Author Note:
Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long but school started and such, I am pulling grad level classes right now, didn't have much time for writing. I was thinking about this story a lot though, I expect maybe around chapter 7 or 8 this story will be done. Almost there then! Haha, thanks so much for the reviews all!
PS: I have a new poll up for what crossover I should start next, please vote!
Lindsey
Ancient Remedies
Chapter 4: Forth Symptom: Seizures
Kagome curled up on her bed, her sheets up to her shoulder while her legs were brought up and tucked under her. In her hand she held a small pink jewel, something she never thought she would see again. She closed her eyes and hid her face under the crisp white sheet.
Her face was turned away from the hallway, making it so no one could see her. A few days prier Souta arrived looking solemn. He handed her a small box and the opened letter that her mother had sent, which was previously read by her brother.
Once the box was opened her eyes had widened when she stared at the marble jewel that fell out onto her bed. With that she felt something had happened in the past.
Kikyo who had protected the jewel after they killed Naraku had died resulting in the jewel being protected by Inuyasha. It worked for a while, but eventually he had become corrupted just like any demon would. They decided since there weren't any demons in her time it would be safe with her.
She never wanted to be it's protector, how could she even be a protector of something when she couldn't even walk? It wasn't fair; she never asked for her life, she didn't want these things happening to her. She wanted it to be done after she left; it was no longer her responsibility.
It didn't make it any better that she had been feeling sick and exhausted for maybe the past week. She wasn't allowed to go anywhere, (not that she wanted to do anything). Her body felt sore, and her eyes burned from being tired. The nurses were also worried of her lack of appetite.
Maybe she was depressed at maybe being in control with one of the most dangerous items in the world, when she could barely take care of her own body. That could probably make someone a bit sick to their stomach. The other thing that made her sick was the slowly regeneration of her soul. Since Kikyo was indeed so far in the past, over the last week or so she could feel bits and pieces of her soul coming back to her. Truly it was making her exhausted.
Kagome brushed a thumb over the smooth round surface, still choosing not to look at the item. Nurses and doctors would see as she either held the jewel or wore it around her neck. They would ask about the unusual piece of 'jewelry' and compliment her. If only they knew.
If only they knew how many were killed over such an object.
How much bloodshed.
How much torment.
How many ruin lives.
All because of this simple piece of 'jewelry' that she held in her delicate hand. Kagome gasped and tightened her hold on the jewel when she felt another piece of her soul come back to her. Even though it was regenerating it was still painful and it drained her energy.
Souta knew what she was experiencing, and he tried his best to make her comfortable. Since no one at the hospital would believe that just about five hundred years ago a priestess who had half of her soul died and just now it was returning to her.
They would most likely send her to the upper level where the mentally ill were kept.
As the soul settled into her body Kagome gave a deep sigh and curled up further into a ball. Her body hurt and she would be happy when this was done. She opened her eyes and looked out to the light blue sky outside of her window, it was early in the morning yet. Breakfast would be soon but she just wasn't hungry.
Kagome continued to stare into the sky while she thought. It seemed one good thing about the last few weeks, was that House wasn't very intimated by Souta or Dr. Cuddy. He almost seemed to hang around her even more so than before. At least that was until she started feeling worse off.
He wouldn't come around as much as before for some reason. Kagome sighed as she still clasped the pink sphere in her hand doing the best she could at 'protecting' the small item.
Blue eyes peered at the new scans in front of him. Suddenly he flipped the light off making it so the scans were much darker and hard to see. He grabbed it and placed it in a large manila folder that was sitting on his desk.
That was his forth scan he had in the time that he knew Kagome.
House sat in his chair and grabbed the folder off his desk and placed it in one of the drawers. His office was dark and quiet, it was early and his team had yet to arrive that morning.
It made it the perfect time to think about his problem. He had decided to perform a few choice experiments to show Wilson he was not crazy, and that his original theory was correct when involving Kagome.
He had been avoiding her lately, and slowly his pain was returning. Thus making him use a lot more Vicodin then before. Though his behavior could still be disputed in Wilson's eyes, the scans of his leg certainly could not.
The first scan didn't look all that different, so Wilson automatically came up with the mental reasoning for his odd cure. He was positive something was there under his skin. He had done his own scan the next time around and the next one after that, then the latest one he had done last night.
He was so shocked to see that there was actually something there under his leg and skin.
Literally.
