a/n: I'm coming off of nine straight days of intense writer's block. I finally had inspiration to write this afternoon. I hope this works for everyone!
"Good morning, I'm Dr. Cameron. What seems to be the problem?"
A large, well built, yet very unhinged young man sat on the table in exam room three in the clinic. His body posture told the story of his discomfort as his legs constantly tapped against the table unable to stay still and the tremors dominating his hands and shoulders were somewhat unsettling for even a trained doctor. "I'm not feeling good," he muttered.
"Care to be more specific?" Cameron asked as she put her stethoscope up to her ears and started listening to the erratic heartbeat.
"I feel like hell. I need something to make me feel better." His voice was terse and demanding, echoing both and anxious mind and spirit that could potentially bring trouble. Whatever the slight warning signs though, Cameron continued on.
"Are you going through some type of withdrawal?" She knew the signs of heroin withdrawal. Those cases were somewhat common in the clinic. She also knew there wasn't much she could offer to make him feel much better.
The man rose up abruptly, easily towering over her. "No more questions, get me something now!"
Chase and Foreman were standing in the clinic hallway and heard the loud words coming from the exam room. "Who's in there?" Chase asked Brenda.
"Dr. Cameron and a patient." Just as she finished her answer, a large crash came from the room, followed by a yell. "Let go of me!" screamed the female voice. Foreman led the charge into the room. "Call security." Chase told Brenda while following Foreman's lead.
They opened the door to find the rather large man holding Cameron's wrist in a tight grip that she couldn't wrestle from. He flung around when he heard the door open and pulled Cameron closer. "Come on, I dare you. You know I can snap her like a twig."
"We don't want any trouble," Foreman told him. "Let her go and we can get you what you want."
"Like hell you will." His attention turned to Chase. "You, the pretty one, tell them out there everything is okay, then shut the door. You two are staying here for a while."
"It's all under control here." Chase shouted out to the lobby and then closed the door behind him. The deranged patient pointed across the room. "Okay, both of you over there so you don't cause any trouble." Chase and Foreman carefully moved over to the opposite corner as instructed, farthest away from the door.
"What do you think is going to happen here?" Foreman asked.
"I'm getting morphine, and then I'm getting out of here. I don't let the lady doctor go until I'm well clear of the hospital."
"You know we can't allow that." Foreman replied with tough defiance.
He gripped Cameron tighter, this time grabbing her by the neck. "Then things aren't looking too good for her."
Cameron didn't dare move, looking pale and white, wondering what he would do to her if he took her with him. Her eyes pleaded desperately for Chase and Foreman to save her.
"The morphine is locked up and you know it." Chase told him.
"Yes, that's why the dark one over there is going to get me all your vials and I'll be on my way. Any type of tip off won't be pretty for her." Chase and Foreman watched in horror as he grabbed Cameron's throat to the point of choking her. They knew a sudden move could result in him breaking her neck, so they had to hold back. After several seconds, he let go leaving her gasping for breath. His other hand still tightly clenched her wrist to the point where her hand was turning slightly blue. The twisted look on the man's face indicated he was enjoying each second of the torture he inflicted too immensely.
"Now go and no sudden moves." He ordered. Foreman slowly made his way to the door, inflicting the evil eye all along the way. The man wickedly smiled and grabbed Cameron's throat harder. Foreman slipped out without commotion and silently clicked the door shut.
The man's attention again turned to Chase, although his new interest in the blond doctor became somewhat disturbing. "I never thought he would leave us alone. You know, I actually think you are prettier. You are more my type. I might take you both." Chase glared back at him with defiant disgust.
Chase's contempt actually egged the guy on. "I like it when they struggle," he said as he let go of Cameron's throat while still tightly holding onto her wrist. She winced in pain indicating that by now his grip had caused injury. He pulled Cameron along and worked his way in Chase's direction. As he got somewhat close he moved his freehand outward and pushed it in the direction of Chase's throat.
Chase reacted with complete instinct and threw up a block that batted his hand away. A split second later he delivered a side kick directly to the man's shoulder. The blow staggered the man backward a few steps and stunned him enough to loosen Cameron's grip. She pulled free just as the man lunged forward in a violent rage toward Chase. Chase spun around with perfect balance and delivered the next kick to the man's head. He fell to the ground.
A stunned Foreman stood in the open doorway as Cameron ran to him in solace. He came in just in time to see Chase deliver the split second incapacitating blows. Chase frantically dropped to the floor to examine the man's condition. "Get us some help," he instructed Foreman. "We need to get him to the ER. I think I gave him a concussion."
Foreman nodded and went for help. Cameron was still too shaken and couldn't move from her spot. She watched Chase examine the man further and tried to comprehend why there was a guilty look on his face. "Are you okay?" Chase asked her after he noticed her stunned demeanor.
