Something to Talk About
Chapter Two:
"She Got the Man"
I got the first kiss and she'll get the last
She's got the future, I got the past
I got the class ring, she got the diamond and wedding band
I got the boy, she got the man
Jana Kramer, "I Got the Boy"
"How are you feeling?" Allison asked as she entered room 214, causing Stacy to turn her attention from the window.
"Tired and my knee is throbbing. What is wrong with me?" Stacy's voice was flat, holding a hint of weariness.
"We still aren't sure. All the tests have been…inconclusive."
Stacy sighed in frustration, watching as Allison placed the ends of her stethoscope in her ears before moving to listen to Stacy's heartbeat. Stacy shivered when Allison asked her to sit up, placing the cool metal chestpiece against her back.
"Breathe in," Allison instructed, waiting a second before continuing with, "And breathe out."
"Your lungs sound fine," Allison stated, grabbing Stacy's chart from the foot of the bed and pulling an ink pen from her pocket. Chewing on her lip, she made a few quick notes before hanging the clipboard back on the bed.
"The only information I have for you at the moment is that you are severely dehydrated. This would explain any potential muscle pain, but it does not explain the joint pain in your knee. A nurse will be in, in a few minutes with a saline drip. We'll keep you on it until your levels are back to normal. Members of our diagnostic team will be in later today to provide a consult. Do you have any questions for me?"
"Is putting a saline drip on above your paygrade?" The sneer in Stacy's voice did not go unnoticed by Allison, causing a slight narrowing of her green eyes.
"Typically, the nurses are the ones who administer the saline drip and they are very good at what they do, but if you would prefer I do it myself, I can…"
"It's fine. When will Doctor House be in?" Stacy's eagerness to know when she would be seeing House had Allison internally shouting.
"Greg is not consulting on this case."
"You said you were consulting with the diagnostic team."
"I will be consulting with Doctors Kutner, Hadley, Foreman, Taub, and Chase. Greg and James are attending a conference in Chicago this week."
"How do you expect this to be effective? The diagnostic team has no boss and will be working on me?" Stacy's annoyance was starting to chip away at Allison's patience. It seemed that no matter what she did, Stacy was not happy.
"Doctor Foreman will be heading the diagnostic team in Doctor House's absence. You know as well as I do that Doctor Foreman is as good as House. You're in excellent hands, Stacy." Allison gave a small smile, trying to be as sincere as possible. "If there's nothing else, I have other patients I have to see."
Waiting a minute in silence, Allison decided that Stacy must finally be finished with her complaints and quickly exited the room. Stopping at the desk on her way off the floor, Allison asked the RN on duty to attend to Stacy as quickly as possible. Having finished with that, she made her way toward the clinic and Lisa's office, hoping that she would find her boss there.
"You have no clue how glad I am that I found you," Allison heaved a sigh of relief as she entered Lisa's office, noting that the older woman was in the process of stuffing scrambled eggs into her mouth.
"I'm sorry you have to deal with Stacy," Lisa immediately guessed what had one of her brightest doctors so flustered, "but I assumed you wouldn't want me to completely turn the case over to House."
"Thank you for that? She sounded upset about it, but I don't like the way she acts when she mentions Greg." Allison slumped into the chair in front of Lisa's desk.
"I was afraid of that," Lisa mumbled, stabbing her eggs with her fork.
"What?" Allison's gaze snapped to Lisa's and she tightened her grip on the arms of the chair in anticipation of what Lisa had to say.
"I thought she had been acting funny ever since she found out you and House had gotten married. James seemed to think I was worrying about nothing."
"What would he know? He tends to be…"
"Oblivious?" Lisa supplied before scarfing down the remainder of her breakfast.
"You said it," Allison laughed before releasing a sigh and sinking lower in her chair.
"I know that she's sick and needs to be here, but I don't like that she is."
"Allison, you have nothing to worry about. Stacy may or may not be done with House, but he is certainly done with her," Lisa assured, shoving the empty Styrofoam tray and plastic fork into the trashcan near her desk.
"I trust Greg, but it doesn't make seeing Stacy act this way toward him any easier." Allison began chewing her lip again, and picking at her nails.
"What are you going to do when House sees her?" Lisa picked her reading glasses off her desk, settling them on her face.
"I hope I'm able to discharge her before the week is over."
Lisa's attention snapped from her desktop to the younger woman sitting before her as a pensive look crossed her face. "James called me before you came in here. They aren't staying for the whole conference. They'll be back tonight. Didn't House call you?"
"He may have," Allison sighed heavily, "My phone is in my office. I've been with Stacy all morning. She has been an absolute terror to everyone. I think she got pissed at me because I said a nurse would administer her saline drip."
"Why would that upset her? She knows that is standard procedure." Lisa shook her head, returning her attention to the monitor on her desk and laying her fingers over the keys on the keyboard. A loud, obnoxious beep suddenly filled the room, interrupting the short amount of quiet in the two women's conversation. Yanking the small pager from the pocket of her lab coat, Allison groaned in frustration.
