House sighed and fell back into his office chair, grabbing his faithful tennis ball and tossing it against the wall. He'd spent six days working on this case and he was even further away from a solution to this puzzle than when the patient was first admitted.
He began to massage his right thigh before reaching into the pocket of his blazer and pulling out a small medicine bottle. He flipped the lid and tipped out a couple of pills before swallowing them with the small glass of whisky he'd poured himself earlier. Ever since Cuddy had left him, Vicodin was the only remedy to even begin to dull his excruciating pain but even the pills couldn't take away the stab he felt deep in the pit of his stomach every time he caught a glimpse of her or thought about her.
Glancing over at the ducklings feverously scouring medical journals and textbooks for answers in the next room, House decided to call it a night; downing the last of his whisky and limping out of the door.
As House ambled through the lobby he found himself uncontrollably staring through the clinic to Cuddy's office, knowing she would still be in there, beavering away to finish this year's budget reports. He longed to stride into her office and take her in his arms again but he knew she didn't feel the same. And anyway, he had Dominika waiting for him at home and he hoped that a night of meaningless sex with his 'wife', for all intents and purposes, might take his mind off Cuddy for just a minute.
He set off again towards the exit trying to shake the thoughts of his beautiful, intelligent, witty and sexy ex-girlfriend out of his head. But, as usual, he couldn't think of anything but her and the way her hair cascaded around her face. Or the way she would smile when she looked up from her desk and saw that he had come to see her - not to ask for permission for some ridiculously reckless treatment but just to see her because, and he would never admit it, when he was with her it didn't hurt anymore. Not his leg, not his heart - she took his pain away completely.
As he reached the doors he heard a crash behind him and spun round to investigate the commotion. A patient had collapsed onto the reception desk, sending paper and stationary flying. A tall brunette doctor he didn't recognise sprinted from other side of the lobby to where the patient lay on the floor. House turned away and set off home again when an unknown voice rang in his ears.
"House, don't even think about leaving. Get here and help me. Now"
House took a second to register the comment; no one except Cuddy had the guts to speak to him like that and this woman was a stranger. How did she know his name? And where was she from - she definitely didn't sound American, she almost sounded English.
"What are you waiting for? Help me now!"
With her second bellow, House was sure she was English and began to walk over to where she was. The patient was in the recovery position and the unknown doctor was checking his pulse
"What do you expect me to do? I can hardly give him a fireman's lift, can I?" House said sarcastically as he motioned towards his bad leg.
"Go and get a wheelchair or something? You're supposed to be some genius better-than-everyone-else Doctor so use that apparently brilliant mind of yours!" retorted the brunette doctor as she turned her attention back to the patient who seemed to be regaining consciousness.
House trudged over to the clinic where he spied a free wheelchair, grumbling under his breath about being bossed around by some doctor he didn't even know. Grabbing the chair, he wheeled it back to where the patient now sat up against the reception desk.
"Here you go mistress, have you got any other demands?"
"Stop being such a child, House. You're a doctor; helping people is what you're paid to do. Quit whining and suck it up."
The other doctor helped the patient into the wheelchair and a nurse wheeled him back to his room.
"You seem to know a lot about me," said House "but I know nothing about you. Who are you and why have I never seen you in the hospital before?"
Brushing herself down, the brunette doctor stood up. House noticed she was tall; not as tall as him so she still had to look up to him slightly – this he secretly enjoyed. For the first time in their encounter he took the chance to actually look at her, and was a little disappointed he hadn't before. She had big, deep brown eyes and a cute button nose. Her long brunette locks fell down beneath her chest and curled into ringlets at the tips.
"I'm Dr Charlotte Middleton" she replied as she held out her hand to shake House's. "I've just joined PPTH as the new Head of Paediatrics."
House declined her offer of a handshake, instead choosing to quiz her further.
"You're not from around here, are you? And how do you know who I am?"
Charlotte smiled at House's interrogation.
"No, I'm not. I'm from Cambridge in England. And before you ask, no I don't know any of the Royal family, I wasn't invited to the wedding and I don't spend my free time drinking tea and watching re-runs of Blackadder."
Her retort made House laugh and he found himself enjoying her company. She reciprocated his smile and he saw a glow in her eyes that was utterly beautiful.
"You've not answered my other question yet; how do you know who I am?"
"Ah. Well when I was offered the job, there was quite a lengthy section in my contract that had something to do with not filing lawsuits against you. I was curious as to who you were so I asked a few peers. There aren't many grumpy doctors walking around here with canes so I figured that you must be the infamous Gregory House".
"That's Dr Gregory House to you, thank you very much. Anyway, I'm going home Dr Charlotte Middleton from Cambridge. See you around." House headed once again to the hospital doors, resisting the urge to turn around for another glimpse of the beautiful English doctor. He couldn't get the image of her deep brown eyes out of his mind; this made a welcome change from having Cuddy on his mind 24/7.