Warning: Random angry House.
Third person P.O.V.
--
House limped casually out of the cafeteria, his young patient trailing after him. He'd just bought her a pizza, which she'd gladly split with him, and was now looking round the corridors with wide eyes as they made their way over to the elevator, soaking in everything around her. He studied her for a second as he pressed the button and stood waiting patiently.
She wasn't like any other patient he'd had before, she was oddly happy. Sure, she was young, but from what he'd heard she had more than one excuse to lose her faith in humanity, and yet there she was, constantly smiling and laughing. It wasn't healthy, and from what House could tell, wasn't normal.
The lift doors opened and he stepped in, Emily following suit and taking her place beside him, looking round the lift before looking up at him, the same casual smile on her lips. He tried not to look at her, but couldn't help it, his eyes sliding down and meeting hers.
"You smile too much." He remarked. Emily raised her eyebrows, slightly surprised, but her smile stayed in place.
"Is that a bad thing?" She asked slowly. House nodded quickly.
"It's annoying." House muttered. Emily allowed the smile to drop from her lips and turned round, looking dead ahead, her lips pursed together, smile gone, House felt unnerved, "That's just scary."
"Why can't I smile." She asked.
"Because you've got nothing to smile about." House sighed, looking up at the numbers indicating the floors, "You're dying, remember?"
"Oh yeah." Emily muttered, but she smiled again, laughing lightly, "Still, we got to die sometime, right?"
"You're not... normal." House groaned as the doors opened. Emily shrugged and stepped out in front of him.
"I could have told you that." They both made their way back to her room, House quickly noticing that something was wrong.
There was Cuddy, standing in front of Emily's room, a stressed look on her face, two people standing in front of her. One was Emily's hysterical mother, the other one was her tall intimidating looking father who just looked angry. Cuddy turned round slowly, noticing them quickly, her face lighting up. Both House and Emily stopped in their tracks, looking strangely guilty.
"Oh my God!" Sara squealed, running over to them at full speed, flinging herself on top of her helpless daughter, enveloping her in a tight hug. Emily looked up at House over her mothers shoulder, an overwhelmed look on her face. House just looked on, slightly amused, "Where did you go, we just turned round and you weren't there."
"I took her to get something to eat." House explained as the father lumbered over, he was slightly taller than House, and a lot bigger, "thought since no one else was feeding her, I should."
"Who's this?" The father asked, gesturing to House. Sara finally released Emily from her grip and looked at House, a frown instantly returning to her face.
"This is my Doctor." Emily told him, "Dr. House."
"And you must be the absentee father," House muttered, her fathers brow furrowed and a look of anger crossed his face again, "Sorry, was that offensive?"
"Excuse me!" He growled. Cuddy quickly walked over and placed a hand on House's shoulder.
"I need to talk to you, now." Cuddy insisted. House kept eye contact with Emily's father.
"No, I want to know where he took my daughter." Her father spat.
"The cafeteria." House explained, "You should go there sometime, good coffee, Sara's never out of the place. Any excuse to stay away from your sick kid, huh?"
"What?!" Sara cried, wrapping her arm around Emily's shoulder and pulling her close to her. Emily looked down at the ground, clearly uncomfortable.
"House. My office. Now." Cuddy said through gritted teeth.
"The only way she can get your attention is by coughing up blood." House snapped, "And even then she doesn't tell either of you, oh, I wonder why?"
"House, leave it!" Cuddy cried. House completely ignored her.
"Maybe it's because her mother is a junkie and her father is too busy in his perfect life to notice!" He yelled.
"House!" A voice snapped him out of his rage and he looked down to see Emily staring up at him, her eyes wide in shock. He pursed his lips together, giving her parents one last glare before turning and limping off in the opposite direction, still feeling anger pulse through his body.
--
"What the hell was that?!" Cuddy was yelling. She was busy pacing round her office, her eyes wide in horror, obviously outraged and slightly panicked. House was just sitting in a chair in front of her desk, staring off into space, his cane hanging limply from his hand, "You can't talk to patient's parents like that, her mother was already talking about taking her out of the hospital. I won't be surprised if they ask for another doctor, never mind switch hospitals."
"It won't matter." House murmured.
"What do you mean it won't matter? Do you not want to stay on this case?" She cried, sitting down on the edge of her desk, meeting House's eyes.
"I won't get taken off the case." House sighed. Cuddy looked surprised.
"You seriously expect them to still want you treat their daughter after that... display?" House shook his head.
