Alright, new chapter finally! This is the longest one yet, with a full 23 pages on word XD

Hope you like it! I really like it myself. It was fun writing it anyway. By the way… if any of you happen to be a doctor or something and you find mistakes in any medical words I used, could you please tell me? I really want this to be as realistic as possible.

Another huge thanks to all my reviewers! I try to reply to your comments the best I can, sorry if I missed out somebody… And one last thing: I'd like to change the title of this story. If you have any ideas, could you please tell me? I'd like to call it Endless Sacrifice, but I'm not quite sure. I'm not very good at titles :P

Still don't own House, M.D.!! Enjoy!!!

Chapter Nine

One Week

It's been one week since you looked at me
Threw your arms in the air
and said "You're crazy"
Five days since you tackled me
I've still got the rug burns on both my knees
It's been three days since the afternoon
You realized it's not my fault
not a moment too soon
Yesterday you'd forgiven me
And now I sit back and wait 'til you say you're sorry

----

Chase entered the office slowly.

"You paged me?" He inquired and House nodded while looking at the surface of his desk with determination not to look elsewhere. Chase hesitantly moved forwards and sat in front of the desk. "Um… so? What's going on?" He asked.

House seemed tense – even more than when they had gone on a date. He was twisting a pen between his fingers and absent-mindedly staring into space. Chase cleared his throat, making House jump slightly and look at him at last, his eyes betraying no emotion as he said; "You're fired." He'd rather do it quick, like ripping off a band-aid. Only problem was that instead of it being a piece of bandage he could just throw away, it was a human being.

Chase felt his mouth go dry and he nearly choked on his breath. "What? But…"

House decided in less than a second that he'd better do it quick now that he'd begun and disengage himself completely. "I'm firing you. Though I'll admit getting sacked doesn't look too good on a CV, so I'm going to let you write a resignation paper. Gather your stuff, you're gone." He told his employee as slowly as he could despite the fact his heart was beating so fast it felt like it would implode. Chase stared back blankly; "But… when we will see each other? We'll hang out on weekends right?"

"No. I want you out of here. Out of my life." House stated numbly. Chase couldn't believe it; how could he say these things so calmly?

"But how can you just change your mind like that? I mean, what happened?" Chase pleaded for answers, trying to grasp on to something he felt was real.

Because this all seemed so unreal and fake.

House smirked vaguely. "Nothing has changed. I never said that I love you." A silence passed between them before he went on; "Because I don't. I never did. You should have listened to Wilson and Cuddy; we were certain to end like this. You were fun while it lasted but now it's over." Chase felt water sting his eyes. He blinked.

"How can you say that?! I thought – at least, that you were my friend!" House snickered darkly; "Well, you thought wrong." Chase bowed his head and stood up dejectedly. House stood too, leaning on his cane expectantly. "But… I love you." Was all Chase could find to say. It sounded dumb, hopeless, but it was everything that mattered to him – he had to let House understand that. His throat was brittle dry; House wasn't reacting at all. Chase just stood there feeling more awkward than ever, wishing against all hope that House would just say something. Anything. Even scream at him; anything would be enough.

He didn't.

Chase bit back a sob, ran his fingers through his hair and took a step forwards as he placed a feathery kiss on the older man's lips.

It was the worst kiss of Chase's life. House didn't move, didn't respond or give into the Australian's passion. Chase backed away slowly, ending what was sure to be their last kiss with a profound regret. He noticed a strange look on House's face just before it disappeared – a dreamy stare, yet filled with a deep expression of grief. It was gone before he had the chance to contemplate it more, and a voice snapped him back to the harsh reality he was in.

"Leave. You're done." House said, handing him a resignation form. Chase met his gaze with another pleading look, but he knew it was bleak. It also seemed to annoy House because this time he shouted; "GET OUT! IT'S OVER! I'M DONE WITH YOU. ADIOS."

Chase thought he could feel his heart actually breaking; the pain was unbearable. He turned on his heels and left with fast executed steps.

----

He woke up with a gasp, breathing like mad. Great, now he was going to have nightmares… He got up and went to drink some water in an attempt to make his headache fade. It had already been a day, and he wasn't over it. He knew this was ridiculous, but he had kept replaying the scene over and over in his head ever since he'd left the hospital.

It scared him how accurately he could remember all the little details.

It scared him even more to think that he remembered his nightmares so well.

His head was already throbbing when he heard four booming knocks at the door. Not only was he having head aching nightmares, he had to be disturbed in the middle of the night, too. He checked his watch, whose nightlight gleamed eleven thirty three. Okay, great, now he couldn't even be annoyed and say he had been sleeping. "Coming…" he called as he made his way to the entrance. He unlocked the door, opened it swiftly…

And slammed it in House's face.

He walked off and slumped on the couch. How dare that bastard show his face here. Hadn't he done enough damage that he had to come make him feel worse by stalking him right to his own apartment? As if he didn't already feel terrible as it was!

He heard the door open and realized with a pang that he hadn't locked it after slamming it shut. "Go away." He shouted blindly in the darkness; "I don't want to see you." He heard House cough and tap the wall in search of the light switch. He found it and light shone dimly from the ceiling spots. Chase rubbed his eyes at the searing twinge that burnt them and scowled.

"Now you see me." House told him.

"Fuck you House. Get out of here." Chase replied in a colorless voice. He thought he heard House mumble something before stating rather dramatically: "Voglar is dead."

