| 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝙻𝚒𝚎𝚜 | ʜᴏᴜsᴇ ᴍ.ᴅ.

𝟷 - 𝙲𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚌 𝚍𝚞𝚝𝚢

I am, once again, late for work.

I walk through the front door of the hospital, passing b Dr. Cuddy's office. Both the doors are halfway open. I desperately try to go unnoticed, but of course, I fail miserably.
"You're late, Browne." The Dean of Medicine states, walking with me.
"I overslept." I excuse myself, picking up a random from the lobby. The papers read:

12 year old boy, breathing difficulties and inability to undergo any kinds of effort.

"Great. Another kid with asthma." I say, entering exam room no. 2. A little boy is set on the exam table, kicking the air with his legs. A middle aged woman - his mom, I suppose - is sitting beside him.
"Hello." I greet them, putting my coffee cup on top of a utility cart. "So.. Having breathing problems lately?"
The kid nods. I pick up my stethoscope, lifting his shirt.
"Any other symptoms? Tightness in your chest, constant coughing?" I ask, as I hear a wheezing sound coming from his lungs.
"Yes, he's been complaining about chest pain a lot." His mom responds. I nod, opening a drawer.
"Just as I thought." I pull out my prescription book and scribble something on it. "He's got asthma. The pharmacy is on floor 1." I hand the prescription and get out.

"10 minutes. New record." I look at my watch, going into the nurses' station.
"Hey, you got a minute?" Someone calls me from behind. It's Dr. Wilson.
"What's up?"
"You know House, right?" He asks me, catching up.
"The sadistic doctor who pops Vicodin like they're TicTacs and Cuddy hovers around? Yeah, why?"
I chug my second coffee for today.
"Well, one of his lackeys just quit. And Cuddy needs a doctor to replace her for the moment. Since he can't hire anyone without taking around 2 months, she asked me to find a temporary employee for him."
I smirk.
"And you thought about me?"
"Yes. Before you say no-"
"When can I start?"
He looks at me, shocked.
"His office is right next to mine." He answers, following with a whisper as I leave: "Good luck."

~

I walk through the glass doors to the office. Three men sit at the table in the middle. One's black and all dressed up in a suit and perfect tie, one still has peach fuzz, and one is.. Well, one is House.
"You came early. I paid for a memorable night" House says.
"House, she's supposed to take Cameron's spot." The suit guy says.
"Hi. I'm Dr. Alexia Browne." I reach out my hand, in a failed attempt to shake House's. I pull back, taking my seat next to the blonde peach-fuzz guy.
"Couldn't care less about who you are. You're only here for one case. Don't even know if you'll last that much either."
"..Right. What case do you have?"

"Fourty-three year old male, presenting with fatigue, joint pain, reoccurring fever and rashes." House throws us all the files.
I read around for a couple seconds, and then make the mistake of thinking out loud.
"Lupus?"
House was waiting for this.
"You're a moron. Next!"
"But the symptoms fit." I hold my ground.
The blonde doctor leans down and whispers in my ear.
"It's never Lupus. Never tell him otherwise."
"Lyme disease?" The black man tries his luck.
"Not without swollen lymph nodes." I contradict him.
"How about RA?" The blonde asks, waiting for House's approval.
"No weight loss. And our patient doesn't have symmetrical pain." House replies.
A quick thought crosses my mind.
"Cancer."
"I'd rather have you test him for Lyme disease than agree to that." House snarls at me.
"Alright then. I'll go do exactly that." I smile, getting out the door.

~

As I walk through the large corridors to the patient's room, I hear someone stop me. The blonde doctor I sat next to is trying to catch up to me, holding tightly to his file.
"Hey. I thought I'd come with you to see the patient. House usually sends us in pairs anyways, and Foreman isn't the nicest company." He says.
"Foreman..?" I ask confused, looking at him.
"The other guy. I'm Chase, by the way." He opens the sliding door to the hospital room. A man is lying there alone, on his phone.
"This is Dr. Browne. She's a new member of our team." Chase introduces me.
"Hi.. Mark." I say, looking down to his records for the name.
"Do you finally know what's wrong with me?" Mark asks.
"Not really." I respond. "We have a theory it might be Lyme disease. We just need to test your blood to confirm." I sit down on a chair, pulling a tray closer to me.

