A Chase Cold Fanfiction - (4 Parts)

[crazy_cat_girl]

"Aii-essuh!"

Robert Chase sneezed wetly into an already soggy and crumpled tissue. A couple of nurses blessed him on his way to the diagnostics office and he nodded, miserable. This had to be the worst cold he'd ever had and he knew he didn't look remotely attractive.

His nose was a screaming red, sore from all his sniffling. His eyes were blood-shot and bleary from a sleep-less night of coughing that rivaled the best cold medicine commercials.

There was no way he could hide his condition from the scrutiny of House and he had worried all morning about what abject and cruel ways his boss would find to exploit his distress.

Ever since the Volger incident, Chase had found himself isolated in House's torment.

He deserved it, of course...and he knew that House was driving him to quit. But Chase would not quit. Patience and perseverance were his badge from his damaged youth. He could hold out forever...probably.

Foreman and Cameron were already in the office when he entered the glass doors. Outside, the swirling snow of a New Jersey November whipped around the grey landscape. A lovely day to feel so awful, Chase thought as he sat down his messenger bag.

"Case?" He croaked. Foreman looked up in surprise at his hoarse voice.

"Not yet," he replied. "House isn't in, yet. Maybe we won't have one today."

Chase nodded, distracted. He looked up for a moment, a slack grimace on his face.

"Ex..excuse me..I...ah...AII-ESSHUH!" He sneezed harshly into his crumbled ball of Kleenex, turning his body away from his co-workers. "Ugh...God..."

He wiped his severely running nose, his dirty blond bangs falling into his eyes. "Sorry..."

"Bless you," Foreman said. Cameron wordlessly got up from the table and busied herself near the coffee machine. Great, Chase thought to himself, I've managed to disgust Cameron.

He coughed a few times into his fist.

"Nice cold you've got there," Foreman commented, going back to his cross-word puzzle.

"Must have picked it up at the clinic, " Chase groaned. Considering that he had pulled nearly twenty hours of House's clinic duty in the past week and a half, that was probably a fair estimate. He laid his head down on top of his hands. "I just hope that House chooses not to come in today."

"Here." Cameron's soft voice was followed by a small thud beside him on the table top. He glanced up to see a black coffee mug, with steam rising from it. She gave him a half of a smile.

"It's tea," she said, and moved back to her place on the opposite side of the table. "Good for colds."

Touched, he fingered the little string that hung from the mug's lip. "Thanks," he said. It was the first time in weeks his co-workers were treating him like a human being. It made him realize just how lonely he had been in his impromptu social exile from the land of diagnostics. He reached across the table for a handful of tissues from the community box when House charged into the room.

"Listen up," he said, immediately going to the white board without looking at anyone. Grateful for the reprieve, Chase carefully concealed the tissues in his hand. As long as he could manage to appear symptom-free for the next ten minutes, there was a small chance that House might not notice him at all.

House wrote:

-Rash

-Fatigue

-Fever

-Seizure

on the white board. His back still to his assembled staff, he said, "Patient is a twenty-seven year old female. We need a patient history and a blood sample."

Chase felt a familiar ticking at the back of his sinuses and he rubbed his nose to try and battle it back. Unfortunately, the sensitive and inflamed skin on his nostrils picked up the vibration. There was no denying it. Suddenly, he had to sneeze. Quickly, he crammed his poor nose into the center of his fresh tissues and in an attempt to stifle the on-coming assault.

"Huh...Aii-shmpft!...Shmpft!" The sneezes were quiet and polite as can be, but House stopped talking and slowly, deliberately turned toward his fellows.

"Bless you," Foreman said, watching a grin dawn on House's face.

"You, Chase. I have a job for you," House hobbled to the book shelf where he lifted the biggest, heaviest diagnostics text he had.

"Since we can't have you exposing our patient to your germs... you can look up every disease, infection or allergy that produces these symptoms that starts with the letter M." House regarded Chase with a look that should be reserved for biological terrorists and limped over to the glass doors that lead to the patio outside.

With a flourish, he unlocked and opened the door, letting a flurry of wind and snow-flakes ruffle the papers in the room. "And since I don't want to have to breathe your diseased air, you can do it...outside."

"Are you kidding?" Cameron was up like a shot. "You can't do that to him, House, he's sick!"

"Stop caring so much and go do your job," House snapped and tossed the folder he was carrying towards her. "Get a patient history."

