Authors' Notes: Sorry about the delay for this chappie… in our defense, our evil Social Studies teacher gave us a huge project to work on, so we haven't had a lot of time for fanfiction. Still, Chaseluv4ever managed to get her part done much quicker than me… That's another reason why this one took so long. We each wrote a bunch of mini chapters and had to organize them… The fanfiction folder on my computer is now really overcrowded with stuff labeled "Hexagon7"… I hope you guys are appreciative.
Disclaimer: Is anybody actually still reading the bold text? If you are… wow. Mention it in your review and I'll give you a cookie. :) Anyway, House isn't ours.
Chapter 7: The cat's out of the bag:
The recent rainstorm had cleared away and the sun was just starting to come up, sending heat over the Princeton-Plainsboro area. Things were just starting to heat up inside, too.
House was standing in the doorway of Cuddy's office and Cuddy was sitting at her desk. They were in the middle of one heck of an argument. It was over House's current patient, Jenny.
Cuddy was going red-faced, as she usually did at this point in an argument with House. "Steroids?" she said, glaring at him, "Steroids?!" She stood up and moved in front of her desk. "You put Jenny, the patient with the 103 degree fever on steroids?!"
House simply stood there. Cuddy continued, flailing her arms. "You just weakened her immune system, which she needs to fight of the infection that she has!"
"Her symptoms fit vasculitis." Said House, finally speaking.
"Not the fever." Replied Cuddy.
"It is possib—" but he was interrupted by Cuddy's flailing arms.
"I know, I know." Said Cuddy. "In about one in a million cases of vasculitis, the patient has a fever. But what makes you think that this patient is that one, other than your apparent fetish for strange exceptions to medical rules?"
House did not reply, but seemed dazed, his eyes fixed on Cuddy's very low-cut shirt.
Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Yes House, it's a new shirt." She said. "But there are more pressing matters to focus on… there is a dying patient here." Then she added, with a sarcastic smile, "I mean, you can't be that into me."
"Yes I can." House muttered, still looking dazed and still staring. When he realized what he had just said, his eyes immediately snapped up. The awkward silence ensued.
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"Ummm… Cameron?" Cameron looked up from the microscope to see Chase standing at the entrance to the lab, looking nervous.
"Yes?" she said, confused.
"Uh, c-could I talk to you for a minute?" he asked. What could he be so nervous about? Thought Cameron. And is he stuttering?
"Sure." Cameron said, trying not to sound too curious.
"OK…" Chase said, running a hand through his hair. "Alright… um… ok… I just, um…" he paused for a second. "How do I say this?" he muttered.
"Maybe you should sit down" offered Cameron, noting that he was looking somewhat woozy. Chase simply nodded and sat in a chair next to Cameron's. He attempted to turn to face her, but found that the chair was attached to the desk, meaning that it could not be turned. Awkwardly, ha managed to turn his body to face he, and ended up knocking over a test tube in the process. He swore quietly.
"Sorry!" he said, turning an interesting shade of red. He then muttered, "This is definitely not going as planned."
Cameron fought the urge to smile. Whatever this was, it was obviously important. She examined Chase's features for a moment. He was very pale and seemed to be sweating. "Maybe you should lie down." she said, becoming concerned. "You look sick. Are you feeling OK?"
"I'm fine." said Chase quickly. "I just… um, uh…" He groaned and put his head in his hands. "I'm an idiot." he mumbled. "I really should've thought about what I was going to say first. You know what? You're right. I'm just going to go lie down now." He started to get up to leave (maneuvering around the test tubes this time), but Cameron stopped him.
"Wait." she said. Chase looked back in surprise. "Whatever it is you wanted to say… it's obviously been bothering you for a really long time… and I think you should just say it and get it over with."
Chase paused for about 2 seconds. "I really like you – a lot more that most coworkers are supposed to like each other – and I've liked you for about 2 years now, and I really don't think these feelings are going away anytime soon." After catching his breath, he then ran as far away from that lab as he could.
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Dr. Lisa Cuddy was in a very good mood because her old friend from medical school was visiting. They had been catching up for about 20 minutes when Foreman walked in.
