Easy For You to Say

Summary: JD is trapped in an elevator and wants out.

Characters: JD, and the others

Thanks to Antoinette for the beta job, to Sarah for the LV/AU, and to Blackraptor for housing these tales for us.

JD shuddered as THAT song came on through the elevator sound system. He had hated Bobby McFerrin’s Don’t Worry be Happy ever since he had heard it. He could still remember the first time he had heard it, he had had to replace his radio before the song was over. It seemed like everyone was saying that to him forever until the popular song had finally died out.

“You don’t like that song,” Sally Frost observed.

JD looked over at Chris’s office assistant.

“No, I hate it,” he admitted, looking away.

Before she could say anything to fill the silence between them, the elevator they were in lurched to a stop. He grabbed her as she tried to keep her balance. She still landed on the floor, but thanks to JD’s arm holding her it was a settling and not a thrown down.

The music continued.

Great, the elevator was dead, but the hated song was going strong.

Picking up the emergency phone, JD tried to call for help. The phone was down too.

“Um, JD,” Sally called to him. “I think I need some help here.”

The young man spun around and stared. “Please, no, not that!”

“I’m afraid so,” she said calmly.

JD wiped out his cell phone and speed dialed Chris. He would know what to do.

He glared up at the speakers while waiting for Chris to pick up. Easy for the singer to say don’t worry! The dang things would get stuck in repeat while playing the song from hell!

“Larabee,” came the short and terse answer.

“It’s me, JD, Sally and I are stuck in the elevator and she’s gone into labor! I can’t, I mean, I don’t know what to do here,” JD babbled.

“JD, keep calm; have you called Nathan?” Chris asked evenly.

“Nathan, yeah, he would be a good person to call,” JD agreed.

“Okay, call him and I’ll get maintenance going on getting you two out of there,” Chris told him reassuringly.

“Right, umm, could you disconnect the Muzac?” JD asked.

There was silence. “Is it bothering you that much?”

“I, I just really hate the song that it seems to be stuck on,” JD sighed.

“I’ll take care of it; can you put Sally on for a minute?” Chris asked.

JD handed his phone over to the woman sitting on the floor.

“Chris, I’m fine, really, this is number four and I am not a woman who has ever been blessed with short or easy labor. I know what to do and unless we’re here all night JD shouldn’t have to deliver the baby.”

JD stared at her and blanched. Him, deliver the baby? He had never delivered a baby! He had taken the medical courses that Chris and Orin insisted that all the security personnel take and the basics of baby delivering was covered, but he had never actually done it! He hadn’t even seen it done, only videos!

He cringed as the sound system started the song again. If they were not out of here in the next ten minutes the speaker would need replacing.

Sally handed him back the phone and he quickly dialed up Nathan. Why he had not immediately thought of the medic was beyond him.

“Nathan! It’s JD! I’m stuck in the elevator with Sally and she’s having her baby!” JD said before the man could say anything.

“Just relax, how far apart are her contractions?” Nathan asked, soothingly. A hysterical JD Sally would not need.

“How should I know?” JD asked.

“Ask her, she has kids, she’ll know to time her contractions,” Nathan replied.

JD turned to her. “Um, Sally, how far … I mean …” JD, blushing, handed his phone to Sally again.

Rolling her eyes and smirking she took it. Actually, for someone as young and innocent as he was, JD was not doing too badly.

“JD, Nathan wants to talk to you,” Sally told him a few minutes later.

The young man looked over in response to his name and took the phone back.

“JD, It’ll be fine, but it might be a bit before we can get you out,” Nathan informed him.

“And you’re thinking that’ll be fine?” JD whimpered. Easy for Nathan to say he wasn’t the one here. Actually, Nathan was a doctor; if he were here it wouldn’t faze him in the least.

“Just listen to me, JD. The most important thing is for you to stay calm. We should have you out in time, if we don’t, I can guide you through it and Sally’s done this three other time and knows what to expect and what to do. You can handle this JD, you just need to stay calm,” Nathan repeated.

“Just as long as you don’t tell me don’t worry and be happy,” JD sighed.

Nathan chuckled, “I haven’t heard that in ages.”

“I wish I could say the same, the elevator is stuck on it,” JD growled.

