"Mrs. Anderson?"
Estelle slowly fluttered her eyes open and focused on the face that accompanied the voice. "I must be dead," she said weakly.
"Why do you think so?" asked Chase who was focused on checking the responsiveness of his patient.
"I have to be," she replied in a still drowsy voice. "I have never seen a doctor so beautiful. That must only happen in heaven."
Chase flashed her a flattered smile. "No, you aren't dead. How are you feeling?"
"Like crap. You?" she replied.
Chase laughed. For someone who has been lingering for a few days, a sense of humor was an encouraging sign. "I'm Dr. Chase. I have been looking after you since you got here three days ago."
"You mean I got someone to pay attention to me for that long?" she replied. "I can't get someone to give me three minutes, let alone three days."
"It was rough there for a while and you still have a ways to go, but you are way better than you were," said Chase. "Waking up is about the best sign we have gotten since you arrived."
"What have I got this time?" asked Estelle
"You reacted badly to a bee sting," replied Chase
"I remember getting stung. My back hurt so much though I paid no mind to it. That is strange since I'm not allergic to bees."
"You are when you take supplements like bee pollen. You shouldn't be taking any supplements at all without checking with your doctors first."
"I never knew," said a stunned Estelle. "My girlfriend swore by it, said it changed her life. The medicines don't work anyway. I'm still in pain all the time."
"We can discuss all your meds later, but as a right now you are off all of them. They were poisoning your body and have slightly damaged your liver."
Estelle looked at Chase with complete confusion. "I don't understand. The doctors said I had to have them otherwise I wouldn't get better. Doctors have to be smart enough to know what they are doing. They wouldn't lie."
Chase was surprised by the naivety of such an older woman. Maybe because she didn't have 'everybody lies' drilled into her mind on a daily basis. Now wasn't the time though to give a lesson in drug interaction. "Like I said, we will go through all your medicine options at another time. For now, you need to rest."
"Is there anything you can give me for the pain?" she asked.
"Your body can't handle much medicine right now. You are limited to a low dose of acetaminophen. Also, an acupuncturist will be along later."
"Acupuncture? What kind of a hospital is this?"
Chase smiled reassuringly. "One that will make you better."
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The next day Chase arrived at the hospital a little early. He wanted to catch up on some notes and line up consultations for his case. Estelle still needed a lot of help and it seemed like he was going to have to talk to every doctor in the hospital by the time all her problems were addressed. First priority though was a psychological consult. He also wanted to avoid Cameron and Foreman. He wasn't in the mood for differing medical opinions so early and just wanted to get his work done.
As he entered the room Chase was surprised to see House there, pouring a fresh cup of coffee. "What, you only get up early while on vacation? You must be desperately tired, you made coffee." Chase said to House as walked over to get himself a cup. He knew he was at great risk for trying anything House made, but the curiosity factor made the risk worth it.
"No more vacation," House said. "The tropics get boring after a couple of days. All the beautiful women started to look the same. Once the guys started looking interesting, it was time to leave."
"So you would rather look at us? I suggest a real vacation next time. There is something really wrong with you." Chase replied.
"Wrong with me? I didn't almost kill my patient." House replied.
Chase knew this was coming eventually. "Okay, have at it. I'm ready to hear about what a screw up I am." He then braced himself for the usual scolding.
"I was wrong," said House. "Actually, idiot would be the better word for myself. Nah, that's kind of harsh. For over two years, I pushed you harder and was nastier to you than anybody because that is how I get people to react. You however, never once pushed back and did what you should. The harder I pushed, the harder you resisted and didn't stand up to the challenge."
Chase stood there expressionless waiting for the rest of it.
"I had it all wrong. All this time I should have pretended that I was teaching a dog to swim. All I had to do was throw you in the middle of the pool and see if you could crawl yourself out. I would have saved myself some trouble, but then again it wouldn't have been as fun." House gave a wicked smile with that last comment.
"Anyway," House continued, "talk about not knowing how to work your staff. I should be blasted for that mistake on my performance review. When left to your own devices, you finally became the doctor you should be. Your work was exceptional. It's about friggin time."
Chase was getting used to House's strange ways of complimenting by this time. He didn't show it, but he was honestly surprised by the admission of competency. "Would you have done the same thing?" asked Chase.
"No," said House with loud disapproval. "Your approach was way too safe for my tastes. I would have gone with Foreman's detox solution. However, this department should at least have one of its attendings playing it safe, and I know I'm not changing."
Chase stood there now completely speechless, not sure how to respond. This was the closest he would ever get to validation with House, so all he could do was silently enjoy the moment.
"Acupuncture is one of the most creative solutions I have seen yet," continued House. "How in the world did you come up with it?"
"I had it done once," replied Chase, "after straining my back playing football, er, soccer. I never once had to take any pain medication."
"In that case you should have come up with it sooner," scolded House
Chase acknowledged his slow thinking with a shameful nod.
"Pressure is off for today. Go care for your patient. I'll deal with Cameron, Foreman and all new business."
Chase gave House a slight smile of acknowledgement and quickly left to find another place to do his work. He didn't want to give House a chance to change his mind.
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House was actually looking forward to the latest summons by Cuddy. Sure it was earlier than he would have liked, but he knew how much she was pining for him while he was on vacation.