Chase stopped rubbing his eyes, opening them wide and ignoring the burning sensation. "What the hell? What did he wall down the stairs or something?" House laughed faintly. "No, Voglar – the idea – is dead. Mr. Destructo, Mr. Moneybags, bow-down-before-me; he is gone from the hospital. So everything can go back to the way it was."

A silence rang through the room as House leant on his cane with a weird serene face and Chase scowled again. "The way it was kind of weird. And besides, weren't you the one who kicked me out? Or was it all because of Voglar?"

House cleared his throat; "No, I… Cuddy told me to tell you that you can have your job back." Chase nodded, "She did, did she? Well you tell her that I said I don't want it. Not if I have to work with you." House smiled widely; "Thought you'd say that. So did you find a new job already?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow and knowing damn well Chase had probably not gone looking for a job yet.

"Um, no. I hadn't gone around to." The Australian admitted; "But I'm still not coming back."

"Knew you'd say that too. Too much ego?"

Chase clenched his fists and bit back his retort. He thought it over a second; he really loved his job, and now he could have it back. Why refuse? It wasn't like he was scared of House. Furious at him, sure, but in no way scared. He wouldn't give in; that would make him look weak. "I like my job. I want it back." He decided on saying it and being the mature one. House nodded. "Everything is arranged with Cuddy. See you in the morning then."

House turned to leave. Instead of pleasing Chase, House's words made him even more infuriated. "That's it? You're going to act like nothing happened?" He snapped at his boss's back before he could leave. "Of course," House replied, hand on the doorknob, "Because nothing happened. Nothing important anyway. By the way, she told me to apologize. So here; I'm sorry."

Chase sat back on his couch, "Right," and watched House leave without another word.

----

House limped through the main doors of PPTH. The scene was total calamity. Nurses and doctors were running around in every direction while hundreds of patients stormed about impatiently, all wearing surgeon masks. Many were sitting in the waiting room with pained, sick faces but most were standing arranged in lines in front of various doctors. The air was thick with voices, coughs, groans, children's cries and messages from the intercom forbidding anyone to leave without a blue slip because it was a quarantined area.

Praying that Cuddy wasn't anywhere in the vicinity, House turned and made to walk strait out. Nobody had even glanced twice at him, he was completely incognito…

"Dr House!" Called a familiar voice. Oh crap. "Need you here…!" He turned to look at Cuddy with the best 'What the hell is this crap' face he could muster, explaining; "Sorry – lot of sick people," he gestured to the epidemic, "I might catch something." Cuddy smirked characteristically; "A judge at a local pool collapse from a viral form of meningitis."

"Great!" House answered, "You've got it diagnosed, don't need me." And he turned to walk away again, but was stopped by Cuddy once more. "Twenty-five hundred people at the pool were exposed. They're being bused to all the neighboring hospitals."

"Not for diagnostics." House shot back, "I'd be completely lost, I'd just get in everyone's way." He turned to leave a third time, but Cuddy spoke to the door-guard, who was also wearing a surgeon mask: "Joe. Dr House doesn't have a blue slip. No one leaves the quarantined area without a blue slip." House scowled, but turned yet again to face Cuddy who told him warningly; "You are a doctor at this hospital; act like one. And take these." She handed him a little cup with some red pills in it before striding away.

He shot a cheery smile at the door guardian and swallowed the pills dry.

----

That morning was a fairly calm affair; if you didn't take into count the hundreds and hundreds of sick people. House was once and again surprised at how large the epidemic was, just when he was beginning to notice the crowd was slimming a bit, he saw a new bus arrive – goody. That meant extra hours probably.

And he'd been hoping to make fun of Chase for a bit this morning.

In fact, he'd almost been happy to come in this morning.

Who could tell him it's his fault he's miserable now?

He was just about to give up and go nag Cuddy for the sake of it, when a new patient came into the exam room. Oh, right. He'd been the one to shout 'next!' hadn't he? The patient was a little blonde girl wearing a swimming team sport jacket, meaning she was one of the swimmers. She came to sit down and he immediately noticed her intense gaze. Clearly, she was no girly little push-over. Fun.

"Yow…" he declared as he took her temperature. She sighed; "Fever. Does that mean I have it?" House shrugged vaguely and asked; "Do you have a rash?" She looked away furtively. "C'mon." He pressed. She lifted her shirt and he looked at her stomach. She explained; "It's from my new bathing suit, I've had it a week." He nodded, taking notes; "Yeah… Does your neck hurt?"

"It's nothing. I pulled it while doing a dive…" House frowned, still not looking at her; "Where are you parents?"

"We live in Chicago. I'm here with my coach." She told him and craned her neck to look at his clipboard. He turned his head slightly and narrowed his eyes. "I wanted to see what you were writing…" She argued. He just frowned more. "Go like this." He ordered, turning his head from side to side. She did it too, hissing at the pain it caused her. He bit his lip; "Now go like this…" He indicated nodding up and down and she followed his lead, this time easily and pain free. He stared at her, but was really just looking into space while the cogs worked away in his mind.

He went to get Foreman; "You're coming with me." He told him and Foreman grimaced, but nonetheless putting his equipment down and leaving his line of patients. Then he headed over to where Cameron was, whistled across the room and allocated for her to follow him with a nudge of the head. She gave an apologetic look to her line of waiting patients and hurried after her mentor.

