"Interesting? You just tried to kill yourself!"
"No, I didn't."
"Oh, that's right. You weren't trying to kill yourself, you were trying to kill the wall."
"I only needed to nearly kill myself."
"I'm sure I'm going to regret asking, but why did you need to nearly kill yourself?"
House smiled, his eyes closed. "I just wanted to see who would be here when I woke up."
Chase was silent.
"To my surprise, I found you here."
Chase remained silent.
"So I've been out for, what… two days?"
"I'm impressed," Chase said. "You even kept track of the days while you were unconscious."
"Your hair looks different." House observed.
The blonde man touched his hair lightly with his fingers.
"It's greasy. Your hair is never greasy. Which means you haven't showered in some time. Which means you haven't gone home, because otherwise, your hair would be clean and shiny, seeing as how anal you are about hair hygiene. So, either you've suddenly lost the need to keep your hair flawless, or you haven't left my room since I was admitted."
Chase sighed, "That was so much more impressive before you explained it."
"It meant nothing before I explained it. Before I explained it, it was just a theory," House reasoned.
Silence overwhelmed the room for a few long moments. Chase sat down on the side of the bed beside House, sliding his hand off of House's shoulder to rest more cautiously on the older man's arm. When House made no immediate effort to remove Chase's hand, the blonde figured he was okay with it, and left his hand there.
House, staring intently at the blonde, asked, "So… are you going to tell me why you decided I was more important than your hair?"
"Because… I'm a human being. Only God knows why, but I was scared when I heard what you had done. I didn't know if you would survive." He took a long breath and turned to look House in the eye. "It's human nature to worry about a… friend. Or… boss… Or whatever…" Chase flushed slightly and looked away.
House remained silent for a beat, before settling back into his pillows and smirking. He had finally gotten his answer. His project was a complete success.
A/N: Everyone was asking me to continue the story… so I did! It's short. This will probably be it though, unless you guys have any ideas about a direction this story could go in. If you do, let me know in a review, and I'll consider it. Thanks for reading!