"He hurt my wrist, other than that I'm fine. Where did you...?" She was interrupted by a medical response team, security, and Cuddy.
Within minutes the team loaded the man onto the gurney and Chase tried to follow them to the ER. "No," Cuddy said stopping him, "they have it under control. I'll check out Cameron right here while you three tell me what happened."
Chase reluctantly nodded and humbly worked his way over to a quiet corner of the room. This was going to take some explaining.
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"Tell them I'm dead. It's really not that far from the truth."
House was informed that two of his doctors were there to see him, so he needed to get to the visitor's lounge. He was less than pleased since he was engrossed in a reality show where a woman had to pick a man to be with a la the bachelor, but the twist is the man could turn out to be gay or straight. It was up to her to tell the difference. House had already figured out all the men left were gay and was eager to see her humiliated reaction.
The lounge area was strangely empty except for House and the goon that was supposed to watch him. Sure the goon was on the take and could have given him privacy, but he did have to keep up appearances. "Feel free to take notes as you listen in. Important doctor stuff. You might learn something." The attendant just scoffed.
House was completely indifferent as Cameron and Foreman entered with long faces and worried eyes. House wasn't really in the mood to hear all about the latest ordeal, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice. Cameron's right arm was bandaged from the elbow to the hand, but he chose to ignore that.
House watched them as they sat down, went to say something, then shrugged it off. He sat there patiently for another minute waiting for someone to get started, but it was apparent that his doctors didn't know where to start. "Okay, I give. What happened? Hurry up though. It may look like I have all day, but circle time begins in a few minutes."
Cameron and Foreman looked at each other, and then decided amongst themselves that Foreman would do the talking. "A drugged out patient went crazy in the clinic. He demanded morphine. He attacked Cameron and went for Chase until…" Foreman stopped there. He really didn't know how to explain it.
"Yes, until what? Has no one gotten our little fraidy doctor to come out of hiding yet?"
"He's with Cuddy right now." Cameron told him.
House rubbed his eyes and chin with his right hand, not sure if he really wanted to know what was happening. "What sort of trouble do I have to bail the dumb blond out of now?"
"Oh, I don't think you'll have to get him out of trouble anymore. As a matter of fact, you might want to be very careful about how you treat him from now on." Foreman wished House could have seen Chase in action firsthand. He would of loved to see House turn all white.
"Would you stop it with the beating around the bush and just tell me what the hell happened?" House had enough.
"When the patient went after Chase he went all Bruce Lee on the guy and ended up breaking the guy's collarbone and giving him a concussion. This dude was huge, the size of an NFL lineman. Chase had him down after three quick strikes." Foreman explained.
House's eyes opened real wide and then he started laughing. "It's not cool to pull jokes on someone in rehab. It doesn't help with the lack of trust issues."
Cameron continued. "We're serious. He's in Cuddy's office right now trying to explain to legal how a doctor in this hospital managed to injure someone so badly. He can really do some serious damage if he wanted to, but he saved us."
"How did he do that? You're injured."
"I could be dead."
"Drama queen." House turned to the entrance of the lounge. "Yo, Wilson, get over here and listen to the fish tale these two are trying to tell me. It's a good one, too bad I don't believe any of it."
Wilson figured this would be the first place Cameron and Wilson would go. "It's true. I've seen him in action firsthand."
All three were thrown back by his confession. "When did you see him? You knew he was a lethal weapon and didn't tell any of us?" Foreman asked.
"He took up Taekwondo a long time ago. It helps him deal with stress. Lord knows where he could possibly get any here."
House laughed even harder now. "Very funny everyone. You got me good. Now where is Chase, really?"
They all glared at him with firm eyes, giving fierce indication that they were on the level.
After fixing his blue eyes on the three faces focused on him, House's expression changed to one of amused surprise. "You aren't kidding me. Chase? He could have kicked my ass this entire time and chose not to? I'm not sure whether to be thankful or overly worried over his love of punishment. How good is he?"
"I saw him spar with a 4th level black belt master. It took the master and another instructor to take him down. He's that good."
"Chase is a Taekwondo black belt?" Cameron asked stunned.
"No, but he should be. He started training for the black belt exam a few weeks ago."
"Well I know who's got my back from now on. I always did like Chase." Foreman said as he got up. He was ready to get on with his day.
"We already know he's willing to rescue the damsel in distress," Cameron said following Foreman's lead. "I guess that just leaves you House. Go ahead, push him too far. I'd love to see what he does about it."
"Keep believing that," House jokingly warned. "Someday someone is going to push the wrong button and zap!, that person will be sucking meals through a straw and praying for death. We'll see who it is."
Cameron and Foreman smiled as they left. Wilson took his spot opposite House on the couch. "Actually, that breaking moment already happened. You were the one that pushed that button."
