Housian Dynamics

A House fic by Merrie

Disclaimer: Fox? Never heard of them. House is and always has been mine. All mine. Didn't you see my name in the credits? You didn't? Well…I guess he's not mine then. Damn.

Summary: Dr. Gregory House is a genius when it comes to diagnosing mysterious ailments and illnesses. But what happens when he falls ill with an unexplainable disease himself? Will his team be able to prove their worth by working together without him in time to save him?

Characters: House, Cam, Chase, Foreman, Wilson, Cuddy, Vogler, etc. etc. If they're on or were on House regularly, they'll at least be mentioned in this fic.

Spoilers: Not really part of the canon since its AU, but Vogler's still around and House and Cameron have yet to go on "The Date."

Pairings: House/Cameron and House/Wilson friendship

Author's Note: Sorry for the wait! Now without further ado, the new chapter!

Rating: K+

Chapter Two

"This is definitely not the flu," Foreman announced with a deep frown as he and Wilson kept vigil over House's still form. They had been forced to give him a sedative to calm him down and now they were both standing watch not knowing what to do next.

Wilson's brow was furrowed as he reviewed House's chart. "But it is the flu. They ran his blood work awhile ago," he murmured, closing the folder with a sigh.

"Could it be another clot?" Foreman ventured thoughtfully.

Wilson shook his head. "I'm not sure. It could be anything at this point. Gather your team together. House'll probably get annoyed that we're worried about him, but I don't care about that right now. You've got to figure out what's wrong with him and fast because we can either keep giving him sedatives or get him off the Vicodin. You can imagine what he'll say to that."

"Yeah," Foreman said with a smirk. "'Over my dead body.'"

"It's not going to come to that," Wilson said resolutely.

Foreman nodded, regretting he had chosen such a phrase as they stood over House's too still form. "Are we going to tell Cuddy about this? She's going to find out sooner or later. Vogler too, although he'll probably think House is faking."

Wilson felt an urge to defend his overweight boss since he wasn't here to defend himself, but the truth was the man was an asshole who could more than fight his own battles. "You're probably right. But he's not. Even Vogler's not thick enough not to see that. And we probably should tell Cuddy. She couldn't already know by now though. Gossip travels fast here. No doubt one of the nurses already shared the news with her twenty best friends and their families."

Foreman nodded. "She already knows he's here anyway. And that means that Vogler probably knows by now too. I don't think she keeps much from him. And the fact that his arch nemesis while here in the hospital is sick will probably give him some sort of perverse pleasure."

"Oh come on. House isn't anyone's arch nemesis. You make him sound like some kind of character from a comic book," Wilson said with a slow shake of his head. "He's not. He's not infallible; he's not invincible. He can't even save himself." Each statement grew softer and softer until Foreman was straining to hear. He didn't really think that he was supposed to hear anyway, but he couldn't help but listen.

"Nonetheless, I think I should get him a cape," Foreman spoke up after a moment, startling Wilson into looking at him. "Something in blue to match his eyes don't you think?"

Wilson had been about to tear into Foreman for not listening to what he had just said-House was anything but a superhero-when he realised he was being teased. He shook his head and couldn't help but laugh at the absurd image House in a cape would present. "Thanks," he addressed Foreman, knowing an attempt at lightening the mood when he saw one. He had done it enough times himself. "That would just be encouraging him, though. He doesn't need any more encouragement."

"You're probably right. And he definitely doesn't need his ego to swell any larger than it already has. He wouldn't be able to walk."

"He'd probably make all of you call him 'Super House' or something," Wilson said with a small smile.

"With the ability to annoy all members of the medical profession and their patients in a single bound," Foreman added with a small smile of his own.

The two men stood in silence for a long moment, their eyes fixed on the prone form of their boss and friend. It was Wilson who turned away first although he clearly didn't want to. "I have patients," he said softly. "Find Chase and Cameron. Figure out what's wrong with him. I'll be in with you as soon as I can."

Foreman nodded. "We'll page you if anything changes."

