Soo woke up with a start because Nellie had jumped on her bed. Nothing new or unexpected about that, really, since Nellie was completely unable to contain her curiosity for any length of time and Soo had been asleep the night before when Nellie finally got home. So now was the time of reckoning according to Nellie.
"So how was he?" Nellie asked without any further ado – and like the question was self-explanatory. Which it of course was, as Nellie was asking it.
"He sucked," Soo mumbled.
"What! No way," Nellie was shocked. "I refuse to believe that the man of my dreams would suck in bed. No way!"
"Well since I don't know what men you have had in your dreams, I cannot really comment on that," Soo tried to bury her head in her pillow. "But the man in my dreams sucked. Of course the reason for that could be that I was having a nightmare which ended with a ferocious beast attacking me in my sleep!"
"Oh, you," Nellie snatched the pillow from Soo and used it to hit her.
"Ouch!" Soo complained. "Why can't you just let me sleep? I'm sure I have at least fifteen minutes before I need to get up."
"No you don't," Nellie informed her. "You have to get up now or I will die of curiosity."
"If curiosity was fatal you would be dead at least seven times every day," Soo told her friend. "It's your permanent state of mind: dying of curiosity."
"Oh, please, pretty please," Nellie started to whine. "You have no idea of the rumours that have been flying around; you really have to tell me!"
"I think I have a pretty good idea of the rumours that have been making the rounds," Soo growled. "Dr. Cuddy came by to find out if there was any truth in them."
"Are you in trouble?!" Nellie was concerned.
"Of course not," Soo said. "I haven't done anything. Besides I got the impression that it was Dr. House who was on the firing line anyway. It was a good thing that I was able to account for my whereabouts for the night."
"Whereabouts?" Nellie sounded disappointed. "You mean you really stayed the night with Connie and the gang? You weren't with House?"
"No, sorry Nellie," Soo answered without the slightest regret. "I was not with Dr. House so I'm still right out of any details you would want to hear."
"Rats," Nellie pretended to be crushed with disappointment. "You don't have anything? Not even a kiss?" Suddenly she brightened. "Or second hand information? I mean you have been hanging around with him for three days now, surely you have seen or heard something."
"Nellie!" Soo sighed with resignation. "Put a sock in it. I don't know what Dr. Greg House is like in bed and I couldn't care less."
"I don't understand you," Nellie shook her head. "The sexiest, most interesting man in this whole hospital and you ... Are you blind or something? I know you are not a lesbian but there has got to be something wrong with you girl if those eyes don't do it for you."
"So far the only thing those eyes have done for me is petrify me! I swear he can read minds; and mine, he mostly finds wanting," Soo stated. Then she considered for a moment. "Though they are extremely intense..."
"There you go!" Nellie was delighted. "There is some hope for you yet, girl!"
"Not with Dr. House," Soo denied. "Just because I can sort of understand your fascination with his eyes, does not mean anything. He is not in the least interested in me – well in that sense, and I'm not interested in him."
"So what is the story then," Nellie asked, seriously for once. "You have avoided everybody's questions the best you can, but I'm not letting you out of this room before I get the answers. There are a lot more rumours going on than the one about the night before last. And if I'm to defend you I need to know."
"You can't defend me," Soo pointed out. "That's the thing about rumours. People who want to believe them believe them, no matter how many times you tell them the truth. And I have decided that I don't care. I know what I have done; I know what is going on, and the rumours ... people who believe them can go stuff themselves."
"Noble sentiments," Nellie agreed. "But very unpractical. I'm not saying you need to try and shut up the whole rumour mill, nobody can do that. But you need to tell your friends something, or else they won't know what to think."
"You may be right," Soo sighed. "I haven't wanted to talk about it because I don't know how I feel about it all. You have no idea what it is like! For the past three days the centre of my universe has been Dr. House and my Father. And it's scary and overwhelming and exciting and intense and exhausting and unbelievable. In this short time I have learned more about being a doctor than I ever imagined I could! Dr. House is a force of nature, and he drains you and invigorates you and he crushes you and yet, you learn more about yourself and your strengths and weaknesses than you though possible."
"Wow!" Nellie stared at her friend. "That sounds a lot more intense than any sex!"
"Well, it's better – and worse – than any sex I've ever had," Soo laughed.
"So how did you get him to take your Father as his patient, and why are you with him all the time?" Nellie asked.
"I told you that Father had an infarction, right?" Soo said.
"Yes. I know he had a heart attack," Nellie nodded. "I just can't see why that would interest House."
"It wasn't a heart attack," Soo corrected.
"No?" Nellie wondered. "What was it then? And how did you find out that it wasn't an infarction?"
