Chapter 3
Author's Note: Oof, sorry this update took a little while. You know, going back to school and all that. Anyway, thank you for reviewing! I love that fuzzy warm feeling of waking up to an inbox full of review notifications. Heheh. So here's chapter 3… the plot thickens!
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Cuddy waited until she was surely out of Doctor House's line of sight before she allowed herself to sigh heavily. Her shoulder sagged as she ran a slightly quivering hand through her hair, clenching her eyes tightly shut.
Upon opening her eyes, she found herself inches away from Doctor Cameron. Unable to stop herself in time, she smacked into Cameron's shoulder with a hearty thud.
"I'm so sorry Doctor Cameron," Cuddy said as she stumbled back, the color rising in her cheeks with embarrassment.
Perhaps it was just the lack of color that her once-brown hair supplied, but Cameron appeared particularly pale as she blinked with surprise.
"Oh. No—it's fine," she stammered.
Cuddy smiled tentatively. "So what brings you to the clinic?"
Cameron blinked again, her mouth slightly open.
"What? Oh. Just… just checking things out," she said with a nervous smile.
Cuddy smiled back curiously.
"Alright, well… just make sure you don't neglect your duties in the ER," she said. "I need to see some patients, but I'm sure I'll see you again later."
Cameron nodded weakly. "Yeah. Okay. Well— see you then."
Cuddy smiled again and nodded back, cast her one more slightly curious look, then walked off towards the nurse's station. Cameron watched her as she picked up a file from atop a rather tall pile then disappeared into Exam Room Two.
Cameron's breath sounded ragged as she exhaled the breath she had been unconsciously holding since running into the administrator. She glanced around the bustling room uncertainly.
"What are you doing?"
She jumped. A hand was suddenly gripping her shoulder too tightly for comfort. She swiveled her head around to see Chase standing beside her, his expression disapproving. The muscles in his jaw twitched as one of her hands instinctively jumped to her shoulder, attempting to pry his fingers away.
"I'm just standing," she said, then her voice grew louder; "what the hell are you doing?"
Her raised voice seemed to bring him back to his senses. His eyes widened, and she felt his fingers unclench around her shoulder. His hand fell limply down to his side, and she massaged her aching shoulder with slightly jumpy fingers.
"Sorry," he muttered.
"I was just checking things out. I spent a lot of time here over the past three years, I wanted to check in," she said, blushing slightly.
Chase nodded slowly, but his expression was still dubious.
"After our conversation last night I'm just surprised you would decide to—"
"To what?" she snapped, her voice rising angrily. The color blooming on her cheeks turned a deeper red as she clenched her fists, stretching up to her full height. "To live my own life? Think for myself? You can't control me, Chase! I'll do what I want to and if I want to stand in the clinic then I'll stand in the clinic!"
The people around them hurried away with disapproving looks—a nurse rolled her eyes and disappeared into an exam room. Chase gaped at her with wide eyes, astounded.
"I don't want to control you, I just thought you would make a little more effort not to seem—"
"What, like I care? I care, Robert! I care about this place! These people!"
"I care too," he said in a low voice, his expression tight. "Allison please, you're making a scene. I'm sorry, alright?
She looked torn between shouting and crying. She jerked her head in what could have been a nod or a shake, then hugged her arms across her chest and strode away.
Chase stared around at the stunned nurses and patients. Someone in the waiting room was laughing; the high pitched sound contrasted sharply with what was otherwise complete silence. For a moment the doctor's mouth hung open in the direction that Cameron had disappeared to—then, slowly, he turned around and walked jerkily away.
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"How are you feeling, Alex?"
Hadley blushed; the words had come out nervous and meek sounding. She gripped her clipboard tightly, hanging cautiously in the doorway that lead into the dimly lit hospital room. One of her feet twitched involuntarily backwards as Alex raised his eyes to stare at her.
"How are you feeling Alex?" he repeated.
"That's what I asked you," she said blankly.
"I don't knowwwww," he whined, wagging his head back and forth; his glittering eyes never left Hadley's face. "How am I feeling, Alex?"
"My name is Doctor Hadley," she supplied, taking a few jerky steps into the room. "I need to know if you're feeling any better."
"No," he sneered. "No sirree Bob, nooooooooooo."
"You're still throwing up?" Hadley probed. "How's your vision? Can you see me alright?"
Alex smirked. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
Hadley raised her eyebrows; both his hands remained tucked firmly beneath the blankets.
"A billion," he announced loudly. He smiled so widely that the expression seemed to lose any sort of positive feelings; the sneer seemed much too big for his face, distorting his features. "I'm holding up a billion fingers. A fillion. A triiiiiiiiiiiillion. A trillion fingers and a trillion everythings."
"That's double vision," Hadley said, scribbling a note on her clipboard.
"It's trillion vision," Alex replied confidently.
"Right," she muttered. "Well, we'll start you on some new medication very soon."
"Medication?" Alex moaned. "I hate medication. It's the stuff they use to make us crazy over there at the loony bin. You might not believe it but without those crazy pills I'm really quite sane. Sane in the membrane!"