Wilson sighed, turned and looked at House once more, and walked slowly out of the room, his steps heavy with worry and his shoulders hunched with helplessness.

ooo

Cameron stalked through the hospital avoiding everyone but cursing only one man: House. He infuriated her! How dare he be so glib about what happened? Didn't he know that she had been scared—she cut that thought off, not even wanting to admit to herself how she had felt to see him collapse to the floor of his office and not get up again.

People who she might have otherwise talked to—she always had a good word for the fellow members of her staff, even House—didn't even try and approach her upon seeing the stormy scowl on her face. A few whispered that House must be on the warpath again and that she was just too sensitive for her own good but she ignored them. Her bottom lip was fast becoming a gnawed, bloody mess as she fumed but she ignored that too. Why do I even bother? I should have just let him lie there. He obviously doesn't need anyone's help. Oh no. Pity the poor fool who attempts to comfort the invulnerable Dr. Gregory House. And pity further the poor idiot who falls in love with him…

Cameron halted her angry steps in the middle of a busy hall, a horror-filled look on her face. Oh no. Oh god no. I did not just say that. I'm angry. I'm not thinking straight. There is no way in hell I love House! Like, ok maybe I do like him a little. But love? Pull yourself together, Ally. You're not making sense anymore. Cameron lifted her chin and continued her stride to… Oh damn. She hadn't had a specific destination in mind when she had left House's room—she had just needed to leave—but now that she had come to her destination her face fell.

Gregory House, M.D. Department of Diagnostic Medicine. The letters practically mocked her from their place on the glass door standing innocuously in front of her. She wanted to throw something through that glass. One of the potted Phalaenopsis orchids littered about the hospital would have done the job but she couldn't bring herself to hurt one of the delicate flowers in such an ill deed. A large rock would be better suited for such a task.

Huffing a curse she did a quick left-face and walked to the door of the lounge and entered through it instead. This was really the last place she wanted to be right now, but apparently her own feet had had other ideas for this was where she found herself. She might have turned around and went somewhere else, but where? She didn't have clinic duty today and this place—as irritating as it might be to her right now—had become her sanctuary. She only wished it could somehow double as a sanctuary away from House but that was what the Clinic was for.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by the familiar sound of a marker squeaking on the dry erase board and looked up, half expecting to find House standing there writing out the symptoms of their newest patient. It wasn't House but Foreman, however and she found herself irritatingly disappointed.

"Cameron where have you been? I was just about to send out a search party. Didn't you get my page?" Foreman asked with a frown.

She had the grace to look a bit sheepish as she took a seat next to Chase and looked up at the board. She had turned off her pager, wanting to be alone for awhile. It wasn't a very intelligent thing to do but she hadn't exactly been thinking clearly either. "I'm here now. What's the case? Who's the patient?" she asked, waiting for Foreman to continue his symptoms list on the board. So far he had 'restlessness' and 'easily startled.'

Foreman and Chase shared a weighted glance and Cameron frowned and doubly cursed herself for having turned off her pager. What was going on?

"It's House," Foreman answered in an even tone after a minute of silence had passed.

"What?" Cameron asked incredulously, her mind refusing to accept this. If she did then she would fast become lost in worry and that could not happen. "Are things so slow around here that we're forced to diagnose a bout of the flu?" Her words were light but the emotion behind them was strained.

"It's something else than the flu. Dr. Wilson and I went to check on him and…and he just freaked."

"Freaked?" Cameron repeated Foreman's phrase with a furrowed brow. "Is that a medical term now? Tell me what happened, Eric."

"I'm getting to that," Foreman explained and turned back to the board. "First of all, he looked about ready to jump out of his skin when Wilson and I arrived. Granted, that's not usually an unheard of thing to be nervous in a hospital, but it is unusual for a doctor to feel this way." Foreman took a breath and looked at the board without really looking at it, seeming to become lost in memory. "He was agitated. Granted, House is more than often always agitated, but it was more than that. He was snapping at us as if we were to blame for every ill in the entire world."

Cameron sat and waited for Foreman to go on when he had fallen into silence, but apparently he seemed to be waiting for another interruption from her. When none was forthcoming, he went on.

"Wilson and I had to hold him down for god's sake. This was more than simple agitation. This was fear. Wilson talked him down and he was fine for a minute when he had some kind of mild seizure or muscle spasm. We weren't able to figure out which because Wilson had him sedated before we could get a straight word out of him."

