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Thicker Than Water, Chapter Twelve
by ParisWriter
Chapter Twelve
"How did you get them both into surgery so quickly?" Wilson asked as he continued making notes in Ellie Randall's file.
"Chase is a doctor, he knows the risks," House replied as he continued tapping his cane on the floor. "And Cuddy knows how dire the situation is, so I got her to put a rush on things."
"You... guilted her into it because she wouldn't bump Rachel up the list and you were forced into using Chase?"
House didn't deny the accusation, he simply increased the intensity of his cane-tapping. Wilson stopped writing and looked over his desk at him, his expression thoroughly annoyed.
"Stop."
"Stop what?" House asked innocently, cane still tapping incessantly on the floor.
"Stop that," Wilson ordered, pointing to the cane.
House simply continued the offending action. "Is this bothering you?"
"It's hard to think straight with the constant noise."
"I agree. Which is why I'm not stopping."
Wilson sighed, throwing his pen down onto the desk and leaning back in his chair.
"If you didn't want Chase to be the donor, you could have just said no."
"And let her die?"
"She would have given in to the treatment sooner or later," Wilson assured him.
"No she wouldn't. She would have died from her own stubbornness."
"You don't know that."
House stopped tapping his cane and looked at Wilson. Something in his tone of voice suggested more than just a doctorly concern.
"You really do have a thing for her," he stated bluntly. Before he had just been joking with him. He didn't think Wilson would actually go for his daughter.
"She's... a great girl," Wilson said, quickly returning to his paperwork. House reached over and snatched the folder out of his hands.
"Have you asked her out yet?"
"No, and I don't plan to," Wilson informed him. He leaned over his desk, reaching for the folder in House's hand, but House pulled it just out of his reach.
"Why not?" House wondered as Wilson got up from his chair and circled the desk.
"She's your daughter," he reminded him as he took the folder away from House.
"So?"
"So... what if things don't work out? Don't you think it would be... weird between us?"
"Maybe a little," House said. "But we've had our share of weird moments. Remember Grace?"
Wilson frowned at the mention of his single indiscretion with one of his patients. "Let's not go there, okay?"
"The staff Christmas party is coming up."
"I'm Jewish."
"It would be the perfect opportunity to ask Rachel on a date without it seeming like a date."
"How do you figure that?" Wilson asked, mildly confused.
"She's going to have to stick around for a while after the surgery so she can be closely monitored. It's Christmas, she's alone--"
"She's not alone. Her mom and her step-brother are both in town, and I'm sure her step-father will be on the way soon. Not to mention, she has you here."
"So use that as an excuse," House suggested. "Tell her that I'll be at the party and I'd really like for her to be there."
"You never go to the staff Christmas party."
"I'll go this once," House told him. "As long as you bring Rachel."
Wilson considered it for a moment. If he didn't do it, House would bug him until he did. It wasn't that he didn't want to ask her, he just didn't know how comfortable she would be with him asking. He was her father's best friend, thirteen years her senior, divorced multiple times - those were just three reasons he could think of that she could use to turn him down.
"What are you going to do about Chase?" he asked, trying desperately to change the subject.
"What about him?"
"You do realize you owe him now, big time," Wilson pointed out to him.
"I've been considering offering him a permanent position."
"You told me that three weeks ago."
"It looks like now I have no choice but to offer it to him, do I?" House asked as he stood up and started making his way toward the door. "Just like you have no choice but to ask my daughter to that party."
Wilson sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers as he nodded. "You win. I'll ask her. But if she says no, you have to promise me you'll stop trying to force me into dating."
"Where's the fun in that?" House complained as he opened the door and left Wilson's office, setting off to the waiting room outside the O.R.
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Cameron and Foreman watched the surgeries taking place from the observation booth above the operating room. The transplant surgeon had successfully removed one Chase's kidneys and was about to place it into Rachel's abdomen. Foreman scoffed softly and Cameron turned to face him, eyebrows raised.
"Something wrong?" she asked.
"Chase has successfully manipulated at least three people into owing him everything," he replied, his tone acidic.
"What do you mean?"
Foreman turned to her, unable to comprehend how she could be so completely oblivious.
"He just gave a part of his own body to save her life. Now she owes him, House owes him, her mother owes him... probably even more people than that owe him because she's going to live."
"I don't think Chase sees it that way."
"You don't?" he asked her incredulously.
"No," Cameron stated firmly. "I don't. He's insisting that Rachel and her mother not know he's the donor. If you want someone owing you their life, you make sure they know who you are."
"Maybe," Foreman mulled over the possibility. "But House knows, and House is the only person who really matters because once this whole surgery is over he'll never see the rest of them again."
"Oh, come on..."
"He did this just so he'll have something to hold over House for the rest of his life," Foreman insisted.
"Chase isn't like that," Cameron told him.
"Yeah," Foreman laughed, "and House is really faking that limp."
"You know, just because you hate Chase doesn't mean you have him all figured out."
"And just because you slept with him doesn't mean you do, either."
Cameron turned to him, mouth agape. "That was harsh," she told him.
"Yet completely true," he countered.
Cameron sighed, not wanting to argue with him over whether or not she had a biased opinion of Chase because they had a one-night stand.
"Remember when Chase got sued?" Foreman asked her.
"Who doesn't?"
"He lied to that guy, because he wanted to get sued. He knew it would ruin his career, and that's why he did it - to benefit himself."
"Why would he want to ruin his career?" Cameron wondered.
"We all know the only reason he became a doctor is because his daddy wanted him to," he reminded her.
"If that's true, then why did he end up telling the truth?"
"To save his own ass."
"Maybe," Cameron said. "Or maybe he did it to save the hospital's ass. The family was suing for ten million dollars, Foreman. If they won, it would have run this place into the ground."
"That doesn't explain why he lied in the first place, though," Foreman pointed out to her.
"Chase told me about what happened the day he had that follow-up appointment with the brother." Foreman turned to her, mildly interested in what she had to say. "They were going to lose their house. Chase seemed genuinely regretful that those kids were going to have to move to a new home and start over - as if they didn't already have enough to adjust to with their mom being dead."
"So you're saying he pissed that guy off, hoping he would sue the hospital, because he wanted them to be able to keep their house?"
"Yes."
Foreman chuckled and shook his head at her before returning his attention to the operating room below them. It appeared that the surgeon had successfully implanted Chase's kidney into Rachel's abdomen, and they were just about ready to close her up.
"I'm going to go see how Chase is doing," he told Cameron as he headed for the door. "You should let House know she'll be out of surgery soon."
Cameron watched him go, then observed the rest of Rachel's surgery before setting off to find House and tell him it had been a success.
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Legal Disclaimer: The authors published here make no claims on the ownership of Dr. Gregory House and the other fictional residents of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Like the television show House (and quite possibly Dr. Wilson's pocket protector), they are the property of NBC/Universal, David Shore and undoubtedly other individuals of whom I am only peripherally aware. The fan fiction authors published here receive no monetary benefit from their work and intend no copyright infringement nor slight to the actual owners. We love the characters and we love the show, otherwise we wouldn't be here.
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