Rating PG (for now)
Summary While Hiding from Cuddy, House meets someone new. They have more in common than they both realized
A/N I am new. I love House and Hugh Laurie. Hope you all enjoy, and please comment so I know if I should continue. I get my chapters up a lot quicker if I know people are reading and liking. (LOL)….
House walked into the front entrance of PPTH, took one look at the clinic and made a bee line for the elevator. Hiding in his office sounded really good with a day full of soaps and a viccodin here and there. As he got off the elevator his office was in sight. He could almost hear the melody of daytime T.V. in his head, but that was abruptly stopped by the annoying sound of his bosses pumps hitting the linoleum, and he cringed.
Dr. Lisa Cuddy, Dean of Medicine, was after House all week to make up clinic hours and a backlog of charting. He really didn't feel like getting another lecture so before Cuddy caught sight of him he dashed into the closest room he could find to hide. He was trying to move so quickly that when House slid the glass door to the hospital room open he lost his footing and fell into the room. He was able to grab his cane, slide the door closed, curtain and all before Cuddy saw him. As he breathed a sigh of relief he heard of voice from behind. As House struggled to get up it said, "Uh, can I help you?"
House closed his eyes in annoyance at himself for not making sure the room was empty, but he didn't know if the coast was clear either, so he decided to bite the bullet and turn around. He was oddly surprised to find a beautiful young women lying in the hospital bed.
As he starred at her she repeated, "Can I help you?"
House finally responded with a resounding "NO!"
"Then what are you doing in here?" She asked him.
"I'm a Dr. We're supposed to check on patients." House retorted in that smug tone of his.
The young woman looked at House intensely for a moment and then said, "Last time I checked I did not need a world renowned diagnostic physician."
Without even thinking, House was going to come back with some sarcastic comment until he realized what she had just said.
He responded with, "Hey, that's not fair! You seem to know about me but I don't know you."
This latest development intrigued him. How did she know about him House wondered to himself before limping over to her and asking,
"Have the nurses been gushing again? I told them not to, but you know girls with crushes."
The girl rolled her eyes, as House limped over to the foot of her bed. After some awkward silence he finally spoke again.
"So really, how do you know about me?"
"I guess when you spend as much time in hospitals as I do you want to make sure the new one is at least better than the last, she responded."
"Well, I guess PPTH met with your approval", House shot back at her.
"Well it's one of the top hospitals in the states", she said.
"Ah yes, but that doesn't answer my previous question, how do you about me?", he asked.
"I googled the hospital and all of the staff's names popped up including yours, I read your bio", she answered.
"I have a bio?" House asked in a perplexed tone (with a hint of sarcasm).
"Yep, lets see... you graduated top of your class from John Hopkins University, you are highly acclaimed, but criticized for your tactics, you are respected and also feared. Just as administrators are afraid to hire you, they're also afraid, if not more so, to fire you because more times than not you save your patients."
House was a little taken aback about how much she really knew. (All of that couldn't be in a stupid internet bio, could it?) The young woman broke House's train of thought by saying,
"Now that I've answered your question, will you answer mine?"
"What?" he said.
"What are you doing in my room…really?
He simply stated, "Hiding from my boss."
"Oh, ok then", she replied .
"What? No forced explanations?", House asked.
"Nope, I don't care why you are hiding from your boss.", she said as she looked at him.
There was another long pause before she noticed him analyzing the chart at the foot of her bed.
"Go ahead you know you want to", the girl stated.
House replied with a surprised "What?!"
"My chart, my diagnosis, the reason I'm stuck in this bed", she said, as she pointed to her chart. After a pause she continued "but I have to warn you, it's not very interesting."
House hesitated at first, then quickly picked up the chart. The first thing he noticed was her name, Lacey Watkins, the second was she was right. Her case wasn't interesting; an open and shut case. She was born with Cerebral Palsy and had many secondary conditions including the one she was hospitalized for, Scoliosis. She was going to undergo corrective back surgery and was at the hospital a few days early for pre-op and tests. Before closing the file, House also noticed she was confined to a wheelchair due to the CP . House looked up at Lacey and said,
"You're right. It's boring."
"See, I told you", she replied.
After a moment she picked up her remote and said, "You can stay here as long as you want, but my show is about to start and I don't think you're gonna like it.
"What is it?", House asked.
Lacey replied, "General Hospital."
House just smirked and asked, "Is Michael still in a coma?"
She looked at him shocked at first, then simply said, "Yes."
As House was about to have a seat in front of the TV, his pager went off. "Oh crap! Gotta go, boss just won't give up."
As House was leaving the room Lacey said,
"I'll be here all week you know, if you need somewhere to hide."
To this House smiled and said, "I'll keep that in mind….."
To be continued.