Christmas day arrived and Linda was annoyed that she couldn't have as big a dinner as she usually did when she was at home. This year, turkey sandwiches would have to do. She was joined by both her son, and Carly who still hadn't managed to get a flight back home. She arranged with Lou to take some time off over New Year instead when there was more chance of the planes running.

Lee thought about asking Carly to leave him and his mom to have their dinner as a family but he really didn't see the point. He knew how stubborn Carly was and his mother was even worse!

The hospital was unusually quiet considering what time of year it was, which meant that Lee could spend even more time at his mom's bedside.

After a few more days, Linda was finally discharged and allowed to go home. Lee took two more days off to make sure she settled back in at home alright, despite his mother's insistence that she would be fine. Doctor Dawson couldn't help but laugh at the fact that this last month alone, he'd taken more days off than he had in two years.

Carly decided that she would leave them to get back into a routine. She said goodbye to Linda before Mrs Dawson was taken home. Linda thanked Carly profusely, as if she herself had saved the old woman's life. She wouldn't tell Lee, but Carly felt wonderful that his mother felt that way. This was the type of feeling she became a nurse for in the first place.

She picked up what few shifts were going at the hospital before she managed to book a flight back home to Montpelier, the capital city of Vermont. She then had to get another short flight to her hometown of Burlington. It felt strange being back home after so long, but Carly wouldn't deny that it felt perfect. After her final flight, she collected her suitcase and got a taxi to her parents' home.

*

Lee came back to work on the same day that Carly left. He sent her a quick text message wishing her a safe journey but he was quite sure she'd already be on the plane by the time he'd sent it. He quietly hoped she'd been smarter than him and had packed her phone charger!

New Years Eve was quiet for Lee. He was invited to a party at Phil's to ring in the New Year but he told Doctor Davis that he was working. Ten minutes later, Lee begged Lou to give him a shift, a request that Lou was more than happy to grant.

He appeared to be the only one working as the clock struck twelve. Lee didn't know what carried him to the E wing but he soon found himself in the room that housed the four chattiest men he knew. They all stared at him expectantly. What they were expecting, Lee didn't know. And neither did they.

"Happy New Year boys" Lee finally smiled at them. The looks that then appeared on their faces told Lee that he had just made their day. Technically their year too he thought to himself.

Unfortunately for Lee, everyone else around him seemed to be full of cheer as well. On normal days he'd be greeted by one or two brave souls but the next day everyone seemed to be wishing him a good day and a happy new year. He'd worked new years day before and it had definitely never been this bad. Even people he didn't know were saying hello to him but the final straw came when Phil approached him while he was standing in reception.

"What do you want Phil?" Lee sighed.

"Happy new year Lee!" He answered. Lee repeated his question, not amused at Phil's broad smile. "Are you serious?" Phil Laughed, stopping only when he saw that Lee had kept a serious face on the entire time. "Wow, Lou was right. The quicker Nurse Oliver comes back, the better". Shaking his head, Phil began to leave before Lee held out his arm to stop him suddenly.

"What's Carly got to do with anything?" Lee asked, still annoyed, but mostly just puzzled now. "What did Lou tell you?"

"He just said that we shouldn't expect you to be Doctor Happy right now until she gets back" Phil shrugged.

"Doctor Happy?" Lee asked, almost choking as he did so.

"Yeah. Haven't you heard? It's your new nickname. Everyone's been calling you it, the patients, the nurses, the other doctors too. I thought it was something you came up with yourself!"

"Doctor Happy huh? Is that supposed to be funny?" Lee asked. If there was one thing that Lee couldn't stand more than anything then it was people making fun of him. Especially behind his back.

"No, no, not at all! It's actually a compliment! You are happy aren't you?" Phil seemed to be begging. Lee shrugged. "You don't know if you're happy or not?" Phil asked, relaxing a bit while Lee remained impassive. "How can you not know?" He laughed but caught his breath straight away in case he upset Lee. Again.

"And Lou said all this to you?" Lee asked, ignoring the other questions that he'd been asked.

Phil nodded his head and may have said something too but it was far too quiet and mumbled for Lee to make it out. Rather than ask him about it, Lee walked away from Phil and began his search for his boss.

This took far longer than expected as Lou was nowhere to be found. Lee checked his office, the cafeteria, the car park and even the outdoor smoking area on the off chance that Lou had suddenly taken up the habit. Very unlikely, given his profession but you never know.

As Lee walked the hospital corridors like a man possessed, he suddenly realised something extraordinary. People were smiling at him as he passed. And what was even more astounding was that he found himself smiling back! He didn't know why he was doing this but he sure didn't like it. So the next time he heard someone say "Good morning Doctor Dawson", he made sure that as a reply, he simply grunted like he was an angry bear. He hoped that that would stop all of this unnecessary friendliness.

Sadly, this wasn't the case. He spent the rest of the day grunting so much that his throat started to hurt. He ended up giving himself a huge coughing fit as well. He could swear that being "Doctor Happy" was making him ill.

Right before his shift was finished, he finally tracked Lou down. He'd been overseeing an operation on a kid who'd broken his leg playing football.

"Did you come up with Doctor Happy?" Lee asked.

"What?"

"According to Phil, you've given me a nickname, and apparently it's stuck. You have to fix it" Lee pleaded.

"Fucking Phil. I don't have time for this" Lou swatted Lee away before making his way towards his office. For once, Lee was the one chasing someone down the corridor.

"Look, I don't want people to think I'm a happy guy. You know I hate people talking to me so I want everything to go back to the way it was. I need people to be scared of me again". He was now in front of Lou, blocking his path in the narrow hall.

"Doctor Dawson, haven't you been much happier lately. The only reason people haven't spoken to you is because you haven't been nice to a single person in this building. Life would be much easier for everyone if we all just got along. I'm not telling you to be best friends with these people, but please don't be horrible to them. You're much better than that". Lou finished telling Lee off before nudging him out of the way and finally making it to his office.

The pep talk was actually pretty convincing to Lee, but he was still definitely not going to be taking Lou's advice. It was time for "Doctor Happy" to die.