"What the fuck Phil" Lee gasped as he took in Doctor Davis' home.

He and Carly had gotten a taxi from her apartment to the address that Phil had given to the nurse, and none of them could believe the sight that lay before them now. It was more like a castle than a house!

"I had no idea he lived in a place like this!" Carly gasped.

"I don't think anyone did" Lee replied, which was a lie because everyone probably did know. He was the only one who always rejected the invite to the party.

He had chosen to wear his "adventurous" shirt today but was now worried that he was inappropriately dressed. Thankfully his fears were unwarranted as every other guest seems to be wearing their summer clothes. The weather was constantly getting better and today was the hottest of the year so far.

"This place is basically an estate" Carly said as they left the car and headed to where everyone else seemed to be standing. Her green dress blew in the slight breeze that was trying to ruin the sunshine but thankfully it was failing.

"Now I wish we never cleaned him up that night" Lee muttered. "He could probably just have got one of his servants to do it"

Carly went to get them some drinks while Lee located Lou.

"How the hell did Phil afford this place?" He asked his boss.

"Didn't you know? Phil's family own the hotel a couple of blocks away from the hospital. It's just one in a chain. Six of them I think" Lou explained. "This is the family mansion".

"I had no idea"

"Did you ever ask?" Lou quizzed.

Lee could only laugh. Of course he hadn't.

"You think his house is incredible, you should see his wife!" Lou continued "She's hot. And ten years younger than him"

Carly returned and handed him a beer. Despite her "equal rights protest", she was now drinking a glass of wine.

"Variety is the spice of life" She smiled.

They began mingling with all the other guests, some of which Lee had never spoken to before. He hadn't even met some of them before either. Apparently people avoided him just as much as he did them. He kind of regretted it all now as they actually seemed like a nice group of people. He couldn't believe that he saw these people every day but didn't know a thing about them.

Finally Phil made his way to Lee.

"Doctor Dawson! I can't believe you're here!"

"Neither can I" Lee muttered under his breath before plastering a huge fake smile onto his face.

"What do you think of my place?" Doctor Davis asked.

"It's pretty fucking big" Lee bluntly offered.

"You bet it is. We have our own tennis courts! Do you play?"

"No"

"We have a swimming pool inside. You look like a swimmer"

"I'm really not" Lee shook his head.

"You know, I used to think that you were a bit of a jerk" Phil seemed bolder than usual today. Perhaps it was because he was at his own house.

"Really?" Lee asked, pretending that he was surprised.

"Yeah. But now I get that this whole grumpy, bad boy routine you have going on, it's just your sense of humour. And god, I love it!" Phil slapped Lee on the back much harder than Lee would have ever thought him capable of. So much so that he even spilled some of his drink as a result. He turned to look at Phil in shock but he was already gone. Either to mingle with more of his guests or out of fear for his life.

"That looked cosy" Carly laughed as she approached him.

"I would try and assault him but he's qualified to give himself a full recovery" Lee joked before kissing her and taking her into his arms.

"I think he could take you actually" She laughed.

"You think?" Lee said sceptically.

"Yeah! I mean, with all this money he could be Batman for all you know"

"If he's Batman, what would that make me?"

"Hmmm I think you'd be Doctor Strange" She giggled.

"Nope that's definitely him" Lee smiled.

The rest of the afternoon flew by. The drinks were flowing and by the time the food was served everyone was starving. Lee was surprised to see that Phil was doing all the barbecuing by himself. He didn't fully trust him but felt safe in the knowledge that if he were to take ill after eating then at least one of the million doctors or nurses would be able to resuscitate him.

By the time that night fell, everyone left was a little drunk. Many people had gone away earlier because they were working either that night or the morning after. Lee's demand to leave early hadn't come to fruition but that was only because he was enjoying himself way more than he could ever have thought he would.

He was now sitting alone on a bench at the other side of the massive lawn. He must have been at least 500 feet from the house and he wasn't even near the end of the property. Looking at the huge crowd of people in the distance, all standing under the lighting that Phil had now switched on, made Lee feel like he was at an A list party in Hollywood even though they were hundreds of miles away.

"I'm surprised you're still here" Lou spoke up from behind him.

"So am I to be honest" Lee replied, watching his boss as he sat down next to him. "Is it like this every year?"

"Pretty much. I think this is the best day we've had for it yet though. A couple of years ago it rained and we all had to go inside. You'd think that'd be a good thing judging by the size of the place but I lost track of the number of times I got lost in there. I think I spent most of the night in the library" Lou recalled.

"I can't believe I've missed this all the time. You know I can't even remember what I was doing instead. How lame is that?"

"You had your reasons" Lou shrugged. "Just like you have your reasons for being here now"

"Yeah but they weren't exactly great reasons were they?"

"They didn't need to be. Don't beat yourself up about it. You'll probably change your tune when they break out the karaoke"

"What?"

"Every year around 8 they start karaoke. It starts off well usually but quickly descends into chaos. Drunken medical practitioners singing along to eighties pop music is something to see"

"I'll keep that in mind" Lee said thoughtfully. Now he had an idea.

He made his way back to the masses and began swimming through the sea of doctors to try and find Carly. He could swear that there were more of them here than was ever at the hospital at the same time. Finally though he found her talking to Susan.

"Hey! Where did you get to?" Carly asked once she spotted him.

"Oh, I just had to be alone for a bit, and then I ran into Lou"

"Is everything ok?" Concern etched in Carly's voice.

"Yeah yeah of course! It's just more people here than I think I've hung out with before. Ever" He reassured her.

"I know what you mean. This is honestly almost as much people as the whole population of Burlington" She laughed. "We can go if you want to"

"No don't be silly. I'm having a good time, believe it or not."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The wine is pretty good!" Lee lifted his glass. He had decided to take a break from the beer in a bid to try something new. He'd done a lot of that lately.

"I think I've hit double figures so I'm clearly in agreement!" Carly lifted her glass and clinked against Lee's in a toast.

"Well don't get too drunk. I heard there's going to be karaoke soon!" Lee clapped his hands in what he hoped was a good impression of Carly's enthusiasm when they first met.

"No way. I'm not doing karaoke"

"Why not? You said you loved to sing!"

"Yeah but not in front of all these people" Carly seemed to blush now.

"So?" Lee didn't understand. She was always so full of energy and up for anything.

"So! I'm nervous ok"

"What do you have to be nervous about?"

"Are you serious?" Carly laughed. "Look around! I need to see these people every day. I just don't want to do it" She seemed to change her mind about whatever she was going to say halfway through her sentence. Lee was confused but thought it better that he didn't press her for an answer. He was fully aware how annoying persistent people were.