"You sedated him? You shouldn't have done that," Chase said with a shake of his head. "Not with the Vicodin."

"It was our only option. We couldn't give him any more pain killers and we couldn't just leave him there screaming in pain either. We made a choice and took a chance," Foreman said with a frown. He hoped it had been the right one.

"Could it be another clot?" Chase asked after a long silence had passed in which each of them considered the facts as Foreman presented them.

"That's what I thought at first but we're not sure but I've scheduled him for an MRI this afternoon just in case," Foreman assured him after writing 'muscle spasm or seizure' and 'blood clot?' on the board.

Chase nodded. "That sounds like the most likely cause for now." He turned to his colleagues for agreement. Cameron and Foreman both seemed to consider it before they both nodded in silence. "I say we wait until we've gotten the results of the MRI back to worry. I'm sure it's not as bad as we're all thinking it is."

Cameron frowned at Chases' pointed stare as he said those words. Why did he assume that she was ducking for cover and imagining the worst when it came to House? Uh probably because you are, Allison. She told her inner voice to shut up and rose from her seat.

"He's still out of it," Foreman spoke up at her movement.

"What?" Cameron asked in confusion.

"House. He's not going to be awake," Foreman clarified.

"What makes you think I'm going to see House?" she asked with as close to an irritated scowl as she could manage.

Foreman just gave her a look that said he wasn't buying into her excuse. "He's in room 326 if you want to check anyway but…you already knew that," he said with a self-satisfied smirk.

Cameron didn't deign to answer that. She wanted to slap the smug look off of his face but that wouldn't help matters any. She turned on a heel and left the room in a huff, barely managing not to slug Chase on her way by as she heard him scoff.

ooo

Dr. Lisa Cuddy shuffled a stack of papers on her desk, valiantly trying to get enough work done so that she could finish before the graveyard shift arrived. Many people over the years had called her a workaholic; someone who lived and breathed what they did for a living and Cuddy could see how they could think that. But it wasn't true. She believed in her job, pure and simple. It sounded trite even to her own ears but it was the truth. She believed in this hospital and the people in it. Even House… She shook her thoughts off of him and went back to her work but her thoughts betrayed her even as she warned herself against them. As this hospital was her domain she heard the whispering within its walls; saw the character of the people who inhabited it. She knew that House was in the ICU. She had known almost from the instant he had been placed there. She had wanted to go see him—wanted to see for herself that such a man as Dr. Gregory House needed to rely on someone else's care for a change—but she didn't dare. She had enough to worry about without adding arrogant, sarcastic crippled geniuses to the list. Vogler, for instance…

She glanced up at the sound of her office door being pushed open and hoped that she hadn't brought Vogler himself down upon her simply by speaking his name. The man wasn't the devil. One of his minions probably, but not the devil himself. It was neither. Unless Vogler had some how lost 200 pounds and had a sex change or the devil had come in a guise of innocence it was one of her young students.

"Dr. Cuddy? You asked to be informed about Dr. House's condition," the young woman offered timidly in lieu of a traditional greeting.

Cuddy sighed and waved her hand for the hovering girl to step into her office and shut the door behind her. Honestly, she didn't bite. "Well?" she prompted, impatiently waiting for the news the girl had brought. Just because she didn't go visit House didn't mean that she didn't want to be kept up to speed on his condition. Not that the flu is anything to worry about. He'll probably blame me for getting it too, knowing him.

"Dr. House has been sedated," the student offered, going into no further detail than that. She simply stated those words as if that was all anyone ever needed or wanted to know.

"What?" Cuddy asked, managing to keep her voice calm by force of will alone. Unless he had done something to push one of the nurses to desperation and sedation—not entirely impossible where House was concerned—something was going on that she was not yet aware of in her hospital regarding one of her doctors. This did not bode well. "Who sedated him?"

"Didn't you—" the student cut herself off at Cuddy's even glare. How was this girl ever gong to become a doctor id she couldn't answer a simple straight question? "I'll find out," the girl offered.

