Prologue
My hand slapped the alarm clock and I moaned. 7:30 already? Opening my eyes, I saw the light beginning to pour in from behind the cheap blinds. My head was throbbing still. How much did I drink? It wasn't really an answerable question, especially since I couldn't remember what day of the week it was.
Sitting up in bed, I felt my stomach churn. The blankets moved around me and remembered I wasn't the only one in here. A hand grabbed my thigh and I smiled to myself. Even though I could hardly remember, it was nice.
"I've got to get going to work." I said. I stood up too quickly out of bed and had to grab the nightstand. I was going to need some aspirin. And a lot of coffee.
The redhead was clutching the covers to her chest and giving me a rather odd look. "You mean I have to leave?" No, I was just talking to myself. What did she think?
"Yeah, come on, I'll help you find your clothes." I took them off somewhere in here. Gathering her items off the ground, I handed them back. "Thanks, Chase." She said. I smiled. "Wish you didn't have to put them back on…" Crap, what was her name? Alice? Alexis? Amber? I winked instead, and that seemed to cover up my mistake.
I got into the bathroom and started up the shower water. "Coffee is next to the toaster. Help yourself." I said, turning my attention back to getting ready.
Quickly I washed my hair and myself before getting out to shave. My head wasn't doing too much better, but it was manageable. Definitely not my first hangover, or my last, for that matter.
Pouring myself a cup of coffee, I took it and sat down next to the redhead at my kitchen table. Annie? Alex? I couldn't think of her name to save my life. "Well, I best be off now to work, so…"
She got up out of her chair and straddled my lab. Yanking my tie upwards, she pulled my lips up against hers. I couldn't breathe, but I think it was more because of the tie. But I wasn't going to complain. I really loved these American women.
"Nice meeting you." She smirked and got my lap. "You too, Amanda." That was it, Amanda! She smiled and walked out my apartment door. I checked my watch. 7:50. Time to go. Grabbing my bag, I dashed out the door in hopes of making it to work on time.
My alarm rang from my dresser and I let out a moan. Monday already? I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and put my feet into my slippers. My robe was on the chair next to my bed, so I grabbed it and threw it on.
I flipped the light on in the closet to grab the outfit I picked out for Monday. I changed into my skirt and blazer jacket quickly. After looking in the mirror I decided I looked decent enough. Makeup was next. I didn't wear much of it, mainly just the basics, but I wanted to look presentable to all my patients. It's the least I could do.
I went into the kitchen and poured out coffee that I made yesterday for this morning, and popped the cup into the microwave. My shoes and purse were already over by the door. I pulled breakfast (one English muffin) out of the fridge and put it into the toaster while I was waiting for my coffee.
I ate my English muffin and finished my cup of coffee with a few moments to spare. I put on my shoes, grabbed my purse and my keys, and I was ready to head on over to work. I'd be a few minutes early, but that was okay. Double-checking to make sure I had everything, I locked my apartment and headed on out.
Chapter 1
One year later…
"Lupis? Come on, that's obviously not it." I chimed in. My "team" wasn't making any progress, but we needed to start running test for something or we would never get any results back.
I am doing my fellowship at Princeton–Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. I am on a diagnostic team with Dr. Allison Cameron, Dr. Eric Forman, and Dr. Gregory House. Let's just say they were all interesting characters, especially House. Even though I hated it at times, it was a good job. But by golly, could they be pretty thickheaded, like now, for instance.
"And what do you suspect it is, Dr. Chase?" House asked. I took another sip of my coffee before replying. "I don't even think it's autoimmune. It's a fungal infection." Everyone in the room let out a frustrated sigh. "Chase, it can't be a fungal infection!" Cameron said, placing another lab result in front of me.
"It's still a legitimate diagnosis!" I defended. Foreman looked like he was pretty much done with all of us. "Fine, we will test for all our guesses. We just need to get these test going." He said.
"I agree," House added. "Cameron, go do your biopsy, and Foreman and Chase can go run their lab tests. Then you all can get back to me to let me know all of your were wrong." With that, he walked out of the room and into his office.
Foreman and I rode the elevator up to the patient room on the next floor. "Typical. Of course we are all wrong, at least according to House." Forman said. I let out a laugh. "Its because he's typically correct." Foreman sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, and it goes straight to his ego." Well, he was right there.
