This one took longer than I expected since most of my free time has been spent voting for Hugh in Hello! Magazine's poll (ends January 17th). But here it is at last!
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Amber was sitting alone in an armchair in the doctors' lounge when Chase and Cameron came in. She greeted them and went back to reading up on Fibromyalgia while Chase and Cameron sat down on the couch. Amber noticed that Cameron snuggled up unusually close to Chase causing Chase to give her a slightly puzzled look before he wrapped his arm around her. Amber smiled slightly at the message Cameron was obviously sending her way.
"How's the patient?" Chase asked Amber.
"No new symptoms so far," Amber answered. "Fever is almost gone, no rash, pretty much all the other symptoms barring the pain are gone."
"So your idea of Fibromyalgia is looking better all the time," Chase congratulated Amber.
"But surely he would have shown some symptoms even before this," Cameron inserted. "Even if the infection, if that was what it was, caused it to flare up, it's rare that there have been no previous symptoms."
"He's into sports," Chase shrugged. "He probably thought all the aches and pains were just par for the course; the same for the fatigue."
"That would be my guess, too," Amber agreed. "Kutner is going through his medical history with a fine tooth comb."
"Why Kutner," Cameron wanted to know.
"His speciality is sports medicine so he is the one who can possibly tell a sports injury apart from some other ache or pain," Amber explained. "Of course, it's a bit of a shot in the dark, but until we can ask the patient that's the best we can do."
"He is still knocked out then?" Chase queried.
"No he isn't, but he is on rather strong painkillers so he is rather groggy," Amber responded. "If he has just assumed that all his previous pain is due to sports it will not be easy for him to remember times when the pain has been different or somehow out of place."
"He may not be able to help even once he is lucid," Chase mused. "I doubt he has really paid that much attention to his aches and pains. You'll just have to start with almost nothing and go on from there."
"Then we will," Amber nodded. "Though it is possible that House will refer him to someone else once we're sure the only remaining symptom is pain. Diagnosing Fibromyalgia or one of the other similar conditions usually takes time and is rather uninteresting since it mainly consists of eliminating things."
"House could do that," Cameron agreed. "In fact, since most of the diseases that need to be ruled out are autoimmune, he could refer the patient to me."
"So he could!" Chase exclaimed with a somewhat exaggerated surprise. "I'm sure House would be so grateful."
"He is in his office right now," Amber remarked neutrally. "If you want to run that idea by him."
Cameron looked ready to go for a moment, but then she realized that that would leave Chase alone with Amber so she leaned back against Chase and said: "It can wait. After all, it isn't yet certain that no other symptoms will present themselves in your patient."
"Very true," Amber replied sagely. "Best not to jump the gun."
"So how do you like working for House?" Cameron decided to make conversation.
Amber stared at Cameron for a moment with a lifted eye-brow. The question seemed rather ludicrous to her: you didn't like working for House. That much was surely self-evident for anyone who had been around House for any length of time. But if Cameron wanted to make friendly, who was she to stand in her way!
"Is it true that he got fired from four different hospitals before he came here?" Amber asked.
"That's what Cuddy told you Allison," Chase turned to Cameron. "Wasn't it?"
"Yes, but we don't know any details," Cameron pointed out. "I suppose it wouldn't be too difficult to find out if you really want to. But I don't think there is really any mystery why he got fired. Cuddy has a separate budget just for House's legal expenses."
"His bedside manner isn't exactly sterling," Chase observed.
"That was apparent from the start," Amber agreed. "But he doesn't spend that much time with the patients; that's why he has a team."
"He usually does end up meeting the patient," Chase said. "Or at least the family. And that usually doesn't go too well."
"I don't think we have had many patients with family so far," Amber pondered. "I'll look forward to a meeting then. It should be interesting."
"Just make sure that everyone is ready to step in if any family members decide to hit him, again," Chase cautioned.
"Curiouser and curiouser," Amber marvelled. "Does he have something against family in general, or is it just with patients?"
"Basically it's just with patients," Chase decided. "They tend to get in the way of treatment and tests, but other than that, I think he doesn't much care."
"Does he care about his own family?" Amber wondered. "Or does he have any, do you know?"
"He has parents," Chase replied.
"I met them once, briefly," Cameron elaborated. "They were nice people. House said so himself. I did get the impression that he didn't get along his father very well, but Wilson thinks it's because of his leg. There is some awkwardness there. And he did say that his father cannot lie, which he seemed to think was a poor quality in a Dad."
"Blunt honesty isn't all that it has been cracked up to be," Amber muttered.
"Nor is ability to lie," Chase reminded her. "And it's more than awkwardness, Allison. House hates his father. Nobody knows why, but he does."