She hesitated, giving Chase a second look. He just looked up at House in some amount of shock.

"Do it," House ordered.

Cameron took up the folder and left the room.

"Foreman, go run some tests."

Foreman did not bother with a glance at Chase...he simply shook his head and left the room.

"Chase. Outside. Or your job. You pick."

Chase slowly stood up. And put on his coat. Wordlessly, he took the book from House's hands and stepped out onto the patio.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ooooooh, I feel so evil! This fic is already finished so I will post it in parts. Will House make Chase stand out in the cold forever?

dun dun dun.....

[Mischa]

oh i LOVE where this is going

!!!!!!!!!!!

please continue!!!

[Glowie]

Oh, poor Chase! *cuddles Chase-y* House is such a mean old bastard! Can't wait for the next bit. You rock.

[untiluntiluntil]

More more more more!

[lalaland~]

>< aww poor Chase!

pleaze continue

[crazy_cat_girl]

Thanks, guys! Here we go! Part two...meanwhile, out on the patio... ;-)

"AI-ETCHUU!"

Chase sneezed harshly uncovered all over the page he was on, and shivered with all his might.

House was no longer trying to fire him, he was sure, but literally trying to kill him.

He figured he might stand out here until House left the office, but the older man was sitting at the diagnostics table, leisurely sipping a coffee.

Chase inhaled the brisk air and started coughing into his coat sleeve. He was only a quarter of the way through 'M's.

God, he felt awful.

********

Wilson was returning some e-mails on his office lap-top when he heard a third muffled sneeze from out on the patio.

Carefully, he got up and moved over to the sliding door.

Maybe House was playing some sort of prank out there.

But what he saw was stranger than anything he could of imagined. He saw Robert Chase huddled out there, the snow-ridden wind blowing his blond hair into unruly tufts. He had one hand firmly pressed against the underside of a very red nose. It would have almost been comical if it weren't so pathetic. He watched as Chase inhaled deeply twice, and then let loose a huge sneeze-

"HA-RUSSHHOO!"

it burst forth in a cloud of frozen breath.

Wilson opened his door and called to him,

"Chase, what are you doing out here? It's freezing."

Chase looked up, startled and nearly dropped the book he was holding.

"I'b sorry...I'b..." A shiver racked through him and he quickly raised his hand to his face. "Ai-chuu!...huh...heh...HUH-RRUSHHOO!"

"Get in here, for God's sake."

Chase stumbled into Wilson's warm office, blindly over-come by a heavy sneezing fit,

"EE-SHOO! AII-SHUH! HAH-RUUUSH!"

"Bless you. What the hell were you doing outside?"

Chase didn't uncover his mouth and nose.

He peered over his fingers longingly at the box of Kleenex on Wilson's well kept desk.

"M-m-may I?" He shuddered in the sudden heat of being inside.

Wilson did one better, he strode over and brought the box to him.

"Thandks," Chase murmured and managed to gather some of the precious tissues without removing his hand from his face.

In the light of the office, he looked worse than Wilson thought. He was pale, even for Chase's natural pallor, and his nose and cheeks stood out rosy and chapped against the rest of his face.

"Sit," Wilson searched through his desk drawers before he un-earthed a personal digital thermometer. Chase was coughing harshly when Wilson approached. He held out the thermometer and waited for the strength of the coughs to abate.

Chase blinked confusedly at the device being handed to him.

"Wilson, you don't have to do-"

"Take it."

Chase did, then quickly turned his face away from his colleague to sneeze raggedly into his sleeve. "Heh...heeh...HA-RRUSSSHOO! Can'd seem to stob...stob..snee...heh...AATCHI-OO!" He lifted the wad of tissues to his nose and mouth, his sinuses trying to desperately rid themselves of the irritation. "Ai-eshuu! Esshuu! hhhhhuhhh...huhhhhh....." He paused a moment, face stuck in that stormy pre-sneeze expression.

Then his breath hitched a final time, past that final breaking point when "HA-AITCH-SHUSHH!!!" burst out of him and he panted with exhaustion and temporary relief.

"Bless you," Wilson responded automatically and thrust the thermometer at him.

Chase took it, and placed it under his tongue.

"When that's finished you can tell what the heck you were doing out there, sicker than a dog, in the middle of a snow storm."

Wilson was moving toward the coffee machine, pouring Chase a warm drink. He had an idea of the reason why already, but he wanted to hear it from the man's mouth.