It was slight, maybe even less than a millimeter, but he checked so many times that he was positive that new muscle was growing in under the skin of his thigh. The first time he saw it he didn't believe that it could happen, but with the more scans and studying, he was certain that he was regaining his missing muscle. The latest scan showed that even staying away from her, the pain returned but the muscle never decreased.
The one thing he wasn't so certain about was how this all was happening; it bugged the hell out of him.
House's blue eyes glanced to the sound of laughing; obviously his team was feeling joyous this morning. Maybe he was feeling it too after the news of his leg, but he would hardly act like his immature fellows.
House dealt with his happiness in an entirely different manner. Early that morning he made a trip down to collect some medication, specifically Rifampicin, Clofazimine, and Dapsone. The three medications when combined created a multidrug therapy for Leprosy.
Now it was stashed in his room, and no one knew where it was but him. It was all part of his master plan for the day. Since Cuddy told him he had to stay in his office, he would bring his personal Vicodin to his environment.
It was the most brilliant plan, since she needed drugs, he had drugs, and thus she had to be by him to receive drugs. Then while she was there he received his own drug treatment for his leg. He always thought withholding medication from a woman was oh so romantic.
House let a half chuckle escape when he thought of the simple sentence. He couldn't see himself being romantic for a woman; even Stacy. She took him like he was and still she left him. Even his little minion Cameron tried to make him into a charity case.
House's eyes narrowed when concerning Cameron, maybe he had to take back that statement about him not being romantic. She had it in her mind that the corsage that he got her was romantic.
He was never conventional for sure, so maybe the corsage wasn't that romantic. It was conventional, something that normal men did for normal women on normal dates. He was not normal, and he didn't expect Kagome to be either. They were unconventional, unique, a delicacy to be sought out by others, either to be admired from far away or stared at and misunderstood by people up close and personal.
They really had much in common; from far away she looked happy, strong, and brave for dealing with her illness. Up close she could be seen as depressed and much more knowledgeable about the darkness of the world and the malice that everyone felt. He was one who understood that kind of feeling.
He was much like she was, people saw him as the brilliant doctor that he was far away, assuming he was conventional like all of those sympathetic doctors that roamed the hallways. The ones that really saw him; they saw him as a hell of an insane, and rather irritated man. He also saw the world for much dark and evil place. Everybody lies.
"Hey you ready?" a voice asked him.
House looked to see Chase had opened the door to his office, probably was voted by the others to retrieve him.
"No" he simply spoke standing up from his chair and placing his hands on his desk.
Chase looked confused for a moment; "I thought we had a case though…" he trailed off watching his boss.
House smirked at his minion. "True" he stated looking down at his desk, where there were files about some patient. It was so simple he had noticed exactly what the problem was. "You start on this" House spoke picking up the files and taking his cane, he continued to walk to the exit of his office, tossing the files towards Chase who had barely caught it. "I want at least twenty answers by the time I get back" he mumbled walking towards his glass door and pushing his way though it to get to the hallway.
He knocked on her glass door before sliding it open. House tilted his head at the lump on the bed. "Up an' at'em princess" House spoke loudly as he stood near the doorway leaning on his cane.
She didn't turn around, but only murmured something in response to what he had said.
Curious to what she had said he limped over to her wheelchair and sat in it carelessly. His cane was placed across his lap while he rolled over to the other side of her bed. "Shouldn't mumble, it isn't a nice thing to do to visitors," he teased referring to her murmur.
Kagome's bright blue eyes looked back at him, studying him while he was in her chair. "That color doesn't work for you" she smiled slightly at the end. Her eyes shined with entertainment.
Using his mad skills he tilted back in the pink and black wheelchair, balancing on the two larger wheels. "I'm not so sure" he said keeping the chair balanced for a few moments before the front wheels came back down making a large thump sound. "I could so get used to this," he mumbled moving the chair forward slightly.
With that statement Kagome frowned. She knew he was only joking, but somehow it hit her how much people took walking for granted. "Let me see your cane" she said slipping a hand out from her covers so he could hand it to her.
"Don't mess it up, I like that one" he coolly spoke grabbing onto his cane and handing her it.
Kagome smiled when she had the cane in her grasp, gently and slowly she sat up in bed so she could see the object better. From the way she knew House he probably never let many people do what she had. The fames at the bottom made her laugh internally. Her small hand grabbed into the top of it, almost as though she would try it out, but she knew she would never be able to try it for real.
"You're right" House's deep voice spoke up from her bedside. "Pink is so not my color" he said reaching out a hand for his cane, which she had returned to him. With that the gruff doctor stood from the chair and stared down to her. "So get on it and come on," he said to her.
