42 Chapter 42

"Is this some kind of joke?" Obviously annoyed, Dr. Foreman asked.

"Yeah," with false incredulity on his face, House sarcastically said, "I thought that was clear to everyone." Looking at the other people in the room, House continued, "Are you okay, Foreman?" he asked with false concern.

Ignoring House, Dr. Foreman tightly closed his eyes, sighing for a few seconds before forcibly walking to one of the empty chairs to sit down, annoyed, crossing his arms.

"So what are we going to do about it?" Clearly uncomfortable with the situation, Cameron asked, shifting her attention from Dr. Foreman to Dr. House.

"We need to ensure the child's theory is correct immediately and find out what infected the babies," House said calmly.

"What about the antibiotics?" Cameron asked, worried.

"We need to move fast," I said, knowing we couldn't stop House's plan. "We now have the source of the infection. We need to culture it. Let's start with MRSA and Pseudomonas," I offered.

Standing up while slightly snorting, "You heard the kid, go bear hunting," House ordered, mobilizing the other doctors.

Before leaving the office, Chase amusedly stopped for a moment to bid me farewell with an exaggerated military salute.

"Let's go," House nodded his head, ordering me out of his office. "That was funny, but you'll need many more years to take control of my department," House continued sarcastically as we walked to the maternity wing.

"Just give me a few months," I replied to him with a small smirk.

"Yeah, sure," House nodded ironically. "A few months you'll need to learn not to cry when making tough medical decisions," House asserted haughtily.

Accepting my defeat, I accompanied House to the maternity wing.

"I'm looking for a woman," leaning on the nurses' station desk, House said with an exaggerated smile to Nurse Brenda, who, taken aback, immediately had an unpleasant expression as she leaned back in her chair, moving away from House. "Oh, don't flatter yourself. The woman I'm looking for is an older woman, a volunteer, loves babies, and gives away stuffed animals," House continued sarcastically.

"Just your type," I quickly said to House.

"No, I prefer blondes, pregnant, and with the most annoying voice possible," House responded ironically immediately.

"I think it might be Elizabeth. We have many older female volunteers, but only she brings stuffed animals to give away. She was one of those who went home when they started removing vulnerable people from the maternity wing," stopping our little quarrel, the nurse said, "very kind woman, her husband passed away a few years ago, and-" the nurse was saying until she was interrupted, "yes, yes, the husband dies, the children don't visit her, and therefore she fills that void by coming to the hospital to see the adorable newborn babies," exasperatedly House monologued.

"Brenda, we just need to know where-" I was trying to say.

"Where does she hide her secret stash?" House interrupted me, asking the woman seriously, theatrically hitting the desk, narrowing his eyes accusatorily.

"Her secret stash?" The concerned woman asked.

"The stuffed animals," I immediately clarified, causing House to move away from the desk with an exaggerated sigh. "Oh, come on, just when I thought you were fun," House said falsely disappointed.

"I'm sorry, honey, but she takes the stuffed animals with her. You know volunteers don't really have a place to store things," Brenda kindly said, shaking her head.

"Brenda, do you have any way-" I was trying to say.

"What are you two doing here again?" from one of the hallways of the maternity wing, Mr. Stratford's annoyed voice interrupted me.

"Stratford, don't you have a pregnant woman to deworm?" House sarcastically asked the man.

"And you don't have a-" in an attempt to respond to House, Mr. Stratford said, running out of ideas, obviously frustrated.

"Good one," House responded ironically to the other doctor, making him shut up. "We have to work with what we have," ignoring the embarrassed Mr. Stratford, House instructed me before walking out of the wing again.

"Thanks, Brenda," as a goodbye, I said to the nurse, who kindly bid farewell back, "Mr. Stratford," avoiding the man's gaze, I quickly walked past him, following House out of the wing.

Following House through the hospital corridors, we arrived at the labs where only two of the three doctors under House were working, focused on the microscopes in front of them. "Where's Cameron?" breaking the concentration of Dr. Foreman and Chase, House asked.

