Chapter Text
Around midday,
“I still manage to get lost around here after what, 6 years? I don’t even know how I manage that, New Jersey’s such a big place, huh?” Todd chuckled a little, looking over to Charlie who was walking beside him.
Maybe he didn’t go outside the house enough to know where the backroots led, even some of the main roads. However, he wasn’t even too sure how long they’d spent wondering around the winding roads. It didn’t matter how long they’d spent back there anyways, as long as they’d been spending the day together as it used to be. He’s been missing the poets dearly, even if he didn’t know it. It was all he needed in life; his old life. He’s been too hung up on that anyhow.
The careless wind of a fall day swept by them. The breeze sending a shiver down his spine. Him and Charlie had been strolling for around maybe 30 minutes yet this breeze couldn’t seem to catch a break. It was a close comparison to the bitter Vermont fall, yet not as viscous. At least it wasn’t winter just yet, the frost was quite intense some years. He ended up with his hands in his jeans pockets, in hopes to keep the warmth in slightly.
“So how’s life been going? Just in general. Got a love yet, Mr Poetry?” he tried to elbow him jokingly with a raised eyebrow.
“What, and pull what you did back in the cave with those girls you brought over from the other school?” Todd joked around with him, deflecting the question from himself in the process.
“Still got the charm too, the words of poetry always woo women.” he looked over with a charm in his eyes as they used to gleam with glee, “Prefer to stay a bachelor though for years to come. No use in it now, doesn’t seem to last long enough.”
“Yeah, yeah, me too. It’s weird to see people you know getting married now though, makes me feel as if they years are just completely passing by almost. I mean Chris and Knox’s wedding felt like a completely shocking reminder of our adulthood. All the things that felt as if pipe dreams what only feels like many moons ago yet has been years.”
“Honestly, I think even the wedding would be an absolute shock to us all if we heard it then. Good old Knoxie getting the girl we only heard about but had never seen.”
Charlie continued on yet it only started getting fuzzy within Todd’s mind.
“He would be ecstatic about Knox’s news too, he would’ve been so supportive and wanted to hear all about it.” Charlie had looked to have been testing the waters on whether mentioning him yet couldn’t seem to utter the name out of his own mouth, caught in his throat.
Charlie looked over with a supportive yet sorrowful smile, checking how Todd was doing yet he’s noticed something uneasy about him.
“Hey, Todd, you okay? We don’t have to talk about that if you’re not alright with it.” He checked as sweat seemed to drip down the other man’s face.
“No. Not that.” Todd seemed to have almost forced the word out of his mouth as if he was almost not able to. He began to lose a slight control of himself as his feet started to fail from under him.
“Todd?! What’s going on? Somebody call a doctor!” Charlie cried out to the street, slowly lowering Todd down to the floor incase he fell, hoping someone would hear his plead.
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“Seriously House? I get you hate dealing with naive patients but taking vicodin for every single one of them is futile. When they said Momento Mori, they didn’t mean do it yourself.”
“Going Latin on me, are you? Who the hell even learns Latin anyways? Thought that was a dead language. See, now that’s futile.” House’s slowly stood up from the chair as he looked into a folder of a patient’s file as if the information he gets handed wasn’t always obvious enough information of them even when observing patients.
“So, let’s see, which one is worse? Learning a language or taking drugs?” James rebutted at House’s snarky remark.
“Oo, tough one. On one hand you’ve got something that relieves the pain in my leg. Yet, on the other hand you’ve got something utterly useless in the real world. Such a compelling argument.”
“Are they even just for your leg anymore? Or is it just-“ James has been cut off abruptly by the door to the room breaching open.
“House, Dr Cuddy wants you to see her in her office.” A brunette woman spoke from the doorway, halfway in the room.
“Wants me in her room huh, wonder what’s this is about this time.” he retorted in his lackadaisical manner before leaving the room behind her.
Wilson got up from the empty room and headed back upstairs. He checked the clock in his room. There was a patient coming in around half an hour so he checked through their file in the meanwhile.
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“House, you’re going to have to do the rest of your clinic duty on a different day, don’t think I’ll forget.” Dr Cuddy spoke up from her desk at the end of the room. “The patient was walking across town with his friend until he began feeling nauseous and disoriented. Severe bradicardia. His heart rate’s at forty-eight and falling quickly. He’s not responding to atropine.”
“Wonder what that could be? Difficult one.” House picked up the folder.
“What? You picking up a case just like that? What’s your motive here? Or just a complex puzzle for you to mess with again.” Cuddy stared over with an annoyed-type complex in her eyes.
“I can’t just have interest in a case? No, I have to have a motive, don’t I? Do you want me to solve this or not?”
“Yes. Just follow procedure and don’t go off the wall for Pete’s sake.” She’s sigh, knowing none of this would be followed anyways.
House left the room while she was finishing her sentence, heading back to his room. There wasn’t a huge motive for taking the case. It was simple but it got him off clinic duty and stupid patients so it was worth enough. He just needed to tell the patient and then sit in his room as if he was busy.
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“It’s drugs.” He strode into the room of doctors looking at the case. “Give him charcoal and naloxone.”
“His tox screen was negative.” Foreman spoke up. “He’s still whacked out.”
“Why do you care about him?” House began, becoming slightly irritated that he didn’t just follow the diagnosis.
Foreman interrupted, “His CAT scan was clean. There’s no infection, it’s not diabetes.”
“Oh so you don’t care about him?” he retorted at the continuation.
“Yes. Is that what you want to hear?” Foreman was starting to get aggravated at him as he just passed by whatever he said with sarcasm, as always.
“Me neither. Means we’ll be objective.” He picked up a pen, writing across the whiteboard.
“Maybe it’s shigellosis?” Cameron broke the near silence that was being taken up by a squeaking board pen.
“Wouldn’t account for the bradycardia.” Foreman responded.
“Viral myocarditis?” Chase questioned from behind.
“Wouldn’t account for the whacked out.” House interjected, “So, what’s the differential for a negative tox screen?”
“He was clean.” Foreman stated.
“Unless someone screwed up.” Cameron jumped in the conversation again.
House interrupted from the doorway now, “That never happens.”
“Or he O.D.’d on something we didn’t test for. One-four butanediol would give you these symptoms.” Chase added in.
“That’s a new one.” Foreman commented in, not sarcastic like House however.
“Copy machine toner. Same punch as GHB. A little pricier. Way more dangerous. But on the other hand, it is legal.” House stated, “I want you to go to his house and find his stash. Cameron, go with. How much atropine is the guy getting?”
“One ml.” Chase responded as the others had left.
“Make it two. In case he needs his heart later on. House ended, looking back at the whiteboard full of symptoms.