"No visitors?" I ask as I draw the blood.
"My wife just went down to get some coffee. She'll be back quickly, if you need to talk to her."
Chase looks at me.
"I think it's best you talk to her yourself, if the test comes back positive." He says.
"But what do you think? Do you believe it's Lyme disease?" Mark asks me.
I pause for a moment, then look away.
"No. I'm pretty sure it's cancer, but our boss makes the decisions. If you ask me, the test is useless."
I get up, leaving the room.
"I got what I need, come on."

~

Me and Chase sit alone in the lab. He's busy with testing the blood, but I just stare down the walls.
"You know, it would be helpful if you'd do something as well." He says.
"I am doing something. I'm thinking."
"What exactly are you thinking about?"
"If my theory is worth getting fired over." I reply. "I want to test for cancer."
"Would you like working here?" Chase asks.
"More that in Oncology."
"Then don't. House won't hesitate firing you."
My pager suddenly starts ringing.
"Looks like I don't have time for it anyways." I state, rushing out the door with Chase.

When I arrive, Foreman is already there.
"What happened?" I ask.
"Patient can't breathe." He says.
Chase hurries to get the intubation kit. As he leans his neck down, he accidentally presses on Mark's chest. For any normal person, it wouldn't mean a thing. But the man instantly starts screaming in pain and holding his chest.
I scour the drawers and cupboards, looking for something as chaos unravels around me. No one knows why the hell that man is screaming, and they can't do anything until he stops either.
I found it. Succinylcholine. I pick up the syringe and inject the paralytic agent into the patient's IV. The others watch as he quickly stops moving.
"What the hell did you give him?" Foreman asks, now scared.
"Whatever I did, it'll wear off quickly. So intubate him, and then schedule an X-ray. Don't ask questions OR tell House."

~

"You won't believe this." Foreman says, slapping an X-ray picture on the table, back in the office. "Patient has a broken rib."
"It's not the first time Chase broke a patient's bone." House says, walking to his whiteboard. "That's going on your criminal record."
He writes down: osteoporosis.
"We have a new symptom." He continues.
"SLE." I try my luck.
I didn't expect it, but House doesn't say anything. He just nods.
"Do the blood, urine and ANA tests. And take Tinkerbell with you." He points to Chase for the last part.
I walk out with him.

"Do you really think it's SLE?" Chase asks on our way to the lab, once again.
"Of course I don't. I'm testing for cancer and having Wilson cover me in case House decides to make a scene."
I take my seat next to the microscope.
"Do you realize he's going to fire you? House would go nuts if you break his rules."
I take a look through the microscope. Throughout the blood cells, I find what I need: large dusty purple spots.
"Aaaand I got what I needed. My guess was right. It's multiple myeloma."

~

"Blow my tiny mind." House tells me, as we walk back through the office doors.
"He's got cancer. Multiple myeloma, to be more exact." I say, showing the lab results to him.
He stares at them blankly.
"I told you to test for SLE." His mouth finally opens.
"And I told you since the first time, it was cancer." I protest.
"You had no right to disobey my orders!"
"I was right!"
"And what if you weren't? What if you just wasted hours of the patient's life?"
"What 'life'? If it was autoimmune, he was dying anyways!" I say. "House, I was right and nothing can change that. You can fire me if you want, or you can keep me here. But I'm just telling you, you might need me one day. Apparently none of these other guys can argue with you."
I head for the door.
"Now, if you don't mind, I'll go tell Mark the treatment plan."

I knock on the door to the patient room. I finally see his wife standing next to his bed.
"Hello. I have some news." I say. "We did some testing, and have arrived to a diagnosis. You have multiple myeloma. It's a kind of hematologic cancer, but it's treatable. It should heal with immunotherapy and corticosteroids."
The wife sighs with relief.
"Dr. Foreman should arrive with the treatment soon." I say, getting out.

House is waiting for me outside, leaning over the reception desk.
"The case is over. Am I fired or not?" I ask.
"I told you you'd only last one case.." He replies.
I sigh.
"I'll get my stuff."
"... I was wrong." He finishes.
I turn back, surprised.
"Why?"
"Are you asking me why I was wrong?"
"I'm asking you why you're not firing me."
"Because, as you said, you were right this time. That's the only criteria I judge people by. And I'll have enough time to fire you in the next case if you won't be right." House states. "I'll see you tomorrow."

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