It had taken him a week to schedule an appointment with Dr Brightman, and another two to meet him. Still, Dr Brightman had been one of Dr House's mentors. If Dr Brightman hadn't agreed to see him, he knew he'd have gone ahead and applied for the fellowship anyway. But it would definitely be better to have a recommendation from one of House's own mentors. In the interim, he'd fired off requests for recommendation and begun more research on House. He'd been both intrigued and disturbed by his findings. House had been fired from three hospitals. Charges had been brought against him but summarily dismissed. They'd ranged from breaking and entering to Medicare fraud. When he'd been hired by Princeton-Plainsborough he'd been six months off the job from Boston. Eric knew he probably didn't need to be employed by a hospital. He could have made a killing off writing articles and on the lecture circuit. He'd returned to work in Infectious Disease; where he'd been for three years, until the diagnostics department had been created and he'd taken charge of the program. Then, approximately seven months after that he'd suffered the infarction. In his absence, the diagnostics department had been shut down. Eric supposed there wasn't much of a department without House. He'd arrived early for his appointment with Dr Brightman; sank down in a plush chair in the Nephrology lounge and pulled out his copy of the JAMA to read while he waited. A brand-new article from Dr House was out, and he opened it eagerly.

"Gregory House." Dr Brightman sighed as he sank down in his desk chair and brushed his fingers along the desktop. Eric took a seat in the proffered chair across from him, meeting the distinguished professor's gaze steadily. "That's a name I've not heard in a long time."

"He has been on sabbatical; he probably needed a break. He'd been ill before that." Eric said, smoothing a crease in his dress pants.

"Greg House?" Dr Brightman chuckled. "No. If you knew him, you'd know he never could simply stop doing anything. If he wasn't doing anything; it was because he wasn't able to do anything. From what I heard, the infarction must have been devastating." Brightman seemed morose.

"He was a student of yours?" Eric prompted, and Brightman leaned forward to meet his gaze. Eric did his best not to flinch.

"Don't try to make small talk." Brightman smiled guilelessly, and Eric felt his respect for the man up a notch. "You heard that he's looking for fellows. You'd like a recommendation. You're not the first these past few weeks."

"Yes." Eric said calmly. "And I'd like to know why he left Hopkins to go to Michigan."

Brightman stiffened slightly, and forced himself to relax. He seemed saddened for a moment, but it passed as quickly as it had ghosted across his features.

"You are ambitious. Greg House will appreciate it." He admitted, tipping his head in absent respect. "As I never taught you myself, you'll have to leave me your CV. I plan to contact several of your professors and inquire about you." He said quietly, folding his hands in his lap. "As for his reason to leave Hopkins; you'll have to ask him yourself."

"He specialized in nephrology?" Eric asked.

"Yes. He was always interested in Infectious Disease though. Everything always comes back to the kidneys—which was why he chose to pursue nephrology." Brightman smiled then, and Eric smiled back.

"What's he like to work with?"

"Ah. You want to know his personality." Brightman smirked.

"I want to know whatever I need to know to get my CV in front of him." Eric said bluntly. Brightman laughed again, and winked at him conspiratorially.

"The Gregory House I knew was brilliant. He was relentless in the pursuit of an answer; he would stop at nothing to discover the cause of a disease. Such persistence makes him an excellent physician; however, he is not known for endearing himself to patients. Or their families. He does not waste time with social niceties." He smiled, relaxing into his chair again. "I have heard that the Dean of Medicine at Princeton-Plainsborough has retained a lawyer and a special fund for his legal fees."

Eric raised an eyebrow; surprised. "Is he unprofessional?"

"Perhaps some might see it that way. He merely says what he thinks." Brightman chuckled. "You will always know where you stand."

"What about his work in Infectious Disease?" Eric asked congenially.

"I only know what I read. He certainly had his choice in positions when he had finished under Marzouk and Gilles."

"He would have had a choice in position almost anywhere if he had finished under you and Dr Gilmar." Eric pointed out. Brightman nodded, meeting Eric's gaze steadily. "I think I have told you everything I can about Dr House." He said calmly. "It would more than likely be beneficial for you to speak to someone who has known him more recently, should you have further questions."

Eric nodded, and got to his feet. Brightman held out a hand and Eric shook it firmly. He slid a copy of his CV onto Brightman's desk.

"I will get back to you." Brightman promised.

"Thank you." Eric left smartly; feeling both relieved and frustrated. Brightman had answered as many questions as he had raised. Brightman had said that House was known for disregarding the social niceties; he clearly had a history of it that explained why he'd been dismissed from Hopkins and three other hospitals. If he did it enough to need a legal team in place…Eric wasn't certain what that meant. He couldn't understand why a physician as skilled as Dr House would even resort to such criminal proclivities. It didn't really matter, he finally decided. Dr House was still a brilliant doctor. Eric still wanted to learn from him. He'd just need to be careful.

It wouldn't do to be considered rebellious or untoward.

Another three weeks had gone by before Eric had heard back from Dr Brightman; he'd hurriedly gathered the rest of his recommendations, resume, and CV and sent it to Dr House at Princeton-Plainsborough. Two weeks to the day he'd sent everything in, he'd been interrupted by an urgent text from Masters.

House/Fellow/Chase?

Booting up his laptop, Eric launched into his Favorites folder and opened the Diagnostics page. Dr House had hired his first fellow, a young Australian intensivist named Robert Chase. He was the son of the renowned rheumatologist Rowan Chase. If the son was half as good as his father; House's first fellow was well deserving of his position. Less than a week later, the diagnostics department hired its second fellow, Dr Allison Cameron. Cameron was an immunologist. Foreman felt his anxiety up a notch when three more weeks passed, and he hadn't heard from Princeton. Had Dr House even considered him? Or had he simply tossed out Eric's CV without reading it? No. No, he wouldn't do that. Eric was well qualified. His grades had been exemplary throughout pre-med and med school. He'd scored exceptionally high on his MCAT. He'd been first in his class at Hopkins. He had a recommendation from Dr Brightman.

Dr House was probably very busy. He'd just returned to work following a lengthy illness, and had just hired two new fellows; the department was probably receiving a lot of requests for consults. They were probably working on several cases. He was probably not able to devote a lot of time to finding fellows between cases and his publications. Eric imagined returning to work in chronic pain probably was exhausting, too. He probably went home to his family and collapsed at the end of every day. There were lots of reasons why he hadn't been called yet.

Still, Eric worried about it.