A/N: Hi all! My first Scrubs story... yay. This set early in season two... I just got around to rewatching them... and I love the early episodes. This is set right after My Karma... Because although I do like Jordan I always wondered what would have happened if she hadn't been particularly motherly. Also Scrubs slash is disgustingly rare so... though ya'll may have to wait a few chapter's on that one. Cheers. Also any thoughts are in bold... mostly there JD's cos I love that about the show... but I didn't write it first person because I also wanted to include a few other's perspectives and also just a neutral angle as well. Hope everything's clear.
Disclaimer: Yeah... surprisingly I have no rights to anything that looks familiar.
Something Old, Something New
Prologue
My Bad
Difficulties are opportunities to better things; they are stepping stones to greater experience. Perhaps someday you will be thankful for some temporary failure in a particular direction. When one door closes, another always opens.
JD walked up to Dr. Cox's apartment door once again, raised his hand to knock… then dropped it. Walked off back down the hall and then turn and came back and just stood staring.
Okay now this may be big laughs for anyone watching, though I don't think any of the neighbors are. But I just finished a 28 hour shift. Why 28 hours, well that's an easy one. I was unlucky enough to decide to get coffee yesterday. Then I tripped over with said coffee… onto Dr. Kelso's brand new Italian loafers.
This brings us to why I'm not knocking on Doctor Cox's door… wait actually why I'm at Cox's door comes first. No big secret, I'm an idiot, with a death wish. I'm optimistic though, last time I was here he only hurt me little, maybe I can escape with minor injuries this time too. Maybe not.
What event actually put here? Again painfully simple… Doctor Cox didn't show up for work today. Now this may not seem like a big deal, but lately he's been trying to make it work with his ex-wife-current-girlfriend-evil-bitch-monster-thing or we just call her Jordan for short, also to her face as well for obvious reasons.
So that said I'm here just to make sure they haven't wiped each other of the face of the earth. Unfortunately after arriving, I realized that I would actually have to knock and one of them, god please Dr. Cox, will answer and they're both pretty mean.
JD finally made himself rap, trying to keep his hand steady when he did. Otherwise Dr. Cox would make fun of his 'girly little hands'. Not that he actually had them, but he would say he did.
No one answered. Then again he could hear the TV through the door so maybe he just wasn't being loud enough. JD knocked again and then slammed after another awkward pause. He could hear Jordan's baby crying on the other side already so, no chance of waking it. There was still the very real chance though of her killing him, just for laughs.
JD had to fight the urge to cross himself when Dr. Cox answered the door.
"Oh hey Valerie…" He smirked then raised a tumbler to his lips and drained the contents.
"What's your neck doing in my woods?" His breath was a hundred proof and JD took a step back for fear of melting.
"Argh… Dr. Cox… are you okay?" The other was almost always drinking… outside of work at least. But JD had never actually seen him drunk before, not this kind of drunk. When Dr. Cox got tipsy he only ever got more like himself.
"I'm fine Lauren, all is right with the world. I am just peachy keen… 'cepts my drink is empty." JD flinched when the other slurred on the except, because Dr. Cox didn't slur. He turned and disappeared around the door, JD poking his head in cautiously.
No Jordan… well as least not anywhere visible. Like Dr. Kelso you can never tell when she's simply going to pop up, like some demented Jack in the box and of course the fact that I've slept with this woman… only adds to the creep factor.
Little baby no name is cry in his pram, wailing in a terribly dejected way.
"Hey Doctor Cox… where's Jordan?" JD asked, with an edge of concern.
"Jordan's gone…" He laughed, flopping down messily into the couch with his now full glass, sloshing god only knew what everywhere.
It was at this crucial point, in my sleep deprived brain, that Tweetie appeared on my shoulder, bulbous yellow head sitting beside mine.
"Oh yeah this puddy tat's widdle red choo-choo's gone off the wails…" He garbled. I brushed him off… this was no time for cartoon canaries.
"What'd you mean 'she's gone'?" JD asked neck hair's twitching…
"Gone Shannon… not sure how many different ways I can put that here goes though… Let's see." JD picked up the tossed aside letter on the coffee table, white paper stark against the dark wood.
Perry,
I've decided that this whole mothering thing isn't really working for me at the moment. I've decided to see Paris for a bit, we'll discuss it when I get back… JD reread the note and then flipped it over it see if he'd missed something… Evil-Bitch-Monster…
JD dropped the letter back onto the table.
"Well you know Dr. Cox. I'm sure its just hormones you know she'll probably be back tomorrow…" For once I was glad that Dr. Cox seemed to be paying no attention to me what-so-ever… It was one of those times where a hole opening in the middle of the floor and swallowing me would have been welcomed. I would've screamed or anything… I turned my attention to something slightly safer…
"Hey is there something wrong with…" I thumbed towards Jordan's kid… really Cox's kid too but I can't tell him that...
"The kid… he's Jordan's… what could possibly be right with the poor little bugger." He flicked to a news report on some plane crash, looking despondently at the screen.
"Well when did you feed him last?" JD said going over to peer in at the wiggling mass.
"6 maybe…"
"It's almost 9." JD frowned… how long could newborns go without eating… four hours…? It was something close to that.
"Well gee Stephanie you can tell time… I wouldn't've guessed." I don't bother to explain that he's probably really hungry… 'Cos the thing on the couch that looks like Dr. Cox and occasionally sounds like him isn't.
I make my way into the kitchen… its sterile looking like the rest of the apartment. I open the fridge door, thinking how I don't need this after my really longe shift. But I guess that doesn't really matter since I'm not going to leave the kid like that, even if I do doubt very much that Dr. Cox will actually let him starve.
JD found three bottles of formula lined up along the door. He pulled the first one out and went across to put it under the hot tap, Dr. Cox making no comment as he came back in and sat at the end of the lounge. The plane crash was still being played on the news. Which JD found rather morbid.
Eventually I decided just to ignore the thing at the end of the couch that was calling itself Dr. Cox. I had Jordan's baby to focus on and the kid seemed to hate me as much as his mother did. He fussed and cried, milk spilling from the nipple into his chin. Apparently he's taken on his mother's demonic qualities too. Funny how the wailing hasn't annoyed me until now.
"He won't feed unless you're holding him." Dr. Cox offers and not for the first time ever I want to punch him.
"Yeah well since he's your kid you could stop drinking and give us a hand here!" I grouse beyond tired. I'm also a little scared too and since no one actually likes being scared I get mad to cover it.
"Nagh… you've got that real mothering instinct Brittany… wouldn't wanna mess with that." He says and gets up for another drink.
"You know Jordan left, she didn't drop off the face of the earth… she'll probably be back by next week… so could ya maybe stop feeling sorry for yourself." JD snapped, nerves frayed.
"Oh Newbie… she's not coming back…" He says, back to JD.
"And why's that?" JD groans trying to decide how best to pick up the screaming infant.
"'Cos that was her plane."