I DO NOT OWN HOUSE, M.D.


Pills for Sinning

James Wilson was in a hospital room and in a bed. He sighed. He didn't want to be here. After the day he had yesterday, this was the last place he wanted to be. Logically, he knew it was the right place to be... but that didn't make him feel any better.

Wilson's door slid open and his boss, Lisa Cuddy, walked in. "Hey, Wilson."

"Hey."

"How're you feeling?"

He shrugged. "Okay, I guess."

"Well, that's good. Considering what you did, you were lucky."

He looked down and played with his blankets. "I guess."

Cuddy spotted a chair by the table and pulled it out. "I just have one question." She pulled it up by the foot of his bed. She sat down and crossed her legs. She folded her arms across her chest too. "Why?"

Wilson looked up. "Why what?"

"You know damn well what. Why did you try to kill yourself?" Wilson looked down, ashamed. He was afraid to answer. If he told the truth, she wouldn't like it. He could lie... but she would be able to see through it. "Wilson, I need you to tell me what happened. Can you do that?" He looked up at her with tear filled eyes and thought for a second before he nodded. "Good. Now we're getting somewhere."

"Okay." Wilson took a deep breath in and shakily let it out. "The reason I tried to kill myself was because I... I-I– I was... threatened."

Cuddy thought she misheard him. "What?"

"I was threatened."

She became more alert now. "What? Threatened?" Wilson nodded. "By who?"

Wilson couldn't believe the name he was about to say. "C-Cameron."

"Cameron? Our Cameron?" Wilson nodded again. "Okay. What exactly happened?"

He sighed and then started his story. "Okay. House's team and I were in your office discussing our dwarf patient, Abigail. After everyone left, I asked Cameron if I could speak with her. We entered an empty clinic room and I shut the door behind me. That's when things started to go south."


Flashback

"What exactly is your problem with me?"

Obviously, Cameron was pissed at him. "Hepatoma is a weak diagnosis."

"So this is all about the case?"

"What else would it be about?"

"I made this deal to help him."

"And help yourself at the same time."

"This is not about my practice. This is not about my car. I gave both of them up to help House, and I would have gone on without them if he hadn't almost maimed that little girl and if he hadn't punched out Chase."

"Was it an easy choice?"

"Of course not, but it's right."

"Then why wasn't it easy?"

"Because he's my friend. It's... obviously complicated–"

"It's complicated? When you decided to talk to Tritter, your life got a million times better. How do you separate that out? How do you pretend your windfall isn't relevant to this decision?"

"It was the right thing to do."

"You pretending your motives are pure is why I have a problem." She opened the door and before leaving, she turned to him and said, "You know what, Wilson? You should do us all a favor and kill yourself." With that, she stormed out. That last comment left Wilson with tears in his eyes and a couple rolled down his cheek.

End of Flashback


As Wilson predicted, Cuddy didn't like what she heard. Her heart broke for him. "Is that all that happened, Wilson?"

"Y-Yes." He sniffled and was on the verge of crying. "I knew that Cameron was pissed at me, but to say that? That isn't like her at all."

"I know, Wilson. I know." Realization dawned on Cuddy. "That's why I found you in your office."

He sniffled again. "Yeah."


Flashback

Later, Cuddy went to Wilson's office to speak to him about something. She knocked on the door since it was closed. When she didn't get a response, she knocked again. Still no response. Frustrated, she went in and what she saw made her heart stop. Wilson was lying on the floor, and appeared to be unconscious. "Wilson!" She ran over and knelt down beside him. She put two fingers against his neck to check his pulse and found that it wasn't there. She noticed an empty pill bottle on the floor next to him and picked it up. It was a prescription for Prozac, an anti-depressant. "Dammit!"

Next door, Cameron, Chase and Foreman were sitting at the table in the conference room when their pagers went off. They grabbed and read them. The message said: 911 - Wilson's office. Foreman got up. "It's from Cuddy. We have to go now." Chase got up as well... but Cameron remained seated. "Cameron, we have to go. Come on."

"I'm not coming."

"Why not? Sounds like Wilson's in trouble."

"All the more reason not to go."

"What the hell's wrong with you?"

Chase said to Foreman, "Never mind her. Come on. We have to go." With that, they raced down the hall to Wilson's office.

They burst in and saw Cuddy performing CPR on Wilson. She looked up. "Thank goodness you got my page."

