Greetings Dearest Readers,
**The team is: Kutner, Cameron, and Foreman.**
*I admittedly haven't been keeping up-to-date with the current happenings on House…it's so sad it hurts.
*For a better summary, go to my profile.
*This is going to be my most complex story thus far…joyous! With that said, it's also going to be very confusing…more joy!
*The concept in this story is actually where I got my username from. ^_^
*This is fiction after all and I know next-to-nothing about physical diseases (I'm more a psychology chick), and that may seem unimportant, but in my mind, it is.
**Contains profanity and dark subjects** (Chase has a little bit of a potty mouth)
Read on, Cherubs.
Over and out.
Unconscious Living
His green-blue eyes darted frantically around his new settings, feeling his heart rate rise as well as his breathing. He was standing near what seemed to be a nurse's station as people moved briskly all around him, his brain not comprehending the speed that everything was happening in.
Where the hell am I?
His eyes landed on a man and a woman leaning against the nurse's station, both of them looking as though they held a high position in wherever he was.
"It doesn't surprise me that House hasn't done his clinic hours in a few weeks." Cuddy sighed heavily, rubbing her temples.
"Well this is House we're talking about here," Wilson said, "No one can expect him to do anything that involves face-to-face conversation with anyone, especially people who are sick."
He tilted his head to the right slightly, his golden blonde hair falling into his green-blue eyes as his brows furrowed.
"People who are sick"? So I'm in a hospital? Why the hell am I in a hospital? Where is this hospital? Why do their accents sound bizarre?
He felt his heart beat even faster as the lack of knowledge of anything mounted. His eyes began to dart around him again as he wrung his hands fearfully. Frowning, he looked down at his hands, realizing that he was holding a piece of crumpled thin paper. Feeling like his heart was about to burst from his chest, his eyes scanned over the words, but he was becoming so lightheaded that the words spun on the page.
His body started to tremble as his breathing continued to come in short gasps. He had absolutely no idea what the paper said, where he was or how he got there.
"So do you have a new strategy in trying to make House do clinic?" Wilson asked as Cuddy briefly glanced to her left, stopping when she saw a young blonde man looking like he was about to have a panic attack. She directed her gaze back to Wilson and then darted her eyes towards the young blonde man, making Wilson look over at him as well.
"He's about to have a panic attack." Cuddy said shortly as they both began to carefully make their way towards the blonde.
"Hi there," Cuddy said kindly, drawing the young man's attention towards her. Cuddy and Wilson instantly noticed the look of pure terror in his green-blue eyes. "I'm Dr. Lisa Cuddy and this is Dr. James Wilson." She indicated Wilson to her right. The blonde's eyes darted between them as he tried desperately to calm himself down, while wringing the piece of paper in his hands.
"Robert Chase." He said softly, his voice shaking. Cuddy and Wilson were intrigued by his thick Australian accent.
"It's nice to meet you, Robert—"
"Just 'Chase'…I don't really like the name Robert." Cuddy nodded as Wilson took a small step forward.
"That's quite an interesting accent you have there. Where are you from?" Chase made eye contact with him.
"Melbourne, Australia." Cuddy and Wilson raised an eyebrow.
"Wow," Wilson said, "You're quite a ways from home. Why did you decide to come to New Jersey?"
Chase felt his heart stop.
New Jersey? Where the fuck is New Jersey?
His breathing became more erratic as he felt his legs become weak; the room was spinning as the lack of air made him even more lightheaded.
"How did…I…get…here?" He gasped before his legs collapsed beneath him; Wilson barely able to catch him before he hit the floor.
Nurses were already on the scene as they carefully laid Chase on a stretcher and wheeled him off to a nearby room. Cuddy stood stalk-stiff for a few moments before something on the floor caught her eye:
A thin piece of crumpled paper.
"That was bizarre, to say the least." Wilson said mildly.
"Wilson," Cuddy said quietly as she stood slowly. Wilson turned to look at her as she read a piece of paper in her hands.
"What's that?" Cuddy looked up at him.
"Chase must've dropped it."
"That's what he was probably fiddling with before he collapsed. Does it say anything?" She handed it to him, her hand shaking slightly. He looked down at the paper as the words screamed back at him.
PPTH
NJ, USA
Diagnostics
Dr. Gregory House
"Cuddy," Wilson said slowly, looking over at her. "Chase asked how he got here, right?" She nodded. "But he never specified where 'here' was, did he? Did he mean 'here' as in the hospital? Or 'here' as in the United States?"
xXxXx
Cuddy slapped a file down on the conference table, looking pointedly at House as he tossed his red ball into the air.
"New case?" Cameron asked as she pulled the file towards her and flipped it open. Her brow furrowed in confusion.
"28 year old male collapses after having a panic attack, appeared disorientated, and also appears to have some memory loss…why do you want us to take this one?" She asked as she removed her glasses.
"Well," Wilson said as he rocked on his feet. "This one seems a bit different."
