Here is the next chapter for the story! Sorry it's taking me longer and longer to update. I always will update, no chapter taking more than a week to finish, but the more stories I work on, the less time I have per story! Sorry about that, but I'm trying my hardest to keep up the level of expectations, especially for this story.
Thanks for all the reviews so far! I really, really appreciate every single one of them! Every word counts! I don't know yet what I am going to do in terms of Cameron and her emotional issues, but I am toying with an idea... It sounds like no one really likes Cameron (although I like her because it's fun to write her into situations!) and I've always wanted to do a scene like the one running through my head, so you'll just have to keep reading and find out what I am planning! Let's go!
Illness
House sat on the couch, Wilson across from him in an armchair. He hadn't wanted visitors, really, but appreciated Wilson's company in an odd way. The silence was unnerving, of course, and he wished he could just snap Wilson's fingers off for how many times he tapped them on his knee, but having another person in the house was nice. Except when that person wanted to talk about work.
"House, I really think that Cameron-"
"What did I say?"
"About what?"
"About talking about her."
"Nothing."
"Okay, well, I'm saying it now. Don't talk about her."
"How about Foreman?"
"No."
"How about Chase?"
"Cuddy?"
"Definite not, unless you wanted to tell horror stories. I could turn off the lights and make popcorn while you found the flashlight."
Wilson rolled his eyes.
"Look, people were asking about you today. It's not like you to take off sick."
"What, I'm not human like anyone else?"
"You don't act like a normal human being. You act like a deity for the hospital and love to make others miserable. If you are in a bad mood or not feeling well, it's naturally assumed that you want to spread as much of that unhappiness and disease as possible before you are back to your normal level of crankiness."
"Fine, I'll just go around the hospital, spreading whatever illness you tell me I have. It's a hospital, so I don't know how miserable people would be, getting treatment right there because that is what a hospital is for, but it's worth a shot. What sort of illness did you tell them I had?"
"After you called Cuddy and didn't leave an exact illness, I told everyone you had the common cold. No one believed me, I think, but it was worth a try."
"Damn, here I thought you would give me the best sort of venereal disease and tell the whole hospital I had-"
"Don't be vulgar. I had to cover for your clinic shift today, but tomorrow you are going back to work. And you'll do your job. If I have to take over the case, you'll have to pull some of your own weight. How bad would that look if I had to do your work and, while I was covering for you and your fake illnesses, my patient died from neglect?"
"Get the ducklings to take care of him. Do we really need a head of the case? Foreman can do it. Or Chase, get Chase to... never mind, that would be instant death for the patient."
Wilson shifted in his chair. There was no getting through to this man. He didn't know why he was there, exactly. He had just wanted to swing by and see if House really was ill, but now he sat here, listening to the bitterness House was spewing in every sentence.
"Chase is a smart young man. You don't give him enough credit."
House laughed shortly, a laugh with no mirth.
"Foreman is clever and knows what needs to be done without it being told to him. He is one of the most capable doctors in the hospital."
House laughed again, the laugh still sarcastic and doubtful.
"Cameron puts her heart into things. She is smart and beautiful-"
"Don't talk about her."
House didn't laugh this time, and Wilson was startled at the flash of anger in House's eyes. Wilson ducked his head and sighed. House, fed up with the conversation, stood and hobbled out of the room, never looking behind him.
"Leave now."
Wilson, almost glad for the command to exit, gathered his jacket and threw it on as he watched House walk away.
"Will you be at the hospital tomorrow?"
"Yes," came the abrupt answer, and then House stopped, his voice a little less gruff. "Thanks for coming over, Wilson. Not everyone would do that."
"No problem. Feel better soon."
Wilson shut the door behind him. He had gotten used to the mood swings House went through and it didn't exactly bother him that House basically kicked him out of his home. He knew what the 'illness' was that House was suffering from. He couldn't stand to be around the ducklings or his boss. Cameron was the problem, mainly, but how to fix that problem, Wilson didn't know.
Sorry is this chapter is a little short. I am trying to get a few ideas to slow down enough that I can write them out and I am trying to set the stage for something. I'm starting to like the House/Wilson talks more because then House can actually talk and mean the things he says, although he is no less sarcastic about it!
Thanks so much for reading and please send me a review! It means a lot! Happy reading!