“She’ll tell you when her contractions are close enough for you to need to call me. I’ll call in every about half hour to check on you, okay?”

“Yeah, that’ll be great,” JD answered, and the call ended.

Taking a deep breath, he looked over at Sally.

“Anything I can do to, well, make you more comfortable or anything?” He asked. She’s in labor, she can’t get comfortable, he berated himself mentally.

“If you could help me lay down, that would be great,” She smiled at him. JD was a sweetheart and really would do anything he could for her.

He scrambled over and helped gently easy her on to her back, so she could stretch out.

“Thanks,” she said closing her eyes, and reached into her pocket for her cell phone.

Sally was on the phone with her husband, or maybe it was one of her kids, now. Not knowing what else to do, JD say down leaning against the wall. Staring at the ceiling, he gritted his teeth as the song began again. Taking out his pocket knife he began mentally going over which wire controlled the speakers, and how he could get into the access panel to cut them.

Chris Larabee sighed as he got off the phone. Yes, maintenance did know that the elevator was stuck, but because of where it was they could not pry the doors open and get JD and Sally out that way. Yes, they had called the elevator repair people and they would be out as soon as possible, but they had a number of other repairs today and it might be a few hours. He had had such a delightful time talking to the cretins. NOT!

Getting up he walked out into the bullpen. Vin Tanner was sitting and watching the monitors. Normally he was more apt to be out walking the floor, but with JD stuck, he had to be up here unless it was an emergency.

Vin looked up as Chris came down from his private office.

“It’ll be a couple of hours at best, and there’s nothing our people can do in the meantime.”

“Wonders of technology,” Vin snorted.

“And it seems that Sally’s gone into labor,” Chris finished. Just JD’s luck that Sally had opted to work up to delivery in order to have two more weeks with the baby. Funny thing was, she had a feeling that it was going to be some time today so had been heading home after getting her fill in situated.

“Awe, hell, how’s JD handling that?” Vin asked. His friend was shy and modest so this would be trying for him.

“Not too bad, for JD,” Chris answered. His technician was handling it about like he thought he would. He had freaked out, but now was apparently settling down and ready to do whatever was needed.

“What’s JD doing that’s not to bad for him?” Buck asked, a bit defensively as he joined them.

“He’s stuck in the elevator with Sally and she’s in labor,” Chris repeated.

“Good Lord! I have no fear, however. I have every faith that our young compatriot shall raise to the occasion,” Ezra said from behind Buck. He had come up to deliver a report on the latest attempt to run the tables at the casino.

“And then, they’re gonna need to carry that boy out on a stretcher,” Buck predicted.

“Just talked to Nathan and he says that JD’s doing fine,” Chris assured them all. “Apparently the music is really getting to him though. Maintenance is working on disabling the speakers.”

“He’s contemplating assisting in a birth and he’s worried about music?” Ezra asked in disbelief.

“It’s stuck on Don’t Worry be Happy and apparently it’s really bothering him,” Chris shrugged.

“Find a way to get that taken care of,” Buck ordered, no grin or twinkle in his eye now.

“Maintenance is working on it. What’s so important about JD and that song?” Chris asked. Apparently this was not a small thing.

“I’m just saying you need to make that a priority. It’d be like you being shoved in a room and having to listen to Desperado over and over again,” Buck informed him.

Swearing, Chris pulled out his cell phone and retreated to the corner to try and hurry the guys along. Buck knew what that song did to him and if JD felt that way about the Muzac song, he would get it killed, NOW.

Looking over, JD saw that Sally seemed to be okay, just breathing funny. “Everything okay?”

“Yes, but I think we maybe needing to call Nathan before he calls back,” She answered.

“WHAT! Is it, like, coming now?” JD asked, his head whipping around to face her.

“No, but soon. This would be the one time that I seem to be having a baby in under ten hours,” She snorted.

“Ten hours,” JD shuddered.

“JD, you’ll do fine,” She assured him.

“Dunne,” He responded as he cell phone chirped.

“How you doing?” Buck asked.

JD smiled for the first time since the elevator stopped. “Better since that dang song quit.”

“Chris is working on that even as we speak,” Buck assured him. “Heard about you getting to play mid-wife and thought I’d call and see how you were doing.”

“I’ve been better,” JD answered honestly.

