Occam's Razor - House M.D.

Part 33- When the Party's Over

Come Monday morning, not even twenty-four hours since the NMA conference, the team was back to work at Princeton-Plainsboro where they resumed their routines and busy hours in the diagnostics department. 

Each of the team members came back pretty exhausted, but some were in better shape than others. Chase arrived eager to get back into the swing of things, Foreman and Thirteen were fairly ambivalent, while Taub was drained from splitting his time at the conference and with his daughters. A the bottom of the pyramid was Madelyn, who began her morning in the employee-use gym. 

All day yesterday, she'd felt dizzy and nauseous because her drinking the night prior was so reckless. Thus, she decided to try and remedy her messy, extravagant weekend by working out her body in a healthy manner. She had music blasting through her AirPods while she raced on the elliptical, so fast and focused that she'd lost track of time. Just then, her phone rang: 

"Madelyn?" Foreman spoke through the speaker, "Where are you? " 

"Hey Foreman," Madelyn breathed heavily, "Sorry, I lost track of time. I'm at the gym."

"The gym?" Foreman questioned. 

"The employee one here." Madelyn clarified. 

"Oh ok. House wants you up here now." 

Madelyn tried not to panic, "I need to change, though-"

"Now, he said. He says you have two minutes." 

In a huff, Madelyn sped to the exit and made her way to House's office. She arrived about one minute and 43 seconds later, and hadn't caught her breath just yet. Shoving open the glass doors, Madelyn burst into his office and opened the door to the conference room beside it. Wearing only a criss-cross strapped sports bra that accentuated her large, perfect breasts, and tiny, body-con biker shorts, House and the entire team stared at her. The only other item of clothing on her body was an open, sheer cardigan that didn't do much but cover her arms. 

"Yes?" Madelyn protested, annoyed and mostly directing her tone towards House. 

"Interesting choice for attire." House replied, his eyes on her boobs. 

"You only gave me two minutes." 

"I know what I said. Sit down." House instructed sternly. 

Madelyn suddenly felt like a small child, but did as he said. 

The whole team sensed something amiss between House and Madelyn, but only Thirteen knew how deep the issue ran. Thirteen patted the open seat beside her, and Madelyn gladly sat next to her and Foreman. 

"What's with the outfit?" Thirteen joked, almost snorting. Madelyn knew she was too, so she playfully punched her shoulder. Even though she was still upset with House, Madelyn was relieved she had solid relationships with her team. 

"So what's on the schedule today?" Chase asked. 

"Nothing." House answered before taking some sips of his coffee. 

The team looked at each other, confused. They must've misunderstood. Foreman, of course, was the first to question their boss: 

"So... you asked us to be here at eight in the morning why?" 

House shrugged his shoulders, and clenched his teeth together, "Well, I just missed you guys so much. We only spent the last 48 hours together." he replied vexatiously. "Nope. I don't really have an answer."

"You just called us here because you felt like it?" Taub insinuated, his eyes droopy and tired. 

"Sure," House responded, "I have some personal business to attend to, so I need all my ducks in line in case Cuddy comes up with something for us to do."