Sessions 52: Big Brother House
He received a text message about an hour later. "Time out, " he said and reluctantly took his hands off the foosball paddles to remove his phone from his belt.
::omg so bRd. Cn u cOm K3p m3 cmpny??::
He stared at the phone looking at it like it was some kind of foreign code. "What the hell does this say?" he asked showing Thirteen the phone.
She peered at it confused for a second and then smirked at him. "Oh my god, so bored. Can you come keep me company?" she translated shoving it back at him.
"Is it really that hard to just type in what you want to say?" he asked dumbfounded. "That's what T9 is for."
::No:: he responded back.
"If you weren't so old, you'd get it, " she said with a smirk slamming the ball into the goal. "Yes!"
He frowned and dropped the ball back into play. "I'm not that old, " he objected. "I just don't speak pubescent girl. That's more your department."
"Oh, yeah, your cranky oldness has nothing to do with why you're in here hiding from a teenager, " she tossed back at him whacking the ball against the sideboards.
"I'm not her babysitter, " he complained. He stopped the ball with the foot of one of his guys and repositioned it so he could give a better shot.
"No, but would it kill you to reassure her that her grandma's going to be ok?"
He shook his head. "She's not going to be ok. She had a heart attack. They admitted her forty five minutes ago." He slammed the little sphere back toward her goal and she stopped it deftly with her forward. Damn he was having a hard time with his broken fingers. He couldn't control the second rail like he normally could. He was slow.
"So, you can still reassure her, she obviously trusts you, " Thirteen said. "Though lord knows why."
"I'm cute and cuddly, " he joked deflecting her shot.
"Yeah, must be that, " she muttered sarcastically. She grabbed the ball with one of the front guys and set up her next shot eyeing him under her thick lashes. "Seriously House, you should go see how she's doing."
He frowned and shook his head. He wasn't going down there to spend time with her, reassure her or anything else. It wasn't his thing to hold patients' hands. Or patient's families' for that matter. She should call Cameron or Wilson for that if she needed it. Besides, she wasn't even his patient anymore, she belonged to the cardiologist now. And they hated each other. Why would he want to go down there? They might run into each other. And that would be a whole snarling mess.
"Why does this matter so much to you, " he asked.
She shrugged. "It's scary being in a hospital when you don't know what's going on. She shouldn't have to be alone."
He was silent for a while as they continued to play. He figured that Thirteen knew all about what it meant to feel alone and scared. Her mother had died while she was still in her teens and she mentioned her father even less than she talked about her mother. The young doctor had probably spent a lot of time on her own in and out of hospitals and home alone. That had to be rough for a young girl, no wonder she was so guarded about virtually everything. Not that he really cared… because he didn't. Really.
"So Cate says you don't do anything for Thanksgiving, " he said casually setting up his shot.
"Nah, not really, " she replied with a shrug.
"How come?" he asked hitting the ball hard in her direction.
She glanced at him and then brought her attention back to the rotating players. "It's not really a mystery. Nothing to get your knickers in a twist about." She whacked it back to him.
"I'm just curious, " he said innocently.
"You're always curious, " she stated. "It's an affliction."
He slammed the ball back to her side and it ricocheted off of the backboard. She tried to gain control of it but couldn't. "Curiosity is nothing I can die from, " he told her.
"Didn't you ever hear the tale about how curiosity killed the cat?"
"I'm not a cat, " he said with a smirk. Not relenting he pried, "So what gives?"
She huffed a sigh and blew her bangs up out of her eyes. "It's no big deal. My mom's dead, my dad and I don't talk much. We do our own thing. End of story." she slammed the ball back at him as he sent it to her side. It bounced off the foot of one of his players and he sent it careening into her goal with a forceful spin of his defensive players. "Shit, " she exclaimed stomping her foot. Shit, he thought to himself. That little flourish fucking hurt. God, he was such an ass… He reached into his jeans pocket and popped two Vicodin before continuing. Thirteen smirked at him with a glance toward his broken fingers.
Ignoring her, House grabbed the ball from the housing and dropped it into play again. "You want to come by us, " he asked casually. Us… Now that felt interesting… It's been a long time since he referred to himself as an 'us'. It felt nice. Weird, but nice.
She glanced at him with her mouth open and he shot the ball straight past her players and into her goal. He looked at her in surprise when she did nothing to respond to either the shot or his question.
"What?" he asked suspiciously.
