Suspicious Minds

Wilson popped his head into the conference room after spying on Dr. Hadley making coffee.

"Morning. How did your meeting go last night?"

"It was okay. Nothing catastrophic," she said barely paying him any attention.

"Good," he responded with uncertainty. Ever since her mysterious telephone call, Remy seemed to have distanced herself from him. He couldn't help but feel like she was hiding something. James wasn't sure if he should try to confront her or take it up with Cuddy.

"Any word from House," she asked casually as she took her coffee to the table.

"Nothing. You?" He hadn't meant to poke, it just slipped out.

"Why would he call me?"

Wilson took the seat across from her. "Maybe because he respects you."

Remy snorted but didn't make eye contact.

"There. You're doing it now. Ever since the phone call last night you've been aloof."

"What, are you jealous I don't share my personal business with you?" She faced him. "After you dropped me off, I didn't see you until now. How is that aloof?"

James backed down. "I'm sorry. You're right. I'm a little worried about House."

"You're a little paranoid, too."

He sighed. It's just that I've always had to pick up the pieces with House. Why is this time any different?"

"Couldn't tell you."

"I just wish I knew where he was, so I could relax knowing he was safe."

Remy had never given much thought to Wilson's and House's relationship. It just was. Once, Chase accused Wilson of being selfish when it came to House. After all the years he enabled House's addiction, only to throw him to the wolves…He lauded himself as the ultimate person who got House the help he needed.

House was his scapegoat. James' three marriages were ruined by House, even though House met him after the first one went sour. Every time Wilson's life was in the toilet, House was at the root of the problem. Wilson's life was either good or bad depending on House's needs.

Her boss had told Remy that his 'so called' friend left him hanging. One thing she definitely knew about Greg House was that he rarely asked anyone for help in the nature of personal gain. Reaching out to people was difficult for him. And when he reached out to her, she understood what that meant.

"I thought Nolan's letter said he was safe. Why don't you believe him?"

Wilson squirmed in his seat. "He could be in jail, and that's relatively safe compared to being tied to train tracks."

Remy languished in his uneasiness. She felt he deserved whatever torment he was experiencing.

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Foreman and Taub. The atmosphere changed quickly.

"Any news," Taub poured himself a cup of coffee before turning on the computer.

"Nothing," Wilson responded tersely.

Taub gave Thirteen a concerned look. James caught it.

"Sorry. I'm stressing out."

"House is fine," Foreman strode past the group heading for the main office. "He's probably at some pleasure palace getting screwed by two girls at once."

Remy snorted, choking on her coffee. "Now that's funny."

But before anyone could continue with what they were doing, Cuddy's heels could be heard in the hallway. She sounded like a woman marching on a mission. The conference room door swayed open with foreboding.

She stomped in, folded her arms across her chest and stared down each of them. "House left a message on my work voicemail. Did he talk to or leave messages for any of you?"

"I'll go check my phone," Wilson jumped up, hopeful in the fact that he missed a call.

"What about the three of you?" She couldn't keep suspicion from her tone.

They all responded in the negative. Cuddy took a chair at the table and sighed with frustration. Wilson returned confirming the lack of a call.

"What has you so upset? Was it a personal message?"

"He's so incorrigible. All he said was that he needed some time to work through some new pain management issues."

"He's alive, in a facility, Nolan has him covered. What's the problem?" Foreman headed again for the office.

Cuddy stood defiantly. "The problem is: he's having problems and he feels he can't come to any of us for help." She couldn't stop thinking of Kutner.

"Or maybe he did, and we just brushed him off," Remy interjected.

"The only time House talks to me is to say something derogatory. I'm sure I would have remembered if he asked for help," Taub voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Don't look at me," Foreman shrugged.

Thirteen was next to fall under Cuddy's scrutiny. "Instead of asking ourselves why he didn't feel like he could talk to us."

"We're still forgetting about the accident," Wilson interjected. "Maybe the pain management issues are new because a vehicle plowed into him."

"If that's the case, why didn't he get brought here or-"

"You're all making way too many assumptions. The main thing we're forgetting is that House is entitled to his privacy." Remy was having a hard time keeping her feelings in check. "So if we're done with this futile debate, I'm going to head down to the Clinic and do something useful."

The door was barely shut behind her when Taub mumbled, "She knows something."

Greg stirred long before the nursing shift change was due to occur. Long before the CNA's did their morning rounds. Nowhere near breakfast. So what was causing him to wake without provocation?

Maybe he just wasn't tired. Yeah, right. Two days of forced relaxation didn't make up for years of bad sleep habits. He wasn't even sure if it was a good or bad sign that he was aware something was different about this morning. Greg found himself sighing, as his body resisted sleep.

Boredom quickly set in. He became restless, frustrated and anxious. Im the back of his mind he knew why. They had begun to wean him off the muscle relaxers. It was just a matter of time before pain returned. His only option was to sit around and wait for it. And for a while nothing happened except for an increase in his anxiety.

