1Mistakes Shouldn't Be Made Twice - Chapter 3
House walked into his patients room. " Here we go." He thought, as he walked towards the young girl, who was currently sleeping. At least he thought she was, because he was about to slam his cane down on the lunch tray obnoxiously when she popped open one eye. Realizing his cane hovering over her, she opened the other one. " You know," She said with a raised eyebrow, "Hitting someone while they're sleeping wouldn't exactly be fair play." She then narrowed her eyes. "Who are you anyway? A patient? I'd ask if you were from the mental ward if it wasn't for the cane. There goes that theory."
" My aren't we cheery! I wasn't going to hit you I was going to wake you. I'm not that much of a jerk." Was House's comeback. "And I'm NOT a patient by the way," He continued. " I'm doctor House. We figured out what's wrong with you. Are your parents here yet? There are some decisions need to be made regarding your leg. And since you're a minor..."
"Did you even READ my chart!" Asked Kayla angrily. Seeing House's confused and shocked expression at this outburst she sighed. " My parents are dead," She clarified. " And I don't even live in New Jersey. I'm spending the rest of the summer here at camp."
"Oh," said House. "Any living relatives?" He asked.
" Yeah, I live with my aunt. But she only thinks of me as an inconvenience and a pain. Why do you think I go to camp for four weeks of the summer?" Responded Kayla with a hint of anger and annoyance.
" Well, we still need to call her- House began but Kayla interrupted. " I wouldn't trust her with my life. Is there any way you could tell me without her being here?"
" I could get Dr. Cuddy to call her and get permission to operate on your wishes..." Said House slowly.
" Okay, do that. But could you at least tell me what's wrong with my leg?"
House sighed, " You have a blot clot in your thigh. Now normally this would be a simple problem to fix, but since your first doctor, being the total idiot that he is, didn't think of a clot a s a possibility, he sent you to me." He paused here for a moment, " Because of the length of time the clot was left untreated..." He sighed, this was the hard part, "the muscles in your thigh have started to die. We'll remove the clot immediately, but the chemicals released from the dead muscle would still be sending poison up to the rest of your body."
"So what do we do?" Asked Kayla, frightened.
"Well, you have two options, we could either amputate the leg," She stiffened, and House quickly moved on. " Or have the dead muscle removed from it."
" I LIKE my leg! No one is cutting it off." She snapped. House remembered himself saying almost exactly the same thing, and had to try and ignore the sick feeling in his stomach. " Professional. I have to stay professional." He reminded himself silently. I have to warn you though...the second option could leave you with constant pain and limited mobility. So are you sure-
" ANYTHING'S BETTER THAN A METAL LEG!" She screamed, and then took a deep calming breath, " I don't want to be a cyborg." She whispered. House felt bad for her. " Great," He said to himself, " I think I'm going soft." He decided to drop the Uncaring Jerk ack long enough to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. " Then if your sure, I'll send someone from my team in here with a consent form for you to sign and I'll get Dr. Cuddy, she runs the hospital, to get permission from your aunt." Realizing his hand was still on her shoulder, he cleared his throat awkwardly and began to walk away, but he was stopped by the sound of Kayla's voice. " Dr. House!" She called, and he turned. "Yeah, " He said gruffly, his soft side now completely hidden .
" What happened to your leg?" His expression softened yet again, this time with sadness and anger mixed in. " Blood Clot." He said finally. " My doctors were idiots too." He limped out of the room after one last glance at his "Mini-me" and headed towards Cuddy's office.