Chapter Five

House sat at his desk, a moist cloth over his eyes and his feet elevated. This was turning out to be the worst day ever, and he would be the first one to raise his hand and proclaim so. Jessica was seated at Nicole's desk, staring at him with the wide innocent, virgin eyes of a new med student.

"Dr. House?"

House ignored her, hoping she would turn tail and run if he held out long enough. She continued to repeat his name over and over, until the tone of her voice was like nails on a chalkboard. "WHAT!?" He tried not to yell. Really, he did.

Once he caught her eye, her gaze reverted to her feet. She was contemplating whether she should continue, or just sit and shut up. The former won. "Is this all we're going to be doing today?"

It was like Nicole's first day all over again, only he was actually doing something that day. "Nope. I may go get food later."

His young protege was about to let out one of her annoying, slightly unintelligent questions (House kept wondering when he was going to see her whiz-kid reputation pop up), but all his ducklings came through the door in time to stop her. Nicole was leading.

"You have another case." She smiled, flashing a blue envelope this time in his line of sight.

"No I don't. I had a case. This morning. Remember?"

"Okay, you're going to stop forming small sentences while I explain why. Believe me, you're not going to want to pass this up." She balanced on her hip as she opened the file an read to them. "Twenty-four year old Kie Jones. Shows symptoms of meningitis, emphatic coughing slash wheezing, and a skin condition."

"And that's supposed to pique my curiosity? A college student with a disease that's common for said student and a rash?" His feet left the desk and planted firmly on the floor.

"Yes, yes, and not a rash. More like a horn." Chase winced. After all, it was quite a sight. Disturbing and gross, but a sight none the less. "Two. On either side of the head."

House looked from one duckling to the other, studying each of their actions. "A horn?"

"Two." Cameron nodded, placing her hands in her pockets.

Nicole shook her head as she handed him the folder. "Did I mention the patient happened to be a porn star?" She smiled, showing him the paperwork.

House stood, straightened his jacket, took his cane in his grasp, and limped out of the room. "You should have opened with that." Chase laughed, watching his boss scurry down the hall and the intern run to keep up with him.

"No, not really." She knew how to manipulate him by now. "I didn't exactly tell him the whole truth."

"She's not a porn star?" Foreman questioned, as all of them slowly followed.

"No, he is a porn star."

short and sweet. sorry for the lack of updates, but the research on this is taking longer than planned.

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