Chapter 11:

Friday morning found Susan in class handing out the exams the student had taken the previous week. She called their names and as they raised their hands, she handed them their test. The class average on the test was an 82% with grades ranging from 68 to 100%. Overall Susan was pleased with the results.

"Are you going to curve the test grade?" one of the students asked.

"No. Not with an 82% as the class average. There just isn't any reason to. Those of you that didn't do as well as you would have liked still have two more exams to get your grade up. Also remember that you have homework grades that should help with your final semester score," she explained. "I'd like everybody to go over your exams and make corrections on your own. This will help you on your final exam at the end of the semester. If after you've made corrections, you still have questions, come to my lab and I'll go over them with you." Susan went back to the front of the class and started the lecture for today's material. She really hated rushing through things so much, but there wasn't time to slow down. So far however, the students were doing OK with the faster pace.

Susan walked out of the classroom when lecture was finished and found David standing outside waiting on her. "I believe we have a lunch meeting," he said.

"Yes, let me take my stuff to the lab and then we can head over to the cafeteria," she said.

"I was thinking about going off campus if that's OK," he suggested.

Susan shrugged her shoulders, "That's fine."

The walked together to the lab where she put her things away and grabbed her purse, "Where are we meeting for lunch?" she asked as they started walking out of the hospital.

"Why don't we just ride together? David suggested.

Susan hesitated, "I'm sorry, I don't want to seem rude, but I would prefer to drive separate."

"Not a problem at all. There's a deli on the corner of 6th and Elm. I'll meet you there in say…" he looked at his watch, "15 minutes?"

Susan nodded as they exited the door and separated to go to their own vehicles. Susan hoped he wasn't offended by choosing to drive herself. The thought of being trapped in a vehicle with a man she didn't really know was a little unsettling. Even though he was probably a perfect gentleman, she wasn't willing to take that chance.

As David drove to the deli he realized that he shouldn't have offered to ride together. It might even be considered to be a little forward to have their meeting away from the hospital, but he really wanted to get to know her in addition to talking to her about increasing her teaching responsibilities and it was easier to do that away from work. He hoped he hadn't ruined his chances.

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House walked into the lab. Susan had stayed to herself the last couple of days, not even coming out of the lab to go to lunch. The last time she had done this she was upset with him after he had the team knock her out so he could do the CT scan. She was probably upset with him again, this time for his interaction with the lab manager. She had told him to stay out of it, but he hadn't and there was no way she hadn't heard about the incident through the very efficient "PPTH Gossip Chain". House had left her alone, but it was time to get their relationship back on track. Susan was like Wilson in that he could do or say whatever he wanted and she would eventually forgive him, though it may take her a few days to blow off steam. She wasn't in the lab, but her class notes were sitting on the desk, so she had come by after she finished lecture. He pulled out his cell phone to and punched her button on speed dial. The phone started ringing – in stereo. He hung up his phone and saw her lab coat hanging on the back of her chair. Her phone was in the pocket. House sat down at her desk and started tried the lower file drawer on her desk where she normally stored her purse; it opened easily which meant that her purse wasn't inside. She must have gone out for lunch. He started to get up from her desk when he noticed a business card sitting on the desk, it was for Dr. James and his extension number was underlined. House smiled a little as he realized she had probably gone to lunch with him. Good for her, he thought. Getting out and about was just what she needed to help get her out of her recent depression. Everything he had learned about David James so far pointed to nothing that would make House not want them to see each other.

"I was wondering if you were going to show up," Wilson said as he stood up from behind his desk, "lunch?" House nodded and then two men headed toward the cafeteria. As they entered the elevator, Wilson said, "I saw Susan leaving the hospital with some guy. You know anything?"

"I didn't see him, but I'm guessing it's Dr. James. Susan had his business card sitting out on her desk," House said.

"Dr. James," Wilson said as he tried to think of who that was. "What department does he work in? The name isn't ringing any bells."

"PhD, not an MD – he's on the academic side. He's the department head for Basic Sciences of Allied Health," House explained.

"Nice guy?" Wilson asked.

"Haven't met him, but Cuddy says she could do worse." He said.

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"So, may I ask what's making you think of switching to teaching full time?" David asked after they had gotten their meals from the counter and sat down.

Susan didn't want to go into a lot of detail of the various issues she'd had since she started working at PPTH, "Well, it's like you said before, it's hard to work for Dr. House."

"So, he gives you as much grief as he does everybody else that works with him, relations notwithstanding," David said.

"Actually, No. He's pretty easy on me compared to his fellows and his student, but is has nothing to do with our family ties. I'm not a physician, so he doesn't expect me to provide diagnostic suggestions or assess treatment options and that is where he is the hardest on them. I'm just his lab rat and I run his tests – or as many of them as I can. I've had several instances where I either haven't been familiar with the technology or have had to send out specimens to be analyzed elsewhere."

"Does it upset him when there are procedures that you don't know?" David asked trying to get a feel for what was really going on.