"She ruled out Pseudomonas in the stuffed animals," pointing to various bags with teddy bears in front of them, Dr. Foreman replied.

"So the two babies are now off Aztreonam," House said, receiving a nod from Dr. Foreman, "so MRSA?" House asked Dr. Foreman, who shrugged, replying, "I'm waiting."

"There are a lot of things here, House," Chase said, shaking his head, "we'll never know what infected them."

"What's the difference between these two sick babies and the ones who aren't?" House asked.

"They all received stuffed animals from the same woman," Chase recalled.

"Their immune systems are worse," Dr. Foreman said.

"Yes, but there's a much more important piece of information than that," House said ironically. "Where did the babies come from?" he continued sarcastically.

"We had already ruled that out; they are from different delivery rooms," Cameron said, entering through the door with a frustrated expression on her face.

"No, not that," House immediately denied. "They came from different orifices; they have their mothers' blood, and therefore, their antibodies too."

"Cross-referencing the antibodies of the sick and healthy babies?" Chase asked, concerned.

"That would take days; we would have to search through an immense amount of things," Foreman dismissed the idea, shaking his head.

"No, that's why the mothers' antibodies are important. We look for what antibodies the mothers have, and with that, we'll know what the babies are protected against and what they're not," I theorized.

Pointing one of his fingers at me while nodding, "Cuddy has an army of students; use them," House ordered, prompting the three doctors to get moving. "Wait, Cameron," House said, stopping the doctor.

"What?" Cameron asked, pressing her lips together.

"Two theories for your long face: the Chen-Lupinos yelled at you for taking their baby off antibiotics, or—" House was saying, but Cameron interrupted, "I was about to kill their baby."

"That," House affirmed.

"If it hadn't been for PJ and his discovery, I would have killed their baby," Cameron affirmed again, clenching her jaw, apparently trying to hold back tears.

"You're setting a bad example for the kid," House said sarcastically. "We're doctors, Cameron, we stick with our diagnoses until something makes us change our minds. Your theory was just as good as Foreman's until it wasn't," House said seriously before leaving the laboratory.

"He's right," wiping her eyes and sniffing, Cameron said when House disappeared from view. "But, anyway, I want to thank you, PJ."

Not knowing what to say, I stayed by the sad doctor's side. "You don't have to say anything, just thanks," apparently understanding my silence, Cameron said again, smiling slightly before also leaving the laboratory.

On the laboratory tables, the small stuffed bears in separate sterile bags were leaning against each other, looking as harmless as they should be.

Taking my attention away from the stuffed animals, I also left the laboratory, walking towards House's office. Passing by one of the hospital windows, surprisingly, I found darkness that would only be possible if...

Checking my watch, I hurried much faster to the office because, due to everything that happened during the day, I was delayed much more than usual leaving.

In House's office, there was no one; House's backpack, which was usually hung on the side of his bookshelf, was also nowhere to be found. The man had probably left immediately.

After gathering all my things, I left the hospital, hoping that the doctors, along with the students, could discover whatever was affecting the babies.

Upon arriving home after parking my car, I entered to find mom and Bob sitting together on the couch, although it would be more accurate to say that mom was practically on Bob's side, seemingly completely worried.

"Sorry for being late—" I was saying, but mom quickly got up from the couch, interrupting me, "how are the babies?" she asked, surprisingly anxious.

"Oh, fine," surprised by the sudden question, I responded, "we found out that the babies had stuffed animals from the same place, and they are currently running tests to find out what they're infected with," I continued.

"Oh, thank God, I was so worried about that," relieved, mom sighed before sitting back down, practically on top of Bob, who had an unreadable expression while staring at me.

"Yeah, so, as I was saying, sorry I arrived so late; the case captured all my attention," I said, not really knowing if I should apologize.

