"Puppet Master"
Chapter Thirteen -"Stealing the Show"
By: Purpleu
"There is no way in hell Hunter is going to get away with this," Wilson said angrily.
"Who the hell does he think he is?" Foreman asked.
"If he can try and do this to House, he can do it to anyone," Taub pointed out.
"What an ass!" Chase exclaimed.
"I don't think his son hit him in the nuts often enough," Thirteen muttered.
"Ich hoffe das Schwein brennt in der Hölle." Jeanne Hunter looked at Lydia.
"I can only guess at what you just said, but I'm sure I would agree."
"I know what she just said; she wishes that the guy whose parents never married has a nice trip south of the border," said House. He looked around the room. "Are you all finished? Got being P.O.'d out of your systems? Good. Because now maybe you can actually help and ask some questions that we can get useful answers to," he said raising his voice. House turned to Davidson. "Where are you getting your information from and how reliable is it? 'Cause if it's from the fortune cookies they hand out with what they dare to call Chinese food down in the cafeteria, I happen to know those are written by a middle-aged guy who still lives in his parents' basement." House caught Lydia's eye and winked; he had seen how upset she was and wanted to calm her down before she lost it. As much as he appreciated her love and concern, he needed to concentrate on what Davidson had to say.
"My information comes from a very reliable source; one of the attorneys that works for Malcolm, Tom Roslyn. He also happens to be my brother-in-law, my late wife's brother. He's a good guy."
"Then what the hell is he doing working for Hunter?" Wilson asked.
"He started with the firm a few years ago; he wasn't too far out of law school and a bit naïve," Davidson said. "He was unwilling to accept the idea that Malcolm could get away with the things that people said he did."
"A naïve lawyer? Talk about a freak," House said. Davidson laughed.
"I always told Tom it wasn't in his nature to be practicing law; he would have been better off as a paralegal since he enjoyed the behind the scenes leg work and research, but not the courtroom, the confrontational part of the profession. Still, Tom knows his way around in court and has won a lot of cases and brought in a lot of money to the firm. So when Malcolm decided he was going to need someone to help him make this case against Dr. House…"
"He chose Tommy Boy," said House. The need for that long overdue cup of coffee began to gnaw at him as House moved over to the coffee machine. "So you're saying Hunter picked a legal eagle with a conscience? That doesn't make much sense."
"Malcolm doesn't bother to find out much about his employees other than will they do his bidding without asking questions and how much cash will they bring into the firm. Tom was smart; he just took on the cases Malcolm gave him and handled them well. He's been just biding his time until his contract is up."
"Hunter makes his employees sign a contract?" Foreman asked. "I can only imagine what it says."
"It basically lays down salary and commission for the lawyers and straight salaries for the paralegals and me. But it also specifies that if you leave before the end of the contract, you are enjoined from working for another law firm within a fifty mile radius for one year," Davidson said. "Tom's contract is over in three weeks and he cannot wait to leave. I don't know of anyone who has ever re-upped with Malcolm."
"So we lose our number one inside man at that point. And when do you get to head to less manure filled pastures?" asked House.
"My contract expired two months ago, when the ball started rolling with this plan against you; Malcolm's been so caught up in all the nonsense that he forgot to write out a new contract." Davidson stood up and joined House over by the coffee machine. "I stayed on because that's when Malcolm started saying that Jeanne should take Tyler to you and your team; it was also at that time that Tom had found out about this whole mess and came to me asking what he should do. He didn't know anything about you before all this started, but as he read over the files to see who potential clients were, he very quickly came to realize the type of work you've done and that this wasn't just Malcolm trying to cash in on a big opportunity," Davidson said as he poured a cup of coffee. "This was a vendetta against you. He let me see the files and while I will concede that your methods sometimes are a bit to the extreme, the lives you've helped and saved…" He started to choke up as he walked back to his seat. "I only wish I had known about you when my daughter was sick." Jeanne reached over to take his hand as he sat down. House looked at Davidson while he took a sip of his own coffee.
"That would be Wilson you would have needed, not me," he said as he walked to the table and took the chair next to Lydia.
