Lee couldn't sleep, proving that cars were really only designed for sitting in, not sleeping. Instead of going back into the house though, he drove off as soon as he felt awake enough to do so, heading straight to visit the one person he knew he could trust when he had a problem.

"I just don't know what she means" He sighed after explaining the events from the previous evening.

"Well did you ask?" Queried Linda Dawson, who'd been listening intently to her son's story?

"Of course I did!" He cried.

"Properly? Nicely?"

"Maybe" Lee mumbled.

"You've never been good at dealing with people. I can't believe they let you actually talk to patients" Lee's mother shook her head.

"You're not helping, Mom" He sternly told her.

"Lee, it's too early in the morning to deal with this. Jerry Springer and Doctor Phil don't start till later"

"Doctor Phil is a psychologist, not a real doctor. And don't get me started on Jerry" Warned Lee.

"Gee. I've never hear you say that before" Linda said sarcastically. "It's still too early".

"You used to always be up at five AM"

"Lee, I'm seventy years old. I haven't been up at five AM in almost twenty years" She told him condescendingly before finally turning serious. "Look, you and Carly belong together. I've told you this from day one. You'll work it out, you always do. Lack of communication was what ended things with me and your father. Just make sure that the same thing doesn't happen with you two. If you don't have communication, you don't have a healthy relationship".

"I thought it was because dad was a selfish prick?"

"That too" Linda nodded. "But look, complaining to me isn't going to solve anything. I'm afraid I'm not planning another heart attack to bring you two together" She joked, forcing her son to laugh and smile for the first time since he'd arrived. "Now go talk to her and get to work. And take a shower. Looking like that you'll make people sick, not better".

Lee made a subtle gesture of sniffing his underarm, and even though he didn't smell anything, knew that he really did need a shower.

"Are you going to be alright?" He asked before standing up in preparation to use her bathroom.

"I'll be fine. I'm starving and at this ungodly hour I'll be first down for breakfast. I'll finally get the window seat" Linda smiled.

Even though she hadn't told him anything that he didn't already know, Lee's mom always found a way to make everything seem better. Plus he was relieved that she didn't have another heart attack planned for the near future.

"Always a bonus" He thought to himself.

*

By the time Carly woke up at the sound of the alarm, Lee had already gone into work two hours early. She couldn't find him anywhere in the house and his car wasn't in the driveway anyway. When it came to Lee, work was always the first place he'd run to in a crisis.

She had her shower and made herself some coffee, but neither did anything to make her feel better. She knew that she should have come straight out with it the night before but she didn't want to because she knew how completely ridiculous the whole thing was. She'd never taken anything that Dr. Hunter had said seriously before so why was she starting to now? And now Lee was mad at her, and rightfully so, she thought. What probably made it worse was that Lee had had to prize the information out of her like he was digging for a fossil. As she drove to work, she made a mental note to try and patch things up, like they'd done a million times before. She was only a little bit worried that they'd hit their limit on fixed problems.

She arrived at work and immediately headed to Dr. Hunters office after clocking in.

She didn't know exactly where she'd find Lee right now but she was almost certain that Jack would be hiding out in his office like the immature child that she now knew him to be.

Carly knocked hard on the doctor's door before she'd even reached it properly, having to stretch on her last step.

There was no answer.

She tried again and again until she felt like an age had passed and still there was no answer.

"Doctor Hunter? It's Nurse Dawson. I really need to speak with you" She feigned friendliness in the hope that it would coax her boss out of his bunker. Sadly though, she had no such luck.

Rethinking her strategy, Carly decided to go and track Lee down first but as soon as she'd realigned her thoughts, Dr. Hunter, as if by magic, appeared before her in the hall.

"Doctor Hunter!" She cried, noticing that he'd turned on his heels and began walking in the other direction as soon as he'd seen her. This time her luck was in though, as she was able to catch up with Jack who looked even sleazier than usual today.

"Nurse Dawson, if this is about Chris Taylor, I'm not really in the mood to deal with it. We can agree to disagree" Jack sighed as Carly fell into quickstep alongside him.

"This isn't about Chris" Carly hurriedly assured him.

"Then what? I've just come from oncology and having to explain to a patient that just because he's getting radiation therapy, doesn't mean he's radioactive and that his family and friends most certainly are still able to come and visit him without fear of turning into an army of mutants, and so I really need a coffee break" Jack stopped walking to finally hear Carly out.

"I just want to tell you that your little pep talk in the cafeteria has caused so many problems for me and Lee. We had a fight last night because of you" Carly hissed.

"Your personal life is none of my concern Nurse Dawson so please don't let it affect your work"

"You're a real piece of shit, you know that?" Carly shook her head in disbelief at how sneaky Jack was proving to be.

"Wow" He said in response, almost sounding impressed. "No more Mrs. Nice Nurse huh?"

"Screw you Hunter. Is your life really that tragic that you get off on being a total dirt bag and interfering in other people's business? Just back off!" Shouted Carly before leaving Jack alone in the corridor, save for a few lingering glances from curious passersby.

Although surprised by her outburst, he didn't seem to be too bothered by it. His mind was planted firmly on the coffee break he was desperately craving.

*

Charlie Dolan had watched the entire exchange between Doctor Hunter and Nurse Dawson from afar, not wanting any of them to notice that he was spying on them from behind the half open door of an empty consultation room. Although he wasn't surprised by the nonchalant attitude of the doctor, Carly's outburst had truly shocked him. He always thought that she was the "Nice Dawson".

Just as he was almost fully recovered from the bafflement of Carly's rant, he promptly jumped out of his skin when he heard a voice ask him "What are you doing?"

