Occam's Razor - House M.D.

Part 15- Wires

The next day, the team received a new case from Dr. Cuddy who was going to be tied up in meetings for the rest of the week. She was asked to begin hashing out more details regarding the NMA conference, so she wanted to the team to handle the case ASAP. 

Earlier in the morning, they went over potential diagnoses, and concluded the patient could be suffering from cancer, lupus, or something related to respiratory disease. House asked each member of the team to tally ideas, but he was most impressed with Madelyn. 

"We should test for cancer and lupus to confirm blood cell count and interaction." Madelyn offered. House looked at her with a smirk-like expression, 

"Sounds good." 

It wasn't much of a response, but he was clearly on board with her contribution, which made Madelyn feel good. House ordered the boys to consult with the patient and his family, while the girls were to begin running the blood cell tests. And after about an hour, Thirteen and Madelyn made a lot of progress and were just on the brink of concluding whether or not the patient had cancer. However, before they wanted to officiate the diagnosis, they wanted Wilson's opinion as he was the best oncologist in the hospital. 

Wilson stared at the screen, analyzing the flow and structure of the blood cells, 

"It's not cancer.", he concluded. Thirteen and Madelyn agreed, relieved they wouldn't have to deliver that news. 

"What are the other possibilities?" Wilson 

"Lupus or respiratory dysfunction." Thirteen said. 

"I see a lot of merit in those, good job." Wilson replied with his usual soft smile. 

Thirteen crinkled her eyebrows, "That was all Madelyn". Wilson looked over at Madelyn who was blushing first at the compliment, and then at the way he looked at her. 

"I'm not surprised," Wilson agreed, "she's ingenious." his eyes set on Madelyn's, Wilson added, 

"You always have been."

After Wilson left the laboratory, Thirteen sort of made a gasp-like sound and said, 

"Oh my god! What was that? Are you not telling me something?" 

"We're just old friends..." Madelyn responded bashfully. Thirteen raised her eyebrow and asked her to pass her a beaker that sat on the table. 

"Oh c'mon! There's a lot more than just old friends going on there" she implored. Madelyn awkwardly smiled, 

"I mean we dated for several months about two years back." Thirteen looked shocked. Madelyn read her face perfectly. "It wasn't like we were going to get married or anything," Madelyn claimed, "but we were really good together". 

"Well, I definitely think Wilson would agree with that." Thirteen assured her friend. There was a moment of silence as they were rinsing out some of the lab equipment. 

"I don't know. Things ended weirdly with us, and it took me forever to get over him. He's one of the sweetest guys I've ever known." 

"Well, what's stopping you from trying again with him?" Thirteen asked sincerely, wiping her hands with a clean towel from the wash basin. 

"I don't know. I guess I hadn't considered whether or not Wilson and I would have another shot together." 

"Is there some reason why you guys wouldn't?" 

Madelyn bit her lip as if she was trying to refrain from what she was about to say. 

"Not really... other than..." Madelyn hesitated, "I might be interested in somebody else." 

Thirteen grinned assuredly at her friend, and anticipated who she could be talking about. 

"Who?" Thirteen wondered. 

"Well, he's also really sweet," Madelyn began, "he's brutally honest, confident, and so smart." 

"Sounds like the perfect fit for you. I'm happy for you, really." Thirteen spoke encouragingly. Madelyn nodded, unsure of whether or not to tell her more. 

"Can I know his na-" 

Just then, House stepped into the lab to check on the blood cell results. He stood beside Thirteen and Madelyn and asked for their results. 

"It's not cancer." Madelyn asserted, her cheeks flushing bright like strawberries. 

"Good. What's next?" asked House. 

"We're in the middle of testing for Lupus." Madelyn replied. 

"Yeah, and we're working on setting up an ANA test for the patient." Thirteen added. House nodded and stretched out his cane. 

"Okay good. I'll be in my office, so bring the results when they're done." He requested, giving Madelyn a half smile before exiting. 

"You're kidding." Thirteen stated, almost shouting. Madelyn pursed her lips, 

"What?" 

"It's him!" 

"Dr. House, what-what about him?" Madelyn said, her voice shaking slightly. 

"You like House." Thirteen breathed out in what sounded like shock. "I saw your cheeks light up like Christmas lights when we came in here. Oh my god." 

"Remy, it's not a big deal!" Madelyn joked, laughing to try and mask her nervousness. 

"Yes it is, Madelyn. You like House! I can't believe it. And the smile he just gave you... we hardly ever see him not ruminating over something." 

Madelyn nervously brushed her hair behind her ears and took a deep breath out, somewhat relieved that she let someone know. 

"Can I just ask why?" Thirteen questioned. Madelyn turned her eyes to Thirteen. 

"What do you mean, I just told you?" 

Thirteen exhaled lightly and tried to be supportive of Madelyn's feelings, but she'd known House longer, and knew how horrible he could be.

"Look, we're friends, and I'm grateful for how close we've gotten in the last few weeks, but I'm not sure taking this kind of interest in House is a good idea." 

Madelyn looked taken aback, and puzzled by Thirteen's comment. 

"House doesn't do romance, or for that matter relationships altogether. I mean you know how he is... he's stand-offish, he's jaded, and let's just about nobody in, Wilson included. Cuddy was actually dating House several months ago, and they were serious for about a year and a half, but she realized he was never going to be a partner for her, ya know? He's so self-consumed, and he puts his own needs first, always. I don't want to see you get hurt the way she did." 

Madelyn shook her head, trying hard to process everything she'd just heard. What made it worse was that she knew Thirteen wouldn't lie to her. 

"He's been really sweet to me, and I see something in him that's... just... special. I know he's flawed, trust me, but I think I'm falling for him, Remy." Madelyn admitted, a tear rolling down her cheek.  

Thirteen hugged Madelyn, trying to console her and trying to lend support, but she also wanted to be honest, so her friend wouldn't get hurt. She felt that was the inevitable. 

"Look, I just don't want you to get hurt. He is smart, and he can be kind, but he's like a robot," Thirteen told her, "he's cold, and calculated. He's made of wires that run through him, but all they do is keep his body going and nothing else. He's an empty person, Madelyn." 

Madelyn listened carefully to Thirteen's statement, acknowledging that whether or not she personally believed it, it was Remy's truth. She was looking out for her even if it hurt. 

"I understand." Madelyn sighed. And she did understand, even though she didn't want to. Regardless, however, Madelyn couldn't erase House from her thoughts.