"Dr. Wilson is here helping you with this case; I'm sure you would have helped him if he asked." House nodded as he glanced at Wilson who had a slight smile on his face. "Dr. House, I don't pretend for one moment to be a man of great moral principles; that I'm in love with another man's wife and let him put money in my pocket each week, attests to my failings. The only justification I can offer is that I'm trying my damnedest to make someone who has never known much joy in her life, happy." Wilson looked over at House and Lydia; while neither one reacted visually to Davidson's words, he was sure they were holding hands under the table. Davidson looked at House.
"I know you can't cure Tyler; I knew that from the start. But I knew you were the person to help point us in the right direction to get him help so that he and Jeanne can have a better quality of life."
"So this is a trade-off; my team and I figure out how to help the kid, you help me figure out how to nail Hunter," House said. "Seems like a fair deal." Davidson shook his head.
"Whether you were willing or able to help Tyler had nothing to do with it; it simply made things easier by giving me an excuse to have contact with you and be of help to you. I would have contacted you about this no matter what. Like I said before, my principles may be able to be called into question on some subjects," Davidson said looking at Jeanne, "but I will stand up for what I believe in; and that includes a good man being wronged. I know next to nothing about you personally, but I think the best judgment of a man's character, is the quality of the people who are willing to be associated with him." He looked at Wilson, Lydia and the team. "I think the people in this room speak volumes to that." House stared down at the conference table without a change in expression; he was silent for a few moments.
"I'm not one to praise or compliment; I don't believe it serves any purpose," House began, "My team gets paid to come in, solve medical cases and then send the patient home; if they do that without screwing things up, they get a paycheck and the right to come back in and tackle the next case. Wilson and Lydia," he said looking at each in turn, "are my best friend and girlfriend, respectively, through their own masochistic misjudgments." House paused. "That having been said, I totally agree with your sentiments." The team all smiled a bit and exchanged subtle looks; House glanced over at Wilson and caught sight of the smile on his face. Lydia squeezed House's hand as he turned to look at her; Wilson had been right: they were holding hands under the table.
"Mr. Davidson, how is Hunter getting a hold of all these files?" Chase asked.
"From the lovely young creature I almost ran into earlier," House said. Lydia quickly turned and shot him a puzzled look. Ignoring her reaction, he continued speaking and related the story of running into the young woman this morning that was carrying an armful of House's case files. "She said she was taking them to the legal department; but I have a feeling she meant legal as in Hunter's office."
"She most certainly did, if we're talking about the same young woman; her name is Cheryl Cooke," said Davidson.
"Damn! That's her!" Wilson exclaimed looking at House. "She's been working here for a couple of years now. Is that how long Hunter's had a spy here in the hospital?"
"Not that I'm aware of. When Malcolm and I were here a few months ago to meet with Dr. Cuddy, she needed an additional file for the suit that was being discussed and called medical records to get the information brought to her office. Cheryl was the one to bring the file and….well, let's just say she caught Malcolm's eye," said Davidson as he glanced at Jeanne. "Sorry," he said addressing her. She laughed and shook her head.
"You know I don't care. I stopped caring a long time ago." Davidson nodded.
"With good reason. So, Malcolm's been wining and dining Ms. Cooke and obviously, she agreed to get him the files he needed," he said.
"All those files have left the hospital? That more than compromises the integrity of those files," Foreman said.
"The files haven't necessarily left the hospital," House said as he stood up. "She could have printed out copies directly from the computer; but that would have left a trail that would be too easy to trace back to her log-in password."
"Unless she used someone else's computer to look up the files," offered Taub. "We're all guilty of forgetting to log-off sometimes."
"Some more than others," noted House.
"But that kind of activity would have still raised a red flag," Foreman said. "There are security measures in place that would alert medical records or IT or someone."
"Unless…Unless you and Hunter both thought the same way," Lydia said to House. "She's taking the physical files out and she's making copies of them, just like they did," she said gesturing to the team, "with the medical records that Hunter kept locked in his office. She could have made the copies here or at Hunter's office or even take them to a Staples or Office Max; they'd never question why she was making these copies, they don't care what's brought in to them. Especially if she went to different locations and paid in cash, there's no tracing it."
"Oh yes, there is," said House with a sly smile. "My team wore gloves. PYT did not."
"That's right; she had no protective covering on her hands when we saw her," Wilson said.
"She could have wiped the files down," said Chase. "At the very least it would smudge the prints."
"There are far too many pieces of paper for her to have done that effectively," noted House. He looked at Davidson. "When did you say Hunter got his claws into her?"
