A/N: Hey y'all, once again. Now, one question that's been burning on everyone's minds (well, I assume it is, even thought I'll probably say it and everybody will be like "Huh! Oh, yeah. Xandi's got a point."): When's Chase gonna drop the god-damn kid! It'll happen soon, pets…very, very soon.

GENERAL WARNING: There will be a lot more swearing from now on….

Chapter 15: Swing

Chase found his vision was still blurry and unfocused. He knew he was on his back, slightly raised off the ground. Something was supporting him, and his abdomen felt cold; like there was something being pushed around on it. Someone was pushing hair off his face…

"Cuddy, he's waking up." A familiar male voice told said woman. It wasn't House or Foreman, who was the last guy he'd seen?

Wilson, a little voice hinted. His eyes snapped open to see Cuddy snapping her hand back and turning to fiddle with some patient notes and Wilson ultra sounding his belly.

"What happened?" He asked blearily. That was the first question on his mind.

"You were at the Halloween party with us. You walked past us looking pretty angry, you fainted, Cuddy and I carried you here, and now we're just checking you out for why you fainted."

"And…?"

"All that's wrong with you is that your blood sugars low. Try to have dinner before you go to bed tonight." Cuddy said, holding a test result, smiling optimistically.

"Your ultrasound looks good too. Baby's healthy, obviously doing something right. Did anyone ever tell you-"

"-If I was having a boy or a girl? No, that's another surprise." Chase chuckled, preferring to look down at his stomach instead of the screen. "I think it's a girl, I don't know, just had this feeling…Who wants to get rid of that element of surprise?"

"It might be useful when deciding whether you can trade hair tips or not." House piped up from the corner.

"Oh, shut up. You've got enough punishment clinics as it is." Cuddy snapped.

"Why do I always get clinic as punishment?"

"Because if I did what I really wanted to punish you with, I'd be on murderer's row."

"Oh, J.Lo wants to pull a move on me."

"Bite my-"

"Anyway," Wilson interrupted, turning back to Chase. "You don't have any definite indication of hypertension, but your blood pressure's slightly over normal levels. I think it'd be a good time to take a break."

The look on Chase's face was obviously not his idea of how things would be run. Work had been keeping him sane; something more ideal to focus on than his personal and romantic life.

"No. I'm fine where I am at work, even if it's not practical stuff, I can at least run tests still, give differential diagnoses-"

"Actually, I like Wilson's thinking. Sorry buddy; you've been busted. I found a rattle in your basket. It's time to go…"

"NO! House, I'm fine where I am! It keeps me busy, it's not affecting my personal life-"

"It's causing you to make your heart explode, and I really can't stand week-old babies, they're at their worst then. Forget toddlers."

"Stop it! Both of you!" Cuddy screeched. God, how many men did she need to piss her off tonight? Before she spoke again, she closed her eyes and counted to ten to try and prevent explosions.

"House, your point seems to be that Chase needs rest for the next few weeks. I agree; Chase, you need to relax and focus more on yourself-"

"That's not too hard-"House butted in.

"I'm warning you!" Cuddy glared daggers at him.

"Look, its fine. I can work still, if anything I feel more useful. You'd be surprised at what I can-Ow!"

Chase reached for something to hold. Leaning forward, he wondered what the hell was going on. Cuddy with her bun of curly locks raised her eyebrows in surprise. Wilson, thinking more rationally, went over to see what he could do. House, as usual, did nothing. Except twirl his cane.

"Feel that? It's called a Braxton Hick. Naturally, most other women decide this might be a good time to put their feet up and rest…but if it really matters to you, we might work something out."

Chase looked up; the sudden knotting in his guts was subsiding. "I think I will."

--

Clinics are rather foreboding places at times. They're fine when there's lots of people who've come worrying about colds and things that happened last week, not so fine when you're the only one sitting there with some random person who doesn't seem too interested in having an upper respiratory condition. More likely chances are they're interested in you.

The day had been somewhat usual for him: Idnax had been shaking him awake, trying to get him out of whatever nightmare he might have been having. Assuring her that he hadn't been dreaming about the baby's death, watching it being taken away, or House. Willingly eating the breakfast she made before heading off to work, then pacing around the lounge trying to shake off any indigestion. This would normally end in a trip to the bathroom, then crawling back into bed for a nice, long sleep.