"No he doesn't!" Cameron insisted. "They were perfectly amicable together when I met them."
"He hates him" Chase mouthed to Amber.
Before Cameron had time to notice anything going on behind her back – so to speak – her pager went off. She was needed in the ER.
"Don't worry," Amber told her nonchalantly. "I'm not going to eat your boyfriend. Or even rip his clothes off and have my wicked way with him on the couch. Not during working hours."
"Amber!" Chase admonished her.
"I think Chase would have something to say to that, too," Cameron huffed as she got ready to go. She didn't really want to leave those two alone, but the page was urgent so there was no ignoring it.
"I'm sure he would," Amber agreed. "My guess is: more, more!"
"Behave yourself, Amber," Chase told her. "Don't let her rattle you Allison. She is just trying to be funny."
"I don't find her very amusing," Cameron scorned but she left the lounge.
"You know perfectly well I wasn't trying to be funny," Amber declared. "I was trying to make Cameron jealous. She takes you way too granted."
"Isn't that rather my problem?" Chase asked.
"It should be," Amber conceded. "But you don't do anything about it."
"Amber, really, let me handle my own life. Ok?" Chase requested.
"As long as you really do handle it," Amber relented. After a pause she went on: "So, why do you think House hates his Dad?"
"I don't know why, but he does," Chase shrugged. "Allison, of course, cannot see it, or more likely don't want to see it, because that would mess with her world view. But I happened to mention something to Dr Cuddy about House and his parents and she let is slip that House had actually told her – in so many words – that he hates his Dad."
"Well, if he's in the habit of dishing similar blunt truths as my Daddy is, I'm not surprised," Amber sighed.
"And what kind of truths were those?" Chase asked. "You do know that truth is like beauty: it's in the eye of the beholder."
"Yeah," Amber gave another sigh. "In my Daddy's book you speak the truth only when you find fault. If you don't have something negative to say, it's best not to say anything at all. You can imagine it is real joy to be his daughter."
"My Dad specialized in false promises," Chase pondered. "He would always tell you what you wanted to hear; he promised to be there for your games, your parties, your whatever. In time you learned that those were just words. No matter what he promised, he was not going to deliver so it was best to stop expecting anything."
"Some Daddies we had!" Amber shook her head in almost disbelief. "It's amazing we're even as sane as we are."
"You can say that again," Chase laughed even if somewhat bitterly.
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That night Amber was at home getting ready for bed, when she heard some disturbing noise from the stairs. She thought there was something familiar about the voices, so she very carefully cracked her door open (with the security chain on) and checked what was going on. She saw Chase turning to go back down the stairs as he neighbour went inside his flat. Amber quickly released the chain and opened the door.
"Chase?" Amber called him. "What are you doing here?"
Chase turned a little unsteadily and Amber saw he was drunk: "I'm sorry, I didn't really mean to disturb you," Chase explained. "I don't even know why or how I ended up here."
"You're drunk!" Amber asserted. "Where is Cameron?"
"She had a night sift," Chase shrugged.
"Scheduled or did she volunteer?" Amber wanted to know.
"Scheduled," Chase answered.
"Do you hit the sauce every time Cameron is away from home all night?" Amber demanded.
"NO!" Chase declared. "That would be irresponsible. I'm not working till tomorrow night."
"Fine," Amber lied – it was not fine at all. "Get in here."
"I don't want to bother you," Chase tried to refuse the order.
"You did that already, now get in here or I will come and get you and that won't be pretty," Amber glared at Chase who meekly followed her orders.
Amber steered Chase towards the coach, again, and when Chase was securely sitting down she went to get him a bottle of mineral water.
"Here, drink this," Amber ordered.
"I'm ok," Chase tried to explain.
"No you're not," Amber stated. "You hit the bottle pretty much the minute Cameron's back is turned and that is not ok. Now, you drink that water and get some sleep. Tomorrow will come soon enough and you will be miserable enough then without getting dehydrated. You will have a hangover and I will be lecturing you."
"Why would you lecture me?" Chase's interest was suddenly peaked.
"You'll find out," Amber told him. "Now be a good boy and drink your water. If you drink it all I may even let you grope me some when I help you to the bathroom during the night."
"I wouldn't do that," Chase insisted. "I was brought up a gentleman."
"Of course you were," Amber nodded. "You being British and all."
"I'm Australian," Chase remembered to insist before he finished his water and fell on the couch dead to the world.
"Fine, a wombat you are then," Amber sighed taking off his shoes, lifting his feet on the couch as well and covering him with a blanket. "But tomorrow morning you're going to be one very sorry little wombat and I'm not going to cut you any slack. You need to give serious thought to your relationship with Cameron if she is driving you to drink."