"Oh, don't worry about it, PJ, as long as you drive safely, it's all okay," leaning on Bob's shoulder, mom said without giving it much importance.

"Okay," leaving the couple alone, puzzled, I said goodbye as I walked to my room, ignoring a strange look of distress from Bob.

In my room, Gabe was on his own bed practicing with one of his guitars. "Hey, kiddo," I greeted the boy as I sat at my desk to catch up on pending tasks and study a bit.

"Hey, do you know what happened to mom?" from his bed, Gabe asked, concerned.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Mom and dad picked me up from music class, and mom was sad, but no one tells me why," Gabe explained. "I think it's because of something that happened at work."

"Oh, don't worry about that, there were a few sick babies," I explained to Gabe calmly.

"Was she so sad just because of that?" incredulous, Gabe asked.

"Need more?" worried about the lack of empathy from the child, I turned in my chair to look at him seriously.

"No, I mean, it's sad, of course," he said obviously, "but they're in the hospital to get better, right?" he innocently asked.

"Yes, to cure them," I nodded to the child.

As practically every weekday, the day continued with relative normality; we had dinner as a family, and along with Bob and Gabe, I exercised in the garage using weights.

After my nightly routine, mentally fatigued from everything that happened during the day, I practically fell asleep as soon as my head touched my pillow.

The next day, as usual, Gabe and I woke up to go for a run early in the morning, returning several minutes later to the house, where we prepared for the day by having breakfast at the kitchen table with Bob, who was the only one of the two adults awake at the moment.

Remembering how the day before I had arrived much earlier than usual, I decided to leave a few minutes later from home, taking my time to have breakfast calmly.

With my previous planning, when I arrived at school, unlike yesterday, there were many more cars parked in the parking lot, as well as many people around the school and the cars.

Turning off 'Debbie' and getting out of the car, I once again found myself with the familiar feeling of being the center of attention.

Trying to ignore the obvious whispers about me, I closed 'Debbie,' making sure the door didn't open, and turned on my heels to walk to the school. Before I could move forward, I had to abruptly stop, nearly bumping into a strange teenager with a very extravagant haircut standing uncomfortably close to me.

"Hi, you probably already know, but I'm Joey," Joey introduced himself with a strange smile, raising his hand for a handshake. "Joey Donner," he continued.

"PJ," I said, taking his hand and discreetly pulling away from the unconscious teenager, forcing a smile as I introduced myself.

"I know that," Joey said obviously. "Nice car," he continued, gesturing towards 'Debbie' with his eyes, still holding my hand in his grip.

"Thanks," I said uncomfortably, trying politely to retrieve my hand from the smiling teenager's grasp, to no avail.

"I'm planning on buying one myself, you know?" he said. "I've had some gigs as a model and have some dollars saved up, so I might be able to buy a car like this or better," the teenager said with a touch of arrogance.

"Well, congratulations," I said, trying to be as polite as possible with a smile that wasn't forced at all. "Sorry, can I have my hand back?" I uncomfortably pointed out that our hands were still connected by his grip.

"Oh," apparently ignoring the entire awkward moment he held my hand, the teenager quickly let go.

Despite letting go of my hand, the teenager didn't move away from me, maintaining an arrogant smile on his face as he stared at me. "So, need anything else?" a little tired of the whole awkward moment, I asked, trying to make it clear that I wanted to leave.

"Alright, straight to the point," the teenager laughed strangely, slowly shaking his head. "You know why I'm here," he continued as if the idea were completely obvious.

"No, that's why I asked you," I sarcastically replied to the increasingly foolish teenager.

With condescension on his face, "you and Regina George," Joey said strangely, puffing out his chest, "are no longer a thing."

"What?" I asked, astonished by the direct declaration of the foolish teenager. "Who said that?" I asked again, incredulous.

"I mean, the whole school has been talking about what happened yesterday," pointing to some of the people around who continued to look at me and talk among themselves, "and don't get offended, but it was only a matter of time. I mean, Regina can obviously do better," Joey said, obviously speaking of himself, with an arrogant smile.

