Clicking
Silence.
So the one with green eyes and similar demeanor to Chase is named Rado. I'm surprised he didn't tell Aura about himself. He seems to respect her.
House tapped his cane against the floor, leaning back in his seat. Rado sat up, sitting cross-legged, and folded his hands together, looking back at House.
I think we've come to an accord.
Rado darted his eyes to the other doctors briefly, then turned back to House and shook his head slightly. House understood.
"You," House nodded to the younger doctors. "Go to the Clinic. Do my hours while you're there." Kutner smiled and shook his head, turning to leave the room.
Looks like we were right. Chase...Rado wants to talk to House alone. Maybe he was the one looking for House in the first place.
"Fine," Cameron said exasperatedly, leaving with Foreman. Cuddy put her hands on her hips, looking at House angrily.
"You're having your team do your Clinic hours?" Aura covered a laugh.
"It wouldn't be the first time." Wilson said quietly, leaving as well.
"I'm actually talking nicely to a patient and you're mad?" House asked with mock surprise. Cuddy inhaled deeply, settling herself. She looked like she was about to say something, but changed her mind and left.
It was quiet.
"It was a little crowded." Rado said finally.
"Chase," Aura started, sitting on the bed with him. He looked up at her, House noticing a look of regret.
I suppose I didn't think this part through. I guess a part of me didn't think she'd come all this way. Maybe it's better this way.
He regrets not telling Aura about himself. I wonder if Chase is aware of him. Either way, we need to address the elephant in the room.
"Aura," House started carefully. She looked over at him, fear in her eyes. "I think I know what's happening with him." She still looked scared.
"Something tells me I'm not going to like it." House shrugged.
"Doesn't matter if we like it or not. It's the way it is." Aura looked between House and her friend.
"What's happening with him? Can you cure him?" House sighed.
"I'm not broken." Rado growled, glancing at Aura.
"I didn't mean anything bad by that, Chase. I'm sorry. I just want you to get help for your memory."
"His memory is fine." House said quietly, making both blondes turn to him. Rado eyed him cooly, a small relieved smile on his face.
He's getting it now.
"Fine?" Aura asked, unsure. House inhaled deeply, releasing his breath slowly.
"This is Dissociative Identity Disorder." Aura blinked slowly, processing.
"Isn't that...multiple people...in one person?"
"Multiple personalities in one mind." House glanced at Rado, choosing his next words carefully. "Chase is one. Rado here is another one. Correct?" The blonde nodded, seeming to be relieved.
Probably thought no one would believe him.
"Oh...wow...shit. Okay," Aura turned to her friend. "So we grew up together too?" Rado tilted his head from side to side.
"I guess. Kind of. Robert is at the Front most of the time though."
"The Front meaning...out?" Aura asked hesitantly. Rado nodded, smiling lightly.
"How long have you been around?" She asked.
"Since Robert was about 4 years old."
When his mother married his stepfather.
"Why though? How does this disorder even start? How does it work?" Aura looked to House for answers, but saw the doctor staring carefully at her friend.
He still had lots of questions, but got the impression that they may have to wait. When Chase came back, he may panic if he notices how much time has passed. Just one question.
"How many are there?" Rado leaned back in the bed.
"How many do you think?"
"Four." Aura paled, but Rado shook his head.
"Close, but no. There's five, I think." House's brows furrowed.
"You think? You don't know?" Rado blinked slowly.
"We've been making poor progress." Chase said, keeping a laugh out of his voice as he tapped his puzzle book. "We've only answered eight in the past half hour. You're welcome to help, if you want. Did you need something from me?" He asked, green-blue eyes looking curiously at him. House gave Chase a rare smile, his eyes briefly darting to Aura who looked like she was about to faint out of her chair.
"No Chase," he stood slowly. "I think I have what I need for right now."
xXxXx
"How did it go?" Cameron asked as they entered the conference room, seeing House sit with his feet propped up, staring at the board.
"There's five of them, Rado thinks."
"Thinks? He doesn't know for sure?" House shrugged.
"Guess not." There was brief silence as the team noticed House had drawn a chart with five columns on the board. Two columns were filled in while the others were empty.
Chase
"at Front the most"
Original?
green-blue eyes
even temperament
Rado
Protector?
