Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Challenges listed at the bottom.

Word Count: 2337


Canoodle With Me


JD pushed the door open to the on call room and thankfully found it empty. While he was used to the various noises that happened there at random times of the night, he really wasn't in the mood for an audience.

He'd been working for ten hours, and given the severe lack of staff—the flu was going around—he was probably going to be there for quite a while longer yet.

He was so tired. Slumping down onto one of the beds, not even bothering to pull the sheets back, JD closed his eyes.

And sleep… didn't come.

Despite his exhaustion, JD found that his mind was still running wild as he thought about his patients, about the work that was still to come before he could go home and settle in his own bed.

He thought about the man that he'd lost not three hours ago; an unfortunate foregone conclusion but still a loss. Losses never sat well with JD.

With any doctor really.

Eventually, JD drifted off, his dreams unsettled as he shifted restlessly in the bed. It only felt like minutes when he was startled awake by his pager beeping relentlessly against his hip.

Forcing himself from the bed, JD groaned when he stumbled into the door and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

God, he wanted to go home.

"Newbie, why are you still here?"

JD looked up from the patient chart he'd been perusing to see Dr Cox standing beside him, leaning against the nurses desk. He blinked.

"I thought you weren't due til the morning shift?"

"Uh, newsflash, Agatha, it is morning, hence my surprise to still find you here, propping up the desk and looking about five minutes from a coma."

JD's lips quirked as he shook his head. "I didn't realise. I should go home."

"Ya think?"

"I just need to—"

"You just need to go home there, Princess, before you do something stupid because you're asleep on your feet," Cox interrupted, tugging the chart from JD's hands and shoving him gently towards the door in one smooth movement.

JD didn't even try to argue.

Despite him now being a resident, he still looked at Cox as a leader of sorts, and while he now had the courage to answer the man back if he felt like he needed to, this time he knew the older man was correct. JD needed to go home.

Nodding, JD raised his hand in an approximation of a goodbye and turned away.

He didn't get far.

JD got about halfway to the carpark when a wave of dizziness had him wavering on his feet. He really shouldn't be trying to ride his scooter home, he'd cause an accident, or take a header into a wall.

Not the kind of badassery he aspired too, really.

Changing course, JD aimed himself back to the bunks and collapsed onto the one he'd left behind hours before. He unclipped his pager and threw it onto the bed beside him.

Something stayed his hand when he thought about turning it off. He just couldn't bring himself to do it, when he knew how shorthanded the wards were. If Cox needed help, JD wanted to be available.

Just in case.

He supposed he'd always known he'd have to sacrifice things for his job. Sleep seemed to be the top of that list most of the time.

Shifting onto his side, JD wrapped his arms around the pillow and snuggled his face into it. An hour or so here, and then he'd be right as rain to ride home and get in his own bed.

He just… needed a minute.

JD woke up with a start, gasping for breath. He didn't know what he'd been dreaming about, but whatever it was, it wasn't good. It took him a minute to realise he was shivering, having not bothered with the blanket again, and he curled in on himself a little.

"What are you still doing here, Newbie? I'm pretty sure I sent you home two and a half hours ago."

Startled, JD turned over to see Dr Cox standing by the door, backlit by the bright lights in the corridor behind him.

Even after knowing him for four years, he was still an intimidating figure.

"I went dizzy," he admitted softly. "Didn't think I was safe to ride home."

Cox nodded and stepped forwards until he was perching himself on the bed JD lay on, his body angled towards JD.

"Good call, Newbie. The last thing I need today is to be cleaning up your blood from a gurney."

JD snorted then sobered. "If it's busy I can stay. Just in case."

"You should go home," Cox replied, voice little more than a whisper. JD couldn't help but notice that he didn't move from the bed. "You're shivering. Are you coming down with the same god awful strain of flu that's taken out half of the staff?"

JD shook his head. "I don't think so. Just forgot to pull the blankets back I guess."

Cox rolled his eyes. "Use your brain, Newbie. It's the middle of winter and you're sleeping on top of the sheets in scrubs. You're going to make yourself sick."

Wrinkling his nose, JD replied, "I always feel weird about getting under the blankets in here. You don't know who's been… canoodling in here."

Cox grinned. "That you've just used the word canoodle to describe what happens in here is very naive and a little bit sad, Newbie."

