Winter Wonderland

December 26, 2007 – 11:39am (Wednesday)

Wilson and Cuddy came into work much more relaxed than they had been the night before. After dropping their things off at their office, they went back to check on their parents in NICU.

Mrs. Wilson smiled when she saw them coming. "You two look more relaxed."

"Did you get some good sleep?" asked Mr. Wilson.

Both Wilson and Cuddy shook their heads.

"No," sighed Cuddy. "We were up all night; we couldn't sleep thinking of Riley."

All four parents frowned.

"So, we decided to go ice skating," said Wilson. "I knew you guys didn't want us here, at least not last night."

Cuddy nodded. "Jimmy took me to this really gorgeous lake, and we rented some ice skates. It was really fun."

"That sounds lovely, dear," said Mrs. Cuddy.

"We're still glad to have you back though," added Mr. Cuddy.

Then Cuddy didn't seem quite as cheery. "How is he doing?"

"His vitals are stable, but they're thinking that he's going to have to pull through this one on his own."

Both Cuddy and Wilson frowned.

"He's getting better, though, dear," assured Mrs. Wilson. "Just give it time, okay?"

Cuddy nodded. "Thank you."

Cuddy and Wilson said that they had some work to do today, but they would be by regularly to check up on Riley. In their language, though, regularly meant three times an hour.

& - & - & - & - & - &

Foreman and Adler went to do their morning check-up on Danni, but she didn't seem very happy to see them. Instead of the standard 'hello' or 'good morning,' she decided to throw up on them. They went to the closest locker room to clean up.

"Do you still think it's not cancer?" Foreman asked bitterly as he wiped the vomit from his lab coat.

Adler shrugged. "I'm only telling you what I saw."

"Well, you must have screwed up the test then."

"I know how to do a simple scan, okay?"

Foreman shrugged. "I'll believe you when you come up with a reason for a uterus to grow back."

Adler rolled her eyes. "I know Chase was supposed to be on vacation for the rest of the month, but I'm calling him in anyways. We could use a little help around here."

Foreman had to agree that it had been hard to manage the department with only him and Adler around, so he didn't even try to stop Adler from calling Chase.

& - & - & - & - & - &

Carly, Chase, and Katie were all at Katie's apartment packing up some of Katie's things. All of the furniture was staying for Carly's sake, but Katie wanted to bring some of her things to Chase's place of course. They were finishing up with the last box when Chase's cell phone rang.

Chase: Hello?

Adler: Are you busy today?

Chase: We're just finishing something up, why?

Adler: We were just wondering if you wanted to come into work today.

Chase: Why would I want to come into work on my vacation?

Adler (laughing): We'll make sure House knows so he doesn't take it from your vacation days.

Chase: I'll be there in an hour or so.

Adler: Thanks.

Line Closes

"Who was that?" asked Katie.

"Adler wants me to come into work today," he said.

Katie shrugged. "I guess it's a good thing. At least this way you don't lose as many vacation days."

Chase had to agree. "When are you going back to work?"

"Well, I can go see if the ICU needs me today, but if not, I'll probably start back up on Monday at the latest," she said. "I don't have very much to unpack."

So, Katie agreed to stay at the apartment and unpack her things while Chase went into work. Of course, Carly wanted to go to medical school after her undergraduate study at Princeton, so she was eager to go into work with Chase. She wanted to see some action!

& - & - & - & - & - &

Cameron and Angela decided to take Grace, Lily, and Matt sledding, and Joe and House decided to tag along as well. House had gone down the hill a few times, but with his leg it was very risky, so he chose to just sit on the hood of the car at the top of the hill and watch while everyone else went down. It wasn't that bad, though, because Joe would keep him company.

"Has she looked at the back yet?" asked Joe as Angela and Cameron sped down the hill on their sleds.

House shook his head. "Nope."

Joe thought for a minute. "You need to find some way to get her to look at the back without ruining the surprise."

House rolled his eyes. "You think?"

Joe sneered. "Maybe… maybe you should leave her a note saying 'Look at the iPod.'"

"Yes, that's not suspicious at all!"

Joe rolled his eyes. "You could plug your iPod into your laptop to download songs, and ask her if she wants any on them. If she says yes, she'll have to bring it to you. She's bound to look at the back."

House thought about it. "That might actually work."

Joe smirked. "Who's the genius?" He pointed to himself smugly.

Then House smirked at him as he got off the hood of the car. "I'm the genius."

Joe frowned. "You were supposed to say that I was the genius."

"But you aren't a genius; I am."

Joe rolled his eyes. There was just no winning with Gregory House, was there?

& - & - & - & - & - &

Foreman and Adler were a little surprised when Chase came into work with Carly. Still, they were eager to meet the young girl who had interrupted their differential last night.

"Foreman, Adler, this is my little sister Carly," said Chase. "Carly, this is Foreman and Adler."

Carly shook their hands politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you both."

"She's attending Princeton this fall," added Chase. "She wants to be a doctor, and she wanted to sit in on the differential. I hope that's okay."

Foreman and Adler both agreed that it was okay, but they probably needed the permission of Danni's parents first. Then again, when did they ever play by the rules?

Carly took a seat at the glass table and grinned as she saw a list of symptoms written on the infamous white board.

"So what have we got?"