CHAPTER 3: ATTEMPTED TEAMWORK, INTERRUPTED
Robert Chase rubbed his eyes and stretched, almost falling from the couch on the floor. He wondered, momentarily, how on Earth had he ended up there and then it all came back to him. Yesterday evening, he was sulking and reminiscing about Cameron, then House had called and announced he was gonna be out of town for a couple of days, placing him in charge. Then, he somehow managed to take Martha Masters out for dinner. And what a dinner it was!
Chase recalled how, contrary to her request, he kept refilling Masters' glass with whiskey, until she was completely drunk and slurring. He'd then called for a cab, being too drunk himself to drive. Not knowing where his colleague stayed, he had them both driven to his place.
When in the cab, Masters had passed out and, no matter how hard both Chase and the cab driver tried, she stubbornly refused to wake up. In the end, Chase had to carry her all the way to his bedroom, gently placing her on his bed and taking the couch, not even bothering to remove his shoes.
He glanced at his watch, noticing that he should be in the hospital already. Grunting, he got up and went to check on Martha, still soundly sleeping. Let's make some coffee first and then wake her up, he thought.
Indeed, he made them both some coffee and subsequently headed for the bedroom. Sitting on the foot of the bed, he lightly prodded her shoulder, saying, "Masters? Masters, wake up, it's too late already!".
The red-headed prodigy stirred and, after emitting a soft moan, opened her eyes, then squeezed them shut and opened them again. "Good morning", Chase said in a warm tone.
"Ch-Chase? What the...? Where am I?", she muttered. "At my place", he answered, clarifying, "yesterday, when we went out for dinner, it's all my fault, really, you got so drunk you couldn't remember who you are". "Ugh, my head's pounding", she said. "Here, drink this", he handed her the cup containing her coffee.
"Mhhh, I don't like it this way", she grimaced, but drained the cup nonetheless. "Last night, did we do anything that...?", she asked, her voice faltering, but Chase reassured her, "No, nothing happened. You passed out in the cab".
"Phew", she exclaimed, feeling very awkward. "I guess I need some more coffee", she requested, adding, "but not too bitter".
"At your service", Chase said humorously and went to fix her another cup. Martha yawned and looked from the window, taking in the view. Chase's apartment was spacious enough, especially when compared with her own modest place.
"And here you go", Chase returned with the coffee she'd requested. Not wishing to delay anymore, the young prodigy gulped it down and said "Thanks" to the surgeon. "We gotta be going. Diagnostics needs its doctors to properly function", Chase mused.
"I guess so", she replied. "Since none of us has a vehicle available right now, I suggest we catch a cab to go to the hospital", he suggested, to which she nodded.
All the way to the hospital, they were both silent. Chase often looked towards the redhead prodigy, whose features were improbable to read. Was she feeling apprehension? Was she feeling bad for allowing her defences to lower for a moment and went out with him? Or maybe she was feeling just uneasy because she'd shown him a side of hers quite unlike the perfectionist professional she presented herself as?
Martha, truth be told, didn't exactly know what to think or how to feel. Until yesterday, she had never bothered to really contemplate on Robert Chase's character. Naturally, as a woman, she couldn't help but feel scandalized over his numerous liaisons and affairs, but her interactions with him had been strictly professional up to now. Then, yesterday, for a reason she wasn't able to determine, upon seeing him rather depressed, she'd asked him what was troubling him. She remembered the conversation that had transpired between them. Yet, although every word they had exchanged was etched in her memory, she still felt as if everything was blurry and uncertain.
The driver announced "We're there", snapping them both out of their thoughts. After Chase had paid for the cab, they hurriedly entered the hospital building through the main door.
In Diagnostics, a relatively nonchalant Dr. Cheng was sitting on her customary chair, but seeing their Dean of Medicine, Dr. Cooper, standing behind Cheng's chair made them both feel very nervous.
"So, that is how my doctors act? It takes only one day of House being absent and the entire Diagnostics team goes AWOL?", he said, in an irked tone.
"I can explain", Chase replied. "Yesterday evening, House said he needs to be out of town for some reason and...", he started saying, but Cooper cut him off, stating, "I know that since yesterday. House called me and requested a short leave, which I granted. But, you, Dr. Chase, and you, Dr. Masters, I'm very disappointed". "It's not Dr. Chase's fault", Masters stepped in.
