Title: Addicted

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Warnings: Substance abuse and light language.

A/N: Written for the impromptu50 community on Livejournal. This is the first fanfic I've written in the Scrubs fandom. Let me know what y'all think. Set somewhere early in season three.

Summary: JD's addicted.

JD shook two pills out of the bottle, swallowed them with a glass of water, then turned off the bedside lamp. He lay back on his pillow, staring up towards the ceiling as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He counted the seconds off in his head.

Two hours later he repeated the process. He felt hot as he lay back against the warm pillow. Yanking his shirt roughly over his head, he flipped the pillow over to the other side and lay back, snuggling into the coolness.

Two hours later. Repeat.

JD walked the halls of Sacred Heart, carefully watching the tiles as they slipped by underneath his feet. He had slept well last night - finally - but he hated that a night of blissful unconsciousness always came back to bite him in the ass the next morning. The commercials lied. They always depicted some Lady waking up, looking fully charged as she stretched her glorious arms above that equally glorious chest and gave the camera an award-winning smile. And something about butterflies.

He sighed. The commercials never showed the side effects. They never showed the Lady staggering into work the next morning looking dazed and confused, or vomiting up five bucks worth of coffee.

Of course, the Lady in the commercials probably didn't take three times the recommended amount every night.

But what could he do? If he wanted to be a good doctor he needed his sleep. And if getting a good night's rest meant chugging six or eight or ten pills then so be it. It was that or spend the night tossing and turning until the alarm went off. Either way he ended with the same results - staring at the tiles as he trudged a path through the hospital.

JD shook his head and straightened up. No, he decided, it wasn't the same. The side effects of a night without sleep were far worse than the residual side effects of taking a couple more pills than what was prescribed on the side of a bottle. In fact -

Woah.

JD threw out his arms as the hall began to twist and tilt. He braced himself against a wall until the hall stopped shifting underneath his feet. Taking a deep breath, he turned his eyes back down towards the ground and continued on his way.

JD growled at the ceiling in frustration. He was drowsy, but he wasn't asleep. What the hell? Sitting up he snatched the bottle from his bedside table and dumped the contents out on his blanket, then threw the empty bottle across the room for good measure. He picked one up and examined it in the dim light filtering in through his window. He wondered if these were real pills or if someone had switched them out with something else. They looked real enough.

He popped the pill in question into his mouth. Tasted like a pill. If these were fakes, they were pretty convincing. Picking up another pill he tossed it into his mouth and took a sip of water.

Pill. Sip. Repeat.

Turk had to bodily haul him out of bed this morning. He stood under the lukewarm spray of the showerhead, bracing his arms against the wall to help balance his weight.

JD looked down at himself. He felt slimmer than usual. Odd. He entertained the idea that he might be coming down with something. He did work at a hospital after all.

He'd have to ask Carla if she had any Tylenol. Or Benadryl. This time of year was always hell on his sinuses.

Turning off the water, JD grabbed a towel and stepped out of the shower.

JD gripped tight to the toilet as he leaned over it, expelling his lunch into the bowl. He gasped for air and praised his stomach for the slight reprieve it gave him. Gotta take the good with the bad . . .

The bathroom door opened. JD sighed into the bowl, looking at the mess he had created. The bad returns.

The distinctive whistling that reached his ears made him cringe. Why must the bad always return with a vengeance?

JD sat silent on the cold tile floor, hoping that he could keep what was left of his lunch down and also keep from alerting Dr. Cox to his presence. The painful churning in his stomach disregarded his pleas and told him he didn't have much time.

The sound of a flushing urinal nearly had JD gasping in relief. Dr. Cox turned to the sink and began washing his hands.

God, he's taking his time, isn't he? I mean, I know it's a hospital and all, but come on . . .

Just go, JD thought as he rocked back in forth in what he hoped his stomach found to be a soothing motion. Go, go, gogogogogo -he could feel his stomach clenching. He wasn't going to make it.

JD cried out in pain as his stomach expelled the rest of his turkey sandwich into the toilet.

