Following House through the hospital corridors, I was thinking about what he had told me. If his iion truly is to turo a great doctor, learning from him and using whatever resources I have to study before returning to medical school would be the best option. In my past life, I didn't get to study within a hospital enviro or work with real cases. Sure, I worked as a paramedic, helping people oreets, but it's not the same.
Without realizing it, we arrived at an office with a gss door. "Yes, if you hear me and learn what I'm going to teaaybe one day you'll have an office with your name engraved on the door," House said as he pushed the door open to enter.
Gregory House, M.D.; Department of Diagnostic Medie, I read on the door before pushing it open.
Ihe room, besides House sitting by an individual desk, there were three other people. The female doctor who had been arguing with House a few minutes ago, somehow arrived faster than us, and two other doctors—one blond and one Afri-Ameri. All of them, except House, had their backs to me, so they hadn't noticed my arrival yet.
"I reize that loopy 'G'," House said, pointing at the board where the female doctor was writing, causio give him a stern look. "So, what does the jerk tell us?" House asked.
"Nothing good, the brain's losing trol of the body. 't order the eyes to focus, regute sleep patterns, or trol muscle movements," the Afri-Ameri doctor said, reading data from a folder.
"Yeah, not good news for the family, especially for the kid," House said ironically.
"Maybe not that bad, could be an iion," the blond duessed.
"You wish," House mocked, grabbing one of the folders. "e here, PJ, and tell Dr. Chase here why it's not an iion," he tinued, surprising the other doctors who hadn't noticed my prese, as he extehe dots toward me.
With a bit of reluce, I approached House and took the dots.
"Whoa, whoa, who's this kid, House?" the Afri-Ameri doctor quickly said, "You 't give ical records to just ahat's against the w," he tinued, standing up.
"You're right," House said with false surprise, "my apologies. This is my nephew, PJ, and he'll be your rept," House tinued with sarcasm.
"Haha, very funny, House," the Afri-Ameri doctor said with an obvious fake ugh.
"Alright, alright, you got me," House said with fake remorse, "I lied, he's not my nephew," he tinued with a smirk of satisfa, "he's PJ Dun, and from now on, he'll be my assistant," House said more seriously than before, silently challenging the other doctors to say something.
Seeing that no oed anything, House tinued, "Now that we know who you are, Dun, tell us why it's not an iion," he said while sitting up straight with seriousness.
Looking at the other doctors in the room, I was hesitant to open the dots. The doctor was right; it's illegal for ao vieatient's medical history.
The female doctor who had been arguing with House in the hallway seemed intrigued by what I might say. The blond doctor sitting doeared to be thinking about why House rejected his theory as he read the dots in his hand, and the Afri-Ameri doctor, who was still standing, looked a House.
Making a decision, I opehe medical history and quickly read it.
With a sigh nation, the Afri-Ameri doctor took his seat again, saying irritably from his pce, "Why do I even bother?"
"That's right," House affirmed to the doctor. "So, Dun, why isn't it an iion?" House repeated, promptio respond.
"No fever, no white t," I answered slowly as I pced the medical history ba House's desk.
"Correct," House said with a smile directed at the seated blond doctor.
"He did the same with the patient's family, expining what a myoic jerk is," the female doctor said, smiling beside the board. "What? So just because he's some kind of genius, we're going to ignore ws and jeopardize patients?" the Afri-Ameri doctor asked House, pointing at me.
"To begin with, he's not a genius, don't say that too much, or he might believe it," House sarcastically replied, "and nobody will be in danger. He's here, unlike you, to learn. I'll ask him some questions, and if he answers correctly, I'll give him a gold star on his forehead. If not, we'll expin why not and possibly discover things during the expnation, just like you did with me, except I'm not paying him," House tinued as if it were obvious.
"So, you want us to teach this kid?" the Afri-Ameri doctor asked even more annoyed.
"Oh no, of course not. Why would I want you guys to teach him?" House said with false offense in his voice. "I'll teach him everything he o know, along with these books," House said mogly, grabbing a book from one of the drawers of his desk. "After all, I promised your mother, didn't I?" he asked me with an ironic smile as he handed me the book. "Study it, I'll ask you questions," he cluded.
"Now," House said, standing up, "ahink this differential diagnosis might be promised because we don't have an accurate family history?"
"I took an accurate family history," the offended female doctor responded from her spot.
