98 seconds

"Everyone lies."

"I knew you couldn't resist. Come to gawk, or to spread your pity over me like a warm blanket?"

"I made a bet with Wilson. I'm here to win it."

This time House actually pauses the game and lowers his GameBoy, blue eyes peering into Chase's own. "Consider my curiosity aroused, then."

"You told Wilson you were trying to prove nothing happened after death, but you should know that already."

Chase used to hate whenever House rolled his eyes at him, though now it seems to have lost its effect. "Well, I know you think I'm godlike, but that doesn't mean-"

Chase shakes his head as he interrupts. "The infarction. You died on the table. They had to bring you back."

"Which is how I knew they'd bring me back this time."

"You didn't need to electrocute yourself to find out about an afterlife. There must be another reason."

"I'm not depressed. And I'm not suicidal."

"No, but you are megalomaniacal."

"Yeah, yeah, you can say it, but can you spell it?"

"After all, you haven't almost died in months." Chase looks down at his hands. He knows he isn't going to win this bet, because no matter how angry he is at House, he is never going to punch him. Wilson was right, Chase just didn't have it in him to walk up to House and give him what he deserved. "Congratulations, you got our attention. And you made Cameron cry."

House replies, -can the man ever just shut up- but Chase doesn't register the words. His own keep echoing in his mind. He made Cameron cry, he made Cameron cry, he's always going to make Cameron cry. Always.

He grabs House by his shirt and pulls him up from his chair, just enough to bring his face level with his own tight fist. All of a sudden, his fist hurts, and he wants to shake the pain away. House is back in his chair, rubbing his face and looking up at him with a combination of surprise and begrudging admiration. "You punch like a girl."

"At least I punch. When was the last time you cared enough about something…"

"I can see you're resolving your daddy issues. How very nice for you." Chase starts to walk away, when House calls out, "I guess you won that bet, though."

Afterwards, as he's grasping the hundred dollars, Chase wonders whether it was worth it.

A hundred dollars seems a paltry sum held against the realization that what you have is never really going to be yours.