Okay, my mistake. You actually find out Kate's relationship with House in a few chapters. oops, sorry. So to make up for my mistake, I'm actually going to post two LONG chapters at once. YAY! lol
So I hope you enjoy these next two chapters:-)
CHAPTER 7
The next day, Kaitlyn walked into Cuddy's office at nine 'o' clock sharp to fill out the proper paperwork and officially become a member of the PPTH staff.
"Welcome abroad Kate. It's going to be great having you back here again." Said Cuddy shaking her hand.
"Yea, and this time I get paid to work here." Replied Kate remembering her days at PPTH as a candy striper. She worked at the hospital ever since she was sixteen because her parents thought it would be a humbling experience for her and she that should give back to her community. At first she hated working there because they had her doing boring jobs like working in the gift shop or just filing paper work. But eventually she had been working there for so long that all of the nurses and doctors knew and trusted her with the "important" stuff.
She started working in the clinic as an admitting clerk who signed in patients for the doctors to see after about two years. Kate learned first hand why House hated working in the clinic. After working there for only six months, she was able to diagnose half the runny noses and aches and pains of the patients herself. In fact, when House was on duty, she would leave a little sticky note on the chart indicating what she thought was wrong with the patient and what to give them. It became a little game between the two of them and Cuddy allowed it because it was the only thing that actually kept House in the clinic until the end of his shift.
Everyone that knew Kate thought she would grow up to go to medical school and become a doctor, specifically a pediatrician. She had always loved little kids and could always be found in the maternity ward helping out the nurses. However, she had surprised everyone, House included and went to Law school instead. Stacey had a role in her choosing Law school over med school, however House indirectly decided the decision in the end for her.
House had had a very complicated case involving an eighteen month old with unexplained heart problems, which were further complicated by kidney problems. Kate used to spend all of her free time with the little boy, however Jason, she would never forget his name, died of complications during a surgery a few months later. Kate took it very hard however, not many people would have known it to look at her. On the outside she was still the bubbly and optimistic girl she had always been, but on the inside depression was slowly beginning to take over.
She had stopped eating and was not getting much sleep either. House being the ever-observant one noticed this and slipped a bottle of mild antidepressants into her backpack one day. They never talked about it nor did she ever thank him. However House kept an eye on her and made sure she took the pills regularly. Every time she ran out, there would be a refilled bottle in her backpack the next day. She never had to ask. This went on for several months and House had slowly been decreasing the dosage until eventually after her last bottle ran out, he never refilled it nor did Kate ask for it to be refilled again.
It was this episode that caused her to switch over to Law school. She couldn't handle the pain that came with having one of your patients die on you. However it was also this aspect of the job, which led Kate to have a heartfelt admiration for all doctors.
"Hey!" Cuddy said snapping her fingers, "Still with me?"
Kate came out of her daze blushing, "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about my candy striper days here. Those were fun times weren't they?"
"Yeah. Those were the only days I could actually get House to finish clinic duty." replied Cuddy. "Okay, so Kate just sign right here." She said pointing to the bottom of the page. Kate picked up the pen and signed and initialed in all the right places.
"Anywhere else?"
"Nope. I think that was the last one. But I do need you to get this filled out." She said and handed Kate the forms.
"What is this?" Kate said looking at the forms.
"Oh, it's just procedure. We need you to get a physical done. You will be working in a hospital after all."
"Oh, no problemo. I know just the doc."
"Well, if you mean House he's supposed to be in the clinic right now."
"Well actually I was talking about that hot Aussie doctor, but I guess House will do."
Cuddy laughed, "I see you've met Dr. Chase."
"Yep, and docs, Foreman and Cameron. Foreman seems nice, but Cameron seems a little uptight and Chase is just so much fun to bug."
"Wow! One meeting and you've already pegged each of them perfectly. You know, Cameron had a thing for House!"
Kate's eyes practically popped out of her head. "Really? No wonder she was ogling me the entire time. Oh this is going to be fun!" Kate seemed to wander off to Kate-land and Cuddy could only imagine the things she was planning to do.
"Okay, okay, you can do you're scheming later. But I need that form filled out before you can start working."
Giggling Kate replied, "Huh? Oh yea the forms. Okay well I'll be in examine room 2. You might wanna page House and tell him there is an important patient waiting for him in the clinic."
And with that she waved and walked off towards the clinic.
MD MD MD MD MD MD MD MD MD MD MD
Kaitlyn walked into the clinic and marched herself over to the sign in desk.
"Hi," she smiled at the receptionist, "I'm here to see Dr. House. I'm supposed to wait in exam room 2."
The receptionist handed her a clipboard with forms attached and without looking up said, "Fill this out and have a seat. The doctor will see you when he's available."
"Wait I, I don't think you understand. Dr. Cuddy sent me down here to get a---wait, Carol?" asked Kate, leaning over the counter so she could get a better look at whom she was speaking with.
The nurse finally looked up from what she was doing and said, "Yea, how do you know my name?" as she was eyeing Kate suspiciously.
"Well for one, it says it on your name tag," came the smart-ass reply, "and two, I worked along side of you here in the clinic for like, 2 years."
"OMG! Kate? Is that you? You haven't changed a bit! You look exactly like you did….how many years ago is it now?" said Carol as she walked around the front desk to give her a hug.
Getting a hug from Carol was like getting a hug from a big giant teddy bear. She was a large, middle-aged woman who had been working at PPTH for the past 20-odd years. Kate met Carol when she first started working in the clinic. They became real close friends despite age gap. Carol was a good 35 years older than Kate however, Kate tended to make friends with older people more easily than with people her own age. She just chalked it up to one of those life mysteries that one was not meant to understand.
"Really? I haven't changed a bit huh? Then how come you weren't able to recognize me from the moment I said hello?" quipped Kate
"Well Kate, if you had said hello I would have recognized you, but you said hi!" answered Carol without missing a beat.
"Touché."
"So what brings you back?"
"Well, let's see. I recently graduated from Law school. Was looking for a job, got a call from Cuddy. Came to see her. She offered me Stacey's position. I took it. Signed the papers this morning. Now I need a physical performed by House so I can begin. By the way, did I mention that House doesn't know I'm back yet?" said Kate all in one breath.
"Oh my! Well then, Congratulations, welcome back, and he doesn't know yet? Ooooo, I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees you!" she laughed.
"Okay, so let's get you all signed in here." Said Carol, making her way back around the front desk to start registering the patient.
Because Kate had been to the hospital before, most of her information was still in the hospital database. "Is your address still the same Kate or have you moved?"
"Well, I'm staying in a hotel right now, but will be moving back into my old place soon. So the address should still be the same." Replied Kate.
Carol raised her right eyebrow and just smirked, to which Carol received a wink back in reply. "All done. Go have a seat in exam room 2 and I'll give House the chart when he comes in."
"Actually, can I take the chart in with me? Remember, he doesn't know I'm here yet and I want it to be a surprise. But if he sees my name on the chart it won't be."
"No problem hun. Here you go."
"Thanks Carol! You're the best! We'll do lunch when I get settled in and you can fill me in on all the gossip."
Kate then made her way to exam room 2, but not before making a beeline for the magazine stand. Knowing House, she knew that he would probably make her wait, no matter how important the patient was.