My Horrible Time

Disclaimer: I don’t own Scrubs. I only own Matt.
Author Notes: See first chapter for full notes.
Chapter Notes: Not much to warn about here. Cursing. Much JDA and DCA of course. Finally some light JDCox action.
/Dr. Cox’s thoughts/
//JD’s thoughts//

Chapter 10: My Revelations


JD’s POV

I thought long and hard about what Carla said. She made sense. So here I am, pretending to sleep while a shadow stands silently outside my room, just watching. After a few minutes, the door opens. There is a shuffling sound and then a light click as the door is closed again.
*click, thunk, click, thunk* //Hmmm, that’s odd.// As the sound gets closer, I try to imagine what it could be. It sounds like a monster. I get an image of a blue monster with long pointy arms that it uses to help walk, and only one leg that it pulls forward to take a step. The monster gets closer to the bed, now going around the end to be on the left side. I picture it opening its mouth full of jagged teeth to eat me alive… “Please don’t eat me.” I burst out opening my eyes. Dr. Cox stares back at me with a look I can’t quite describe. The normal what-the-hell-is-he-on-about-now look is there, but there’s something else…a little bit of relief I guess, and something akin to fear. But that couldn’t be right. Dr. Cox is never afraid.
I clear my throat to cover my embarrassment, as Dr. Cox settles in his normal chair, placing his crutches on the floor, out of sight. “What happened to you?” I ask. Dr. Cox gives me a look that almost screams ‘I re-he-healy don’t want to talk about this.’ But I won’t let it go. “Look. I know something happened. Otherwise you wouldn’t be hobbling around. Did M-matt do that to you?” I pride myself on having only a little bit of trouble saying that jerks name. Go me.
He sighs, rubbing his face then wrapping his arms around his middle. “When you became sick, I convinced that sicko to let me treat you. Later, he wanted to…hurt you more, but I wouldn’t let him. I got my knee crushed for my trouble.” He gestures toward his leg. Dr. Cox was hurt defending me? Dr. Percival Cox defended me?? “There. Are you happy now? I don’t want to hear another word about it.” I opened my mouth to say something, anything, to thank him. “Bip. Not one word. Understand?” I nod. “Good. Now, go to sleep so I can have a few minutes of quiet.” He leans back in the chair closing his eyes.
I don’t go to sleep for a long while. Instead I stare at Dr. Cox, as he lightly snores. He must be really tired to sleep through me watching him. He was hurt protecting me. I want to ask how bad his leg is, but I know he won’t tell me. I’ll have to ask Carla. She knows everything. I imagine super Carla absorbing all the information (and gossip) in the hospital as I drift off to sleep.

oooOOOooo

The next day I’m feeling better and I’m bored almost to death. I’m still not allowed out of bed, so I’m walking around my room, secretively. I creep stealthily toward the door in my Ninja garb. As I sneak up on the door, it suddenly opens hitting me square in the face. Ouch.
There’s a familiar laugh from the door way. “You alright, Vanilla Bear?” I wave away his concern, as a look of understanding amusement crosses his face. “Were you playing Ninja again?” I nod at Turk. “What were you doing out of bed?” He asks me, helping me get to my feet, and back into the bed.
“I’m sick of sitting in this bed, SCB.” I don’t whine. ”I’m fine. Why do I have to stay in bed?” I don’t pout either.
Turk sighs. “I know what you mean, man. If it were up to me, you would be at home already watching Gilmore Girls with me. But you have to stay here for now, under observation. Carla would kill me if she found out I let you up. So in bed you stay. But she also mentioned that you should be able to be out and about tomorrow.” I begin my happy dance. “But you will have to take it easy. OK?” I nod enthusiastically. “Now I came in to tell you, that the police have finally released your stuff.” He places a bad down on the floor. “It seems to all be there. Your cell phone and stuff. Your clothing was kept as evidence, I think. Don’t give me that look, I know it was your favorite pair of scrubs, but it was ruined anyway. Dr. Cox’s clothing and things were returned too. Most of it looked to be in pretty good shape from what I saw, except for the lab coat which was all bloody. I heard they found them in the creep’s bedroom. Kind of disturbing really...”
We continue to chatter but I’m not really paying much attention. Why would they have to return Dr. Cox’s clothes? There was no indication that he should have lost them. I must be missing something, but what?