Chase saw her leaving after House and scowled; leaving his patients too and running after the three doctors. House hadn't bothered to come and fetch him. When he caught up with them, Foreman was arguing that it was obviously meningitis. Before anyone could say anything more, Cuddy appeared, looking at House furiously, then at Chase; "Dr Chase: good to see you back. Now do you guys figure we're done down there?! Or are the eight hundred people milling around are just waiting in line for the bathroom?"

House stated; "Twelve year old female. Fever, rash, neck pain. And it's not meningitis." Cuddy scowled heavily. "It's the definition of meningitis!" House stopped and so did everyone else, waiting to hear what he could say to argue with that. "Sure," he agreed, "It makes it hurt for you to move your head up and down. But her head only hurts moving side to side."

"Oh, side to side?" Cuddy asked, sarcastically widening her eyes in a deeply concerned expression. "It doesn't fit!" House added. Cuddy looked ready to sprout wings and breathe fire; "The four of you – lobby – now." She glared, "You just don't want to deal with the epidemic." She announced, making him snort.

"That's right. I'm subjecting a twelve year old to a battery of dangerous and invasive tests to avoid being bored." He snapped back at Cuddy sardonically, making everyone stare at him with acute looks. "Okay," he confessed, "maybe I would do that. But I'm not! If it turns out she had meningitis, alright, you win. But if we go back downstairs and she dies… Tsk! Your face will be sooo red!" Cuddy seemed to reconsider, then made a grimace; "You have one hour." Before she left for good.

"Do a lumbar puncture; some brain infections can be pretty clever at hide-and-seek." He ordered Foreman, who turned to leave hurriedly. Cameron and Chase remained, with strained faces. Chase cleared his throat; "I'll get some blood." To which House replied; "No you won't." Chase stopped in his tracks and turned around with a defiant stare and Foreman stopped too, looking back at the scene. Both Foreman and Cameron could sense the tension mounting between the two doctors, but no one dared speak until House said; "You, sir, are going to research all causes in the universe of neck pain." Chase's jaw dropped; "The list is like two miles long!" He protested heatedly. Cameron shuffled her feet and Foreman stared. House's stern expression did not waver; "Start with the letter A." He suggested, raising an eyebrow.

Chase groaned indignantly and stormed away. Cameron looked torn between wanting to go comfort Chase and be mad at their boss, but she stayed put when House turned his glare to her. "You, run tests for meningitis. In case I'm wrong – it has happened." She nodded, keeping silent and she walked off with Foreman.

----

Chase marched into the conference room and plugged the laptop, fuming. At least he was alone in here so no one could see him mad like this. He knew what House was up to… Sure, he was giving him his job back, but he wasn't going to let him work at all. Unless you count useless internet research of course. He typed into Google: 'Neck pain' and clicked on a few sites before he found a medical one with a really long list of neck pain causes. He was convinced that if he were to lay it out, it could easily have dragged out for two full miles. He sat back and sighed, preparing for a really long eye-straining afternoon.

He'd only been working for about an hour when House came in. "What letter are you up to?" He threw at him, strolling around the table with his coffee. Bastard.

"A." Chase mumbled, his eyes already starting to feel droopy. Maybe that had to do with the fact he'd almost gotten no sleep that night. House was yet again a bastard, invading his dreams like that. He heard the older man stop behind him, no doubt checking the computer screen. Chase was thinking he should have closed the YouTube tab, but it was too late now. However, House took no notice of it.

"Wow, that looks really dull." He alleged, "Awful stuff." Chase resisted the urge to growl. Instead he replied pleasantly; "It's not a problem." He heard House take a sip of his coffee and say: "Oh well thank goodness. A lot of people would resent having to do this." Chase seethed. "I know what you're trying to do okay? You want to make me shout at you and complain about having to do this research, but I won't. I don't care."

"You just did shout at me." House remarked, making Chase growl this time. "Look, I didn't do anything to you. You're the one who has a problem! I didn't go to Voglar. I told you that didn't I?" He exclaimed, turning in his chair to face his tormentor, who just shrugged.

"Everybody lies." He declared, for the countless time.

"Yeah, and I was lying when I said I loved you. Because I don't. You're a horrible person; you're the worst miserable jerk I've ever met and I hate you. Got it?" Chase snapped back, completely losing his patience now. House smiled at him. How strange.

"Glad we're on the same level of thought." He told the Australian, "I'm happy we cleared this out." And he went to his office, leaving Chase to work on his assignment.

Only to be disturbed once again when Cameron and Foreman came back with test results and some images of the girl's stomach. They sat down to watch it and Chase abandoned his laptop, happy to have a distraction.

"I think I've seen this movie." Came a voice from behind them as House walked in, "The ending's kinda dark." Cameron scowled at him and he sat down next to Foreman, opening a bag of Smarties. "Want one?" He asked them, shaking the bag under their noses, except Chase's. He was ignoring Chase completely.

"Whoa, whoa whoa…" He told Cameron as she flipped through the frames on the computer, "Take it back a couple of frames. Oh yeah – that's your money shot." He declared, pointing at the screen. There followed a bland silence. "I don't see anything." Foreman said slowly. House smirked; "Really? Doesn't that ginormous thing on the right side of her intestine intrigue you?"

