Thanks to all of the reviewers for the last two chapters. :)

AN: I'm feeling a bit under the weather, with a cold in June. Yes, a cold in June. Anyways, I might not have another chapter up until the weekend, sorry about that. I also have something evil called "AP Government Summer Reading". It's really, really fun, I assure you. And I'm terribly sorry, I uploaded the wrong copy the first time around, thanks to Sara Wolfe for pointing it out (sort of) to me by asking what Chase was going to do next. Heh. I need to clean up my computer.

Disclaimer: I do not own House, any of its characters, or any of the songs/lyrics I use in this fanfic.

Ch. 2-Chase

The wombat. Always known as the wombat to House, Chase was starting to turn into one. Staying in bed all day until night, he rarely was seen on the floor with the diagnostics department. When Chase did come to work, it was mainly in NICU, a comforting place for him.

As he listened to the steady beeping at night while working the late shift, Chase thought about the past few weeks and the nightmares he had gone through after losing another person in his life. He was hard hit by his father's recent death. Unprepared for the fact that his father was fighting cancer, and losing quickly to it, the death hit Chase suddenly and led to a bout of depression.

Surely House's death would cause the same problem. Already noticing the first signs of depression, Chase contemplated seeing a psychiatrist like Cameron was doing, but decided against letting anyone pry into his private life. Sighing, Chase attended to a newborn, checking her vitals to ensure she was as healthy as a preemie could be.

Satisfied that the preemie was doing well, Chase sat down and went back to his thoughts. Had House not been there during the hearings for support, Chase would have surely broken down from combined depression and stress over the accidental death of a patient due to his own distraction. Unfortunately, there wasn't a House anymore to poke fun at him, ensuring in House's own way that his little wombat was not falling into the pit of severe depression.

What Chase was most afraid of was hurting a preemie during this bout of depression. He did not want to repeat what had happened last time, especially since there wasn't a House anymore to help defend him. Chase owed House his job. Despite Chase's betrayal to Vogler, House continued to allow Chase remain on the team. For this, Chase had always been thankful, but neither showed that they cared for each other.

Chase had originally thought about returning to the seminary in Australia. He had been hurt too much with his work at PPTH, with patients lying all the time, people suffering, and the loss of House. But his thoughts always returned to how his time with House and the other ducklings brought companionship, banishing his loneliness. Had he remained at the seminary, Chase would have been lonely for the majority of his time. Here in PPTH, there was never a dull moment.

A sudden erratic beeping came from the corner and the night shift nurses ran to attend to the preemie with Chase at the head. Evidently it was all a false alarm, somehow the baby had become unattached to one of the many wires attached to him, and the monitor had lost the reading. Chase thought about how much this preemie was much like House. An active little one for his size, the preemie had jerked in his movements, causing the misreading. House was in a way, active as well. Never able to sit in one place without playing with something in his hand, like his dear tennis ball, House preferred to remain busy and active to the best of his abilities despite the infarction. Reattaching the wire, Chase murmured softly to the preemie, giving it comfort and the feeling that someone was out there, watching for him and giving him companionship.

Resettling back into his seat for the umpteenth time that night, Chase stared off into the night and felt a sense of belonging; here in NICU he could truly help those alone in their separate incubators, to have a sense of companionship. This was where he best fit in. And so with the steady accompanying rhythm of the monitors, Chase slowly drifted off to sleep.

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
– How to Save a Life, The Fray