oooOOOooo

Finally I’m free of that room. They have determined that I’m well enough to roam the hospital, as long as I don’t go too far. And thank god. I was beginning to think that there was only that room. I imagine opening the door revealing bright nothingness. But now I’m allowed to be out for short times.
Time to put my plan to action. It takes some time, but eventually, I’m left alone for a while. I know Dr. Cox is busy, so there is little risk of him catching me. Perfect. I quietly sneak into Dr. Cox’s hospital room. Not that he has slept there. From what I can gather, he has been in my room more than his. It’s odd, but it makes me happy, so I won’t complain. And there it is. The prize I have been seeking. Dr. Cox’s chart holds all the answers. As I flip through the chart, I feel kind of guilty for a moment, since I’m going behind his back, but it passes quickly.
//Hmm…broken knee.// The guilt comes back full force. //It should heal almost completely, but he may always have a slight limp. Hmm... Ah! Look at this!. The admission report. Let’s see. Numerous bruise…dehydration…malnourishment…the knee of course…umm…oh, my god.// I almost drop the chart in shock not believing what I see. //Signs of multiple rapes?!//
oooOOOooo

Dr. Cox’s POV

I stalk through the hallway, scaring away any who cross my path. Well, I hobble along on these crutches, but my glare sends the unsuspecting peons running in fright. /There’s the nurse’s station. If I don’t see them, they won’t see me. Stare at the floor. The very dirty floor, does that Janitor ever really clean? Almost past, just keep staring at the floor./
“Dr. Cox.” /Dammit. Stare at the floor…It’ll go away. Keep walking. Oh, look, feet blocking my path./ I look up to see Carla’s annoyed glare.
“What?” I ask curtly knowing I can’t ignore Carla.
“I’m worried about Bambi. He won’t talk to anyone. Could you check on him?”
I sigh. “Now why would I want to get myself involved with Libby again? Is it my fault that she gets moody this time of month?” Despite my words, I head toward his room, just like Carla knew I would. Hell, it’s where I was going anyway.
I don’t bother knocking before opening the door, finding the kid sitting on the bed with his back toward me. I go into the room, closing the door behind me. Newbie doesn’t move to acknowledge me, even when I settle in my chair, putting my crutches on the floor like normal. He’s just sitting there. Now I know that Carla said he isn’t talking, but this is ridiculous. I’ve never known the kid to say silent for more than five minutes, and now we’re going on ten. I can’t take it.
“Yoo-hoo, Tammy. Are you in there? Cause I’m starting to get bored here.” I wave my hand in front of his face.
He turns to look at me, with bloodshot eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
/Dammit. The kid must have found out. I will kill whoever told him. Now play dumb./ “Tell you what? There’s nothing to tell.”
“Don’t lie to me. I read your chart.” /Dammit. He does know. And there’s no one to murder for it./
I sigh, leaning back in the chair, wrapping my arms around my middle. “What do you want me to say?” I ask him, resigned to the fact that we are going to have this conversation.
“I want to know what happened.”
Well, he asked for it. I detach myself as I begin telling the story, leaving out none of the gory details. The kid looks sick during different parts but doesn’t interrupt, and I don’t stop. By the time I reach the end he is close to tears. Always knew he was a girl.
“There. That’s all of it. Is it all you expected?” I ask sarcastically.
“Why.” His voice breaks and he clears his throat. “Why didn’t you tell me to start with?”
I roll my eyes. “Have you told everyone who entered your room what happened? Have you told all them?” I gesture toward the door.
“No…” He says hesitantly.
“Why?” I ask curtly.
“I don’t want them to worry and I don’t want to think about it.” He answers after a long pause.
“Exactly.” He gives me a look. “Why would my reasons be any different?” I ask.
“But it’s different with us. I have an idea what you are going through, I was there.” His eyes widen, probably as he remembers what he said to me a few days ago.
I cut him off before he can voice the apology that I am sure is about to spring from his girly mouth. “I don’t want to hear it. How would knowing what happened to me affect any thing you do. It doesn’t matter.”
He gets angry, interrupting me. “Doesn’t matter? Of course it matters. You matter to me.” He abruptly gets quiet. /Hmm…I matter to Newbie? I knew that. Otherwise he would not still stay around me. Not many people do. But why does that statement make him turn so red. What am I missing? It’s almost like he’s blushing./
I watch him for full minute of silence as he stares at me, red-faced. “All right. What’s wrong now?” He squeaks out what was probably supposed to be ‘nothing’. I don’t believe him. “Now Priscilla, what’s going through that pretty little head of yours that’s making you blush like a little school girl staring at your crush?” I barely finish the sentence before he turns even redder, and practically runs out the door.
/Hmm…interesting./ I think back over the conversation trying to pinpoint exactly what made him nervous enough to run from me. /He became angry and told me that I matter, then turned red. He looks cute when he blushes. Dammit, Cox. Don’t go there. You decided years ago not to act on those thoughts and feelings. Plus, now is not the time to be thinking about that. The kid was just raped for god’s sake. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you. Now back to business. I called him the requisite girls name and compared him to a school girl crushing. Could it be true? Does he have a crush? Couldn’t be. That’s just wishful thinking. The kid was just embarrassed. Yeah. That’s it. He can’t have feelings for me. That’s just silly. Especially now. Though it was questionable before, I’ll be very surprised if he ever wants to be with a man after what happened./ I finally get up and leave the room, hunting for something to distract me from my thoughts and wishes. /Newbie would never return these feelings./
I distract myself by going to the nurse’s station, only to find out that everyone is now even more worried about the kid. It’s been about an hour and no one has seen him since he went running out of the room. /I guess I should go look for him.../

