Disclaimer: Do not own House…duh!
Notes: Thank you all sooo much for your feedbacks! I love reviews where you folks defend your characters, it helps me write the story and fix things. Thank for the honesties and the honest feedbacks! Much appreciated!
Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness but it's better than drinking alone "Piano Man by Billy Joel"
Thud
It didn't make any sense
Thud.
None whatsoever
Thud-thud.
He narrowed his eyes lost in thought
Thud
There has to be a clue in there somewhere.
Thud
The words on the whiteboard only stared back at him, none screaming out at him.
Thud-thud
He had to have missed something
Thud
He was glad for the moment he was alone, he sent Foreman and Cameron to run tests on their patient.
Thud
He caught his ball with his cane and balanced it on his lap. He kept concentrating, mediating on the whiteboard. He heard the door open behind him and from the footsteps he knew who the person was.
"Differential diagnosis…" House whirled around in his chair, "Care to lend a hand?"
Wilson smirked in amusement as he read the board:
"Stupid Wombat
Phony British accent
Pretty hair- common side effects drool
Ass-kisser- makes great coffee
Bad humor- though sometimes amusing
Too much time with the downstairs brain-more time thinking upstairs
Abandoned Faith- comes with inherited catholic guilt…"
Wilson trailed off as he saw the last statement; he looked at House in surprise. As he went to comment on it, House interrupted him,
"Think I missed anything? Any strange symptoms?"
Wilson scoffed, "You're not going to give up on this are you?"
"I have to admit Wilson, this case intrigues me." House grabbed his ball and started twirling his cane around his fingers, "Intriguing…yet it is annoying…"
"House, this is ridiculous. Why are you doing this?" Wilson was exasperated, "You are going to torture the poor kid aren't you?"
"Luckily he got his goody-saint Wilson to stand by and protect him. Shouting all the wrong morals that House is bestowing upon him." House quipped.
"Look, why can't you just thank him for saving your life and move on? This is not worth it."
House swirled his head towards the man, "This is coming from the guy whose patients thank him after he tells them they're dying…"
Wilson rolled his eyes, "House…"
"Everybody lies Wilson, remember that. I wanna know what Chase is lying about."
Wilson was confuse, "What are you talking about?"
"Chase told me he did not know why he dove in front of a bullet. But I think he's lying." House stopped twirling his cane, "You think after saving my life, Chase would confess his deep profound love to me and that he couldn't let me die cuz…" House's voice turned into a high pitch mocking voice, "life would not be worth living without me!"
"You are an ass." Wilson snapped.
House's eyes narrowed again in deep thought, "This case is different. We've always had people lie about certain things, certain actions that they don't want people to know. But with Chase…he's not lying about something….he's lying...of who he is…"
"What are you talking about?"
House rolled his eyes and retorted sarcastically, "It means he's gay!"
"House…" Wilson warned.
He watched the older man paused, looking over his whiteboard.
"I wonder…" House muttered, "what he could be lying about? What if…" He jumped up and grabbed the eraser from the top of his whiteboard. He began erasing the board and then stepped back to see what was left. The only thing left up there was: Stupid Wombat, Pretty Hair and…
"You didn't erase the last part…" Wilson pointed out, "I don't think it's part of Chase's symptoms…"
House glared at Wilson, "Well I believe it is, it goes quite nicely with the stupid wombat…"
"Sometimes I wonder…" Wilson mumbled as he watches House flip the whiteboard to reveal his other real patient's symptoms, "if you and Chase were more alike than we thought…"
House apparently didn't hear him or chose to ignore him, Wilson watched as he tuck the ball under his arms and limped towards the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Off to do a little B &E!"
Breaking and entering? Wilson inwardly groaned, "House, don't!"
House already left, leaving Wilson behind. The man groaned softly and ran his fingers threw his hair. He couldn't believe that what House really thought. Why couldn't the man ever be grateful and leave things as it is. Wilson almost chuckled, then he wouldn't be the House we all came to know and love if he didn't. House loves puzzles…however; people tend to fascinate him more, though House won't admit it.