"Don't bother," Cuddy intoned with a wave of his hand. "What did they sedate him for? I assume you read his chart…" Cuddy trailed off because it was clear from the about-to-be-road kill-doe look about her face that she had done no such thing. "Nevermind. Just what duty did I have you performing before I sent you to inquire about Dr. House?"

"I was changing the patient bedpans, Dr. Cuddy," the student murmured in a low voice.

No wonder. It's a good thing she has large breasts and a trim waist or Vogler would have fired her weeks ago. At least she's honest. Something that won't last if she's forced to interact with House, I'm sure. "I suggest you get back to work then. Bedpans don't change themselves, you know," Cuddy couldn't help but add before grabbing up the phone and banishing the hapless medical student's idiocy from her mind. It was time to find out just what the hell was going on. If House is somehow manipulating us all into chasing our tails for him so help me he'll never leave the Clinic… Cuddy frowned and made some inquiries.

ooo

House let out a loud groan as the devastatingly uninteresting white tiled ceiling of a hospital room came fuzzily into focus. What the hell had happened? He remembered talking to Foreman and Wilson and then…then what? Oh. Pain. I remember now, he grumbled to himself. His constant companion had apparently decided it wasn't getting enough attention. Well House was certainly paying attention now. He hadn't felt pain like that since…well since he had gone from pain-free to agony in a number of days. Not good. Well if it is another clot at least you'll be able to yell at that them that it is until someone listens.

"Ah Dr. House. You're awake. And on my turn to baby-sit. Wonderful," an irritatingly familiar voice drawled within his heavy consciousness, interrupting his thoughts. It was Chase. Marvelous.

"I'm not awake. Go away," he grumbled, not even bothering to open his eyes. If he ignored the Aussie pretty boy long enough he would get the message and go away. That was the theory anyway.

"Afraid I can't do that. How are you feeling? Do you know where you are?" Chase asked, coming over to stand at House's side. House swore that if a penlight even came near one of his eyes he would end up shoved down Chases' throat.

"Like shit. House. Princeton-Plainsboro. And if you even think of pointing that thing in my eye, Benedict Chase, you're not going to like where it ends up." House had heard Chase slide something out of a pocket and figured it was either a syringe or the damned penlight. He took a guess and by Chases' silence it had been a correct one.

"I didn't betray you. I thought you were going to fire me so I went to the man I knew could ensure me a job."

"Vogler. But he didn't, did he? Or else he ensured it with strings attached. He likes doing that. It's a game to him," House murmured, cracking open a single blue eye to check if it was safe. The penlight indeed had been put away.

"I was worth only as much as he could learn from me," Chase grumbled. "And he made sure I knew it. Bastard," Chase muttered just loud enough for House to hear.

Both eyes opened and considered the young doctor. "Now that we're speaking the same language, what do you want?"

Chase rolled his eyes. "You were just forcibly sedated after having some kind of seizure and you're asking me what I want," Chase muttered under his breath, making a show of looking over House's stats. He didn't shine the dreaded penlight into House's somewhat blurry eyes but it was a close thing. "You're scheduled for an MRI in about an hour just in case."

"In case there's another clot just waiting to put me into a wheelchair," House cut in with a bitter scowl.

"We don't know anything yet. Your diagnosis is premature," Chase attempted to assure him.

House snorted. "Who's the head of the diagnostic department again? Oh right, me," he said dryly. "And it wasn't a seizure. It was a kind of muscle spasm."

"Only in your leg?"

"No," House said after a moment's thought. "My spine decided to do an impression of an accordion but that's no big deal. It happens all the time really," he sneered.

Chase sighed and shook his head. "And now? You seem to be alright. Are you in any pain?" House glared at him and Chase amended his question. "Are you in any pain not related to your leg?"

"It's good to see that my own diagnostic team can pull together in a pinch and figure out what's wrong with their boss. It's as if you don't even need me!" House said in mock awe.

"Will a Vicodin shut you up and make you cooperative?" Chase asked dryly, snatching Houses' pill bottle from off the desk and opening it. House just held out a hand. Chase sighed again. "I'd tell you to lay off the pills until we're able to figure out what's wrong with you but I can see that I'd be more likely to convince Vogler give you is 100 million dollars than to get you to go off the Vicodin."

