Chapter 25

Thursday Morning:

He walked into the hospital foyer and asked the receptionist for a visitor pass, just as he was told to do. He went on his way to the 4th floor to seek the diagnostic office….. a large glass office. As he came out of the elevator he saw it straight away. The blinds were closed and there were no lights on, so he tried the door. It was open so he looked in to see if anyone was there, it was empty. But what he did notice was a big white board that had 4 doctors' names on it and a request to sign in with a time. He smiled a small smile and signed himself in. Dr Chase 8.25am. He put his jacket on the back of one of the chairs and explored the rest of the office. Turned the lights on and perused the medical books. Then he spied the coffee maker so he decided to make coffee while he was waiting, he was half an hour early after all.

A few minutes later he heard the door open and looked up from the journal he was reading.

"Are you Dr House?" Came a quiet voice.

"Nope" Said Chase nodding towards the white board. The young man followed his gaze and realised what he was meant to do.

Dr Jones: 8.42am. Put his coat on the back of a chair opposite Chase made himself a coffee and sat down. Swiftly followed by another person walking in the door "Are you Dr House" came the woman's voice. "Nope" they said in unison and Chase nodded to the white board again.

Dr Avers.: 8.48am. She went to the end of the table and put her coat on the back of the chair and said nothing more.

The door opened again "Hey" said a jolly smiley face. "Are you.."

"Nope" Said Chase & Jones together and nodded at the board again.

Dr Emery: 8.56am: He found a seat next the Dr Avers and they started talking.

House looked at his watch 9.00am and he was just leaving, great way to start the day. His leg had been playing up all morning and he had found it hard to get ready.

As he entered his office he could hear the clacking of heals coming up the hallway. He put down his bag, leant against the edge of the desk for a moment and scratched his chin slightly feeling the scruff around his face…his new mask. He took a deep breath, stood as straight and tall as he could ignoring the pain he felt, then he heard Dr Cuddy enter the outer office.

"Where's Dr House?" She enquired in an authoritative tone. All she got from the 3 doctors sitting at the table was a shrug of the shoulders.

"I'm right here Dr Cuddy" Said House striding through the connecting door. "What can I do for you?

"You were supposed to be here at 9.00am to start your interviews"

"Yes, all but one passed the first test!" He said looking at her. She gave him a frown. He looked back at the board and at the 3 doctors at the table. "Dr Emery, failed the 1st test"

"And what was the 1st test" She enquired, getting no response.

"Dr Avers" Said House sternly. At which point the said Doctor looked up at him "You can leave now!"

"What? I….." She stuttered

"I said you can leave now. And I mean now!" He stated

"House, what are you…?" Dr Cuddy said watching Dr Avers leave in tears.

He waited for her leave. "It's 9.30am she has been here since 8.48am and has done nothing. She is not wasting any of my time. Are we done? You can leave too!" He said directly to Dr Cuddy. Cuddy got the message and left.

"So Dr's Jones and Chase, you have passed the first 2 tests of the day. Choose one of those patient files you are looking through and we can start diagnosing" He said wiping the whiteboard clear.

"Who made the coffee?" Asked House as he perched on the stool he had positioned by the white board.

"I did" Said Chase putting up his hand.

"Well, where's mine?" He said taking the orange bottle out of his pants and getting ready to take some. Chase got him a coffee and handed it to him. "So people, what have we got?"

Friday afternoon:

House sat in his Eames chair, the morning session had gone fairly well. Two Doctors had good input into the diagnoses and they both had strengths and weaknesses. They were both a maybe. The afternoon session was due to start at 1pm, he had 45minutes before anyone should come, the whiteboard was already set up and so he had time to take a much needed nap.

25minutes later he was aroused by hearing the connecting door open. He looked up to see a black man standing in front of him. "What?" He groused.

"Sorry, are you Dr House. I'm here…." Said the man

"Read the board, it tells you what to do!" He grunted

The man turned back to the board and signed in Dr Lewis: 12.40pm. He looked around the room, chose a seat and made himself a coffee.

House rubbed his hands over his face, his nap done with then. He felt his tummy rumble and as usual he hadn't eaten. He hoisted himself up and went striding through the connecting door to find another doctor sitting at the table. "You" He said pointing to the lady "Dr Cameron. Go down to the cafeteria and get me a Reuben." He ordered and turned around. Dr Cameron looked at Dr Lewis and got up. She followed House into his office "Did I not give you clear enough instructions?" He growled. She frowned at him and turned around. "No pickles" He shouted after her.

He quirked a smile as she left and watched her ass, as she walked off quickly with annoyance. He waited another 10 minutes and went into the outer office. There were now 3 other doctors sitting at the table, he made himself a coffee and went back to his own office and waited for his sandwich. All 3 doctors had watched him intently as he came in and left again. Dr Cameron returned with his sandwich and handed it to him but stayed in front of him. "You can go sit down now?" He barked.

"A thank you would be nice" She retorted

"Right" He said and just stared at her. After a few seconds she lowered her gaze and went and sat back in her seat. He took his time eating his sandwich, hoping that like before someone would get up and leave, but he didn't hear any doors going. He got his cane and strode with confidence through the door and continued as he had done earlier.

"Right people, what have you got for me?" He asked wiping the board.

