Okay. A little heads up about this story. Firstly, House is not Emily's dad.

Secondly, it is a romance.

Thirdly, not between Sara and House. I sort of gave a subtle warning about it on the first chapter. Which basically tells you who it's between, although I doubt any of you will like it.

--

I sat up on my bed, my blankets pulled up round my waist, my back propped up on some pillows. I was watching TV, trying not to laugh at the funny parts or the parts which made me happy. My throat was killing me; it felt as if it was on fire. I heard the door open and I turned round, Dr. Chase walked in. I smiled pleasantly at him and he gladly returned it.

"How are you holding up?" He asked. I shrugged.

"I'm okay." I whispered, my voice husky. He furrowed his brow, obviously noticing the sound of my voice, "it's fine, just a bit sore."

"I'm really sorry about that." He sighed. I shook my head.

"No, it's fine, it's not your fault. I'm hardly going to sue or anything!" I told him, my voice was hoarse and nearly inaudible. Chase continued to look guilty. He cleared his throat and tried to hide it.

"Well, the bronchoscope just showed us what we already knew." He started to explain, "That your lungs are completely healthy." I slowly nodded and frowned, biting down on my bottom lip.

"You're not going to find out what's wrong with me." I sighed. I felt the familiar feeling of disappointment settle over me and I looked away. I couldn't help it, I was an optimist, the reason why I was even in this hospital was because it was famous for its diagnostic department. It was the best.

Chase noticed my expression and he sat down on the edge of my bed, and slipped his hand into mine, lacing his fingers around my fingers.

"We will." He promised, a sincere look in his eyes, "I swear, we'll find out what's causing this."

There was a noise of someone clearing their throat, and Chase pulled back, releasing my hand, and turning to look at the door. From his reaction I guessed that he was expecting to see House, but he wasn't there. Instead a tall man stood in the doorway, he had a thick black beard and had a huge grin on his face, and his eyes were crinkling at the edges from the smile. He was wearing jeans and a plain white shirt. A grin split across my own face, forgetting quickly about the fact that I was in hospital, or that I couldn't speak, or that my mother was frequently having nervous breakdowns. None of that mattered, because he was here.

"Dad!"

--

Sara wasn't happy in the least. She wasn't well adapted to cope with these situations, and she'd been craving a fix ever since she walked through the doors of the hospital. There was one thing that scared her more than not shooting up though, and that was being judged. She needed to take Emily home, she just had to, then people here would stop making assumptions and she could go back to being doped up to her eyeballs.

She tore down the hallway in the hospital, finding a door with his name on it. Dr. Gregory House, god, how much she hated him, he'd seen right through her the moment she'd entered the building, and from then on had just continued being cruel to her. She didn't bother to knock, what was the point? He'd be rude to her anyway; the least she could do was get in there first.

"I want to take her home!" She announced, House had been sitting at his desk, but he wasn't alone, there were two other people in the room, one she recognised as Dr. Foreman, and the other was a woman with dark curly hair, wearing a suit and looked very official. Sara quickly felt heat rise to her face.

"Well, nice to see you too." House muttered, he glanced at the official looking woman, "This charming young lady is Sara Laine." He told her. The woman flashed her a nervous smile, "Sara, this is Cuddy. She runs the hospital." Sara ignored both Cuddy and Dr. House.

"I want to take Emily home." She cried, "Now!" Dr. Foreman raised his eyebrows and took a step towards her.

"We haven't finished her tests." He told her slowly, as if expecting her to explode. Sara pursed her lips together, suddenly feeling very embarrassed.

"I don't care!" She snarled, "I don't want her to spend another minute in this place!"

"You don't want her to, or you don't want to?" House asked. Cuddy glanced from the hysterical Sara back to House and cleared her throat.

"I think I'm going to go..." She sighed, flashing Sara a smile and quickly stepping past her, leaving as quickly as possible. Dr. Foreman then stepped forward as well.

"Me too." He murmured, and hastily escaped the room. Sara, glad that she no longer had to worry about the other two doctors, walked briskly over to House's desk. He continued to look up at her with an expression of slight amusement on his face.

"I don't want you treating my daughter anymore." She hissed. House raised his eyebrows.

"Now that's just plain mean!" He cried. Sara narrowed her eyes.

"I want to take my daughter home." She continued, trying to calm down a bit. She was feeling a little shaky. House smirked at her.

"Last time I checked, it wasn't up to you!" House pointed out, "About that, is the reason she gets to make all the grown up decisions because of what's happening now? The sweating, the fever, the shakes... or is that the look you're going for?" Sara felt even more rage build up in her.

"I'm going to go and bring Emily home." Sara spat, turning on her heel.

"She won't go easily!" House called after her. Sara stopped and slowly spun round.

"I'm her mother." She said, "She does what I ask her to do."

"Yeah, but unlike you, she actually cares about her health." House growled. Sara was infuriated, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I care about her." Sara explained, "I care about her because she's all I have. And you, and this hospital, aren't making her better. She's going home, I'll tell her to leave and she'll listen to me, because I'm her mother. You aren't, you don't have the right to tell her what to do."

"That's right!" House laughed, "I mean I am only the person who's trying to save her life."

"You're not family." Sara hissed, "Emily listens to me because I'm her family."

"You're not her only family." House muttered. Sara's face dropped and she stepped forward, her arms falling down by her side, her face contorted in anger.

"What?!" She spat.

"Oh, you didn't hear?" House asked, feigning mock surprise, "Good ol' Papa bear turned up about half an hour ago searching for his invalid daughter." Sara's mouth slowly dropped open and she began to shake her head, she looked as if she wanted to turn but couldn't quite manage it. House couldn't help but smirk again.

"I'm guessing he actually cares about her."