Aware of others
Slightly dominant
green eyes
even temperament
"Dr. House?" He looked at the door and saw Aura standing there, looking like she'd just been crying. "Chase is sleeping now and I was hoping you could explain..." She waved her hand at the board as she sat next to Kutner, accepting the tissues he offered her. House sighed lightly and sat across from her.
"Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID, is a very controversial diagnosis, but it's the only thing that explains Chase's case."
"It's also incredibly rare." Foreman added. "We just don't know much about it or how it works." Aura looked between him and House.
"But this is the perfect chance to learn about it, right? Don't hospitals do case studies to learn more about illnesses?" There was a glimmer of hope in her voice.
Not a bad idea.
"We would need a grant and patient consent. In this case, we'd have to get at least five people to consent to being in a case study since they're all...together." Kutner said, making Aura sigh.
"It never hurts to follow-up on that idea though." Cameron said. "Putting Chase in a case study here would really help others figure out how DID works and how to treat it."
"So what do you know so far?" Aura asked, eyeing the board behind House.
"From what we know," Kutner started. "DID is typically brought on by severe trauma that occurs during childhood. It can be a type of coping mechanism."
"In Chase's case, something happened when he turned 4 years old." House said thoughtfully, more to himself than to Aura and his team. "We know that's when his mother married his stepfather, but there has to be a bigger trauma that happened. A trauma that caused Chase to...I guess, create someone to help him cope with it." Aura nodded.
"I know his stepdad hit him. Would that be enough to cause this?" House leaned back in his seat with a sigh.
I don't know.
"Possibly, but we really need to talk to Chase to know for sure." Foreman said, standing. House shook his head.
"We need to talk to the one who has that memory, which I doubt is Chase." He glanced at Aura. "Does Chase know he was abused?" Aura blanched.
"I-I mean... I'd imagine so. He told me about it." House used his cane to point at the board.
"Think back and think carefully. Did Chase tell you about it. Or did Rado?" Aura's eyes went round.
"Oh God."
"I think," House said. "Rado was the one who told you about the abuse from his stepdad because he was the one who experienced it. Not Chase." Kutner tapped his fingers on the table, looking at House.
"Whenever we've asked about his stepdad, we've noted a change." House nodded. "Do you think Rado...came about...as the coping mechanism to deal with the abuse? Maybe he has all the memories of abuse while no one else does?"
Silence.
"That's essentially how the disorder works." Foreman said, glancing at a pale Aura. "A 'person' that develops as a result of trauma is a coping mechanism for the person who created them." He shrugged. "At least that's kind of the science behind of what we know about it anyway. Again, it's a very rare disorder." House stood slowly, limping towards the door.
"Where are you going?" House paused, glancing back towards Foreman and also noticing Cameron watching him.
"Cameron, come on. We're going to talk to someone else."
xXxXx
"Your friend not keeping you company?" House asked as he walked into Chase's room, Cameron following him quietly. The blonde looked over at him with a small smile.
"Not at the moment. She's seemed very stressed since she got here." He frowned slightly. "If I had known that being here would stress her out so much, I would've told her to just stay home. Maybe she's a little homesick."
You have no idea.
"Well," House started as he sat next to Chase's bed. "In the meantime, Cameron here is going to draw some blood just to make sure we didn't miss anything." Cameron hid her surprise as she moved to set up what she needed. Chase hunched forward slightly, staring at Cameron's back as she got her supplies from the cabinet.
When Foreman got blood samples last time, Chase was an asshole. Let's see if that happens again.
When Cameron turned around, she raised an eyebrow slightly at House in question. He nodded at her subtly, darting his eyes towards Chase who's eyes were zeroed in on the needle resting on a nearby tray. He shook his head.
"No." He said quietly, a tone of anger in his voice. "No more needles. Quit taking shit from me."
Thought so.
"House," Cameron said quietly, silently asking if she should continue. He shook his head, thinking through his next words.
"You got a name?"
Blink.
"Oh no, more blood work?" Chase asked, looking at Cameron with anxiety. "I don't do too well with needles. I wish I was braver than that, but I'm not." He said with a small laugh, not taking his green-blue eyes off the needle on the tray.