"He first met her about two or three weeks before the crane accident happened. The wining and dining started right away. He had no intention of using her to help with his plan; it was after the accident that he decided to put the wheels in motion and use her." Davidson sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I hate to tell you this, but it just goes to show how much of an SOB Malcolm can be: When he heard about the accident and that Dr. Cuddy was so severely injured and the fact that you," he motioned toward House, "were in a coma, he decided to take advantage of the situation. That's when he convinced her to start making the copies. After you came out of the coma, he found out that you'd be returning to work fairly quickly and started to really push Jeanne to bring Tyler in; he intended Tyler's case to be a distraction to you all, nothing more," Davidson said indicating Wilson as well as the team. "He never planned on getting any kind of help for his son."
"Tell me," House said staring straight at Davidson, "How did Hunter find out when I would be returning to work?" Davidson averted his eyes from House and stared down at the table.
"That would be my fault, Dr. House," Jeanne Hunter said. "I can't tell you how sorry I am, not only for what Malcolm's doing, but for anything I may have said that has helped him with this travesty. I'm the one who mentioned that you wouldn't have use of the hospital lawyers until the financial issues settled down; I'm the one who told him you would be returning to work so much sooner than expected." She started to choke up. "I'm the one who first mentioned to Malcolm that we ought to bring Tyler to you for help. That was a while ago; it was just recently that he got on the bandwagon with the whole idea and said that Jeff could approach you to make arrangements." She looked at Davidson. "Jeff told me what was going on with Malcolm's plan, but dealing with Tyler just takes so much out of me, I don't think straight half the time." Davidson put his arm around her as she began to cry. "Dr. House, I am so, so sorry…I…"
"Stop apologizing to me," House said curtly. "The only person you should be apologizing to is yourself for being moronic enough to marry the bastard in the first place." With the exception of Jeanne and Davidson, everyone in the room shot House a look, especially Lydia. House realized he probably offended Mrs. Hunter and that Wilson and his team thought him to be a total ass, as usual; he really didn't care. It was Lydia's piercing look that made him start to walk away from the table. "Let's figure out how to handle the different parts of this boondoggle and then we can take a break," he said a bit more gently than he had spoken earlier. "We can talk about your son again after that; try and make you understand what's happening with him and what your options are." Jeanne nodded as she wiped her eyes.
"First," said House as he began to pace, "when Hunter shows his face around here, don't let him know about the Angelman's; he'll think we have some sort of proof that he lied about his kid's injuries and he may panic and pull his son out of here sooner. As much as he thinks that the kid is a distraction for us, we can turn it around and keep him wondering just how far we've gotten and when are we going to call his bluff on the phony medical report."
"I won't let him take Tyler out of here; I'm going to go to court and get an order of protection or whatever it takes to keep Malcolm away from Tyler," Jeanne said.
"That's all wonderful, but you can't do anything until we know we have everything in place to put him in jail." House's last remark hung in the air. Taub and Thirteen just stared at him as Foreman repeatedly cleared his throat. "Anyone got a problem with that? Because that's the only way we're going to able to stop him from filing the lawsuits. Unless your brother-in-law is willing to 'forget' to file them on Friday and buy us some more time." Davidson, who had been taking a sip of coffee, swallowed quickly and put the cup down.
"Friday is the day Tom will file paperwork stating the intention of filing suit. There's a forty-eight hour waiting period before the actual suit can then be filed, not including weekends. So Tuesday would be the day that suits would become a matter of record in the courts. Right now, Tom has got to file the documents with the court on Friday; Malcolm will be looking for the appropriate paperwork that would go with the intentions filing and Tom has to keep working for Malcolm for the next three weeks until his contract runs out."
"If it's a job he needs, tell him I just may be needing a lawyer who knows how to handle Hunter. One lawyer for three weeks, I can afford," noted House.
"It's not the money, it's the medical insurance. Tom's wife is expecting and there are some complications with the pregnancy...Rh incompatibility, I believe?" Davidson said. "He needs that medical insurance he gets through Malcolm."
"Excuse me," Chase said, "I know this is completely off-topic, but…why do you always call Hunter by his first name? You two certainly aren't best friends or anything like that."
"Yeah, I've been wondering about that, too," admitted Thirteen. Davidson closed his eyes and placed his hands palms down on the table.