"No, probably not, but it doesn't matter what they want." House told her.
"Of course it matters what they want." Cuddy screamed, "They're her parents!"
"She was emancipated." House told her, "When she was 14. So she makes all the decisions." Cuddy frowned, not fully convinced.
"What makes you think she won't want a new doctor?" She asked cautiously. House flashed her a smug grin.
"She likes me!" Cuddy scowled at him.
"You still can't take patients on little walks around the hospital." House glared at her.
"Wilson does it all the time, helps him bond." House protested, "Maybe I should start bonding with patients."
"And this has nothing to do with the fact that your patient is a pretty teenage girl."
"Who looks ridiculously hot in a hospital gown." House pointed out. Cuddy's face dropped, "You're just jealous."
"Just- Just find out what's wrong with her." Cuddy sighed. House smiled and pushed himself up out of the chair, leaning on his cane again.
"Will do." He began to limp out of the room.
"And try to do it without offending the patient's family." Cuddy called after him, House frowned.
"But it's what I do best!"
--
Emily's P.O.V.
I felt like I was three years old, sat, head hung, on the edge of my bed, my parents standing over me, both red in the face, taking it in turns to scream at me, then scream at each other, all the while my face blank, my hands crossed in my lap, my mind elsewhere.
"You need to leave this hospital." My mother was insisting, "The staff here are clearly unstable."
"Yes, I know a great doctor, he'll figure out what's wrong with you in no time."
"Wait, I don't want her to see anymore doctors." My mother quickly interjected.
"But she's ill, she needs medical attention. It's not like you're paying for it anyway"
"She's fine, it's just a cough."
"Just a cough?" My dad yelled, "She has blood coming out of her mouth!"
"She's had it for years, it hasn't killed her yet."
"It could have, because you failed to notice it."
"I didn't notice it? You don't notice her, you never come to see her!" I felt like my head was really heavy, I just wanted to sleep. It had been a ridiculously long day.
"Don't say that, you know I'm busy!"
"Busy my ass! You just can't be bothered."
"Shut up, you're the one who doesn't want to make her better!"
"Hospitals don't help!"
"Not when they're filled with lunatics! She's staying in a hospital."
"She's coming home with me."
"We need to get her a new doctor!"
"She doesn't need a doctor!" I began to wonder if I could run away again, escape, maybe find House and beg him to buy me another awful salad. I glanced at a clock hanging on one of the walls, it was nearing midnight.
"I'm tired." I murmured, my eyelids feeling heavy. My mother and father didn't hear me, they were still yelling at each other.
"Stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about Emily!"
"I am thinking of her, this hospital isn't helping!"
"All you're thinking of is your next fix!"
"I think I'm going to..." I began before I felt a familiar tickle in the back of my throat. I groaned slightly, and pushed myself off the bed, walking over to where they kept the small cardboard bowls and picked them up, feeling my throat constrict and the urge to cough build up as I listened to my parents bickering.
"No, my main concern is Emily, always has been, unlike you!"
"You won't let me be part of her life!"
"I will, but you keep hiding her from that snob of a wife. Where does she think you are, huh? Still at work?"
"That doesn't matter, Emily's sick."
I rolled my eyes and bent over, coughing and spluttering, tasting the copper in my mouth as it bubbled past my lips and splashed into the bowl. I gave a few last chokes and straightened up, hearing the room had gone deadly quiet, I turned round to see my mother standing looking at me with arms folded across her chest, while my father looked horrified.
"What?" I asked timidly.
"Oh my god, Emily, are you okay?" My dad cried, rushing over to my side, wrapping and arm round my shoulder and pulling me close to him. I was slightly surprised.
"I'm fine." I muttered. My dad looked into the bowl, which had a few red spatters in it.
"Oh god, you're really sick!" My dad sounded horrified, "Do you feel weak? Nauseous? Can you breathe alright?"
"She's fine." My mother sighed.
"Fine?!" My dad yelled, "She's coughing up blood. Honey, do you need to sit down?"
"I want to sleep." I groaned, breaking away from my fathers grasp and walking over to the bin, throwing the cardboard bowl in.
"Sleep, okay, you need your rest." My dad mumbled, he walked over to the door, "Me and your mother will leave you, so you can sleep, so you can get better." My mother frowned but walked over to the door, following my father's example. I walked over to my bed and pulled myself up onto it, grabbing the blankets and pulling them up round me.
"Tomorrow morning we're getting her another doctor." I heard my father tell my mother as they left.