Foreman asked, "What happened?"

"No time. Just call down for help." He got down to assist Cuddy and Chase got on the phone to call the ER. Cuddy leaned down and breathed into Wilson's mouth. In between that, Foreman did compressions. After a few more breaths and compressions, Cuddy checked his pulse again. It was there, but it was weak. Just then, an emergency team rushed in. A gurney was rolled up and locked into place. An oxygen mask was placed onto Wilson's face and an IV was placed in his right hand. He was then placed on the gurney and rushed out of the room, Cuddy, Foreman and Chase following.

As they were rushing down the hall to the elevators, Wilson opened his eyes. The brown orbs were liquid with tears. Cuddy, who was right next to him, said, "Don't cry, Wilson. You're gonna be okay." He let out a little whimper and then drifted into unconsciousness again. The right elevator opened and everyone rushed in. It closed and they all waited as it went down to its desired floor.

When it opened in the basement, they all rushed out and through the halls. They came upon double doors and burst through them. Once in the ER department, they rolled Wilson up beside a bed and locked the gurney into place. He was then safely transferred. That's when his eyes fluttered open a little again. He was so disoriented that he barely registered what was going on around him. He only registered the words 'stomach pumping' that were spoken by Cuddy.

Chase forced Wilson's mouth open and started snaking a thin tube down his throat. As he was doing so, Wilson started gagging—as one did when they were trying to get something out of their throat. "Come on, Wilson. Don't fight me on this! You need it done." Wilson might've felt weak, but he was trying to fight with all he had. Despite his gagging, Chase got the tube down Wilson's throat and to his stomach.

Cuddy stood on the sidelines, on the right. She was trying her best not to cry at the scene she was witnessing. Someone she loved and cared for was getting a stomach pumping because of an overdose. She so desperately wanted to reach out to touch Wilson... to comfort him somehow. She knew she'd just be in the way, though.

"Relax, Wilson. You need to relax and breathe. We're trying to help you." That didn't calm Wilson down, though. He was still trying to fight the tube. The last thing he felt before he passed out again was liquid sliding down his throat.

End of Flashback


"Cuddy, you okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine."

"Really? Cause it looked like you were spacing out there."

"I'm fine, Wilson. Really."

"Okaaay. Sorry I asked."

"No. It's just–" Cuddy sighed and stood up. "Look, I have to get back to work."

She turned around and was about to head out when Wilson spoke up. "Why are you so pissed?"

She whirled around. "Really? You wanna know why I'm pissed? I'm pissed because one of my doctors—who also happens to be a good friend of mine—overdosed and nearly killed himself because he was threatened by another doctor here. So, yeah, I'm pissed because of that!"

Wilson had tears on his eyes. "I'm sorry."

Cuddy sighed. She didn't like upsetting him... but it was the truth and it had to be said. "Look, I'm not happy with you or with what you did... but I forgive you." She looked at her watch. "I really have to get back to work." She went up to him, hugged him, and kissed his forehead. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, Cuddy." He was then left alone and he started to ponder what just happened.

Meanwhile, Cameron, Chase and Foreman were in the conference room. Cameron was sitting at the table. Foreman was standing on the right by the whiteboard and Chase was next to him on the right. Foreman spoke first. "This just doesn't make sense. Who knew Wilson would be suicidal."

Chase replied, "He's not."

"I guess with all the stress he's been put under lately, it just got to him."

"Didn't you hear me, Foreman? He's not."

Foreman scoffed. "Yeah, right. I suppose this is all just a big coincidence. Look, Wilson tried to kill himself because of stress from this whole House-Tritter thing."

Cameron spoke up this time. "Makes sense. Maybe all this was just too much for him."

Chase had enough. "Wilson is not suicidal!" Cameron and Foreman were taken aback by his outburst. "I know Wilson. Maybe not as well as House, but I know him. He wouldn't just do this out of the blue. Yes, he's under stress from all of this—we all are—but he wouldn't commit suicide because of it."

Foreman shrugged. "Maybe he had another motive for doing it." He had no idea how right he was.

Chase asked, "You really believe that?"

"They're the only things I can think of."

They both went silent. Just then, Cuddy entered the room. "How're you guys holding up?"

Chase replied, "We're doing better... considering the circumstances."

"I know what you mean. It's been a rough couple days. Anyway, I need to speak to Dr. Cameron."