The three ducklings squinted; "Does ginormous mean really big or really really small because I don't see anything." Cameron told him. Chase pointed at a small red pustule on the screen; "There? That dulephoyle? That doesn't account for any of her other symptoms." Chase said, frowning. House sighed: "Nobody sees it?!" He asked impatiently. Cameron looked at him angrily; "Chase said –"

"I'm sorry what?" House cut her off, widening his eyes. She scowled and Foreman pressed in; "It doesn't account for her other symptoms." He told House, pointing at the screen. House ginned; "Good job Foreman. You're right, but it does tell us something. Although I have no idea what." Foreman squinted at the screen once more; "Could be a precursor to intestinal dissessemption…"

"That couldn't be causing any other of her symptoms. What else?" He threw at Cameron. She shook her head, thinking wildly, when Cuddy barged in, looking even more like a fire-breathing beast than she had done earlier. "You. In the lobby. Now." She told House, with a tone of voice that was clearly not too amused. "You've had your hour. Three, actually."

House pulled a face at Cameron; "Aw, Dr Cameron! I told you to tell us when our time was up!" Then he looked back up at Cuddy. "She has intestinal bleeding." He declared in a phony reassuring voice.

"She'll wait." Cuddy assured him. "Two more buses just arrived. We need you downstairs." She was now sounding very concerned, and House figured one more little push might do the trick. "No…" He told her, "You need more nurses. But you cut back on the nursing staff so now you've got doctors doing what nurses should be doing." He protested. Everyone winced as Cuddy snorted.

"Oh really? I guess that is true. I wonder if it has anything to do with you costing us a hundred million dollars." She scoffed at him. House apparently had no answer to that because he just clenched his jaw and stayed silent. His ducklings looked at him warily.

With no other choice left to them, they descended back to the lobby and continued their differential there. This time, with Wilson around, they could ask about cancer.

"Get a sample of her bone marrow." House decided, looking at Foreman. "From here?" The neurologist questioned with a strange look. House shook his head; "Use your break." Foreman frowned; "You're giving me fifteen minutes?"

"Use Dr Chase's break too." House said, looking resentful to having to say the blond's name. And Foreman was off. Chase bit back a scowl and Cameron gave him a comforting pat on the arm.

No more than two minutes later, House and Wilson took their break too, resigning Chase to stay and work with no one to talk too. However, Cameron, being the nice person she is, decided not to take hers and stay with him.

"Why are you being so mean to Chase?" Wilson inquired as they made their way through the masses of people in the hallway. House smiled; "So you noticed already did you?" He said, not even attempting to hide the fact that he was being cruel to his duckling. "It's fun." He told the oncologist, who scowled.

"Haven't you put him through enough? You made him think you loved him, then you dumped him and fired him at the same time. Now you're going to torture him until he cracks or something? That's just cold." Wilson stated as they avoided someone vomiting in the middle of the corridor. House snorted; "He had it coming: If he thought he was going to come back to work and everything would be normal… well he was terribly wrong. It's like you kick a bulldog and don't expect it to bite you."

"Yeah okay," Wilson said, "except you're not a bulldog and Chase didn't kick you. He didn't do anything." House was about to reply something snappy about him being easily compared to a bulldog but he spotted Cuddy at the other end of the hallway, dangerously gaining on them. "Right turn!" He ordered and they turned. They got caught in a flock of sick people however and Cuddy closed in on them.

"What are you doing?" She snapped at them, "The rest of this hospital is working their butts off and you reckon you can just stroll around and –"

"Hey slow down. It's break time." House told her, rather unperturbed. She glared and heaved a sigh. "I heard from Cameron that you're being awful to Chase." House groaned interiorly: he really had it coming to him now…

"Whatever it is you're doing to him, he doesn't deserve it. Now stop acting like a thirteen year old and just get over it." She told him angrily. He scoffed.

"Get over what exactly? Him beating me out to Voglar when he explicitly told me I had his word he couldn't tell anyone? Yeah, that's real mature too. He could have cost me my job." Cuddy frowned; "What are you talking about?" House scrunched up his face and rubbed his forehead. Now he was really done for. "The Ipecac." He confessed, unmistakably annoyed.

"The Ipecac…?" Cuddy's face shone of realization suddenly; "What? You think… You think Chase told Voglar? House, that's ridiculous! Voglar found the bottle. I was the one who took it from Chase, I'll admit, but I promised not to tell Voglar." House stared, but then shook his head. "No. You're just trying to protect him. Bye now."

He left hurriedly and Wilson followed, troubled. Cuddy sighed and scratched her head.

----

Cameron looked sideways at Chase. He was calmly examining benign patient after benign patient but she noticed he looked uptight. "House is horrible." She told him, "But you shouldn't let it get to you. Go complain to Cuddy." Chase shook his head; "There's nothing to complain about. He was always horrible." He affirmed, not looking at her.

"Oh come on… He's being a total jerk."

"Drop it. Okay? It's fine." Chase told her, not unpleasantly, but determinately staring her in the eye. She nodded with haste; "okay… sorry." And they continued with their work until Chase told Cameron to go take her break and he'd be fine. She protested a bit, saying she felt bad leaving him alone here, but he said it was fine and she finally gave in, rushing to the conference room for a quick coffee.

Chase sighed and saw House and Wilson talking vigorously in a corner of the lobby. He tried to stay focused on his patients, but couldn't help stealing constant glances at them. House looked brooding, and Wilson seemed to be scolding him. It was very peculiar. House suddenly hit the floor with his cane and obviously shouted something at the oncologist because nearby people stopped to stare at him. Chase narrowed his eyes. He thought he'd heard his name. Maybe he was just being paranoid, but still… it was strange that House and Wilson were arguing like this.