Before JD could defend himself, their pagers went off simultaneously and Dr Cox groaned. "Why is your pager still on, Jemima?"

"In case you needed me," JD replied.

It was only after he'd said it that he realised that his phrasing was perhaps a little too honest, maybe giving away a little too much.

Dr Cox stared at him for a long moment and then nodded. "Come on then, Newbie."

He stood, and JD followed after him. As they hit the corridor, side by side, Dr Cox leaned around him to rub at his arm. "We'll stop by the lockers. I have a jumper that you can put over your scrubs to warm you up a little."

Despite the rush, JD did eventually get home a few hours later. He only realised when he stood in front of the fridge, debating between food or something alcoholic, that he was still wearing the jumper Dr Cox had given him.

A brief thought of taking it back passed through his head, but he'd been told very sternly that he wasn't to be seen at the hospital for at least twelve hours, and he knew if he did go back, he'd be on the receiving end of one of Cox's notorious lectures.

Honestly, after the quiet pleasantness between them over the last few hours, JD didn't have the stomach for a lecture. He grabbed a slice of leftover pizza and closed the fridge.

He avoided the sofa, knowing if he sank into it, he wouldn't move, and walked around the flat until he'd finished eating.

He stripped for a shower, washing quickly, and then climbed into bed, smiling as he snuggled beneath the sheets.

If, ten minutes later, he slipped back out of them to put Dr Cox's jumper back on; well, nobody needed to know about that.

"Did you get any sleep, Gertrude?"

JD closed his eyes for a moment before he turned to Dr Cox. "I slept for ten hours. My hair is a masterpiece. I'm rested and ready to work."

"You still look dead on your feet, your hair is a mess, and you are certainly not ready to work, Newbie. You've got the flu."

"I haven't," JD denied. "Really haven't. I'm fine."

"I'm keeping my eye on you, Kid."

JD nodded and picked up his first chart of the day, smiling at Carla when she pushed a red coffee mug at him across the desk. At least he could depend on his friends.

His shift was short—well, shorter than the last few he'd done, but he still struggled as he made it through the last few hours.

"Come on, Eliza," Dr Cox said, finding JD at the clocking out machine. "I'll drive you home."

JD blinked. "You don't have—"

"Chop chop, I don't want to be here longer than I have to be."

JD, still confused, followed Cox down the corridor and out of the building, straight to the porsche the man loved so much.

He leant his head against the window as the engine started, sure that Cox didn't want to listen to him prattling, and too tired to bother doing it anyway.

It was only when Cox was pulling to a stop that JD realised, "This isn't my place."

"Oh, well spotted, Gladys."

"Perry."

He rolled his eyes. "Just come inside."

JD followed Cox into his apartment complex, completely baffled by the strange turn of events.

"Okay, first things first, sit your ass down on the sofa," Cox said, pushing him gently towards the sofa. "And then, we'll look at a cure."

JD frowned. "A cure for what."

"Whatever's ailing you, Newbie. You keep telling me you don't have the flu, and yet you're quieter than usual, you're very, very clearly exhausted which means you're not sleeping, and correct me if I'm wrong—which let's be honest, I'm definitely not—but something is bugging that pretty little head of yours. You've been up in the clouds more often lately, and let me tell you, Newbie, you spent too much time there to begin with."

"I'm fine," JD replied automatically.

"Outstanding lie, not," Cox replied, shaking his head. "C'mon, Newbie. Just tell me what's going on. Hell, there was a time when I couldn't stop you from talking, and now that I actually want you to, you clam up?"

JD bit his lip. He could see that Cox wasn't going to leave it alone, but he couldn't tell him why he wasn't sleeping, and why he was quieter than usual, and why his fantasies were getting out of control.

That would only lead to pain. Cox would never forgive him. He'd certainly never respect him again.

"It's nothing," he tried. "I've just… been in my head about something and I'm tired. I think I need a break from the hospital."

Cox arched his eyebrow and then nodded, pouring himself a scotch. He glanced at a second glass, shook his head, and got a beer out of the fridge for JD.

JD accepted it with a quiet thanks, holding it between both hands. Dr Cox sat down beside him, nudging his shoulder.

"C'mon kid."

"I fell in love," JD admitted, looking down at the bottle in his hands. "I fell in love with someone who I… who I really shouldn't. But it's fine, you know?"