Cuddy hadn't heard him enter, and didn't notice him until he coughed slightly to get her attention She turned around and stumbled slightly when she saw him.
"Hello Dr. Foreman," Cuddy sputtered she could already feel her face heat up.
"Ummmm," said Foreman, looking over at Ellen sitting in Cuddy's chair. "Sorry to interrupt," he said sounding slightly uncomfortable, "but House wants to start Jenny on Prednisone because the Cytoxan isn't working. He wanted me to okay it with you first because he knew you'd be against it."
Cuddy, who was looking at Foreman with dreamy eyes, said nothing.
"Cuddy?" Foreman questioned.
"Sure," said Cuddy suddenly snapping back into things, "go ahead."
"Ummm… okay," said Foreman, "thanks." and he left the room.
"Whoa, Lisa," said Ellen, "do you realized what you just told that doctor he could do?"
"Ummmm.. No not exactly," said Cuddy laughing sheepishly.
"You told that doctor he could start a patient, whom Cytoxan was having no effect on, on Prednisone." Ellen answered.
Cuddy's jaw dropped open and she said nothing.
Ellen continued, "the patients name was Jenny, I'm guessing she had some type of autoimmune disease."
"Vasculitis," Cuddy breathed, "oh god. I probably just killed her."
"May I ask why you did that? And why you acted so strangely around that doctor?" Said Ellen.
Cuddy's expression changed as she leaned on her desk. "The truth is," she said, "I like him."
Unfortunately, Cuddy didn't know was that Foreman had dropped his folder about two feet down the hall from Cuddy's office. He had heard every word.
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Wilson wandered into the conference room in hopes of eating lunch with House. It really wasn't that he wanted to… he was just bored out of his mind and needed someone to talk to.
But to his dismay the conference room was empty, House and his team were nowhere to be seen.
Dammit. Thought Wilson. He was seriously about to pull his hair out of his skull any minute… He was that bored.
Wilson walked to the table and he noticed a small object on one of the chairs. He picked it up and found that it was a notebook… a very flowery notebook. Wilson rotated it in his hands. He couldn't help realize how pretty it was.
He then noticed on the bottom left corner of the notebook etched in blue in, the words, Dr. A. Cameron.
Wilson couldn't help himself, he opened it. He was insanely surprised to see his name jump out at him from the very top of the first page. The rest of the page was filled with neat text.
This was what it said:
Dr. Wilson… Why did I just write his name? I have no idea. He is very nice and quite attractive… I love his relaxed nature, how he is always attentive to the task at hand… How he is so ethical, how he cares for everyone deeply…
It seems as though he has no bad qualities. He is everything good, caring, sweet, nice, generous, helpful, comforting, smart… I'm rambling, aren't I? I always do that in here… It probably doesn't matter, as no one will ever read this… but I suppose I should stop the list anyway, because it would take up the rest of this notebook.
House always says that I only like people who I can fix. And maybe I did, but this is different… There's nothing to fix, and he still interests me. What does that mean?
I'm going to have to do something… I can't keep this bottled up forever.
Taking a deep breath, Wilson slammed the book shut, gingerly put it down on the table, and bolted out of the room.
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Foreman had been acting very odd lately, and Chase wanted to find out why. Yes, they weren't exactly friends (OK, that was an understatement), but Chase was determined. And he needed to know… whatever was going on was distracting Foreman and he wasn't doing his best. Far from it… he was barely paying attention to anything. When Chase and Foreman were trapped in the same room giving Jenny a PET scan, Chase saw it as the perfect opportunity.
"Sooo…" said Chase, unsure of how to begin. He paused for a moment as Foreman snapped out of another daydream and attempted to look as if he knew what was going on. Chase decided to be blunt. "So what's been up with you lately?"
"I don't know what you mean." Said Foreman, trying to appear nonchalant. He didn't pull it off. He had never been a great actor.
Chase rolled his eyes. "Don't try to hide it." He said. "You've been completely spacey this past week. You're obviously thinking about something… something big."
"This really isn't any of your business." Said Foreman, whose eyes were completely fixated on the screen.
