Disclaimer : I do not own the main character within this fic, I borrowed him for fun. The plot is mine though, I'm not sharing.
A/N : I only have two warnings for you: 1. Beware of the fluff and OOCness, this is me trying to flex the long forgotten writing muscles; 2. Beware of the bad grammar and spelling, I'm not a native English speaker/writer, so I apologize in advance.
=== Playing Doctor ===
"Damn you Wilson." House clenched his eyes shut, clutching onto his stomach. He didn't know that stealing Wilson's lunch could cost this much. He had lost count on how often he had gone to the restroom this evening. He must have beaten a world record or something.
"Are you still ill Daddy?" A small hand with smooth skin and nice smell was on top of his forehead. He cracked his eyes open to met a pair of bright blue eyes peered over him.
"Hmmmm mmmh." The churn of his stomach prevented House from answering properly.
"Claire, leave your dad alone. He needs some rest." A warning came from the kitchen where his wife was busy preparing dinner.
"Kay mom." Claire answered but instead of leaving her dad alone like she had been told so, she climbed on the couch.
"Is your tummy hurt Daddy?" She ran her chubby fingers on her daddy's curls.
"Yeah," House saw concern in his daughter eyes, so he forced himself to smile, "just a little bit."
"You should go see a doctor Daddy." His daughter tilted her head to one side, in an exact way her mother always did.
He sneered. "I had seen a doctor. A doctor that happen to be your mother, and she gave me nothing but a pill." He intentionally spoke louder, hoping to get some reaction from the woman.
"Your doctor is the best doctor in town honey, stop complaining, it's just a diarrhea." A chuckle vibrated from the kitchen.
"See, your mother is a bad doctor." House held his daughter arm. "It's up to you, the great Doctor Claire, to save this poor man from his miserable fate."
Claire's eyes widened, "You want me to be your doctor daddy?"
"Of course, go get your bag." He ordered and leaned back onto the cushions. He could not go to work, he could not play piano, he could not tease his busy wife, so he might ass well play with his daughter.
Claire returned in a flash, with a white box in hand and a pink plastic stethoscope around her neck.
"Hello, Mr. House, I'm your Doctor." The girl immediately fell into her role. "Just lie down and let me check you." She produced various plastic gadgets out of her box. Soon, the top of the table was filled with tubes and fake medical equipment all in dizzying colors.
"Lift your shirt please." She ordered to her dad while hooked the stethoscope to her ears.
"Is it gonna be painful?" House did as he told while eyeing a plastic needles that not seemed so plastic. "I'm afraid, Doctor Claire."
"It's okay Mr. House, it won't hurt, I promise." Claire smiled and House had to restrain himself from kissing her cute nose. "Do you want some candy while I examine you?" She handed him a plastic candy bar.
"Can I get a real candy?" House whispered. "My stomach is really really really hurt Doctor." He grimaced for emphasis.
"I sorry, Daddy, I don't have any." Claire's smile turned into a pout.
"Go ask your mom."
Claire's steps soon echoed in the apartment and not long after that an argument was started in a kitchen.
"Mom, can I have candy?"
"No, you'll get toothache."
"Pleaaase mommy."
House sneered; he had taught Claire how to beg properly.
"No baby, not now. One after school and one after dinner, remember?" Just as House had expected; his wife, forever a discipline woman, refused.
"It's not for me mom, for daddy, he is ill. Pleaseeeee." Again the whimper that could melt Mount Vesuvius, House could easily picture his daughter batting her eyelashes in front of his wife.
"Honey, what are you up to?" The question was obviously addressed to him. "Don't send our baby to do your dirty job."
House sat on the couch, eyeing his wife that was standing with her hands on her hip. "Nothing, just give her the candy and you could continue making disaster in a pan."
"The disaster you like so much that you ask me to cook it almost every night." She stuck her tongue out while handing a candy bar to Claire. "There, give it to your annoying daddy."
"Thank you mommy, love ya." The little girl made her way to the couch and resumed the role playing game. "Here is your candy Mr. House, now let me check you up."
Peeling the candy off its wrapper, House giggled as the cold stethoscope was pressed and moved against his belly. "That's tickle."
Claire giggled too. "I know Daddy, stop moving."
"So, what's wrong with me?"
"It's some kind of Bac….Bac…"
"Bacteria?" House completed Claire's sentence.
"Yes. You need some pills Mr. House." She handed him a bright-green plastic bottle from the table. "Three times a day after eating." The serious look on his daughter's face almost had House laughing.
"Is it possibly Helicobacter pylori infection? If it is, these pills won't do much for me." He sat up on the couch and put the bottle back on the table.
"What's that?"
"They are bacteria that colonize your stomach and induce chronic gastritis, a long-lasting inflammation of the stomach."
"Oh, I see." Claire sat on the floor and propped her chin on the table.
The puzzled look etched on his daughter face made House smirked. "You don't understand my explanation, don't you?"
Claire simply shook her head no.
"Helicobacter pylori are a group of meanie bacteria, very meanie bacteria. They stay in your stomach and make you very very sick."
"No daddy, I don't want you to get sick. Let's ask mom to take you see another doctor." His daughter was in the verge of tears, and House knew that it was the perfect time to pull the trick out of his sleeve.
"Well, there is one way to help me get well fast."
"What is it Daddy?" Claire rose on her feet and sat beside her dad, looking up to him expectantly.
"I don't know if I could tell you, it's a doctor's secret."
"Tell me Daddy, tell me, pleaaaaase." Claire clutched onto her father arm, shaking it lightly. "I'm a Doctor, your doctor, remember?"
"Hmmm," House feigned to think, "Okay. Once a man has Helicobacter pylori infection, the only way to help him get well is by giving him a big hug."
Claire didn't miss a beat, once her daddy completed his sentence; she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
"Better?" She asked her dad curiously.
"No, not yet, a little tighter, please..." House hid his triumphant smirk by burying his head on his daughter's curls, inhaling the sweet scent of strawberry shampoo.
Of course Claire held him closer, "How about now?"
"Nu-uh, maybe if you ask your mom to hug me too, I'll get well very fast."
Claire was loosening her hug on him when suddenly a pair of arms hugged them both from behind the couch. The similar scent of strawberry with a faint addition of perfume invaded House's nostril.
"Well, there is your hug. How about now Daddy, feeling well?"
House looked up to find his wife smiled to them. "I will be a super healthy man if you could add French kiss to this bear hug." He teased.
A hearty laugh came out of his wife's mouth as she scooped their daughter up. "Come on Claire baby, dinner's ready. Don't let Daddy manipulate us any longer."
"Hey, I manipulated nobody. It has been scientifically proved that love and affection help cure diseases." He grabbed his cane and followed them to dining table.
"I don't think love and affection work for acute lunch-thief disease." His wife set Claire on her chair and helped their daughter with the spoon and fork.
"I don't have lunch-thief disease." House frowned and sat on his chair. "I probably was infected by Helicobacter pylori. Right Claire bear?"
"Yeah mommy, Daddy has Helicopter-pillow-us bacteria in his stomach. He was sick but now he is good because we hug him" Claire answered while scooped a forkful of spaghetti into her mouth, completely clueless about why both of her Mommy and Daddy was giggling madly.
=== The End ===
So, how did I do? Review is always greatly appreciated