"Jesus Christ, Summer!" He cried, turning to face his fellow junior doctor who stood on the other side of the door. "You mean apart from dying of fright?"

"Still amazes me that that can actually happen" Summer mused.

"Yeah me too" Agreed Charlie. "I was just watching Nurse Dawson going ape shit on Doctor Hunter. It was totally brutal"

"You mean Doctor Dawson" Summer laughed.

"No, I definitely mean nurse" Charlie corrected. "Although she was just as scary as Doctor D. She was like a witch or something".

"Really?" Summer gasped. "Well what was it about?" She couldn't believe Carly would cause such a public scene either.

"Who knows" Shrugged Charlie. "I feel like I've stepped into Earth 2"

"What?"

"You don't read comic books do you?" Charlie chided.

"No?"

"Never mind then. All I know is I'm going to avoid her today. Maybe it's her time of the month"

"You're disgusting. And such a guy"

"Why thank you" Charlie grinned from ear to ear, forcing a small laugh out of her. "How are your patients doing anyway?"

"Pretty good! All the burn victims are getting released today, and they'll all be totally fine. They had second degree burns so they should be ok after two or three weeks. Provided they take it easy" She replied.

"And what about your other patient?" He asked suggestively.

"What are you talking about?" Summer asked, slightly blushing.

"Chris, obviously! Everyone knows you two have this whole Florence Nightingale syndrome thing going on" Grinned Dr. Dolan.

"He's just a patient" Summer laughed unconvincingly.

"That you have a crush on"

"I do not!" Summer faked a laugh again, her face now glowing like a campfire.

"What do we tell our patients, Doctor Harrington? Denying it won't make it go away"

"How is naked Winston?" Summer quickly changed the subject.

"Still naked" Charlie cackled. "But now he thinks that I'm a police chief so whenever I tell him to get dressed he usually listens to me without any arguments"

"Why does he think that?" Summer laughed, pleased that she wasn't pretending to giggle anymore.

"Because I told him I was" Shrugged Charlie. "Whatever works right? I just feel bad because he's so desperate to get out of here but I don't think he's ready to go home"

"When do you think he will be?"

"I couldn't say. Maybe never" He said, looking as disappointed as he felt. "He needs constant care and although she tries, I don't think his wife is capable of looking after him like that. It's such a shame"

"Luckily he's got the second best junior doctor at the hospital taking good care of him right?" Summer joked in a bid to comfort her disheartened partner.

"Well if I'm the second best and you're the third, then who's the top of the list?" Charlie joked back, smiling once more.

The smiles and jokes were cut short almost as quickly as they'd started though as a grumpy looking Lee stepped in front of them.

"Good morning Doctor Dawson" Summer smiled nervously as they both stood to attention like soldiers who were about to be reprimanded by their colonel.

"Doctor Harrington, go and check on Chris Taylor. Make sure the drip is working and check if there's been any change in his condition" Lee requested.

"Yes sir" She whispered before marching off, maintaining the military charade.

"And how can I help you on this lovely morning?" Charlie asked excitedly, despite knowing it probably wasn't the smartest idea.

Instead of answering him with words, Lee motioned for Charlie to follow him back to reception, finally revealing his wish once they arrived.

"Fix this" Lee pointed towards a group of people sitting in the dull waiting room, specifically two older women who were sitting on the leather couch, either side of naked Winston who was comfortably sitting with his arms folded. Sadly for everyone with eyes, his bare legs were not folded.

"Aw man, he was doing so well" Charlie sighed.

"Hey!" Winston yelled at someone that only he could see. "No running by the pool!"

"Apparently he thinks he's a lifeguard today" Lee muttered to Dr. Dolan. "Get him back to his room before these people reconsider their illnesses. Or . . . drowns or whatever"

"Yes sir" Charlie sighed before approaching the naked lifeguard. "Come on Hasselhoff. Let's get you some clothes huh?" He suggested.

"Sure thing officer" Winston nodded, getting up and walking back towards his room, mostly unaided, surprising everyone who witnessed it.

*

Despite the amazement he was feeling at watching Charlie's miraculous parenting skills, Lee refused to be happy today, an aim made so much easier by his next patient.

"Mr. Shilton, you do realise why your maid thought this was a suicide attempt, right?" He asked.

"I was just eating in the bath! Why is that such a crime? I'm sure everybody does it, and if they don't, they're fucked in the head! I just wanted some god damn toast!" Cried the bungling billionaire.

Mr. Shilton had been seen by his house cleaner sitting in a bathtub (the bathroom door was left wide open for reasons Lee didn't want to know) and she'd immediately screamed and raised the alarm, calling 911 for an ambulance straight away, much to the rich man's anger.

"I think it was more the shock of seeing a toaster sitting by the bathtub. And the knife" Lee suggested.

"You can't have it without a spread" The old man said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Lee decided that in this man's delusional mind, this probably was just an everyday occurrence. Once again, Lee wrote down that this man needed a full psychological evaluation before he was sent home. As if it was going to make a difference anyway.

After passing Mr. Shilton off onto an unsuspecting nurse, Lee decided now was the time to take his lunch break. Something about all the frustration in his life right now reminded him a lot of before he'd met Carly. How ironic it was then, that now it was her that was causing most of his grief.

Normally he'd want to escape and head home to a fortress of solitude, but with Carly living with him now he knew that when they both got home, the whole cycle would probably begin again. They'd managed to avoid each other all day but he knew that wasn't going to last.

For the first time in three years, Lee Dawson missed his high rise apartment in Pittsburgh.