"My daughter's name was Hunter. And I refuse to allow someone who has that much hatred, that much malice, that much…evil in them to have the privilege of being called by my angel's name." He took several very audible breaths as he tried to compose himself. No one in the room spoke.
"Everyone take note," House said breaking the silence, "that from this point on, he-who-does-not-deserve-an-angel's-name, is to be called Malcolm." He lifted his coffee mug up in a toast.
"Hear, hear," said Wilson raising up his cup. Foreman, Taub, Chase and Thirteen did likewise.
"Prost," Lydia and House said at the same time. "Two great minds with one thought," House noted. Davidson smiled.
"Thank you, everyone." He looked at House. "Can I assume that you've learned more than a little German over the years from this lady?" Davidson asked indicating Lydia.
"Nah, I absorbed the language long before I met her; I started drinking beer at a young age and through the process of brewmosis, became a native speaker." House's quip broke some of the tension in the room. He reached over the chair he had been sitting in to put his cup back on the table, when he caught sight of Lydia's face; it was so intently deep in thought, it was beautiful. House couldn't help a slip as he spoke.
"Fraulein, what's up?" She looked up at him, startled at the name he used to address her.
"You said that your brother-in-law isn't concerned about the money, just the health insurance," she said speaking to Davidson.
"Yes; he has another job lined up and the health coverage there starts with his first day of work. It's those ten or so days in-between where he'd be without coverage if Malcolm fired him that he's worried about. God forbid if Lynn, his wife, had to go into the hospital, it could wind up costing thousands."
"But he doesn't have to worry. He's covered under COBRA; if an employer offers healthcare coverage to an employee, by law they have to offer the employee the right to purchase continued healthcare at the rate the employer pays, if they are fired or laid off. He would only need coverage for himself and his wife for ten days and they can't refuse her for having a pre-existing condition; it's against the law." House walked over to one of the extra white boards that he had Wilson bring up to the conference room.
"Teacher, doctor, lawyer." House said each one in turn as he wrote them down on the board. He turned and looked at Lydia. "I'm sorry, which one did you say you wanted to be when you grew up?" She shot him a look, clearly embarrassed.
"Lydia?" Jeanne said hesitantly; she wasn't sure if she was remembering Lydia's name correctly. "I didn't catch which one of those you actually were,"
"None of the above, actually," Lydia said chuckling. And for the second time in a short span, she explained her background.
"I would have pegged you as being any one of them," Davidson said, smiling.
"Me, too," added Jeanne. Lydia dropped her head down and House was quite sure she was blushing.
"Thank you," she said.
"Now that we've established Superwoman's secret identity, let's make a list of what we've got," said House. He erased the listing he made of Lydia's "possible careers." Taking the marker, he wrote across the top "The Case Against A**hole." "I figured it would be best to use his real name so we all knew who we were talking about. Let's divide and conquer; I'll put civil on the left," House wrote the word and then drew a line down the middle of the board from top to bottom. "And criminal on the right." House took a step back and looked at the board. "How appropriate," he commented. "OK, start yelling out crimes and misdemeanors, felonies and falsehoods."
"Divorce," Jeanne said. "And endangering the welfare of a child."
"One that should never be given the chance to happen," House said as he listed divorce under 'civil'. "And one that should never, ever happen." He wrote "end. a kid" under 'criminal.'
"Fraud, for forming a corporation without the knowledge or consent of the two other people he listed on the incorporation filing," Davidson said.
"Score another for the right," noted House as he wrote the charge under 'criminal.'
"Fraud again, for the documents he presented to the court in relation to the lawsuit about the car accident," Taub said. House listed that charge with the Roman numeral II after it.
"Coercion, for getting the docs from St. James Hospital to falsify the report by threating to sue them," Foreman called out. Another criminal charge went up on the board.
"Looks like you're the only one being civil," House quipped to Jeanne; she shrugged and smiled in response. Suddenly, an audible gasp was heard in the room. House, who had turned to face the board, turned back to see where the sound came from.
"HIPAA," Lydia said, her eyes opening wide. "If nothing else, each violation of the health privacy act is a felony."
"That's right," said Wilson. "Foreman and I just had to attend a meeting, a refresher course for most of the people there, about HIPAA. The penalties that are laid out under the law are pretty stiff." Foreman nodded in agreement.
"The penalties go up in severity if it can be proven that the violations occurred with the intent of malicious harm or personal gain," he said. "The jail sentence alone can be for up to ten years, per violation and that's just the criminal side of the equation."
