Here comes the next chapter! Thanks for all the reviews and keep telling me what you have to say! Thanks so much! Onward!
Questions
"What we've found is that Mr. Deleyney is still exhausted, he's eating but losing weight, and he's sweating profusely."
Chase handed the file to House, who had been standing at his white board, twirling his cane around his long fingers, lost in thought. Foreman followed Chase into the office, shaking his head.
"How long has the patient been irritable?"
Foreman stopped in the middle of the room, frowning.
"How did you know?" he asked. House rolled his eyes.
"Either you always look that pissed off or I just never noticed before now. What did he say?"
"What does it matter?" Foreman said, taking a seat at the glass table.
"Oh, did I hurt Foreman's feelings?" asked House, cooing to the doctor. "Chase, why don't you give him a hug and a lollipop while I page for Cameron?" Chase raised an eyebrow and looked at Foreman questioningly, the insulted doctor shaking his head, arms up to ward off a potential hug.
"Anyway, what did he say?" House continued, hobbling over to his desk and picking up the hospital directory, flipping through the numerous pages in slight confusion.
"He was just... Mr. Deleyney has always been the type of man to get what he wants and likes to throw his weight around. Reminds me of you, a little," Foreman said, shooting venom at House.
"Ouch, that hurt. Continue."
"Well, he is just being rude and told me that he wasn't going to have a black doctor do anything else for him because it's apparently my fault he had the cardiac episode while I was taking blood. After that, I made Chase take over."
"That racist bastard. If I were you, I'd go give him a good rattling, you know, the good ol' southern way-"
"You don't need to say anything. Just mark irritability on the list of symptoms."
Chase took the marker from the table and wrote the new symptom on the growing list. House called over his shoulder, "Be sure to mark racism." Chase, confused once more, started to write, but Foreman shook his head again, Chase hastily putting down the marker and erasing the few letters he had written with the sleeve of his coat.
"Paging Allison Cameron, right now. Cameron, get-"
The door swung open and Cameron entered, furious. House, looking up from his phone call, continued. "Never mind, she just burst into my office, about to attack me. Continue with your meager lives, go on-"
"House, you-"
"How nice for you to be late."
"You sent-"
"Take a seat."
"But you-"
"Really, sit down before I have to make you sit down."
House grinned as Cameron, flustered and angry, unable to finish a sentence, sat down across from him, next to Chase, who was trying to get the marker off his jacket with a bit of spit, Foreman looking disgusted.
"Now, what else has been going on with Mr. Racist?"
"We just looked for the things you told us to. We found the sweating, the irritability, the weight loss, the diarrhea. What else did you want us to look for?"
"Chase, how long have you been a doctor?"
"I don't see how that is related to the case, House."
"Well, I'll take that answer as not very long. Always check for more! If the patient is having heart problems and has weight loss and is sweating, are you going to figure out what is causing the sweating or the heart problem first? Give me information on the heart!"
Chase threw his head back and looked at his fellow doctors. Foreman was resting his chin in his hand, brows furrowed, Cameron was still furious, arms crossed over her chest, and House was waiting for answers.
"We could do a scan for blood clots and take another blood sample."
"What happened to the first blood sample?"
Foreman cleared his throat, telling House what he didn't want to hear.
"When the patient was-"
"You lost the blood sample?"
Foreman nodded, swallowing hard. House sighed and stood up, Foreman and Chase both flinching as House picked up his cane.
"Great. Just great. Pretty boy is back to elementary school and big guy has lost a blood sample. Ms. Fury over there is the only one I'm not mad at. Yet."
"I'll get on the sample."
"I'll schedule that scan."
Chase and Foreman stood from the table and left the room. House, taking a careful look at the board called after them.
"Check for exophthalmos, while you're at it. If this guy has cardiac arrhythmia, get back to me immediately."
"Why would we want to check for exophthalmos?"
"Chase, go play doctor and stop asking questions! Just do it!"
House sighed again, watching the two doctors leave his office and walk down the hallway before he turned his attention to Cameron.
"Oh, come on. You were the one who was late. Technically, I am the one who should be sulking."
"House, you had no right to send me on a goose chase. You-"
"I didn't send you to find geese, I sent you to find a folder. You never think about how stupid things sound until they leave your mouth."
"You knew the folder was in the office all along and you sent me all the way around the hospital, scaring me that the file was gone. I go back and check with Foreman on the last place he saw it, and he was holding the damn thing! House, that isn't right. That's crossing the line."
"No, crossing the line is if I were to do this."
House limped over to Cameron and grabbed her wrist, pulling her out of her chair. She tried to pull away, but his grasp was too strong and Cameron felt his fingers dig into her wrist, her skin crying out in pain as Cameron bit her lip.
"Just don't question me. I'm tired of people questioning me, asking about everything I do and don't do. If I say something should be done, it will be done without question in the future. It doesn't matter what I do because I am the best doctor this hospital has. Sure, a few people have sued, but that doesn't mean anything in the big picture. You and Chase and Foreman are all so lucky to be on my team and none of you realize it! Instead, you insult me by-"
"Let go of me."
"Don't-"
"I said let go!"
House let Cameron go, Cameron rubbing her wrist, refusing to meet House's eyes. House stared at her expectantly, waiting for the tears to start.
"I know every day how lucky I am to work at your side. I go home and I think about everything that has happened during the day and, if I wasn't on your team, I wouldn't be as happy as I am now. But, I don't like this, House. You can't keep doing this, abusing us. Foreman and Chase tolerate it, but I am always the one who ends up getting hurt. You never realize it until it's too late. Right now, you are looking at my wrist you just twisted and you see just that. You don't see how much that hurts. I stick up for my fellow doctors, but you don't need to rub salt in the wounds you cause. Inflicting them is punishment enough."
The two stood in silence for a few moments until House broke the quiet.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about this!"
Cameron held up her wrist for House to see, red and obviously painful. House stared at it until Cameron pulled it back to her, holding it in her other hand.
"I don't mean to hurt you-"
"But you do. You are a great doctor, but that doesn't give you the right to be like this. Anyone else would call you up on physical abuse for what you just did, but not me. You know that and that is why you do this. Never again."
"Never again what?"
"Never again will you touch me in anger!"
Cameron walked past House, storming out of the office, leaving nothing but the scent of lavender in her wake.
I totally just made up the end part with Cameron and House. I don't think the real character would ever be cruel enough to do that to Cameron or any other doctor, but I know where I am going with this, and that was important. (I think.) Anyway, I'll update soon and I hope to get some reviews! Thanks for reading! (P.s. I really didn't mean to be racist in this story... I was doing that for a good spat between Foreman and House. I hope it didn't offend anyone. Sorry. I wanted to try something new and I don't think I like it when I write stuff like that...)
