. He was still holding JD in his arms.
"What happened?" she asked fiercely, and Perry winced. He knew he was in for a lecture.
Perry managed to coax JD's grip off of his neck. "He tripped and fell," Perry said. He carefully removed JD from his hip and set him gently on the bed. He removed the hood away from JD's head to reveal a pretty nasty cut on his forehead, underneath his fringe. He then pulled up JD's left sleeve to show a slightly swollen spot on his arm where a dark bruise was beginning to form.
"Oh, poor Bambi!" Carla exclaimed. Elliot walked over to JD and began to study the cut.
"What did he hit his head off?" Elliot asked.
"A coffee table."
"Okay. JD, I'm going to check your eyes, okay?" Elliot asked, taking out her pen-torch. JD suddenly closed his eyes. "Come on, JD, I need to check for concussion." He shook his head. "Please?"
JD whimpered. "My head hurts," he cried.
"It's alright, Bambi," Carla said. She sat down next to JD on the bed and moved him onto her lap. "I know it hurts, but you need to open your eyes for Elliot. Just for a few seconds, okay?"
JD sniffled but opened his eyes anyway. Elliot quickly shone the light in to his eyes so as to cause him as little discomfort as possible, and JD tried his hardest not to wince.
"He's probably got a mild concussion, but nothing to worry about," Elliot said, turning the torch off. "Carla, could you go some painkillers and antiseptic cream?"
"Sure," Carla said. She lifted JD off her knee and handed him to Elliot, who gladly took him.
"How did this happen?" Elliot asked when Carla had left the room.
Perry scowled, not wanting to give her the truth. "He was running around and he tripped," he said. Elliot gave him a look and was about to ask him another question when her pager began to bleep.
"Frick," she said when she looked at it. "One of my patients is coding. Here," she hurriedly and carefully passed JD over to Perry. "I'll be back." And then she disappeared out through the door.
Perry walked across the room to sit on the bed. He rearranged JD so that he was sitting on his lap. "I'm so sorry, Newbie," he said.
"'S'not your fault," JD said, sniffing. "I'm the one who fell."
"My apartment isn't exactly the safest place in the world for a kid," Perry said. "I should have known better than to let you run about like that."
JD looked up at Perry with his big blue eyes. "I woulda kept running, anyway," he said, softly.
Perry actually managed to laugh at that. "Yeah, you would've," he said, bringing a hand up to very gently ruffled JD's hair.
"Aw, isn't that sweet," Carla said as she walked back in to the room. "Oh, don't try to cover it up, I've already seen."
Perry growled slightly.
"Bambi," Carla said softly, bringing the younger boy's attention to her, "they didn't have any of the children's painkillers in tablet form, so I'm afraid it's gonna have to be a needle." JD's eyes widened in fear. "Oh, Bambi, I'm sorry."
Perry frowned in surprise. "You scared of needles, kid?"
JD shook his head. "Nuh-uh," he said weakly. "I wasn't scared when you gave me the flu jab! I'm not scared! I'm a doctor! I shouldn't be scared of needles!" But JD was still watching the needle in Carla's hand with terror.
"You're not scared, sweetie," Carla said as she got the needle prepared, "but the four-year-old child is. Do you want me to do it?" She aimed the last sentence at Perry.
"Yeah," he said, nodding. "I trust you. Newbie?"
JD's eyes just filled up with tears again, but he nodded. "I'm not scared," he mumbled as shut his eyes, tight. "I'm not..."
"That's right," Carla said. She pushed JD's hoodie further up his arm so that she could get the right place to administer the injection. She looked up at Perry for a last confirmation. He gave her a single nod, and Carla pierced the needle into JD's arm.
JD let out a muffled squeak as the needle broke his skin. The tears leaked out of his closed eyes but he didn't let any sobs escape him.
Carla injected the painkiller as quickly as she could. JD whimpered slightly when she withdrew the needle. She dabbed the area of his arm with a cotton bud before putting a plaster on it. "You're a brave boy, Bambi," Carla said, smiling at him.
JD finally opened his eyes and a few last tears leaked out. He gave a small smile back at Carla.
"Here," she said, pulling a lollipop out of her pocket and unwrapping it. "You deserve this."
JD smiled once more and popped the lollipop in his mouth.
"Honestly, Newbie," Perry said, mockingly but not cruelly. "You're a twenty-eight year old man." JD just shrugged innocently.
"That twenty-eight year old man is sitting on your knee," Carla said, smirking.
Perry chose to ignore that comment. "That thing you just gave him better be sugar-free," Perry said. At Carla's questioning look, he added: "Uh, sugar is kinda to blame for this..."
"I thought Hugh Jackman was to blame," JD mumbled. Carla looked confused but Perry laughed.
"Yeah, kid," he said lightly, smiling. "I blame him, too."
Elliot walked back in to the room then, just as Carla was opening the antiseptic cream. "Stupid intern..." she muttered.
"What happened now?" Carla asked.
"One of the interns paged me saying that my patient was coding, when they really just paged me to ask me a question and they apparently needed me to get there as soon as possible," Elliot rattled off, putting on a pair of surgical gloves. "I swear, JD, your interns are the most annoying things ever." JD nodded in agreement. His interns were highly incompetent. "How do you feel now, JD?"
"A little better," JD mumbled. "It hurts less..."
"Okay-- we'll get you cleaned up and then I think it's best that you get some sleep," Elliot said. She gently cleaned the cut on JD's forehead, apologizing when he winced slightly. At the same time, Carla was putting a bandage on JD's arm to help with the swelling bruise that would no doubt hurt in the morning. As Elliot started to apply the antiseptic cream (again apologizing for the pain) she found it difficult to keep the smile off her face. JD was sitting so comfortably in Perry's lap, and the older man didn't even bother to hide the worry that his eyes were showing. He was undoubtedly feeling guilty that JD was badly hurt under his care and Elliot found it sweet that he was so openly showing his concern.
"There," Elliot said, making sure that the large plaster covered the wound, "all better."
JD smiled in gratitude around the stick of the lollipop he was still sucking, but Perry surprised everyone by saying, "Thanks, Barbie. You too, Carla."
"It's no problem," Carla said, being the first to recover from the shock. "I think you should let Bambi lie down and get some sleep now. I'll be by around 11 to pick him up, okay?"
"Yeah," Perry said. He obliged when Carla went to lift JD and give him a hug goodbye then she passed JD over to Elliot who cuddled him to her for a few seconds. When Elliot went to hand JD back to Perry he already had his arms out, waiting. JD grinned as he was passed back to his mentor and he rested his head in the crook of Perry's neck. Once settled, Perry placed a protective hand on JD's back. "I'll see ya later," he said to Carla, and then nodded to Elliot before moving towards the door and leaving the room.
Elliot and Carla both watched him go and they sighed.
"They're so right together," Elliot said as she started to clean up the room. "It's a shame they're too stupid to realise it."
"I know," Carla said, helping her. "Maybe I can have a chat with Perry tonight when I go to pick up JD, you know, get some sense slapped in to him-- oh!" Carla exclaimed as she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. She flipped it out and answered it. "Hello? Yes, this is Carla... Hey, Kevin. Is everything alright? ...Oh."
elmo-doodle: DUN DUN DUN!! Cliffhanger, lol. I'm not used to them... well, writing them at least! I wasn't sure when to end this chapter-- there was more that I wanted to add on to it, but I think that it would have become a bit long-winded if I had. Soo, that part's going to be in the next chapter! I'm thinking this is going to be another two chapters long, including the epilogue. Or not, y'know =] Anyway, please review! And also take my poll-- it'll make it easier for me to know which story to focus on next!