Author: Houseplant/HousistPlant
Title: Carousels
Summary: It's a relationship that goes up and down and round and round no matter who else comes on and off.
Pairing(s): Mainly H/W slash with LOTS of other criss-cross pairings and implied relationships later on. Set almost immediately after House vs. God (It's slash… of-course it's not canon)
Disclaimer: I own no-one and nothing except as far as I know the plot and the original characters. I'm also not a doctor but I did my best to make sure the case makes sense. I did skewer a few statistics, but since most of their cases are one in a million anyways, I think I'll live and so will the story.
Dr. James Wilson was startled by the ring of his cell phone. He jumped a little-picked it up and checked the called ID, then promptly switched it to silent and replaced the offending item in the pocked of his lab-coat. The buzzing stopped and he picked up where he left off, bending over his desk and filling several more blank spaces on the papers that he planned to serve his soon to be Ex-Wife.
He was barely a minute in when he felt vibrations on his right thigh and fished out the phone again. Wilson knew that he couldn't ignore the caller for much longer because if he did, the other would show up shortly and disrupt his work. He sighed and flipped open the top.
"House, I'm busy. Unless you need a consult-which by the way you could have called my office for, not my cell-I'm not talking to you. Besides, I have nothing to say."
"Nothing to say? You just said a mouthful. I was bored. If I don't look busy Cuddy will send me off to the clinic. Come on, talk doctor to me; you're just so sexy when you rattle out all those diseases." House's voice rang teasingly at the last comment.
"House…" Wilson groaned slightly; he was exasperated; he had no time for House's antics; not now. "I'm giving your ten seconds to say what you need to say, and then I'm hanging up."
The was an audible silence on the other side before anyone made another comment
"9…8…7…6…"
"Come back." It was simple and House's voice was so serious that it unnerved the other doctor.
Wilson didn't answer but heard the sound of House's cane coming in contact with the hospital floor once more.
"James…" House's voice was suddenly crystal clear and Wilson realized exactly why when he heard the rapping on his office door. His cell phone flip-closed with a click and he stood, pushing his chair back away from the mahogany desk. Wilson made his way to the door and opened it, facing the mess that was Gregory House.
"Jimmy…come back."
xXx
House stood in the doorframe gnawing his bottom lip looking at Wilson who had, by this time, hung his head in what looked like defeat but could have just as easily been annoyance. House wasn't sure which. He looked tired and his hair stuck out at odd angles more than usual.
"Why?" Well, it definitely wasn't defeat.
"Why?" House raised an eyebrow and looked up, feigning thought "Because I can't cook for shit."
Wilson let out another sigh and rubbed the back of his neck.
"What, you're going to let me starve just because you're mad at me?"
He snapped his head up and looked House straight in the eyes.
"If I remember correctly, you survived through med school before residency. Or so you said."
House made a face at the thought of his eating habits in medical school .
"Eugh. Don't remind me. Besides: Mac and Cheese doesn't count."
"It's food."
"You're right. Can't have too much orange in your diet. Thank GOD for the new Kraft formula; all the plasticky goodness with twice the calcium; Mmm-mm." House exhaled dramatically, his voice was dripping sarcasm and Wilson rolled his eyes. House noticed a twitch of the mouth that Wilson was obviously working to hide.
Wilson gathered his thoughts quickly enough and shook his head placing both hands on his hips.
"House, I'm not moving back in with you. The jokes are over- Grow up."
"Now, what'd you have to say that for? You know it's not going to happen..." he frowned "I think we've had this conversation before."
"Probably. Now go away! I have…things to do and I don't really want to talk to you right now."
"Are you breaking up with me?" House face took on a mask of mock confusion. He didn't wait for a reply before continuing
"Aaaw, but Jimmy! I thought we had something special!"
House braced himself, waiting to be kicked out, but instead noticed Wilson clearing his throat harshly. He assumed the other doctor couldn't dislodge whatever was caught in his throat because he began coughing violently. When Wilson doubled over clutching his stomach, House became concerned.
"Hey, you ok?" He tried to lean in, but realized he couldn't do so without losing his balance or moving closer. Before he could do the latter, Wilson stopped coughing, straightened up and looked at House again.
"Yea. I'm fine. Just…not feeling too well." He let out one last cough.