"It's Stacy."
"I'll walk with you," Lisa stated, laying her glasses on her desk as she stood from her seat. Allison slowly stood and made her way out of Lisa's office, slowing her step even further so that the other woman could catch up to her after locking her office door.
"Hopefully having you there will change her attitude," Allison mused, nodding politely to a young couple passing her in the hall.
"I hope she does. It would be awful if House found out from someone that she has been rude to you this whole time. That is one potential breakdown that I do not want on my hands."
"Maybe consulting his team wasn't such a good idea," Allison bemoaned, bringing a hand to her forehead and shaking her head in dismay.
"You did what was right for the patient. Don't worry yourself over that decision."
Allison gave Lisa a grateful smile, feeling somewhat calmer, as they entered Stacy's room. Stacy's attention snapped to the doctors when she heard the slight hum of the automatic doors sliding open.
"Isn't there anything you can do? My knee hurts." Stacy grimaced as she shifted her body, turning slightly to get a better look at Lisa and Allison.
"Let me have a look," Allison said, pulling a pair of exam gloves from the box hanging on the wall and stuffing her hands in the stretchy latex. Lisa quickly put gloves on herself as Allison was pulling the white sheet from Stacy's knee. Narrowing her eyes at the sight of the purplish, swollen skin covering Stacy's knee, Allison tenderly laid a finger on the joint.
"Ouch," Stacy whined, trying to pull her leg from Allison's touch, but being stopped by Lisa holding her leg down.
"Stacy, stop. She has to exam your knee." Lisa's voice was harsh – commanding as she gave Stacy a hard look.
"I don't care if she exams it, but tell her to stop squeezing."
"I'm not squeezing," Allison huffed, trying to gently move Stacy's leg to get a good look at the back of her knee.
"The fuck you aren't!" Stacy's loud shout drew an exasperated sigh from Lisa, whose attention had been divided between Allison's examination of Stacy and keeping Stacy from moving.
"Stacy, she isn't squeezing your leg. If you don't calm down, then I'm not going to have any other choice but to sedate you."
"If it will take away this pain, then fucking sedate me."
Jabbing the call button with her finger, Lisa quickly barked orders through the intercom, "I need 10 m/g Propofol in room 214 stat."
"You're really going to sedate her?" Allison questioned, dropping her hands from Stacy's knee and looking at Lisa.
"It's either that or we restrain her – sedation is the safer bet."
At that moment, a young RN came running into the room with a capped syringe in his hand. Moving toward the bed, he extended his hand to give the syringe to Lisa.
"Have you ever administered Propofol?" Lisa asked, not familiar with the young man before her.
"No." His answer was quick and he looked like he wished Lisa would hurry and take the syringe from him. Sighing, Lisa grabbed the syringe, removing the cap, she quickly pushed the needle through the skin of Stacy's hand, easily finding a vein and administering the drug. Within a minute, Stacy had closed her eyes and appeared to have drifted off into a deep slumber.
"What happened in here?" A thick Australian accent questioned as Lisa was disposing of the used syringe.
"Cuddy sedated her," Allison answered, quickly resuming her examination, gently bending Stacy's leg.
"Really?" Doctor Foreman sounded surprised as he yanked a pair of slightly too small gloves over his hands.
"She threw a fit the minute I touched her knee."
"Hmm…" Doctor Chase mused, moving closer to the patient bed with doctor Foreman to have a first-hand look at Stacy's leg.
"There's a lot of swelling." Foreman stated the obvious, causing both Allison and Lisa to roll their eyes.
"And discoloration," Chase chimed, "Have you done an X-ray?"
"Yes. No fractures or breaks."
"What about ligament or tendon damage?" Foreman asked, rolling Stacy's knee.
"I haven't ordered an MRI."
"She's probably strained a ligament – maybe even tore the patella. I'd do an MRI."
"I'll schedule one. Thank you," Allison said as both Chase and Foreman began removing their exam gloves and walking toward the door. Throwing his gloves in the metal trash bin by the small sink, Chase offered, "If you need us for anything else, just call."
Nodding her head, Allison followed Lisa out of the room and toward the nurse's station. Standing at the wooden desk, Allison asked one of the nurses to schedule an MRI for Stacy and wrote a prescription for Celecoxib – requesting that Stacy be given a dosage the minute the pharmacy had filled the prescription.
"Has Mark been to see her?" Allison questioned as she and Lisa began walking toward the cafeteria, noting that it was lunch time.
"I haven't seen him," Lisa furrowed her brows at that admission, "Or heard from him."
"I wonder if he knows where she is? Should we call him?"
"I'll give him a call after we eat." Lisa's mouth had begun to water at the strong aroma of food drifting toward the entrance to the large cafeteria.
"Lisa, are you okay?" Allison had never seen her boss make such a beeline for the cafeteria's slightly subpar food.
"I'm fine. Just hungry." Allison furrowed her brows as she quickened her pace to keep up with the other woman.
"I'm going to head to my office and call Greg."