Hadley lowered her eyes and turned sharply towards the door. Alex's lips parted in a sneer.
"Stop acting so scared the time Alex," he said, wrinkling his nose.
A foot away from the door, Hadley froze.
"I'm not scary," Alex said. "Insane as can be, flat-out crazy, but you shouldn't be that scared. Whoo-wee, you are scared."
Hadley sucked her cheeks in until she looked almost comically fish-like. "I'm not scared," she muttered. "You shouldn't be either."
Then she walked out the door as quickly as she could. Barely audible above the bustling noise of the hallway, she muttered;
"Shit. Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit shit—"
"Excuse me doctor."
She jumped. Her auburn hair flipped across her shoulders as she jerked her head towards the owner of the stern voice with which she had been addressed. Her eyes fell upon a woman with a face to match her voice—black hair pulled back in a severe bun, her eyebrows standing out prominently against her pale skin; the woman was clearly a relative. She looked not unlike she had swallowed a lemon.
"Yes?" Hadley said, the word coming out slightly slurred in her surprise.
"I'm Cheryl Avogadro," the woman said. Hadley fought to keep her expression neutral; the woman clearly had no idea how comical her appearance seemed, her eyeballs bulging in what was clearly supposed to be a serious face. It wasn't helped by her voice, which was loud and sharp enough to almost be considered shouting.
"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Doctor Hadley, one of Alex's doctors."
Hadley stuck out her hand, and the woman gripped it tightly, giving it one sharp shake up and down before letting it go.
"I apologize for any trouble my son has been giving you," Mrs. Avogadro barked. She didn't look very contrite, but Hadley managed to compose her face into an expression of compassion.
"His condition is one that we're used to seeing," Hadley said with a smile. "Your son is in good hands."
"So what's wrong with him?" Mrs. Avogadro asked, narrowing her eyes at the glass door which led into her son's room.
"We… are still testing him at the moment," Hadley admitted.
Mrs. Avogadro made a noise that sounded like a combination of disapproval and amusement; "Well, I'll let you get on with that then."
Hadley smiled encouragingly, made an inarticulate noise of agreement, and walked away as quickly as her heels would carry her.
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"It's not working."
Hadley's voice sounded rather strained, and her skin looked slightly more pale than it always did, but House merely groaned and turned to glare at the whiteboard.
"What next?" he said, his back still to his team.
"Maybe the vomiting and vision stuff are due to a migraine," Kutner said from the table, massaging his own head as he spoke.
"Why would he have a migrane?" Taub asked, looking across at him with a dubious expression.
"Emotional stress," Kutner said simply. "He's in a new environment, and we already know it doesn't take much to send him over the rainbow."
"So the migraine would explain the vomiting and double vision and leave us with paralysis and possible psychosis," Taub concluded, looking rather impressed.
House had turned around and was now facing Hadley, raising his eyebrows expectantly.
"Sounds fine," she said softly, jerking her shoulders in a quick shrug. House narrowed his eyes at her before turning to face the other two.
"The migraine is sweet, but we're missing something."
Kutner wrinkled his nose. "What?"
House wrinkled his nose back. "The guy's a nut; I'm sure he has all kinds of symptoms he hasn't told us about."
Kutner and Taub's confused expressions relaxed at House's reasoning. Hadley, however, pulled her crossed arms tighter across her middle, still lingering by the doorway.
"I'll talk to him," House said suddenly.
"Pardon?" said Taub. "I thought you hated talking to patients."
"Details," House said with a wave of his hand. "But first… I want to talk to you."
He pointed both of his index fingers at Hadley, cocking an eyebrow mysteriously. Hadley's face remained firmly unmoving, but Taub and Kutner raised their eyebrows at each other and rose in silence. They exited quickly, and House's eyes followed them through the glass walls of the office until they had disappeared down the hall.
"So," he said.
"What?" Hadley asked. Her innocently wide eyes glittered.
House smirked. "You've been weird lately."
"No I haven't," she snapped quickly. An eyebrow twitched in annoyance, but the rest of her face remained guarded.
"Don't even try to play that with me," House said, narrowing his eyes and shaking his head. "You have issues with this patient. Spill."
"He's insane, what's so wrong with being a little uneasy?" she snapped again. Though the defiance in her voice didn't waver, Hadley lowered her gaze to glance around at the floor. House's lips curled into a satisfied smile.
"You're hiding something."
Hadley was silent, staring at a fleck of mud on the carpet. She nudged it with the toe of her shoe.
House raised his eyebrows. "Your mother died of Huntington's."
No response.
"Huntington's often presents with psychosis in its final stages."
No response.
"I think he reminds you of her," he concluded quietly, his voice one of subdued triumph.
Hadley jerked her head up. Her eyes were red, the rims puffy and wet; a tear slid down her face to cling to her jaw.
"You're a real jerk sometimes," she said hoarsely.
Before House could respond, the door was swinging shut behind her.