Chapter Nine

"So… casual dress day? Even I at least throw on a sport coat" House joked, sounding slightly impressed. Chase smirked.

"Hey, if I'm gonna break the rules, might as well do it right?" he laughed. He noticed House staring at the tattoo design usually hidden by long sleeves. He had an intricate pattern of ivy on his back and upper arms.

"Yeah, it spreads over my back too. Ivy was my daughter's name." he explained. House looked shocked. He knew about Chase's accident from his file. In fact, Cuddy hadn't wanted to hire him because he was still recovering. So obviously, that's why House just had to hire him. He was interesting and he annoyed Cuddy. Anyway, he had never heard Chase talk about his daughter.

"So… did you get the tattoo when…" his voice trailed off, not wanting to push his luck.

"No. I got it when she was born." Chase cut into the awkward silence. "I got her name over my heart when she died. I also have a Kurt Cobain quote amidst the ivy on my back."

"What quote?"

"'I would rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not' I haven't been very true to that lately, hence the casual clothing." he explained. House looked intrigued. Chase started toward their patient's room and was immensely surprised when House followed.

"You're going to see the patient?" Chase sarcastically asked.

"If you're going to see the patient, then yeah." he replied simply. Chase stopped and looked at him.

"If you want to know about me, lets do it after work. I'm not about to let you heckle a patient just because you find my story interesting. We can get a drink after work and I can introduce you to a girl who knows more about me than I do."

"Karsen?" House asked without thinking. He immediately looked like he had said something he wasn't supposed to.

"How do you know about Karsen?" Chase asked suspiciously.

"I… may have been the one who called her up."

"So… it was you. Not Skylor. How did you get her number?" he asked quietly.

"Its in your file." Chase had completely forgotten about that.

"And… she listened to you? A completely random stranger?" he asked.

"She was worried about you. She didn't have time to think about who it was calling, she just wanted to help you." House explained. "Why do you look so surprised? Wouldn't you do the same for her?"

"In a heartbeat. I just cant believe you cared enough to call her. Its completely out of character for you and definitely illogical." Chase muttered, trying to work it out in his head.

"Well since you obviously weren't going to get yourself any help, I decided it was easier to send Lucas on a mission for your file and do a bit of digging than to have you lose your job and go through the process of hiring another, probably more boring person." House explained. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go fill Wilson's desk drawers with skittles." He pulled out the biggest bag of skittles Chase had ever seen from his backpack and limped away, leaving Chase to wonder what Wilson did to deserve that.