Author's Notes: I just want to give an enormous thank you to my fabulous beta, Ceciilee for finding time in her busy schedule to edit this fic. Also, a big cyber hug to all my loyal readers. Thank you so much for your continued support, please keep those feedback coming.
***
The
apple doesn't fall far from the tree
Later
that evening, House walks down to the basement to spend quality time
with his eldest son.
"Hey Dad."
"How come you're not
out partying with your friends?"
"You mean Paul and
gang?"
House nods
"They're driving down to
Charlottesville for the weekend."
"So, they just came over
just to say hi?"
"Yeah, and borrow some of my camping gear."
"So,
how's med school?"
Jake shurgs his shoulder and replies "okay,
I guess."
"You're still enjoying your rotation at Mass
General, right?"
Jake hesitantly answers "actually, they had a
scheduling mix-up. I've been doing my rotation at Brigham and
Women's Hospital instead."
"That bad huh?"
"I never
said it was bad."
"Of course, the kid who calls his mother
every week like clockwork just stop calling. And the same kid who
e-mails his Dad about his coolest disease of the week simply forgets
to mention that he's been assigned to another hospital."
"I
called Mom. Not as often, but I called. I just didn't want to
bother you two."
"Bother
us with what? Please don't tell me you've knock up some
broad."
"No! I'm not seeing anyone, Dad."
"Ok, are
you at least spending your fourth year of med school like I used
to?"
"What did you used to do?"
"Show up for attendance
and then leave after 30 minutes to hang out with my bodacious
girlfriend."
Jake makes an ewww face at the mental picture of
his parents making out then he asks "they let you get away with
that?"
House nods and asks "have you heard of FYiGMI?"
"No,
what does that mean?"
"It stands for 'Fuck-You
I-Got-My-Internship' and that was pretty much our attitude after
match day."
Jake laughs and replies "I'm just six weeks into
my fourth year so, I'm still a gunner."
House smirks and
replies "you'll always be a gunner! Blame your Mom's
overachiever gene for that."
Jake simply nods.
House inquires
"what rotation have you done so far?"
"I did ICU (Intensive
Care Unit) the first four
weeks. And I was suppose to do four weeks at Cardiology but I got
stuck in EM (Emergency
Medicine)."
"What do
you mean you got stuck?"
"Since I joined the group a week
late, I've just…"
"Been getting the short end of the
stick?"
"Something like that."
"Wanna talk about
it?"
"Not really."
House nods and asks "wanna have your
ass kicked by your old man in Grand Theft Auto?"
A hint of smile
appears on Jake's face and he replies "bring it on."
About
half hour into the game, Jake opens up to his father.
"There's
this one attending who really hates my guts. He blames me for
everything."
"Did you talk to your mentor about it?"
"They
gave me a first year resident as a mentor. What good would it
do?"
"So, you have an attending that picks on you and a mentor
that sucks. Welcome to real life, son!"
Jake smiles and replies
"I know, that's why I didn't mention it to you and Mom."
"This
attending, what type of crap is he blaming you for?"
"At
first, it was just picky stuff—not shaving, not having a clip on my
tie and stuff. Then, he started blaming me for patient care stuff.
Last week, I overheard him telling one of the department heads that
he missed the diagnosis because I didn't get a complete history of
the patient. It wasn't even my freaking patient! He was the one
who spoke to the patient."
"What's the plan?"
Jake
shrugs his shoulder and replies "ride it out?"
"How many
more weeks?"
"One more week of ER hell then I'm off to my
surgery rotation. Do you know Dr. Getz, Dad?"
House smiles and
nods at his son.
Jake reveals "he's like you in BWH. You know?
Brilliant but a little cranky. Anyway, he dislikes med students and
despises idiots even worst."
Begin Flashback
Dr. Getz is a world renowned Surgeon who marches to the beat of his own drum. In the halls of the BWH, he's like a rock star. And like any rock star, he attracts onlookers and hanger-on's. As head of surgery, he will from time to time visit patients before or after their surgery. But every month, he is force to do his rounds with a group of med students and residents following him around.
After
visiting a patient, Dr. Getz begins listing the patient's symptoms
and asks "any diagnosis?"
No one in the group replies since
they are too scared to get yell at, so Dr. Getz starts calling out
"you with a rim glasses on, what your diagnosis?"
Med student
#1 answers "sarcoidosis?"
"Are you asking me or answering my
question?"
Med student #1 stutters and shrugs his shoulder.
"Is
that an I don't know shrug or I'm an idiot or I'm gonna guess
shrug?"
After a few second of silence, Dr. Getz looks at the
group of nervous student and asks "is this the best that Harvard
medical school can offer?"
He points at Jake "you, tall guy at
the back with the ugly orange tie."
Jake asks "me?"
Dr.
