CHAPTER ELEVEN – One Rung Higher
Dr. James Wilson has just been wheeled in to the I.C.U. after his surgery went as well as can be expected after his traumatic accident. He indeed has a mild concussion and his left arm has been straightened and put in a cast, with the bleeding in his stomach under complete control now.
Drs. Chase, Cameron and Foreman return to the conference room after the surgery is complete and Cuddy heads straight for House's room to inform him of his condition. She's been thinking about the way she went off on him earlier and felt a little bad about it. But he's never made her that mad before; there's always a first time for everything.
She walks into his room still holding a little grudge against him when she suddenly realizes his parents are in the room and she immediately softens her mannerism. Blythe is sitting in a chair closest to the bed while John is sitting in a chair in the corner next to the window and reading a magazine, looking up only to see who has come in the room.
"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. House. How's the patient of the week?" she asks as she heads toward the bed to check on his vitals. She finds him sleeping, his heart rate strong and steady and his pulse excellent.
Cuddy turns to Blythe and asks, "How long has he been asleep?"
"A good two hours, now. How's James?" she asks concerned. They both were informed of his injuries after overhearing some nurses talking about his accident and current condition.
"He's out of surgery and doing well, although we won't know how much damage, if at all, was caused by the concussion until he wakes up."
Blythe nods her head and looks back at House. "He had a nightmare earlier," she says softly, "a pretty bad one."
"With all the medication he's on that's not unusual. He should be able to get up and around by tomorrow afternoon and that will help flush some out of his system." Cuddy says as she leans against the wall.
"Great, you should clear the hallways in case he decides he wants to kill another patient," John says then brings his attention back down to the magazine.
"John! Not now. We agreed," Blythe chastised her husband.
"Oh, Blythe, I'm only teasing my son."
"Teasing him about his beardless face is one thing but NOT about a patient that almost killed our son!"
She immediately recomposes herself again after her outburst. She then sees House's right leg move and his head move to the side, a soft, grumbling, groaning sound emit from his lips. Blythe doesn't talk to him right away because she thinks he might be having another nightmare.
His eyes slowly open and he focuses on his mother then at Cuddy. "Wilsah?" he mutters under his breath. Cuddy relays the same information that she had to Blythe and he seems to gradually relax.
"Dr. Cuddy says you should be up and about tomorrow afternoon. Isn't that great?" Blythe asks excitedly. House only nods his head with an unenthusiastic grin.
"Yeah, that's excellent," says John from the corner as he stands and approaches the trio. "That means you should be running in what, a month?" he asks, but all three know by the tone in his voice and demeanor that he again was 'just teasing' his son.
House rolls his eyes and looks away from his father, who has just caused his heart monitor to skip a couple of beats. Blythe notices the expression on John's face when he, too, notices it, but neither saying a word.
"Well, I'll leave you three alone. I'll check back with you later, House," Cuddy says as she pats his right foot and leaves the room.
She almost reaches the elevator, stops and leans against the wall. 'No wonder he always tries to avoid his parents…well, his father, anyway,' she thinks to herself. 'Now I know why House never had me meet his parents.' She pushes herself off the wall and continues to head back to her own office.
HOUSE MD HOUSE MD HOUSE MD
The triplets are sitting in the conference room doing nothing but staring at each other, with the occasional glance at the pool of wet carpet from the blood that maintenance tried to clean the day before but seemingly unsuccessful.
Foreman glances at his watch and sighs. "Hey, it's almost 5:30. You two want to get a bite to eat?" Cameron nods her head and Chase tells him no. "Well, I'm going. Catch you later." With that he prances out of the office like he hasn't almost lost his boss and colleague within a little over 24 hour period.
"Cameron? Would you let me drive you home?" Chase asks nervously. She looks up at him and by the expression on her face he knows he just said the wrong thing and now the little kitten he knew is about to turn into a ferocious cougar and attack him.
Instead she answers, "Would you mind?"
Chase is so thrilled with himself that Cameron said yes he practically jumps out of his shoes, figuratively speaking, of course. She seems to pick up on his excitement and can't hide smile, a snickering smile, but a smile nonetheless. She stands and he walks to the door to open it for her. She nods a 'thank you' and he says, "You're welcome."
The two walk down the hall of PPTH in a possible new level of relationship; well, that is what Chase is hoping for, anyway.
HOUSE MD HOUSE MD HOUSE MD
Ok, I shan't leave y'all in a cliffhanger…this time. :O) I need to keep some of y'all hanging around to read, right?
Thanks again for your reviews and comments. They are taken into consideration and then I address them in the next chapter.
More soon!