Chapter 14: Sweet child of mine
It took Emily a whole month to get used to be back at work. At first she had been put on "light duty". She had several patients check up to do and lots of paper work to fill up. Two weeks later she was begging for clinic duty.
"You want clinic duty?" had asked her father in disbelieve. "I can give you my hours if you want."
She smiled at the thought of the argument her father and Aunt Lisa had after his last statement. During her third week, her father had been sent to Baltimore with Stacy, something about his Medicaid billing. She hadn't love the idea of him being with the she-devil.
Her over-protective father had asked her Uncle Jimmy to keep a close eye on her during his absence, but she had been able to escape her babysitter by doing extra hours in the ER. She knew her father didn't meant wrong, but she was now an adult for god's sake. She could stay alone!
"Emily!"
She stopped halfway through the lobby and smiled at Chase, running toward her.
"Robert, are you finished for the day?" she asked.
"No, we just got a brand new case. You're going out tonight?"
"I'm going home. I'll probably spend the evening with a good book and a cup of tea. I just received a batch that I ordered from Amazon."
"Anything I might know?"
"Some Judith McNaught and Susan Elizabeth Phillips."
"Are they famous pediatrician or are they specialize in infectious disease?"
Emily couldn't help but laugh. "No, they're romance novel authors."
"Oh... You read that type of book?"
"What do you mean I read that type of book? Of course I do, I'm a girl after all!"
The Aussie was now blushing. "What I mean is... You don't seems like... At your apartment there is no... There's medical encyclopedia."
"You think my dad would allow me to put what he calls 'housewives porn' next to his precious copy of Gray's Anatomy? They're all in my bedroom, not that you ever visited it."
"So... An evening of tea and romance novel... You don't want to give us a hand on with case?"
"And risk my dad's wrath for doing overtime? No, I'll go home. But if tomorrow your patient is still dying I'll come and help you."
She kissed him on the cheek and left. Her Porsche was parked in the employee lot which was half empty. She saluted the guardian at the exit and drove by highway 1. Arriving on the corner of London and Baker she cursed once she realized it was garbage day. She finally found a space half a block from number 221B. Picking her purse from the passenger seat she made her way toward the front door. Searching her keys she stopped a second. She could hear a cat moaning... or at least she thought it was a cat. The noise was coming from one of the bin. She slowly approached it and let out a cry of surprise once she saw what was in the bin. On top of several cardbox was a tiny baby, his umbilical cord roughly cut.
Without even thinking, she took the baby in her arms, close to her chest, and quickly dialed 911.
"911, what's your emergency?" said the operator.
"My name's Emily House. I'm a doctor at PPTH... I need an ambulance on the corner of Baker and London."
"Are you hurt, Dr House?"
"No... I'm okay... I found a newborn, in the trash... Please send an ambulance ASAP."
"A police car is already on his way, ma'am."
****
"Dr House! We have an incubator ready in trauma 5" said the ER resident when they entered the emergency room.
"Thank you. We'll need to take a look at the umbilical cord. Whoever did this didn't..."
They rolled the stretcher to the trauma room and several nurses and doctors soon filled the space.
"Dr House, please wait outside" said the main attending.
"But I..."
"I called Dr Cuddy, she's on her way, but if she was here she would also tell you to wait and leave us to do our job. And I think there is two police officers waiting to take your deposition. I promise..."
"Please... I'm a doctor too, I know we don't make promises. And do I have to remind you that I'm a trained pediatrician, I know I can help" she said, tears of anger running down her cheeks.
"They don't say you are your father's daughter for nothing." He sighed. "Go talk to the cops, then if we need help you can come back."
He closed the door, leaving the young woman on the other side.
"Are you Dr House?"
She turned around and tried to hide her tears. Two men were standing in front of her. One of them was in his mid to late forties and the other was younger, probably early thirties."
"Yes, I'm Emily House... You wanted to talk to me?"
