AJ jogged down the hall, trying to catch up to Alexa before she went into one of the rooms. "�Lexa." He reached out to put an arm around her, and Alexa grinned as she stepped out of his reach.

"Sh! Dr. Reeves, thank you very much." She pulled him to a stop to the side of the doorway, "What are you doing here?"

"Went to the clinic to see you. Taylor told me you were here." He shrugged, "Should I go?"

Alexa started to say yes, and then peered into the room. "Actually, no." She stepped into the room, waving him to follow her.

AJ was cautious stepping into the room, until he reailized it was occupied by a little boy, about eight years old. He was playing some kind of hand-held game and he didn�t look up until Alexa stood beside his bed.

"Hi, Dr. Lex."

Alexa smiled, noticing when he caught sight of AJ. "How are you doing today, sweetheart?"

"I�m okay. And don�t call me sweetheart." He leaned closer to her, whispering, "Is that a Backstreet Boy?"

Alexa nodded, and looked at AJ, "Looks like one."

AJ stuck out his hand to shake the boy�s, "I�m AJ."

"I know that..." His blue eyes rolled, making Alexa giggle.

"Do you like them?"

"They�re okay." He wrinkled his eyebrows together, "My sister really likes them."

"Who�s her favorite?" Alexa couldn�t help but ask.

"Nick," the boy turned to face AJ again, "She thinks you�re weird."

Alexa leaned toward the boy, "I�ll tell you a secret. He IS weird."

"Hey," AJ protested, eliciting giggles from the boy. "So, what�s your name?" AJ walked around the other side of the hospital bed, standing across from Alexa.

"James, but only my mom calls me that. Everybody else calls me Jamie. Except Dr. Lex, she calls me sweetheart all the time..." He glared at Alexa who shrugged.

"Aren�t girls a pain?" Alexa glared at AJ, who shrugged back at her.

"Ya, especially sisters. You got any?"

AJ shook his head. "Nope."

"You're lucky. All mine does is talk on the phone, and giggle, and tell me to go away."

Alexa glanced at her pager as it beeped and then motioned to AJ. She hated leaving the room right now, she hadn�t seen Jamie so animated in weeks. "Hey Jame, I�ve gotta go for a minute. You mind if I leave him here? You can make sure he stays out of trouble for me?"

"Sure," Jamie�s smile grew suddenly wider, "Janelle�s gonna be SO mad. She�s stuck in school." His chatter followed her out the door.

Alexa took her time returning the phone call and then checked on another patient before returning to the room. She stood in the doorway for a minute watching as Jamie tried to explain to AJ how to play his game. Then giggling madly when AJ lost as soon as he tried. Jamie looked up suddenly, realizing Alexa was there, "Dr. Lex, he sucks at this game."

"I just need practice."

Alexa tapped Jamie on the shoulder, "Maybe he�ll come back some time so he can try again."

Jamie looked between them, "Cool." He narrowed his eyes looking at Alexa. "That means you�re leaving now, doesn�t it?"

Alexa�s heart broke as his smile faded into a frown, "�Fraid so, sweetheart. When�s your mom coming?"

"She�s not today." His sigh said a million words, "She�s working late. She said she�d spend all day tomorrow here though."

Alexa reached out to ruffle his hair, "Good. You got lots to do today?"

Jamie ducked away from her hand, and nodded, "Yup."

"Okay, kid, I�ll see you soon, alright?"

Again he nodded, and then he turned to AJ, "You�re gonna come back too, right?"

"Of course, you gotta teach me that game." AJ smiled the fullest smile at Jamie that Alexa had ever seen from him and reached out to high five the boy. "See ya."

He waited until they were part way down the hall before speaking, "So, what�s he doing in here?"

Alexa couldn�t help the sigh that escaped her. It seemed a natural reaction when she had to talk about Jamie. "He�s got this heart problem. Nobody knows how to repair it, and even if they did, his family couldn�t afford it. Everybody�s surprised he�s lived this long, and he�s doing pretty good right now. Might even go home for a while." It frustrated Alexa that a great kid like Jamie could be gone at any minute, and nobody knew how to do anything.

"Wow. There�s nothing they can do? Brian had a heart thing, they went in, fixed it. He�s fine." It touched Alexa that AJ was showing concern for the boy he�d just met.

"Some of the best doctors around have checked him out. Nobody knows." Alexa didn�t say anything more, thinking about Jamie.

"Poor kid," They walked in silence for a minute. "He really likes you."

Finally Alexa smiled, "I spend a lot of time with him, when his mom can't be here. He�s a great kid. He likes you too, he�s not usually that chatty."

"I like kids. They�re cool."

Alexa stopped with her hand on the doorknob of the office she used at the hospital, then turned to face AJ. He was standing close enough she could smell him when she breathed. She loved that scent, had since the beginning. She pulled herself back to reality, "I�ve got tons of paperwork, and some more patients to check in on." She didn�t really want him to leave, but she was supposed to be working.

He glanced at his watch, "I�m supposed to be somewhere, too. Wanted to know if you�re free later."

"You spent all this time here, and you�re supposed to be somewhere?" Alexa shook her head slowly, "I can�t tonight. I�m on here until 9, then I�ll probably hang with Jamie a little bit."

AJ smiled at her, "Y�know, you�re a good doctor."

"I try," Alexa blushed a little, not comfortable accepting compliments.

He was playing with the ends of his sleeves. "So, uh, call me, later."

Alexa nodded. "Sure." Impulsively she reached out to hug him. "Thank you, for what you did with Jamie. You probably made his month."

When she stepped back from the hug, he kept her hand, holding it as he shrugged. "It was nothing." His eyes flickered down resting on their hands, and then he looked back up. "I�ll talk to you later."

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