"Pardon me?", Cooper asked. "Yesterday evening, my roommate called me when I was getting ready to go back home and said she wasn't feeling well. Dr. Chase was in the conference room at the time and asked me why I looked distraught. I... I explained what my roommate said and he offered to examine my roommate and determine whether she had some serious disease. Fortunately, this wasn't the case, but both me and Dr. Chase had to stay up until late to ensure everything was alright with her", Martha Masters uttered the whole fib without any hesitation.
"This changes things a lot", Cooper said, dead serious. "You both did your duty as doctors. Although, if an emergency like that one occurs again, just call or leave a message. I don't want to search all around the hospital for missing doctors", he added and excused himself, going back to his office.
"You... You just lied", Chase blurted out, utterly stunned. "Blame the fact that I've been working with House all this time", the young prodigy responded, Chase's gaze still fixed upon her. "It's fun to break some rule or tell a little lie every now and then", she shrugged, something resembling a smile forming on her face. Who are you and what have you done to Martha M. Masters?, Chase wanted to ask, but instead he remained silent for a moment, then said, "Thanks".
"You're thanking me for... What exactly?", the young brainiac asked. "For convincing Dr. Cooper that we had a serious reason for arriving that late at work, of course", he replied.
"Fun or not, though, it was still... scary. I still don't like lying, but I guess it was... necessary", she mused. "I know how hard it was for you to lie, and I thank you twice for this", the surgeon said in a most sincere manner.
Hearing him say thanks and look straight at her with those wonderful, blue eyes, almost made Martha melt. The blush which she vainly tried to suppress appeared again, her cheeks turning red once more. "It's... It's nothing, really", she managed to say.
"Just out of curiosity", Chase tried to somewhat change the topic, "what were you about to suggest last night, before I took the initiative to invite you to dinner?". He asked her as if Cheng, who was absorbed in the file in front of her, wasn't there. "Yesterday and today, the Museum of Natural History hosts a documentary about some important paleontological discoveries", the redhead replied. "I was thinking you'd want to attend and learn something, but then I decided not to mention it anymore, because it's... well, one of my quirks", she remarked. "Hmmm, maybe it's time I brush my dino knowledge up", the surgeon responded, further stating, "if you'd still like me to accompany you".
Martha swallowed, unable to cope with the rising lump in her throat. "Ummm... In fact... Yes, why not?", she muttered, having again been rendered unable to complete a single sentence.
"Sorry for toning your conversation down, but there's a case we need to tackle. A Mr. Ridgeway, in his mid-forties, started bleeding profusely from his nose and ears while purchasing a diamond ring for proposing marriage to his fiancée", Cheng interrupted them. "Oh, of course", Chase was snapped back into reality by the remark of his other team fellow. "Let us see what Mr. Ridgeway has and how we can cure him", he added.
They both took their seats and started perusing the file, but not before Chase and Masters had exchanged a deep and longing look. It seemed that the case wasn't a very difficult one, at least not for those doctors who'd spent that much time around Gregory House. They were able to narrow down the list of the possible diseases to four, Chase using the customary whiteboard, Cheng trying to match the symptoms to each disease and Masters eliminating the options that looked wrong, looking every bit the dedicated professional, with not the slightest indication that she had started to think of Chase in a different manner. They were nearing total agreement, when a knock on the door interrupted the process.
"Come in", Chase stated. The door opened and an elderly lady walked in. "Good morning", she said, "is this the office of Dr. Gregory House?". "Yes, this is his office and we are his team fellows. This is Dr. Chase, this is Dr. Cheng and I'm Dr. Masters", the young prodigy answered, further stating, "unfortunately, Dr. House is currently absent. Would you like to give us your name so that we can inform Dr. House you were seeking him?"
"Certainly. I'm Blythe House, his mother. Do you happen to know where my son is now?", she replied, surprising all of them.
"He told us yesterday that he has some urgent personal business to attend to", Chase explained, adding, "sadly, we do not know when exactly is he going to return. Would you like us to tell him anything more?"
"Tell him that I'm currently staying in Majestic Hotel and that, when he's back from his business, he must come and see me", she informed them.
"Alright, we are going to update him as soon as possible", Masters answered, while Cheng was jotting down Blythe's temporary address.
"Thank you", the elderly woman replied. She turned to leave, but then she uttered a yelp, stumbled and fell down. Everybody in the conference room was utterly stunned.