The Worse Of Two Evils
(America's future. Be afraid. Be very afraid.)
Note: This is between episodes "Act You Age" (3x19) and "House Training" (3x20). (Foreman's not being a wimp here, and Chase and Cameron aren't together) And yes, we realize that this is now about a season and a half ago. Blame Raven for not revising the chapters like I told her to LAST SEPTEMBER!! -glares at Raven- -Raven apologizes to readers but ignores Sk8er-
Disclaimer: If we owned House, then we'd be rich, and these two would have been in the show from the beginning.
Dr. Chase walked into PPTH, quite annoyed. House had sent him to break and enter another patient's home, but as it turned out, while he was gone, they had managed to figure out what was wrong and he'd gone across town for nothing. Now, all that had to be done was get his clinic hours done before House realized he was back, and leave before he had to do his.
Just as Chase walked up to the nurses' station to grab a file, Brenda, the head nurse, thrust two files into his chest.
"Two teenagers. Burns on their arms. They need someone to take care of it right away. They're in 13." she said, making sure he got the point that it was his job now.
Chase tentatively took the files, wondering why she seemed so angry. Normally, nurses took care of minor burns, and the only way they'd still be in the clinic would be because the burns were minor. He shrugged it off, and went towards Exam Room 13, while looking at the files of Bryan Amantea and Kasmira Pascal.
Both seemed relatively healthy. It looked like Kasmira had come in when she was younger with some broken bones and such. Bryan had been in for headaches last year. But all in all, they were healthy. Just some kids being stupid on a weekend, he thought as he entered the room.
He looked down at the file and wondered if one file was wrong. Bryan was a boy's name, yet there were two girls in the room. There were some crazy parents out there, though.
"Bryan Amantea and Kasmira Pascal?" he questioned.
The red-head huffed and rolled her green eyes. "Not Bryan. Bryn. You know. Like Lynn. Except with a B. And an R. And a Y and an N. Bryn!" she said, emphasizing each letter as she spelled it out. And as she said this, the other girl, Kasmira, smirked and pulled out a bag of Skittles. She tossed them up in the air and caught them in her mouth.
"Sorry about that. Must have been put down wrong." He scratched out the incorrect name and rewrote it, then looked at the blackish-blue haired girl. "So I guess that would make you Kasmira." Bryn tried to hide her laughter, but Kasmira noticed. She punched Bryn in the arm before snapping at Chase.
"If you call me Kasmira ONE MORE TIME, I will make sure that you are sent straight to Hell, and I will make sure that you are thrown on a pile of white-hot coals, have your organs eaten by vultures, and dismember you myself." Bryn pretended to take notes on her plans, as though she were Kasmira's secretary. Chase couldn't help but flinch. "Call me Kasi. Like Casey, but with a totally different spelling," she smirked, noticing his reaction, and continued to pop the rainbow candies into her mouth.
I better just get these two out of here. Now I know why Brenda didn't want them. Chase thought to himself. He could easily see how they could intimidate anyone, except maybe high school teachers. They dealt with kids like them every day.
He estimated that they were both between fifteen and seventeen years old, but after that, physical similarities were gone, except for the type of clothing they both wore. Looking down at the chart, he noted he was close. They were both sixteen. Kasi was about four months older, though.
Bryn had coppery-red hair, evil green eyes, and pale skin. She had on black t-shirt, a blue tie loose around her neck, a black blazer, though that was discarded and right beside her, black jeans held up by a studded belt, and black converse that had been drawn over with White Out. She looked to be around five foot five.
Kasi, on the other hand, had black hair with a bluish tint, the latter obviously dye, bright blue eyes, and pale skin, though definitely darker than the other girl's. She wore a black Element t-shirt, an Element hoody, which he noticed she hadn't taken off, only rolled the sleeves up, showing the burn marks, baggy black pants with chains going down to her knees on both sides, and skater shoes that had also met the White Out. She appeared to be roughly five foot eight.