"How so?"
"He doesn't remember how he got here. And by 'here', it most likely means the United States." House stopped tossing his ball as silence fell in the room.
"Where's he from?" House asked, keeping the interest out of his voice.
"Melbourne, Australia." House turned towards him.
"He doesn't remember coming here from Australia?" Foreman asked, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
"Right."
"But that still doesn't involve us."
"He dropped this." Cuddy tossed the crumpled piece of paper Chase was fiddling with onto the conference table; Kutner reached for it and turned it towards him.
"PPTH; NJ, USA; Diagnostics; Dr. Gregory House." As soon as House heard his name, he stood and limped over to the others.
"He was probably looking for House, so what?" Foreman said shortly.
"He was disorientated and had a panic attack!" Cuddy said loudly. "Those are not typical responses for a person who's just looking for someone!" Foreman bit back a retort as Kutner brought the piece of paper closer to his eyes as his brows furrowed.
"He could've gotten overwhelmed from the change in environment." Cameron added. "He's from Australia, right? And since we don't know how long he's been in the United States, he probably just got overwhelmed and began to panic."
"But he became worse when I mentioned New Jersey." Wilson said, remembering the drastic spike in Chase's breathing.
"Then he asked how he got here." Cuddy added.
"Right, and he never clarified what he meant by 'here' and—"
"Interesting," Kutner said quietly, still staring intently at the thin piece of paper. They all turned to look at him.
"What is?" Cameron asked from across the table. Kutner flattened out the piece of paper on the table with the written words facing up at them.
"Well for one," He picked up the piece of paper again and showed them the other side. "This is a receipt from Paris, France."
"Paris?" Wilson asked surprised, as Kutner laid the piece of paper back down with the written words facing up.
"Yeah, and he…what's the patient's name?" He looked up at Cameron as she opened the folder.
"Robert Chase."
"He prefers 'Chase'." Wilson added, before Kutner looked back down at the paper.
"By the looks of it, the handwriting looks kind of bizarre."
"How so?" Cuddy asked, and Kutner pointed to the first entry.
"If you look at the 'H' in 'PPTH', the horizontal line crosses the second vertical line; but if you look at the 'H' in 'House'," He pointed. "The horizontal line doesn't cross the second vertical line."
"So? We all don't write letters exactly the same w—"
"Here," Kutner continued, cutting Foreman off. "If you look at the 'D' in 'Dr', the curve goes passed the vertical line; but if you look that the 'D' in 'Diagnostics'," He pointed again. "The curve doesn't pass the vertical line."
"But—" Foreman started.
"As for the 'NJ, USA'," Kutner continued. "It looks like it was written by someone who is left-handed because of the way it's slanted and the ink is slightly smudged, as though someone touched the ink before it had a chance to dry a little bit which is a common thing with people who are left-handed."
Silence fell in the room after Kutner's explanation and House looked over his shoulder, trying to see what Kutner explained. His clear-blue eyes began to see all the details that Kutner picked up on.
"Each thing that was written," Kutner continued. "Was written in a different style; the slant of the letters is different and the thickness of the letters is different, meaning that whoever was writing was pushing harder down on the pen."
"So each entry was written by a different person?" House interjected, making Kutner nod.
"Right, each entry has its own difference that separates it from the others. 'PPTH' is probably the thickest and the horizontal line in the 'H' passes the second vertical line. 'NJ, USA' was written by someone who was left-handed and it's a bit smudged, so I can't really tell if it's fully written in cursive or not, but it looks like it is. 'Diagnostics' looks like it's the thinnest and the curve in the 'D' doesn't cross the vertical line. And 'Dr. Gregory House' is written in cursive and the curve in the 'D' does cross the vertical line." House made his way towards the door just as Kutner finished his explanation.
"I knew I hired you for a reason."
xXxXx
He heard the door slide open and turned to see the two people he met earlier, Cuddy and Wilson, as well as 4 other people walk in. His green-blue eyes brushed over them as he felt fear start to course through him again.
What the hell is going on?
"Hi Chase," Cuddy said as she stood at the foot of his bed, smiling kindly at him. He returned the smile lightly.
"Hello, Dr. Cuddy. How long am I going to be here?"
"We're not sure actually." Chase's face saddened as he looked down at his lap, fiddling with his fingers slightly. "We need you to answer some questions for us."
"I'll certainly do my best. What would you like to know?" Chase looked back up at Cuddy.
"You asked Dr. Wilson and I how you got here…what did you mean by 'here'?" Chase bit his lower lip gently and briefly directed his eyes to his upper-left. He was silent for a few moments before he made eye contact with Wilson.
"Where…where is New Jersey?" House's eyes narrowed briefly.
So not only does he not remember coming to the United States from Australia, he doesn't even know he's in the United States.
His thoughts began to race with all the possible explanations as Kutner's thoughts drifted back to the receipt that Chase was fiddling with earlier.
