A/N Two in one day! I even shocked myself. This one is very short, but I didn't think anyone would mind.
Disclaimer [H]ouse isn't mine and I haven't received a penny for this story.
At 8:00 am, the automatic doors of Princeton Plansboro Hospital slid open and Dr. Greg House limped through. Conversations stopped and hospital staff turned to stare at the middle aged diagnostician. He was dressed in his usual attire of jeans, sneakers, dress shirt opened over a graphic t-shirt and a blazer. His back pack was slung over his right shoulder.
What caused the looks of surprise was the toddler walking beside House. Rachel was clutching his left hand. She was wearing tiny blue jeans, sneakers, a pink, long sleeved shirt over a t-shirt and a jacket. Her tiny purple and pink back pack was slung over her right shoulder. She curiously looked around the lobby and then smiled up at House.
He led her through the doors to the clinic, past the nurse's station and to her mother's office. As usual, House opened the door without knocking and ushered Rachel in first. Cuddy was sitting behind her desk concentrating on a file. She looked up and then frowned when she saw Rachel who ran straight to her for a hug.
Her eyes shot to House. "What's going on?"
"Marina called after you left. It sounds like she has the flu." House shrugged. "I thought Rachel could hang out with me today."
Cuddy looked uncertain. "I don't know."
"Arlene isn't an option. Remember what happened last time?" House leaned on his cane and tried for his responsible adult look. "She'll be fine. There will five of us watching her."
"Fine." Cuddy didn't have time to stress over a baby-sitting crisis. She gave Rachel another hug. "You be a good girl today."
"I will, Mommy." Rachel hopped down and ran back to House.
"I'll try to rearrange my afternoon schedule so I can relieve you after lunch," Cuddy told House as he opened the door.
More looks followed them as the pair made their way to the elevator. House pushed the button and ignored the eyes that were staring at them. He knew the tongues would be wagging as soon as the elevator doors shut.
When the elevator reopened, House led Rachel down the hall to his office. He dumped his backpack on his desk and limped to the conference room door. He held the door open for Rachel and followed her into the conference room. The conversations stopped as he pulled out a chair for the toddler.
"Young Miss. Cuddy will be joining us today," he informed his team.
"Why?" Taub blurted out.
"Because I thought you would appreciate having someone on the team who's shorter than you," House shot back. He turned his attention to the symptoms listed on the white board. "What do we have?"
"Seventeen year-old male complaining of severe head ache, dizziness, vomiting," Chase gave him the run down.
House picked up the file and flipped through. "Possible causes?"
"It could be neurological," Foreman contributed. "Migraines aren't uncommon in males. Vascular constriction restricts the blood flow. Causes all the symptoms."
"The ER ruled out migraine. He didn't see an aura," Masters consulted the patient history. "And, the pain has lasted two days and didn't respond to migraine medication."
"Maybe cancer," Taub offered. "A tumor could cause headaches, dizziness, vomiting."
"The ER did a CT scan and an MRI." Chase shot him down. "No signs of a tumor. It could be from drug use."
House continued to flip through the chart. He glanced down at Rachel who was looking from one team member to the other as she tried to follow the conversation.
"Rachel, do you have any ideas?" House asked her.
The little girl frowned in concentration. "Chicken pops?"
House's blue eyes got that unfocused look that usually signaled an impending epiphany. An unrelated fact niggled at the back of his brain. He ignored the smiles of the team members as he flipped back through the chart.
"Do an LP. Check for Meningitis," he instructed.
"No fever," Foreman argued.
"Our patient hurt his knee at baseball practice. He's been on anti-inflammatory meds for the past week." House smirked. "The meds suppressed the fever. Foreman, you and Taub check with the school. See if anyone else has been sick. Chase, you do the LP. Take your little sister with you."
"Which one?" Chase questioned with a smart-assed grin.
House tossed the file on the table. "The one who's actually been to med school."
When the team filed out, House looked at Rachel. "Let's go make Uncle Jimmy buy us breakfast."
Rachel hopped off the chair and ran for the door. House caught up with her and led her to the office next door. Without knocking, he barged into Wilson's office. Luckily, the oncologist was alone. Wilson looked up and then did a double take when he spotted House's companion.
"House, does Cuddy know you've kidnapped her daughter?" Wilson frowned at his best friend.
"The nanny's sick. Rachel's helping me today." House flopped down on the sofa. Rachel climbed up to sit next to him. "And, yes, Cuddy knows she's here."
When he noticed Rachel's attire, Wilson nodded in her direction. "Nice outfit. You pick that out?"
"I thought it was appropriate for the future Head of Diagnostics." House smirked.
Wilson laughed. "What if she wants to be the future Dean of Medicine?"
"Perish the thought. She's too smart to be a paper-pusher." House leaned forward to tie Rachel's sneaker.
"What if she doesn't want to go into medicine? What if she wants to be a lawyer or a teacher?" Wilson was intrigued by this side of his friend.
"Then, it will be her choice." House tried, for the umpteenth time that morning, to get Rachel's hair to stay out of her eyes. "You need a haircut."
Rachel frowned up at him and stated quite plainly, "No." Her tone clearly communicated that the topic wasn't up for discussion.
Wilson smiled as he watched their interaction. It looked like House had finally met someone as stubborn and opinionated as he was. She was going to make House's life very interesting. He figured it served the old grouch right after all the years of misery he had dished out to everyone around him.
Wilson's eyebrows shot up nearly to his hair line when Rachel looked up at House and announced, "Daddy, I'm hungry."
House gave Wilson one of his lopsided, half smiles. "Surprised?"
"Yeah," Wilson tried to recover from the shock. "When did this happen?"
"Last night." House heaved himself off of the sofa. "Come on, Uncle Jimmy. Let's go get this kid fed."
"House…" Wilson wasn't sure what to say as he stood and rounded his desk.
House opened the door for Rachel and then gave Wilson a narrow-eyed stare. "For once, Wilson, don't try to analyze it."
"I was just going to say that I'm happy for you. You deserve this, House." Wilson followed House down the hall. House cast him a puzzled frown when Wilson suddenly laughed.
"It just hit me. Do you realize you're going to be the only member of your team who's married and has a kid?" Wilson pushed the down button and gave House a smug grin.
House held Rachel's hand and wasn't aware that he stood a little straighter. "Maybe I need to send the rest of them to Mayfield for a while."
Wilson laughed as they entered the elevator. He knew House wouldn't appreciate the sentiment, but he really was proud of his friend. After his downward spiral of drug abuse and crash into insanity, Wilson had worried House would never recover. He had spent many sleepless nights worrying that House would finally self-destruct. After the Christmas overdose, he had even written House's eulogy in his head. Now, the older man had everything Wilson had always wanted. The younger man wasn't surprised to find that he couldn't be happier.