Yet another new chapter! I hope you enjoy!

Like Father, Like Son

Chapter 15

House entered the conference room to the sounds of an animated team.

"Don't let House know what Eddie did, or he'll be replacing one of us!" teased Chase.

"What did Eddie did?" asked House as he hung his sport coat over a chair.

The team looked at each other silently. They were amazed by "Eddie", but at the same time, they were rather ashamed that they, the professionals missed the diagnosis. The ducklings knew they were going to hear about it from House.

Unwilling to speak up yet unwilling to let anyone else take on the role of spokesman, Foreman confessed. "Eddie got the diagnosis yesterday."

"The woman had a head cold. I sent her to Wilson for TLC, not a diagnosis. What were you doing with her case?"

"She spiked a fever late in the morning after showing some improvement overnight. The antibiotics weren't doing a thing," added Taub.

"That's because a head cold is a virus. It just needs to run its course! I figured that Wilson could cure her then take her out on a date. I'm getting sick of him hanging around the apartment all the time. He needs a diversion."

Taub was getting annoyed at House's attitude. "House, this was no head cold; she spiked a fever and hallucinated. She kept saying 'rubies." we ran through a list of symptoms, but couldn't agree on a diagnosis until we asked for Eddie's input. He suggested histoplasmosis and it fit. Thirteen and the kid ran the tests and confirmed."

Scathing didn't begin to describe the look that House gave the team. "Please tell me that you're kidding?"

Thirteen determined that it was her turn to take House's abuse. "We weren't looking to him for the diagnosis. This is a teaching hospital and we wanted him to have an opportunity to participate and feel included. He wasn't going to learn anything by standing on the sidelines. After he suggested histoplasmosis and leptospirosis, I took him to the lab, showed him what each disease would look like under the microscope and let him figure it out."

"Alright class, what did you learn from this little exercise?" House asked sounding like a teacher with a class full of first graders.

"Don't forget to look for the easy stuff first." sing-songed Taub.

"Sure. Fine. We'll go with that. Cuddy never told me that my team got off the short bus every morning"

Rolling his eyes, Foreman felt the need to respond. "We learned our lesson; can we move on now?"

"No. All of you go to the clinic and do my hours. I think you need to get back to basics"

"You just want to play on your Nintendo DS," accused Thirteen.

"That too," admitted House. He left the conference room and went to his desk where he got his game out and proceeded to play. As they filtered out he hollered to them, "Don't come back until you have a case!"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Sitting in Wilson's office, Greg strained to hear what his father was saying to the team. It didn't sound good. House was supposed to be in the clinic, nowhere near where he actually was. Wilson was saying something but Greg wasn't listening. He knew that he was about to be busted and could only ponder the inevitability of that fact.

Wilson had been saying that since Jewel, thanks to Greg, was on the mend, she would probably be released within the week.

"Greg….Greg…..Greg!"

"Huh?"

"You've been preoccupied ever since we got back to the office, what gives?"

"House is supposed to be in the clinic, but I hear him in his office yelling at the team. I suppose it's House, anyway, since someone's yelling."

"Why I expected House to actually stay in the clinic just because Cuddy told him to, I'll never know. You may be meeting him sooner than we expected," said the doctor with a sigh of defeat.

"Not if I can help it!" Greg look alarmed as he spoke the words. "I'm just not ready to meet him, yet. I…I want to be more sure of myself."

"You can't always get what you want."

"As the philosopher Jagger used to say…."

Wilson lifted his eyebrows. "You and House have more in common than you might think. Once he gets used to your presence, you'll do just fine."

Greg glanced at the clock. "I really need to go. I have another commitment in the afternoons. Do you think you can get me by House?"

Wilson nodded. "I'll have House meet me on the balcony between our offices to discuss lunch plans and you can leave then." Greg waited until Wilson gave the "all clear" by walking out onto the balcony after House and then left without wasting any time.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

In the cafeteria, House and Wilson sat eating lunch. Wilson watched curiously as House observed a young girl sitting by herself. To Wilson's surprise, House got up and moved to the table where she seemed to wait aimlessly.

"You've been sitting here a long time." House's voice sounded harsher than he would have liked. "I bet that sandwich I gave you wore off a long time ago. Are you hungry?"

The little girl nodded.

"I have a friend who likes to buy lunch for people. I bet if I ask him, he'll buy lunch for you." Without waiting for a response from her, House motioned to Wilson to bring their food.

Once Wilson arrived at the table, House continued "Go get in line and Wilson will buy you anything that you want."

She looked at Wilson for confirmation and he smiled and stood, beckoning her to lead the way.

"Wilson made you get the broccoli, didn't he?"

The girl nodded.

"He can eat it for you then. That stuff is disgusting"

"But it's good for her, House," argued Wilson.

"Don't you know anything, Wilson? Friends don't let friends eat broccoli."

A small giggle rose out of the little girl. It was the first sound the men had heard from her.

"What's your name? If we're going to feed you, we get a name."

Nothing.

"Maybe she's mute"

"We're strangers." House produced the most exaggerated eye roll that he could muster. "Don't you know anything, Wilson? I'm House, he's 8Wilson. Now talk."

"Ruby," the words were spoken so softly that the doctors could barely hear her.

"Ruby? Ruby!" Wilson nearly flew off his seat as he realized what he had been hearing from Jewel!

"Is your mommy's name Jewel?" asked 1Wilson excitedly.

"No, her name is Mommy."

House smiled at the child's response. "I think we know where Mommy is. Why don't you come with us and you can see her?"

"I can't. I need to wait here for Mommy," she said. It was clear from Ruby's tone of voice that she had no intention of moving.

