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 17 - Her Stories
House smiled to himself as he limped toward the elevator. He knew what happened to Chase, and he knew Chase was going to be okay. Now it was time to visit a certain psychiatrist upstairs. He shuddered for a moment; he always hated visiting the psych ward. There was just something about the place that always got to him, and he could never figure out just what. Then, as he limped on further, he was reminded of the definition of insanity from his undergrad psych professor: the continuance of a negative behavior without change that receives the same negative result. Wilson often argued that at times against House, but House knew Wilson always caved into his rationale. Of course the other definition of insanity happened to fit him as well: a degree of mental illness that negates criminal culpability.
House kept walking, hearing patients screaming at phantoms that were not there, nerved by the fact that there was indeed a fate worse than what his leg had destined him for. At the end of the hallway he paused before a door that read, "Dr. Linda Sanford, Department of Psychiatry." He really didn't want to stay in this department for long, but he felt the need to catch her off-guard.
He saw she was with a patient - perfect timing. He popped an extra Vicodin for bravery and waited for it to kick in. One he was confident that he was ready, he opened the door and said, "I need a consult."
Sanford looked up from writing her notes; her patient in tears already. "Can't you see I'm with a patient? Haven't you heard of ethics?"
House smiled and innocently said, "Oops," as he turned around and exaggerated a limping motion back to the door with exasperated grunting sounds to make it seem as if he was in pain.
Sanford grimaced from watching House and, calling his name, offered him a chair. With his back turned to her, he smiled knowingly and kindly thanked her. He loved to play the "cripple" trick on people, especially those he didn't like. As he turned around to take the chair offered to him, he noticed Sanford motion for her patient to leave as she handed her a card.
"That appointment card trick really doesn't work."
"It's worked so far Dr. House, have a seat." She smiled back at him as he noted her using his proper title before his name. She knows she's in her territory; I need to be extra careful now.
Sanford looked over House with inquisitive eyes. She too anticipated the game House was about to play. What she didn't understand was why he chose to play the game on her territory. He smiled at her, she felt uneasy, but she also didn't want to give that feeling away. She refused to let House beat her while in her office. "What brings you here Dr. House?"
House continued to smile with the most cunning smile he could muster. "Chase is awake. Thought you'd like to know."
Sanford assessed his answer carefully. She didn't like him, and she knew he didn't like her. It was dangerous for her to have him in the office, away from plain sight of others. She knew that he would play the game with her until she gave in and lost. "Thanks for telling me. I'll have to go visit him."
"What do you know about Chase? Beyond what you haven't told us yet?"
Sanford once again carefully crafted her response. She wanted her privacy, and she didn't want her private life pulled into the basket of hospital gossip that made its rounds regularly. "What do you mean? I have told you what you've needed to know from what I know about the situation."
House smiled back at her remark, the smile unnerving Sanford in ways she didn't know possible. House remarked back, "I need to know more, for my report."
Sanford knew he was up to something. She had heard second-hand that House never filed his paperwork or kept up with his reports, and she made sure to tell him that. However, House was not satisfied with that answer as he asked, "Do you know why we as doctors need to take a patient's history?"
Sanford looked at him, she of course knew why as she had been to med school as well.
House continued, "We take histories so that we can find out what is wrong with the patient and then treat accordingly. Thankfully, I figured that you would lie. Everyone lies, so don't worry, you're not alone. However, there have been numerous things you have lied about. While I understand the fact that you do not want information about your personal life dragged about the hospital, you kinda need to know that withholding information from a department head about the medical history of his patient is kinda grounds for a disciplinary hearing, which Cuddy will fill you in on later. However, I still need to know something."
Sanford sighed. She really didn't want her private life known to the entire hospital, and now it would have to be due to the mistakes of withholding it from the hospital. "What is it House? You've ruined me already, so you might as well drag me through the mud while your at it?"
House in his years of wisdom answered, "You ruined yourself by not telling me of Chase's medications. Had we known he was on Lisodur, we would have been able to administer the IV-angiotensin II right away, and Chase would have recovered faster."
"He's awake, so he's recovered." She realized she said that without looking House in his eyes. That was a mistake she would regret, it showed that he was winning. The other mistake was her slumping down in the chair, and House saw both as he stood up and walked over towards her. He got close, close enough for her to smell his deodorant, and he sat next to her on the couch in her office, and smiled coyly at her. She knew she had just lost the argument.
House leaned in closely to her ear and gently said, "It's okay. I can make it a lot easier for you if you tell me what you know. I can say you were nervous and scared. You didn't want your love for him to be known. I'm obviously going to have to testify. "
Sanford closed her eyes in disgust and tilted her head forward in defeat. She can't believe she let him win in her office. She can't believe he was acting as charming as he was at the moment. She was almost turned on. "I'll tell you what I know, but it really isn't much.
"Chase and I did grow up together in Australia. He would come by his father's house once in awhile, where his mother-in-law would baby-sit me. We went our separate ways in high school. Then, come college, he went off to seminary and I went to a private school. I ran into him one Christmas and convinced him to come to college with me. He did and went pre-med right away. That same year, he had another, more devastating, fight with his father. He got sick shortly thereafter and saw Dr. Winkler. He had a kidney infection, which was treated with antibiotics and he was in the hospital for a week. They think it caused the high blood pressure."
House looked away, scarring from the infection could have done that - kidneys were sensitive things after all. "Anything else medically relevant?"
"Mother was an alcoholic, father died of cancer last year. Other than that, no."
House sat in silence for a moment. He had found out what he really needed to know, but there was still more. "Have the two of you been having romantic relations?" He looked over at Sanford and could tell that he had hit a sensitive issue.
"Yes." She knew she wasn't really allowed the luxury of silence for an answer. "We've been dating for just over two weeks. He got me the job here, and we contacted each other again."
House smiled again, hiding the blow he was about to give her. "I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Wilson and I found used condoms in his apartment."
Sanford sighed. "He had broken up with his girlfriend recently after getting caught cheating on her with Cameron. They were probably from them. If you're going to ask her name, don't bother as I don't know. She had a key for the apartment, but gave it back. Robert thinks she may have made copies of the key. He's been a little paranoid since the breakup, and I already know I'm the rebound girl."
With that House smiled at Sanford, and walked out of her office.