After shaking my hand with a friendly smile, Director Cuddy lost all her kindness when addressing House. "You 't order a three-thousand-two-hundred-dolr Do win a bet," she told the doctor with a furrowed brow.

  "It's not an actual cost," House said sarcastically. "I don't know if you know this, but the hospital actually owns the sequeng mae," he tinued ironically while leaning in towards Director Cuddy.

  "We have our own Thermocycler," House told me strangely proud about that fact.

  "Yes, we do," Cuddy said with a smile directed at me. "But I'm serious," the director said, clearly irritated with House.

  "Well, tell the parents to submit the bill to insurance," House offered easily, joking.

  "Insurance is not going to pay for a bet," Director Cuddy immediately denied, unamused by the situation.

  "It should," House said, pletely fident in his assertion. "If we don't make that bet, the kid dies," he tinued cryptically. "If not for the paternity bet, I never would have taken their DNA. Without their DNA, we never would have trusted the child's diagnosis," House went on, tilting his head towards me. "You just don't want to pay your end," House said as he stood up. "Big mistake," he smiled triumphantly. "My guy knows a guy," he whispered as if sharing a secret.

  Seeing that Director Cuddy didn't say anything after his st monologue, House, with a triumphal smile on his face, turo leave the room, silently signalio follow him. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a patient to treat," House said when we reached the office door.

  "Fine," Director Cuddy said abruptly, causing House to stop uhe doorframe. "I will let you out of ic duty for one week after you pay the three-thousand-two-hundred dolrs for the PCR test," Director Cuddy tinued, smiling, having successfully wiped the triumphant smile off House's face.

  Turning slowly with me, House said with an annoyed smile, "Now, kid, if I hadn't given you my word, I'd have the hundred dolrs Cuddy owes me, the hundred I won from Cameron, the three hundred I snatched from Foreman, and the six hundred I got from Wilson." After thinking for a moment, he added, "That's what you get in this hospital: you learn medie through practid earn money you don't have to decre. Here you only win," he finished, winking strangely.

  "I hope you're not involving minors is with patients," Cuddy said, pretending not to have heard what House had just said.

  "Bets?" House asked, surprised, while shaking his head with a false look of innoce. "Speaking of teenagers, that reminds me, my patient is one," he tinued, pretending to ect the dots as he calmly left the office.

  Feeling unfortable with my sudden solitude with the hospital director, I could only smile and nod in farewell, preparing to walk behind House.

  "Wait, Mr. Dun," the woman suddenly said, makiop. "I think this belongs to you," she tinued, pretending to piething up from her desk and walking briskly over to me. "It must have fallen on my desk," she said with a casual smile while extending her hand with a closed fist, expeg me to offer my palm, which I quickly did. "I don't know what House would do if we let him collect this ter," she whispered while pg something in my hand aly pushi of her office.

  "Again, allow me to wele you to the hospital, Mr. Dun," Director Cuddy said with a warm smile as she closed the door to her offi my face.

  "Thank you," I said, puzzled at the solid wooden door.

  "Dun, the elevator is here," House suddenly yelled, snappi of my thoughts.

  Reag House in the elevator, I couldn't help but think about what had just happened in the director's office.

  "What do you have in your hand?" House asked, staring fixedly at the closed elevator door.

  Opening my hand, which I hadn't realized was tightly closed until then, I found a now very crumpled hundred-dolr bill.

  "Ah," House sighed in disappoi. "She's really good at her job," he tinued with a smug smile as he shook his head.

  "Wait," I said, annoyed, remembering an important part of what had happened in that office. "What does the letter say?" I asked, offended. "No, fet that; give me the letter," I said, extending my hand, silently urging the doctor with a furrowed brow.

  Staring at me for a few seds, House began searg his coat until the elevator doors opened.

  Oher side of the elevator door were Doctors Foreman, Chase, and Cameron.

  "Hey, what a surprise to find you guys here," House said with excessive surprise, spreading his arms to the other three doctors but not taking the letter from his coat.

  "You asked us to e here," Cameron quickly responded, puzzled.

  "Who said what doesn't matter now," House said, dismissing the ent as he walked quickly, prompting Dr. Cameron, and therefore the other two doctors, to follow. "actually," he stopped for a moment, smiling broadly at Dr. Foreman, "I think there are a few outstandis."

  Rolling his eyes resignedly, Foreman took out his wallet. "Three hundred dolrs," he said, handing three bills to Dr. House, who slowly examined each bill separately.

  Dr. Cameron, also taking out her wallet, handed a single hundred-dolr bill to the doctor.

  Accepting the bill, House smiled petuntly as he reached for his wallet.

  Clearing my throat loudly, I stopped House from taking out his wallet.

  Still in pce, House, arently had decided to ignore my presehere, slowly turned his entire body with a furrowed brow, gripping the small stack of bills tightly in his hand.

  "I'm telling you, kid, in this hospital, all you do is win," House said as he relutly handed me the money.

  "Thank you," I said with a big smile.

  Losing my smile and now staring ily at Dr. Foreman, who had an even worse expression on his face, Dr. Foreman, who had stashed his wallet at some point during the versation, begrudgingly retrieved two more hundred-dolr bills from it, much more boriously than it had taken House to hand me his winnings. Dr. Foreman forcefully dropped the two hundred dolrs into my hand.

  "As I recall, it was twelve hundred dolrs, Doctor," I said, emphasizing his profession.

  My ent seemed to take everyone by surprise, as aside from House, who only had a falsely proud smile, there was an expression of disbelief shared by the doctors present.

  A few seds ter, fetting his disbelief, Dr. Foreman began to get angry. "What did you say?" he asked, half-shouting as he took a step forward, dangerously closing in on me.

  "Do I have to remind you?" I asked, also approag the enraged doctor, even though I had never fought before and wasn't really sure if I could win one-on-one against the rger man. I tried to keep the doubt from showing on my face.

  "e on, kids, separate," House said after a few moments, slightly pulling Dr. Foreman away with his e.

  "I told you not to get involved in the—" Dr. Foreman was saying again.

  "You lost," House interrupted him seriously.

  "What?" Dr. Foreman asked, surprised. "We know they're not the biological parents, but that doesn't mean—"

  "The biological mother wasn't vaated, Foreman. You lost," House said, slowly losing his seriousness and repg it with an ironic smile.

  Closing his eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath, Dr. Foreman nodded.

  "Not bad for a mere kid who's read a lot of books, huh?" I said to the defeated doctor.

  ---

  Author Thoughts:

  As always, I am not Ameri, aainly not a doctor.

  In the previous chapter, I was reeo upload shorter chapters murly. This chapter will be a test for that. If I like the results, I might divide the chapters I write to upload them on three different dates each week.

  Tomorrow, there will be another chapter.

  I think that's all for now. As always, if you find any errors, please let me know, and I'll correct them immediately.

  Thanks for reading! :D