Cameron turned her head when Cuddy said that. "Me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Just come with me to my office." Cameron sighed in frustration and stood up. "And you two, clinic. Now." Chase and Foreman sighed as well and the four of them left the room. They all got on the elevator and went down.

When it opened in the lobby, they got out and headed for the clinic. Chase and Foreman went up to the reception desk when they entered the clinic, while Cameron followed Cuddy to her office. In her office, Cuddy shut the door and pulled the blinds so they had privacy. She walked over to her desk and sat down in her chair. "Sit down, Dr. Cameron."

Cameron did so. She was curious about what was going on. "What's this about?"

"I spoke to Wilson earlier."

Cameron leaned back in her in chair and crossed her arms. "So?"

"He told me you threatened him."

"Threatened? We argued. I was pissed at what he did to House."

"Well, that may be true... but that doesn't excuse you for what you did."

"What? Express my opinion?"

"He told me that you told him to kill himself."

"Is that what he told you?"

"I got his side of the story. Now I need yours. Did you or did you not threaten Wilson?"

"This is a waste of time."

Cuddy's patience was wearing thin. "Dr. Cameron, did you or did you not issue a death threat against Dr. Wilson?"

"Okay, fine. I did. Can I go now?"

"No, you may not. This is a very serious offense that shouldn't be taken lightly."

Cameron uncrossed her arms and tried to defend herself. "But he's the one who–"

"What he did was bad, but what you did was worse. You're lucky I don't fire you for it." Cameron rolled her eyes. "Okay, here's what's going to happen: you're going to apologize to Wilson for what you said."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"No, I'm not. You will do it." Cameron huffed in frustration and stood up. "You may go now." She went up to the door, opened it, and stormed out of Cuddy's office.

Chase and Foreman were right there, and they were not happy. Foreman asked, "It was you? You threatened Wilson?"

"Yeah. And?"

Chase replied, "You caused him to overdose. He almost died because of you."

"Cuddy already told me what happened. I don't need it repeated." They looked at her in disgust. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to apologize to the little rat." She turned around and left.

After she was out of sight, Chase said, "Wow."

Foreman added, "Well, guess I was right about Wilson having another motive." Chase just looked at him.

On the third floor, Cameron found Wilson's room after she asked at the reception desk. She got there and before she went in, she looked through the window. When she saw Wilson in the hospital bed, she started to feel guilty. Maybe she shouldn't have said what she said to him. Yes, she was mad at him... but to tell him to kill himself? That was out of line, even for her. She gained her courage and went in.

Wilson looked up when he heard the door slide open. Cameron said, "Hey."

"Hi." He didn't sound pleased to see her. Not that she could blame him.

After a few seconds, she found her voice. "Look, Wilson... I came here to apologize. I shouldn't have said what I said to you. It was really wrong and way out of line. I was angry... and I took it out on you. You didn't deserve it. I'm sorry."

Wilson didn't believe her, though. He crossed his arms. "You're just apologizing because Cuddy is probably making you."

Cameron was stunned into silence. She couldn't deny that fact. After all, he was right. It really was the main reason she was there. Still... she needed to do more than that. "No. I mean, yes, but no." Wilson wore a look of confusion. "Yes, it started out that way. Cuddy said I do have to apologize. But when I looked through the window and saw you in a hospital bed... I started feeling guilty." He remained silent, letting her continue. "I mean, if you actually did kill yourself, it would've been all my fault." Wilson was confused. "It's my fault that you're here, Wilson. My fault. I'm sorry."

Wilson found it in him to speak again. "Well... it's not all your fault. I do appreciate the apology, though. Thank you."

Cameron looked hopeful. "So... are we okay? Do you forgive me?"

He nodded. "Yeah, we're okay. I forgive you."

She walked up and hugged him. "Thank you." Wilson smiled. "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta get back to work."

She walked toward the door, when he spoke up. "Cameron?"

She turned towards him. "Yeah?"

"I forgive you... but I can't forget."

"I figured. Take it one step at a time." She winked at him before sliding the door open and leaving.

"Yeah. One step at a time." He laid back.

The next day, Wilson was released from the hospital. Cuddy forced him to take a week off, despite his protests. After a week, he came back feeling much better... or as better as he can get after making a suicide attempt.

Everything was looking better for James Wilson for the time being.