"The civil violations are where most of the monetary damage comes in," Wilson added in. "There the fines can go up to fifty-thousand dollars per violation; and each file would be considered a separate violation." He shook his head. "That man is insane."
"No, just cocky enough to think that he wouldn't be caught," House said as he put the cap back on the marker. "He's believing his own PR; Malcolm Hu…" House stopped himself before he said the name of Davidson's daughter. "Malcolm Malcolm; otherwise known as M&M, is this big, bad lawyer dude that always wins, looks good in his thousand dollar suits and has the ladies swooning over his charms," House said wryly.
"Until he gets what he wants and the charm suddenly disappears," Jeanne said.
"Sounds like someone I used to know," Lydia commented. House saw the two women exchange knowing looks and made a mental note to talk to Lydia about it later on.
"So, his own ego's going to do him in," Thirteen said. House had moved over to the windows of the conference room and looked at the gathering clouds up in the sky; the beginning of the storm front the weather service said would be blowing through the area and bringing with it relief from the heat that came on suddenly this past week, was evident. House welcomed the change; the only thing he liked about warm weather was the view of ladies almost wearing their bikinis. The thought of Lydia in a bikini made him smile slightly for a moment. He gazed skyward and regarded the clouds once again; yeah, he was looking forward to the coming storms, however violent the accompanying squalls may be.
"Greg?" House quickly turned, startled at both the sound of Lydia's voice and being addressed that way in the conference room. "Dr. Hadley was talking to you."
"Couldn't have been important if I didn't respond," House said making his way back to the table. Lydia tilted her head to the side and gave him a disapproving look. He caught sight of the admonishment and looked at Thirteen.
"What were you babbling about?"
"I said M&M's ego is going to be his undoing."
"It almost was once before; I wouldn't mind helping it along again."
"Wait a minute, what do you mean 'again'?" questioned Wilson. All eyes were on House as he visibly squirmed.
"Nothing, it's a private matter between me and the pusillanimous troglodyte."
"A private matter? It sure as hell became public once we all got involved," Chase said.
"You want out? Fine. You're all fired," House said loudly. "I can handle this myself."
"Hör doch auf mit dem Scheiss. Du versuchst nur jeden zu vergraulen!" Lydia said the words quietly, in a normal voice, no shouting involved; her tone silenced everyone in the room, her words stunned House: "Stop the bulls**t. You are just trying to push everyone away." The two of them locked eyes for a moment, then House looked away. He pulled out the chair next to Lydia and sat down.
"I hadn't yet started this department," House began, leaning forward onto the table. "I got a phone call from a lawyer who was defending one of several doctors in a lawsuit brought by M&M. The lawyer showed me the paperwork connected with the suit and asked if I would testify in the doctor's defense; from what I saw, the doctor had screwed up. I told him I didn't think he'd want me on the stand, but then I spoke to the doctor directly and I changed my mind." He sat back in the chair.
"For a week I sat in the courtroom and watched as Malcolm took each bit of testimony, each person apart, piece by piece. Then it was my turn. I did what I could to hold him off and then, he asked me to look at a test result that had been submitted as evidence; only it wasn't the same test result that the lawyer who hired me had shown me. I realized that Malcolm had given false information to the court; he was pulling the same bait and switch back then as he did now with the paperwork from St. James Hospital. But he screwed up and gave me the correct paperwork clearing the doctor, which I quickly and gladly pointed out to everyone within earshot. Needless to say, the case was dismissed."
"He must have gotten in a hell of a lot of trouble," Thirteen noted. "How was he allowed to continue practicing law?"
"He wasn't for a while," House said taking a sip of his long forgotten coffee. "His license was suspended for a year and disbarment hearings began; he talked his way out of it by blaming the whole thing on some shmuck of a law clerk he had working for him at the time. The state bar association bought into it and let him get away with the suspension and a small fine." House let out a deep breath. "He swore that he would get me back one of these days." He pushed the chair back, stood up and started to walk to his office.
"House," Wilson said. House stopped walking and turned to look at him. "The doctor that you were testifying for….it wouldn't happened to have been Cuddy, would it?" House nodded and looked at the floor.
"I had just had a meeting with her and some of the board members about forming the department a few weeks before. She remembered me, and rightly so, from when we met at the bookstore back in med school."
