Wow, that was an insane amount of reviews I got! Thanks for the info., praise and constructive criticism, you guys!
Mollisk: Thanks for the info., and I probably should have known all that stuff before. I started watching regularly a little bit before the season finale. And almost everybody uses the "beat someone with his cane" thing! But yes, that is very harsh, and we should all come up with a different way for House to threaten people. :P
Dyslexic Crayon, Linz005, irock708: Thank-you for the delightful encouragement; it made me feel all fuzzy and warm inside. (I love your pen-name, too, Dyslexic Crayon! Very creative.)
Jeevesandwooster: Relieved Thanks for the info. I know this is mean, but I'm glad the marriage is rocky. Makes it a lot easier in case I want to turn that into a romance…:P You never know what could happen! And I'm sorry, this is going to be so confusing, because in order for the entire story to make sense, you have to read it until the very end. You don't find out what she has, why she has it, whether she really IS House's daughter, what he's going to do about it, etc. until the last few chapters. Hopefully I can write good enough chapters to keep it interesting for you!
runs with sissors, Amber Chase: I think I've got the Wilson/Julia relationship thing figured out, and I think it will please everyone (to an extent, anyway). I don't want to give anything away, but I'm pretty sure it won't disappoint you. :P Thanks for the suggestions; I really appreciate it!
Man, I'm on fire today! Maybe not talent-wise, but I've been posting chapters like mad. Here's chapter four, and this one looks like it will be VERY boring. Basically all that's going to happen is Cameron and Chase meet Julia, and Foreman's going to reintroduce himself. The end is the most important part because it leads you into the next chapter and if you don't read it, you won't know what's going on! (Well, now that I read it, you might know what's going on, but if you want to tell me what's what, you should read the whole thing anyway. :P) Thanks for stopping by!
"Knock, knock," Cameron said cheerfully, standing outside Julia Peterson's room.
"Come on in," Julia told her brightly. "I welcome all visitors. You could be Jack the Ripper, or the Son of Sam, or Osama bin Laden, for all I care. Your company is welcome."
Cameron giggled as she came into the room. "I'm Dr. Cameron, and I just wanted to come by and meet you. I'm one of four doctors that will be working on your case."
"I'm Julia Peterson, but I'm guessing you knew that," Julia replied. "I'd shake your hand, but I don't know if this thing is catching or not."
I like this kid, Cameron thought. She's got a great sense of humor. Very witty. She reminds me of…someone. "Hey, I work in a hospital," she said nonchalantly. "I have to practically eat disinfectant anyway. One more little thing won't hurt."
That said, Julia acquiesced and shook Cameron's hand.
"I just like to put a name with a face, and get to know the person whom I'm treating," Allison Cameron continued. "Health care can seem very generalized, but I don't see it that way. I think it should be very personal and suited to the individual we're treating. I want you to know we're doing everything we can for you."
Oh my God, Julia thought. She's like a freaking poster girl for the hospital or something. Very plastic, not much brain. Still, she's pretty sweet. If she can hold her own in a game of Spit, I don't care. Aloud, she said, "Thanks. I really appreciate that. I want you to know I have total faith in this hospital and the doctors that will be treating me."
"I promise everything will work out fine," Cameron vowed. "We're going to find out exactly what's going on and how to best treat the condition."
"Thanks," Julia said again. She'd never said the word much, and figured God was making her make up for it. "Look, I'm feeling a little sleepy, but I really appreciate you're stopping in. I'm not much fun when I'm not conscious, but if you'd like to come by later…"
"That's fine, sweetheart," Cameron said. Poor girl. She's so young and all alone in the hospital. I wonder where her parents are. "I'll be back in a few hours, and I'm sure the others will be in to introduce themselves as well."
"Alright," Julia acknowledged. "See you around."
As soon as Cameron walked out the door, Julia grinned. "Sweetheart." She thinks I'm a piece of fluff that's gonna get eaten alive if she doesn't take care of me. I feel sorry for her if she thinks I'm that pathetic. I've seen things that would give her nightmares when she closed those pretty little eyes. I hope Dr. House doesn't treat her too badly.
Oh, God. Her stomach dropped. House. Was he one of this team of doctors that would be working with her? She didn't know how she wanted it to be. She wasn't sure what she thought of him. Hell, she wasn't exactly positive she was ready to be let down by another person who was supposed to take care of her…
"Julia Peterson?"