He glanced back at the whiteboard, remembering what House had written.
"Pointless sacrifice huh?" Wilson muttered, he shook his head. "You may think that about yourself House…but it seems to me that you may be insulting Chase too harsh there."
--
He really is a stupid wombat. Who the hell leaves a spare key under the fire extinguisher ?! House grumbled as he opened the dark brown door. He was surprised by what he saw inside; there were always rumors around the hospital about what "rich" Chase's place looks like. Some nurses sighed about how it looked like a prince's castle. House rolled his eyes, boy would they be wrong.
But it was still neat and tidy and House was surprised Chase even had the time to clean and dust the place, it looked spotless. He spotted the living room and kitchen all joined as one room. He saw a long hallway where he assumed the bathroom and bedroom would be.
Closing the door behind him, House limped towards Chase's couch. He stopped as he noticed the dark purple couch and the wall. I guess the aussie is as color coordinated with his clothes as he is with his home. Was he really color blind or he just didn't care if things match or not. Or perhaps he just thought every color went together. He went over to the fridge and opened it. He laughed, there should be a rule for every woman that ever wants to know a man better, look at what he has stashed in his fridge, after all you are what you eat.
AMP energy drinks, fat-free milk that has been expired for almost half a month, and about a variety of every fruit stacked up with rotten cheese.
"Hmmm…a fruit huh?." House winced at his bad pun. Thank god no one was around to hear that. He glanced over at young man's television and stereo, random CDs of bands House never heard of; movies…House raised a brow, and had to stop himself from laughing.
"I always knew you were British at heart ..." House chuckled as he pulled one of the Bond movies from Chase's collections. It seemed he had all the James Bond movies ever made.
But none of them helped with his puzzles. They were mere entertaining pieces of evidence, they were of no importance. House did not care what food Chase ate or what he watched or listened to.
He glanced down at the bedroom at the end of the hall. The double doors were close, they were glass doors with dark purple curtains hiding the room behind it. House limped down, the floor creaking beneath him and groaning when his cane made contact. He opened the door hesitantly, he almost gasped what he saw inside. A dresser, with two picture frames; one of Chase and the diagnostic team during a Christmas benefit and one of what looks to be a teenage Chase wrestling around with two other Australian teens. There was a tall bookcase stuffed with medical books and a few reading for pleasure books. A king size bed that had many clothes bundle up on top. But those were not what caught House off guard.
It was the little wooden piano in the dark corner of the room; House approached it, analyzing it. It appeared a little worn down; Chase has definitely played music on this. He glanced at Chase's music sheets, Beethoven , Mozart, and other classic musicians. House was surprised; Chase played classical music, the same type of music that he played. House pulled out the bench and sat on it. He placed his hands on the keys and stroked it softly, introducing himself to the piano and letting the piano introduce itself to him. Then he dove in, he let his fingers flow and become one with the piano. He closed his eyes and let the music overcome him, pour through him.
He remembered when he was younger when he wanted to escape from reality, he would play the piano. He would let the music overtake him and cleared his mind of everything but the music. It always relaxed him and it was something he felt that he had complete control over, how well he played the music and having the beauty of it soar in his ears and knowing that he was playing it, creating it, instilled him with happiness.
It was an escape from his father who was never proud of his son. Everything he did was wrong. Instead of praise all he received was abuse.
His mother was loving and caring and understood him better than most people. But sometimes his mother could be ignorant, or maybe she chose to be.
He was always alone; alone and bitter. No one cared or wanted him. All he had were his smarts and his wit. But at night it wasn't enough for him. When twilight came, the music kept him company, and contained his sanity.
Even when he was with Stacey, sure he may have love the woman, but she could never fill his loneliness. With all the times he spent with her, he never felt completely whole with her, there was always something missing. Yet with the music, he was complete.
House stopped; another piece was added to the puzzle. He wondered did Chase felt the same when he played? Or did he just merely play for the fun of it?
House stopped. It seemed that Chase probably had maybe one or two friend, kinda like how he had his Wilson. He wondered then who was Chase's Wilson.