oooOOOooo
JD’s POV

I managed to escape notice as I fled the room, finding sanctuary in an unoccupied supply closet. I can’t believe it. //Dr. Cox did all that for me. And just the other day, I yelled at him, told him that he couldn’t understand. How stupid could I get? He’s the only one who could understand. And I blew up at him. To top it all off, I had to go and embarrass myself. Now he knows something is up. All those years of hiding my feelings for him, and I had to go and screw it up. He would never return these feelings. Especially now. All he went through because of me, I’m surprised he even wants to look at me, much less anything more. Maybe I’ll just stay in this closet forever.//
I don’t know how long I was in the closet thinking, but eventually the door opens and Dr. Cox peeks in. When he sees me, he comes in, closing the door behind him, and leans on it. I feel a little guilty. It must be hard for him to get around on those crutches, and he came looking for me. He just stands there for a few minutes, staring at me curled up on the floor. The silence is becoming awkward, so I stand up, brushing myself off. I don’t want to have whatever conversation he is planning.
Then something odd happens. I see everything in slow-motion. Dr. Cox takes a step toward me, but seems to forget about the crutches. They catch on a shelf, and send him pitching forward toward the floor. I quickly move to stabilize him, and end up with my body pressed close to his and my arms around him. But it doesn’t feel uncomfortable. In fact, it feels just right. I have to look up slightly to see his face, and he’s looking down at me. I can’t read his expression. I don’t know why I do it, but it feels so right to move my mouth closer to his, and he doesn’t pull away. Our lips meet, and it’s like an explosion of fireworks. I have never experienced a better kiss. And it wasn’t one-sided like one would think. No. Dr. Cox was kissing me back.
All too soon, it was over. Dr. Cox was breathing heavily over me, and I wasn’t doing much better. Then reality seemed to set in. We just kissed!! Dr. Cox grabbed his crutches and was gone before I could react. I fell back against the shelf. //We kissed. Now what?//

oooOOOooo

Dr. Cox’s POV

/The kid kissed me. He kissed me. What was he thinking? Surely he couldn’t mean it. Does he really feel that way? No. It’s too good to be true. Things like that don’t happen to me. He was just caught up in the moment./ I was so lost in my thoughts that I just let my crutches take me where they wanted, so I was surprised when I ended up in Newbie’s room, sitting in my usual chair. In fact the only reason I noticed this is because the door opened, revealing none other than the kid in question. He didn’t seem to notice me, so I stayed quiet as he settled on his bed.
Suddenly he seemed to start, and notice me watching him. “I’m s-sorry. I didn’t know you were in here. I’ll just” He begins to get up.
I sigh. “It’s your room, Newbie. No reason for you to leave.” I say quietly. He still makes as if to leave. “Sit, Newbie. Sit. Stay. Good Newbie.” He finally sits on the edge of the bed, facing me.
“Dr. Cox. I’m sorry about what happened. Call me a girl if you want, but I’ve loved you for years. I know you don’t feel the same way and I took advantage of the situation. It’ll never happen again. And”
There is only one sure way to shut up a rambling Newbie. I move quickly, before he can figure out what I’m doing and plant my lips on his. This kiss is even better than the one in the closet, if that’s possible.
“Wha?” He begins to ask.
“Don’t you get it yet, Newbie? Why I tease you so much. Why I took so much abuse just to protect you.” He has a blank, yet slightly hopeful look. “I love you too, you idiot.” His smile seems to light up the room, and suddenly I know that we’re going to be alright.

So, what do you guys think? I'm planning a sequel, taking place a year later, but it may be awhile before I'm ready to start posting it. I’m not sure where it’s going, and I have many other ideas that are itching to be written. But there will be a sequel. Let me know what you think. Reviews make me write faster. 