House knew exactly what Wilson was referring to. "When I hit him." Wilson nodded. "How did you find this out?"
"He came to see me afterward in the lounge. He was so blind with rage I thought he was going to go postal. I saw him after work and followed him into a martial arts studio. He apparently has been going there every week for a while to expel anger and frustration. When I saw him, his rage was so deep they had trouble stopping him."
"So my staff is now coming to you with issues."
"They needed to go somewhere. Their boss has really caused them a lot of professional and personal trauma. Actually, it's not all bad. Cameron and Foreman won't speak to me now because of the deal. Chase certainly doesn't bother me with high horses and double standards. It's a nice change."
House shook his head in amazement, wondering how his friend could be so gullible. "They're playing you because they can't stand to have their egos bruised."
"No, they needed some guidance because their medical careers were actually threatened and were subject to an intense criminal investigation, not to mention the now obvious threat of physical assault by their own boss. I still don't know why they haven't quit."
"They weren't the victims of an unnecessary vendetta."
"You ever realize that your misery becomes all our misery as well, whether we choose it or not? Tritter had them running scared House. You did nothing to stop it because it would mean you would lose your control. In the end, we all lost. You lost a lot of respect from them as well as many others. Don't be surprised if you never get that back."
"I don't need their respect."
"Then it's a win-win, because you aren't getting it." Wilson got up and left, leaving House to seriously contemplate how his actions may have ruined his once perfect team balance.
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Cuddy shut the door and walked behind her desk before taking her authoritative stance in her seat. "I don't know how to begin how to address this."
Chase lowered his head and stayed silent. He knew what happened couldn't have been avoided, but he still questioned if he should have been so aggressive. For those few seconds he really didn't know what he was doing.
"From a personal perspective, you did a wonderful thing. Both you and Cameron could have been severely injured or worse. From an administrative perspective though, this is bad PR. Did you have to hurt him so badly?"
"That wasn't my intention," Chase replied with a tinge of regret. "It was a gut reaction."
"People just love stories about average people getting severely injured, even if it was justified in this case. How long have you been a black belt?"
"I'm not a black belt."
"According to Wilson, you should be."
Chase shamefully nodded. "I've been at this level for about five years now."
Cuddy shook her head. "Information that would have been good to know on your personnel file. I usually like to know when my doctors have the ability to kill with their bare hands."
"It's not relevant. This is the first time I've ever hurt anyone."
Cuddy couldn't argue with that point. "Okay, I'll agree, you certainly have never proved to be dangerous before. The police already have our statements and someone with legal will let me know what pending ramifications could result. You are free to go back to your duties now."
"Thank you Dr. Cuddy." Chase turned to leave.
"Oh and Chase," He turned around to see a grateful smile on Cuddy's face. "Thanks for diffusing the situation. It could have been tragic."
Chase nodded without reaction and left.
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"You came with something to talk about." Melissa learned to read her client rather well after only a couple of visits.
Chase let out a pathetic sigh, wanting to talk about but still frazzled by the incident. "I hurt someone."
"Doctors make mistakes all the time Robert..."
"No, I mean through fighting. I had to take someone down at the hospital and I injured him."
"You wouldn't do that on purpose. Was there another way to diffuse the situation?"
"I don't know. I was using restraint when he was threatening a co-worker, but as soon as he became a serious threat I took him down."
Melissa smiled at his distress. "Hmm, do I sense the "g" word here?"
Chase's eyes got real wide. "Don't get started on guilt. I'm Catholic. That will never go away."
Melissa nodded in agreement. "Good point. Okay, we'll drop guilt then. However, it wouldn't hurt to talk about the fight. How badly did you hurt him?"
"A broken collarbone and a concussion. He'll be sidelined for a few days before they take him off to jail."
"I'm willing to bet you weren't in a rational thinking place when that happened. The real threat of the situation wouldn't possibly allow that. Did you rescue your co-worker from harm?"
"Serious harm, yes."
"Then that's good. It looks like we have our positive focus for today. You have made things easy for us. Ready to get started?"
They got settled on the pillows and Chase began to focus on the positive outcome of the standoff. Those warm feelings transcribed into something else though the longer he focused on them. He remembered the way he felt about Cameron when he first met her. How they actually were friendly and respected each other as colleagues. How they would have pleasant conversations and not snip at each other over simple disagreements. He fondly recalled when things were good between them, before than night in her apartment. He hoped that at least maybe he had earned a little of that respect back.
"Okay, now turn off your thoughts."
As Chase shut off his mind, his feelings continued to swirl with all those positive emotions toward Cameron. That wasn't such a bad place to be.
a/n: Any comments good or bad are appreciated. I'm not certain if this lived up to my usual standards or not. I visualize only one more chapter with this story. Chase resolves his issues with House (yes House will see him in action). Thanks as always for reading!