That was fast. I figured needles were a trigger, but apparently I was only partly right. Someone came out when he was approached by a needle, but a needle is still present but Chase is out. Whoever was here only went away because I asked for a name. I wonder what his function is.
"Not today, it looks like." Cameron said brightly and Chase breathed a sigh of relief. She glanced at House, wondering if she should stay or go. House nodded at the door as he sat down.
"Bye Doctor." Chase said kindly. Cameron gave him a sympathetic smile.
"Bye Chase." When she left, Chase turned to look at House.
"She seemed sad." House shrugged.
"She gets like that sometimes." House paused, changing his strategy.
Rado mentioned there's five of them. That includes him, Chase, and whoever was just here. Wonder how I can get the kid to come out. He might be helpful.
"Did you find out who made you the tree?" Chase shook his head as he looked over at the Christmas tree puzzle book. He fiddled with his fingers, occasionally glancing over at House.
He wants to say something.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Chase asked. House crossed his ankles on top of Chase's bed, folding his hands on his lap.
"Sure."
"When can I leave?" House hid his disappointment and slight panic. "It just seems like I haven't been doing anything since I've been here and I don't think any progress has been made." Chase sighed and rubbed his nose. "I guess I'm bored or impatient. Maybe both." House thought through his words carefully. He thought of Aura's idea of having Chase in a case study at the hospital, but he also knew that Chase should know about the diagnosis. House stared at Chase evenly, not used to thinking through his words this much.
"We have made progress." Chase sat up straighter. "We just wanted to make sure our theory was correct before we proceeded. It seems that our theory is correct; however," House hesitated. "Our theory centers on a controversial diagnosis that's very rare." House gave Chase a few moments to process, looking to see any signs of changes. Chase looked at him, green-blue eyes having a determined look.
"What's your theory?" House inhaled slowly. "I can take it. I..." Chase took a deep breath. "I need to know what's happening with me." House gripped his hands together on his lap.
"Dissociative Identity Disorder."
Silence.
Chase blinked evenly at him, taking in this new information. He bit his lip, turning his gaze to the window over House's shoulder. They sat in silence for several minutes, House literally twirling his thumbs as Chase continued to stare out the window. House saw Aura and Kutner about to enter the room, but House shook his head. Kutner knew that look on his boss's face and turned to Aura, mumbling that they'll come back later. Aura looked tearfully at her friend, but allowed herself to be led away. Chase exhaled slowly, sputtering his lips lightly.
"This sounds crazy, but..." He hesitated, finally looking back at House. "It...makes sense." Chase released a light, relieved laugh, folding his hands on top of head. "I guess...if I don't remember something...someone else does, right?" House nodded, pleasantly surprised that Chase was taking the news well.
He's taking the news a lot better than most medical professionals.
"Based on what research has been done on this diagnosis, it's designed as a defense mechanism to trauma. You experience something that's too much for you to handle, so someone else is created who can handle it." Chase nodded. "There's not much research out there because of the rarity of the disorder, so moving forward will be a challenge; however, there is an option that you may want to consider."
"What's that?"
"Aura had the idea of having you in a case study here at the hospital. We would have to get a grant and consent first, but by doing a case study we would not only be helping you, but also other cases in the future."
"I don't want to do surgeries." Chase said, slightly panicked. House shook his head, hoping to provide comfort.
"With something like this, I doubt any surgeries would be helpful. Probably medications and therapy." House paused, giving Chase a moment to think. "Don't make a decision now, but think about it." Chase nodded, biting his lower lip nervously.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course." House stood slowly.
"How many...are there?" Chase asked nervously. House tapped his cane on the floor.
"Including you, there's five." Chase's eyes widened. "But we've only seen four. We don't know if there are more, but there could be."
"How would you know there's five if you haven't met them all?" Chase paused. "Oh. Nevermind...one of them told you there's five...right?" Chase asked, looking as though he's genuinely trying to fit the pieces together. House limped over to him and patted his shoulder.
"You're taking this a lot better than I expected...a lot better than many medical professionals would." House paused. "You have plenty of time to think. See if you can talk to someone in there." He tapped Chase's head, limping towards the door and out of the room.
xXxXx
Alright Gang,
Reviews would be wonderful and appreciated!
When-Rabbit-Howls