"Sir, I need you to take a seat please. I can't examine you unless you're sitting on the exam table." Dr. Chase found it difficult to control his frustration with the elderly man who couldn't stop pacing around the room long enough to be examined.

"But my toe's killing me!" the man protested.

"And if you sit down it will hurt less!" the Australian doctor tried to explain without losing his temper.

"Son, you don't seem to understand what I'm saying. I ain't got no way to get up on that exam table with this broken toe!" the man waved his hands about, wondering why this foreign idiot was being permitted to treat him.

Chase shook his head and ushered the man over to a chair, where he proceeded to examine the toe, which looked like it had seen better days. "How exactly did you hurt your toe?"

"I ain't never heard so many stupid questions in my life! How's it look like I hurt it?" the man demanded.

"Sir, I'm required to ask these questions before I treat you. The quicker you answer them, the easier it will be for me to get you treated and out the door." Chase said, feeling his face flush from anger.

"I want a different doctor! You ain't got no cares for me and my toe." The man said as he relaxed back into the chair.

"Sir, the other doctors will have to ask the same questions." He said, rolling his eyes at the man. The old man ignored the comments and Chase threw his hands up in defeat, "Fine, I'll find a doctor more suited to your needs!"

As he walked outside, he narrowly avoided knocking over a clearly frazzled Cameron. "Cameron, patient in 3 for you."

"Chase, I just finished with 6 patients, can't you take the one in 3?" she asked, hoping that as it was Tuesday a request might carry favor with him. "I've got to take a break at some point!"

"Come on Cameron, he's a sweet old guy, you'll just love him," Chase lied, "Or, do you want to take a break with me in the janitor's closet? It is Tuesday."

"Give me the chart." She sighed as she walked towards the door. "You owe me."

"He's getting worse. He's snapping at someone every day, and it's not right. It creates a hostile work environment and I'm sick of it!" Foreman whined.

"You didn't seem to have a problem with him 2 months ago." Cuddy said from behind her desk, not bothering to shift her position in the least. "Then again, 2 months ago Chase and Cameron were taking the brunt of it."

"You think this is because I can't deal with him?" Foreman demanded, trying not to raise his voice too much with his boss.

"Dr. Foreman, you've been working with House for long enough to know how he operates. If you are no longer able to work with him that's one thing; but expecting me to step in and try to change him on your behalf is quite another." Cuddy said coldly. Had his concern included more than the regular tattling that might occur with a couple of teenagers who are accusing parents of unfavorable treatment, she might have done more.

"Is it because…" he started.

"Don't even go there. You can take the rest of the day to think about what you have and were about to say Dr. Foreman." Cuddy narrowed her eyes as she tried to retain her cool façade.

"I don't need the rest of the day." Foreman shot back.

"I'm sorry, did you get the impression that was a request? Take the rest of the day off, and don't come back until you have considered the consequences of what you're suggesting."

"Fine." He spat. As he walked out the door he paused briefly, looking over his shoulder at the Dean of Medicine who had returned to the mound of paperwork that sat on her desk. "Whatever."