Due to a broken ankle, the detective had been on restricted duty for what had seemed to be a lot longer than eight weeks that it actually was. It wasn't even as if he could claim he'd been hurt while taking down a perp. He and Captain Banks had been on the stairs when a suspect had tried to run. The suspect had collided with Jim and both men tumbled down the stairs doing a great impression of Jack and Jill.

But that was all behind him, now. He had the signed paperwork from the doctor that proved it.

Jim turned the corner and headed towards the elevators. Stepping inside, he hesitated only momentarily before pushing the button for the 5th floor. He might as well stop and see how Doctor Cuthbertson was doing since he was here. He just had to share the good news with someone.

The elevator stopped and, with a rush of cold air, the doors slid open. He moved to step off the lift, but was stopped when Dr. C walked on. They both did a double take and shared a small chuckle.

"I was just comming to see you." They both said in unison.

Ever the gentleman, Jim allowed Dr. Amanda Cuthbertson to speak first. He'd had several doctors attend to him in his position as a police officer, but ever since his Sentinel senses had come online, Dr. C, as they called her, had easily become his physcian of choice.

"I heard through the grapevine that you were here and I thought I'd just see how you were doing," she explained, demonstrating one of the reasons why Jim liked her so much. She always made an extra effort when it came to her patients and it showed.

Jim graced her with one of his rare smiles that he reserved for his closest friends, "And I was just coming to let you know."

The elevator resumed it's journey downward as Jim eagerly showed her the clean bill of health he'd gotten for the paper trail.

Dr. C didn't even try to hold back the resulting laughter. "You're like a little kid who's excited about going on a field trip."

The elevator stopped and the doors opened to reveal the gound floor. Both detective and doctor exited, allowing the other riders room to exit behind them. "I know it's only been a couple of months, but I can't tell you how much I've missed chasing the bad guys."

"And we miss having you chase the bad guys," Amanda said as she accompanied her favorite patient out the doors and into the parking lot.

The walk to Jim's truck was short, dispite the fact that he had parked towards the back. However, both Jim and Amanda were showing signs of being affected by the still raging heatwave that had descended upon the Cascade area over the past couple of weeks.

"I think even Simon misses having me 'up to speed'", Jim said as he leaned against his truck. "He won't admit it, but I think he's getting tired of having me in the bullpen all the time."

Dr. C gave him a knowing smile, "It's more likely he's tired of having you doing the paperwork and is ready for you to hand it back over to Blair."

Jim dramatically clutched his hands over his heart, "Oh, Doctor C, you wound me. How could you know my greatest weakness?"

She assumed a fencing stance and feigned a thrust in his direction. "Never underestimate the abilities of your personal physician," she said with an attrociously fake accent.

Jim stepped away from the truck and mirrored her pose and the two began to fence around the truck. "Oh yeah, well, you have to get up pretty early to outwit me. I'm still your most difficult patient."

Amanda flourished her imagionary sword and bowed to her fencing partner. "Very true. You are at the top of my list, but I'll confess, I enjoy a challenge occasionally."

Jim also lowered his non-existant weapon and relaxed.

Amanda immediatly raised her sword again and caught Jim square in the chest. "Just you keep it on an occasional basis," she commanded.

Jim raised his hands in surrender, "Yes, ma'am. I make it a point to never argue with a woman who has a weapon, imaginary or not, pointed at my chest."

"Just you remember that the next time you end up in the emergency room. I can do some pretty nasty things with a hypodermic needle."

The Sentinel couldn't prevent the slight flinch. He was well aware of what it felt like to have an IV inserted while his senses weren't tied down tight.

Sensing her friend's discomfort, Dr. C quickly added, "But honestly, I'd only do what I thought was best. You know that. I would never intentionally allow harm to come to any one of my patients." Amanda Cuthberson stood tall as if to challenge the world to deny what she'd said.

Jim most of all, knew just how strongly she felt about her patients. He'd witnessed more than once the way she would charge into the emergency room and dismiss the resident on call. She'd even shown up in her pajamas once. If he hadn't been more concerned with Sandburg at the time, he would have found it amusing, the way Dr. Amanda Cuthbertson, in kitten pajamas and slippers, had stood up to the taller resident. She had calmly lectured him about hospital protocol, patient history, and the dangers of making her mad.

Jim reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, "I never doubted you."

Amanda relaxed and smiled up at him, then wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Jim suddenly realized how much time they'd spent outside in the heat. "You'd better head inside and cool down, Doc. We wouldn't want you to get heatstroke now, would we?"

"Trust me. There's no danger of that," Dr. C replied.

At Jim's questioning look, she explained. "The airconditioner in the wing where my office is has gone bezerk. It's turned the whole area into a giant meat freezer."

Jim chuckled at that image.

"They've had the maintenance people all over the place for a couple of days, but they can't fix it because the part they need won't come in for another week," she said in disgust.

Jim tried to not laugh at her discomfort, but seeing his fiery doctor champing at the bit to do battle with an airconditioner was too funny.

"They sent around a memo with apologies and all, but little good it does me, who walked out the door this morning without a jacket? Who the heck even thinks about jackets when it's this hot outside?"

Jim allowed her to vent and rant as he opened the door to his truck and reached behind the seat.

"We can't even open a window to let some hot air IN!!" She heaved a sigh and tried to calm down. "To be honest, I wanted to come see you to get warm as much as to find out how you were doing."

Jim just stood quietly and waited for her to finish her ranting.

"Jim?"

He just smiled at her.

She eyed him suspiciously, "You've got that look on your face. The same one that says, you're going to go home and not take it easy like I've told you to do."

Jim's only reply was to hold something out for her to take.

Amanda looked at him, then at the sweatshirt in his hand, then back at him. "Is this what I think it is?"

Jim nodded and replied, "Yep."

Amanda eagerly grabbed the sweatshirt and spun around, hugging it. Then she suddenly stopped and asked, "And just what were you doing with a sweatshirt in your truck in the middle of the summer?"

"Spare clothes for at the station. You never know when they'll come in handy," was all he said by way of explination.

"Ah," she said.

"Besides," Jim said as he climbed into the truck, "I have to make sure my favorite doctor is healthy. I never know when I'm going to need her expert services."

Dr. C gave her patient a stern look, "Remember, you promised to keep it on an occasional basis."

"I'll do my best," Jim replied.

Amanda stepped back as Jim started the truck, "I appreciate it. Though I'm not sure how much my boyfriend will appreciate me wearing another man's clothes," she said with a conspiritorial twinkle in her eye.

"If he has any problems with it, you tell him to come talk to me," Jim answered and then pulled out of the parking spot.