The little device beeped and Chase took it out of his mouth. He was too tired to care about the readings and gave it up without a fight when Wilson stuck out his hand.

"Well, it looks like to me like you have the flu..."

The number flashing on the small LCD screen was 102.5. Too high for a cold. And much too high for someone who had been standing out in a snow storm for the last half an hour. "Here," Wilson gave him the coffee which Chase accepted with shaking hands. The first few gulps scalded his mouth and burned against his sore throat, but the heat of it was wonderful.

"Once you are warmed up, you are going down the clinic to get checked out."

Chase nearly choked on the coffee.

"I...I can't! H..House...House...House- HA-RUSHHUU!" The coffee sloshed against the sides of the mug but thankfully did not escape its confines. "I'b...sorry...hhhhhhuhhhh...I have to....hhhhhhhhhhhuh.....hhhhhhhhhuuuhhh...hhhhhhehhhh..."

Chase's head pitched back in the universally recognizable build-up of an enormous sneeze and Wilson grabbed the coffee cup from him before it's inevitable end.

Chase brought both grateful hands to his face. His sore nose twitched with the intensity of it, the ends of his irritated nostrils nearly buzzing with the all-out need to sneeze, the need to repell whatever was creating the awful itch beneath the bridge of his nose.

All it took was for his pinky finger to slightly graze the chapped skin on the under-side of his nose and the sneeze erupted from him with volcanic intensity-

"hhhhhhhhehhhhh....awwwhhhh....hah....HA-AITTTCCCHH-SHUSSSHHH! AITCHH-SHHUSHH! SHUUSHHH!"

When he was finished, he blew his nose carefully. "Sorry about that," he murmured.

"Bless you," Wilson said worriedly. "What did House want you do?"

"I need to finish up...House wants a list of all diagnoses that start with "M." "

"He wanted you to do that outside...?"

"He doesn't want to get sick," Chase said and sniffed liquidly. For an instant, it appeared he would sneeze again but he managed to breathe through the moment and recover.

"If I don't stay out there, he's going to fire me."

"Damn right he is."

Both Wilson and Chase looked up to see House standing in the doorway of the patio, glaring.

"Get back out here."

Chase stood up, "Wilson told me...told me to...come in...cah...huuuhhhh..." He again over-came a moment of sneezy indecision. His face clouded over then cleared.

"Indeed, I did. I could hear him coughing and sneezing out there."

"He's faking." House delivered, dead-pan.

As if on cue, Chase's nose answered with a harsh, "AITCHH-SHUSSH! huh..huh...Ha-RUSHHUU!" He sunk back down to the sofa, suddenly not wanting to stand anymore.

"He's sick, House. Unless he can cleverly fake a fever, too." Wilson tossed the thermometer to his friend, who caught it and gave it a suspicious glance.

House then looked at Chase who was seated on the couch in his obvious discomfort.

His eyes were closed and he shivered visibly. Probably if one looked up the word "sick" in the dictionary, a photograph of Robert Chase in his current state could have been the example.

"House...," Wilson gave him his best rational look, his sensible brown eyes catching House's wide blue ones.

Wilson lowered his voice, "You're making him stand outside in the snow. Are you being Greg...or John?"

At the mention of his father's name, House straightened and pursed his lips at the oncologist.

It was rare indeed for Wilson to even mention House's childhood. And the fact that he could be right...that didn't hurt so much as surprise him...like a sucker-punch to the sternum. A hot poker to the heart.

"Chase," House said, looking away, "Go home."

Chase opened his eyes, startled.

"No, hey...give me a second chance." He got to his feet. "I promise I'll do it, I get it right, I will stay outside all day if it means you won't fire...fire....," Chase started coughing, despite his frustration at not being able to contain it.

After he'd stopped, he rubbed his hand over his eyes and took an unsteady step back to the safety of the sofa.

Wilson gave House a pointed look. And for just a split second, Wilson thought he detected a gray flash of guilt in House's eyes. And then it was gone. Maybe it had never been there at all. Hard to tell with House.

"I'm not firing you, idiot. You're obviously sick. Get out of here. Go home."

"But...But I thought...." Chase sniffled and rubbed his nose.

"You thought wrong. Now get the hell home before I change my mind and actually fire you."

"Go to the clinic first," Wilson suggested as Chase started for the door.

Chase paused and looked first at Wilson and then at House,

"Thanks," he said and then he left before his boss could say anything more.