"Now it makes sense," Davidson said. "When Malcolm made his comment about you being the one doctor he had never won a judgment on, Dr. Cuddy looked at him and said something to the effect of 'He beat you years ago, why don't you just leave it in the past; he's better as a doctor than you are as a lawyer and a better man than you'll ever be.'" House looked away from everyone at the table.
"Nice to know someone thinks…thought that way," he said referring to Cuddy.
"House, you know, maybe if you had told us about this, we would have better understood why Hun…M&M," Foreman said, "was after you with such intensity." House shot him a look.
"Really? And what difference would that have made? Would it have changed the way we approached diagnosing the kid? Would it have changed the result? No? Then it doesn't matter. I prevented Hunter from screwing up several doctors' lives, not just Cuddy's. But the first thing any of you thought when this case came in was what new way has House found to be an ass," House said. "The only thing that could have happened if I had told you about this, is a temporary change in your opinion of me; and for the record, I don't give a crap what any of you think." House stood in the doorway of his office, his back to the conference room; he had one hand placed on each side of the doorway with his head hanging down.
"For what it's worth, Dr. House, I agree with you." House looked over his shoulder at Jeanne Hunter who had spoken the words. "Maybe it's the perspective I'm looking at this from, but your prior dealings with Malcolm have nothing to do with my son's case. Like you said, it doesn't change what's wrong with him or how you can help him. That being said, I understand why you," she said addressing the team, "want to know what is making my husband go after Dr. House with such a vengeance; it's what you do for a living. You are required to spend your day asking who, what, where, when, why, how and you need to find answers. Truthfully, with all the tension this has caused around here, I'm surprised no one has thrown anything yet."
"The day is young," House commented.
"I'm sure you've gotten your frustrations out many a time by throwing something," Thirteen said to Jeanne.
"No," she said averting her eyes. "I leave outbursts like that to my husband." Lydia, who had started to push her chair back, stopped and looked at Jeanne; sadly, her words were all too familiar. Taub's pager began to buzz as Lydia stood up.
"Dr. Lindeman's team is with Tyler and would like Mrs. M&M and us to join them," he said after looking at his pager. Jeanne smiled at her new moniker.
"OK, let's recap everything so everyone knows what they have to do. You three," House said addressing Taub, Chase and Thirteen, "take the Mrs. to meet Lindeman's team. You're going to have to contact your own lawyer as far as dumping the weasel," he said looking at Jeanne. "As far as the endangerment charge, that's going to be either the hospital or the individual doctor to report it."
"My father is going to be helping with that," Jeanne said. Everyone except Davidson gave her a puzzled look. "My father is a retired family court judge; he lives out in Arizona now, but he's flying in right away after I called him last night at Dr. Hadley's urging. My father and I have been estranged for many years for various reasons; he knew of some of Tyler's problems, but I never told him the extent of them. 'Perfectionist' is one way you could describe my father, so I wasn't sure how he would react to Tyler being handicapped; it seems I severely misjudged him because when I sent him an e-mail and included a video of Tyler, he called me up crying." She looked at Davidson who hugged her. "He's going to be here by the early afternoon, but he has already made some phone calls to CPS; Dr. Hadley initially offered to be the reporting physician, but we can add other names on as the case progresses." House thought for a moment.
"Judge Carmichael; I seem to remember having an encounter with a robed individual by that name." Jeanne smiled.
"You testified before him in an abuse case; the child's father was poisoning him and you figured out the cause of the child's illness. He said he was sorry to hear it was you that Malcolm was making trouble for." House looked around.
"How soon does he think that CPS will get something going?"
"He's pulling every string he can; they should be here this afternoon to interview me and Dr. Hadley and anyone else that might be appropriate to the case. He said with any kind of luck, they might be able to have some legal action started by Friday; whether that will be an order of protection or not remains to be seen." House nodded.
"It seems you've got a handle on things in that area; just don't forget to get yourself a good divorce lawyer," House said.
"I'm going to get the best his money can buy." Everyone either smiled or chuckled. House turned to Davidson.
"Call your brother-in-law; tell him not to worry about medical care for his family based on what we discussed. Let him know about the HIPAA situation, but don't let him panic; I'm sure the DA will be handing out lots of 'don't even have to go to jail, you're free' cards. Try to convince him not to file the paperwork with courts if you can."
