First of all, a huge thanks to my awesome friend HappyDaysAreHereAgain. I have no idea how I'd be able to write all this without her help. This is the first chapter in any of my stories with anything remotely medical in it, so I hope I did okay on it. It was difficult, I must say. I'll be happy if the medical stuff makes even slight sense, but I did do my research. This one goes between many different character's points of view, mainly House, Wilson, Stacy, and Cameron leading the different parts.
Without skipping a beat, House masked his screaming instincts and heart as he'd always done. It was as easy as breathing to him.
"Congratulations," he said coolly, refusing to look at Stacy's expectant face and managing to shake her off and continue walking. He was nearly at the door, too, when Stacy recovered from her shock at his dull reaction and stepped in between him and his escape.
"That's it? No rejoicing? Nothing? Not even a sarcastic sneer?" She demanded, scrutinizing his face. He shifted and looked around the room, pressing his tongue against the top of his mouth and moving his jaw around as he often did out of habit. He knew what he was in for. He was headed into a deep, personal conversation; the kind of which he hated and was terrible at. On top of that, there was no way he'd ever live through one with Stacy, of all people.
Silence filled the air for a few painstakingly long minutes. Stacy fought hard to control her feelings. She felt like screaming, crying and laughing all at the same time. This had to be just a horrible mistake; just a really, really bad dream. She'd wake up in bed soon enough now that she'd learned her lesson. She'd tell Mark she was pregnant, and they'd celebrate and raise a family together. She'd just have to live without knowing if it was Mark's baby or not.
The seconds ticked on, and dread started forming in the pit of her stomach. This wasn't a dream. It was real, and her life as she'd known it was ending. House would never look at her the same again, and neither would Mark. In a flash, the two men she loved were stripped away from her.
"Oh, God," she whispered, a hand flying up to her throbbing head as she stumbled slightly. House's face immediately showed concern despite the cold look. He dropped his cane and reached out to steady her with both arms.
"You okay?" he said, managing to look into her eyes as he made sure her answer was truthful.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said as he settled her down into the chair, her legs going limp as she sat down.
"Thanks," She added as he straightened out. A few moments ago, their faces had been inches away, but now House refused to meet her gaze. Suddenly, his pager went off, and House retrieved his cane, grateful for the distraction.
"Like I said before, people dying." He turned to leave and took a few steps before pausing and looking back at her. "Stay here, I'll be back."
She nodded, and he disappeared out the door. Once outside his office and in the hall, House put a steadying hand on the glass, popping a Vicodin into his eager mouth and clearing his thoughts before he strode into the adjacent office where his team was waiting.
"So, who's dying and why?" He said, making his way over to the coffee. His steps seemed uncertain and he faltered slightly. With his back turned to them, the diagnosticians shared a look. There was something off about their boss.
"Uh, well," Cameron started, her gaze gradually turning down to her papers. "39 year-old woman presents with high fever, chills, productive cough and chest pain."
House frowned as he wrote this down on the whiteboard. He stepped back to admire his work, his face set in an intense, thoughtful expression.
"Bo-ring. Sounds like bacterial pneumonia to me." He said, turning back to his team.
"She's been vaccinated," Foreman spoke up.
"Vaccinations wear off, they don't assure complete immunity," Chase countered.
"She does have a history of a weak immune system," Cameron agreed, "She's had pneumonia before. Why are your blinds closed?" She asked House curiously.
"Somebody's in there." He shot back at her. "When was she vaccinated?"
"At birth and then again in her early teens." She said before adding, "Who?"
"Your mom." He said without skipping a beat. "What vaccines?"
"Pneumovax and Prevnar 13, why do you appear so shocked?" she pressed on, waiting for a reaction.
House stopped, giving Cameron a warning look as he stared her down. "Because she was really, really worth the money. Start the patient on amoxicillin and clarithromycin." The team nodded, filing out of the room to start treatment. When they were gone, House gave a look at his blind-enclosed office before limping off in the other direction.
Wilson walked briskly through the many halls of Princeton-Plainsboro, disbelief and slight annoyance probing at his thoughts with House's latest scheme. He formed how their conversation would go in his mind as he turned the corner and saw the familiar office.
"You-" He barged in before stopping dead, having spotted Stacy sitting in the chair. He blinked in confusion and Stacy offered a small smile of greeting.
"Dear God…" He trailed off in a whisper, backing out of the office and running down the hall.
Wilson finally found him in the cafeteria.
"Hey, Jimmy," House said, briefly glancing up at the oncologist. Wilson sat down, his face surprised and shocked. House nonchalantly continued talking. "Been expecting you."
Wilson leaned back in the chair, observing him, before leaning in closer and dropping his voice to a whisper. "Guess who I ran into in your office."
House took another bite, unperturbed. "Yeah, wasn't that last stripper's funbags giving Cuddy's a run for their money?"
Wilson stared at him, disbelieving that this had no effect on House. "Why is Stacy sitting in your office?" He demanded, his voice fast and urgent as he searched House's face. "Telling by your lack of sarcasm, something really bad just happened, something that will force you to change."