"Go, go. My pager will be on," Lisa shooed the younger woman away, already eyeing a large slice of apple pie.
/I got the first kiss
And she'll get the last/
"I'm sorry. I was with a patient." Allison held the slim receiver to her ear, twirling the phone cord around her finger as she sat leaning back in the comfortable leather chair at her desk.
"Where was your phone?"
"In my office. I was with a patient."
"What patient was more important than me?"
"Stacy."
"What?" Stunned, Allison pulled the phone from her ear at House's loud screech.
"I'm treating Stacy."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You were busy with the conference."
"Allison, we promised not to keep secrets from each other."
"I wasn't keeping a secret from you, Greg. You were busy with the conference."
"What's wrong with her?" Greg chose to ignore her comment, causing Allison to fidget. If Greg was ignoring a comment, it was because he didn't have anything nice to say and knew it would start a fight – he preferred to be face to face for those.
"We think she might have a strained ligament or torn patella. I'm waiting for the results from the MRI I just ordered."
"Who's we?" She sighed. Of course that would be the part of her narrative that he would focus on.
"Chase, Foreman, Cuddy, and myself."
"You're working with Chase?" For all the work he had been doing on himself, he still could not bring himself to be okay with any interactions between Allison and Chase. They had a history and, no matter how brief – a one-night stand once while she was high; he did not like them to near one another.
"Technically, I'm working with your team."
"Who approved that?"
"Lisa."
"I don't like the idea of any of you working with Stacy. She's –"
"Fucking nuts?"
"Synonymous with what I was going to choose. I'll allow it."
Letting a hearty laugh escape her lips at House's playfulness, Allison admitted, "I've missed you."
"It's been three days," House tsked.
"I've gotten used to you being around." A series of low beeps interrupted the conversation, letting Allison know that someone else was trying to reach her. "I have another call."
"Take it. And Ally?"
"Yes?"
"I missed you, too." On that note, House ended the call, leaving Allison with a giddy smile on her face as she switched lines.
"Doctor House."
/We each got something
The other will never have/
"Mark!" Lisa's smile was genuine as she rounded her desk, hugging the tall, slightly tanned man as he was shutting the door to her office.
"Hi, Lisa," Mark chuckled, awkwardly hugging the much shorter woman before she pulled away – Lisa had never been that touchy before.
"Sit." Lisa gestured toward the chairs in front of her desk as she was sitting back in her dark, black chair, eyeing the still steaming piece of apple pie that sat on her desk, along with vanilla ice cream and slices of pickles. Mark gave the odd concoction a mildly disgusted look as he sat.
"How's Stacy?"
"She's in a lot of pain – we still don't know why. They're doing an MRI right now. I'm glad you were able to make it so quickly."
"I was in the area."
"I'm surprised she didn't tell you she was coming here."
"We've been…separated."
"She never mentioned that."
"Her obsession with House was too hard for me to deal with. Since she chose to come here, I can see that her obsession has done little to dwindle." Mark fidgeted in his seat, adjusting the tie he wore.
"She's actually being treated by Doctor Allison House. House is in Maryland with James for a medical conference." She decided it was best not to mention that the two men were on their way back.
"I don't want to see her, Lisa, but updates on her health would be appreciated."
"I hate seeing you two like this."
"It wouldn't have to be this way, and she can change the way it is, if she would just give him up."
"I think she will, Mark. She loves you and she loves who Greg used to be. She can't see that he's not that man anymore."
"I don't like playing second fiddle to anyone, Lisa. Past or present."
"Promise you won't give up on her?"
"I don't plan on doing that."
/I got the long hair, hot head
She got the cool and steady hand/
"Tiger Lily," Allison called to the large, grey tabby as she filled her bowl with food. The cat came running to her bowl before daintily nibbling at the morsels.
"You're getting fat," Allison chuckled, closing the cat food container and moving toward the glass of wine she had left sitting on the counter earlier. She carried the glass to the large, plush sectional, stopping to grab a book along the way. Snuggling into the sofa, she opened her book and settled in for the night.
BANG!
The loud noise, followed by a mumbled, 'oh shit', had Allison bolting from her position on the sofa where she had fallen asleep hours earlier. Trying to keep her noise level to a minimum, she hurried to her bedroom where she kept the metal softball bat she used in the summer in her co-ed league. Gripping the bat, she shimmied up to the wall beside the white, wooden door, hoping the intruder would not enter her bedroom.
She could feel her heart beating in her chest as footsteps neared the room. She could have cursed at the cat, for lazily opening an eye and staring her down before going back to sleep in its soft bed that sat in the corner, or Greg for insisting on a cat rather than a dog because cats 'require less attention, dear'.
Holding her breath, she stepped back and positioned the bat, ready to swing, as the doorknob began moving. Swinging the metal bat when the door flew open, she collided with something solid. Both Allison and the intruder dropped what was in their hands upon contact and Allison's mouth formed a wide 'o' as the intruder fell to the ground, barely managing to strain:
"What the fuck?"
A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews! – C.