Cold Shoulder // House x Reader

Chapter 8 // Viva Las Vegas

Needless to say you didn't get much work done that day, and even went home early unbeknownst to your boss who had vanished once again, and of course Wilson covered for him, refusing to reveal his whereabouts. Marshall your patient was stable and Foreman and Cameron agreed to stay at the hospital overnight with him. So you drove home listening to the radio, and attempting to ward off an incoming headache probably due to sleep deprivation or dehydration. Funny how a doctor refuses to take care of themselves. You laughed lightly at the irony as you pulled into the drive of your apartment complex. Once you had parked (doing a rather subpar job) you took the key out of the ignition, stepped out, shut the door and locked it before stuffing your keys down into you jacket pocket. It was getting colder, not that it wasn't always cold in New Jersey but since it was almost Halloween the weather was getting crisper and by the middle of November there would surely be piles more snow than you knew what to do with. When it got that cold sometimes your doorknob leading into the apartment froze over and you had to wake up early with a lighter to thaw it. Luckily there was still a few weeks until that would be added to your pile of worries. You unlocked the door and walked inside, happy to be home again after yet another stressful workday. You took off your jacket and hung it on the rack by the door and flicked the light switches, ceiling lights quickly turned on bringing light. And this time nobody was here. You sighed softly, and walked into the kitchen and washed your hands. Then you opened the fridge, noticed it was empty and settled for a Red Baron personal pizza out of the freezer. You walked over to the oven and turned it on to preheat. Then you sat down at the dining room table and laid your head down. You were so tired, overworked and that headache had finally arrived. Maybe that's why you had been so snappy today, you just needed a break. The patient was doing fine, so you picked up your phone and sent a message to House saying you weren't coming in tomorrow, due to illness. You laughed dryly, and set your phone back down on the table and stood up to put the pizza in the oven.

You ate half the pizza and the other half went into the fridge. After that you fell asleep watching reruns of 'Friends' one of your only vices. The next afternoon you felt better than you had in weeks, apparently getting sleep is important for your body, who knew? You didn't even wake up until 1 in the afternoon, and when you did you took a shower peacefully enjoying the lack of worry. The stress was gone, unless of course you thought about having to go to work the next day but that was for future you to deal with. You happily lazed about for the rest of the day, well until 5 pm when a knock sounded from your door. Getting up with a groan you shuffled over to the door, unlocked it, half-hoping it was a delivery man bringing food, knowing full well you hadn't ordered any. You opened the door and looked at the man standing in the doorframe.

"Oh hey." You said looking at him. "What's wrong."

Wilson looked at you, eyes steeped in worry, he was a fairly nervous guy usually, but something seemed wrong.

"Can I come in?" He asked, looking at you with a light smile.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Yeah sure, just...don't mind the mess." You uttered stepping aside, as he walked past you and you shut the door.

"So...are you going to tell me what's wrong or do I have to guess." You asked, and he laughed lightly. He sat down in a chair.

"It's about House."

"Isn't it always? He's so egotistical that he doesn't think that everyone is always talking about him, we actually are." You shook your head. "Don't tell me he sent you because I called out of work today. I swear, if I don't go to work it somehow finds me."

"No, no he didn't send me. He actually didn't go to work today either. And I have no clue where he's at. He's not answering my calls or anything." Wilson replied, you looked at him blankly.

"You talked to him yesterday, he's probably fine."

"What? I didn't even see him yesterday. We were going to have lunch in the cafeteria but he ditched me again, I assumed he was with you." He uttered.

"Well, maybe he's just at home I mean he usually-"

"I already checked there, he's not home and neither is his motorcycle." You were stunned, it's not that it wasn't like him to do something like this but normally he always wanted to be found. He'd tell Wilson or leave bread crumbs or something but, he really was just gone.

"I came here to ask you if he told you anything at all, about where he went."

"No, nothing. But yesterday Chase told Cuddy he relapsed."

"Oh of course he did." Wilson scoffed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "No wonder he ran away."

"We thought he was walking to your office but I guess he just left the hospital. I messaged him last night that I was calling out of work.." You looked at your phone over on the dining room table and realized you never did check to see if he replied. You stood up and grabbed your phone and noticed he had replied. You moved to stand by Wilson and show him it.

"He's fine."

"How do you know-" he looked at the image House had sent you. He had a stripper on his lap, and he sat by a sign that said "What Happens In Vegas Stays In Vegas"

"He's in Vegas?!"

"Apparently."

"How did he get there that quickly by motorcycle?!"

"I bet he got on a plane and hid the motorcycle to confuse you." You sighed sitting back down on the couch.

"Why am I still friends with that guy?" He said rhetorically, sitting in the chair, shocked.

"You can stay here if you want but keep it down, Ross is about to say Rachel's name at the alter." You replied laying down and turning the volume of the TV up.

"Figures." He said, whether to you about the show or about House you didn't know.