There wasn't a soul in the hospital that would have been surprised to hear that House was bored, for this had become the norm during the past few weeks and there had been only a few cases in which for him to indulge his mind. He had spent most of his time in various odd places, hiding out from his nagging boss and watching General Hospital, and it was said that he had been spotted in the maternity ward, random empty exam rooms, visiting with coma patients, in the chapel, and in the bathrooms but of course everyone had stopped keeping track long ago. They all shrugged when Cuddy questioned them, mentioning the last known location and paying little attention to her retorts about how he was going to get what was coming to him one day. It was just normal, and everyone except the Dean of Medicine had accepted that.

But today House's miseries would be over, or at least the ones that related to his lack of a caseload. Today Cameron had taken the initiative to bring a man to House's attention, and if only she could find the bastard then perhaps she could do the whole team a favor by putting an end to their temporary boredom. She had been searching for him for quite some time, and had checked all of the usual spots with no luck until finally spotting him through the blinds of a 'deserted' room. Opening the door she slipped inside, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness that suddenly engulfed her from all angles. Carrying the file and putting it in his hands, she noted the General Hospital playing on the TV and rolled her eyes as she stared up at two amazingly good looking people making out. She wanted to look away and make some remark but soon she found herself interested in the scene and she cocked her head sideways a bit staring unashamedly at the screen, fascinated. "Wow, they are pretty good at that."

House, who had been looking at the file stood up in the meantime and made his way towards the door. He motioned for her to follow and was unable to resist throwing in a comment as he slid out the door with Cameron right behind. "Don't be jealous, no one could live up to those standards. Of course if you want to prove me wrong, I do have blinds in my glass office."

They came to the conference room, Cameron taking a seat as House walked, or hobbled rather, over to the coffeepot and then to the whiteboard. Chase and Foreman were already there. "Alright, we have only two symptoms; one is so common they even felt the need to put the word 'common' before it, and the other probably has nothing to do with the former but since we are bored lets play around with it." He said this, all the while writing "Old Guy" on the whiteboard with the words "cold" and "stroke" underneath it. He scratched his head and looked at the board for just a moment, soon diverting his gaze to his team and smirking at their blank faces.

Chase was the one to speak next, "I don't understand. The guy had a stroke, and he has a cold. Wow. Why are we talking about this?"

"Because Cameron brought a case to me...and I see something here."

(DUNDUNDUN) :D

When one is empty, they are void of everything solid, lost in a world that they cannot control and thrown down a perilous path with no real reason to travel it. They do, of course, because there is nothing else left, and they journey through life without really living it for that is all that they know how to do. A last resort, one last chance to make things right. During this time, some find God, others seek solace in what few decent friendships that they have intact, and what decrepid relationships that they haven't cut themselves off from. Lost in deep seas of depression they go through life without feeling or emotion, because the simple task of caring has grown too troublesome and painful. They don't want to hurt anymore, want to cast away their fears and their thoughts into the black waters where they will drift away, but still they do. It is inevitable because to deliberately ignore something is to admit to it's existence.

To say that Dr. James Wilson was empty may have been a stretch, but there was no denying that frustration ever present in his eyes and the turmoil that raged within, threatening to bubble over and break him. But he wasn't that weak, and this he told himself every day as he walked through life with a kind and caring smile on his face. Perhaps if he gave his heart to others in the form of genuine concern, perhaps if he did everything he could to bring comfort to the ones who depended on him, he could find comfort himself and find solace in knowing that he saved lives. And he did save lives, dozens and dozens infact.

But he couldn't save his own.

While he had tried, efforts were beginning to prove fruitless, and with three failed marriages being all he had to show for his aspirations, he was losing hope because shelters from the storm were proving to be few and far between. He didn't know where else to turn, was at a loss for where he was to go from here, so he carried out each day the same as he lost himself in the patterns of normalcy. It wasn't much, but it was something and to him it was about all that he had left. It was a subconscious action, and he probably wasn't even aware of the fact that he had thrown in the white flag and had given up...but he had.

And he was happy with this, content with living and flirting and working and eating, content without feeling life as it passed him by. If he chose not to care about emotions then he couldn't be disappointed when they were only painful. Chase's theory, once applied and tested during his own struggles with his father, working at it's best, and while it wasn't exactly rewarding, it was enough for him.