"Chase, you're currently in Princeton, New Jersey, which is in the United States." Wilson said carefully, having no idea how Chase would respond to being in a different country on the other side of the world.
They saw Chase's body stiffen and his face grow pale as he processed the information he was just given.
Oh shit, shit, shit, shit. What the hell? The United States? How the hell did I end up over here? Why the hell am I even in the United States? I have no reason to be here!
Their eyes immediately directed up to the heart rate monitor as they watched Chase's heart speed up dramatically.
"To answer your question," Chase said quietly. "I meant that I…don't…know how I came to this country." He said the last part hurriedly, almost stringing the words together.
Silence fell in the room once more as interest became quite evident on House's face, but he also hid his confusion carefully. Forgetting where you put your keys was completely normal; forgetting your name and personal information was common for people with amnesia. Forgetting how you came to a different country and not even knowing what that country is? Not so much.
Kutner's thoughts were racing just as fast as House's as he tried to make sense of the information that they have about Chase, and tried to form questions that may help them figure out what was happening with the blonde.
"What's your most recent memory before being in the hospital?" Cuddy asked, breaking the silence and pulling Kutner and House out of their thoughts. Chase thought for a moment.
"I was at my grandmother's grave to change the flowers that I always leave there. It was the 13 year anniversary of her death." He smiled fondly as he remembered her.
"I'm sorry to hear about her death, Chase." Cameron said. "When did she pass?"
"September 1st." Tense silence fell in the room and Chase looked up at them, confused. "What?" House leaned heavier on his cane, looking at the floor as his brain worked in overdrive as Kutner shoved his hands into his pockets, thinking.
"Are you sure that's the most recent thing you can remember?" Cuddy asked, trying to keep her tone of voice casual. Chase nodded.
"I'm sure, why?" House looked up at him and made eye contact.
"Today is June 16th." Chase's green-blue eyes shot back towards his lap as an overwhelming feeling of confusion began to crush him.
No, no, no, no, no. That can't be right. I was at my grandmother's grave to give her new flowers like I always do. It was September 1st because I always put white roses on her grave on the anniversary of her death, and it was a pain to get the damn roses! It can't be June!
"No it's not." Chase said flatly, staring at House who saw the confusion turning into anger.
Overwhelming confusion usually causes people to get pissed off…here we go.
"Yes it is, Chase. You want proof?" House asked, reaching into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Flipping it open he showed the screen to Chase for him to see the date.
Slowly, Chase reached forward to grab House's phone. As he extended his arm, the doctors saw his hand trembling and he gently took House's phone and held it in both his hands, staring at the screen. 'June 16th' glared back at him mockingly as his hands started to shake more, confusion and fear mounting as his brief moment of anger disappeared.
He's completely terrified.
Kutner thought as they heard Chase's heart rate monitor beat faster and the blonde's hands shake harder. Chase felt the world fall away from him as he continued to stare at the phone's screen that was now black.
"Has this ever happened before, Chase?" Cameron asked gently, bending over to be on eye level to Chase's right. He didn't respond. They looked at each other, each of them having the same questions.
This was more than a normal case of amnesia, that much was clearly obvious. Chase traveled from Australia to the United States, didn't even know he was in the United States, and doesn't have any memory of the trip? Not only that, his most recent memory was on September 1st, which was roughly 9 months ago?
Kutner directed his eyes back up at Chase when he heard a small whimper. Chase was clutching his blonde hair tightly in his hands, rocking back-and-forth slightly, and doing his best to not cry while quietly repeating 'no'. He saw Cameron carefully reach out to lay her hand on the blonde's back and was surprised when Chase slapped her hand away, hard.
"Don't touch me." Chase hissed his voice thick with unshed tears. They were all taken aback, including House, as Cameron slowly took a step away from the blonde.
Kutner darted his eyes over to House to see his boss deep in thought, tapping his cane lightly against the floor. But when he looked more closely, he saw a small glimmer of confusion in House's clear-blue eyes, though he was certain that a large amount of confusion lay underneath House's carefully constructed façade.
House's thoughts continued to race, but not coming up with a remote idea of what could be happening with Chase. This couldn't be just amnesia, it just couldn't be; too much has been forgotten and a trip from Australia to the United States has been forgotten as well.
He sure as hell didn't want to admit it:
But he was at a complete loss.
He prided himself on being one of the best Diagnostians in the world, but he was stumped. Granted, this was only the first time he's encountered Chase, but he had a strong feeling that he would be talking with Chase much more frequently than he would with any other patient. Hell, it's a rare occurrence for him to even see a patient on the first day, if ever. As House limped towards the door, he knew one thing for certain:
This was most likely going to be his most challenging case yet in his career.
xXxXx
Alright Gang,
This story may seem like I'm drawing out (which is kind of like all my stories), but it's a complex story with many different components, so it's going to take LOTS of development. ^_^
If you have questions, just ask.
Reviews would be wonderful and appreciated!
When-Rabbit-Howls