House stopped. He didn't. He did not just compared Chase to him. But what if…if House used himself to try and figure Chase out? Were they more alike than House thought? He shivered at the mere thought, another him, impossible, the world could only deal with one of him at a time.
He wondered that if some things were different if he and Chase would ever be friends? Apparently there was more to Chase then he thought. His suspicions were correct. Now he knew why he liked Chase better.
Foreman was always predictable, it wasn't hard to get a rise out of him or to know his true intentions behind his actions. Cameron was so readable that House got bored of her after a week. Still sometimes the female hormones had it certain surprise to it, it was similar with Cuddy as well. But Chase was different. He could never understand the man's actions. He could never read Chase's reactions. He always had to drag it out of the kid, or create stories and see which one fit more or stir at least a little bit of reaction out of the Australian.
Chase was unpredictable. The thing with Volger-didn't see that one coming. The solution he came to get a blood clot out of a kid's eye- didn't see that one coming. Every possibility Chase sprout out, every diagnosis the kid said- House never saw it coming. Even when Chase confronted him with the truth of the girl he almost maimed-didn't see that one coming. Okay maybe he saw it coming…but not from Chase.
House smirked. He really was going to make a great diagnostician someday. He wondered how much better Chase will be when he wasn't under House's wing. House stopped. He wasn't ready. As much as he wanted Chase to grow, he wasn't ready to let him go. Chase has already learned more than he can. He already saw the self-confidence blooming in the kid after he had punched him.
Chase never really was an ass-kisser. He wasn't always seeking for approval. He wondered though, if the kid knew that himself. House almost laugh as he realized, Chase was seeking approval…approval from his own self.
House chuckled, "We all wear masks when we face the world Chase…" he played a few notes, "but do you wear a mask when you face yourself?"
The next piece fell in place.
Chase really did not know why he saved House.
House smiled, it was sure going to be fun trying to help the blonde find out why.
He knew the answer was in there somewhere.
He just has to help Chase take off his mask.
--
Chase opened his eyes as he heard a brief knock on the door. He almost sighed in relief as he saw Wilson walking through.
"Hey Chase…" Wilson spoke softly, approaching the foot of the bed.
"I hope House isn't hiding behind the door eavesdropping." Chase muttered. Wilson almost laughed, the kid knew his boss way too well.
"Fortunately for you, no he isn't. I came to tell you though, he's broken into your apartment."
Chase groaned, "Ah…that bastard…I knew it!" He clenched his right hand and exhaled in annoyance. Wilson was surprised as Chase started to chuckle, "He's not going to make my life easy is he?"
Wilson had to smile at that, "Since when has the man ever made anyone's life easy?"
"Good point." Chase wince at the shot of pain that shot through his shoulder. He stopped and shifted himself, ignoring the growing pain.
Wilson caught it and looked over the kid admiring him. He saved someone life and took it like a man. He saved House's life and took it as a man.
"Thank you." Wilson found himself saying.
Chase was taken aback. Why was Wilson saving him? He then realized that unfortunately House was Wilson's best friend. Those two shared a friendship that Chase always admired. They took each other's abuse but when it comes down to it, they were willing to help each other. Well, House did have the upper hand in the relationship but then again, he had the upper hand in ever relationship. House wasn't an easy person to be friends with. House chose his friends. He wondered what made Wilson pass the test. What made Wilson special to House? He knew that House was grateful for the oncologist even if he never admit it.
"You're welcome." Chase managed to say. There was a moment of silence between them as Chase watch as Wilson was struggling with his words.
"He likes you." Wilson sputtered out and Chase almost laughed as he saw the blush forming in Wilson's cheeks. "I didn't mean it like that but…you know…"
"He's not going to ask me on a date now he is?" Chase added hoping to lighten the situation. Wilson smiled,
"Maybe. But I know this for sure, he respects Foreman and he respects Cameron. He respects you but…he actually likes you. That is why he's going to be so hard on this. He feels that in this situation he should have gotten the bullet not you. If it was Foreman or Cameron, I feel that he would already know the answer: Foreman did it because he probably thought it would look good on the job application and Cameron did it because it would have gone against her morals." Wilson sighed as he found that he was starting to repeat House's words. He grabbed the hospital chair and sat down, "The point is…I think this is his strange way of showing that he cares and that he's grateful. He'll always call you an idiot. But he's grateful."
