Occam's Razor - House M.D.

Part 7- Specialties

The in-home inspection went much smoother than Madelyn expected; Foreman knew all the protocols to search the home with dignity which made her feel less like they were committing some sort of crime. The home was nice and in seemingly perfect order, which made the two doctors all the more curious. 

Snow white sofas, polished surfaces, and not a misplaced item in sight made for an interesting search. Foreman immediately began searching in the bottoms of trashcans underneath the trash bag itself, while Madelyn looked in between furniture spaces. He commented on her good tactic, and she replied, 

"Places that look the most inviting are deceiving." Foreman furrowed his brows together and nodded. He thought about her statement and understood what she probably meant. 

On the way back to the hospital, Foreman and Madelyn stopped for Starbucks coffee and bought a few extra for the rest of the team. 

"Good you like coffee, you're gonna need it with hours like these." Foreman laughed, steering the car into the hospital parking lot. 

"Yeah, I see it's even more busy than I thought. I had no idea home searches were even a factor." Madelyn replied, sipping her iced chai tea latte. Foreman laughed again,

"Yeah, well that's really somebody else's job. House prefers to send us because it gives him extra intel." Madelyn chuckled softly in response. Foreman drank some of his americano coffee, and turned the radio on for some background noise. 

"So," she added, "House has a unique style it seems like." Foreman turned his head to Madelyn,

"You could say that." Madelyn stayed quiet for a moment, 

"You don't seem like you'd be working for him." She said hesitantly, but with a bright tone. 

"What do you mean?" Foreman parked the car in the space closest to the benches outside the west entrance. He leaned back in the leather seat ready to hear Madelyn's answer. Madelyn exhaled lightly, and turned her eyes to him, 

"I don't know, I guess I see you as more of the captain of a team... sort of like him, but not so blunt." She laughed, somewhat embarrassed after hearing the words come out. Foreman raised his eyebrows and said, 

"He's very unorthodox, that's for sure. He's considered a prestige medical representative of the hospital, so he was encouraged to take on a team rather than practice individually." Madelyn took that information in, knowing any and all things she could learn about her new boss was useful information. 

"So what specialty are you, Dr. Gilmore?" Foreman asked with a sparkle in his eye of genuine fascination. 

"I'm a licensed neurologist, but I know a good deal about radiology too." she answered happily. She took pride in her intelligence–not because she was boastful, but because she worked hard for her career. 

"Really?" Foreman asked. Madelyn nodded her head taking more sips of her chai.  

"Me too." Foreman remarked with a certain glow on his face. "Chase is a surgical/intensivist, Taub is a plastic surgeon, Thirteen is an internal medicine specialist, and House is your general, genius diagnostician and nephrologist." Madelyn looked impressed. 

"Oh, sorry, I know you haven't met everyone yet. Taub's down right OK, and Thirteen is a lovable hard-ass." Foreman said with a smile that stretched up to his eyes. He watched Madelyn reflect on his words and fiddle with her fingers and a pretty tennis bracelet on her right wrist. 

"Everyone's so talented. I can't wait to meet everyone," she confessed. "You know... I couldn't even believe Cuddy accepted my application. I'm younger and so inexperienced compared to you all, but I'm really grateful already, to be in a work environmental with such talented doctors." 

"Soon, we'll be thinking the same thing about you. I'm sure of it. Cuddy's usually spot-on when it comes to new hires. She knows the best of the best." 

After only meeting less than six hours ago, Madelyn and Foreman had established a connection, and a palpable mutual respect for one another. To Dr. Gilmore, the people of Princeton-Plainsboro were proving to be everything she hoped she'd become in her career.