"It's good that you've learned my ways, grasshopper," House said with a smirk as he swallowed the offered Vicodin. "Where is your master anyway? I haven't felt the ground shake in awhile so that must mean he hasn't found out about yours truly yet."

"He's not my master," Chase argued with a glower, irritated that he found himself so easily baited by House's taunts.

"As long as he holds the choke chain around your neck he's your master. What's wrong? You don't like being on bottom?"

Chase took a breath, refusing to allow himself to be baited so easily again. He knew better than that. He knew House better than that. This was a stalling tactic. "It's time for your MRI. I had Foreman and Cameron clear the way to the lab." He understood House's reluctance at going to get the MRI even if he knew it was needed. He understood how being rolled through a nosy hospital would feel for such a prideful man as him.

House found himself somewhat thankful for his team's consideration even though he didn't try to be. "Your idea?"

"Cameron's."

Ah of course. The ever considerate Dr. Allison Cameron. I guess that means she's not upset with me anymore.

"She told me to tell you that we're providing the cheese this week?" Chase offered, not fully understanding what Cameron had meant by that but passing along the message anyway.

House smirked and nodded. "I trust you're not going to allow me to walk?" Chase held up House's cane which he had snatched up while House hadn't been paying attention. Damn. "Fine. Well get a move on, driver. I don't have all day." Chase just snorted and they were on their way.

ooo

"No clots," the MRI technician announced to the waiting trio of young doctor's. He recognised them as House's people—as House himself was the patient—but he didn't know anything more than that.

"No clots?" one of them asked. The girl. What was her name? Callahan? No…Cameron? Something like that.

"That's right. What is with you people? I've told you the same thing 4 times now. There are no clots. I don't know how to make it any clearer than that. Whatever's wrong with your boss doesn't have to do with a clot."

Cameron, Chase and Foreman all exchanged glances and left without a further word.

The tech snorted. "Not even a thank you. No wonder they'll only work for House. They're a bunch of jerks just like him."

ooo

"I take it by the frustrated looks on each of your faces you didn't find what you were looking for?" House asked as his ducklings flocked into his room. "Shut the door will you? There's a draft."

Foreman rolled his eyes but as he was the closest to the door he slid it shut.

"We were looking for a blood clot," Cameron explained.

House nodded. "I know. And you didn't find one. Guess I'm not that unlucky twice. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket. You think?"

"Seeing as we don't yet know what's wrong with you I'd hold off on the gambling," Foreman said dryly.

"Spoilsport," House muttered before growing serious. "The pain wasn't limited to my leg. That's just where I felt it the most."

"Was it a muscle spasm?" Chase asked.

House shook his head. "Not exactly. It was as if every muscle in my body decided to cramp up at once. Not a pleasant experience." House suddenly arched up off the bed, his features tight with pain.

"House? What is it? What's wrong?" Cameron was the first to ask, but only just. Her voice was full of pleading; please tell us what's wrong with you so we can make it stop.

"I can't—can't stop it," House gasped. "Uncontrollable arching of the back. Write that—" he gasped, "down on the board."

"Anything else?" Foreman asked in a forcibly detached voice as he listened to House describe his symptoms while experiencing them. It was like watching someone stab himself through the hand just to examine how it bled.

"I can't—I can't breath," House wheezed, his mouth opening wide as he struggled for air like a netted fish. His hands clawed at his throat as his skin began to go ashen before he passed out leaving a trio of young doctors to scurry to save their boss's life.

TBC

A/N: Ok we didn't learn too much about what's wrong with poor House, but at least he's in good hands right? Right? I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will try and post the next one soon, but as last time it has to wait its turn in the queue.

Honour Role: Jackie Keyser, Cklovesme2040, secretchild, Samantha Pntr, bree1387, Skye, adrift, liz, jeevesandwooster, LF, Dru, Val'istar En' Alu, Belligerent-road-pylon, th Tallest, Sarah, truthhurts6, xoleanderx, sydedalus, jujubee10323, sapphirewolf, ILuvPiratesSavvy, querty123, MagikalStar135 Hope I didn't forget anyone! Thanks all!