Chapter 44. And The Day Goes On
Prissy had been waiting silently while House had his photo taken for his badge, and then she insisted on showing him the way back to his office. He would have liked the opportunity to explore on his own, but decided he'd do that later. There was still one stack of resumes to laugh at waiting on his desk.
"Can I get you anything before I go?" the young woman asked him, making him wonder if she was using him as an excuse to stay away from her boss a while longer.
"No, nothing," he said, settling into his desk chair. Maybe if he were the type to take pity on her he would have come up with a laundry list of things he wanted, but he scratched his neck and settled for, "On second thought, is there a coffeemaker around that I can have for my office? And the supplies to go with it."
"Oh!" she said, a bright smile spreading across her face. "Sure. Give me a few minutes and I'll bring you one. And I'll even make you a pot of coffee."
House watched her go, and then immediately forgot about her. He tackled the last pile of applications, opening one folder, scanning the cover sheet, squeezing his eyes tight, closing the folder, tossing it on top of the discards, and causing an avalanche of paper. Without making a move to pick it up, he moved on to the next one.
He glanced up when Prissy reentered with a two-cup coffeemaker and a small box of supplies. House made a mental note to pick up a larger appliance before he returned the next day. The young woman set to work and soon had a cup of steaming hot coffee for him.
"How do you like it?" she asked.
He told her, and she brought over the cup after she'd added the milk and sugar. House thanked her before sipping it and practically spit out his first mouthful. Why couldn't anyone else make coffee like Cameron did?
Prissy picked up the fallen files, and he thanked her again, but with nothing else to do for him, she reluctantly left.
House set the coffee aside, hoping the hospital cafeteria made a better brew. He was able to finish reviewing the rest of the applications before lunch, and sat back in his chair, swiveling it so he could look out the window. If these were the only applicants he'd have to pick from, he wasn't sure he'd made the right move to accept Meisner's offer.
Before he went looking for the cafeteria for lunch, he pulled out his phone and selected Cameron's cellphone number from his contacts. She didn't answer until it had rung twice.
"Busy?" he asked, thinking that would be the only reason she wouldn't answer sooner.
"You can say that again."
"Busy?" he complied, making her laugh.
"So how is your first day going?" Cameron asked.
"If I come home with papercuts, you'll know why!" he said. "You don't have any benefits at the clinic, do you?"
"Benefits? You mean like health insurance?" she asked. "No. None."
"OK," he said. "I'll put you on mine."
"House? Are you sure you want to do that?" She was dumbfounded that he'd even think of it. "Can you?" she wondered aloud.
"Let 'em try to stop me," he told her.
She was silent as the import of what he was saying sank in. But finally she had to say something. "Any good applicants for your team?"
House groaned. "Depends on your definition of 'good'. I can't believe what some people will put down on a resume! Or rather, I can, but I'm still astonished. Of the thirty or so applicants, I easily whittled the possibles down to five, and I'm not so sure about any of them."
"But you'll interview those five?"
"I guess I'll have to. Too bad Wilson's not around to ask appropriate questions. I'm afraid mine won't be appreciated. They could scare off the ones I really want."
"They didn't scare me off," Cameron said, then hesitated before offering. "Did you want some help? I can go over the five with you tonight, and help you come up with questions for them."
"Do some role play?" he pondered aloud. "That might help, although I had better things in mind to do with my evening."
She chuckled. That sound, even over the phone, sent a warm feeling through House. "I'm sure there'll be time for both," she said.
"I'll hold you to that," he said. "I'm off to find out how bad the hospital food is."
"I'm sure you'll find something to eat," she said.
"See you later, and don't work too hard."
"Bye, House."
He closed his phone and headed out his office door. He thought he knew the way to the cafeteria from his tour when he'd come to see Meisner the first time. He was glad to find they hadn't moved it since then.
The place was full, as full as he'd ever seen the cafeteria at PPTH. He wondered if that was a good sign. As he walked to the food line he didn't see any empty tables, and he still didn't know more than a few people, none he was willing to eat with.
Maybe he could get some food and find an empty patient room to eat in . Better yet, there were bound to be a few patients in comas he could hide out with. But before he even paid for his lunch, he heard a voice calling him.
"Dr. House, why don't you join us?"
He turned toward the voice and saw Chet whatshisname, the doctor who'd made moves on Cameron before House showed up, and who'd also tried unsuccessfully to make a good impression on House the day he toured Mercy.
He was sitting with one other man and a woman at a table for four. House made a split-second decision and took the fourth chair. Time to start learning about what was going on behind the scenes in the hospital.
"This is Dr. Fulton, the head of Internal Medicine," Chet said. "And this lovely lady is Dr. Liz Meadows, everyone's favorite cardiologist."
"Is all the food here as bad as this?" House asked them, dropping the half a sandwich he'd taking one bite of.
Meadows smiled. "The hot dogs aren't bad," she said. "But don't tell anyone I said so." She was a slim brunet with green eyes and a pleasant smile.
"Have you selected your team yet?" Fulton asked. He was around House's age, maybe a little older, with silver gray hair and mustache. He appeared to be on the short side, but House couldn't be certain until he stood up.
"There were quite a few applicants," House told him. "It'll take a while."
"I would imagine there would be quite a few doctors who would like to work for the illustrious Dr. Gregory House." Chet said.
"First they have to prove they're worthy."