She glanced up at the door and smiled immediately. A total and utter god stood in front of her. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed, tall and handsome. (The dark part wasn't exactly accurate; he was fair, all right, but she wasn't complaining.) And what a voice! She'd always liked men with accents. Australian. Very good.
"The one and only," she replied, hoping her voice, raspy from a month of continuous coughing, at least sounded more grown up, if not sexy. "Who might you be?"
"I'm Dr. Chase, and I'll be working on your case with a few other doctors. I just saw Cameron walk out of here, so I'm assuming you met her?"
"Yes, I did. Nice lady." Julia decided not to elaborate.
"She's very nice, and a good doctor," Chase agreed.
"I'm sure you're just as talented as she is," Julia told him. "You look like a good doctor." Inwardly, she was praising whatever higher power there was for giving her that seizure. I wonder if he's going to need to examine me later on…
"Oh, yeah," Chase said, laughing. "I'm the best."
"What an ego," Julia joked. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Chase."
"Back at you," he replied. Julia Peterson. Very pleasant, very cute. Julia Chase? It could work. "I'll be around a bit later. I understand Dr. Wilson drew some blood?"
"Yes," Julia confirmed. "It was for testing, I'm assuming, since it wasn't enough to be donated, and we're not sure my blood is exactly the best stuff right now anyway."
"Excellent. We should be able to tell you something within the next couple days, or at least rule out some conditions we think you have at this point," Chase told her.
"Sounds good." Julia coughed violently.
Chase winced as he listened. "That's a nasty cough you've got there," he commented.
"It is," she said. "But I've gotten used to it. I've had it a while, you know."
"Interesting," he said, frowning. "I can't honestly give you any predictions at this point, you understand. It's probably viral, but beyond that…" He trailed off.
"Hey, that's fine," Julia told him. "Do whatever you have to do, just don't yank my chain. I don't want to hear thousands of different things, then find out it's something completely different."
"Good luck," Chase scoffed. "That's the only way Dr. House works. He's a good doctor, but he likes to mess around a little bit before getting down to business."
Julia felt a wave of nausea crash over her. "Dr. House?"
"Yes, he's the physician leading the investigation." Robert Chase squinted at her. "Judging from the disgusted look on your face, I'd say you'd heard about his many misadventures."
"Oh, yeah," Julia said breathlessly, forcing a laugh. "I've heard a lot about him. As long as he figures it out sooner or later, I don't care. Just get me well, okay?"
"That's something we can do, Ms. Peterson. I'm confident of it." Chase glanced at his watch and sighed. "Look, I've really gotta run. Talk to you later?"
"Definitely," she said. Julia watched him leave and hoped he was beyond hearing when she let out a hysterical giggle. Holy crap, he was hot. If it wasn't the fact that she was 19 years old and no longer a stupid teenage girl, she might have flushed red during the conversation and acted like a child. Luckily, Julia was smarter than that. She knew it was his loss if he didn't like her. Well, maybe not, but if it made her more confident, she'd go ahead thinking it.
Julia decided it was time to take advantage of the cable television available to her. She didn't even the basic channels at home, because her family didn't own a t.v. Hell, they were lucky they could even afford a toaster, between her mother's inability to hold a steady job and her step-dad's insipid mentality that the woman should do everything from support the family to keep things clean…Well, she didn't have to worry about that. For now, anyway. She picked up the remote and aimed it at the screen…
"Julia Peterson?"
Damn! She dropped the remote beside her on the bed and glanced at the door. "I know you," she said. "Dr…Foreman, is it?"
"That's me," he replied, smiling.
"Great to see you again, under…better circumstances, I guess," she said, glancing mournfully at the television.
"I just wanted to come by and tell you –"
"Let me guess: You and your fellow doctors are going to do the best job possible in diagnosing and treating me. You promise everything's going to run smoothly, and you should be able to tell me something within the next few days," Julia said.
"You must be psychic," Foreman guessed.
Julia grinned. "Your colleagues beat you to it, I'm afraid."
"Of course." Foreman glanced down the hall, and Julia got the distinct impression he felt very uncomfortable.
"Hey, I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "I can be a little rude sometimes. I don't mean to be, I just get ahead of myself sometimes. This place makes me nervous."
"Ditto," he said. "I know it sounds like we're all saying the same thing, but we mean it from the bottom of our hearts. I believe in being honest with my patients," he told her. "That seizure you had could mean something or nothing. It could potentially be very serious. I don't want to leave you with a false sense of security, but I won't leave you without hope either. If you want the full picture, I'm a bit more reliable that Cameron and Chase, and a bit gentler than House."
