Gimme Shelter

Chapter 1: Face the Music

Storyshark2005

Disclaimer- I own nothing…don't sue.

Hey guys, this is my first Scrubs fic. Hope you enjoy it. Read, review, and I'll take any suggestions you got! I'm just tired of sub-par writing and the lack of quality Cox/Reid fics out there, so if I put my foot in my mouth with this one, don't hesitate to tell me. However, if you like it, I'd appreciate you telling me also. I'm thinkin' this probably takes place in one of the early seasons, before Cox gets too involved with Jordan, and before Keith shows up.

***

Dr. Elliot Reid gripped the steering wheel harder, watching her knuckles turn white. She could see Sacred Heart peeking over the rows and rows of parked cars stretching out before her as she gazed through the hole she had scraped into her frosted windshield over 30 minutes ago; new ice was starting to crystallize and close in the ragged edges. She had turned off the heater, and the bitter cold was starting to settle over her body like an icy blanket. She watched her breath as she shakily exhaled, patterns forming and swirling, then disappear into the frigid, still air of the car.

On the count of three…one… two…………three.

Nothing.

She just couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself to open the door. Every time she got to three…nothing happened. It was as if her brain had turned on some sort of safety mechanism, like a 'body lock' to keep her from stepping through the doors of that hospital and facing what she dreaded most: her life.

Well, to be more specific, a certain person in her life. She saw him every day. Now, most days his aloof, uncaring and asshole-like demeanor didn't really bother her that much. Sure, she had cried in a storage closet a couple of times, but she was getting used to the 'Lookit Barbie, save it for someone who cares' comments and three minute rants about her utter uselessness.

But not today. She just couldn't do it today. She could NOT face him.

Why today? Well, it was an issue that stemmed from the events of last night. Half of which she could not remember, the other half leaving her face burning in embarrassment and slamming her head into the steering wheel hissing 'FRICK! FRICKITY FRICK FRICK FRIKIN' FRICK!'

It was not just a mistake. It was the biggest mistake she had ever made in her entire life. She had slept with JD; that was a mistake. She had slept with her Human Anatomy and Physiology professor; that, (although she did pull a 98% in the class), was also a mistake. Sleeping with Dr. Cox….well, that was beyond a mistake. It was beyond stupid. It was in an entirely different realm of idiocy. It was…..unfathomably, incomprehensibly, inexplicably, inconceivably and absurdly dumb.

Thankfully, no one else knew about it…yet. Dr. Cox was still semi-involved off and on with Jordan, and JD was another issue entirely (she had a feeling he still liked her more than he should). If either of those two found out, especially Jordan, she would never be able to face any of them again. In Jordan's case, it would probably be because she'd be dead…

But today she still had to go in there and do her job. The thought of her job was what made her take one more deep breath, push open the door, and step out into the cold wind. Freezing rain stung her cheeks and nose. She shouldered her bag, looked up at the imposing exterior of Sacred Heart, and started toward the entrance.

As she walked, her brain drifted to the events of the previous night, and of that morning.

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