Title: Doppelganger
Summary: Something unknown is plaguing House and things are getting out of control, driving the pessimistic doctor to the edge of his sanity. Can he be brought back in time to save his latest patient? Can he even save himself?
Time Frame: After Vogler, before the Duckling Elimination Game. The time of year is probably completely incorrect, but I don't care. My fanfic, my mess.
Pairings: One-sided Cameron/House relationship (Cameron cares, House doesn't).
Author's Message: The solar-powered nodding thing mentioned is this chapter is a real object. My Media Studies teacher gave it to me as a prize and it's bloody cool. It lives on my windowsill, if you're interested. And from now on, I will be endeavouring to update as often as possible. It won't be regularly, but I do have Chapter Three to post as well. I'll post that one in about a week or so, less if I really feel desperate :-D
Edit: Thank you twizliz for noticing that I'd forgotten to change Nikki's temperature to 102.4 in House's speech. I need to get somebody to proofread my chapters for me x.x
Disclaimer: I own not, I profit not, so please sue me not. I'm fourteen; I can't afford it. However, any characters that you haven't seen before (Nikki, Alex, etc.) are my own creation and belong to me. Hands off please.
A nurse hands House the file for his first patient (Nikki Wilson) as he passes and he pauses outside the clinic room, formulating an opinion of the people inside. This patient, as House sees through the transparent wall, is a teenager who looks about thirteen. She is accompanied by an older man and they are apparently having an argument, he standing up and her sitting on the table. House watches the argument with interest, hypothesizing that unless teenagers are developing some very worrying dating habits, the girl is with her father. It's all very interesting to watch a teenager and her father shouting at each other but after a certain amount of time, it starts to loose its appeal. For House, this time is about one and a quarter minutes. He pops a Vicodin, swallows it dry and pushes the door open with more force than is necessary. It bangs off of the wall in an impressive fashion and the two inside turn and stare at him. The man looks rather annoyed. The girl flashes him a smile that House finds oddly familiar.
"Excuse me, can I help you?" the father says.
"Yeah, I'm looking for sick people. Do you know where I can find any?" House shoots back.
The father looks unimpressed.
"Are you a doctor?" he asks.
"No, I just like poking sick people with the cane," he says, the very picture of seriousness.
The father glowers.
His daughter murmurs, "Dad, stop it."
He looks at her and she glances meaningfully at him. He leaves the room with some reluctance, giving House a dark look as he passes. She looks at him with an apologetic expression for her father's behaviour. He examines her with something close to interest, his cane planted firmly between his legs.
"Shouldn't you have some adult supervision?" he asks.
She adopts a slightly wearied expression as she answers.
"I get that a lot," she explains. "I'm actually seventeen. So you are...?"
"Dr House."
"I'm Nikki. It's nice to meet you."
Nikki holds out her hand. House stares at it but makes no move to take it, so she withdraws it again and looks at her knees. House lifts up her file and opens it.
"So what's wrong with you?" he asks bluntly.
"I feel really tired and I've got a fever of 102.4 degrees."
House looks at her with an expression that says all too clearly "You're wasting my valuable time for that?". She smiles again.
"I know, I know, it's probably flu. But between you and me, my dad is a little-"
She stops mid-sentence with a hiss of pain and presses her forehead into both hands, her elbows on her thighs. House takes a step forward, curiosity beginning to grow. Nikki screws up her face in pain and begins to scream, tears oozing through her eyelashes and rolling down her cheeks. Her father bursts through the door.
"Nikki? Nikki!"
The father puts his arms around the screaming teenager as House limps to a draw and pulls it open. He pulls out a dose of Propofol, pushes up Nikki's sleeve and plunges the needle into her arm. He depresses the plunger and the liquid swirls into her vein. For a few seconds, there is no change. But then Nikki falls silent. Her face relaxes and she falls limp into her father's arms. House throws the used needle into the nearby bin then turns with his usual calm demeanour to the other man.
"You might want to go home and pick up a few things your daughter," he says. "She's here for the long haul."
The Ducklings are in the diagnostics room. Foreman is busy making coffee and Cameron is showing Chase a small nodding figure that she has bought to liven up the room. Chase isn't really that interested, but he listens politely as Cameron explains.
"It's solar-powered," she says, "and it works on the theory of perpetual motion. Watch."
She flicks a little black switch and sets the pink plastic creature down onto the table. It begins to nod slowly, its round vacant face staring into the distance. Cameron looks to Chase for approval.
"What do you think?" she asks.
"Cool," he comments.
He is saved from commenting further by the arrival of House, who bursts through the door and begins talking at once.
"Caucasian female, age seventeen, comes to the clinic with – what the hell is that?"
He leans over Cameron's nodding figure, examining it with interest. Foreman looks up from the coffee machine.
"Uh, House? The patient?" he says.
House ignores him, saying, "This is cool. Does it just keep on nodding and nodding or does it do something else?"
Foreman patiently repeats, "The patient?"
"Oh right," House replies. "Caucasian female, seventeen, comes to the clinic with lethargy and a fever of 102.4–"
"It's the flu," Chase interrupts, always the first to make a diagnosis. "Recommend liquids, bed rest and send her home."
"Good, exactly what I would have said–" Chase looks reasonably please "–except that flu doesn't usually cause a headache bad enough to scream over. Nice monkey but no banana."
"It was that painful?" Cameron asks.
"A healthy ten on the scale," House confirms.
He walks over the whiteboard and writes a quick list of the three symptoms that they know.
"So," he says. "Diagnosis?"
"Could still be the flu," Chase insists.
"With a headache that bad?" Cameron.
"Well, yeah. Could be." Chase.
"But what about meningitis?" Cameron.
"No neck pain." Foreman.
"It might still be in the early stages." Cameron.
"It could be a brain tumour." Foreman.
House finishes writing the list of possible complaints and sets the pen down on the nearest table.
"Right. So do all the basic labs and arrange a CT scan and lumbar puncture," he commands.
Nobody moves. House looks at them.
"What are you waiting for? A formal invitation? Get moving! Come on!"
The Ducklings leave the room and scatter. House reaches for the pen only to find his hand closing on empty air. Odd. He's sure that that was where he left it. He moves his hand a few inches to the left and finds the pen, picking it up. He returns to the whiteboard and begins to think.
Thank you for your kind reviews! To be specific, I thank Knight Wild, Little-Delia, bmax and evila-elf (who all reviewed here) as well as Megan (who reviewed by e-mail). The responses will be written on my LiveJournal after I've finished posting this, which I will post a link for in my profile.