Chapter 18 - Robert Chase

Chase couldn't understand why Wilson couldn't manage a smile. Why there were so many mixed feelings in his eyes, but no joy among them. After all those stressful, nerve-wracking moments, he'd thought Wilson would wish his best friend a little luck with his heart. And now here they were, witnessing happy House and not being happy for him.

Wilson didn't go on, he had turned away and his thoughts seemed to be elsewhere. His brown eyes stared blindly around the area. Chase thought he was avoiding Cuddy and House for a while until he met the gaze of his ex-superiors.

Tension emanated from Wilson as he and Cuddy stared at each other. Chase could only look back and forth between them and couldn't understand where the sudden dislike came from, which pulled through the corridor like an icy wind and only evaporated when the two doctors broke eye contact.

"What's going on here?" He looked at Wilson demanding. Not only was he not happy for his best friend, he even seemed reluctant to have him in this situation. Chase couldn't understand that. Didn't he always wish House would find more joy in life?

"She's not doing him any good," Wilson replied in a dry, husky voice. Chase frowned in surprise. His colleague's words sounded defeated and sad.

"I can't understand that. You asked her to come back and now she's here, spending time with him." Chase struggled to hold back the flicker of frustration inside him. It must not have been easy to get Cuddy to return. Now everything went well and it still wasn't right?

Wilson's heavy sigh prevented him from continuing. Instead, he listened.

"She doesn't intend to help," muttered his colleague, perplexed and with his nerves audible at the end. The indefinable expression on his face from before gradually changed, making his despair more evident. Chase still couldn't figure it out, though.

"I thought she came back to help," he replied doubtfully, and narrowed his eyes. Wilson spoke in riddles he couldn't understand.

"She did." Still he didn't look at Chase. "But she decided it would be better for House if he didn't get his memories back."

Chase blinked slowly a few times, reviewing the words in his head.

"She decided?" he repeated, confused. He didn't think she had a right to decide that.

Finally Wilson lifted his head and looked at him.

"She came to my office this morning," he explained again with a sigh. "There she said that she would not help us any further. That it would be best for House if he didn't remember, even if he wanted to."

In disbelief, Chase glanced back at House and Cuddy. Did she really say that?

Wilson, too, had averted his gaze again. Before Chase could even come to an answer, he lost himself in a monologue.

"I don't think that's right," he said softly. "It's not fair to make the decision for him."

Chase nodded slowly. He agreed, and now he could understand why Wilson wasn't happy about the two of them kiss. Because his own joy also waned.

"So you came to tell him?" Chase concluded, his words sounding like a statement rather than a question. Wilson wrinkled his nose in defense.

"Mhm."

But nobody moved. Chase stared at Wilson, Wilson stared at Cuddy and House, and the two were deep in conversation.

"So... are you going to tell him?" Chase carefully broke the icy silence. Now Wilson looked at him.

"How could I?" His voice sounded broken. His eyes were dull. "At the moment he has nothing... except for Cuddy." A heavy sigh was lost in the still air. "Can I take that from him too?"

Chase looked seriously at his colleague.

"He's got you."

Silence. He got no reaction.

Then the glass door of the office rattled and House and Cuddy came out, directly towards Chase and Wilson.

House opened the conversation with a demonstrative yawn. "It's late. We should go home, don't you think?" He said to Wilson. It stung Chase that he sounded so pleased. At the same time he was annoyed that he couldn't be happy for his boss.

Wilson nodded, but his real focus was no longer on House. Chase was downright scared of the mood. Cuddy and Wilson stared at each other like two predators mutely threatening each other. The air between them was under high voltage, although no one said a word. House noticed that too.

"Hello? Everything okay?"

Suddenly the tension dropped, Wilson bravely undermined his anger and turned to his friend.

"All's great."

Chase frowned. He forbade himself to step in and explain the situation. Maybe he didn't dare. He could well understand Wilson's concern for his best friend's mental health. He always had been, and right now it seemed all the more important that House didn't sink into depression. Right now that they had a chance to save him from all the shit that had plagued House in his former life.

The young blonde said goodbye to the two doctors when they turned to leave and shortly afterwards disappeared behind the automatically closing doors of the elevator. Cuddy and Chase stayed behind.

"You're making a mistake."

He wasn't looking at her as he said this, but he could feel her gaze on him.

"So he told you..."

Chase nodded. Cuddy sighed.

"When did you all become House experts?" Her voice was sharp, which made Chase look a little scared. He still forced himself to be calm.

"Whenever it came to a patient on whom House forced any test or treatment, you were the first to hold him back," he muttered slowly, carefully watching the reaction of his ex-superior.

"And now I'm doing what House always did. The right thing." Cuddy was as confident as ever.

"And you get the same headwind as he usually does."

They exchanged looks for a long time. What had to be said was said.