House coked his head to the left, momentarily lost in thought, then nodded in Wilson's direction.
"You're sick."
"No I'm not."
"Yes. You are. You shouldn't be here."
"I'm not sick, and I should be here because I have work to do. Work that you seem adamant about keeping me from."
House ignored his last comment and used his cane to turn around.
"Wait here, I'll be right back." He said without looking at Wilson.
Although curious, Wilson didn't want to waste time trying to find out what House was up to. If it concerned him, he would find out soon enough. He dropped his hands to his sides and went to his desk. But instead of sitting back on the chair, he rested his weight on the table and sneezed.
xXx
"DOCTOR CUDDY!"
The door to Lisa Cuddy's office burst open and Greg House limped his way into her large, carefully decorated office.The woman sitting at the very expansive desk looked up from her papers with an excruciatingly bored look on her face.
"Dr. House, stop scaring the patients. It won't get you out of Clinic duty." she barked. "Though I think you're losing your touch, I don't see how that would be bad- you'd get their history faster, treat them faster and generally go through more patients." She added, more for her own clarification than for House.
"I need a word." House stopped about a foot away from her desk and put his weight on his cane with both hands resting on it.
"You used four." She deadpanned and looked back down at the documents on her desk, pen poised just above the papers.
"Clever. Though not nearly as clever as SEDUCING YOUNG DOCTORS INTO WORKING FOR YOU!" House leaned back, trying to make his voice project past the slightly ajar doors.
"Stop shouting, no-one listens to you any-more. And no matter how many times you say it and dream about it at night, I'm not a prostitute House. What do you want?" Cuddy countered without missing a beat. This was a familiar routine to both of them
House shifted his weight back and forth between his good leg and the cane then tapped it on the floor of Cuddy's office before answering.
"I need you to give Wilson a few days off. I'm taking him home."
"What you do with Dr. Wilson in your spare time is none of my business, but during hospital hours, I need him here, doing his job. Speaking of doing your job, you don't have a case so get to the Clinic."
"Oh for god's sake! He's sick!" He rolled his eyes in frustration--simultaneously dodging the subject oh clinic duty--but noted that Cuddy was paying attention now. She took her glasses off with her left hand and looked at House with genuine interest.
"What gave you that idea?"
"Oh, I don't know… maybe the fact that he was hacking up his lungs while I was talking to him?"
"Why didn't he stay home if he's sick?" It wasn't that Cuddy wasn't willing to let the sick doctor go home, it was just that she didn't trust House to be honest. For all she knew, House wanted to play hooky and was using Wilson as an out. Besides, it was very unusual for James Wilson to come to work sick. He knew that in his job, being potentially infectious could be deadly for his patients because of their compromised immune systems.
"Ask him yourself. When he gets back." House looked at the floor as if the red carpeting would give him the words to convince Cuddy. "Look: You don't want him around all the bald kiddies. We all know how dangerous it is for the brave little troopers if Wilson ends up being infectious… and with that cough…" House shook his head, adding emphasis to the last part.
"Alright." Cuddy pursed her lips and leaned her head of her left hand, the elbow of which was resting on the edge of her desk. "Alright. I'll give him as long as he needs to get better."
"Ok. I'll see you when Wilson gets better." House was turning to leave, hoping Cuddy didn't catch what he said.
"HOUSE! Get back here, I never agreed to let you go."
He turned back slowly to face Cuddy again.
"But someone has to take care of him."
"He's married."
"Not for long." He said in a sing song voice. "Dr. and Mrs. Wilson are getting a divorce." House started shifting and tapping his cane again.
Cuddy opened her mouth in an effort to say something, but exhaled instead.
"One day." She sighed.
"Two."
"No."
"I'll give you three more hours in the Clinic next week."
"Next week?"
"It's Thursday."
"Fine, just… don't bug him. Make sure he feels better."
House nodded and began making his way out of the office.
"Oh and House; if Dr. Wilson doesn't feel better when he gets back, I will hold you personally accountable and add an hour to your roster every day for the next two weeks."
House ignored her and slammed the door shut. For once, he was glad Cuddy's office doors weren't the sliding ones used in most of the hospital.
Inside, Dr. Cuddy flinched.
xXx