"My head just really hurts, like someone is punching me over and over again. And when someone turns a light on, it's like this burning feeling in my eyes. I'm really worried about it," said a teenage boy in exam room one to House, who was focused on his gameboy instead. House sighed as he finished the next level and looked at his watch. Two more hours of this hell, he thought, sick of the clinic already.
"Umm.. Doctor?"
House looked up at the patient in front of him and chuckled at his severe lack of competency. "You have a hangover," he said bluntly. "Go home, drink some water, take some aspirin, and you'll be fit to go back to school in less than an hour."
The teenage boy just stared at him as if he was missing something. He opened his mouth to say something else, when House tapped him on the arm with his cane, urging him to get out. The boy just obliged and reluctantly left the exam room, leaving House alone with his gameboy once more. He continued to play for a while more, until he was interrupted by someone opening the door.
"I knew I'd find you in here," Wilson's voice said from the doorway. "I'm here to rescue you actually. Cuddy needs to talk to you. She got someone to cover the rest of your shift. You got lucky this time."
House didn't need to be told more than once; he picked up his cane and limped out of the clinic, slowly heading towards Cuddy's office.
"This better be important, because you just stole me from my favorite place on earth and I was really hoping I could spend the rest of the day diagnosing stupidity. It really is a wonderful dose of humanity," House said sarcastically as he pushed open the doors to Cuddy's office. He prepared himself for a snarky remark from her, but nothing came. He stopped in front of her desk and eyed her suspiciously, watching her fiddle nervously with her necklace.
"What's going on?" he demanded, more worry in his voice this time.
"Tritter's back. He's after me this time though. I have to suspend your medial license."
"You can't do that! You have no reason to suspend my license other than pleasing that bastard. We already won, Cuddy. He can't do this now," House shouted, anger and frustration weighing down his every word.
"It's either a suspension for you or my whole job, House. He's made it pretty clear and hasn't given me much choice."
"So this is just about you? You wouldn't want to ruin your ideal reputation, so instead you're taking away my job. That's hardly fair at all, and you know it! You just want to get rid of me. Don't want to deal with any more lawsuits, any more angry parents, so you're just going to tear me away from it. It's that simple for you, isn't it?"
Cuddy was shocked; she could not believe he accused her of that. She felt her throat tighten and she looked down at her hands to avoid House's accusing eyes. She said nothing for a while and was thankful when her pager went off so she could leave her office before he saw the tears roll down her face.