-1I want to thank everyone for their great reviews and comments. I hope I have satisfied everyone's 'I need to see this…' :o) Anyway, more later.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - Error in Judgment

It's 9:30 a.m. and Foreman walks into the conference room. He doesn't say hello to Chase and Cameron who are sitting at the table, rather closely he notices but doesn't let it show. He puts his duffle bag on a chair, goes to the coffee machine and sees it's empty.

"Why in the hell isn't there any coffee?" he snaps.

His two colleagues look up at him startled at his outburst. "What's your problem, boss?" Chase asks sarcastically.

"I thought my 'there's no coffee' comment pretty much explained it all," he answers, loudly making a fresh pot.

"Foreman, what's wrong?" Cameron asks alarmed.

"Yeah, we thought you'd just love being in House's shoes again," Chase says. Cameron gives him a dirty look to shut him up.

He sighs, stares at the ceiling and walks to the table, pulls out a chair and sits down. "I'm sorry, guys. Heard from my dad last night."

Foreman doesn't want to tell them about his mom, who's in an institution with Alzheimer's, but he realizes he can't let his frustrations out on them. He tells them briefly they reason why his mother didn't visit him with his dad when he was sick. "The past week Mom's not been doing well, and they've had to...to tie her down to her bed."

They sit silent for a moment then Cameron says, "You know it's for her own protection."

"Of course I do. It's just, I always thought she'd come back..."

"And that's why you supported Vogler, at first, anyway," Chase states, "because of his own family history of Alzheimer's. I'm sorry, Foreman."

"Excuse me, Dr. Foreman," a nurse says as she sticks her head in the doorway. "There's a patient downstairs that needs to talk to you."

"Isn't Smithers here, yet?" Foreman asks.

"Yes, she is, but she asked that she speak to you."

Foreman grumbles something about not having any coffee yet and walks out.

"Well, that was strange," Chase says as he stands to refill his own coffee cup. "I'll make sure to leave him some next time."

"Chase, I've been thinking...," Cameron says but Chase interrupts her.

"You want a cup, too?"

She tells him no as she waits for him to sit down so she can finally say what she should have said a long time ago. "What have you been thinking?" Chase asks.

She takes a hard swallow and says, "Want to get dinner and a movie one weekend? I mean, after House and Wilson are better and we're back in our normal routine?" she asks, almost in one long rambling sentence.

Chase smiles but then it gradually disappears before he asks, "Does that mean House is out of the picture?"

She looks at him perplexed. "What do you mean? Now I take back the offer."

"No, no. I didn't mean it that...look, I heard how pissed you were when you saw Cuddy and House in the hospital bed together. Nice, by the way. But I want to make sure that, uh, you are serious about going out, and not for some diversion while House is cooped up."

"Is that what you think?" she asks flabbergasted.

"Well, honestly, yeah."

Cameron stands up and Chase instantly regrets what he's just said. She paces back and forth while she gets her thoughts together, all the while he is holding his breath.

"No, no, I mean, nothing serious at first, just dinner. Or, maybe just coffee now," she says seriously. When she sees fear build in his face she starts to laugh. "Okay, sorry. I was teasing. But, still, I don't think there's anything wrong with it."

Chase leans back in his chair happier than a Koala eating eucalyptus leaves, even happier than a clown fish swimming through an anemone.

"Okay, sure." Cameron smiles back at Chase.

HOUSE MD HOUSE MD HOUSE MD

Cuddy has just woken up from sleeping on her couch in her office and is shocked how late it is, and more surprised that no one had bothered her yet. She sits up and leans forward, putting her face in her hands. She has never felt so exhausted in her life, well, there was med school when she was up for three days straight but that didn't count; this exhaustion is more emotional than it is physical.

She slowly gets up and walks to her desk, pulls a folder toward her to read through but she can't concentrate. Wilson being in House's room and the impending confrontation with Wilson's parents are weighing on her mind too much to think straight. She sighs, stands and walks out of her office.

She sees a woman standing outside exam room three yelling at Foreman. Cuddy stands, watches and listens for a moment.

"You had me on antibiotics for a YEAR before you sent me to the ENT, who had me spend $350 on a mouth guard for TMJ, which I DON'T have. You've had me on antidepressants for two years because I'd be crying in your office because I'd been feeling miserable and you always attributed it to depression! It's arthritis in my cervical spine! I've been in pain for almost TWO years and an ENT found it!" The woman is screaming at the top of her lungs and Foreman just stands there in silence.

"I want to talk to your supervisor, NOW!" she demands.

With that it prompts Cuddy to get a handle on the situation. "I'm Dr. Cuddy, Dean of this hospital. What seems..."

The woman goes on her rant again, which Cuddy had already heard. She turns to Foreman and tells him she'll handle the patient as she escorts the woman back to her office.

'And just when I thought it was going to be a quiet day,' she thinks to herself.

HOUSE MD HOUSE MD HOUSE MD

House is still sleeping peacefully in his bed while the nurse checks on his neck and stomach wounds, gently removing the adhesive pad and looking for any possible signs of infection. When she's satisfied there is none she checks on the I.V. insertion site to make sure it hasn't been loosened over the past few hours.

She must have accidentally moved the needle out of position because he grunts in his sleep and turns his head to the source of the pain but doesn't open his eyes. The nurse doesn't say anything, though, as she replaces some items back on the tray and leaves the room. After the rude interruption from the nurse he slowly becomes awake and hears his 'roommate' snoring softly behind the curtain.

"Will you shut UP!" he barks.

House hears a few mumbles coming from the man but can't make out what he's saying. He's only hoping he's stirred in his sleep enough to stop the 'insufferable' snoring. House hears a beep and recognizes it as the nurse call button. 'Oh, poor baby. He can't handle the pain,' he thinks to himself nastily.

Another nurse walks into the room, passes by the opened curtain at the foot of House's bed and can see the side of the curtain rustle from her brushing against it.

"How are you feeling, Dr. Wilson?" the nurse asks.

House never does hear the answer because he's in shock at learning that his best friend is in the same room as him and they'll be roommates again.

He smiles wickedly as he thinks to himself, 'Oh, the possibilities! Just like the med school dorm.'