"So, are you here to ask me if you can go after Regina?" surprised by the lack of shame from the foolish teenager, I asked.

"Yeah, you know, it's part of the man code, to ask before starting the race," the annoying teenager said unpleasantly cheerful.

"Race," I repeated with disdain as the teenager nodded excitedly. "Okay, you know what, I don't know yet, I haven't had a chance to talk to Regina. But, I'll tell you this, if we really 'are not a thing' anymore, you'll be the first to know," I continued obviously with sarcasm.

Without understanding the obvious lie behind my statement, Joey smiled widely, raising his fist for a fist bump that I reluctantly returned. "Thanks, man," Joey said before walking towards the school with an excited step.

"You're welcome," I said, amazed by the obvious lack of common sense in the idiot teenager.

Incredulous about the entire interaction with the foolish teenager, I chuckled amusedly before walking into the school on my own.

As I walked to my locker, as painfully usual for me, people were very aware of my presence in the hallways.

Next to my locker, my friends were already getting their things ready for the day.

"SuperStar," Brock greeted me with a friendly slap on the shoulder, a sad expression on his face. "How are you?" David, who was also there, asked seriously.

"I'm fine, thanks," I responded, puzzled by my friends' attitude.

"Did you hear about the rumor that you and Regina ended your relationship?" Alan calmly explained from his locker next to mine.

"Oh," I said, understanding why my friends were acting strangely. "I don't know yet, in fact, I know the same as everyone else in the school apparently," I continued ironically, pointing to the people who were still staring at me in the hallway, managing to at least make the teenagers feel a little embarrassed.

"Yeah, everyone knows about that," Georgie affirmed.

"Speaking of which, do you guys know a guy named Joey Donner?" I asked.

"Yeah, I know him," Alan said calmly. "Thinks he's a 'model,' an arrogant idiot," my quiet friend summarized.

"Yeah, he intercepted me in the parking lot and basically asked me to give him a heads up for the 'race' to get Regina, as if that were a thing," I said amusedly at the nonsense, strangely not getting the expected reactions from my friends, except Alan.

"Oh, come on!" understanding my friends' lack of reaction, I said annoyed.

"It's a joke, it's a joke, sorry," Brock said, being supported by Georgie.

David avoided my gaze and avoided saying anything.

"Really?" I asked, surprised and offended alike.

"Don't be an idiot," Brock said, hitting David's nape.

"Okay, okay, sorry, it's just that she's so pretty," embarrassedly, David said.

"Who?" suddenly appearing next to us and startling many of those present, Kat asked.

"Kat, get a bell," still shaken by her sudden appearance, I joked to the teenager.

"Ha ha, funny, what were you guys talking about?" she asked after laughing falsely.

"Just some idiots," I jokingly replied.

"Yeah, unfortunately, there are many of those around here," Kat affirmed, amused.

"Oh, guys, this is Kat, Kat, my friends," seeing that three of my friends didn't know Kat, I introduced them.

"Hey," Kat greeted. "Stratford," Alan greeted calmly with a small nod, being the only one of my four friends who spoke instead of just staring at the girl with their mouths open.

"Let me guess, Alan?" pointing to my quiet friend, Kat asked me with a big smile.

"Yeah, and that's Brock, David, and Georgie," I said, pointing to each of my friends.

"Well, nice to meet you guys, I have to go to class," a little uncomfortable with my friends' stares, Kat said before leaving.

"Really smooth," I teased my friends, "especially you, David, I'm sure if it really exists, you'll win the 'race,'" I continued teasing my friend.

"PJ," from the school hallway, Sheldon in his amusing formality was standing quietly waiting.

"Hey buddy, are you ready?" I asked.

"Yes," formally Sheldon responded.

Classes proceeded as usual, essentially serving as an excuse for Sheldon and me to compete in our knowledge contest.

