"Resignation" alternate scene
This is my first House fic - critiques are requested so my next one will be better!
This is an alternate take on a scene in the episode
"Resignation."For anyone who didn't see
it, here's the relevant info (no plot spoilers):
Between Friends
Playing
Of course,
Waiting in
front of the television for the phone to ring, House still felt the residual
impish adrenaline from his coffee prank.Usually by now he was back to even.Maybe it was the imagined image of
But
Finally, at
It was Cuddy.Typically, she sounded strained."You have to come back to the hospital."
"Oh!" he groaned melodramatically."I missed it, didn't I?"
"...Missed what?" Cuddy asked.
The epic heart attack!Okay, it kicked in a few hours later and it probably wasn't quite as epic--"
She cut him
off."No!House - no.Your patient, as far as I know, is fine.It's
It was more
than strain in her voice... it was worry.The smug smile froze on House's face."What about
"
His stomach sank, the Vicadin high dissipated."What?" was all he could think to
"He's been asking for you," Cuddy told him.
It took an effort to suppress his panic and get moving."I'll be right there."
~~~~~
He slammed Cuddy's doors open with such force that they almost bounced back onto him.Cripple or not, he could move when he wanted.Cuddy startled badly, literally jumping out of her seat."Where is he?" House demanded.
His mind
was divided in a civil war.One half,
cool and logical, assured him that his trick with the coffee could not possibly
have caused Wilson to have a heart attack, if only because he had evaluated
that risk and spiked the drink anyway.He would never have done anything to put
His boss gestured to the couch and told him, "Sit down."
Of course that wasn't going to work.House's eyes were wild and he demanded again, "Where is he?"
Cuddy was glaring at him, but there was something else behind her eyes - pity?So when she told him again to sit, he didn't obey but he did stop railing."I have to talk to you first," she said.
"No, first you have to tell me where
Cuddy sighed and resumed the glare."I really wish you would sit down."
House eyed her suspiciously.You only insist someone sits when you're giving them bad news."Why?" he asked.
"So I can sit down, and face you."
He still eyed her strangely, so she
came around her desk and sat in the chair facing the couch to prove her
point.House grudgingly dropped down
across from her and raised his eyebrows expectantly.Is
Cuddy leaned forward and looked
House straight in the eye, intent and serious."
House fidgeted in his seat, growing impatient.Somewhere in this hospital his friend was being treated for an MI and Cuddy was giving him the run-around.
"--and I gathered he was angry at you.Before I could get anything coherent out of him, he had a heart attack and collapsed.We rushed him to the ER for treatment."
"Is that where he is now?"House moved impatiently to get to his feet.
"No.And we're not done yet.He also said something about amphetamines," she said, the edge in her voice growing sharp."Do you have any idea what he was talking about?"
The gnawing doubt
about the harmlessness of his prank had followed him all the way back to the
hospital.But no, he reminded himself,
there's no way he could have caused this.Hypertension, maybe, but not a heart attack, not in
"This is serious, House.You drugged
"I didn't.Nice guess though.You want to tell me where he is now?Or should I walk upstairs and ask the receptionist what room he's in?"
Cuddy opened her mouth to talk, shut it, tried again.
"He's dead," she told him.
House stared.For a full three seconds everything
stopped.
A desperate attack of logic took over, and House felt sudden calm reassurance flood through him.He cocked a smile and shook his head at Cuddy."No he's not."
She gazed at him earnestly."I'm sorry, House."
House went on smiling, and this time
it was his turn to lean forward and look her in the eye."You didn't ask me if I doped
"Yes," Cuddy responded, "while he was going into cardiac arrest on my floor!So you did dope him."
"I didn't say that, I said you said that," he clarified."You don't look too upset for someone who just watched someone die on their floor."
"He died in the ER, and you think
I'm not upset?" she shouted at him indignantly."You killed your best friend, House -
only friend, and a friend of mine too!How dare you?You think I'm not
upset?Right now I'm shocked and I'm
angry that you could have done such a thing.I'll mourn for
House was unflappable."If
"Unless I thought you caused his death!" she defended."Did you?"
"
"House..."
"
Cuddy shook her head, looking at him sadly."I'm so sorry, House."
Doubt and fear crept back into his
mind."No.Come on..."
Her ranting was over.She was in sympathy mode now."I know you were close."
Cuddy was a manipulator just like House and Wilson, but she had ideals and ethics.She wouldn't stoop this low.Would she?"I want to see him," he tested.
"I can't let you do that."
"Because you're complicit in his
death," she said, growing angry again."As soon as they took him up to the ER, I went to his office and tested
the coffee.It was positive for amphetamines.The clinic pharmacy record shows you signed
out
"Oh, God..."The horrible reality of the evening was
setting in.House leaned heavily on his
cane, staring distantly at the floor.`What have I done?Did I kill
"Why?"
But this time his disbelief was feigned.
"I can't let you.The police told me I wasn't--"
"Yes!" she sounded exasperated."You caused a man's death!Your friend!The police are already on their way here.I don't if I'll be able to help you this time--He abruptly turned and went for the door."Where are you going?"
You can send the cops up there when you're done with them."
