readingrat | Twelve Days, Day 3

Sir Toby Belch:
What a plague means my niece, to take the death of
her brother thus? I am sure care's an enemy to life.
[Twelfth Night, Act 1 Scene 3]

May 18, 2010: Day 3
(The day after the crane disaster in Trenton)

Noon

No one is surprised not to see House at the hospital in the aftermath of the Trenton crane disaster. It's not that there is any sort of special dispensation for staff who worked at the site or in the ER the previous night - if there were, then Cuddy would have to close down the hospital for the day. Indeed, she immediately requisitions Chase to help out in surgery, the department that bore the brunt of the disaster. The remainder of the diagnostic department (consisting, at nine am, solely of Foreman, but Cuddy conveniently overlooks that, diplomatically choosing to ignore all issues involving punctuality or lack of motivation due to tiredness) is assigned to clinic duty for the day.

Foreman texts Taub and Remy to inform them that they have clinic duty as he makes his way to the clinic.
Remy turns up at noon.

"Where were you?" Foreman mouths at her as they pass each other at the clinic desk, she to pick up a file, he to pass on his current patient to radiology.

"Physiotherapy," she answers, not quite looking him in the eye.

He knows she's lying, she knows he knows; still, both choose to ignore it. Just as both know that he only asks where she's been because not asking would mean acknowledging that she has reason not to be at work continuously and reliably. So he raises a disapproving eyebrow at her tardiness, as befits his position as deputy head of diagnostics, while she tries for a look of apology and fails.

"Why are we here?" she asks.

"House isn't coming in today."

"Did he call?"

"Cuddy said."

"Is it true that he was at the site all night?"

"He came back with a patient at about 4 am," Foreman says, filling out the form for radiology with more precision than is strictly necessary. He can sense Remy watching him; she's far more sensitive to his moods than he likes.

"What's bothering you?" she asks.

He studies his file for another moment before shutting it and pushing it over to the nurse on duty. Then he looks at Remy with tight lips. She isn't going to like this - she's no Cameron, all starry-eyed and convinced that she knows what's best for House, but she's nowhere near as cold as she comes across to strangers.

"He lost the patient. He amputated her leg at the site. She had a fat embolism on the way to PPTH. There was nothing he could do."

Remy absorbs this, her patient file forgotten on the desk. "Did you talk to him?"

"I tried." It comes out defensively, although he has been telling himself that he has no reason to feel guilty. "He refused to listen. He was tired and he just wanted to go home."

Remy is no fool. "So you let him go."

He doesn't need to defend himself. "Yes."

She rolls her eyes as she turns away.

"What was I supposed to do - tie him down?"

"You know what he's like when he loses a patient! He amputates a leg and she dies. Does that sound familiar somehow? Should that make us worry about how he's taking it?" Her voice is dripping with sarcasm." I know you think he's an utter jackass, but even House has feelings!" She looks around for the nurse. "We should go and check on him."

"I've sent Taub a text message asking him to look in on House on his way here."

She looks pleasantly surprised, which cheers him (although he didn't do it for her), and picks up her file again.

Taub enters the clinic, tugging on a lab coat. "Chris Taub, clocking in at twelve," he says to the nurse, favouring her with a smile.

She doesn't fall for it. "Twelve-fifteen," she notes down pointedly.

He grimaces as he joins Foreman and Remy.

"Did you go to House's place?" Foreman asks.

"I did."

"Did you see him?" Remy says impatiently.

"No, I didn't. He wouldn't let me in." Foreman and Remy exchange a testy look. "He shouted a few choice epithets at me, so he's alive and responsive. If you wanted someone to break in, you should have gone yourself."

"There's a key on top of the door frame," Foreman remarks.

"So I should have asked the neighbour for a chair to help me get at the spare key to the apartment of a person who's yelling at me to go to hell loud enough to be heard two blocks away."

The image of Taub balancing on a chair in front of the door to House's apartment while the inhabitants of the surrounding apartments peer out to watch the fun is so incongruous that even Foreman has to smile.

"Now what?" Thirteen asks.

"Nothing. We let him be," Foreman rules. "This isn't an abnormal reaction for him. He always shuts himself off when he loses a patient. His pain level's up, so he's hiding. He'll come out in due time."

"And in the meantime?"

"We have clinic duty."

"I can't believe I fought for this fellowship only to spend my time diagnosing crotch rot," Taub grumbles.

The nurse overhears him. "Got something really exciting for you. Kid retching in Room 2," she grins, passing him the file.

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