On the ground were their backpacks and skateboards, an Element (he wondered whose that was) that said "Wind, Water, Fire, Earth" underneath the name, and a Black Label board that had a skull and crossbones on it.
Just the kind of patients you want after breaking into a house.
"So, you two like to skate?" he asked as he grabbed bandages from the drawer. Kasi held out her arm first.
"Like?" Kasi asked incredulously. "There is no like about it. It's all love."
"She has a secret love affair with her board. All that wood…What's not to love?" Kasi, at first offended by Bryn's comment, was grinning by the end. Both girls had taken note of the young doctor's discomfort
at their choice of words. He quickly finished with Kasi, and moved right onto Bryn, wanting to escape the uncomfortable atmosphere as soon as possible. Just as he finished securing Bryn's bandage, she winced and grabbed her head with her good hand.
"What's wrong?" Chase asked.
"My head hurts. A lot."
"I think it's called a headache. Now can we get outta here? You know I don't like these places," Kasi sighed.
Bryn rolled her eyes, but all that did was make her headache worse, it seemed.
"Was it hurting when you came in?" Chase asked. Bryn nodded.
"Yeah, but only a little. Now it's intense. Do you have any Tylenol or something on you?" she asked, keeping her head in her hand.
"Let me check first. Did you hit your head acquiring your injuries?" Bryn shook her head. "All right, I want you to follow my finger for a second," he said, moving his finger in an H pattern. Then he moved it towards her face, making her go cross-eyed.
He got out his pen light.
"This may be a little bright" Chase said. Then he flashed it in Bryn's eyes, which causing her to yelp.
"Sorry about that," Chase apologized, but mentally noted light sensitivity.
He looked into her ear, but didn't see any inflammation, though she flinched when he got too close.
And sound sensitivity.
"Is she all right?" Kasi asked, wondering why the man was getting serious.
"She should be, but I want to call in some other doctors and see what they think." Maybe he could save Foreman and Cameron from their boss's antics for a few moments. He turned to the phone on the wall and called in a page for his two colleagues and waited with the two teens.
"So is skateboarding all the two of you do?" he asked.
"No," Kasi said. "we also listen to music—"
"—rob banks—"
"—start world wars—"
"—take over the world—"
"—and attempt to convince the general population that school is in fact mentally damaging." Kasi and Bryn smiled. Everyone had always been put off when they finished each other sentences.
"But not necessarily in that order, though," Bryn added.
Foreman and Cameron walked through the door, both looking slightly agitated, but sent Chase a grateful look. Seems as though he was right about his boss.
"Alright, who's the one with the headache?" Foreman asked. Bryn raised her good hand. He grabbed a rollie chair and sat in front of her, repeating the same steps Chase had, not five minutes earlier. Foreman got the same reactions from the red haired girl the Chase had.
"It looks like it's just a headache. If it doesn't go away in a few hours, you should have your parents bring you back," Foreman said.
Both girls looked at each other nervously.
"My folks are out of town," Bryn answered.
"Mine too," Kasi added, just in case.
Cameron decided to step up at this moment. "What were you guys doing, exactly, to get those burns?"
Kasi smirked. "Bonfire good."
Bryn snickered. The doctors rolled their eyes. Chase was right for the second time that day. It was just two teens being stupid.
"Is there anyone we can get into contact with for medical reasons? You two are too young to go and pick up a prescription," Cameron added sternly.
"Great. So we get to be in pain. Sounds fun," Kasi glowered.
Bryn once again grimaced as her head throbbed. Chase sighed.
"The pharmacy probably has aspirin," Chase said, heading towards the door to get some. Foreman and Cameron agreed.
Just as they all turned to leave, Foreman and Cameron to return to House, Chase to get the medicine, they heard a severe cough, and a thump.
Bryn had passed out on the exam table, and Kasi didn't seem able to catch her breath. She was soon throwing up in the waste basket.