In the elevator, House was keenly
aware of the passage of time.Each second
passed precisely as the last had, each left him equally numb.`
House couldn't let it
go.He'd suspected it might have been a
side-effect of antidepressant medication, but he'd drugged
The elevator doors opened and he
trudged down the empty halls toward his office.He was going to be arrested for killing his best friend - and Cuddy was
right - his only friend.And he'd rot
away in jail knowing that
Turning the corner, he passed Cameron on her way to the labs."What are you doing back?" she asked him.
Normally he would have snapped a witty
remark.He didn't feel like playing any
more games tonight."
He didn't get the reaction he expected - unbridled shock and sympathy.Instead she looked confused."What?"
"
She only looked more confused.He walked on, didn't want to deal with her compassion right now.He just wanted to get to the quiet, dark solitude of his office and sit alone and try to comprehend everything, let reality sink in a little more, then throw back a bottle of Vicadin and go numb for a while.Cameron's voice said to his back, "But I just saw him go into your office."
House paused, sure he'd heard her wrong, or that she was mistaken.And then, no, everything began to make sense again....He turned to her."What did you say?"
"
He spun and dashed the last few yards, flung open his office door.
House nearly went crazy.He dropped his cane and advanced on his friend, nearly screaming, "You son of a bitch!"
"Were you listening in on Cuddy's speakerphone?" House accused."Is that how you knew to beat it to my office and surprise me?Maybe you could have given me a heart attack - I'm the one with the drug problem, remember?My ticker's probably not in such great shape, like yours evidently is."
Staring up at House standing
unsteadily over him,
"You let me believe you were dead!" House shouted back.
"You put amphetamines in my coffee!"
"You made me think I killed you!"
So you admit it!"
Cameron was standing on the other side of the door, staring in at them with bewilderment."Don't you have anybody's hand to hold?" House shouted at her.She straightened disdainfully and left."Yes, I drugged your coffee.But only because you didn't want to tell me that you're on antidepressants."And besides that's nothing compared to what you did!You even dragged Cuddy in on your lie!I wonder how you roped her into that one.Did you tell her I'm a big bad and I needed to be taught a lesson?"
"No.I told her you're an ass that needed to be brought down a few pegs.She agreed."
"Those amphetamines never would have killed you."
"You don't know my medical history!" he protested and stuttered, "I- I- I- I c- I could... Heart disease runs in my family, you know - they could have caused an MI."
"You don't have heart disease.You're in perfect health," House
retorted."Except for the being
depressed part - your yawning gave you away: it's a symptom of some
antidepressants, apparently the ones you're on."
"Oh please," cried
"What do you know?" House grumbled petulantly."You're on drugs."
"Yeah, I'm on speed,"
"I don't know.Maybe if you'd been honest with me, instead of lying about being on happy pills--"
"I didn't lie!"
"A lie of omission is still a lie.You should have trusted me."
"It was personal, House."
"So personal you couldn't tell your best friend.How's that for appreciation?"
"You're right," scoffed House."I'm the horrible one.I'm the one who pretended to be dead for petty revenge."
"No, you're the one who callously exposed his friend to potentially dangerous drug interactions for no reason at all!Even a first year med student knows not to mix MAO inhibitors with amphetamines!"House tried to shout over his voice in protest,"You were fine!I didn't give you nearly enough to induce a reaction," but Wilson paused only momentarily, then ignored him and went on: "You didn't care enough about me to give your little prank a second thought, so don't pretend to be hurt by my trick.
Having the roller coaster of
emotions House had experienced over the past hour thrown back in his face
induced a fresh adrenaline rush, and he hurried at Wilson again, left hand
balled into a fist.But before he got
within swinging distance,
Seeing the near consequences of
their anger abruptly killed all the passion behind their heated argument.They'd each had their moment of
catharsis.House knelt motionless on the
floor, staring up at
"You're pathetic," House told him.
"For being on antidepressants or for
helping you up after you drugged me and attacked me?" asked
Upright again, House looked
"What?My pills?" said
"I thought I'd killed you before.I'm feeling depressed.I need help getting through it."
With House, you could never tell if
he was being earnest or if he was blowing smoke (often the case was both).
"That's the speed talking.
"Why, so you can hide them from me?"
"No, I'm going to prove to you that your little trick worked.Now give."
Anger boiled to the surface again.House lifted his cane and slammed it against the side of his desk."You didn't like my prank - fine!" he shouted."But yours crossed the line!"
House looked away, a rare show of embarrassment."I misjudged Cuddy," he explained sheepishly."I thought she would object to a prank like that on morals, or principles, or whatever."
"And you were genuinely concerned?
"What difference does it make?" said
House.
It wasn't the answer he'd been
looking for, but
"I didn't take you for granted.I took an interest.I wanted to know if you were depressed, which you are."
"You could have just asked."
"You would have lied."
"That's right,"
"Especially you," House replied, pointing his cane at him."And not just about the little things like most people do.You lie about the big things, like dying."
His friend studied him
skeptically."So you're saying you
slipped me drugs because you wanted to know if I was "House's still-sheepish silence answered
affirmatively."Why?"
"Because you're my friend," House told him, exasperated."Because friends are supposed to let each other know when something's wrong, and you've been hiding this - for how long?The yawning's recent, which means either you just started, or you recently switched medications--"
"You want to know why I'm depressed,
"
The answer to this was of course
He looked at his watch.He decided he'd grown tired of looking at
Downstairs, he offered Cuddy a similar piece of advice, as she smiled smugly up at him from behind her desk."Next time you tell me Wilson's dead," he told her, "he better be, or else you're gonna be."