They all stared blankly at him. He noticed that only Dr Lewis and Dr Cameron had a patient folder open. "You two" He said pointing at the other 2 doctors at the table. "Do you know what these are?" He said leaning over and picking up a patient file. "Yes" they both answered "So why aren't you looking at them?" He questioned. They looked at each other and went to pick up a file from the table. "Na ah! Don't bother, get your stuff and go!" They looked at each other again but did nothing. "I said LEAVE NOW!" he bellowed. They both got up without hesitation and left the office.

"God I hate time wasters!" Said House as he took some Vicodin and started the afternoon session again. "So what do we have?"….

On Friday evening he and Wilson sat in his apartment having eaten pizza and drunk a couple of beers. There was some music on in the background, just enough not to be intrusive. They were looking over the Resumes of the candidates he had narrowed it down to. He had 6 that were of interest to him but he only had 3 spots.

"So, Dr Chase, what did he have going for him?" Wilson asked trying to help House decide who to keep.

"He made good coffee" House retorted

"And that's why you kept him?" Asked Wilson

"No, actually his dad made a phone call" He said deflecting slightly

"You know his Dad, The Rheumatologist?"

"Nope"

"What, then how can you owe him a favor?" Said a confused Wilson

"I didn't owe him a favor, he made a phone call to someone I did owe a favor to and so on"

"Right" Said Wilson still confused. "What about Dr Jones"

"He had a lot of knowledge, but didn't seem willing to argue, he just seemed to agree with what was said"

"Dr Lewis"

"Asked a lot of simple questions that he should know the answers to already, but did interact well and say what was on his mind. He may have just been nervous"

"Dr Cameron"

"She was pretty!" House said with a leering smile

"Aside from that House!" Chastised Wilson

"Um, had good grades, good references" He said quirking a smile "And got my lunch for me"

"Any you know, doctor stuff"

"Probably, can't say I noticed" He said laughing "But there was something about her though, she was quite feisty in some ways. She's worked hard to get where she is"

"Dr Foreman"

"Hmm, arrogant, but willing to learn, he sparred well with …whatever his name was" He said getting up to get another drink.

"Dr. Ferguson"

"Actually, he was good he sparred well, definitely held his own. Got good grades, came from Hopkins. But he didn't seem to want to listen to anyone else, which could be a problem. Not that I mind a challenge".

"So what will you do now" Questioned Wilson, realising that they had achieved nothing.

"I've done background checks on all of them I'll wait and see what comes up." He said with a glint in his eye. He wasn't sure what it was he was looking for but he knew he would know when he saw it.

"So, as we finished early shall we go out?" Wilson asked quietly.

"Why?" House retorted.

"Because we should celebrate. You've been back to work for 2 weeks, getting your department sorted out and we haven't been out in a long time"

"I'm good thanks, prefer to stay here. We have plenty of beer left" Said House side glancing at Wilson.

"Come on House, you got to get out. You'll get cabin fever if you keep staying in." Wilson continued

"Like I said No Thanks" House deadpanned

"Is this because of Stacy or because of your leg?" Wilson questioned getting irritated.

"How about both" Stated House "Because of Stacy I can't walk properly anymore am in constant pain and have to take meds to get through my days"

Wilson continued his assault on House. "You're pathetic, you need to get back in the game, back to reality"

House gave a weird half laugh "This is my fucking reality Wilson! Go home and leave me alone" He shouted.

"House come one …..I didn't mean…." Wilson tried again.

"Wilson enough already! I've had a really long 2 weeks, my leg is killing me and I am tired to the bone now go home!"

House walked into the hospital on Monday morning and was accosted by Cuddy. "Well, who did you decide to keep" She questioned following him to the elevator.

"Don't know yet. Still waiting for some background checks to come through. I'll be sure to let you know when I've decided." He said as he stepped into the elevator, he turned around to press the button to see her almost on top of him but he got a sneak peek down her low cut top. "Why are you following me?" He enquired.

"I'm not" She said pressing number 2.

"Right"

They stood in silence for a moment "So how was your weekend Dr House?" She enquired.

"Great thanks I danced the weekend away" He answered sarcastically.

She gave him a sideways frown and stepped out of the elevator "sure you did" She countered.

He grinned to himself as the doors closed. This was definitely going to be more fun than he had originally thought.

He was still thinking about Dr Cuddy as he opened up his mail with a grin on his face. The background checks had come through, he smiled at Dr Foreman's as that was the only one that was interesting. He finally had made his decision. He called the people that didn't make it, but thanked them for their time and gave them some constructive criticism. Then he rang the 3 that did make it and told them be there by 9.00am the following morning. 2 had said they couldn't come that quickly but could come on Monday. He told them either tomorrow or never and the other 1 said yes far too quickly. Tomorrow would be interesting he thought.

He sat back in his chair and looked around HIS office. How things can flip 180 in a matter of days. A month ago he was in a relationship, struggling to stand up and believing that 'working' again was unobtainable, unless in research or consulting from home. But now, things were looking better, he was spear heading a completely new department, something nobody had ever done before, this was definitely going to be more interesting than anything he had done before…..

The End

A/N: just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone that has reviewed and read this story. Have to say it was the hardest one I have done and there was a point when I was going to give it up…..but as that is a pet hate I didn't! So thanks again peeps