Cox frowned. "Barbie? Oh god, don't tell me it's Carla?"

JD snorted and shook his head. "No, neither of those. Nor is it Dr Cook, Danni, Jordan or anyone else that you're thinking."

"When the hell did you get time to meet and fall in love with someone that I'm not thinking of?"

Laughing, JD shook his head. "You're right, what am I thinking? I should go home and get some of that sleep you've been on at me about. Thanks for the beer, Perry."

"Just hold your horses right there, Newbie," Cox said, dropping his hand onto JD's thigh to hold him in place.

JD bit his lip, looking away as he felt his cheeks heat. They were so hot, they could be on literal fire.

He could feel Cox's stare burning into him for a long moment, and when JD shifted nervously, the hand on his thigh tightened.

"Newbie—"

"Please don't," JD whispered. "I… please don't. Just… you never need to know this, you really don't."

"Look at me, Carol."

JD didn't, and a surprisingly gentle hand landed on his chin, guiding his face around.

"You thought I'd be mad?"

JD sighed. "How could you not be. You're irritated by me at best, can't stand me at worst. This is a… me problem, and I don't need it to be fixed, or 'cured' or... anything else. I can deal with it, okay?"

"Kid…" Perry shook his head. "You're an idiot."

He tugged JD close, pressing their lips together in a gentle kiss. JD froze for a moment before his hand, moving without permission, reached out to grip at Perry's t shirt, holding him in place.

When they parted, JD was left to stare at Perry with wide eyes. "You… you kissed me."

"Well spotted there, Chelsea. No wonder you're such a good doctor with those observation skills."

JD rolled his eyes. "You—"

"Come on, Newbie, I've been pulling your pigtails for four years. You've been there for my worst moments, my best moments, my in-between moments… and I've watched you grow from a kid into a competent doctor. Somewhere in there… I fell a little in love too."

"I… don't know what to say," JD admitted, biting his lip.

Perry downed what was left in his glass and shook his head. "You don't need to say anything, Newbie. Come to bed—to sleep. I'm sure you're an octopus in bed, but if it'll stop you looking like something out of 28 days later, than it'll be worth it."

"You want to… canoodle with me?"

A startled laugh escaped Perry as he pulled JD to his feet. "When we do have sex, we're experimenting with gags. I'm just saying."

JD giggled, but leaned into the supporting arm of Perry. "I am a cuddler."

"I've never been more surprised," Perry replied dryly.

When they reached the bedroom, they stripped silently and slid into the bed, and Perry's arms automatically moved until JD was settled into his side, head on his chest, with Perry's hand in his hair and the other resting on his hip.

"I love you," JD whispered into the semi darkness of the room.

"Yeah, Newbie, I know. I love you too."


Written For:

Written in the Stars: 6. (word) leader

Showtime: 9. Somewhere - (word) Forgive

Elizabeth's Empire: 3. Earth - Sleeping At Last / (word) courage

Stickers: Ron: 17. (Word) Sacrifice - (shiny - bonus)

Sophie's Serial Killers: 1. Prompt: (word) Alcoholic

Scamander's Case: 1. (word) Fire

Film Festival: 5. Notorious

Lyric Alley: 1. First things first

TV Spree: 11. Red

The Forecast Says: 8th: Sunny: Bright

Entitled: 11. Catch Me If You Can - (word) cure

Hobby Hole: 1. Masterpiece

Milkshake Bar: Topping: Marshmallow - Word: Badassery

Urban Safari: 5. Hippo - (trait) intimidating

Paint A Rainbow: Brown: Romance

Tree Planting: Dogwood: (word) Outstanding

Teddy Bears Picnic: Banana sandwich - (object) Blanket

Birdhouse Building: Step 1: Romance

Petting Zoo: Ponies: Short

Leaving On A Jet Plane: 5. Maui: (Setting) Hospital

Days of the Year: 48. April 30th - Honesty Day: Write about being honest with someone

Aquarium Month: 6. Heater: Write about someone cold being warmed up.

Library Week: Romance

World Book Day: 6. The Scarecrow - (dialogue) "Use your brain, [Name]."

Crystals and Gemstones: 7. Topaz (word) Canoodle

365: 8. Depend

Scavenger Hunt: 16. Romance