At lunchtime, my friends and I took our seats at our usual table. Again, like the day before, Regina and her friends were nowhere to be found.

As I listened to my friends' conversations and occasionally participated in them, lunchtime passed. At one point, Kat and another girl approached our table, taking seats in the empty spaces. "Since you introduced me to your friends, I thought I'd do the same. This is Mandella, Mandella, these are the guys," Kat said playfully.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mandella," I greeted the teenager.

"Likewise, PJ, it's a pleasure to finally meet you," the girl said with a suggestive smile, leaning slightly towards Kat, who nudged her away with a small elbow jab.

"So, Kat only told me that you were her friend—" I was saying, but Alan beside me gave a weak tap on my arm, stopping me. When I turned to my calm friend to see what he needed, he nodded his head at the cafeteria entrance, indicating Regina, who was standing at the door, obviously upset storming out of the cafeteria moments later.

Quickly getting up from the table, I walked after her, obviously and to my consternation becoming the center of attention of everyone in the cafeteria, I could feel the weight of the stares from my peers, their whispers forming a backdrop to the unfolding drama.

"Regina, wait," surprisingly, Regina had only taken a few steps from the cafeteria door. So I quickly said, stopping her and gently taking her wrist.

"What?" Regina shouted angrily, pulling her hand away.

"Let's talk. I don't know what you think, but it's a mistake," I said, releasing her hand to avoid hurting her.

"I don't want to talk. You're a cheater," Regina pointed her finger at my chest, continuing to shout.

"Kat and I are just friends—" I was saying, but Regina interrupted me. "Oh yeah, clearly, the cock biter, and you're just friends," she said dryly, laughing with irony. "I don't understand you. I mean, I'm Regina George, and I don't get cheated on," she exclaimed, offended and surprisingly agitated, pointing at herself and widening her eyes.

Surprised by her sudden attitude, I fell silent, not really knowing what to say. Regina was breathing quickly as she clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles began to whiten.

Sighing as she shook her head, Regina calmed her expression, also adopting a different body posture. Suddenly, she began to blink rapidly, causing her eyes to start watering.

"Regina, what—" I was asking, but the lunch bell interrupted my words. As we were in the middle of the hallway in front of the cafeteria doors, the place quickly began to fill with people on their way to their lockers for their next classes.

Seeing all the people around us, Regina, completely changing her expression, began to cry. "We're done," she yelled, with what was clear only to me were fake tears streaming down her face.

From somewhere, Karen and Gretchen appeared, each taking one of Regina's arms as they led her away, shooting furious looks at me.

In disbelief at what had just happened, I could only stand there in the middle of the hallway, watching as the three teenagers quickly left, leaving me as the center of attention for a bunch of gossip-hungry teenagers.

"Are you okay?" Kat suddenly appeared beside me, asking.

"I owe someone fifty dollars," I replied, defeated.

--- 

Author Thoughts:

As always, I'm not American and I'm not a doctor.

The resolution of the baby case is obviously a blind attempt on my part, because if you remember well, in House M.D., one of the babies had to die so they could perform the autopsy and thus find out it was a virus affecting locally. However, obviously, in my shift, I won't allow a baby to die, if I can help it.

Therefore, I arrived at the solution of this chapter. What do you think about it? I'll be reading your comments. (I would love to know how you would have solved it if you come up with another way).

The end of the relationship with Regina attempted to frame a hint of an attitude born from the blind belief of being "perfect." So, I imagined that within the aggrieved psyche of the teenager, someone cheating on her would be an offense to her entire belief system, driving her a little crazy. (As in the previous section, I would love to read what you thought of this.)

By the way, this is not the last we'll see of Regina. Obviously, she's an interesting character to use as an antagonist for a while longer.

Another chapter has passed, so new thanks are in order. I would like to especially thank:

keyakedo

RandomPasserby96

11332223

With that said,

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

Thank you for reading! :D

PS: PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW.