A/N: Hey, gang! I know it's been a while, and I'm sorry I haven't written as much as I would've liked to this summer, but I promise it doesn't stem from a passionless mindset (I was away for a month this summer as well, which obviously didn't mix too well with writing time). Anyway, I've been reading more and more work by David Levithan as of late, and I just recently read his book "The Realm of Possibility" which is a novel in verse (I am a sucker for novel in verse). Anyway, there's a section in there (Section 3 – Jamie – The Day) that really inspired me. I was so impressed at his ability to comb through the alphabet the way he did, and wanted to give a go at it myself. I know that sounds a little weird if you haven't read it, but hopefully, you'll know what I mean if you continue on with this particular story. Anyway, that's about it. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own a very large nothing.

His Twenty-Six Minutes from Hell

Arguments between the two doctors were usually pretty
abrasive, but never had JD stormed so
abruptly out of the
apartment, refusing to come back until the older man
admitted what he'd done.

Because Perry was not one to
back down so easily, he usually
bit back until the
brunet caved in himself,
but no matter how much he tried to

convince himself otherwise, he
could not deny that he had
cheated on his partner.

Coming into work the next day was a
cruelty he knew he deserved.
Curious eyes, accusatory glares, and not-so-
casual glances were thrown in his direction, but Perry
couldn't bring himself to snap at any of them. He knew he

deserved the looks he received; wouldn't
dare to suggest otherwise. After all,
didn't the same people glare at Jordan when she
did to Perry what Perry had
done to JD? All those years ago, when
Dr. Cox told Carla what the She-
Devil had
done with Petey, hadn't both
doctors and nurses alike gathered together in their
disgust towards the late Mr. Sullivan's
daughter?

Everything comes full circle, an
eerie voice whispered harshly, but Perry knew it was just his usually
egotistical mind
eating away at his conscience, making him realize without much
effort that
even he could not defend himself on this one. The one
evil he had managed to avoid in this world had

finally caught up to him, and Dr. Cox had
failed.

Finally making it to the nurses' station, Perry
forwent his usual "morning" to Carla, her
fiery stare hitting him like a bare
footed kick to the stomach. Her
fury and disappointment in him left Perry
feeling almost as bad as JD's
final words to him yesterday. "I
fucked up," he said evenly,
forgoing his defensive tone.

Guilt laced his voice, and while Carla knew his words were
genuine, she just couldn't focus on the
good in him she'd
gotten so used to defending. Seeing that his
guard was down, Carla bit back.

Hard.
"How could you?" she started quietly,
her voice quavering in a way she
hadn't expected. The Latina bit
her lip, not realizing
how hard the situation
had managed to
hit her. "Do you know how
hurt Bambi is right now? Do you know the
hell you've put him through?" It was
here that Dr. Cox made to answer, but Carla
hurriedly cut
him off. "The sad part is, you do know.

It was only a few years ago now that Jordan
intentionally went behind your back with borderline
indifference. She left you
in shambles, Dr. Cox, and how do you respond? By
ignoring your history, your morals, your
'I love you,' to JD, and letting her get
inside your head all over again. Seriously, was
it a sudden case of
insanity? What did you
imagine would happen after the fact? Did you just –?"
"I KNOW!" Carla

jumped at the explosion, not having expected the
jolt of obvious despair that laced Perry's voice. "I can't
justify what happened, okay? I fucked up, I did. She
just waltzed in and said her spiel and all of my
judgment on the matter completely crumbled.
JD found out because he mentioned
Jordan later that night, and
just hearing her name had me praying to
Jehovah, which you know I don't do, but
John, I mean, JD… He just kept staring until his
jaw dropped, and then he wouldn't stop saying, "You're
joking, you're joking. You have to be joking." A

kind of deep despair took over Perry's features then,
kindling whatever sympathy Carla still
kept hidden underneath her anger for him. "He
knew what happened because I couldn't hide my guilt. I
know that doesn't make what I did any less horrible, but I

legitimately felt disgusted by what happened, okay?
Lying on the matter was not part of the plan."
"Like cheating was?" Carla shot back, refusing to
let go of her anger towards him. The
lump in Perry's throat was practically visible as his
lips tightened into a thin, straight
line. "None of it was part of the plan," he

murmured. "None of it." I planned on keeping JD for
months, years – And the only reason I went
mute when he started asking why was because the
mark that Jordan left on
me when she cheated had
managed to fuck up pretty
much every aspect of my life, and just picturing JD
morphing into the person I was back then because of
my actions just left me fucking

numb. Carla inhaled slowly, trying to calm her
nerves. She watched as the older man flicked his
nose in distress, realizing at once that she'd
never seen him look so upset; at least
not since he was the one being cheated on.

Nails drumming on the counter, the
nurse finally found her voice as she
nailed Perry with a firm stare. Still, there was a
notable change in her attitude as she looked at him. She was

obviously still pissed, but her brown
orbs held a glimmer of hope as she silently
orchestrated what she was going to say next. "You need to
own up to what you did," she finally told him.

