Five Days Later

A/N Some opening dialogue has been borrowed from Inquiry, because I couldn't improve upon it.

Wilson's stomach was clenched as he entered the chamber again. He'd slept about half an hour the night before. Finally he settled into the couch and watched a L&O:SVU marathon. Wilson never wanted to see Richard Belzer again.

The committee sat behind the long table. Vindictive Bitch sat in her usual seat at the end. She looked way too happy.

Sitting in the rows of chairs opposite the committee table were Chase, Foreman, Taub, Dr. Martin, Dominika, Dr. Chakravarti, Dr. Nolan. Also Thirteen; one of the contestants for the fellow position, Henry Dobson (didn't House call him Ridiculously Old Fraud?); Martha Masters, and another man who looked familiar. Who was that? Wilson wracked his brains. He had an image of water, lots of water—Hurricane Katrina! House's old band mate, Whatsisname! Cuddy sat in the back row between to Foreman and Thirteen.

Stacy was in the front row, dressed smartly in a navy pantsuit, holding a number of documents. Wilson slid into the seat next to her. "Well, here it comes," he whispered.

"Don't be so sure," Stacy whispered back.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said the panel chair, tapping the base of his pen against the long table to get their attention. "Thank you for attending this final session. We appreciate the testimony from all of the witnesses who have spoken before us. First, let me tell you we are unanimous in our findings and our determination."

There were gasps of shock and disbelief as the panel recommended one set of punishment after another to Dr. Wilson, and then Dr. Cuddy. "This is ridiculous!" said Chase. Taub shushed him and winked.

The panel chairman finished with, "Given the circumstances, Dr. Cuddy, we have made the following decisions. We recommend that your medical license be permanently revoked, and we have faxed a letter outlining our concerns about past unethical conduct to the board of directors at the Philadelphia Mercy Hospital. We have reported your violation of HIPAA to the AMA Medical Review Board. According to a certified letter we received from them on Friday, you will be fined the maximum under the law, $1.5 million.

""In addition, we have contacted the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, proposing that Dr. House be given visiting privileges to see your adopted daughter, Rachel. They are reviewing the situation regarding regular visitation."

Cuddy stared at the panel, the color drained from her face. Foreman put his arm around her shoulder. "Hang in there," he whispered.

With a confident smile, Stacy stood up. "Excuse me, Mr. Chairman; my name is Stacy Warner. As you know, I am an attorney. I am acting defense counsel for the witnesses."

The panel chair sat back. "Defense counsel? By whose authority?"

"My clients. Doctors Chase, Foreman, Taub, Wilson, and Cuddy. They are entitled to a defense of what was, after all, coerced testimony."

Wilson was shocked. Boy, Stacy had a set of balls! Cuddy was also staring. Chase, Foreman and Taub all looked smug.

"This is most irregular—"

"No, what is most irregular is this inquiry. In most countries, including America, your methods would be considered criminal interrogation. I ask the panel's indulgence for a slightly unorthodox test. After all, Dr. House is famous for his unorthodox methods, there's no reason to say no."

The panel chair nodded, taking off his glasses.

"Rachel, would you come in?"

Rachel Cuddy came in, wearing a yellow dress, clutching her bunny.

Stacy knelt down. "Rachel, honey, could you tell me which of these people are Dr. Wilson?"

"He's Wilson." Rachel pointed at Wilson.

Stacy glanced up at the panel. "Dr. Wilson has been visiting Rachel Cuddy regularly at Lisa Cuddy's home over the past year."

Rachel caught sight of Cuddy. "MOMMY!" she screamed, trying to push past Stacy.

"I'm sorry, honey, but I need to ask you one more question."

"Mommy!"

"Just one, okay?"

Rachel stilled. "'Kay."

"Can you point out Dr. House?"

Rachel looked at the group sitting in the folding chairs, frowning. After a minute, she pointed at Henry Dobson. "House?"

"Thank you, Rachel, go see Mommy." Stacy stood. Rachel ran over to Cuddy and cuddled in her mother's lap.

"I think we have demonstrated the importance of Dr. House in Rachel's life," Stacy said drily. "He was Dr. Cuddy's boyfriend for a few months, and Rachel liked him. That would give any man Cuddy's dated for more than a month visitation privileges. If visitation rights are granted, we will appeal. As you can see, any emotional connection to Dr. House can be easily disproved.

"Next, I call my rebuttal witness, Dylan Crandall."

The lanky man in a worn maroon leather jacket and jeans sat down at the small table in the center of the room. Stacy stood over him. "State your name for the committee, please."

He looked nervous. "Dylan Crandall, m'am." He had a bit of a slow Western drawl.

"How did you know Gregory House, Mr. Crandall?"

Crandall looked at the committee. "Me and the G-Man were in a blues band together, m'am. He played lead guitar. Later, I wrote a book about Jesse Baker, and I adopted his granddaughter Leona when I discovered she was actually my daughter. When she got sick, I tracked down the G-Man."

"Please refer to G-Man as House, please. What was the first thing you did when you saw him?"

"I ran toward him pretending I was going to hug him. He hated that. We used to do that in the band, fake him out. He was a great guitar player, and a really funny, nasty guy. The chicks were into him."

"Did you know him before or after his infarction?"

"Before. Way before. We were in our early 20s." Crandall smiled. "He hadn't changed a bit. I told him that. Except the leg thing, and he was wearing more expensive jeans."

"That brings me to my next questions: in your opinion, had Dr. House mellowed?"

Crandall laughed. "Are you shitting me?" He glanced at the panel and quickly said, "I mean, are you kidding me? His default position was that people suck. His old man was such an asshole, I'm not surprised he felt that way."

"What did he treat your daughter for?"

"She was having hallucinations about Katrina. It turned out to be some mold, zygomycosis." He pronounced the word carefully.

Stacy walked around to his other side. "After the successful diagnosis, did you keep in touch with Dr. House?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Crandall leaned his elbows on the table. "The way he treated Leona. He thought she was scamming me—fair enough, he thought everybody was scamming everybody. But he went too far. He broke her finger doing a diagnostic test."

"Excuse me, Mr. Crandall, her finger was broken? Was it an accident?"

"No." Crandall's face darkened. "It was to test a theory. First he stuck with my daughter with needles to make her hallucinate, then—" he stopped. "He broke Leona's finger. Didn't turn a hair. House could do some really—lousy stuff. When we were in the band, he didn't think I should be with my girlfriend, so he got her to give him a blow job to prove she wasn't worth it. He couldn't wait to tell me."

"In other words," said Stacy, "he disliked being touched, had a low opinion of people, displayed the same temperament as before the infarction, he seduced your girlfriend, and then, in the name of medicine, he broke your daughter's finger."

"Pretty much."

"No further questions."

Crandall started to rise, but VB spoke up.

"Just a moment, Mr. Crandall. Did you know that Leona was not your biological daughter? That as a kindness, House lied to both of you about the paternity tests?"

"Yes. She told me a few years later. That was a great thing he did. But it doesn't make up for breaking Leona's finger. It's still crooked."

VB shuffled through her notes. "No further questions."