So when Chase sat down that afternoon on a chair for one last check-up, how convenient that he sat down next to some whack-job. Well, she might have been; her hair was pink and thinly pigtailed, she had four holes in her right ear. She was a little shorter than he was, and maybe she was thin, like he used to be. One of her red Converses had a dirty great slash right through it, and that light green tutu skirt, matching corset shirt and purple fishnets didn't look too sane. Still, there she was, popping her gum as loud as humanly possible.

He hadn't had a good night's sleep for days. And night was the key word there. When Cameron called around in the morning, she'd just left a note. When Idnax had called in to take him to the clinic, she'd had to shake his shoulder very hard to get his attention. Now, with that gum popping in his ear…

"Would you mind not doing that?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound too agitated.

She shuffled around in a reluctant manner, "What if I don't?"

Hmmm, good point. "I'm sorry; look, I haven't slept for nights. It's just very annoying to me, that's all." He apologised quietly.

"Well maybe you should think about defending yourself a bit more before you back down like that." The girl said, coyly twirling her bright pink hair.

"We've got the time; why don't we make idle chit chat that's not really gonna affect either of us in ten years time?" she suggested, not knowing that maybe, it would. "Ok then. Why are you here?"

Tough call. It was six days away until he'd be allowed to join a single parents club according to Wilson. His back had been hurting more than usual, standing on his two feet felt like it was sucking away months of life. The only slight improvement was that he could breathe again and wasn't getting indigestion after breakfast. What could he tell her without suggesting anything?

"My back's been sore." Chase answered hurriedly. Would she buy that?

"Oh, I see. I'm waiting for a friend; she's just picking up a prescription from the chemist, God knows why she's taking so long."

Mentally thanking his lying ability, Chase shuffled his shoulders around the seat in a vain attempt to feel more comfortable. He was about to turn to ask this girl a question again; but she had gone to see somebody.

The friend the girl had mentioned was familiar. Slightly thinner, redder hair than who he was once connected with.

"Hey, Odie. Done now?" the girl asked the familiar one, smacking a kiss on her petite girlfriend's cheek. She was wearing Greek pants, a T-Shirt saying "My face is up here!" and calf-high boots. Clothes that were so familiar…

"Yeah, I'm good now. Got enough Ibuprofen to last a fortnight. C'mon, Ella."

Oh, no. This must be Angela. Hopefully, they'd just walk out the door and not talk to him any more.

Before they headed out the door, Angela turned around again. "Oh God, sorry! I'm rude; this is my girlfriend, Odessa."

It figured.

"What, never seen a lesbian before? Fine, I'm out, get over it."

Pip tried to reassure her flustered girlfriend, "Hey, hey. Darling, calm down, it's Ok! We know each other…"

"…In fact, we've even slept with each other."

This was obviously news to Angela. "Odie, you told me that you dumped your boyfriend because he got engaged to his other straight girl!"

"…That's…sort of right…"

"Look, I can handle little lies; like where you hid my keys on my birthday and why you told me the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Lies like telling me that this boyfriend knocked her up-"

"Angela, there was no other girlfriend. The other girlfriend was you!"

"Yeah, so what are you tellin' me, the boyfriend got knocked up!"

Ok, tricky explanation. Pip didn't want to do it; Chase definitely didn't want her to do it. Still, she nodded her head. Crap, Chase thought to himself. The baby seconded that with a swift kick and going into a bout of hiccups. Not to mention that his abdomen was starting to hurt like hell…

Angela was gagging with disbelief. "You girl, are hiding more than just lies from me. You are hiding crack or something!"

"Nope, sorry Ella. It's the truth."

Meanwhile, down the other side of the clinic, a certain doctor was watching this fight with intent interest.

"I wonder when we get the mud out…" House thought to himself, hobbling over to get a better earful.

"…You just can't help yourself, can ya? You get one relationship going right, then you realise that swinging to the other side of the pitch suits you better!"

"Hey, how about you both shut up for a minute and- Holy shit!" Chase cried.

One second he'd been calm and collected, watching this fight take place, the next, he was soaking wet from the pants down. House thought this might be a good time to butt in.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Gregory House, your tour guide for today. Look, I apologise if the wombat just peed all over you, we can clean that up very quickly."

"No, House. My waters just broke."

A/N: Er, heh heh. This can be explained…By the way, out of interest. Whose got a favourite House-ism, or anybody-ism?