"Nellie, Nellie, Nellie," Soo shook her head. "Are you really in medical school? Infarction is only heart attack when it happens in the heart! If it's in the lungs it's a pulmonary embolism, in the brain it is a stroke, you really should know all this. My Father's infarction was in his leg."
"Oh!" Nellie was puzzled. "That still doesn't explain why House got involved."
"House got interested because what happened to my Father was the same thing as happened to the golfer he told us about in The Lecture," Soo revealed. "Dad went to Princeton General with leg pain, they gave him painkillers and sent him home; when the pain came back they took him in, but decided that bed rest and antibiotics would solve the problem. Mother didn't want to worry me, so Father had been in the hospital for three days before I heard of it. When I went to see him and heard what had happened I was sure there was more to it and I insisted that he be transferred here, to PPTH. House agreed to take the case because there is some bad blood between him and the doctor who was in charge of my Father's case in PG, and because Father absolutely refused to let them amputate his leg or remove the damaged muscle surgically."
"Oh, wow!" Nellie's eyes were like dinner plates. "You are telling me that House is now trying out that treatment they didn't finish with that golfer? And your father is the test-patient?"
"Yes," Soo nodded. "And that is not all. The reason House is having me with him all the time, the reason he tells me everything about my Father's treatment, tests and condition is because I have Father's medical proxy."
"Are you serious?" Nellie couldn't believe her ears. "You mean that you can put a stop to the treatment any time? That you can tell Dr. House: NO!"
"Nellie, I thought you liked him," Soo couldn't help but laugh. "You sound like he was some kind of mad scientist who was practising human sacrifice or something and like my Father were his victim and not his patient."
"Yeah, well, some of the stories you hear about him are a little wild," Nellie looked sheepish. "Like performing autopsies on living people, or giving people medicine for something he doesn't even know they have because waiting for the test results would take longer than he likes, things like that, you know."
"I know," Soo agreed. "But regardless of what you hear, the patients do matter to him. But the cases he gets are different, unusual. He is the last doctor, you know, like Spes."
"Spes?" Nellie was puzzled.
"The goddess of Hope in ancient Rome? Also known as the Last Goddess, because when all else had failed your sacrificed to her. You did watch Rome, didn't you? At least I remember you raving about the guys in leather skirts and all that. Or was that the only reason you watched it and to avoid distraction you watched it on mute?" Soo tried to jog her friend's memory.
"Yeah I watched it, but I don't remember things and details like you do," Nellie said.
"Well anyway, that's House. When nobody else has found the answer the patient is sent to him. Sometimes there is no time for tests but you have to start the treatment right away and hope for the best. Most times he seems to do pretty well with that approach." Soo defended her mentor. "Mind you, if you come across him at the clinic, it is a bit different story."
"I hear he is awful to the patients," Nellie was all for vivid details.
"He can be brutal," Soo had to agree. "It's like watching an accident happen. You cannot do anything to stop it and you cannot look away either. But even there he still makes sure the patients get the care they need. They just don't get the consideration they deserve. Well, not all of them. He is not too bad with kids. Their parents, though, don't fare that well."
"I really envy you," Nellie sighed. "That sounds so much more interesting than boring lectures and exams and papers."
"I know, and if my Father's life wasn't in danger, I would be truly grateful for this opportunity," Soo said. "Now, I'm not quite sure what I feel."
"I hope the treatment works, you know," Nellie gave Soo a hug. "He will come out of it ok, and I really, really hope that he gets his leg back."
"Thanks, I hope so, too." Soo smiled. "But I tell you, no matter what happens; returning to normal, to those boring lectures and papers will be difficult. Though it could be a relief, too. I'm not sure how long my health can stand the rollercoaster I've been on for these three days!"
"So you are coming back to the rest of us then?" Nellie wanted to be sure.
"Of course," Soo told her. "Once my Father is out of danger and no longer House's patient, there is no reason for him to keep me around. In fact, I'm rather surprised he has kept me around even this long."
"Maybe he likes you?" Nellie said hopefully.
"He doesn't like anyone," Soo dismissed the idea. "But maybe he thinks I have what it takes to become a doctor."
"Why wouldn't he think that," Nellie wondered. "You are one of the best students in our class."
"I don't believe that matters to him so much," Soo thought. "You can learn things, do well in tests and write good papers, but still not know what you are talking about. I think it takes more to be a doctor than knowledge. House has it. I don't quite know what it is, but he has it. The something."
"How do you know you have it if you don't even know what it is?" Nellie sounded frustrated.
"I don't know," Soo pondered. She took a glance at the clock. "But what I do know is I better get going and fast or I will be late! Talk to you later."
"Ok," Nellie got out of the way. "At least I have now something to go on. You can fill in more details later. And try and find out something about HIM, you know, something interesting!"
"Sorry, Nellie," Soo laughed as she scrambled to get ready. "Not gonna happen!"