"You didn't even take an accurate family. His father's not his father," House said, stating the like it's obvious.
"Why would you say that?" the blond doctor, now known as Chase, asked.
"30% of all dads out there don't realize they're raising someone else's kid," House replied.
"From what I've read, false paternity is more like 10%," the Afri-Ameri doctor, Foreman, discredited House's assertion.
"Actually, of all the possible fathers who take a paternity test, about 32% are not the biological father," I said without thinking, as my mind was occupied with the patient's data.
"Not even here for five minutes, and you're already defending me. You make me proud, kid," House said, putting his hands on my shoulders with false pride.
"Even if that's true, it's still very uhat he's not the kid's father," the annoyed Afri-Ameri doctor said.
"Who cares? If he got it from his parents, they'd both be dead by now. we get on with the differential diagnosis?" the female doctor quickly interrupted, preventing House from saying anything.
"Fifty bucks says I'm right," House said with a challenging smile to the Afri-Ameri dn the female doctor.
"I'll take your money," the fident doctor replied.
"Hit a nerve? Don't worry, Foreman. I'm sure the guy who tucked you in at night was your daddy," House retorted quickly.
"Make it a hundred," the Afri-Ameri doctor said fidently, now known as Foreman.
"What about you, kid? What do you think?" House asked me after nodding to Foreman.
"It's hard to say. The night terrors might not mean anything," I responded, not really knowing what it could be.
"Not about that, is he really his father or not?" House quickly retorted.
"Oh no, I don't think he's his dad," I said after being surprised by the strange question.
"Two to one, Foreman. Looks like you're betting against two people now," House said smugly, grinning.
"Now you wao bet against minors too?" Foreman said, shaking his head.
"Yes," House said nontly after a few seds of pretended sideration.
"Wait, who said I'm betting? I just think he's not the father," I quickly said, trying to get out of the mess.
"What's the matter, kid? Not sure of your statements?" House said as he sat back down.
I really wasn't pletely sure. Dan, the patient, had a split , something he didn't share with either of his parents. But it's not necessarily a paternity test.
"It's clear that the kid only said it because you did. Leave him out of the bet," Foreman said with a bit of disdain in his statement.
"No, I'm in. One hundred dolrs say he's not the father," I quickly said without being able to trol it. Once again, someone's disdain towards me struck my ego. I should be able to trol it, but for some reason, I 't. Possibly PJ's teenage body is affeg my psyche.
"Alright, easiest two hundred dolrs I've ever made," Foreman said fidently after a sigh, making House chuckle a bit.
"What about leukoencephalopathy*? In a 16 year old," said the female doctor after a few seds of thinking.
"It doesn’t necessarily have to be that bad. If we exclude the night terrors, it could be something systemic: his liver, kidneys, something outside the brain," Dr. Chase argued.
"Yes, feel free to exclude any symptom if it makes your job easier," House sarcastically remarked. "See, kid, you 't ignore a dition. You have to keep it in your mind to reach a solution," House tinued, pointing at Dr. Chase as an example.
Likely feeling offended, Dr. Chase straightened up and quickly said, "The night terrors were aal. He could have had a bad dream."
"No, the parents said he was scious during the event and didn’t remember anything afterwards. That’s a night terror," the female doctor o the board tered.
"Parents said?" Dr. Chase quickly questioned with a prideful smile, causing the doctor to roll her eyes in disbelief.
"That’s a good point. Before we n this kid, maybe we should eain Dr. Chase’s skepticism. I want a detailed polysomnograph*. If he’s having night terrors, I want to see them," Dr. House affirmed with a slight smile.
"Now kid, he redeems himself nicely," House said again, pointing his e at Dr. Chase as an example. "As I always say, kid, everyone—" he tinued.
"Lies," I interrupted.
"Well, you're learning," House said with false pride as he stood up. "Well, I'll leave you to get acquainted, kids. I have to go; it's my quitting time," House said as he g his watd left the office.
"And oh, Dun, remember to read that book. I'll ask you questions," he added, pausing at the office door to tell me.
With House out of the office, everyone was silent and looking at me. "Well hat the patient didn't have a fever or a high white blood cell t," Dr. Chase broke the silence as he stood up, "o meet you. I'm Dr. Robert Chase," he tinued, extending his hand for a formal handshake, which I gdly accepted.