She closed her mouth and frowned, her eyes growing serious. "Um… I don't think so."
He drew his eyebrows together. "Why not?"
She blinked. "I don't know, I just…"
"What, " he pressed again. "It's just dinner with us and Wilson and Cate's dad. It's just another day."
She eyed him speculatively. "Why, do you want me to come?"
He pulled back and stared at her. "I don't care if you come. Cate wants you there."
She pursed her lips and crossed her arms. She watched him like she knew he was lying. Was he lying? He didn't even know… He really didn't care. He never cared about other people, why would he start now?
"Oh, well as long as you don't care, then I'll come…" she said with half a smirk.
"Good, " he said. His cell phone vibrated against his hip again. It was the cheerleader.
::I'm scared and lonely::
He sighed frustratedly because he felt this strong, armless tug pulling him to go down there. What the hell was wrong with him? Why did he give a shit about this kid? First, he's all sappy wondering about Thirteen growing up alone and then asking her to Thanksgiving dinner at his house. His house for crying out loud! He didn't invite people over. If they were over it was because they just showed up. And now he was actually going to go down to cardiology and babysit this girl. God damn, he's going soft. He picked up his jacket with the end of his cane and flipped it up to put it on. "Gotta go."
He was out the door to the doctor's lounge and on his way down to the third floor. He shook his head through the entire elevator ride. All thirty seconds of it…
She was sitting in the rock hard chairs in the waiting area outside of the nurse's station. Her feet were pulled up under her and she had fit her entire little body into the small seat. She rested her head on her hand as she texted with her other.
He came up along side her and sat on the edge of the chair next to her. He leaned his chin on his cane and looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Hey."
She smiled warmly and turned her body to face him. "Hi."
"Is Grandma in her room yet, " he asked looking for a way to start the conversation.
"Yeah, she's sleeping, " she said quietly. "How come you're not her doctor?"
"Because I'm not a cardiologist. I'm a diagnostician, I diagnose diseases that are really hard to find, " he explained in the simplest of terms.
She nodded. "That's cool. So you kind of get the mysterious illnesses that nobody else can figure out?"
He looked at her. Well apparently she was a little smarter than she let on. "Yeah, exactly." He looked around the lobby area of this cardiac wing and sighed. It was lunchtime and his foosball game had worked off the last of his chocolate cake from breakfast. "Come on, follow me."
He hobbled over to the elevator and punched the button with his cane.
"Where are we going?" she asked cheerfully next to him.
"Lunch." He answered not looking at her. "I'm hungry."
"Ok, me too, " she said tapping her foot impatiently as she waited.
The elevator came and they stepped inside. A couple of nurses were there and they averted their eyes pretending like they hadn't seen him. He ignored them and pushed the button for the first floor again.
"Why do people always do that, " Kara asked with humorous irritation.
"Do what?"
"Push the button again when they know that it's already been pushed?"
He slid her a sidelong glance. "I don't know. Who gives a shit?"
"It's annoying, " she said.
"Why do people ask inane questions?" he countered.
"I don't know, " she retorted. "Who gives a shit?"
He laughed. "It's annoying." The elevator dinged and they got off. The nurses headed in the opposite direction laughing as the disappeared down the hall. One of them murmured something about how the teenager should hang around him all the time and the other muttered something about it dislodging the enormous bug up his ass. Nice.
He led Kara through the line. It was getting a little crowded and than put him on edge so he pocketed two bags of cheese doodles before he made it to the sandwich counter to order his reuben. She looked at him like he'd stolen a car stereo and he simply shrugged at her and told her to pick out whatever she wanted. She chose a chicken Caesar salad with fat free dressing and a water bottle. He rolled his eyes disgustedly. She ate like every other woman he knew. Shaking his head, he pushed his tray over to the cashier. It was the same one from this morning. She frowned at him this time making a face when he motioned that he was paying for both since he had walked completely away before leaving Wilson with the bill last time. He made a face at her and then led Kara out of the cafeteria.
"Does everyone hate you?" she asked skipping to keep up with him.
"Yeah, pretty much, " he said going back to the elevators.
"Why?" she asked. Ah the innocence of children…
"Because contrary to what you think, I'm an asshole to everyone, which is fine with me because then people leave me alone, " he said. They entered the elevator and he pushed the button to his floor.
"I mean you're a grouch and all, but you're funny, " she said picking at the chicken on her salad. "and you're nice to me."
