THE FOREMAN FILES

Author- GreenGreenGreen

Spoilers- I've only seen up to "All In" (grrrrrr Australian TV), so anything up to that is fair game.

Disclaimer- I do not own House or its characters. Ho hum.

Authors Note- I wrote this after thinking about how not very many stories focus on Foreman or what he is thinking. Any speculation about the characters "outside" lives and interests are ones I have made up, and may be entirely inappropriate. Also, this is a story that takes place "between patients" so anyone looking for a story based around an unfathomable medical conundrum, I can't help you. Any comments, criticisms or ideas for improvement would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Eric Foreman sat in the glass walled office in Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching hospital that he shared with his colleagues in the diagnostic department. Cameron was reading one of the new medical journals which had arrived that morning, Chase was clicking away on his laptop and through the glass walls House could be seen simultaneously watching his portable TV with his white iPod headphones in his ears and tossing his tennis ball at the wall. Their patient been discharged the night before, and they had only clinic hours to keep them busy until the next patient came in. foreman noted how the work always seemed to come all at once, so they were all either rushing around as the clock counted down, or sitting round like they were now. At times like these Foreman always felt like he should be doing something. He sighed and crossed to the overworked coffee machine on the counter. Empty. Probably Chase or House, Cameron was too polite to empty the pot and not make more. He set a new pot brewing and grabbed a mug. As he waited for the coffee to finish brewing he contemplated his workmates, who were oblivious to his scrutiny.

Chase. Foreman's respect for the Australian had gradually diminished since they had begun working together. While House was annoyed by Chase's brown nosing and "yes-man" tendencies, Foreman was more irritated by his complete lack of conviction. Foreman had no qualms about sticking to his guns, even when faced with the full wrath of House, even when he turned out to be wrong. Chase seemed to have no conviction in his own ability as a doctor, his medical decisions were often hesitant or based on what he thought House would like to hear. He had hoped that the investigation into Chase would humble him a bit, cause him to rethink his choices and his commitment to his patients, but it seemed to have run off him like water off a ducks back. Chase would probably be glad for their current lack of a patient Foreman mused as he watched Chase happily tapping away at his computer keys. An interesting change from the crosswords that he seemed never able to finish. Foreman remembered the morning Chase had switched to sudoku after a fourth floor nurse had told him she liked it. He had spent four hours scribbling on the grid and furiously erasing as the correct combinations eluded him. In the end he had furiously screwed it up and spent the next few weeks avoiding the nurse. Foreman smiled at the memory. He wondered what Chase was doing on the computer, he looked to happy for it to be work. Probably reading Doctor Who fan fiction he concluded, aware of Chase's fanboy status in regards to the TV show. The Doctor Who sheets were probably the reason Chase hadn't had a steady girlfriend in all the time Foreman had known him…

A movement caught Foreman's eye and switched his attention from Chase. Cameron was stretching, the bones in her back cracking as she arched backwards. Top two buttons undone on her thin blouse Fireman noted- House would be happy, his perving opportunities were greatly reduced during winter months. Foreman was happy that Cameron had been slowly returning, somewhat, to her formerly sunny disposition, though her temper had remained more volatile than it had been when Foreman had first met her. Cameron had become much more likely to defy him or House, and had even gone behind House's back when they were treating Alex the sick supermodel. Foreman wondered if this was what she was really like, and had come out of her shell enough to show her true personality, or if working at Princeton-Plainsboro had changed her. Foreman hoped that it hadn't, he and Cameron had generally got on well, and Foreman had enjoyed her company when they had gone out for drinks or dinner together as they used to do much more often. Foreman thought perhaps that their slight distancing was a good thing, his brief and ill fated time as head of the diagnostic department had taught him that he would like to move up in the world one day, and one day soon, and he wasn't sure if Cameron wouldn't take it entirely to heart if he used her as a rung on the ladder on the way up. She was appallingly bad at separating work from her personal life, Foreman noted, not for the first time. At least she wasn't making moon eyes at House, gushing like a teenage school girl any more- though Foreman wasn't sure if she was completely over the grumpy older man. At first he had found the thought of Cameron and house in a relationship together as inconceivable, but as time went on he found that he wasn't quite as averse to it- if only so he and Chase could giggle at the thought of the affable Cameron and a bitchy House doing gooey romantic things like walking along a lonely beach, leaving behind only their footprints, and the imprint of House's rubber tipped cane…

As his thoughts turned to House, Foreman switched his attention to the man in his separate office. He wondered how long it would be until Cuddy came to upbraid him about clinic hours, especially because they didn't have a patient. Foreman's attitude toward House's antics ranged from mild amusement at some of his more clever schemes, to, more often, disdain or annoyance. He was a doctor for God's sake- why couldn't he take some responsibility for his actions! Or realize that by just doing what he was supposed to he was saving everybody the hassle of chasing him down. Foreman wondered if he really just didn't care, or if he did it to receive the attention it got him. If there was one thing House couldn't stand, it was someone ignoring the greatness that was himself, Foreman thought wryly. At least things were getting better. He cringed just thinking about the nightmare work had become when Stacey was there- Chase blinding through largely oblivious to the charged emotional subtexts of every conversation, Cameron mopey and rash and House a great ball of hormones, energy and unfinished business. House had been getting better lately though, Foreman noted, every one could see that. General consensus was that it was Wilson's doing, the only man who could, even when going through the pain of a divorce, still coaxes a smile to House's face and lift his, at time, endless bad temper- he could even persuade House to get in an MRI machine to scan his leg. Foreman wondered just how bad it had hurt House when he realized that the new pain was in his head, that he wasn't getting better. Still, things were better for him now, Foreman noted, with House in a slightly better mood. Things were a little more predictable and he atmosphere less volatile. House had even begun teasing Chase with his normal relish, rather than as a force of habit, and had restarted his sexist remarks to Cameron (aided no doubt by the eye catching dress she had picked out for the poker tournament), a sign he was feeling more himself if there ever was one. Foreman's eyebrows rose fractionally as electricity sparked across his synapses and he had a brilliant thought. Maybe House was such a bastard because-

Oh. Coffee was ready. Foreman shook himself out of his reverie and turned back to the small coffee machine and prepared his drink. He was about to add milk when he saw Cuddy approaching, a fierce look on her face. Foreman put the milk down. Maybe he'd need his coffee strong today after all.