Prompt Nine

Title: We Read the Last Page and End at the Beginning
Rating: No idea. Only thing warranting rating is cursing, though.
Prompt: Nine. A patient dies.
A/N: Un-betaed. I looked it over after posting it, but nothing fixed other than a few spelling errors.



3a) It’ll be the third time in two weeks.
House will yell, once, and loudly.

“DAMNIT!” – Just once, he’ll shout, loud, and then he’ll stare listlessly at the floor, pushing all his weight onto his cane like it will rip a hole in the floor for him to crawl into.

For Wilson, it’s not irregular. Patients have died before, he’s an oncologist, patients, for him, die at least every week, but House only takes on one or two patients in a week, and everyone knows that they’re not … They aren’t supposed to die.

His mortality rate is the only reason Cuddy lets him get away with half the shit he gets away with.

1a) Wilson is an idiot.
He surmised this by the fact that his tie is pink on the first day of work.

Not that’s it was a bad tie, very nice- Small white diamonds, otherwise solid, probably silk. But, seriously, who the fuck wears a pink tie on their first day of work?

He mentions this in the elevator, (i.e., “Who the fuck wears a pink tie on their first day of work? Wait, is that a pocket protector? Are you serious?”), and, instead of looking affronted and sighing dejectedly while waiting for the button to move to the next number, Wilson had turned halfway and cocked his head to the side.

“Oh, James Wilson, actually. He’s been known to do things like that. You should stay away from him.” –All this with a very candid tone of voice. After having looked at him, Wilson had turned back and regarded the elevator doors with a polite impatience.

2a) “BP’s dropping! Get the-” Wilson’s sentence is drowned out in the ICU, and Chase stops him.

“Doctor Wilson, a moment,” is all he allows himself to say.

“Uh, you really think now’s the best time?”

3b) It’ll be the third time in two weeks.
Cuddy won’t yell until the standard three days later.

It’s not enough of a time frame, but House manages, and after he snipes the meanest thing he can, she’ll hand him a file and he’ll take it. Only fair.

Wilson is often jealous of Cuddy’s control on House. Sure, people make jokes, but she’s still his superior. And she can tell him when he’s an ass. Wilson either has to make sure it’s an okay time to say it, and then, it won’t have any effect, or it’s one of those rare times that House allows him to have impact on his life.

1b) Wilson is an idiot.
He willingly took a consult, about two months after they had first met in the elevator.

Work had been busy, because there had been a septic infection the week after Wilson started. Not much time for repartee. But he was an idiot for answering the consult.

It was just a routine “do-they-have-a-tumor-or-don’t-they-have-a-tumor,” so Wilson could have probably palmed it over to Brown (who was new, but actually had oncology experience), but he didn’t.

“You look like you should be gluing model airplanes together. What are you here for?”

“Consult? You know, it has something to do with that job thing.. Nah, you don’t know what I’m talking about…”

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

“What, and it’s better to try and read the last page?”

Kid turned out to have a rare case of celiac disease, but Wilson had stuck around to watch how it had progressed.

2b) Wilson’s in scrubs, even though he only has a minor role in the rush-surgery to allow a digoxin radioimmuneassay.

Tumor in the pancreas has to be removed to treat the poisoning.

“They got it, nothin’ you can do- I just-” Chase is motioning to the side, where there’s an empty space to talk.

“Alright, what?” Wilson’s hands drop to his hips, tired expression on his face.

“What will happen if she does die? I mean, we’ve been working so hard to crack this, and we –well, he has, but what if she doesn’t- What if it’s too- What’ll he-” Chase stares, haltingly, at Wilson, like he’s the code book to his boss.

3c) It’ll be the third time in two weeks.
Cameron will try to console him, unsuccessfully, then do it successfully, Chase will ignore it until it’s simmered and then state his opinion for House to analyze, Foreman will walk in and intelligently give House advice, good word, and maybe a hint of concern.

House will berate all of them, but he won’t forget.

He’ll let Cameron fawn (when she does it successfully by bringing him coffee and shutting up Foreman if he gets too smart), give Chase a smidgeon of praise when he eventually does something that reminds House of himself, and nod to Foreman like he’s going to take what he’s said to heart.

1c) Wilson is an idiot.
He took Cameron out to dinner three days after she started her fellowship.

It was, of course, just dinner, because Wilson was a gentleman, but it was so more than dinner. He mentioned this to House the day after, as they were waiting for lab tests.

House frowned and stopped short his tirade on why clinic was detrimental to other’s health (which was part of the reason Wilson had mused on dinner in the first place) and fell silent. He said something about hassling lab kids, and left.

Wilson didn’t take her out again.

2c) Wilson stops and tries to think of something, something consoling to say or the protocol for three patients in critical condition and two dead. Something comforting, reassuring. Something House couldn’t allow himself to say.

“Life’s shit, Chase. House can get through it.”

3d) It’ll be the third time in two weeks.
After the games are done, Wilson’s the only one left.

Funny, though, because Wilson and House are the most easily compared to a game. Chess pieces moving in and around, both with sufficient and calculated accuracy, checking and unchecking until one wins and the game rearranges itself. Solitaire, completely pointless, yet you still come back to it, even when you have work to do. Tetris is most easily comparable- You never win, no matter how good you get, and it moves too fast to get it just right anyway, but it’s addictive and you want to be the best.

The best part will be when he realizes that it isn’t a game. Then Wilson will know why the third patient had to be saved.

1d) Wilson is an idiot.
He’d stuck around after the infarction, and he didn’t leave.

Sure, the first few weeks and first few months of physical therapy, and rage, and suicidal rants were probably not that difficult. Wilson didn’t mind, Wilson liked needy.

But it was the after that was hard. Getting used to being a cripple is pretty time-consuming, you don’t have much left after distracting yourself to death. It’s when you’re used to being a cripple that it really gets you. And everyone around you.

In House’s case, that was Wilson and Stacy. Stacy left, he didn’t blame her.

Wilson left, and he definitely blamed him. Wilson didn’t mind, he liked damaged. He liked House, anyway.

2d) Chase blinks and frowns. It’s the first time he’s heard Wilson curse, but it was said in such a way that it didn’t seem sacrilegious.

“Wilson- there you are!” Michael Wheets is the surgeon they got at short notice, and he’s a good friend of Wilson’s, it’s easy to tell. “Can’t say now, but I think it’s all gone, she’ll be good for digoxin radioum- im- treatment soon.”

Wilson raises an eyebrow and a smile in reply.

“Big words after a surgery like this? No- Big drinks after a surgery like this.”

There, over the faint murmur of doctors leaving and nurses entering, “BP’s elevating to normal..”