"o meet you, doctor. I'm PJ Dun. Sorry for interrupting your work, but Dr. House offered to teach me what he knows about medie, and he has better books than the public library. So why not accept?" I said as I showed him the book House gave me and shrugged.
"So you're here to make use of the hospital's resources," Dr. Foreman said annoyed as he stood up. "Don't disrupt our work while you're here, kid. I don't know what kind of game House is pying, but I don't want to be involved," he tinued angrily as he stormed out of the office.
"Pay no attention to him. He just feels a little threatened," Dr. Chase said, giving me a light pat on the shoulder. "Yeah, he might not be easy to warm up to at first, but you'll see his attitude ge over time," the female doctor added as she erased the board.
"You're lucky that House offered to teach you. He's a great doctor. I 't say the same about his personality, but if yoing to learn medie from him, it's a great opportunity," she said as she also approached. "I'm Dr. Allison Cameron, by the way. o meet you," she tinued, her hand as well.
"o meet you," I said as I shook her hand.
"So, did you learhing from the public library?" Dr. Cameron asked after the handshake.
"Yeah, you could say that," I lied, avoiding eye tact to hide my behavior out of embarrassment.
"No matter where you lear, it was impressive, like Dr. House, but without being a horrible person," Dr. Chase added with a friendly smile.
"Thank you?" I said, fused by his pliment.
"Yeah, even the way you dealt with the patient's parents was like him. You provided a straightforward expnation of their dition. It was quite surprising. I've seen residents who 't even expin a on cold to a patient's family," Dr. Cameron joked.
"Well, my mom is a nurse, so you could say I learned from her how to deal with patients," I quickly lied.
"Oh, Dun, I remember now. Your mom is the new nurse," Dr. Chase recalled. "She's... how should I put it?" he paused, thinking of his words, "emotional," he cluded with a puzzled look on his face.
"Yes, my mom works here," I firmed, ign the other part of Dr. Chase's statement.
"So, that's how Dr. House knows about you. He probably talked to your mom, and the topic of her son studying to be a doctor came up," Dr. Cameron theorized.
"No, not really. A friend's dad had a minor heart attack, so we came to the emergen yesterday. I met Dr. House outside the room of a patient with cysticercosis. He thought I was the teacher's retive, so he started a versation with me," I expio the doctors.
"Wait, you were outside Rebecca's room?" Dr. Cameron asked, surprised.
"Well, yeah. She looked really unwell, so I felt a bit sorry for her. House came over, aalked about her symptoms. I remembered reading that the cysts get attached to the muscles and the brain, but because they have a simir density to the brain, you 't differentiate a cyst from the an. So, I told House you could show the rvae by doing an X-ray ohigh," I expined, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Both doctors were silent for a few seds, clearly surprised. "Now I uand why House finds you iing," Dr. Chase said, breaking the silence. "Yes, that's impressive," Dr. Cameron firmed with a nod.
Cheg his wristwatch, Dr. Chase said, "It was o meet you, PJ, but we have to go. We o talk to Dan's parents about his polysomnograph."
"That's right. Well, I'm sure we'll meet again. It leasure, PJ," Dr. Cameron said with a friendly smile.
Taking the book House left in my care, I said goodbye to the doctors ahe office.
Ba the waiting room where I had parted from my mom, I found her sitting on one of the chairs, reading a magazine.
"Oh, PJ, are you ready? Let's go," she said, standing up and putting the magazine away to start walking towards the exit.
When my mom noticed the book in my hands, her joy was evident. "So, did you agree to study with Dr. House?" she asked quickly, feigning disi as we got into the car.
"Yes, for now, I'll be studying with Dr. House," I responded, waiting expetly for her rea.
"Oh, PJ!" she excimed excitedly, hugging me. "My son, the doctor! How exg!" she tiears of happiness in her eyes.
Patting her back, I waited until her burst of emotions subsided before we headed home.
"So, Florence gave me the ce to take a ter shift, and when you're out of school, she allowed me to take a break to pick you up and head back to the hospital," my mom happily shared as we drove home.
My mom tialking to me during the ride, but I couldn't really pay much attention. I was thinking about Dan, the patient, and the possible causes of his symptoms.
Upon arriving home, I snapped out of my thoughts and, along with my mom, ehe house again.
Bob was sitting on the cou the living room, reading his i magazine, which he set aside when he saw us enter. "So,…" he started expetly as he stood up.
"I'm going to study with Dr. House," I replied, showing him the book the doctor had given me.