***************************

A little more to come! I hope you're enjoying it! I know my House fics tend to get a little dark...I can't help it, I love the drama and the angst. Happy reading and talk to you soon!

[Glowie]

Is it wrong of me to enjoy Chase sneezing so much, even though the poor guy is suffering so badly??

Well, I'm just gonna sit here and enjoy it anyway... And feign sympathy when he glares at me! Lol.

[missannathema]

I love it! Sick Chase is so pathetic and adorable. Please keep going. I love your characterizations!

[ooo]

This is great! Your characterisation is lovely to read and, maybe strangely, I love Wilson as a caretaker! Aww! And poor, sneezy, sick Chase...

Loving it!

[Vetinari]

Oh YUM! This is very nice thanks.

[crazy_cat_girl]

Okay. Here's the last little part. Thanks to everyone who responded! I am just happy I have a place to share this stuff. :-)

House stood out on the patio, gazing down at the walkways, blurred by the snow. It was out there for at least ten minutes before Wilson realized it. The younger man opened the sliding door and paused before he spoke.

"About your dad, House...I really didn't mean-"

House stopped him with a hand in the air.

"You should have." He said, his voice bald. "It's not like I didn't deserve it." He moved to go back to his office, to end to conversation where it stood.

"You don't deserve it, House," Wilson called to his friend's back. "We all make mistakes!"

Without turning back, House grimaced a little and closed the sliding glass door against the moaning wind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Exam Room One," Brenda said, handing Cameron a patient folder.

There was a small knowing smile on her face that confused Cameron, but she took the folder, nonetheless. "Male, early thirties, flu symptoms."

Cameron steeled herself for yet another case of the flu to deal with. The clinic had been flooded for the last two weeks with what Cameron had decided was probably the strongest strain of flu to hit New Jersey.

She opened the door and revealed a very surprised looking Chase seated on the examination table.

At sight of her, he blushed furiously.

"Cameron! I...I'm sorry, I really...I..." A hell of a time for his nose to betray him, but it did. "I...huh...AITCH-SHUSHH! SHUSSHH! " He sneezed into his elbow.

He got up and started to move toward the door. "I really don't need to stay and be examined, I'm..."

Cameron took a bunch of hospital issue tissues from the box in the room and quickly positioned herself between Chase and the exit.

"Take these," she said, "and sit down. I can prescribe you something and you can pick it up at the pharmacy on your way out of here."

She smiled her diffusive, gentle smile and gave him a small push back towards the bench.

He accepted the harsh tissues from his co-worker and attempted to discreetly blow his nose.

The rough fibers brushed against his sensitive nostrils and sent him hitching in another round of helpless wet sneezes. "huh...HA-RUSHHOO! Ha-RUSHUSHH! AITCH-SHUSSH!"

"Bless you," Cameron said distractedly, looking at his file. "Your fever is pretty high. Cough. Stuffy nose. I would have to agree with Brenda's theory...you have got one great case of the flu." She put on her stethoscope to check his breathing. "Did House leave you out there long? You must have been freezing...inhale."

Chase did as he was told, turning away from her when his breath caught and became a cascade of weary coughing.

Cameron found herself unable to resist laying her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, flushed. His blue eyes were icy cold with self-loathing. "It's not like I didn't deserve it."

There was an uneasy intensity in that look and Cameron looked away from it.

Suddenly, he jerked and pushed her hand off.

"Gonna...hah...sneeze...AITCH-SHUUUSH!" He clamped the rough wad of tissues over his nose and mouth and turned as far away from her as possible. For some reason, his concern made her heart melt a little. She immediately cast those feelings away. "SHMPFT! huh...hehhh....AITCH-SHUSHHH!"

"Bless you," she said. "And you didn't deserve it. We all make mistakes. Here." She wrote him a quick script and tore it off the pad. "This stuff will make you drowsy though, so don't take it until you get home."

He reached for it, and she held on just a moment longer. "If you need anything, you know...you can give me a call."

He gave her a surprised small smile, but accepted the script. She had written her cell-phone number on it beneath the prescription. "That means a lot," he said. He watched her go and then started to gather his things. He was grateful to still have his job, and to have the rest of the day off to sleep away this awful flu...but he was most grateful for the seven scribbled numbers on the small piece of paper in his hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[untiluntiluntil]

This is soooo great! More more!