Not that it was strange for them to argue because that was practically a synonym for 'conversation' with those two, but it was strange that they seemed to be really honestly angry at each other. In fact, Chase didn't think he'd ever seen Wilson angry.

That's when House glared daggers at Wilson and stormed away. The oncologist rubbed his eyes, placing a hand on his hip and walked out of the lobby, looking troubled.

Chase was wondering where House had gone to, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He swiveled around and was met with House's livid face. "I thought, maybe, I told you to do a research on neck pain?" He questioned, visibly not in the mood to argue with him now too. Chase was frightened by that face, but didn't let it show.

"Okay, sure." He stammered, "I'll get right on it." House just continued to stare through him unnervingly and Chase left his awaiting line of patients once more to go back to the conference room. He had nearly reached the door when he felt someone behind him. He turned and found that House had followed him. He glared; "What now?"

As soon as the words had left his mouth, House grabbed him roughly by the lab coat and banged him against the glass wall of the conference room, crashing their mouths together in a fiery kiss. Chase gave a cry of fierce protest, but House was too firm, he couldn't turn away. For god's sake – they were in the middle of a hallway! Given, there were less people up here than down in the lobby, but still some people now and then. Before he could try and throw the older man off him again, the magic of the moment took hold of him and he found himself intriguingly kissing back. It was violent, it was sweaty and harsh, but he loved every second of it. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed this.

All too soon, it was over and House backed away. Chase felt that he was blushing like mad, but he determinately stared up at House, whose expression still had not changed. He was sternly looking over him, as if he were drinking in every feature. Chase suddenly felt an overwhelming yearning sensation. He wanted House; he needed House to want him back. Or else, he didn't know what he would do.

House continued to ignore Chase's pleading looks, and said; "Go now. You still have to cover K to Z." Chase groaned; "Why won't you talk to me? What's your problem? You hate me, then you kiss me…" House nodded vehemently; "Doesn't mean anything. Work now."

"IT DOES!" Chase bellowed; "STOP AVOIDING YOURSELF!" House looked taken aback for a moment, then he glared; "Shut up. I'm not avoiding anything." Chase snarled; "Yes you are – you're avoiding your feelings. You can't deal with anything when it comes to emotions, admit it! So stop kidding yourself, because you're not fooling anyone. Make a decision; or I might decide I really hate you and there won't be anymore chances. I knew I was taking a big risk that first time when I asked you on a date, but I thought it was worth it. I overcame my uneasiness – now it's your turn. I've done my part of the deal. Do yours." He glared one last time at the older doctor, and marched into the conference room, feeling ready to lash out at anyone.

Unluckily, there was already someone in the conference room when he went in.

A very wide-eyed Cameron was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in her hand. Chase understood that she must have seen the whole thing, with the walls being made of glass and everything. He rubbed his neck uneasily and sat in front of his laptop, wobbling the mouse to get it off the screensaver. He swore out loud: House had closed his window. The one with all the causes of neck pain. And he hadn't even thought to put it in his favorites. He grumbled and went to the history, but that had been cleared too. He clenched his teeth and tried hard not to swear again.

Cameron coughed. "What happened?" She asked tentatively. "House erased my history so I can't find the list of neck pain causes I had…" He explained, surfing through the Google result pages he'd already been through for about twenty minutes earlier today. He remembered he'd found it on page sixteen or something…

"Not that…" Cameron continued; "I mean, that's mean too, but… what happened just now?"

"You saw the whole thing; there's nothing to explain." Chase replied, closing the conversation implicitly. She drew a sharp inhale, as if she'd been about to say something she shouldn't. Seconds later, after moments of biting her lip anxiously, she finally said; "I can't just sit back and watch him do this, Chase. I'm sorry, but it has to stop… You should tell him." Chase closed his eyes and sighed.

"I already did. He won't listen. I can't make him love me." He told her, without trying to mask the sadness in his voice this time. She avoided his gaze and took a sip of coffee to avoid having to reply, but gave him a short conceding nod. He turned back to Google and found his web page at last. Cameron's break was no over and she had to leave. She did so with great regret, but he just shrugged when she excused himself. He felt more comfortable working without her hanging around all concerned about him.

He wasn't really sad… Just offended and angry. House had unambiguously shown him that he didn't give a damn about him. There was nothing left to be said or done. What was done was done, and Chase knew he couldn't take anything back. The only thing he could control was his anger, so he decided to take his punishment in silence. It was his decision! Not as if he was scared of House, because that wasn't true; House didn't control him. He used to respect the older man, like him even and more, but it seemed you really can't always get what you want. House was done with him and as much as that upset him… there was nothing he could do.

House was a lone man. Chase just had to accept that.

He realized his vision had gone blurry and that he hadn't read anything for over five minutes, so he rubbed his eyes tiredly and got back to work.

He went on undisturbed until he heard voices next door and noticed Foreman, Cameron and House were doing a differential in House's office. Jerks, he thought, more in direction of House, but still angry at the lot of them. Those two were as bad as him; they were letting House do this to him. He just felt like letting go, closing the computer and just plain leaving. But he knew he couldn't do that; the hospital was in full-fledged epidemic. He was needed here. So either he was in the lobby or working on this research. House had clearly given him no choice but to work here, so he figured leaving wouldn't be a good idea. He saw Cameron and Foreman leave, probably to do some tests, and House sat at his desk, plugging his iPod. Chase groaned as he saw that the letter N went one for quite a while longer, and he sat back in his chair, rubbing his eyes once again. The day was almost over, he would be leaving soon.