The whistling abruptly stopped.

JD gasped loudly, choking on the aftertaste - never as good the second time around - and ran a hand through his damp hair. He felt relieved that it was over, but he was left utterly exhausted. His stomach still churned angrily, looking for something else to throw at him. His throat burned and he had a brief thought of his tongue attempting suicide to escape the horrid taste. He hardly heard the soft footsteps as they made their way towards his stall and he missed the sound of the door squeaking as it opened, but Dr. Cox's voice was crystal clear.

"Aw, Cindy, do you need me to hold your hair back?"

Weakly JD reached up to flush the toilet while wiping the back of his other hand across his mouth. He turned to look up at Dr. Cox and smiled weakly. "No thanks. I think I'm done here."

Dr. Cox crossed his arms and stared down at him. "What's wrong there, Newbie? Stay up too late partying with your other sorority sisters?"

JD nodded, playing along. He braced a hand on the toilet paper dispenser and attempted to haul himself to his feet. "You know me, Perry," he said, his words slurring a little. "I like to have fun-fun-fun." His knees buckled and he fell backwards onto the toilet seat with a soft thud. "Ow …"

Dr. Cox lurched forward and grabbed JD's arms as he fell backwards. Holding tight to him he hauled the younger doctor to his feet and watched disapprovingly as he swayed for a moment before regaining his balance.

"I think we've already discussed my feelings on coming in to work drunk," Dr. Cox said, his voice treading the line between angry and disappointed. "What was it I said?" Dr. Cox asked, searching the air with his eyes as if the answer was floating somewhere above JD's head. "Oh that's right -" Dr. Cox zeroed in on JD again "- I said don't."

JD shook his head and grabbed Dr. Cox's forearms. "I'm not drunk," JD stated, yanking away from the other man's powerful grip.

Dr. Cox stood back and crossed his arms over his chest again. "Well, you could have fooled me, Newbie," Dr. Cox said. JD sighed and sat down on the toilet. The two fell into an uncomfortable silence - JD staring off into space, Dr. Cox staring down at the young man. He took in JD's pale skin, his thin frame, the way his hands trembled as he wiped them against his scrubs.

Dr. Cox sighed. "You look like hell," he said.

"I feel like hell," JD concurred. JD looked up at Dr. Cox and was startled to see that the man actually looked a little concerned. "I think I'm just coming down with something," JD said. "I've been a little out of sorts these past few days."

Dr. Cox nodded. "Yeah, I've noticed," he said. JD perked a little at that, but said nothing. He notices me?

"It's just a stomach bug," JD said, trying to sound convincing. "It's not a big deal." He waited, tense, for Dr. Cox's response.

"Well," Dr. Cox said after a moment, "best get that checked out before you start killing people with something other than your incompetence."

JD smiled a little. "Thanks," he managed. Dr. Cox growled at his smile, and in three long strides he exited the bathroom.

JD sat still and closed his eyes. Carefully he eased himself off the toilet and took a seat next to it, leaning up against the stall's wall. His stomach seemed to have settled down, but he wasn't taking any chances.

JD stepped up to the cash register and handed the clerk a box. The clerk, an elderly gentleman, smiled at him as he scanned the barcode on the back of the box and handed it back to JD. JD wordlessly handed the man a 20.

"Second time this week. You sure do go through those fast," the elderly clerk said, his smile wavering a bit.

JD looked up from the box. "They're not for me," he lied. "They're for my girlfriend. She has trouble sleeping."

"Poor thing," the clerk said, a line of sympathy crossing his brow as he pulled out JD's change. "Well then, you make sure you keep an eye on her."

"Sure," JD muttered. He wasn't paying attention to the clerk. His mind was wandering. He felt listless. He just wanted to go home and go to sleep.

The older man handed JD his change. "Don't want her taking too many," he said softly. "Could be dangerous."

"Of course," JD said. Taking the money and the box, he left the store.

JD sat on his bed.

Pill. Sip. Repeat.

A/N2: Feedback is appreciated!