House met his gaze. "Do you remember why I told Stacy to go back to Mark in the first place? Because I couldn't change. That hasn't changed." His voice sounded pained. "Nothing's changed." With that, he got up to leave, pushing his way through the cafeteria and disappearing out the door. Wilson sighed, brushing his hands through his hair and rubbing his forehead with his palm. This couldn't be good. He could feel it.
Cameron handed the pills to the patient, smiling. "Just take these pills three times daily for a week and you should be fine. They're amoxicillin and clarithromycin; they're antibiotics."
Caroline, the patient, coughed. "What do you think I have?"
"We think it's bacterial pneumonia," Cameron said, checking everything was okay and running before taking her temperature. 104˚; still pretty high. With one final glance at the monitors, Cameron exited, chase and Foreman catching up with her outside.
"How's the patient?" Chase asked.
"Stable, just took the amoxicillin and clarithromycin."
"I still don't think it's pneumonia." Foreman added, frowning.
"Well, we'll see when she gets better or worse." Cameron said as the team started walking. "What do you think happened to House?" She asked.
"What do you mean?" Foreman, puzzled, wondered.
"Did you see him? Something shook him up pretty bad."
"Could be nothing, it's House were talking about." Chase argued as they turned the corner.
"He probably just got one too many cases of crotch rot in the clinic, or maybe some amazing breasts on a patient." Foreman shrugged as they stopped.
Cameron didn't relent. "I don't think so. Something really big must've happened. It takes a lot to catch House off guard like that."
"Sorry, but I don't really care." Foreman answered, walking away from them.
"Maybe Australia won the soccer game." Chase said jokingly, turning to a displeased Cameron. "I'm sure it'll blow over, things like this always do." He said softly, opening the door to the office and leaving Cameron alone in the hallway.
House popped a Vicodin into his mouth, the narcotic helping dull his feelings and emotions as usual. He had put off facing Stacy for as long as he could that day, but sooner or later he'd have to face her. He was half-heartedly hoping she'd leave. With a quick inhalation of air, he pushed on the cold glass door and entered his office.
Stacy hadn't moved from the chair, but she'd slide down as she had dozed off after awhile. His reaction kept playing over and over in her mind, glimpses of those startling blue irises haunting her. She stirred when he entered, pushing herself up in the chair and looking around blearily for a moment. Her eyes found him leaning on his desk, his gaze watching her. His expression was unreadable.
Silence swirled around them, but this time around it wasn't awkward. The tension had faded away, but it was still omniscient, like electricity pulsing through the air in the wake of a thunderstorm. A more sinister, dreadful foreboding feeling had settled like dust, as if storm clouds had appeared on the horizon and the wind had just started howling.
"Why'd you come back?" He said, his voice ominously quiet and deeper than usual. "To rub it in my face that you could love Mark and have a happy life with him, a life I could never give you? To make me suffer after leading you on and then leaving you?"
Stacy faced him, a strangely calm sensation overcoming her. Part of these words were true; he'd hurt her and she wanted to witness his pain and his suffering. It wasn't all the reasons she'd come, though. She'd sat down in his chair all day, contemplating why she'd come. She'd figured out that this baby had to mean something, that there had to be a reason she'd gone back to him. There was always a reason, and she needed to know it.
"I need to know, Greg. Maybe this baby was a blessing from God. The universe's way of showing me which path to take, which man to choose. A sign."
"That's irrational." House growled. "God doesn't exist, and even if he did, you don't need a sign to show you that Mark is the better choice. It might not even be your choice; I can send you away again, for your own good. I'm no good for you. And even if…" his voice faltered slightly, "that thing was from my creation, I don't want anything to do with it."
"I know," Stacy answered quietly, her eyes downcast. "I've always known that's what you'd say. It doesn't make a difference, I still need to know. I'm doing a prenatal paternity test. I need some blood." There. She'd said it.
Surprise flickered briefly over House's face as Stacy slowly shifted her gaze upwards to meet his.
"Please, I need to know."
House held her gaze for a moment, and in that moment, he was sucked in.
Cameron ran into the patient's room to find Chase and Foreman already present. Her pager had gone off momentarily, and she'd headed straight here.
"What's wrong?" She asked as bodies bustled around the room. A panicked voice rang above the noise.
"She started complaining of a metallic taste in her mouth," a strained man had answered her, fear flashing in his eyes. "I came to visit her before she'd eaten or anything! How can there be metal in her mouth?"
Gravely, Cameron shared a glance with Chase. His eyes mirrored her own, and she knew he was thinking the same thing. Foreman, meanwhile, was checking the patient's mouth. After a quick look inside he leaned forward, smelling her breath.
"She also has breath odor," He confirmed. "Her kidneys are failing."
Cameron looked at her two colleagues, her voice barely above a whisper.
"This isn't bacterial pneumonia. We have no idea what this is."
For some reason my chapters are doubling in length... I already have both chapter 3 and 4 ready to go but unfortunately I can't upload them. Sorry, but they'll hopefully be up in a few weeks or so!