"I'm detective Tritter and this is my partner, detective Branson" said the older man. "Is there somewhere we can go, somewhere private?"
"Well, there's my office... Follow me."
They went up to Emily's office, the young woman making sure her father wasn't around.
"I'm sorry for the mess. I'm a pediatrician and sometime I see patient here."
She begged God not to strike her for lying. Some of her dad's stuff were still scattered around her normally tidy office.
"Do you normally prescribe Vicodin to your young patient, Dr House?" asked Tritter, holding one of her father's empty bottle.
"That... They are my... My father came earlier today. He has to take Vicodin daily for chronic pain in his leg."
"It says that the date of purchase was five days ago... Are you trying to tell me that your father took 30 pills of an highly strong drug in less than 5 days?"
She was starting to really get pissed with this detective Tritter. Taking the bottle from his hand, she put it in one of the desk drawer and sat down.
"If you experienced the same amount of pain my father has to live with daily, you would also take 30 Vicodin in 5 days. I don't think you are here to discussed the way my father manages his pain so..."
"Please excuse my partner, Dr House" said Branson, sitting in front of her. "He used to be on the anti-drug unit..."
"My excuses, Dr House" said Tritter, clearly not meaning it.
"No problem..."
"We have several questions..."
She now realized that Branson was the good cop and Tritter the bad. She then told them everything. How after a long day in the clinic she had come home to find a newborn in the trash can in front of her appartment. How she had called 911 and waited for the paramedic to come.
"And you saw nobody?"
"No, detective Branson. The street was deserted. If I hadn't stop to search for my keys I wouldn't have heard the baby. At first I thought it was a cat..."
The detective nodded. He looked at his partner, silently asking him if he had any question. Obviously he had.
"Aren't you a bit young to be a doctor?"
"I get that a lot, detective Tritter. I finished high school in my early teen and went to med school in Ann Arbor. I'm a 2nd year resident."
"You have a pretty big office for a 2nd year resident..."
"I have my contact. And there was no other office left on the pediatric floor."
"How old are you, exacly?"
"Does it have anything to do with you investigating my finding of a newborn in the garbage?" she asked, annoyed.
"No... It's just that you seems too young. You might be lying about finding the baby... Maybe the baby is yours and you freaked out..."
"The baby is not mine, detective Tritter. Check with my colleague and they will tell you that I couldn't possibly be pregnant. In January I had a major surgery. I couldn't possibly hide the fact that I was pregnant. If you don't have any more questions I will ask you to leave right now."
"In fact I still..."
"If you do have more questions, I will only answered them with my lawyer. If you'll excuse me, I'll go down to the ER."
She got up and opened the door to let the two detectives out. Branson handed her a little card.
"If you think of anything else, please call me. My cellphone number is on the back."
"Thank you."
The two men went to the elevator and nearly bumped into three doctors following a man using a cane.
"Cripple guy coming through, watch out!" said the man.
"Sorry" said Branson, pressing the elevator button.
"This girl is hiding something."
"Relax Tritter. You want to believe she's hiding something, but I'm telling you, she's not."
"Yeah, and how do you know that? You were flirting with her! You were flirting with a potential suspect!"
The climbed into the elevator and the door slowly closed behind them.
"I wasn't flirting with her, Tritter. And a suspect? Come on, it's not a murder!"
"We don't know. The kid might not survive and if he doesn't it will become an homicide."
"You're not in New York anymore, Tritter. Princeton is a quiet university town. The worst we could get would be two drunk students getting in a fight."
The older detective took a pack of nicotine gum and offered one to his partner.
"No, thanks. You should try the patch, it worked for me."
Author Note: So this is the new chapter. In my timeline we are now in mid-season 2. Hope you liked the little cameo appareance by Tritter.
Next chapter we'll have House reaction when he'll found out about Emily finding a baby in the trash.
PS. Sorry for the long wait - Lara K.