"He says it doesn't, but I know I disappoint him every time it happens. I always try to find alternatives when I can't perform the analysis. I either find somebody in one of the research labs that is familiar with the technique or I send it out. He told me several months ago that he doesn't expect me to know everything, but he does expect me to find ways of getting him the information he needs. But despite what he says, I still feel like I've failed him when I can't do it myself," Susan admitted.

"He means a lot to you," David observed.

Susan nodded, "He and my daughter are the only family I have left," Susan said.

"If you were to switch to teaching full time, what classes would you be interested in teaching?" David asked.

"Well, obviously it would have to be undergraduate level; I only have a master's degree. I've taught several varieties of General Chemistry like the one I'm teaching now for allied health majors and also the standard General Chemistry I and II for science majors as well as the accompanying lab classes. It doesn't really apply here, but I've also taught several darkroom photography classes in the past, though since the time I taught it, everything has switched to digital, so there isn't a lot of need for darkroom chemistry anymore," she explained.

"You like photography?"

"Love it. It's my favorite hobby though I haven't had much time lately to get out and shoot," she said. "I'm thinking of taking a couple of days during spring break to head out for some spring landscape shots."

"What else do you like to do?" David asked, obviously intrigued.

"I like music. I play piano – somewhat. I'm not nearly as good as my daughter and Dr. House, but I manage the basics. I can play well enough to pick up a hymn book and be able to play," she added.

"You like the old hymns?" he asked.

"Yes, but I also like the more modern praise and worship songs as well."

"So, do you go to church?" he asked obviously trying to learn more about her than he needed to for a teaching position.

"Yes," she said without hesitation then added, "That shouldn't be an issue."

"Oh no, it's not. I was just curious," he quickly added. "It's pretty widely known that House is an atheist. I guess I somewhat expected you to be as well."

"He is and he accepts that I'm not. We don't harass each other about it. He knows that I'm here for him and if he ever wants to talk about it, I'm more than willing to sit down with him. He also knows not to belittle me about my beliefs because he's not going to change my mind," Susan said.

David secretly smiled inside. He was glad to hear she wasn't an atheist because he wasn't either and if she was, it would have altered his interest in her and he really did want to get to know her better. Getting back on track David asked her for the truth, "Susan, as much as you don't want to say why you want to leave the lab, I really need to know the reason behind the move."

Susan sighed and leaned back in her chair, "I love my job. I think what I do is important and I enjoy having the opportunity to do all kinds of lab work and not being limited to just chemistry or hematology or histology or whatever. The lab I'm in allows me to be versatile and I really enjoy that. It's just that Dr. House has made lot of enemies over time and it seems that every time I turn around I have to prove myself or fend off someone from using me to get back at him. Like this latest issue I'm having with Chris."

David looked at her a little confused, "Chris?"

"He's the lab manager in the main hospital lab. He's a good part of the reason that Dr. House has his own tech. I guess… no – I know, that House can be a bit of a tyrant and he would terrify the lab techs into running his specimens first and so the turnover in the lab was really high. Chris managed to convince the board that it would be better for everybody if House had his own tech and the board approved it. So, here I am, but now that House has his own tech, Chris likes to make my life difficult by refusing me access to equipment that is in the main lab that that I don't have in mine, trying to terrorize me whenever he sees me near the main lab and then on top of that, this week he hid from me the fact that we were being inspected to try to catch me unprepared; it didn't work by the way," she explained. Susan left out the part about somebody accusing her of being unethical by diagnosing and treating patients. She didn't even want to go into that.

"It sounds like to me it has nothing to do with you personally," David said. "He's trying to get back at House by driving you away the way House drove away his techs."

"Well, he needs to grow up," Susan said.

"I don't disagree with that at all, but then so does House. Listen Susan, I would be happy to have you in the department teaching full time and I know you enjoy teaching, I can tell from your class lectures that you are having a good time. But you also love what you do in the lab and I think a combination of teaching and lab work is perfect for you. I'll talk to Dr. Cuddy, but I'd really like you to think about it before you make a decision. If you want to teach full time, I'll bring you in, but I really don't think that is what you want to do. Promise me you'll think about it before you make a decision," he said.

Susan nodded, "I will."

Lunch was over and it was time to go back. Susan got in her car and headed back to the hospital. Her parking place had been taken, so she spent a little time hunting for a different spot. Finally finding a place that wasn't too far away, she parked and started walking toward the hospital. On her way in she was passed by several of the lab techs walking together who had just finished their shift. They saw Susan walking in and called her over, "That was pretty funny what your boss did the other day."

"I can only imagine. What did he do this time?" she asked.

"You haven't heard?"

"I guess not. I haven't spent much time out of the lab, except to got to class the last few days. So, what happened?" Susan asked.

The techs relayed the entire encounter between Dr. House and Chris, going into great detail how the lab manager tried to hide his wet pants with his lab coat as he left the lab and eventually returned wearing hospital scrubs.

Wonderful, thought Susan sarcastically. I wonder what I'll have to put up with because of this stunt. Susan shook her head. She should have known that he wouldn't leave it alone. She and the girls went their separate ways. Even though she dreaded the consequences of House's actions, she had to work hard to suppress a smile at the image of Chris trying to hide his wet pants. There was no doubt that House could be intimidating when he wanted to be, handicap or not.