Chapter 2

"Oh my dear lord!" Cuddy exclaimed as she hung onto Foreman's arm to keep herself from falling to the floor.

Dr. James Wilson looked down and surveyed himself. "Do I look that bad?" he asked, observing the dirt and blood on his shirt and the holes in the knees of his slacks. He looked back towards the other doctors and noted that all four of them were gaping at him.

"Okay. It looks worse than it is," he explained. As the other doctors continued to stare he grew agitated. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Cuddy cleared her throat. "Well, it's…we thought…. you….the police were here. Your car….."

"You know something about my car?" Wilson asked, relieved that the police already knew that it had been stolen. "I was carjacked. The asshole knocked me out and took off with my wallet and my cell phone. They found the car?"

Foreman jumped in. "They found it and the guy who stole it."

Wilson smiled, feeling a stab of pain on the side of his face. Wincing, he touched his cheek and felt a gash. "Did they arrest him? How's my car?"

The other four doctors exchanged glances.

The oncologist sighed. "What? Tell me what happened," he said impatiently.

Cuddy approached him. "He crashed your car into a pole." She eyed the bruises on his face and forehead.

"Shit." He dropped his head to his chest.

She continued. "It exploded. The driver….what was left of him….was burned beyond recognition."

Wilson thought a moment. Realization came over his face as the situation dawned on him. "Jesus. So… based on all your reactions when you saw me, I take it the police assumed…. he was me." He shook his head slowly, reaching around to rub the back of his neck.

Cuddy nodded sadly. "They were here and told us it was you." Realizing what she had just said, she turned towards Foreman. "Call the police and tell them to come back here." She handed him a card that one of the cops had given her.

Foreman took the card, grabbed his cell phone and quickly walked away as he placed the call. Cuddy turned her attention back to Wilson.

"You're hurt. Let me see." She moved closer to him and gently tilted his head as she examined his bruises. "You might have a concussion. What did he hit you with?"

"His gun, I think." He grimaced as Cuddy continued to check for more injuries. "I think I was out for a while. And when I came to, I had no car, no cell phone, no wallet. Fortunately I wasn't too far from the hospital, so I was able to walk back here." He glanced down at his wrist and noticed that his watch was also missing. "Great." Shaking his head, he looked at Cuddy. "What time is it?"

Cuddy's eyes opened wide as she remembered something. "Oh my god!"

"What did I say?" Wilson asked, startled.

"House ….." Her voice trailed off.

"House is here?" Wilson looked around the clinic. "He's usually home by now."

"You need to tell him," Cameron blurted out. "I mean…he needs to know."

Wilson's eyes grew wide. "You mean he thinks I'm….?"

"Yes, we have to tell him," Cuddy said with urgency.

"Damn it….where is he?" Wilson snapped, hovering over Cuddy as if he could physically extract the answer from her. "Of all the nights for him to stay late." He shook his head.

"He's locked himself in your office," she said quietly.

"I need your key," the oncologist ordered as he held out his hand impatiently.

Cuddy pulled out a set of keys from her lab coat and quickly shuffled through them, detaching one key and handing it to Wilson. She looked up at him. "Your head…you need to be checked out…." Wilson gave her a cautionary look, which she understood. "Okay…go. But make sure you come back."

As she spoke the oncologist was already halfway down the hall. In the stairwell he was barely able to take two steps at a time, holding onto the railing and forcing himself to keep going as he sprinted towards his office. His head was pounding and he felt a bit unsteady, but he was determined to get to House. Shortly before reaching his office, he was overtaken by dizziness and nausea, blindly reaching out for the wall and leaning against it. Taking several deep breaths, he slowly recovered and continued towards his destination.