A House Fan-Fic
entercreativename
author's note: I am not the creator or owner of the characters mentioned in this story. I am instead a poor college student with no money or no hope of money. I wrote this story as a means of exploring the characters in the show, not for profit, notoriety, or other self-assuring means.
Chapter 9 - Territorial"MY chair. OUT!"
Cameron was startled by the exclamation made by the silhouette of the man with the cane standing over her with an outstretched withered hand staring with cold blue eyes into her soul like death. She was actually more than startled; she was positively horrified beyond all reason and thought she was suddenly in her worst nightmare. The last thing Cameron remembered was telling Cuddy about Chase and then remembering that day a year and a half ago. The day at her apartment. The day that made her worry when something was late that month. She must have fallen asleep, dreaming in fact, because she felt as if she had been in bed, wrapped again in Chase's embrace a moment earlier.
"Did you not hear me? MY CHAIR! OUT!"
With that Cameron jumped as fast as she could, practically broke down crying, and ran to the elevators as fast as she could.
House watched her run frantically. He was just joking with her. Huh. Women. House never would understand this group of people deemed by some to be the "fairer sex." Lust after them? Yes. Love them? He honestly didn't think there was really such a thing anymore. He sat down in his chair. Still warm. As he settled in, he noticed that Cameron had pushed some of the stuffing into different places than he was used to. Women! He closed his eyes and popped another Vicodin. It was just as the buzz hit and he was about to drift away that another woman walked into his office.
"Dr. House, I wanted to pass Chase's newest labs along to you."
House sat up, eyes wide with anger for having been disturbed. In front of him stood an apparition from his past, or so he thought from the fog of sleepiness in his mind. He blinked and instead saw the young Linda Sanford standing in front of him. He glared at her and the way she held out the file to him, forcing him to take it at that moment with a determined expression on her face that would not give in to him. He could have fun. He blinked at her again and grunted, "Desk."
She looked confused. Was she too weak to play the game? He grunted at her again, "Desk."
She forced it into his lap and took a step back instead. House realized that he had just seen the true spirit of the daughter of one of his two mentors. She was feisty, just like her mother had been in Australia at the clinic and she would play the game her way, using passive-aggressiveness instead. House temporarily resigned to her game, more interested in playing the game that Chase's illness had presented in front of him. He opened the file and looked.
Not good.
"Dr. House, I know who you are."
House ignored her as he looked closer at the latest blood work pulled on Chase.
"From Australia. I remember seeing you at Mom's clinic."
The Chem-20 panel wasn't right.
"And, you were there the night Dad left. It was at the party. That was you, right?"
House stopped going through the papers Sanford had pushed at him and looked at Sanford. She looked just like her mother at that moment, when she was pushing for a diagnosis from House and he just couldn't get it. "Young doctor, we have a patient we need to attend to, not take time for a stroll down memory lane!"
That oughta put her in her place. She stood above him, taken aback. She had been meaning to confront House ever since she discovered that he worked at the same hospital as him a couple of weeks ago. She just never got the chance to do so. However, it was at this point that she thought it was best to try to get information from him that she needed. Something caused the breakup of her parents long ago, and she didn't know if it was the doctor that sat sprawled and old in the chair before her, or the genius that taught him his craft. She did know, it was ages ago at a party at her mother's house just outside of Sydney for potential supporters of the clinic. It was late, and she couldn't sleep. The young Robert Chase was in the spare bedroom next to her room asleep, so she couldn't pester him that night. Instead, she snuck to the top of the stairs and saw her mother and House, talking quietly into each other's ears, bodies close together. She knew that her mother had an affair with Rowan Chase, but had never been sure if that night she had seen something or not between her and House. She needed to know so she knew whom to blame for her father leaving.
"I said how long ago were the last set of labs taken?" House bore into her, apparently again even though she had been lost in her thoughts staring at him. His gaze at that moment struck her as cold and it made her feel like the most horrible person in the world at that moment.
"The labs were run twenty minutes apart from each other. The most current was taken about half an hour ago. Why?"
House stopped and looked at her to wonder why she had no clue about the problem in what she handed him. He held up the results of the two Chem-20 panels and threw them at her, "His creatinine level has shot through the roof! Why was I not informed…"
"But…"
"Get him on dialysis NOW!"
Sanford left, tears welling in her eyes. Women.
House closed his eyes again and tried to get back to where he was. Chase was stable, with the exception of his kidneys not being able to filter his blood normally. It had to be some chemical he ingested, but the tox screens came back negative for anything they tested for. On a positive note however, Chase's blood pressure was back to normal; if it wasn't for the cloud of toxins circulating in his blood, choking his brain for normal oxygen, he would be awake. However, almost awake wasn't good enough for House.
Sanford meanwhile. She was something he would need to look into further. She knew Chase better than anyone else at that hospital. She grew up with him, knew his history - the same history that they were missing at the present moment. She would come back, he knew she would, and when she did he would be ready to talk to her. She obviously wanted to know more about him and her mother, and that would be a good opportunity to ask about her and Chase. How everything moves in circles…
He closed his eyes again in thought, humming La Boheme in his mind. Then, another presence stood above him.
"What did you say to her?"
