Lomeinie (lomeinie) wrote in houselomein, @ 2009-04-02 22:37:00 |
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Entry tags: | angst, au, drama, friendship, goor, house/cuddy, house/wilson, james wilson, non-slash, rated pg-13, wilson/amber, wilson/cuddy |
FIC: Getting Out of Reverse 5/15 (Rated PG-13)
See general and medical disclaimers in Chapter 1.
-- chapter five
It was a little after nine when Wilson woke up the next morning, and he was glad he had slept so late because he knew Cuddy would have already left for work. He was certain she'd want to know what had happened to make him leave the apartment and he didn't feel ready to talk about that first thing in the morning. So he was very surprised when, after half an hour, he walked out from the bathroom into the kitchen to find Cuddy sitting at the table, reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee and a half eaten bagel within reach.
Wilson only slowed down for a second at the sight of her before he continued onto the coffee pot and poured up a mug, “Good morning.”
Cuddy looked up from the paper. “Oh good morning! How did you sleep?”
“Good actually.”
“I'm glad to hear that,” Cuddy said as she folded up the paper. “I imagine you're surprised to see me still here.” Wilson nodded but didn't say anything as he sipped his coffee. “Well, for the last few months things have been so quiet at the hospital. I've been able to take the occasional morning to arrive for work a little later than usual.” There was no need for her to say she was able to do so because House was lying comatose in the ICU. It also didn't need to be said she'd gladly give up those late mornings if he'd just wake up from his coma. He could see it in her face.
Silence fell over the kitchen until Cuddy said, “If you're hungry, I've got a few eggs in the refrigerator and some bagels in the freezer.”
“Just the coffee is fine, thanks.” Wilson sat down and reached for a section of the newspaper Cuddy had already finished. He was more than a little relieved when she resumed reading her share of the paper without trying to start a conversation with him. Five minutes of quiet passed before Cuddy gathered her dishes and walked over to put them into the sink. He thought she'd simply wash them and then probably leave for work, but instead she turned to face him at the sink once they had been washed.
“Can I ask you something?” Cuddy began.
Wilson took a breath and released it slowly before he answered, “Sure.”
“Do you want my spare door key?” Cuddy had been about to ask him what happened at the apartment, but the apprehension on his face changed her mind. Besides, it didn't take much to figure out the reason he hadn't stayed was because his grief for Amber was still too raw.
Wilson couldn't keep the surprised confusion from his face, but he responded, “I- well, sure. Thank you.” He hoped she heard the gratitude in his voice that she didn't ask her original question.
Cuddy smiled and fished out a key from her purse. She laid it on the table and gathered up her things. “I've got an eleven o'clock meeting to get to, so I'll see you later at the hospital.”
“Later.”
0o0
Since his first surgery was scheduled for late that afternoon and Cameron had a double shift, Chase had decided he'd spend an hour or two with House. After a quick stop to the cafeteria to get a bottle of water, Chase stepped onto the floor of the ICU, nodding at the nurses as he passed them by. Chase believed he had picked a good time to come because he thought he’d avoided coming at a time when Wilson was also there. He continued to think that until he set foot inside the room and saw Wilson seated in the corner chair not visible from outside the door.
Chase's smile quickly melted into a thin line of annoyance and anger. He didn't particularly want to talk or deal with Wilson anymore than he really had to so he decided to back out of the room as quietly as he could. Chase spun around on his heel, ready to fly out of there as fast as his legs would allow, but instead of making a clean getaway he rammed straight into one of the nurses, who went sprawling into the wall opposite from him – where he struggled to keep his own balance. Aware Wilson had to have been alerted to his presence; Chase sheepishly apologized to the nurse and helped her to regain her balance.
Chase didn't spare a glance backwards at House's room, but instead picked up the water bottle he'd dropped in the scuffle and headed towards the elevators. He'd actually made it inside one of the cars and the doors were closing when a hand came between them and forced them to open back up again. Chase resisted the urge to roll his eyes in annoyance when Wilson joined him in the elevator. Chase would have been content to allow their joint ride pass in silence, but Wilson surprised him by suddenly pressing the stop button, and turning to address him.
“You've been avoiding me.”
Chase bit back the House-like answer that came to mind and simply nodded an affirmative response to Wilson's statement. He had hoped Wilson would let it go at that, but there was no such luck for Chase today as his former colleague decided to press the issue.
“You're angry with me, aren't you?”
Chase didn't really want to have this conversation with Wilson, so he reached out to punch the button to start the elevator up again. He didn't bother to hide the anger or disgust he felt when he looked in Wilson's direction, “Yeah, yeah I am.” The elevator doors opened and Chase stepped out, relieved, sure the unwanted conversation was at an end.
