Once Lee was finished all of his beers, his clock told him that he'd been drinking for three hours. He didn't feel like he was that drunk but accepted that he probably was. He grabbed all of his empty bottles and carried them through to the kitchen and dumped them in the sink, ready to be recycled whenever he could be bothered. Then standing alone in his kitchen, he had an idea. He knew that it wasn't going to help him but he didn't care.

He raked through his drawer until he felt Carly's CD in his hand. Because he didn't have a CD player, he quickly uploaded it onto his laptop and downloaded the songs onto his iPod before playing it through the very set of speakers that he and Carly had listened to.

Grabbing another handful of bottles out of the fridge, he dumped himself on the couch and listened as the first song began. He'd never heard it in his life but decided that it wasn't that good. It wasn't as awful as he assumed that it would be but he still wasn't really a fan. By the time that it was finished, he'd drank his first bottle dry. Next up on the shuffle list was the one that had been playing in her car on their first drive together. He wondered where her car was. Was it back at the rental company already? Maybe she'd driven the entire 580 miles home, although he hoped not.

Lee decided to try and figure out just what it was about this song that Carly liked. He listened intently to "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You" and despite the fact that he was involuntarily tapping his foot to it; he couldn't understand a single good thing about this song. It was basically about a woman who picks up a male hitchhiker and decides that she's attracted to him. So they drive to a hotel and make love all night, as the title would suggest. But then it turns out that she's actually cheating on her boyfriend or husband, and she's actually just using this stranger so that she can get pregnant because her partner is infertile or something. Then the singer goes off on some bizarre tangent about a garden and some trees but then she eventually bumps into the stranger again and he sees the child all grown up and it's the first time that he even knew of the kids existence. So not only did Lee think that she was a slut, he also decided that she was a terrible person as well.

What the hell?

Why would Carly possibly like this song?

He was still trying to figure that out while a few more songs played and a few more alcoholic drinks were consumed.

His train of thought was eventually broken (with no answers formed) when a piano introduction began the next song. Lee didn't know what it was about this song but something held his attention. He listened in silence, not even drinking his beer in case the sound of him swigging it drowned out the music. Once he heard the chorus, he felt like an idiot for being one of those people who channelled their feelings into music but he couldn't help it. The music was speaking to him.

"Till now, I've always got by on my own. I never really cared until I met you. And now it chills me to the bone. How do I get you alone?"

Lee was mesmerised by this song, so much so that once it finished, he listened to it again and again before he found himself knowing every one of the lyrics.

"God dammit Carly" He said to his empty apartment, glad that only the walls could see the state he was in.

Despite his raging hangover, Lee had to work the next day. He hoped that he didn't need to perform any emergency surgeries today because he really couldn't be bothered.

Thankfully he only had a couple of elderly patients that were pretending to be ill again, and one man who Lee diagnosed with a concussion. He'd fell whilst climbing out of the shower. Normally this kind of case would annoy Lee but due to his fragile state this morning, he welcomed it with open arms. Things changed at lunch time though. As usual he was sitting alone in the cafeteria when he felt a pair of eyes on him.

"What do you want?" He asked in frustration, not even bothering to turn round to see who had invaded his table. There was only one person that he wanted to see and he knew that Carly wasn't here.

"I just wanted to see how you're doing" Phil smiled sympathetically.

"Don't you have a ridiculous song to sing somewhere?" Lee asked, instantly regretting it once he recalled his own karaoke.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Phil said, predictable as usual.

"What do you want?" Lee repeated.

"I already told you. Everyone knows you Miss Nurse Oliver. We just want to make it easier for you"

"Why do you care?"

"Because if you're in a good mood then so are we. If you're as pissy as you used to be then it brings everybody down" Phil spoke frankly.

"Thanks Phil" Lee said sarcastically.

"Any time" Doctor Davis seemed to believe that Lee was serious. "You know we do appreciate you though. I mean as a doctor. Just not as a person"

"Thank you" Lee's sarcasm continued.

"They say that you could get a job anywhere you wanted. It's too bad that most people wouldn't want you there"

"Fuck off Phil!" Lee yelled at the top of his lungs, silencing the rest of the room. Phil looked at his new audience before looking back to Doctor Dawson. He decided it best for him to respect Lee's wishes and so shrank away silently.

After a couple of minutes, Lee finally felt that his peace and quiet had returned.

However, once again he was mistaken.

"What now?" He sighed.

"You didn't call me" Lou said matter of factly.

"What?"

"I said day or night. Any time. I waited up for you but you didn't call"

"Sorry Taylor Swift" Lee replied, once again thinking of Carly.

"I heard what happened with Phil" Lou said, ignoring Lee's attitude.

"He was being a prick"

"I have no doubts about that" Lou waited for Lee to look at him and when he did, they both shared the quickest of smiles. "But I'm afraid that I can't let you go around yelling at people like that. Not in front of so many people"

"It won't happen again" Lied Lee.

"I know it won't. Because I'm signing you off. Effective immediately"

"Wait, what?"

"Your head isn't where it should be Lee. This is a hospital! If you get distracted, even for a second, it could be the difference between someone living or dying. I need everyone to be at 100%. I'm sorry" Lou sighed.

Lee knew he couldn't argue, but he did anyway.

"Lou please. This is the only thing that's keeping me sane. I need to work"

"You aren't working. You're drifting. And that's dangerous for everyone"

"I can control it"

"No you can't! Normally you just ignore Phil. You completely blew up at him. What did he even say to get you so wound up?" Asked Lou.

"He said loads of things. That I'm a good doctor but a bad guy. He said I bring everybody down and no one would want me . . ."

Lee suddenly had an idea.

"Wait a second"

"What?" Lou asked in confusion, not sure why his employee had stopped so suddenly.

"Where's Phil?"

"I don't know. He –"

"On second thoughts, please sign me off. I need a couple of days" Lee got up and left the table, his tray of half eaten pasta tragically left behind.

"Where are you going?" Lou called, not getting an answer.

On his way out of the hospital, Lee ran into Phil.

"Doctor Dawson, I'm so sorry about before I was just –" Doctor Davis began but stopped once Lee grabbed a hold of him. Lee thought he looked like he was about to wet himself.

"Phil, you are a fucking genius" Lee said before kissing the man's forehead and releasing him.

Phil could only watch on in pure astonishment as Doctor Dawson left the hospital, looking like he had just won the lottery.

He hadn't, but he sure felt like he was about to.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you don't know the song from Carly's CD that Lee listens to in his apartment that really gets to him then check out the video at the top of the page! What a song!