Perry inhaled deeply, his
pain over what he had done to JD more than
palpable. "I know," he said finally. "I can say it to you, but
phrasing everything the right way to him,
picturing the look on his face..."
Perry was cut off as a sudden
punch to his jaw made the earth

quake underneath him, the
quiet conversation he was holding with Carla turning into a
quarrel he hadn't prepared for. "Nice

right hook there, Gandhi," he said while
retrieving his balance. Perry had expected some kind of
reaction from Turk; he just hadn't expected a
run in like this. "You're damn
right it is!" the surgeon
roared back,
raring and
ready to throw yet another. Perry
really didn't want to fight then and there, but
running was never an option, even if he knew he
really did deserve what was coming. Turk
raised his fists and Perry followed suit,
rage surging through the surgeon's every molecule.

Still, the older man couldn't let himself
swing too hard, JD's overwhelming
sadness from the night before still
swirling in his conscience as Turk kept on
swinging. He fought back, of course, but
surprised himself by taking it easy, not wanting to
smash JD's heart further by
smashing his best friend's face in.

"STOP IT, STOP IT! THE BOTH OF YOU,
STOP IT!" Both
Sacred Heart employees were
startled by the
sudden intrusion. They had expected Carla to
separate the both of them, but not the doctor who
stepped in now.

The look on JD's face as he
took them both in
tore at Perry's insides, making him want to
turn back
time and erase the
trap he fell into yesterday.
"Turk, could you give us a minute?"
The surgeon stared worriedly at JD's
tasseled hair and
tear stained face before
turning away with a small nod, shooting Cox one more
threatening glare before leaving. Perry
tensed as JD's eyes
turned to him and him alone, his mouth a
thin line as his eyes
threatened to spill over.

"Upstairs in five minutes," JD
uttered before leaving, and while Perry wasn't
usually the one following commands, he listened,
unquestioning, knowing how much stress he was
under, and that it was all because of him. Five minutes later, Percival
Ulysses Cox stood awkwardly on the roof, the sky as
unclear as his conscience. JD stared at him,
unbelieving, for what felt like hours,
until Dr. Cox just couldn't take it anymore. "I'm a
useless boyfriend, huh?" Perry had never
uttered the "b-word" before, but he felt an overwhelming
urgency to do whatever it took to make JD love him again.

"Vicious is more like it," JD said with
visible malice, his
vendetta against him stronger and more
vigorous than Perry expected. "Listen, JD –"

"What were you thinking?" he demanded suddenly. "I
wasn't," Perry countered, his
words pouring desperately out of
worn out lungs. "There was no thinking behind it; no
wisdom or logic or anything. I just let her
walk in and take over
without a
word of protest, okay? I admit it. I admit it
whole heartedly. I was
wrong; beyond
wrong. There is no right
way to apologize for this other than saying how sorry I am. I
wish I could do it all again; I
wish I could change
what I did but I can't. All I'm capable of now is apologizing and
wondering
whether or not this
will…if this
will ever pass..." It
wasn't until the
words left his mouth that Perry knew how his
world was going to end.

"X marks the spot, Per," JD said softly, his own

yearnings breaking through as he said it. "I thought
you were the best thing to ever happen to me, but after
yesterday…" It was here that JD finally broke down and cried, the
yellow sun breaking through the clouds and hitting the
young man whose heart he just broke. "Newbie," he choked. "I'm so…
you're so… God, kid, I'm just so –" JD sniffed.
"Yeah, I know. That's what makes this so hard, because I know
you aren't really this big of an asshole, but I just…I can't just…"
Years seemed to pass before JD finally finished his sentence. "I love
you," he said finally. When Perry seemed shocked, he almost smiled.
"Yes, you," he added. "But I just can't do this again. Do
you…do you understand?" Dr. Cox closed his eyes, inhaled, and answered.
"Yes, JD.
Yes. I understand..." Without another word, the once
youthful doctor turned to go, stopping only when Perry
yelled his named. "JD!" A silence, and then, "Are
you sure? There's no chance that this, all of this…"
Yielding his heart to stop racing, the brunet turned around and spoke:

"Zero," he said softly, before leaving the roof for good.

A/N: Depressing ending, I know, but I just didn't see this one ending too well for either of them. As far as the title goes – His Twenty-Six Minutes from Hell – I named it that because I wanted to incorporate the whole alphabet thing (IE, 26 letters in the English alphabet) and because I figured from the time Perry stepped into the hospital from the time JD left him on the roof, that could've easily taken place all in twenty-six minutes. Anyway, yeah…this was definitely one of the hardest things I've ever written, as it proved to be quite a challenge, but that's also what made it fun for me, I'll admit. That being said, I hope you enjoyed this piece in all its strangeness. Until next time!