"So, you missed me, didn't you?" asked House as he entered Cuddy's office without the customary knocking on the door.
"Were you gone?" asked Cuddy. "Of course you were, because my life was actually easier and work got done. How about you take a whole week? I'll even grant a month."
"Face it, you can't live without me. Your job would get so dull. Such peace and complacency would be the end of you. Why don't you tell me what you want so I can get back to degrading my staff?" said House.
"I have done an internal review of Dr. Chase's case and his performance."
"Don't blame me, I was on vacation."
"While I was rather miffed at first that you would be so irresponsible as to leave an inexperienced attending to handle such complex circumstances on his own, in the end it turned out to be the brightest move you have ever made as a supervisor." Cuddy observed.
"I just have a way with people," House replied mockingly.
"Your move would have been more appreciated if you actually went on vacation. What sort of sick twisted person... Oh yeah, you. You aren't getting that time back by the way. Anyway, back to the original point. Chase has wildly exceeded all expectations with this case. Not only is the patient improving, his case notes, treatment approach, and dictation are thorough and up to date. All required paperwork is detailed and perfect. I'm not sure where he learned that skill from."
"Yeah, no kidding," replied House. "Some people you just can't teach proper disregard for procedure no matter how hard you try. It's a natural skill I guess."
"I could have gone without the tantrum in front of the MRI staff, but then again they can be such jerks at times so I don't blame him. Now that I know that diagnostics has two very reliable attendings to run cases, I'm going to start sending more work your way."
"You can't do that," replied House showing fake concern. "We don't want to overwhelm the new doctor. He might get mad and quit."
"You don't get to be as selective with cases anymore," continued Cuddy. "You as head of the department still get to pick which ones you want to assign to yourself, but now you can pass those so called 'boring' cases onto your other doctor. I'll know though if they are all handed to Chase. We have an opportunity here now to build a top-notch diagnostics department that everyone can use, just not your challenging puzzles. Besides, with Cameron's fellowship up in a few months, we might be able to use the increased case load to justify another attending."
House got a slightly solemn look on his face. "I'm not sure about Cameron. She might not be up to this challenge by then. She isn't now."
Cuddy was surprised. "I know putting down Chase all this time was an act for you to motivate him, but you honestly thought he would be a better attending than Cameron?"
"Come on," replied House, "you read her review. All that wasn't made up you know."
"I was considering the source," said Cuddy.
"Everything I said in those reviews was true, especially Cameron's. Until she can start making decisions with her head instead of her heart, she won't be ready to run cases."
"How about Foreman?" Cuddy asked.
"He's more than ready now, but I honestly don't think he wants to work for me once his time is up," replied House. "So what do you think about your plans to make this almighty diagnostics department now?"
"I'm still increasing your case load. We can go from there. There are other talented doctors out there if your team doesn't want to rise up."
"I hate doctors," replied House as he got up to leave. "They are all so arrogant and into themselves."
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House spotted Wilson in the hall after leaving Cuddy's office. He pretended not to notice him.
"House," Wilson said as he ran toward House noticing the brush off. "You look like you're back from your vacation. Where's my tacky souvenir?"
"I'm not talking to you," House told Wilson.
"Was it something I said, or did you meet someone else? You didn't get friendly with the cabana boys did you?" asked Wilson mockingly.
"You had a beer with my doctor. That's betrayal."
Wilson flashed a 'is that all that's bothering you' expression. "No matter what you might believe, sometimes compassion is required in cases of human suffering," defended Wilson. "The kid looked like he just lost his puppy. How did you find out about it anyway?"
"I have spies. Did you two get a room?" asked House bordering on hurt.
"You have misled me this entire time," replied Wilson. "I'm the one that should be mad. Granted, I know you are often not truthful, but why didn't you tell me Chase was anything but a lazy spoiled rich kid? He has to be one of the most down to earth, level headed, intelligent people I have met in this profession. That is saying a lot."
"Chase isn't rich," said House
"How do you know that?"
"He told me."
"He told you," replied a disdainful Wilson. "Let me guess, he broke after enduring your intense badgering. A beer would have been much easier."
"Well, I'm happy for you both," House quipped back sharply. "What do you and your new best friend have planned next?"
"Sorry it seems offensive to you that two professional colleagues would take a moment to have a beer after a particularly crappy day. Oh wait, that happens with us all the time."
"You said you were just going to be nice and encouraging," ranted House. "A beer? That is taking a threat too far."
"He needed all the support he could get and wasn't getting any from anyone on your team," said Wilson now in his usual full lecturing mode. "You should be very proud in that you have succeeded in your quest when mentoring young doctors. They all are now brilliant in being completely hateful toward each other."
"This is the real world, not preschool. There is no playing nice. Besides, it finally got Chase to stand up didn't it?" House said defending his management logic.
"Even the most moral and sympathetic of your doctors decided to take a page from the House school of inhumanity. It was sickening to watch."
"Cameron is mean to Chase all the time," countered House. "This was nothing new. He took it like a man for once."
"Forgive me for being weak and actually showing some sympathy. You might want to try it sometime. It is called acting like a human being. It works wonders for the soul."
Wilson left House standing alone in the hallway. House leered back knowing he was right, but nothing would be done about it.