Kagome, who had been enjoying the moment, frowned. "Some other time" she stated watching House, not at all influenced by his intimidating look.
"I hate to do this…" he drawled out while slipping closer to her bed and sitting on the side. "Either you come with me, or you die" there was a hint of a smirk on his lips sarcasm lingering in his voice, his head tipped to the side as though he was being thoughtful. "I have your drugs, stole them all this morning" House explained, his mouth snapping shut at the end of the sentence, almost thinking of what he is going to say next.
Kagome's eyes widened when she noticed what he was doing to her, he was blackmailing her with her medication. "House" she spoke his name softly, making him look at her with interest. "Can we do this tomorrow I don't feel too well today" she stated, trying to not be dragged out of bed. This was one of the worst days she had felt so far.
His bright blue eyes watched her for a moment, almost trying to see what was wrong with her. "Few hours then" he stated compromising with her, she did look much paler than she had been, and the dark circles under her eyes showed that she wasn't getting much sleep. Damn it though, he wanted her up in his office, doing whatever she had been doing. She was like his own personal drug, one that did more than simply reduce the pain, it was curing him.
"I have to stay in my office today, so you're tagging along" he stated pushing her wheelchair closer to her. "Though I have a pretty good idea on how blackmailing works" his voice became only slightly light, as though he was enjoying this "I do know the person being blackmailed will eventually fold".
She frowned listening to him as he spoke.
"Here is how it goes, you beg, I threaten, you fold, we go to my office, we get to work on curing a guy that is already cured though my team doesn't know it yet…" House trailed off thinking of his fellows upstairs; with the time Kagome is making him spend they'd better have at least fifty diseases listed. "Then everyone is happy, you get your meds and the happy little pathetic world keeps spinning as though nothing happened".
Kagome frowned at him but only nodded at his persistent begging. "The nurses aren't going to let me leave," she said moving over to her chair, using her energy to carefully position herself in her chair. She knew if House had successfully taken her medication that he could just as easily escape with her, and no one would know.
"That's the difference between nurses and doctors," House spoke up, feeling much more proud of himself for his accomplishment. "They're able to be bought off" he paused, his eyes narrowing in thought for a moment "though with the right price I can be bought off as well…" he trailed off as Kagome looked at him oddly. "Ah oh well, I'm much better anyway, smarter" he stated "went to school longer, automatically it makes me better".
She touched the jewel on her neck, only ever so slightly before she grabbed her gloves so she could wheel herself.
House saw what she was about to do "To bad" he stated leaning over her shoulder and plucking the gloves from her hand. "You get a special job" he finished before throwing her matching gloves on her bed.
Kagome whipped her head to look at him behind her chair, her long tresses flipped over her shoulder as she looked up at the unusual doctor. "What kind of job?" she asked him, unsure that she even wanted to know.
A bright yet sneaky smile instantly was plastered on his face, "You get to hold my large cane" his voice grew deep as he lifted his hand along with his cane, and slightly let go so his hand moved further down the shaft of the cane so she could grip the top of it. "I only let special women do this job," he said once she grabbed onto it and placed it in her lap.
Kagome almost laughed at the very dirty sentence that he had said. "I'll be gentle," she said as he pulled her back while she was in the wheelchair. Once they were going the right way he pushed her in the wheelchair, toward the glass door.
"That could sound bad if it was directed towards anyone but me" House remarked from behind her as she slid the door open so they could go into the hallway. Obviously he was trying to portray himself other than the perverted guy that he was.
Kagome only giggled at the sentence as they passed a few of the nurses who openly stared at the two. She gave a small smile towards those who looked, House on the other hand frowned at anyone.
He gently pushed Kagome to the elevators so they could go to his office. The two were silent as House walked toward the office when the doors to the elevator opened; he caught a glance of his team in their space while he passed the glass. Kagome also looked with interest not being able to really meet his team.
"What are they doing?" Kagome asked quietly before House stopped in front of his door, she pushed it open so he could roll her into his dimly lit office. The blinds were closed in his personal space, so she no longer could see House's team.
He pushed her up to his desk, he then decided to walk behind it and sit down. "They're supposed to be working," he said reaching into his jeans pocket to pull out a shining key. House leaned down and started to unlock a drawer attached to his desk. "Said they needed at least twenty diseases that a patient may have just from a list of symptoms" his answer was brief as the key clicked into place resulting in the drawer sliding open.