At about 4 am a young woman entered his room, careful not to disturb him. She was surprised to find him awake.

"You are up."

"Been awake for a while."

"Wasn't sure if you were in pain or just awake." She caught his confused look. "I'm at the station watching the monitors."

"No pain - yet."

"That's good. We're hoping you won't experience anything too debilitating."

"It's coming. It's just a matter of time."

"Do you want something to help you get back to sleep?"

Greg had resigned himself to suffering the torture of being awake at the onslaught. Being asleep would definitely be better. "I don't know." The more he thought about it, the more appealing it seemed. "Yeah."

"I'll be back in a few."

Remy worked through the morning trying not to think about her boss. It was difficult to do as she could imagine how he would have treated each patient she had seen. His normal habit of berating them echoed in her ears. At one point Dr. Hadley had to assure one of the patient's that she wasn't grinning foolishly because she thought the particular illness was funny.

By the time she explained her way out of the situation, Taub came to help out at the clinic. He noted her seemingly good mood and decided to probe a little.

"I've never seen anyone so happy while doing clinic duty." His tone was pleasant, but his body language suggested accusation.

"How should I be?" Remy traded off files with Brenda.

"A little less enthusiastic, maybe." Chris stepped in her path. "You're going to give everyone else a bad reputation."

"Don't worry," Remy side stepped him, "No one's going to accuse you of slacking like House."

"Funny you should mention his name," Taub followed her a few feet before she turned back to block him.

"What do you mean?"

"New pool."

"Chase is taking bets on what's happened to House?"

Taub shook his head negatively. "More on how long you've know about House's whereabouts."

"That's one pool no one's going to win, since I have no idea where House is."

"Nice try. I wasn't born yesterday."

"Then it must have been the day before." She walked into the exam room before leaving her colleague dumbfounded.

Wilson and Cuddy met for lunch in the hospital cafeteria for one reason: to spy on Dr. Hadley. They tried to be inconspicuous by talking about budgets, donors and the upcoming committee meetings as they chose their meals and waited in line to pay. It wasn't until they took their seats in the vicinity of Thirteen that they talked quietly.

James couldn't wait to explore the possibility of Hadley's guilty knowledge, but Cuddy wasn't so sure House's Fellow knew anything. Lisa had watched Remy partake of her lunch and occasionally text or check her phone messages.

"She's hiding something."

"Yeah, her personal life," Cuddy said wryly.

"She doesn't seem … different to you?" Wilson squinted at her as if doing so provided some kind of interface with what Thirteen was thinking.

"Quit looking at her like that," Lisa chastised. "People are going to think you're having a stroke."

"It's driving me crazy. I know she knows something."

Lisa reached across the table putting her hand on his. "Stop obsessing. We'll find out where House is sooner or later."

"I'd rather it be sooner."

"House is out of our hair for a little while. You should rejoice. I know I'm going to get a lot more done. Consider it a vacation."

"I'm afraid to. House is needy. And as soon as he needs me, I'll feel like I need to be there to help him out. He'll expect it."

"If that's how you feel, then you should relish what vacation time you get."

"That would be great … as long as Hurricane Greg wasn't brewing out in the ocean."

"Maybe by the time he's updated from a tropical depression you'll have reached higher ground."

"Maybe," he said absently as he watched Remy Hadley answer a call. "It's still worth while to watch the weather reports for storm tracking."

Thirteen was anxious when 'unknown' popped up on her cell phone screen. She answered casually, not wanting to draw any attention to herself.

"Hey, what's up?"

He didn't readily answer. She found herself holding her breath until he said something.

"They promised me pain and torture."

There was an awkward pause.

"Since you're into kinky shit, I thought you might stop by and get off on the end product."

"I understand your concern. Id' feel the same way. Do you want me to break away and come now?"

"That would be ideal; but in reality, you and I both know you'd just be sitting around waiting. Might as well finish my clinic hours for me."

"It's probably for the best. A few folks are suspicious already. Wilson's absolutely paranoid. I think he might have a psychotic break over his lack of control."

House chuckled. "Thanks. I needed to hear that."

"I'll be by tonight. Do you want me to bring anything."

"The stuff in my back pack."

"The usual stuff. Got it … And-" She almost said his name aloud. "Good luck. I'll see you tonight." Remy closed her phone, glancing over to where Cuddy and Wilson sat. They quickly turned their heads as if they weren't eavesdropping.

Cuddy chanced one last glance at Thirteen as the woman bussed her tray. "I think you're right. She is hiding something. I'm just not sure it has anything to do with House."

Wilson watched Remy leave. "What makes you say that?"

"She looks sad … like she didn't get good news."

"Well she did say a friend was having some problems. Maybe she was telling the truth." He didn't want to believe he was over-reacting, but since Cuddy didn't feel his suspicion, there had to be another explanation.

"A conversation with House doesn't make a person sad. Frustrated, yes; but sad?"