Chase nodded, somehow finding himself holding back tears. "Why…why are you telling me this?"
"Because I have a feeling House is going to go too far on this one. I need you to know so you can hold onto that." Wilson placed his head in his hands and sighed, "He does this to me. When he's interested, he goes above and beyond to solve it, he just can't let it go. There has to be a reason for everything." He ran his hands through his hair and stared at Chase, "He's always came close to ruining our friendship, more than enough times than I can count."
"Why are you friends with him then? I mean it looks like such an abusive relationship…"
Wilson smiled and held back the laughter coming from his chest, "I ask myself that question all the time. But House is like a magnet, he draws people to him. I don't know how but he does. I guess I give a damn because he doesn't want anyone else to."
Chase nodded, that was how he felt about the man sometimes. He remembered back when he found out that House lied to him about his father's death. The man had knew and never told him. What took him a while to realize was that House was respecting Chase's wishes. Chase had told him long ago when his father came to visit that sometimes "it hurt less not to care". House was obeying that, he believed that Chase would have been better "not to care". Since Chase came upon that revelation, he started to respect his boss even more.
"So…" Wilson cleared his throat, "When are they letting you go home?"
"Well, I've decided I'm going back to work the day after tomorrow. I'm leaving tomorrow morning."
Wilson almost stood up, "Are you sure? You don't want to rush it, I think House is going to delay your healing process."
Chase smiled, "Yah I know. But I can't sit around and not do anything. It stinks though…I can't really do anything until my shoulder heals."
"Uh…" Wilson shifted, "Why did you save House?"
"You know," Chase threw his head back, "Everyone keeps asking me that but…I don't know. I'm beginning to regret it now."
Wilson snorted, "House has that effect. Did it ever occur to you that…you might've died?"
Chase's mind whirled back in time, to how he felt and his intentions. "I don't really think it was on my mind at the time. All I kept worrying about was getting House of danger. The bloody fool may call me an idiot, but I'm not the one walking around with a death wish."
Wilson knew that sometimes House sarcastic defense mechanism could get in trouble. That how the whole Tritter incident began. He knew that someday it would get the man killed, he was surprise it hadn't killed him yet.
"Heh…" Wilson looked up at Chase who seemed to have realized something, "I guess I wasn't thinking…I was merely acting on instinct." Could it be that maybe…Chase raised a brow; maybe it was more than respecting House…maybe he actually gave a damn about the man.
"I hate to tell you this, but sometimes…you remind me of House." Wilson let out a small laugh as he saw Chase's face scrunched up in disgust. He found himself liking the kid, he could see why House liked him. Chase wasn't what everyone said he was, he wasn't lazy, he wasn't a snobby rich kid, but actually a laid-back, sarcastic, down-to-earth nice kid. The Australian actually had a heart.
Wilson almost jumped as his pager went off. He grabbed it and rolled his eyes at the message:
KNEW IT: PREGNANT!
"House?" Chase already knew.
Wilson nodded, "Apparently someone on his soap opera got pregnant by her father."
"Jeez, that man needs a life."
"Tell me about it," Wilson got up and headed towards the door, "Our lives would be so much more bearable."
Chase had one more question before Wilson departed, "He's not going to let this until he solves it, isn't he?"
Wilson gave his sympathetic face, "No he's not….because he cares."
Chase almost growled in response and Wilson exit the room. The young man grumbled softly, "It may hurt less not to care…but for House dammit... it's more fun to actually give a damn."
Chase banged his head against the backboard. He wondered if it was too late to put in a letter of resignation. He almost chuckled. Even if he did, House would probably camp out at his apartment to find out his answer.
Chase stopped cold in his blood. Oh god he prayed, let's hope it does not come down to that. He tried picturing House curled up on his purple couch watching porn on his television.
The sad thing was: he knew it was a very very strong possibility.