Soon actually came all too soon. House was no where to be found, and so he was left at the hospital with Foreman and Cameron. At least now that House had left he could go and help his colleagues. He closed the laptop for good, making sure to put the website in his favorites this time, and started to look for the two doctors.

They weren't hard to find; now that the epidemic had cooled down considerably, they had gotten Mary a room. She was in there with her parents and coach, and Foreman and Cameron were watching from outside. "Got a diagnosis yet?" He questioned as he walked up to them. Cameron failed to say anything, looking depressed, so Foreman answered. "No toxins, no tumor, no bone cancer." He told him. Chase thought around for a second, then; "Renal failure could cause a rash, fever and muscle pain. Maybe a genetic kidney disorder?" Cameron shook her head.

"No family history of it. And she has no blood in her urine. Yet." They all heaved sighs, watching their patient chatting with her parents. Chase frowned and cocked his head, observing the balloons and banners people had put up in the girl's room. "We're missing something…" He stated slowly. Cameron shook her head; "You think maybe she's adopted and we've got the wrong history?" The blond doctor cocked his head further; "No… That's a lot of balloons." He stated, not really sure what he was getting on to. Foreman coughed; "You think she's allergic to polyester?"

"No, nothing like that…" Chase answered, turning his back to the patient room and throwing his head back, trying to think. "Let's say… that the rash isn't a rash." He speculated, making Foreman rumble. "What are you saying? You're not making much sense." He sounded annoyed, but Cameron tittered at him; "Let him think, he might be on to something!" To which Foreman grunted back; "Yeah, or he might just be tired form having sit in front of a computer screen all day and he's not thinking strait!"

"Shut up!" Chase told Foreman, spinning around to face him, "Just… let me think. Let's see… Who gave her the balloons?" Foreman frowned angrily, so Cameron answered. "Some girls from her team. Why?" Chase nodded; "What about guys? Did any guys visit her?" When Cameron frowned too and said; "Come to think of it… I don't think any guys have visited her at all…" something clicked in Chase's head. He smiled; "Yeah, because they're all older right?"

"True… the youngest one on her team is sixteen." Foreman agreed. "So," Chase went on, "Either they're just not interested… or…" Cameron's eyes widened; "They're avoiding her." She cogitated, and Chase nodded. "Where there any cell fragments in her blood smears?" Foreman checked the file and shook his head briefly; "No. All intact." Chase brought a hand to his lip thoughtfully, "Let's check them again." So they went to the lab and ran some more tests.

"My god, you're right." Cameron stated, looking out from her microscope, "The rash wasn't a rash; she's bleeding into her own skin pores." They all exchanged anguished looks, and Foreman sighed; "What could have set that off?" He asked, and started to eliminate all the known causes, all as un-likely as the next, leaving out only one. Chase bit his lip; "There's one more possible cause." He stated. Cameron gasped; "Oh god… you don't think –?" Chase nodded. "Come with me." And they headed back to the patient's room.

When they got there, Mary's parents and coach had left the room and she watched in silence as they set up an echography. She seemed affable enough, but they noticed she was pretty tense. When what they feared had appeared on the screen, they turned to look at her, trying not to stare. She sighed; "I'm pregnant." She tried.

"Uhh, yeah." Chase declared, "Pregnancy can cause all sorts of chemical and biological changes in a woman's body. Or a… girl's body… In extremely rare cases, everything goes haywire. It's called TTP" Mary looked away; "I wanted it. He turned out to be a jerk, but…"

"You wanted it?" Cameron inquired unbelievingly. The little girl nodded back, "Yeah, I did. I knew what I was doing." Chase, Foreman and Cameron all exchanged worried glances. Chase cleared his throat; "I'm afraid that… we're going to have to terminate the pregnancy. It's too dangerous for you, I trust you understand right?" Mary's face went from considerably serene, to frightened, to worried in under five seconds.

"You gonna tell my mom and dad?" She asked with remarkable assurance. Chase looked at his teammates warily before answering; "Under New-Jersey law… if you don't want us to… we won't tell them." Mary nodded; "I'll be fine. They don't need to know."

"Are you sure?" Cameron asked her reassuringly, "They're your parents… They'll understand won't they?" Mary looked away for a second then firmly said, "No. I'll be okay." Chase knew they couldn't do anything so he nodded and handed her a tissue to wipe away the goo on her stomach, before walking over to the foot of the bed to write something on a clipboard. "You'll be scheduled for an abortion as soon as we can." He told her and they left to go to the conference room. Luckily, they hadn't met with her parents when they'd come out of the room. They would deal with them later they supposed.

"Shouldn't we have called House?" Cameron asked carefully as they sat down. Chase didn't even acknowledge her question and Foreman gave a snort; "Yeah. And get yelled at for waking him up? Not a chance. He wasn't there, too bad." Cameron fell silent and they looked over the files and procedures for Mary's abortion. A while later, Cameron left to go schedule it. Chase and Foreman made her swear not to tell the girl's parents, fearing she would give in to her worried nature.

As soon as she'd left, Foreman hummed cheerily while Chase put his face in his hands and leant on his elbows, feeling tired. He was sharply snapped out of his abstraction when Foreman cleared his throat suddenly; "House was a bastard to you today."

"He's always a bastard." Chase stated back. Foreman gave an agreeing hum; "Yeah, but more than usual. I mean, ignoring you and all…" Chase glared at him. "What do you care? You and Cameron just stood there and watched me take it." Foreman raised an eyebrow. "Cameron told me you didn't want help."

