Disclaimer: Scrubs is property of Fox or whoever, and not me.
"Dog bites," he told Turk honestly. "Doberman."
"Damn," Turk said, impressed. "You got off lucky from that thing. Looks like he only scraped you."
"Yeah, well, I kicked him in the head."
"Where'd you run into a dog? On the street?"
"No, somone's back yard."
Turk raised an eyebrow. "Okay... were you chasing it?"
"No, nothing like that. I was jumping fences. Damn thing caught me."
"Wait a sec, hold up... Why were you jumping through peoples' yards?"
Janitor leaned in close. "Can you keep a secret?"
"Uh... yeah, sure."
"So can I." He rolled his sleeve up dutifully. "Can I get my rabies shot now?"
"...Oh my God," was just about all Carla could manage to say.
"Uh huh!" Elliot gushed, practically swooning. "Best ever. I mean really, ever."
"Yeah, but... with... Oh my God."
"Okay, I know it sounds weird," she said, a bit defensively, "considering it's the janitor, but he's really just... I can't even describe it. Dreamlike. Wonderful." She paused for thought. "Amazing tongue."
"Okay," Carla cut off, "that's enough of that topic. It's still too new for me to be able to hear you say things like that and have it not shatter my world."
"Sorry," Elliot said sincerely. "I know what you mean. I guess for me, it'd be like hearing you talk about Ted like that." Both women cringed a bit. "Well, maybe not Ted..."
"Agreed," Carla said. She tapped her pen in the counter, trying to remember what she had been doing before Elliot had assaulted her with juicy details, but her memory came up short. All her brain could do was try and imagine the janitor kissing someone without soon afterward clubbing them in the head and dragging them back to his cave. "So, does this mean you... and him... are, like... you know?"
"An item? You know what, I don't even know! I haven't seen him yet, and I'm a little worried he'll just act like nothing happened again. What if he changed his mind?" Elliot's patented paranoia began seeping itself into her perfect mood. "Oh my God, Carla, what if I was awful? Here I am going on and on about how great a lover he is, and what if he thought I was the worst?"
"Elliot," Carla said sternly, "you woke up and he had made you pancakes. Blueberry pancakes. And coffee. And cinnamon buns!"
"I know, I didn't even knew I had those."
"Which indicates he went to the store to get them," she emphasized. "Guys who just had lousy sex don't give the girl pancakes! They give them herpes!"
Elliot's eyes went wide. "Do you think I should get tested?" she squeaked.
"Maybe," Carla admitted, since she was a nurse and unprotected sex with a new partner was never a good idea. "But you're missing the point, Elliot! Look at it this way- the letter from Jane said he likes you. He came up to you in the bar, which says he likes you. You guys walked for hours just talking, which says he likes you. He took a dog bite for you! The first time you offered sex, because he thought you were drunk, he said no. Elliot, he introduced you to his "family" as his wife! How much clearer a picture does he have to paint? All signs point to yes on this one, why can't you just accept it?"
"I don't know," Elliot mumbled, putting her face in her hands. "You're right, completely. I shouldn't even be worrying about this. He's like, the only man I've ever been with whose made it all so easy. It's never been this easy for me before. I guess that kinda freaks me out."
"Okay, so answer this. Do you like him? I mean really? Not even considering what anyone else will think... do you like him, Elliot?"
Elliot let herself think it over for as long as it took, despite there being patients that needed her attention. This was important after all. Was David worth the fight it was going to be, waiting until JD, Turk, even Dr. Cox got over the shock? Living through all the jokes they would make? Having to let Carla get used to listening to sexy details about someone she was a bit afraid of? Would it change how he acted at the hospital? As great as the past night had been and as wonderful as he was when it was just the two of them, was it worth upsetting everyone's lives for it?
"Okay," Elliot decided, her voice quiet and resigned. "I guess that's that." She nodded at Carla, keeping a brave little smile on her face. Gathering her charts, Elliot began making her rounds.
It wasn't until almost three forty-five that Elliot came across the janitor. He was standing with his mop and bucket in the hallway in front of the elevator, and appeared to be making JD's life harder.
"Pay the fee!" he was saying to JD as Elliot approached.
"I'm not paying to use the elevator," JD retorted smartly. "There are like a hundred more in the hospital."
Janitor folded his arms. "Then go to one."
But this one is right here, JD thought to himself, and pouted. "No one else has to pay to get on!" he protested.
"Not that you've seen," Janitor corrected him.
"Have they?"
"You're the first one to come by," he said smugly.
JD rolled his eyes. "I don't have any cash on me." He knew it wouldn't work, but it was worth a try.
"Too bad for you, then."
"Fine," he conceded, "how much?"
"Twenty five cents."
"That's it?"
"Yep."
Begrudgingly, JD pulled a dollar from his pocket. "Do you have change?"
"Nope."
"What? Oh, come on!" Elliot approached, looking determined. "Hey, Elliot," he said passively. "Hey, do you have a quarter?"
Janitor nodded a greeting. "Blonde doctor," he said cordially, still watching JD and waiting for his toll fee.
Elliot took in a deep breath. "Hey there, sexy," she said, her voice full of mock confidence.
JD's eyebrows lifted almost into his hairline. "Uh... hi."
"I didn't mean you," she told him, a little embarassed. "I meant David."
"David? Who the-"
"Hey," Janitor grinned triumphantly, "I guess that's me." He looked into Elliot's eyes and smiled warmly. "Afternoon, Dr. Reed."
"Elliot," she corrected.
He shook his head. "I get a power trip out of having a doctor girlfriend, actually."
Elliot giggled. Girlfriend! she thought giddily. "Okay then, but only in here. I don't want to hear Dr. Reed while we're doing it."
"I'll try to restrain myself."
JD stared and stared and stared. His dear little ears could not comprehend what he was hearing. Elliot... and Janitor? Or David, or whatever she'd just said? Wait, Janitor had an actual name? "What the..." he began, but couldn't seem to finish.
The elevator dinged, and the smooth steel doors slid open. David made a grand sweeping gesture with his hand. "Your chariot," he said kindly.
Elliot grinned. "Thank you." She stepped inside, giddy and warm. This was just too magical.
David stepped in behind her, shoving out doctors and interns witrh one bowling gesture. The seven of them stumbled onto a floor they did not want, confused and annoyed. "Where to?" David asked.
"Ground floor."
As the doors slid shut, JD regained some of the perspicacity he'd lost momentarily. "Hey! That's the floor I needed!" he yelled fruitlessly. The hum of the motors told him they neither heard nor cared. "She didn't have to pay a toll," he said moodily. As JD walked toward the stairway for his long trek down, his mind flipped between two options like a coin being tossed. Where to go first- to Turk and share in the incredulity of the idea of Elliot and Janitor, or to Carla, who would probably have details?
Inside the elevator, David scooped Elliot into his arms and kissed her. Even then, she couldn't stop smiling. "I was so nervous," she admitted. "I thought maybe you'd ignore me again, or... I don't know what I thought."
"Thought about it," he admitted. "Till you called me sexy. And hey, who am I to deny the truth?"
She was so relieved she couldn't contain herself. "This is crazy," she admitted. "Is this how it's always going to be?"
"No," he told her, kissing her again. "Sometimes, there will be chocolate chip pancakes instead."
THE END