[evelyn]

Sorry for the late comment...but am I the only one who have had problems with the forum lately? For me it's been offline for almost 2 weeks. (I'm sure this is not the place to ask but I don't want to bring it up elsewhere, maybe it's just my stupid computer's doing and has nothing to do with the problems going on here. > I've read the announcement that the forum has been hacked. )

Back to the topic: This was awesome! Like an early Christmas gift! Is there going to be more if I promise I'll be good? I'd love to see Cameron fussing over our poor sneezy Chase!

[starpollen]

Aww... is it too much to BEG YOU to continue??? He's at home... she's concerned... you know... :-) Continue!!!???

[littlesneezer18]

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing! I love a sick Chase..... PLEASE CONTINUE!!! (in your own time of course....)

[Mischa]

ahhhhhhhhhh i love it!! please continue!

[Bongo]

So I am in a main building at my university studying for my geoscience final, and I stumble across this wonderful little ditty. Me fascina mucho (I had my spanish final this morning). Seriously, it was all I could do to keep from squealing in front of bunch of studying strangers. I loved this so much. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[jezebel215]

this is so good. i loved the house-father reference and i'm really rather hoping someone (cameron?) checks in on chase when he gets home. he's obviously not doing so well... :-)

[crazy_cat_girl]

Well, I was just going to leave it as is...but the requests to have a Cameron/Chase moment changed my mind. Thank you to everyone who commented on my story. I really appreciate it I am just glad to have some place to share this stuff. So, here it is. The last part:

Chase stumbled into his apartment, tossing his keys and the white paper bag with his pill-bottle in it onto the coffee table. Right now, his body was aching for a hot shower...something to warm him to the core.

He stripped out of his clothing as he went, leaving his shirt, pants, socks on the floor with little care. He was so tired and if he could just get warm, lay down--

The thought made him yawn hugely and he let it indulgently engulf him.

Rubbing his face with his hand, he got the shower going full blast. The steam began to roil out of the glass enclosure as he regarded his haggard and now chapped face in the mirror. The area beneath his nose had taken a savage beating during his outdoor research session and stood out red and dry.

Chase inhaled the water vapor and immediately snapped forward over the sink,

"AITCH-SHUUSH!...uuuugh..."

He moaned as he regarded the wet mess he'd left on the surface of the mirror. I hope my whole shower isn't like this, he thought. But as he opened the glass door to climb inside, he had to turn his face to one side.

"HA-RUSSHUU! EH-RUSHHH!"

He wiped his wrist under his nose and bravely got in under the spray of hot water.

It immediately warmed him and he leaned his head back, feeling the heat soothe his aching muscles and the painful lymph-nodes in his neck.

But the close proximity of the striking water and his nose resulted in a less than successful battle with his elevated need to sneeze.

"Huuhp...huuuh.....," Chase brought the heel of hand to stifle the oncoming sneeze, hoping he might be able to stave off anymore, "Ss-NIXXXT!"

Almost as if it were in punishment for the stifle, Chase barely had time to take a breath before "HA-AITCH-SHUSHH!!!" exploded out of him and left him with momentary black spots on the edges of his vision. I should go lay down for a while, he decided, turning off the water.

The short lght-headed spell had sufficiently freaked him out enough to realize that his fever was probably still high.

"Damn you, House," he murmured, rubbing his eyes.

He dried off, and was changing into sweatpants and a tee-shirt when he remembered the pills that Cameron had prescribed.

A bottle of extra-strength ibuprofen, and another of anti-virals. Stumbling to the kitchen--I am really not well-- Chase opened the bag and pulled the pills out.

As he was popping the top off of the first orange bottle, he happened to glance at the name on the label.

Mr. Robert Case.

One letter off and Chase suddenly realized something awful.

They had given him the wrong prescription.

He checked the contents of the tube and was bemused to see that the pills were of all things...Vicodin. He sat down heavily in the kitchen chair and found himself dangerously close to laughing at the stupidity of it.

When another wave of light-headedness hit him, he lowered his hot forehead to the cool table-top.

He then realized there was no way he could drive himself back out to the pharmacy in this condition and this was the only medicine he had....and he felt dangerously close to crying.

He looked up sadly at the useless pills and saw the little torn curl of paper peeking out of the bag. Cameron's number.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hello?"

Allison Cameron answered her phone in the quiet solitude of the diagnostic office. She was catching up on Dr. House's paperwork for him, trying to navigate badly organized folders.