"Yes!" Bob cheered, raising his arms. "Well, I guess I'll prepare a celebratory dinner," he said as he sat down again. "Doctor Dun," he repeated, with a big smile as he picked up his magazine and ope.
Amused by the situation, I said goodbye to both of them ao my room.
The door was closed, which immediately reminded me of how Gabe stormed out angrily after the news about the new baby.
Opening the door slowly, I entered our room. Gabe was on his bed, reading one of his ics.
"Gabe?" I called, hoping to divert his attention from the book. "e on, don't do this. I'm talking to you," I tiaking a seat at the foot of his bed.
"What do you want, PJ? I'm busy," Gabe said, moving his ic.
"Let's talk," I told him, reag for the i his hands.
"Hey, give that back!" he shouted as I took the ic, trying to get it back. "No, grab the ball and follow me. Don't think we're not going to py today. Thursday's my first game, and I o be in my best shape," I said, pretending to be full of myself as I stood up.
Leaving the book House gave me to study on my desk and folding the ic to put it in my back pocket, I left my room to go to the front yard. It was still daytime, with people going about their business oreet. Mrs. Cooper's car wasn't in front of her house, so they were likely at the hospital with Mr. Cooper.
Taking a deep breath of air, I smiled at everything that was happening. Faster than my previous life, I was on my way to being a doctor, I had friends, more family than I could ask for, I was involved in things beyond academics, and I was living a better life.
Suddenly, the sm of the front door pulled me out of my cheerful thoughts. I turned around quickly to see Gabe st out of the house, looking annoyed, with the ball under his arm.
"hat's wrong, Short-Stuff?" I said as I reached for the ball with my hands.
"You wouldn't uand," he said, annoyed, as he threw the ball forcefully.
Catg his strong throw, I held onto the ball for a moment, w what to say to him.
"Is it about the baby?" I asked, passing him the ball.
"Of course, it's about the baby," he burst out, annoyed. "You're the oldest, always getting more attention than aeddy's the only girl, so obviously, she's more special. I'm the you, no one pays any attention to me. I'm invisible. Now, there's going to be a baby. Not tent with being invisible, I'll be ent," he tinued, sounding more sad than angry.
Taking the ball in my hands, I approached my younger brabe, you're not invisible. Mom and Dad might seem a bit preoccupied, but it's not like that at all. They're just excited about the new baby. Mom said the same thing happeo Teddy when you were born. She thought they didn't love her anymore," I said, trying to lighten the mood with a joke.
Seeing that the joke didn't make Gabe smile—he had his head down—I quickly ged the subject. "Look, little man, if you need help with something, want anything, or just want to talk to someone, e to me. I told Teddy and you the same thing. I'm y brother. Anything you guys need, you ask me, and I'll figure out how to help. Speaking of which, we o find a guitar teacher for you. Don't think I fot," I said as I messed up his hair, waiting for his rea.
Slowly lifting his head with a small smile, Gabe nodded slightly. "Alright, thanks, PJ."
Smiling at my little brother, I said, "Now, let's py. I want to win the first game," flexing my arm. "Run, shrimp!" I shouted.
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Glossary
Leukoencephalopathy*= Is a term that describes all of the brain white matter diseases, whether their molecur cause is known or unknown.
Polysomnograph*= A type of sleep study, is a multi-parameter study of sleep and a diagnostic tool in sleep medie.
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Author's Thoughts:
As always, I'm not Ameri, aainly not a doctor.
This chapter serves to introduew characters. The chapter will be longer (much longer). Expect a chapter simir to Chapter 10.
Unfortunately, we didn't reach the goal I set for two weekly chapters this month. For the chapter, I'll set a new goal, and we'll do this every week from now on for special chapter update events.
Someone reended ging the cover of the novel, but I really don't know what to use. I'm not good at art, so I don't want to make something myself. If you have any reendations, please leave them in the ents.
Things I want to crify:
1. I'm not racist. The way I wrote Foreman in this chapter is just for the development of his retionship with the Mbsp;2. The same goes fabe. I hope I write good character development for sedary characters like I did for the MC. Wish me luck. 3. Did you know that the first legal paternity test was in 1924 in Germany?
I think that's it. As always, if you find any mistakes, let me know, and I'll correct them immediately.
Thank you for reading.
P.S. If you haven't already, please leave a review. It really helps me gain motivation to write and know what you're enjoying about my novel so far. :D