"I'll try," Davidson said. "I'll call or text someone here when I find out Tom's take on things. I'm going to go with you to Tyler's room so I can say good-bye to him," he said to Jeanne. Davidson turned to House and extended his hand. House, not one to ever shake hands, took it with less hesitation than he normally would.
"Dr. House, thank you for everything you and your team are doing for Tyler. I hope whatever help I've been able to provide to this point has given you some kind of comfort."
"The only thing that will give me some kind of comfort is to see M&M's ass in a place where he can't hurt anyone again." House glanced at Jeanne as he let go of Davidson's hand. "He's about my age and with everything he's done, a good ninety-nine year sentence should accomplish that. In the meantime…I appreciate what you're doing," he said quickly, not wanting even the slightest trace of sentimentality to linger.
"Thank you, Dr. House," Jeanne said as she and Davidson left the room. House looked at his team.
"I should be joining you in the kid's room in a little bit; I want to be there when Hunter shows up."
"House, watch yourself," Wilson said. "You're telling us not to slip and say the wrong thing to Hunter; don't do or say anything to antagonize him." House opened his eyes wide and let his jaw go slack.
"What makes you think I would do anything like that? Just because I'd like to reach into his chest and put a clamp on his heart?"
"You're assuming he has a heart," Taub said.
"Maybe we ought to call him Tin Man," observed Chase.
"Maybe you ought to go do your jobs," House snapped. Thirteen, Taub and Chase shook their heads as they gathered up their things and headed toward the door.
"Bye, Lydia. Take care. See you later," the three said as they left the room.
"Bye," she replied. "Well, I have to finish making those copies for you, Dr. Foreman, so I'd better go do that." She went into House's office and restarted the printer on his computer.
"You know, I was just wondering; when I meet with Dr. Murphy, do think it would be OK if I mention the HIPAA thing to him?" Foreman asked. "The more I can reassure him that Hunter is going down the more likely it is that he'll be on board and convince the other two to come with him." Wilson nodded.
"Sounds like a good idea," he said.
"No, it's a crappy idea," House said. "Why should we show our hand to anyone who doesn't need to see it? Besides, if he thinks we've got Hunter nailed without them, why would they bother to put their butts on the line?"
"True," Foreman conceded.
"Dr. Foreman, do you want these reports stapled or paper clipped together?" Lydia called out from House's office.
"Stapled would be great," he said walking over to the door of the office. "I appreciate you helping out with this." He looked over his shoulder to where House and Wilson were standing and talking. "Dealing with House is tough. You must like a challenge." She glanced up from the papers she was organizing and stapling into packets.
"I don't look at Greg as a challenge. I see him simply as a man; a man I am in love with," she said smiling. She pushed the stapler down one final time. "Here you are; just take a quick look and make sure I included everything." Foreman flipped through the papers.
"This looks great. Thank you very much."
"No problem. Good luck."
"Thanks," he said as he headed for the conference room. "I've got a few things I need to take care of before I meet with Murphy, so I'm going to deal with them now. I'll let you know where things stand when I'm done with Murphy."
"Talk to you later," Wilson said as Foreman left. He glanced into House's office where Lydia was putting away the parts of the report that she copied back into the manila envelope from House's desk. "You and I both know she's not a happy camper. Go talk to her. I'm going to tell legal about what's going on; they're going to want to speak with you later." Wilson started to walk to the door.
"They may be the only ones still talking to me," House said looking at Lydia.
"Good luck," said Wilson quietly. "Lydia, I'll see you later."
"Oh, James, wait," she said rising from House's desk and coming out of his office. "How did your call with Annie go?" Wilson shyly smiled.
"It went very well." He turned to House. "We'll need to make reservations for four at The Italian Gardens for Monday night. Since I'm going to be tied up in a bunch of meetings, can you handle the call?"
"Yeah, I can do it online. Call me after you talk to legal." House turned away and walked into his office. Lydia looked at Wilson and smiled.
"I'm glad you asked her; she needs someone to convince her that her best friend isn't the only one she can trust and open up to." Wilson looked at Lydia and then glanced at House sitting in his chair, fiddling with his computer to make the dinner reservations.
"Annie isn't the only one who needs to be convinced of that idea," he said taking a deep breath and giving Lydia a skeptical look. Lydia laughed as she shook her head and looked at House.
"Oh, believe me, James; I know it."