"Oh yeah? What else have you two been saying behind my back? Making gay jokes perhaps?" Foreman stared, "No of course not. I'm sorry Chase, but you don't seem to realize what you're like from our point of view. When House treats you like this, you just stare back at him blankly. You're an easy target; and you can't blame him from taking advantage of that. I kept wondering when you would fight back you know?" Chase grumbled incoherently before replying; "Have you ever been forced to hate someone you love?"

Foreman looked taken aback. "No…" He admitted cautiously. "Well, there you go. It's not easy. No more than a few days ago; it felt like he loved me too. Everything was perfect, and then he suddenly decided to push me away. You know what it's like trying to get answers out of House don't you? It's a no-win situation." Foreman nodded; "Okay. I understand, but I still think you should stand up to him more." Then he smiled; "And House should piss you of more often – you make a great doctor when you're mad." Chase swallowed back a snappy retort and put his face back in his hands, scratching at his temples.

Cameron was back; "Mary's scheduled for seven o' clock tomorrow." She announced, and they nodded. She sat back down and an awkward silence followed, only to be broken when Wilson unexpectedly came in. He got strait to the point as always; "Chase… Do you want to come with me please? Or are you not done for the night?" Chase frowned, "No… I mean, yeah, sure, we're done right?" His colleagues nodded, so he followed Wilson outside.

They walked down the hallway and the stairs and neither of them spoke until they were outside the main doors. "Um, where are we going?" Chase asked suspiciously. Wilson stopped and rubbed the back of his neck, "Outside the hospital…" His face was illuminated by the light coming from inside the hospital and he looked tired. "I figured you would need some fresh air." Chase nodded appreciatively, and gave Wilson a puzzled look, inviting him to go on. The oncologist sighed slowly; "I'm really sorry. For what House did."

"What making me work uselessly and ignoring me? It's nothing, I mean… He's always being mean to me in some way, I reckon he'll just get past it and –" Wilson shook his head. "No I mean… did he… kiss you?" He inquired, hoping he wasn't wrong. Chase frowned, was tempted to lie, but decided against it for some reason. "yeah… um, why?" Wilson turned his face on him, rubbed his neck again and turned back to look at him.

"I got mad at him. I yelled because he was being awful to you. And he um… seemed to realize what he was doing was wrong. You probably know by now that House really doesn't know how to deal with these feeling he has for you right?" Chase shook his head; "He doesn't feel anything for me. Forget it. He hates me."

"No. He doesn't. Trust me." Wilson confirmed, before sighing again, "House told me he would rather die than lose you. I told him what he should do, that is; apologize to you, I mean, really apologize, but you know… House can be, well, House. He likes to take crazy, drastic measures. When it involves medicine, it works fairly well. Just… not when it involves love." Wilson finished. Chase raised an eyebrow quizzically and Wilson looked deeply saddened. "Look, House decided he would go and kiss you and see how you reacted."

Chase stared. "And based on my reaction… what would he do then?"

"I don't know. He didn't want to tell me. That's why I was so worried – because he told me… that… you know, he'd rather die." Chase felt as if a bucket of frozen water had been tipped over his head. He spluttered; "What?! Did he – he didn't kill himself?!"

"No!" Wilson reassured him urgently. "He… he went to my office. I wasn't there all day because I had a lot of work today, but when I went in earlier, I found him sleeping in my chair. Well, at least I supposed he was sleeping. I shouted at him to wake up, shook him, but he didn't budge. And when I took his pulse, well… he was breathing, just really faintly. I bet if I'd had been a little later to find him, he'd probably have died. Vicodin overdose." Wilson explained softly. Chase leant against the wall of the hospital, breathing hard.

"Where is he now?" He asked. "In an ER room. We'll get to visit him in three hours or so." Chase nodded. "Thanks. You're… really a good friend James." He told the oncologist lamely, though it made him smile slightly. "Anything I can do Robert. I understand how devastated you must be… It'll be tough, but he'll get better and you'll have to talk to him you know." Chase nodded again, closing his eyes, feeling almost peaceful in the nightly breeze. He smiled back at Wilson and went back into the hospital.

He suddenly wished he'd stayed outside; the smell in here was appalling, but he went back to the conference room anyway. Cuddy was there, apparently, she'd come to explain the situation to Foreman and Cameron because they were all looking shocked and miserable. They gave Chase sympathetic glances as he walked in and sat down, but the tension didn't drop as time went by.

These were the three longest hours Chase had ever had to wait for. It seemed the seconds had turned into minutes; every time he checked his watch, it felt like an hour had passed when it had only been about thirty seconds. Cuddy kept changing seats, roaming between the conference room and House's office and looking outside the window. Foreman was sitting completely still, with his elbows against the surface of the table, staring at his interlocked fingers. Wilson was fidgeting in his seat, looking at each of them in turn, while Cameron sat and stood up in turns, anxiously playing around with various objects.

At long last, only two hours later, a nurse from the emergency wing came in to tell them House was conscious and they could visit him. They left hastily, not exchanging a word or a look. Chase felt like his legs were made of jell-o, and he was all shaky. Or maybe it was hunger? Whatever it was, it was extremely uncomfortable. They had moved House to a regular room and when the came in, he lazily looked up at them all.