“Wait, you said since it quit, the music got unstuck?” Buck asked in surprise.

“I did a little rewiring,” JD admitted.

“Well, alright then, I’ll tell Chris not to put a rush on that,” Buck chuckled.

“JD! We need Nathan!” Sally called.

“Oh man, Buck, gotta go, we’re needing Nathan,” JD told him nervously.

“Just hang on, Boy, he’s right here,” Buck told him.

The next voice JD heard was Nathan’s calm and quiet voice. JD took a deep breath and prepared himself. If anyone had told him this morning that he was going to be delivering a baby today he would have said they were nuts.

An hour later, Sally and Liam Connor, her new son, were being helped by Nathan and Josiah into a hotel car that was waiting to take them to the hospital for an examination to make certain they were as well as they appeared to be.

“You did fine, JD. Thank you,” she smiled at her unique mid-wife, er, well, whatever a man in that profession was called.

“I’m just real glad nothing went wrong and that’s your both alright,” He told her a little shakily.

“Might I add my congratulations?” Ezra asked, as the rest of the group fondly known as the seven lead him into Mystic for a drink. He looked like he could use it.

“I’m sorry about the wiring thing,” JD said abashed as he sipped his beer and looked at Chris.

Chris leaned back in his chair. “Not my favorite song either. What bothers you so much about it?”

JD swallowed. “I was in my room listening to the radio when mom called me out and told me her cancer was back and it was not going to go into remission this time. When I went back in my room, that song was playing. I just found out my mom was dying and it’s telling me don’t worry be happy.”

The men were quiet, Buck put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. He had known the story, but not felt it was his place to tell the others why JD hated it.

Chris nodded, “Desperado was Sarah’s favorite song. Still can’t stand hearing it.”

“Grits, I lived with my grandmother for a year and every morning we would have grits for breakfast. She sadly had never really learned how to make them so they were invariably lumpy and the consistency of paste,” Ezra shuddered.

“Breylcreem,” Buck said softly. “One of momma’s friends used it, he hurt her pretty bad.”

“Hospitals, I was visiting ma in the hospital and the lady taking care of me had to step out for a minute. I was telling ma all about what I was doing at Mrs. C’s and holding her hand. Thought she had just closed her eyes a bit like she’d do. Next thing I know the machine’s goin’ nuts, the doctors and nurses are flooding in and I’m shoved in a corner. Got scared and ran out of the room, ‘cept I got turned around so instead of finding Mrs. C, I got lost. Still can’t sleep in a hospital,” Vin said quietly.

“Life Boy soap,” Josiah added, pulling up a chair. “Dad reeked of the stuff. Can’t stand the smell of it, it was a happy day when they quite making that stuff.”

Nathan accepted his beer from Inez, and leaned back in his chair. “Kerosene, is my nightmare. I sang in the choir when I was a kid and someone threw a kerosene fire bomb in the window while we were practicing one night. We all got out okay, but I still have nightmares about seeing that church burn,” Nathan said, shaking his head.

JD looked at them all and smiled.

“We’ve all got demons, long as we keep facing ‘em, that’s what matters,” Chris informed him.

“Amen, brother,” Josiah agreed.

The men clinked glasses in agreement. None of them would ever face their demons alone, whatever form they took.

Here are the words to JD, and my, least favorite song:

Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry be Happy
________________________________

Here is a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry be happy
In every life we have some trouble
When you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy......

Ain't got no place to lay your head
Somebody came and took your bed
Don't worry, be happy
The land lord say your rent is late
He may have to litigate
Don't worry, be happy
Lood at me I am happy
Don't worry, be happy
Here I give you my phone number
When you worry call me
I make you happy
Don't worry, be happy
Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style
Ain't got not girl to make you smile
But don't worry be happy
Cause when you worry
Your face will frown
And that will bring everybody down
So don't worry, be happy (now).....

There is this little song I wrote
I hope you learn it note for note
Like good little children
Don't worry, be happy
Listen to what I say
In your life expect some trouble
But when you worry
You make it double
Don't worry, be happy......
Don't worry don't do it, be happy
Put a smile on your face
Don't bring everybody down like this
Don't worry, it will soon past
Whatever it is
Don't worry, be happy

END

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