But it seemed Wilson wasn't ready to let it go. He followed Chase out of the elevator, and halted a second when he realized what floor they were on. The surprise didn't last long, however, when he realized Chase was headed towards the differential going on in the diagnostics conference room. He hurried and caught up with him just as Chase had put his hand on the door to open it. “Why? Do you blame me for House's coma?”
Chase froze and looked to see if anyone in the room had heard what Wilson had said and saw four pairs of eyes turned in his direction. He nodded an apology to Foreman who was running the diagnostics department in House's absence and walked towards Wilson. Chase had opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it when he noticed quite a few people were moving about the corridor. Wilson had also taken notice of the people around them and without a word he led Chase back in the direction of his old office. The sight of another doctor's name on the door really wasn't enough to stop him from seeing if the office was occupied or from going in when it was indeed vacant.
Chase was only momentarily bothered with their intrusion of the office and quickly got over it when Wilson finally looked at him again. His anger returned full force and he said what he'd been wanting to say for over a minute now. “You asked if I blamed you for House's coma. Of course not! That's absurd! I don't blame you for his coma because what happened to put House in it wasn't your fault.” Not this time around anyway, Chase thought bitterly, thinking of the coma that had resulted from the ill advised deep brain stimulation session.
“Then why are you so angry?” Wilson asked.
“You want to know why I am angry? All right I'll tell you why. To start with, even though I think you had every right to be angry with House for what happened to Amber, I also think he can only be blamed up to a certain point. I'm angry because House risked not only his life, but also his mind, trying to save her life. And then you left. So obviously, what he did, it meant nothing to you. Absolutely nothing.”
Chase paused to take a breath before he continued, “Then, as if blaming him for her death wasn't enough, you made him feel worthless before you left.”
“He said that? House actually told you that?”
Chase rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest, “Of course he didn't just tell me or Cameron or Cuddy or any of us that! But after hearing what you said to him, you don't have to be a genius to know he felt completely abandoned by someone who was supposed to be his best friend.”
Pushing aside the impulse to argue with Chase that House wasn't like everyone else when it came to emotions, he instead asked him, “How do you know what I said before I left? Weren't you in surgery for most of that day?”
“I was, but I didn't have to be anywhere near your office to know what you said to him.”
“I see the PPTH rumor mill is still alive and going on as strong as ever,” Wilson said sarcastically.
“It's only part of the rumor mill because Cameron told me about it. But she heard about what happened from Kutner and Hadley. They were next door in the conference room and overheard enough of what you said to House.”
“Dr. Chase, what the devil are you doing in my office?” asked a feminine voice. Both men were startled at the interruption and turned to see a petite woman with graying hair and black, thick-rimmed glass sitting on the tip of her nose glaring at them. When she didn't get an answer, the woman's mouth became a displeased, thin line on her face and she prompted, “Well?”
Wilson stepped forward so she could see him, “I'm sorry, Dr. Xanthopoulos, there was something I wanted to ask Dr. Chase and I brought him in here without really thinking. This used to be my office.”
Dr. Xanthopoulos's eyes turned towards him, “You're Dr. Wilson then. I heard you were back at the hospital-”
Wilson quickly cut in. “But not to reclaim my practice here if that's what you're thinking.”
Chase let out a disgusted grunt at this and said, “If you'll excuse me, there are other more useful things I should be doing. Please, Dr. Xanthopoulos, I'm sorry about the intrusion into your office. It won't happen again.” He quickly brushed past her and left the office leaving Wilson to face the hospital's most senior oncologist alone.
Dr. Xanthopoulos sat down behind her desk once Chase was gone and opened up the file that had been in her hand. “As much as I'd like to talk with you, Dr. Wilson, my first appointment will be coming in about five minutes. Could we meet before you go back home?”
Wilson nodded, “I expect to be in town for the rest of the week, at least.” He pulled a card from his pocket and laid it on her desk, “Here's my cell phone number for whenever you're free to meet with me.”
“Thank you.” It was all she said. An acknowledgment and a dismissal.
Wilson turned in the direction of Diagnostics, curious if Chase had gone back there after leaving him alone with Dr. Xanthopoulos. House's team had dispersed by now, probably going to run whatever tests Foreman had assigned, and Chase was nowhere in sight. Foreman was sitting with his back to Wilson, staring at the whiteboard, looking a lot like House would be if he wasn't lying unconscious in a bed downstairs. With that thought in his mind, Wilson turned around and headed towards the elevators. He knew he had wasted enough time on Chase.