A silence passed and the nurse left them alone with him. Cuddy was the one to break the ice; "How could you House? I thought you were stronger than that!" And she started to cry slightly, kneeling down beside his bed. Cameron, Foreman and Chase remained at the foot of the bed while Wilson took the right side of the bed, looking down at House. He avoided their stares, apparently ashamed at himself. He couldn't find the right words, and there was a lump in his throat.

"I didn't think the fact you'd 'rather die' was to be taken literally." Wilson affirmed and House's head snapped up at him; "Yeah. That's usually how people feel when someone they know commits suicide – why didn't I see the signs? I should have done something!" He told them mockingly. Wilson groaned; "This isn't the time for jokes House! And you didn't commit suicide, you're alive okay? Just talk to us…"

"There's nothing to say. I nearly died. But it doesn't matter, alright? Really." House snarled back. Cameron flinched, and Cuddy's tears flowed even faster. "Can't you realize how sad we'd have all been if you'd really killed yourself?" Wilson asked him unbelievingly.

"No." House replied coldly. "Just… leave me alone." Wilson glared at him and helped Cuddy get up. "C'mon…" He muttered, walking her out of the room with one last harsh look at House. Foreman and Cameron turned to leave too, but Chase stayed still as a statue in front of his boss. He gestured for his colleagues to leave, and they did.

He walked over to the left side of House's bed and kneeled down just like Cuddy had done a minute ago. House turned his head to the side and said stubbornly; "Go away." Chase sighed; "No. I won't okay? Not until you tell me the truth. Wilson explained why you kissed me earlier… And why you fucking tried to kill yourself. I know why alright? So don't even try." House glared daggers at him; "Yeah, I kissed you to see how you would react. And you shouted at me again. Just admit that you don't love me. I have to know." Chase stared; "I do love you alright? I've never loved someone like I love you now. But you're such an idiot sometimes! I mean… suicide, House? Out of all the stupid things people do to get other people to love them again… that's the worst one. For everybody. It never ends well." House turned his head to the right again.

"Why do you love me?"

Chase stared at him blankly; "You want me to explain why I love you?!"

"No, I want you to repeat everything I say!" House replied sarcastically, "Of course I want you to explain why you love me! God damn it: I'm crippled, like twice your age, not good looking… I'm not even nice! So why the hell do you love me? You're young, you've got a future… you're handsome… everything." Chase bit his lip and twiddled his thumbs. "I just… really love you. How can you expect me to explain that? You're smart, funny… and there's something in you that is really kind of nice. It makes my heart swell and… and stuff. You know?"

House frowned; "No I don't; I'm not a girl."

"Oh will you cut it out? This isn't third grade, okay? This is real life! You can't toy with my emotions. Either you love me or not!" Chase exclaimed, "It's just… something about that moment when you kissed me in Exam room four… I don't know, it just sort of… fitted so perfectly. It was then when I realized I wanted more. I want to be the one who knows everything about you, I want to wake up next to you every morning, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life." He finished, suddenly feeling as if he were in some crappy Hollywood love movie. He shook his head and waited for House's reply – he couldn't take back what he'd just said. Not that he'd want to; he just knew it had sounded girly.

House's heart monitor rate increased a little, and he stared at Chase with his mouth slightly open. "I…" he began, unsure of what to say, "I… God, Chase, if I had known…" He confessed desperately. Chase smiled; "If only you had asked me how I felt… Then this would never have happened."

House sat up and Chase straitened his back to keep up with his height, raising his head a little.

"If I had known that, I would never have done this. Man I feel so stupid." House declared, closing his eyes in pain. Chase hushed; "I know, I know… I'm so sorry too, we really should have talked. You um… you know I didn't tell Voglar right?" The cripple nodded; "Yeah, Cuddy told me. And listen, truth is. I've been feeling really bad about ignoring you and everything. I'm…" He gulped, "I'm sorry. I love you."

Chase grinned; "So forgive and forget?"

"I wouldn't say forget; it's important that we remember this. Learn from our mistakes you know? Or whatever…" House told him, "But I wouldn't say no to forgive." Chase's grin widened; "You know they say mistakes forgiven in love makes bonds stronger?" House smiled a real genuine smile; "Does it make sex even better?" Chase chuckled; "We'll just have to see…" And he kissed his boss lightly, careful not to be rough. House kissed back as if his life depended on it, and Chase drew back, standing up.

"You should get some sleep." He told him, trying to ignore his disappointed face – it was just too cute. Wait… what?! Now he really sounded like a girl…

House nodded nonetheless and puffed his pillow before lying back down.

Chase went outside the room and came face to face with Cuddy, Wilson, Foreman and Cameron; they were all smiling. Oh, right, the walls were made of glass; they'd probably been watching them. Cuddy made a small wet laugh through her silent tears; "Looks like everything is better now?" Chase nodded. "What did he say?" Wilson asked, still concerned. Chase smiled; "He said he was sorry."

And they all left, probably to go home and get some sleep; it was only eleven thirty after all. Chase sighed contently and went back into House's room. He sat next to the bed and House tiredly turned his gaze to him. "What are you still doing here?" Chase smiled; "I'm not going home… I'm going to sleep here with you until you get better."

"I'll be out of here in like a day, there's nothing to worry about." House told him.

"Hey come on, I want to stay with you. Just because."

"Okay then. Well, good night." House replied, turning off the light on the nightstand. Chase tried to make himself comfortable in the chair, but it was rather stiff. He eventually fell asleep though, lost in a world of peaceful content, hoping that everything would be alright from now on.

He knew they would be. While it is true you can't always get what you want, if you try sometimes, you can get what you need.