"Yeah, don't get used to it. I only do one charity case a day."
They got off at his floor and entered his office. She looked around the room with a little bit of awe in her eyes. He narrowed his eyes at her. "It's not the Taj Mahal, it's just an office."
"It's a really cool office, " she said taking the seat in front of his desk.
He moved the red and grey ball and some of his office supplies out of her way and indicated that she use the edge as a table.
"So, where's the picture of the girlfriend?" she asked looking around his desk area.
He looked at his sandwich. "No picture."
"How come?" she poked spilling the dressing onto her salad.
"What'd I tell you about inane questions, " he griped.
"Well, you should have a picture of her on your desk, " she told him like she was an authority on the subject. "And in your cell phone. Please tell me there's one there?"
"Eat your salad, " he ordered. She cocked her head at him disapprovingly at his deflection.
He dug into his sandwich and regarded her for a minute. "So where are your parents, " he asked around a mouthful of food.
She finished chewing her lettuce and took a sip of water. "They're working."
"They couldn't take time out to take Grandma to the hospital?"
She lowered her eyes. "They can't take time off work. They won't get paid."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why? Did they stop paying lawyers a salary? And go for hourly wage?"
She made a shamed face. "They aren't lawyers, they're janitors."
House was surprised by this. "But you live here and go to Princeton Prep."
"I'm there on scholarship and minority assistance, I fill some sort of quota, " she explained with disdain in her voice.
Well that was interesting. "Scholarship huh?"
"I was recruited out of my grammar school for academic decathlon and debate, " she explained.
He raised his eyebrows at that little tidbit. She didn't strike him on first meeting as the brilliant type. The debating type, for sure but, brains wasn't the immediate assumption after her little yeast infection fiasco. Go figure… "Nice. Are your parents janitors by choice or by circumstance?"
"Circumstance, my father's a physicist but doesn't speak English so no one here will hire him, " she said. "My mom didn't want to do nails like everyone else she knows. She speaks a little more English than he does. But we survive."
"What about your friends, the wonder twins? What do they think of your underprivileged society?"
She shrugged. "They know but we just don't really talk about it. Because they know that I can't afford to go to a good college and their parents will like pay for everything. It sucks."
"Where do you want to go, " he asked. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"I want to be a doctor and go to Columbia in Manhattan, that's like my dream school but, I'll probably wind up going somewhere in-state like UMDNJ or Rutgers."
Doctor, huh? Very interesting. "UMDNJ's not Johns Hopkins, but it's not a bad school, " he said. "That's why they have financial aid. I paid my med school loans off for like ten years after. But then again, I wouldn't base your future on me, if you land a really good gig afterward, and are smart about it, you could pay them off in maybe five." He grimaced at himself. Was he just giving her advice? What the fuck?
He finished the last of his sandwich and leaned back in his chair lacing his hands behind his neck. He was beginning to get comfortable when he heard the familiar click clack of the She-Devil as she came from the direction of Wilson's office. She had on a lime green sweater today with strange looking beads on the front accompanied by her usual ass flattering skirt in black. Her cleavage jiggled as she bounced in on her pointed shoes and he was disappointed that they no longer did anything for him. He had prettier breasts at home, fuller and rounder, soft to the touch… He blinked his eyes to clear that thought from his mind and took a breath. Looking down past his feet, he spied the pile of blue folders on the floor under his TV and pushed them further back with the tip of his cane so she wouldn't see them.
"You're case load has been almost non-existent lately, " she said coming into the office without preamble.
"Okay… isn't the goal to make people all better so they don't need us, " he said. "Because I remember taking some sort of oath about that."
"Yes, " she said tempering her speech like she would if he were three, "but there are plenty of other sick people that you could be of service to. They all don't have to be afflicted with some dangerous disease of the week. We're not on television, you know." She turned to look at Kara who sat quietly eating the rest of her salad. His new little buddy smiled a fake little smile at Cuddy and waved. "Who is this?" Cuddy eyed him suspiciously and lowered her voice. "She better not be another little teenage stalker, House."
Kara huffed and he waved her down. "Don't worry, she's just jealous. I won't let her call the cops."
Cuddy eyes went wide. "House!"
He made a face at her. "She's not a stalker. She happens to be the granddaughter of a woman I admitted for a heart attack this morning. I'm keeping her company for a while."