"Looked like they had a lot" Kagome said watching as he pulled out a plastic bag full of medication and plop it onto his desk.
House nodded and opened the bag to get out the correct bottles for Kagome. He set them up in a row and once he got all the ones she needed he closed the bag again and slipped it back into the drawer and locked it once more. "For them to be up to par with me they need a lot more" he stated opening each bottle and getting the correct amount of medication out for her.
Kagome watched as House's hands quickly got the correct milligrams, she didn't know that he knew exactly how much medication she took. She should have expected that he would know though. "You work them hard then?" Kagome asked as House opened the last bottle and tap out the correct amount of pills.
He let a rather egotistical smirk grace his face while he closed the bottle of pills "That's an understatement" he replied closing the lid of the last bottle. House scooped up the pills he had sorted for her and poured them into her open and awaiting hand "Only got cold coffee to take it with" he stated pushing his mug forward so she could take a drink to get her pills down.
Kagome picked out a few pills from her left hand, quickly placing them in her mouth so she could reach for his coffee. Once taking a small sip she tilted her head back to get the few pills down.
House watched as she drank from his mug and quickly made her way with the rest of the pills she needed to take. He got some humor out of her needing to take a drink to get the medication down, if she hadn't he would have thought she was his female version. Guess most couldn't be as talented as he was and dry swallow their pills.
"Thanks" Kagome said taking a last drink of his coffee before pushing it back towards him. She had no clue why she should be thanking him though, he had technically kidnapped and blackmailed her, and here she was thanking him.
House looked at her for a moment, studying her almost. It was rather unnerving to be watched by his blue eyes. Kagome tilted her head and changed her view from his face, not being able to watch as he watched her. Her eyes caught a television in his office though "Did you get it back?" she questioned looking at the device.
House didn't speak for a moment, "No" he stated in a crisp voice "though I suspect I will get mine returned once Cuddy finds out I broke into her home and stole hers" he said turning away from looking at the Asian woman to the television. "Since you now know you may have to face the consequences since you are now my accomplice" House stated leaning back in his chair giving him a sense of ease.
Kagome smiled and gave him a light roll of her eyes "I was kidnapped, I can't be considered an accomplice" she stated smugly.
It looked like House was going to state something but he was cut off when his door opened and Cameron walked in. He brought his hands up to his desk and leaned his elbows on the surface "Can't you see we're busy?" his voice sounded annoyed but he allowed Cameron to enter his office.
Kagome looked to the brown haired doctor; she was quite pretty.
"We've been waiting" Cameron spoke looking at House for a moment, then turned to Kagome and gave a small look of confusion as to why she was there with House.
The brilliant doctor watched Cameron for a moment "Differential in here, grab the two goons" he curtly spoke. Cameron nodded sharply and poked her head to tell the other two doctors to enter the room.
Kagome got to see the other men as they entered the room, immediately they looked at her for a moment. "Who's she?" the blond male asked referring to her. She got to see House's team around the hospital, she also figured House wouldn't say much about her to his team.
Foreman spoke up to Chase "Wilson said she was a patient down on the second floor" he spoke, ignoring the confused look from Kagome.
"Do they always speak about people as if they aren't in the room?" Kagome joked looking at House's amused face. She wasn't at all insulted by the younger doctors, but more amused than anything.
He only gave a quick nod "Tried to train them, but it seems they are too stupid to learn manners" he gave his insulting remark. "Now my children tell papa what you've learned today," he stated looking at the three doctors and waiting for them to tell him the results.
"The guy seems like he has anything from cancer to a cold, where'd you find this guy?" Chase said looking down to the file about their new patient.
House only shrugged "In the dumpster down the road. Thought he looked fun so I brought him home with me" he supplied the answer. "Now so I can continue with my meeting with Ms. Higurashi here" he said motioning to the petite girl across from him "can you get on with treatments?"
"Treatments?" Cameron asked suddenly "we don't even know what this guy has".
House sighed at his team, obviously showing his disappointment in them "You mean to tell me that after all of this time we still have no treatment?" he calmly spoke. Though with how long the three doctors had known House that him being calm was never a good thing.
"It would help to be able to actually meet the guy," Foreman spoke up after looking though the file once more.
Kagome looked to the three doctors. She didn't know much about their new patient, but from how they spoke of him they had a hard time deciding what was wrong with this man. Her blue eyes looked to House, where he studied his team with a watchful eye, instantly she noticed the small spark of amusement dance across his eyes.