Chase grinned. "'None of my business', huh? OK, you're clearly very protective of whatever this secret is…" his eyes suddenly widened and he got an epiphany look similar to the one House got when he solved cases. "This is a love interest, isn't it?"
Foreman stayed silent for a while, Chase's eyes boring into him, until he couldn't take it anymore. "How did you get so damn perceptive?" he asked.
Chase smiled victoriously. "I work for House. So, who is it? Does she work here?" Foreman shifted uncomfortably and Chase smiled again. "OK, she definitely works here… is it a nurse?" Silence. "No… not a nurse. It isn't a patient, is it?" More silence. "Not a patient. That just leaves doctors and med students… Do I know her?" Again with the uncomfortable shift. Foreman's giveaways were so easy. "I do!" Chase's eyes lit up. "And I must know her well, if you got so uncomfortable so quickly… I don't know that many doctors here. Cuddy? No… One of the surgeons? No… Cameron? Definitely not." Chase paused to eye Foreman carefully. "Ummm… I don't really know any other female doctors here… but you're sure I know her?" Foreman nodded. Why was he going along with this now?
Foreman laughed slightly at the assumption Chase was making. Unfortunately, Chase caught onto this quickly and looked at him harder. "I'm missing something obvious, aren't I?" Foreman only nodded. Chase went on to ponder the question. "I haven't made any assumptions… except that this mystery person is a girl…" He gasped and looked at Foreman, who was avoiding his gaze. "OH!" said Chase. "But… who?"
The word escaped Foreman's mouth before he had a chance to stop it. "You."
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Someone burst into Wilson's office without knocking. Wilson didn't need to look up from the file he had been reading to know who it was.
"You have been really spacey lately and you're going to tell me why right now." Said House.
"No I haven't" said Wilson. "I've just been tired and I haven't had much patience for your antics."
House rolled his eyes. Did Wilson really think that he was that dense? "I've seen you tired." he said. "I've seen you impatient. This was neither. This was spacey. I've only seen you spacey 3 times before. It was always a few months away from your next marriage."
Wilson sighed and attempted to focus on the file. It didn't work. "You really need to stop taking advantage of these needy young women." House pretended to chastise. "So, at what stage are you in the train wreck that is your marriage cycle? Are you still the sympathetic friend? Or have things already gotten interesting?"
Wilson simply rolled his eyes. House examined him carefully. "I haven't seen you acting particularly cozy with any women lately." He noted. "And I usually figure these things out before you do… which means you're hiding something. Why would you hide something about a girl? If there was anything grotesque about her, you wouldn't have gotten together with her in the first place… or you would have, but you wouldn't be secretive because you're so supportive."
"Did it occur to you that you don't know because I don't want you butting in?" asked Wilson.
"Generally, your love of PDA overcomes your annoyance at me." commented House. "So what's new? She must work here, you basically live here… but I haven't seen you talking to any women in nearly 2 weeks, not counting my team. Does she not know of your affections? No, that doesn't make sense, either. You never like anyone until you've developed a friendship first…" House then looked at Wilson very oddly, seeming to have thought of something. "The only friendship you are currently in is ours." he stated.
Wilson looked up, obviously surprised at what House was implying. "The signs are all there…" House remarked, more to himself than anyone else. "How did I not see this before? You fuss over your physical appearance, you're always trying to get me to talk about my feelings, and all of your relationships with women have ended in disaster."
"Are you saying that –"
House interrupted him. "You're gay." he stated. It definitely wasn't a question. "And you're in love with me."
House glared, daring him to say otherwise. Eventually, Wilson just nodded.
House happily patted himself on the back before he realized exactly what he had just proven. He then darted out of the room.
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The gossip traveled through the hospital like wildfire. Naturally, the nurses were very excited. Six unrequited crushes in a group of six people… none of them had every heard anything that juicy in their entire lives! However, they couldn't help but wonder… how had their hidden cameras missed this?
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A/N: Hopefully the length makes up for the wait… 6 pages of Microsoft word! Our usual chapters are more like 1 or 2… Anyway, if you want the next one to come quicker, reviews are an excellent way of motivating us. :)