He sat in his office contemplating all of this, propped back in his chair with his chin in one hand, apparently staring off into space. He was lost in his own realm, oblivious to the rest of the world and anything that may have been going on. Luckily there was little happening and he was left in peace. At least for a while.

"Dr. Wilson." A voice knocked him out of his trance, and he came to attention rather quickly and in a startled state he rocked forward onto all four chair legs and looked to its source. He hadn't heard her come in, obviously, but Julie stood in front of him with a hesitant look on her face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

He shook his head, still a bit disoriented. "No, it's okay, I was just..." He allowed his voice to trail off for a second, because the man wasn't sure really what he had been doing.

She wanted to chuckle, but stifled it and instead smiled and decided to move on. "Dr. House sent me to get you, he's up in his conference room."

Immediately his eyebrows raised. House had sent her? That would be just like him, considering his fascination with the fact that Wilson had avoided her except when it came to their work. He probably should have been surprised, but he had learned by now never to underestimate his best friend. "Oh God I'm sorry, he didn't...make you cry or anything did he?"

The nurse simply laughed, "Well I'm trying to recover, but it's a long road. Actually he was fairly nice considering the fact that all he said, or shouted down the hall rather, was something along the lines of: 'Hey nurse, go get my homeboy Jimmy.'"

Her impression of House was awful, and Wilson couldn't help but stare at her as she attempted to make her voice low and manly. He hadn't ever noticed her sense of humor before, but he did now. She had always been so quiet, and this new character he was discovering was a pleasant surprise to him. Mentally he scolded himself for even thinking such thoughts, he hated it when House was right but he laughed despite of himself.

She continued. "I like Dr. House, he is funny. From what I have seen, I think there is a good heart underneath that grouchy mask he wears."

He nodded, and this was another thing that he certainly hadn't expected. Normally people's impressions of House, before really getting to know him that is, and usually even after, was that he was just a big jerkoff. He spoke as they both began to walk out of his office and part ways, "You're right, but it's hard to remember that whenever he eats your lunch and you want to strangle him."

She just laughed as she walked away to attend to her duties. "Love him and hate him at the same time. Bye Dr. Wilson."

It didn't take long for Wilson to make it upstairs and to the conference room, and when he entered it he found Foreman, Cameron, and Chase sitting at the table with House standing in his usual position near the whiteboard. Apparently they had been discussing a diagnosis, and as he opened the door and slipped in they all looked at him. When he came to a stop he made his best attempt at a glare, and directed it towards House. "Why didn't you just page me?"

House gave one of his house-like expressions and shrugged his shoulders innocently, taking his pager out of his pocket and cocking his head sideways as if he was trying to examine it. "Sorry, I think it's broken. What, you didn't like my approach?"

Wilson just rolled his eyes in defeat, and he did it with some amount of dignity for they all had learned that there really wasn't any other alternative when it came to House. The ducklings watched the scene curiously, the three of them all apparently aware that they had missed something and it was Wilson who attempted to get their attentions directed away from him. "Don't worry about it."

"65 year old male, presenting with symptoms of a stroke and a cough. Apparently he was walking to his car and he collapsed. Are 65 year old people allowed to still drive? Wow that's funn--"

He was cut off by Wilson who scoffed at him and spoke quickly. "This is what you called me up here for? An old man who has a cold?"

Putting both hands on the top of his cane and leaning forward onto it he looked at Wilson, "What, were you busy down there with your nurse?"

Wilson just shook his head incredulously, turning around getting ready to leave.

"You don't think there's anything more?" House had that sparkle in his eyes as he silently challenged his best friend, and Wilson turned back around with a skeptical look on his face.

"So he had a cough! I know you want everything to be interesting so you can feed your sick appetite for drama, but the man is 65 House, come on, even you have to admit that the chances of an old man getting a cold are slightly higher than your crazy theories!"

None of them understood what it was about House that caused him to come up with the ideas that he did, and none of them understood how such a man could almost always end up being right. They all regarded him with a love/hate relationship, and they oftentimes made jokes about not being able to live with him but...well that was about all there was to it. But his talent for thinking outside of the box and solving the rubix cubes that no one else could were never ignored, and it was what got him as far as it did in life. This is why Wilson sighed, pissed that his time was being wasted like this but pinned in his position because of his own curiosity.

"There's more to this, I know it."

Please review, right now I'm looking at 8 chapters but I would like some input because I want to know if you guys think I should keep going. I reeeeeeeeeeally would like some input, I will give you a dollar. tehe.