"Whoever finds out what 'sick-guy' has" House started to speak, ignoring the man's name and opted to come up with a nickname for him "only by looking at him, no touching" he supplied the rule for his game "I will do their clinic hours and mine for the next week, no strings attached".
Instantly his team glanced to him, curious as to why he would wager such a large amount on a game "You get the next six hours, and the prize is for the first person to guess correctly" he stated offhandedly.
Instantly Kagome was curious about the new game that House had come up with. It almost wanted her to know the answer that he had obviously come up with long ago.
"Go on my minions!" He stated enthusiastically "fight to the death to save this man" with that comment House paused for a moment. "Seems a bit of an oxymoron doesn't it?" he asked himself shooing his fellows away "now don't come back unless you have an answer, my patient died, or you would rather bribe me with something to win" the doctor listed off as he watched his annoyed fellows leave.
They would have a competition to entertain themselves for a few hours, and with the time he put into this man he knew the younger doctors would have a tough time cracking the patient.
Finally he was along with Kagome though, "Like I said," he murmured glancing to the woman for only a moment "they have no manners" he concluded.
Kagome was enthralled while House did his job, she only saw him be lazy and watch television in her room. She never got to see him being a boss and it was entertaining to do so "You already cured the man?" Kagome asked once his fellows exited the office.
"You play chess?" House spoke up suddenly, his voice changing back from his rich, sarcastic, and smug voice to a more curious tone.
Kagome's eyebrows knitted together and she tilted her head in curiosity. "No I haven't" she supplied him an answer.
House only nodded and reached down with one hand to pull out his old chess set, instantly he placed the object on his desk. Opening the box he placed the chess table away from the rest of the set, then he got to work on placing the pieces in their correct places. "The patient isn't sick," he stated setting up her side first. First placing the queen and king, then making quick work with the rook, knight, then the rest of the pieces.
"Won't they know that then?" She asked watching as he placed all the chess pieces in the right square blocks. Kagome didn't know why he was setting up the game, she didn't know how to play at all.
That smile that House usually supplied when he knew something slipped out as he finished setting up. "Found myself a Hypochondriac the other day" he spoke once the chessboard was finished. At Kagome's sheepish look he understood he would have to explain the terminology to her.
"A Hypochondriac is someone who thinks they're sick but not really sick" his droll voice made out quickly, simplifying the definition for her. "Thought he was fun so we had a long chat about illness' that he may have, also might have injected him with a few things to make it believable" House commented while he shrugged his shoulders offhandedly.
Kagome watched him for a moment "That doesn't seem ethical" she reasoned.
He let a sickening laugh escape "I'm nothing but ethical, just most don't see it that way" came his reply. "I suggest we teach you chess, it seems like once you learn you may rival Wilson" House half complimented.
She listened while he explained the rules and moves of the game, first she has a difficult time understanding soon though she started to pick up the game while they played. Sure she was a quick learner, even being able to capture a few of House's pieces, but she was no match for his skill and knowledge of the game.
"When do you think they will figure it out that he isn't sick?" Kagome asked roughly three games of chess later.
House reached out to take her knight which he had captured "Few hours at most" his voice was short, obviously not wanting to talk about his fellows at the moment. He had no clue why but he was enjoying her company.
Kagome smiled at his attitude, "I hope we won't play chess the entire time" she stated while moving one of her pieces. "I don't like losing the whole time" she said bringing her hand back and waiting for House to move.
"Rule number one for my office" he stated looking down to the chessboard "is that I always win" he stated moving a piece to take her queen.
House glanced up to see the woman in front of him, but he paused in taking her queen.
It seemed as though the girl who had Leprosy didn't just have that, on account on her shifting eyes and small motor movement in her fingers.
House placed his bishop back in its original spot. He pushed on his desk so he could get up from his chair and limp over to Kagome's wheelchair.
His jaw was set hard as he watched her zone out, her body hardly moved but with the rapid eye movement and the jerking finger movements. Her face also was set in an unemotional gaze. He instantly picked up on the new symptom, something was seriously wrong with Kagome.
He watched a few more seconds until she came out of the trance, her eyes blinked for a second and her eyes widened when she didn't see House in the chair in front of her.
"I think you should head back to your room now" came his calm reply, instantly Kagome's gaze snapped to House who was standing much closer to her than he had been a few seconds before.
"Why?" she questioned him, obviously confused why she had to leave, weren't they getting along so well before?
He pulled her back and twisted her chair around so he could look at her eyes for a moment to make sure she was indeed all right "You had an absence seizure just now".