House started patting his pockets as though he was looking for something very important. When his hand touched a tiny spiral notepad, he gave the appearance of extreme relief. "I have a note from your mom. Do you want to hear it?"

Wilson started to say something but thought better of it. If House could persuade Ruby to come with them, then he wasn't going to stop him.

House cleared his throat dramatically and, despite herself, made Ruby laugh. "Dear Ruby," House intoned in his most motherly falsetto. "Please allow these nice men to escort you to my room. I am anxious to see you. Love, Mommy."

The men looked hopefully at Ruby

"Did she really write that?" she inquired.

"No, responded House, but I don't want to have to summon a policeman to carry you there kicking and screaming, so I decided to give it a try."

"House!" Wilson exclaimed, "You really can't threaten her like that!"

House rolled his eyes and Ruby giggled.

Standing, Ruby said, "I want to see my mommy, now." House and Wilson wasted no time leading the way.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

By the time Greg walked into the music store, he'd shed his tie. He wasn't excited about someone watching over his shoulder as he taught guitar and piano lessons, but it was a small price to pay in order to have an income of his own. It was just a few lessons that would be supervised so all he needed to do was bide his time for a bit. Greg knew how to be patient. That was a trait from his mother, he supposed, since he hadn't gotten it from House! Greg smiled at the thought. His mom would be proud of him. He had used his initiative to get not one, but two jobs. He could have let his dad support him but, he liked feeling independent.

A loud shriek yanked the younger House from his reveries.

"I'm not taking piano lessons! I'm not! I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR!"

A child not more than six years old was embarrassing his mother to the core. She was now trying to drag him from the store without anyone taking notice but it was a hopeless cause. Greg saw the opportunity to gain a student and although, it wouldn't be pretty, he decided to see what he could do to help. Hustling, he caught up to the mother and son before they were able to exit the building.

"Excuse me!" Greg yelled, just as the child stopped to take in air. It figured, first impressions are very important, after all. More quietly, he said, "Maybe I can help. I teach piano and guitar. We haven't got a guitar just your size right now, but maybe I can teach you something about reading music by using my piano while we find a guitar that you can use."

"But I want THAT one!" The child pointed randomly to the wall with the guitars.

"Darling," the mother tried to placate, "these guitars are all as tall as you. It will be years before you are big enough to play something like that."

The child threw himself on the floor and began to rage. Greg rolled his eyes in traditional House fashion and beckoned to the woman to move away so that they could talk.

"We can order ½ size guitar. I started out with one when I was about 5 or 6 years old. I won't teach him on an electric, though; he's loud enough as it is." Greg didn't apologize since he wasn't sure how committed he was to acquiring this particular student.

Suddenly aware of the lack of attention, the boy settled himself and moved to listen to his mom and Greg converse. "I'm big! I can play a big guitar!"

Greg went to the wall and grabbed a guitar, checked the tuning, and played a simple melody. "Sit on the floor," he commanded the child. Once Greg placed the guitar in the boy's lap, it was obvious that he could barely see over the body of the guitar and couldn't reach the end of the fretboard. The child slumped in defeat, ready to listen to Greg. "If it's okay with your mom, I can order a guitar that you can play. I can teach you to play it, too, but I don't teach kids that behave like brats and you …need to work on listening."

Greg looked to the mom as he took the guitar and placed it back on the wall. He noted a slight nod, so he showed the boy the catalog with the two guitars he had shown her. One was a lovely classical guitar with a red cedar top and mahogany sides and back. The other was an acoustic folk guitar with a deep brown pick guard and a blond top made of spruce. The boy was torn although the mom had already fallen in love with the classical guitar. The decision was made though, when Greg saw that the folk guitar was a ¾ sized instrument.

"I think you should go with this one," Greg said as he pointed to the picture of the classical guitar. "The other one is bigger and I didn't notice that before." The boy smiled at Greg, relieved that the decision had been taken out of his hands. Greg handed the catalog to the cashier and started to introduce the woman when he realized that he had never introduced himself.

Holding out his hand he began his introduction. "My name is Greg House-Dubois; I just started teaching piano and guitar here. Well, I haven't got any students, yet, but that's the plan."

"Well, you have a student, now, if you think you can handle him. I'm Amanda Hughes and this is Charlie."

Greg shook Charlie's hand as the boy grinned up at him. "Let me show you some stuff on the piano, while your mom and Andy get your guitar ordered. I had one just like that when I was your age." Greg had walked over to the pianos and played the same melody that he'd played on the guitar earlier.

Charlie hopped up on the bench and said "Play it again!"

Greg complied with the boys wishes and then let him bang around a bit while he grabbed a beginning piano book from a rack not far away. He showed the boy the book and talked about the note names and their location on the piano. By the time Amanda was finished with her transaction; Charlie had learned the C-scale and was working on the first lesson in the piano book. Greg took the book and placed it back on the rack.

"Hey! That's my book!" announced Charlie.

"This is a piano, and I'm certain that you said that you didn't want piano lessons, so this goes back where it belongs."

"Maybe I do want piano lessons!" snipped Charlie.

"Ah….but I don't teach brats." Greg walked away.

"I won't be a brat anymore, I promise!" exclaimed the little boy, close on Greg's heels. "I'm sorry!" he whined.

Greg moved to place the catalog back in its place and then went back to the piano to play some more. Charlie was still at his side only calmer, and more pleasant.

"Please teach me piano and guitar?"

Greg rolled his eyes and sighed. "I suppose I can, if you can stop your caterwauling every time you want your way."

Charlie laughed. "I can."

Greg looked at Amanda and smiled. She took Charlie's hand and they headed out the door together.

As Greg watched them leave, he heard Charlie ask, "Mommy, what's caterwauling?"