There was a congested sounding sniff on the line and Cameron recognized the caller immediately.

"Chase? Are you alright?"

"Still alive," Chase answered with a weak laugh. "I have to ask you faaa....a fav...hold on...I gotta snee...sneeze! HA-AITCH-SHUSHH!!!"

Cameron winced at the harsh, wet sound and the fumbling sound of someone trying to discreetly blow their nose while on the phone.

"Bless you...Gosh, you sound just terrible."

"Sorry...can't seem to stop this damn sneezing...," Cameron could practically hear the blush in his voice and felt a little tinge in her heart.

"Listen, there was a mix-up at the pharmacy...they sent me home with the wrong prescription. I'm..." He took a deep breath, "I'm not feeling well enough to drive and..."

"I'll bring it to you," Cameron answered immediately.

Chase took an audible breath.

"Thanks," he murmured, sounding a touch surprised. "Are you...are you sure it's not a problem?"

"Not a problem," She reassured. I can't believe he is afraid to ask for help...he may have messed up, but he's still a person. "Give me an hour to finish up here, okay?"

"Thanks, Cam," Chase replied. "See you then."

******** ******** ********

Chase hung up his cell-phone and let out the coughing that he was holding in.

He felt some emotional playing in his chest...She said it was no problem. I thought they hated me. Putting his cell down on the coffee table, he leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes. Maybe just a quick nap, he thought, though he really couldn't pry open his eye-lids if he tried.

******** ********* *********

Cameron knocked gently on the front door.

When no one answered, she bit her lip. She knocked twice more, then finally tried the knob.

As soon as she stepped into the living room, she heard soft snoring.

She saw Chase sprawled length-wise on the sofa, curled in on himself for warmth. One hand was tucked under his chin, the other hanging off the edge. It reminded her of how a child might sleep, and unbidden, a small smile came to her mouth.

"Chase?" She whispered and he stirred slightly, his long blond eye-lashes fluttering against the flushed skin of his cheeks.

She crept closer and gave his shoulder a gentle shake. He jerked, startled and for an instant, she saw herself reflected in his frightened blue eyes.

Recognition and embarrassment settled in next and he sat up, trying to groggily straighten his tee-shirt.

"Cameron," he croaked, "Sorry, I must have dozed off there..."

"No big deal," Cameron insisted, as he carefully stood up, "You're tired..."

He blinked and brought one hand up to his eyes.

"Dizzy?" She asked, concerned. She set down the bag she was carrying and placed a cool hand on his brow.

His eyes shot up to hers, the shock of her touch was just--

"Ha-RUSSHH!" He pulled away and sneezed into his hands.

"Bless you," she whispered, not entirely sure what had come between them.

He regarded her guilty over his cupped hands. "I didn't sneeze on you, did I?"

"No," she answered, "That fever still hasn't come down yet. Let me get you some water for these pills."

She looked at him, "Well, you should sit down."

He did as he was told and watched as she vanished into his kitchen.

What is the matter with me? He thought with an internal groan. I am acting like a five year old!

"Here," Cameron returned with a glass of water and opened her bag on the coffee table. "Take two of these."

"Yes, Doctor," he said and ventured a smile at her.

"I hope you don't mind," she said, "I figured you weren't prepared for the flu, so I brought you some other stuff."

From the bag, she pulled out a fresh box of tissues, a bottle of over-the-counter cold medicine and a couple of canisters of microwavable soup.

"Geez, Cameron, I...I don't know what to say." He looked up at the line-up of supplies on his coffee table and felt absurdly touched.

"Oh," Cameron bit her lip, "I didn't mean to...I mean, if you didn't want..."

"No," Chase quickly interceded, "It's so sweet. I am really...grateful...I..," he hitched a breath, and pressed his hand to his nose. "I...I have to sneeze again..."

His eyelashes trembled and he paused, trapped in terrible pre-sneeze limbo. H

e hung there for a second or two before a desperate sounding, "Eh-SHUUSH!" escaped him. He reached for a handful of tissues and in the next moment was pressing them against his nose and mouth, "ESH-SHUSSH! AITCH-SHUSSH!" He jerked forward at the force of it.

"Bless you," Cameron said as he gently blew his nose. "Those sneezes must really be killing your throat."

"Ugh...and my head..." he rubbed one hand over his eyes, "I can't seem to stop."

He shivered then, "I need to grab a sweat-shirt," he said and shakily stood.