We entered the patient's room together. I grabbed the chart from the small hanging thing at the end of the patient's bed. "Hi, I'm Dr. Foreman, and that's Dr. Chase." I waved my hand and looked up from the chart. "We are just going to take a few vials of blood, and another doctor is going to prep you for a biopsy. She should be up here shortly to preform it."
Forman chatted to the patient while I applied the tourniquet so we could get the blood work done. "So Mr. Hatfield," I began to ask, before he interrupted me. "It's just Jim." Taking a wipe, I sanitized the vein I would be drawing from. "Okay then, Jim, have you traveled anywhere out of the country recently?"
I could see the patient nod. "I just came back from Mexico actually. The company I work for has a lot of hotels down there." In my mind I ran though the diseases that he could have contracted there.
"Mexico sounds like a nice visit." I said. "Make a fist." I instructed, having him clench up his arm so it would be easier to draw from. He had small veins. "It was. Playa del Carmen is beautiful this time of year."
I stuck him with the needle and his blood began to pour into the tube. We just had this one and two more we needed. "I bet. It's been forever since I've been on vacation." Foreman added. I nodded in agreement and changed out the tubes.
"After I pay off all my debt, I'd like ta go back to Oz." I said. Jim nodded. "I've been to Sydney, and it's a nice place to visit. Are you from there?" Quickly I changed the tube out for the last one that we needed. "Yeah, I was born in Melbourne, actually."
I grabbed the three vial of blood I drew as Foreman patched the patient back up. "Dr. Cameron should be in soon to run that biopsy." I said before the two of us walked out.
"I'll go run the…" My voice tapered as the two of us were approached by a woman in a lab coat. "Foreman. I didn't know you had my patient." She said, not even turning an eye towards me. I stood there with my mouth open. I didn't mean to be rude.
"Yeah, we are just going to run some tests." He said. "I'll keep you updated." And with that she was gone, just as soon as she came. "Who was that?" I asked, feeling jealous of the man already.
I pressed the down button on the elevator as Foreman laughed. "That was Dr. Collins from internal med. She's referred patients to us before." I sighed and leaned up against the elevator wall. "She's hot." I said. Foreman laughed again. "Man, don't even go there."
I raised my eyebrows. "Sorry, is she your girl?" This seemed to amuse Foreman even more. "No, not at all. Every guy I've seen trying and flirt with her ends up worse off than before. And she would hate you especially." I was in shock. "Me? Why?"
The elevator dinged and I followed Foreman off. "You're a womanizer, Chase. She hates your type." I forgot everyone seemed to know about my "private life". Guess it's not the worse reputation I could have. Well, I mean, it wasn't ideal. But in some cases it was. Whatever, just forget it.
"But boy, she's something else." I said before handing him a vial of the patient's blood. Foreman shook his head and put on gloves and goggles. "I'm sure you've slept with prettier woman before, Chase. Just forget about her and focus on our patient." His comment was a bit harsh, but I ignored it and carried on with the test to prove my diagnosis was the correct one.
While the test was running, I decided to go see how Cameron's biopsy went. Heading back to our meeting room, I only saw House. Odd, maybe Cameron was right and went to go do something. Either way, I was hungry, and needed fuel so I could stay up and finish my lab work.
After grabbing a bite to eat, I headed back up to the meeting room to see what everyone else had come up with. No one was there though. Once again, that was rather odd. Cuddy was there though. She's the Dean of Medicine. Basically she's my other boss. Her paperwork was spread out on the table.
"Chase." I heard her say my name as soon as I turned around. I entered the room and realized Cameron was in there too. "What's this about?" I asked. I glanced at the paperwork spread across the table, but I couldn't read any of it. "It's that time of year again, where we have to be evaluated and all that." Cameron said, leaning up against the table.
Oh, well that wasn't too bad. "You haven't had an exam in years, Chase." Well…that was the only bad part. "Oh, gee, I wonder why. It's not like I'm a doctor or anything." I said, making myself another cup of coffee.
"It's not my rule, it's the hospitals. You need to make an appointment with your primary doctor and have the physical results sent back to me." Yuck, that sounded totally unappealing. But I needed to keep my job. "Fine. It'll get done, but I am more concerned about our patient's health at the moment." Before Cuddy could say any more, I left our meeting room and headed for the lab.