"That's what I like to hear," Julia told him, wishing he would just go run some tests or something so she could find an interesting soap opera to watch. "I can tell we're going to get along very well, Doctor Foreman."
"Very good," he said. "I've –"
"Got to run, but you'll be around to check on me later," she interrupted. "Oh, my God. I did it again, didn't I?"
Foreman laughed. "It's fine. It's a real eye-opener, too. We'll try to be more original. See you later."
I think that's everyone, Julia said, counting the doctors in her mind. Finally!
She flipped on the t.v., settled on The Young and the Restless, and lost herself in the mindlessness of the media.
"House?"
"House?"
"Dr. House?"
"The one of you that called me by my proper title, step forward."
Cameron glanced at Chase and Foreman, then walked up to House.
"Oh. You. How may I help you, Cameron?"
Cursing him silently, she said, "Do you have the blood Dr. Wilson collected? We need to start testing it."
"Blood?" House repeated, stalling. Damn, I took the blood! "I must have dropped it somewhere."
She eyed him suspiciously. "What's going on? You never blame anything on yourself."
"What? I'm human, too. Can't I make mistakes? Or are you always going to hope I'm perfect so you don't have to worry about what you do?"
"Whatever. I don't have time for this. I'm gonna go get another sample."
"Hold on," House said. He couldn't believe he was doing this. "I'm going to get it. I lost it, therefore it's my responsibility."
"You're kidding," Cameron said. But he was already gone.
House climbed off the elevator, mentally doing the sign of the cross. He didn't want to see the kid again, wanted nothing to do with her, but he needed to warn her. He needed to make sure she wasn't going to slip up and say something stupid in front of the others. Especially Wilson, if he felt like coming by to check up on her, like he did with a lot of his more attractive female patients. That's all he needed, the entire hospital laughing at him. Father House. It was such an oxymoron, it was all he could do to keep from bursting out laughing.
He let himself into the room, not knocking, not saying her name, not introducing himself.
Julia, though appearing surprised, didn't say anything either, but flipped off the t.v. She stared at him as he grabbed a syringe.
House felt her eyes on him, and didn't know what to do. He felt trapped for the first time in his life. He wanted to make an impression, but he wasn't sure what kind. Careless? Menacing? Fatherly?
"What?" he asked, sounding slightly harsher than he intended.
"May I help you?" she asked.
"You don't have to do anything but sit back and do as I tell you. If you cooperate, maybe we can get you out of here faster. Then we never have to see each other again."
"That won't erase me from your mind," she told him reproachfully. "You can tell yourself it doesn't bother you all you want, but it does."
"What are you, psychic?" House wanted to know.
"That seems to be Dr. Foreman's opinion," she giggled. "By the way, I think I kind of hurt his feelings earlier. If you could apologize to him for me…"
"You're not my child if you feel like you have to say sorry to anyone," House said as he cleaned her finger. "I can see I have a lot to teach you about the ways of a House."
"Look, I don't have to be just like you," she spat at him angrily.
"You already are." They were silent as he drew her blood. "I'm running a paternity test now, you against me, to see if we really are related. Now, just what would you expect from me if I end up being your father?"
"A birthday card once a year," she said. "Don't put your name on the front of the envelope. It'll send Mom straight to the bottle again." House glanced at her. "That's right. It wasn't all your fault. It's mostly my step-dad's. You think you're bad? You have no idea."
"I guess I can handle that if you'll fund a nice room for me at the old folks' home when I retire," House conceded. "Maybe this fatherhood thing won't be so bad after all."
Julia grinned. "I'm happy to hear that."
This might have turned into a beautiful moment, were it not for the sudden sound of a man's voice. It was yelling outside of Julia's room, demanding something, unaccustomed to not getting its way.
"I want to know where she is!"
Shit. Julia's heart caught in her throat.
House saw her go pale. "What?" he asked. "Are you going to –"
"Don't let him in here," she whispered, gazing at him helplessly.
"Too late," House said apologetically. "He's heading this way."
Wow, that wasn't as fun as the other chapters, at least in my humble opinion. Next one will be better! In my defense, I'd like to say I'm exhausted from having lots of summer fun outside. :P I'd love to hear what you have to say if you've got any ideas! Thanks for reading!