Cuddy narrowed her eyes at him like he had some kind of ulterior motive.
He laughed. "It's the truth." Cuddy looked at the girl who nodded her head in affirmation.
Cuddy placed a hand on her hip and turned back to him. "Fine. But, you owe me clinic hours for this week and I need your charts filed. I can't have Cameron come back to do them for you again. You either need to do them yourself or have one of your four musketeers do them. By Wednesday got it?"
"But Moooommmm, That's only two days, " he whined.
"Wednesday, " she wouldn't budge. She went leave but the sound of his voice halted her.
"Did you just come from Wilson's?"
She looked at him over her shoulder and then turned to face him again holding back a grin. "Yes."
"Did he mention anything in particular?" he asked casually.
She fixed a cocky grin on her face. "Maybe."
"Well?" he asked hoping she wasn't really going to make him say it. He was an idiot. Like she would ever take pit on him. He should know her better…
"He mentioned that you had something to ask me, " she told him in a baiting tone.
He rolled his eyes and set his jaw. She was going to torture him and if he didn't come home tonight with an answer from everyone, Cate was going to kill him. He stared at her for a long time trying to pull the jedi mind trick on her but his powers were a little off.
She smiled tauntingly. "If you say it, I'll give you until Friday."
"I'm not coming in on Friday, " he countered. He knew she wasn't either.
She arched an eyebrow at him. "Monday."
He glanced at Kara who was watching the entire battle of wills intently and he choked down his pride. He really didn't want to piss Cate off. And she told him she'd be mad if he didn't do this small tiny thing for her. Small tiny thing, his ass… but after what he put her through last weekend he owed her a hell of a lot more than this. And, who was he kidding? He wanted a chance for sex sometime very soon. "Cate was wondering if you didn't have plans for Thursday…"
"Thursday is Thanksgiving House, " Cuddy said like he was an idiot.
"I know, which is why I'm even talking to you about this, " he groused.
"So what are you saying?" she said obtusely.
He scrunched he eyes closed and said it really fast like ripping off a band-aid. "We'rehavingpeopleoverforThanksgivingWilson'scomingYouwanttocome?"
"Aww, House, that's so sweet. Of course. I'd love to come." She tilted her head saucily to the side with a chuckle. "I already told Cate I'd be there. Charts are still due Wednesday, " she said with a little wink and retreated out the door.
"You're going to swim in boiling tar in the eighth circle of Hell after I kill you for that, you know…" he yelled after her and she waved dismissively over her shoulder in response. Kara simultaneously giggled and scoffed at the same time from her chair in his office. House shot her a look. "What are you laughing about?"
"Nothing." She denied wisely. She cleaned up her mess and tossed her plastic container into his trash. "I should get back to my grandma."
He rose from his chair. "Come on, I'll walk you back."
She smiled at him and let him lead them out the door to the elevator. Once they were inside he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. An idea popped into his head that would be beneficial for him and lucrative for her. "I have a job for you."
She looked up at him confused. "What?"
"I'll pay you a hundred bucks to sign my name to all those files under my TV, " he said.
"Isn't that like illegal, " she asked.
"I know you're signing them, it's a little different than forgery. I never write anything in them anyway, " he said.
"Okay, " she agreed easily. "I'll get them later after I see how my grandma's doing."
"Just don't make my signature all girly, ok?"
"Ok."
The elevator door opened and they walked down to her grandmother's room. He followed her in and checked the chart while she went to sit on the side of her grandmother's bed and spoke to her quietly in Chinese.
"Tell her not to talk too much, to just rest, " he said looking at the clipboard. O2 sats looked fine, she was on oxygen, nitroglycerine, streptokinase, heparin and beta-blockers. She was scheduled for angioplasty tomorrow.
"Everything looks good, " he told Kara and she translated. "Will your parents be by later?"
"Yeah, they get off work around six, " she told him. He nodded and put the chart back.
"The cafeteria is open until 7:00, " he told her, though he didn't know why he needed too, she could probably provide herself with dinner. "You have my cell number if you need anything."
"I won't bother you, " she assured him and he nodded. "I'll be by later to get the files." He limped out of the room. "And Dr. House?"
He stopped before sliding the door shut. "What?"
"Thanks."
He nodded once and closed the door. Enough with the overprotective fatherly act… He spent time with her, bought her lunch, gave her college advice and a job. Good Lord he needed a drink.
