Chapter 3 - Robert Chase

Equally tired and annoyed, Chase opened his eyes when the deafening alarm from his alarm clock roused him from his peaceful sleep. With a growl, he switched off the far too loud roar and turned around in his bed. While he was still thinking about the fact that he absolutely had to get up, otherwise he was in danger of falling asleep again, his senses were already clouded by the creeping dreams of the previous night and before he knew it, he sank into a pleasant sleep again.

If Chase had known what had happened after his shift last night, he would probably have been on his feet long ago and on his way to the hospital to see the situation with his own eyes. But for once he had left work even before Wilson's rapid departure and although he had also heard the news on the radio, it had never occurred to him for a second that his boss had been involved.

So it happened that on a sleepy morning that was supposed to be carefree, Chase woke up an hour late and immediately went to work, stressed and in anticipation of approaching reprimand from House. The first beads of sweat were already running from his forehead when the elevator finally opened the doors and he stepped onto the floor of the diagnostics department. To his amazement, however, he couldn't see his boss anywhere when he glanced hastily through the glass walls of his office. His colleagues, Park, Taub, and Adams, were all already there and had taken their seats at the large table in the main room.

When Chase entered, he didn't give them any time to say hello.

"Where's House?" he asked immediately, put his bag on one of the chairs and threw on his smock. House generally got to work later than his working hours told him to, but it was ten o'clock in the morning and he still hadn't shown up.

"I don't know," answered Taub, shrugging his shoulders as he looked through some of the files on the table, probably looking for a new case.

Chase dropped into the chair at the head of the table. At first he was relieved that his boss had probably not noticed his delay, but almost at the same time he was overcome by serious doubts. House might not be a very dedicated doctor and he bent and broke the rules whenever it suited him, but generally he liked his job and rarely escaped the chance of a new puzzle on a whim. If he didn't attend, there was usually a reason for it.

"Have you tried calling him yet?" Chase asked the group again. When Adams shook his head, he immediately took out his cell phone and started dialing his boss's number.

"He probably just overslept... just like you," Taub criticized bluntly and without looking up from his files. Chase ignored his comment as apathetically and was just about to type the last two digits of the phone number when the office door opened. Chase looked up, expecting to see House's grim expression, but instead Wilson was standing in the doorway and looking at the four members of the diagnostics department with an unease in his eyes that certainly couldn't mean anything good.

No sooner had Wilson entered and carefully closed the door behind him, when a disturbing silence fell over everyone involved. Chase knew that his premonition would soon come true and he hoped that House hadn't gotten into some mess again that his team had to box him out of so he wouldn't end up in jail again. Just a few days ago the electronic ankle cuff had been removed from him, but House wouldn't be him if he didn't try his luck at all times.

But Wilson's deeply sad look told of something else. House's best friend looked tired and exhausted, as if he had hardly slept, or only very restlessly, that night. Dark circles framed his narrow, brown eyes, which usually looked so friendly at everyone.

To Chase's astonishment, it was not Wilson who spoke first, but Adams. Her voice sounded concerned when she asked her colleague a question.

"I tried to get in touch with you yesterday after you left, but you didn't take the call. Tell us already, what's going on?"

Chase frowned in irritation. He didn't know that Wilson had left his job early. But undoubtedly this event had to be related to House's absence, the young surgeon concluded.

"There has been an accident," said Wilson after a few heartbeats of eerie silence. Chase realized that the words had a hard time escaping his lips. He knew it had to be about House.

"Is he okay?" He casually interrupted Wilson to relieve him of the burden of explaining that House must have been injured in said accident.

"He was admitted to the hospital last night," Wilson replied defeated.

While Park and Adams only made a brief, startled sound, Taub had raised his head attentively and was staring at Wilson. Chase felt the same, his eyes stunned, because all of a sudden he remembered the news he had heard on the radio and the scene that had been described as catastrophic and extremely grave.

"His wounds have been tended and his condition is stable, but he probably suffered a cerebral haemorrhage from a fall on his head. It could be treated, but... the permanent damage that he might have sustained cannot yet be foreseen." Wilson tried to get a firm voice, but he hardly succeeded.

Chase felt a wave of deep compassion for him. Fate was hardly kind to the friendly doctor, as it had only stolen his beloved girlfriend Amber from him in an accident, and now it was about to steal his best friend from him in a similar way.

"Can we visit him?" Park asked after a while of silence, getting up from her chair. Wilson looked at her and hesitated.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," he said unsettled and bit his lip. "As I said, his head may have sustained more damage..." He paused and stared blankly for a moment. "It seems ... he can't remember who he is right now."