House sat up abruptly, scorned for his lack of privacy and by the brutal tone of the woman's voice. What was it with people invading his office? "What? Who? The stripper that accidentally came here for Wilson's birthday?"
Cuddy closed her eyes, obviously annoyed with House's sophomoric sense of professionalism and lack of knowledge of proper social interaction. "Cameron. What did you say to her?"
House tried to answer, but was cut off.
"She's in my office. Crying. Do you have any idea the kind of harassment suit you have probably brought on to yourself just by being yourself?"
House decided to let Cuddy keep talking. The longer she talked, the better retort he would have for her.
Instead, Cuddy just stared back.
He was in trouble.
"You know, I just told her that if she died her hair blonde and added a little extra to her funbags…"
"She wanted privacy, and was in your office trying to get that while you were out."
Just at that moment, Foreman walked in with Sanford following closely behind like a lost puppy following a kind stranger, eyes still puffy from crying. "Sir, we got Chase on dialysis and will run another Chem-20 in an hour."
House looked at the two doctors and replied, "Good."
Cuddy then started sharply at House again, "And just what did you say to Sanford?"
Foreman stopped and gave an aggressive look at him. Sanford stopped with her back to the trio of doctors, ready to cry again. House looked at them and said, "Sanford here knows Chase better than we all thought."
Everyone looked at Sanford as House continued, "She's the daughter of Libby Sanford, research partner of Rowan Chase, the father of Robert Chase. The two of them grew up together in Australia and probably even went to the same college and med school."
Cuddy's and Foreman's expressions softened while Sanford tightened her eyes and took a deep breath.
"She knows Chase's medical history better than his GP, if he even bothered to take one. Don't you see that she holds the key to this?"
Cuddy and Foreman stood in disbelief, Sanford still in shock at the fact that House had just ripped her to shreds in front of them.
"Every second that she refuses to give information on Chase's history is another second that Chase moves to death. He's dying Sanford, and if he does die, his death is on your hands for withholding information from us that could save him."
Cuddy looked at the doctors in the room. "Foreman could you give the three of us a moment? Check on Chase."
Foreman shook his head in disbelief. He knew that there was something about her that made him question what she had to say while giving the exam to Chase. It was like she knew him better than any of them, and apparently she did.
When Foreman had left, the three doctors remained in House's office in an awkward battle of information. Sanford knowing she was in serious trouble. Cuddy knowing House might try his antics on either of them. And House knowing the situation was too grave to try to lighten.
"Linda, House, what is going on here?"
House started. "I worked with Sanford's mother and Chase's father in Australia. The young duo here has known each other for a very long time, and I suspect that they know each other better than any of us suspect."
Cuddy let House continue if he wanted, but he did not. "Linda, is this correct?"
Sanford stood motionless where she had been before, her back still turned to the other doctors. "Yes."
Cuddy waited again for House to say something, then started, "Why didn't you tell any of us?"
Sanford stood still, arms wrapped around her and eyes closed, thinking about her reply. "I didn't say anything, because the entire time that I've known Robert, he's been in perfect health. The only thing that I know he could have taken was coffee or Tylenol."
House started in, "You're history with Chase goes back quite a way, and you're being here in Princeton has something to do with him. How long have you two been together?"
She didn't want to answer, but knew that silence was the worst thing in this situation. "We had been like sibling since we first met, age ten. Then, he got the job here and left. I realized how much I missed him, and tried to get a job in the area as well. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that we realized we were more than friends."
House was about to speak when Cuddy cut in, "Dr. Sanford, three days suspension without pay, and stay near your pager so that we can contact you if we have to. As you probably already know, we will have to have a hearing with the board of directors to determine if you are able to stay with this hospital. Normally, you would not be allowed on hospital or university grounds, however, concerning your relevance to this case, the exception will be made with specific allowances by myself, Dr. House, or a member of the board of directors."
House was for once speechless. He wanted to say something, but after what Cuddy said, he knew he would only make matters worse for himself. He saw Cuddy pick up the phone and call security to escort Sanford out. Not really necessary on their part. Yet, there was something more there that he needed to find. "Why did he start seeing you?"
Cuddy glared at him, "House?"
House cut back at Cuddy, "She has information that we need. Why are you letting her walk away when all she is the key to Chase's illness?"
Cuddy said something into the phone and put the receiver down. "Linda, answer any question that Dr. House might have for you. Dr. House, play nice."
House knew that the use of his formal title with his name, and lack of one with Sanford's name meant that it was time to take on the administrative role with Cuddy. He got up and motioned for Sanford to sit down. She was about to take the chair he just vacated when he motioned for her to take the hard metal one across from his desk. She sat down.
House looked at her and popped yet another Vicodin. The day was the longest one he had gone through in a long time, and his leg was arguing with him every moment. The last thing he wanted was to play games with a mere child that sat in front of him. He and Cuddy both knew that a normal doctor in her late twenties would not play games, however, the fact that she knew more than she originally let on meant that she was not normal.
House looked at her for a moment. Her eyes showed fear as he studied her: her presence, posture, body language, even where her eyes were looking. He then said to Cuddy while looking into Sanford's eyes, "Page my team and Wilson. We have a meeting to attend."
Cuddy obeyed as House motioned Sanford to move to the conference room. House knew he wouldn't get a moment's peace tonight.