He had taken one wobbly step before Cameron firmly placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I will get it for you," she offered. She went into his bed-room, and came back carrying one of his old college hoodies and the extra blanket from his bed.

Once again, she was met by a surprised look as she handed the comfort items to him.

"What's the matter?" She asked, taking a seat on the sofa beside him.

"Oh, I...," his ears went pink and he ducked his head,

"I guess it's just....I've never really had anyone...you know..."

He gestured to the collection of items on the coffee table again.

Cameron gave him a sympathetic look generally reserved for patients dying of some insanely rare and incurable disease.

"You've never had anyone take care of you?"

"Well...I don't get sick that often...and...," he shrugged,

"No, not really."

"Oh, Chase,"

Cameron took one of his hands in hers and now he really felt like a dying patient.

Uncomfortable, he pulled away from her.

"Hey, you probably don't want to...to, uh, touch my hands, they're pretty germy..." he waggled his fingers at her.

He gave a couple of mangy sounding coughs into his opposite elbow. "In fact, pretty much everything in this apartment is probably germy."

"I've been in the clinic all day...my immune system is pretty well adapted to miserable cases like you," she said and laughed. He laughed, too, a little, then sheepishly brought his hand to his nose again.

"Sneeze?"

She asked and he nodded, his eyes already shut in preparation.

The tickle increased and he gently grazed his finger-tips against the tip of his nose.

"Eh-SHUSSH!" Immediately, he sneezed wetly into his palm. "N...not...hehhh...fin...finished..." he managed and he panted twice before a quick, "HA-RUSHHH!"

"Bless you," Cameron automatically responded.

"Tha...thanks...," Chase hung there for a second, his mouth hanging slightly open, his eye-lids at half-mast. "One...hehhh....one more...huhhhh...huhhh...huuuuhhh...," he inhaled sharply but the sneeze didn't come, it lingered excruciatingly on the edge.

For the first time all day, he wished he would sneeze.

"Stuck?"

Cameron turned over her shoulder and flicked on the lamp beside the sofa.

Chase's blue eyes widened with the sudden light, then squinched shut. He didn't want to sneeze on Cameron, so he clamped his fingers tight around the bridge of his nose and gave a powerful stifle,

"HEH-SNNXXXT!"

His nose rebelled against this gesture, and he barely had time to bring his hands up around a loud and harsh, "HAAA-AITCH-SHUUU! AITCH-SHUUSH!"

He grabbed a tissue but the soft cottony fibers tickled the edges of his nostrils and drove him over the edge,

"HAH-AITCH-SHUSSH! AITCHUU! ATCHOOO!" He sneezed miserably into the kleenex and when the fit was over he remained bent over, exhausted.

"Bless you," Cameron said, in awe, "You poor guy."

One more ragged, "Eh-SHUSSH!" escaped into the tissue and he gave a half-sigh half-groan.

"You probably wouldn't be feeling this bad if House hadn't stuck you out there...," Cameron said, "We should have spoken up..."

She placed a hand on his shoulder,

"Lie down."

Too tired to argue, he curled up on his end of the sofa. He kept the crumpled tissue close to his face. Cameron began gently rubbing his back in small circles.

"I used to do this for...my husband...when he wasn't feeling well," she said quietly.

"You...don't...have to...," he murmured, but his eyes were closed and she could tell he was rapidly fading.

"Rest," she softly said, and continued her ritual rubbing until she heard his snoring muffled by the couch cushion.

Too close, she thought I shouldn't be getting this close to him.

She gathered her things, careful not his wake him. Casting one last look over her shoulder at his sleeping form, she tried to push those feelings down.

"Feel better, Chase," She whispered, closing the door behind her.

She meant it.

End!

[jezebel215]

SO good!

[Glowie]

*cries at the joy of seeing an additional bonus scene for this fic*

Thank you thank you thank you! I've been so sneezy!Chase deprived lately that I feel so blessed for there to be anything like this posted.

*grateful hugs*

[djcatdj]

wow, totally erm awesome no amazing no erm immense totally immense, wow.

when i first told my best friend i thought Jesse was hot she doubted my straightness.

I also don't like people who are mean to house, in meny sences hes like me (though i hope he doesn't think chase is hot, that would be wrong) just like the fact i say what i think. anyway totally immense and great work

[Hedgehog]

Awww, that's exactly the kind of story I love very much.