Getz rolls his eyes and asks "god helps us all if there's another
med student that's wearing that same hideous tie."
Jake
blushes but quickly recovers and answers "sir, I think the patient
has Lupus."
Dr. Getz mockingly asks "why would you 'think'
that?"
"Aside from the classic symptoms of muscle pain, fever,
and chest pain that you mentioned, I noticed the butterfly rash on
his cheek as well as his purple fingers."
Dr. Gentz tauntingly
asks "are you sure? Or are you just spewing some of those big words
that they teach you at Harvard?"
"No sir. I need to run a few
lab tests to verify my theory."
"And what expensive test will
you be running to verify your theory?"
"CBC, ESR, ANA, SSA,
SSB, skin
biopsy and kidney biopsy."
Dr. Getz smirks and replies "the
good news is…you'll probably just save the man's life. The bad
news is…he'll probably have to spend the rest of his life paying
for the medical bill that the hospital will be charging him."
After
the round, Dr. Getz turns around and says "the show is over and
everyone is dismissed! If you get lucky enough, you will never have
to see me again. Oh, except for the guy with the ugly tie. I want a
word with you."
Jake hangs around as Dr. Getz barks order to the
resident to page Dr. Schumer, the attending.
Dr. Getz asks Jake
"what's your name son?"
"Jake, Jake House."
Dr. Getz
smiles and asks "fourth year and you selected a rotation in the
ER?"
Jake strummers and replies "not exactly, they had a
scheduling mix-up."
Dr. Getz nods and asks "when will your ER
rotation end?"
"In three weeks."
"Then what's
next?"
"Hopefully, a rotation in surgery."
"If your
surgical skills are as sharp as your diagnostic skills, it's not a
problem."
Jake's face lights up in a smile and exclaims "thank
you sir."
"Good. I want you to personally report to me in
three weeks."
"It will be my honor, sir."
Dr. Getz raises
his brow and adds "and be sure to get rid of that hideous
tie."
Jake smirks and asks "what tie? It'll be in the trash
after my shift."
End
Flashback
House
asks "I thought Getz disliked med students?"
"He does and
according to Sandy he doesn't mentor med students. So, I'm not
sure what I'll be doing for him. One thing is for sure, he'll be
better than the idiotic Schumer that I have to deal with
everyday."
"Schumer? Was that the same attending that Getz
called after your rounds?
"Yeah, why?"
"Was the lupus guy
his patient?"
Jake hits his forehead with his palm and exclaims
"holy shit! You think Schumer misdiagnose that patient too?"
"And
Getz probably chewed him out and mentioned that a med student
diagnose it correctly standing three feet away from the
patient."
"That would explain why Schumer hates my
guts."
House reaches over and gently lifts his son's face.
"Listen to me, there will be lots of schmucks like him in every
hospital and you will never please them. What matters most is what's
in here" as House points to Jake's heart. "Always, always do
what you think is right for your patient and everything will fall
into places."
After a
few minutes, House asks "by the way, who's Sandy?" thinking
that his son has found another girlfriend.
"She's the head
nurse administrator at BWH and an old friend of
Mom."
"Really?"
"Yeah, she's awesome. I'm sure
gonna miss her when she leaves."
"Where's she going?"
"She's
retiring next week."
"How did your Mom know her?"
"She
was a nurse back when Mom was a resident at Mass General. She
apparently even babysat me. Ain't that something? What a small
world."
House grins and replies "small world indeed."
***
While
Emma and Harry are busy putting the twins to bed, Rachel and Wilson
start chatting in the family room.
Wilson asks "House mentioned
that you're a photographer."
"Yes, I'm a photojournalist
for the National Geographic."
"National Geographic? Wow! You
must be very good."
"I do okay."
"So, what's your
specialty? I'm not even sure if there's such a thing in
photography."
Rachel smile and nods "actually, there is. Mine
happens to be nature and animals. And you?"
"I'm an
oncologist. Just boring cancer stuff so let's talk about your job
instead."
Rachel laughs and replies "well, I have the best job
in the world. I get to visit exotic places, meet interesting people
and the best part is…it's at my company's expense."
Rachel
and Wilson hit it off so good that they completely lose track of
time.
They don't even notice House walking in nearby until a
blanket hits Wilson on the face.
Wilson yells "House!"
He
innocently asks "what? I'm just giving you your blanket. Lise
already made the sofa bed down in the basement for you."
Wilson
simply rolls his eyes and replies "Thank Lisa for me."
House
nods and warns Rachel "Wilson here is a serial marrier. No matter
how much he tries to sweet talk you into marrying him, say just
no."
Wilson exclaims "House! We just met."
"I know.
Since she's my sister-in-law and you're my best friend, I figured
I would get that out of the way. Good night!"
TBC
***
As always, I do appreciate all types of feedback, it's the only way I know if you love, hate or even reading this story ;-)
