"Right, people," House said as he entered the conference room. "Test results from Mrs Warner's biopsy and so on and so forth."
"You're right, as always," Cameron sighed. "It's not a foetus, I wasn't paying enough attention to the ultrasound earlier."
"Biopsy shows it's a tumour," Chase put in. "Now we need to know if it's cancer."
"What are you still doing here, so?" House asked and frowned.
"You beeped me!" Chase argued. House wrinkled his eyebrows and pretended that he actually cared. He took a sip of his coffee.
"I was pretty clear that I wanted conclusive test results," he said after a moments silence. "This is not conclusive!"
"But-"
"Uh-uh, no buts! You're a big boy, go find out!" House sighed and shook his head. "Hurry up, will you?" Chase glared at House and picked his papers up from the table. He quickly hurried off to the lab.
"And Foreman, what have you learned?" House said in a fake I-really-do-care-about-what-you-have-to-say-voice.
"I'm not even going to answer that," Foreman said and left the room.
"Are you going to rush out in a huff and slam the door shut too?" house said and looked at Cameron. She looked up from her paperwork and looked directly at House.
"Have you always been like this?" she asked and put down her pen.
"Like what?"
"Like an overgrown ten-year-old." House got a feeling he had had this conversation before.
"Are you in a pact with Wilson, by any chance?" he asked and poured out the remains of his coffee.
"Oh, yes, we're all in it against you," Cameron sighed and gathered her papers.
"I told you so!" House called out triumphantly as Cameron left the room in a huff and slammed the door shut.
---
"Hello, Jimmy," House said and closed the door to Wilson's hospital room. "I have-"
"-a date, I know," Wilson sighed. "It's impossible to get some sleep around here, isn't it?"
"Yes," House agreed. "But Cuddy knew that when she hired me."
"What?" Wilson looked confused. "I don't get it."
"Never mind," House said and sat down in his ordinary chair. "Is Cuddy around?"
"She's been here already," Wilson said. "You can't have my sandwich. It's smoked turkey today."
"Can I have your pudding, then?" House was hungry. The patients always seemed to get better food than the doctors around here.
"Yeah, sure, it's vanilla," Wilson said.
"I hate vanilla pudding," House sighed and twirled his cane. "I have a date tonight."
"Would you stop? I don't care about your stupid date."
"You're just jealous 'cause you have to lie in this stupid bed when I have a stupid date," House gloated. Gloating was bad, but he loved it.
"Oh, yeah, right, 'cause I really want to go out with that weird woman who threatened to stalk you, or in other words, blackmailed you."
"Oh, you don't know anything. I happen to like mass murderers and psychopaths."
"Why am I not surprised?"
"You tell me," House said and popped a pill. "Can I have your water?"
"No."
"Please?"
"You big baby."
"Stupid old man," House said grumpily and slumped in his chair.
"Don't you have work to do?"
"Not really," House said and paused. "So, Stacy has cancer."
"What?!" Wilson looked shocked.
"Or maybe she doesn't. I don't know yet, Chase didn't test it yet."
"So what's up with the baby?"
"She peed it out, we think. Unless it's stuck underneath the tumour."
"Interesting," Wilson said.
"Has your wife been in?" House said and changed subjects. Wilson's wife had always been a matter of great interest. House had never met the mystery wife, and had hoped he would get a chance now that a cause that might make them accidentally bump into each other existed, he was hoping it would happen soon.
"You just missed her," Wilson said and gloated. "You probably passed her in the corridor."
"Gloating is bad," House commented. "So is vanilla pudding." Silence filled the room. "Did you start a pact with Cameron?"
"What now?" Wilson said in surprise. "Where the hell do you get all these ideas from? The world isn't in conspiracy against you. You're so paranoid."
"She thinks I'm an overgrown ten-year-old too," House said and nodded, as if that explained everything. Wilson, who was struggling to remember what happened this morning at the moment, just shook his head and changed the subject.
"They found out what it was," he said in a serious tone. "It was… someone… well, they sort off poisoned me."
"Now, if the world isn't in conspiracy against me, why would my friend get poisoned? They're using you to get to me," House explained.
"Greg, I'm serious," Wilson said and frowned. "Someone put formaldehyde in my coffee." House leaned his chin on his cane and strained his mind. Why would anyone want to hurt Wilson? His beeper went off in the midst of the quiet, and without a word he left the room.
"Have a nice day, you too," Wilson sighed and closed his eyes.
---
"So, what is it?" House wasn't sure he wanted to know. He held the envelope in his hand. Chase had given him the honours of opening it and reading out the test result.
"Come on, House, we all want to know," Cameron said. "Not to mention Mrs Warner."
"You're pushing it!" House said and bit his nails. "I don't-" he looked around the room. "Fine!" He ripped the envelope open and took a deep breathe before slowly taking out a paper, folded in half. Another deep breathe, and he slowly unfolded the paper, the paper that would determine the future of Stacy's and Mark's family.