Fic : Thirty Days of Solitary 22/30
Jul. 18th, 2012 06:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
menolly_auTitle: Thirty Days of Solitary 22/30
Characters: House with small bits of various others
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: For everything up to and including Twenty Vicodins
Summary: House was sentenced to thirty days of solitary confinement for his actions in Twenty Vicodins. This is the story of his time in solitary, and what was happening back at PPTH while he was there. Story will mainly focus on House, but there are segments featuring the rest of the cast. Starts just before the end of Twenty Vicodins.
A/N : Many, many thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
damigella_314. Without her constant help and encouragement this story would be called 'Five Days of Solitary'.
Click for previous part
Day 22 Friday 28th October 2011
He wakes up in the morning sick, running a fever, his throat is sore, and his nose is running. Even without being a diagnostic genius he’d know what this is - a rhinovirus in full flight. Wonderful. He’s had virtually no human contact for three weeks now but somehow he's still managed to contract a cold – one of the stone faced guards must have been nicely incubating it.
He knows there'll be no array of OTC medication for him, no whiskey or brandy to burn it away, no Wilson to stick his head in the office and offer very little sympathy but some laughs. He's stuck here, in this cell, with absolutely no distractions, nothing to focus on but how lousy he feels.
He lies down again, when his morning Vicodin comes he'll request something for the cold, the most he can hope for is some Tylenol, and he’ll probably be lucky to get that. He doesn’t hold out any hope that they will take him to the clinic unless he gets a lot worse, and he’s not keen to go there anyway, not after the debacle with Nick. Sykes was no doubt pleased when House was hauled away in handcuffs, although House would have liked to have seen the expression on his face when his diagnosis was eventually proved right.
He wraps his blanket tighter around himself and closes his eyes. The best way to get through this is to sleep as much as possible, at least there is no pressure to work through it, now that he has nothing but ‘time off’.
He's on the bus. Again. Amber is sitting next to him, her hand on his knee, that stupid, knowing smile on her face. He wishes the woman would just stay dead. Amber holds out a hairbrush to him.
He's driving the bus. Amber is sitting next to him, urging him on. Wilson is in front of them, standing in the street, his hands on his hips. House goes to brake and the bus starts to slow down, he's going to miss Wilson. He turns to Amber and she grins and the bus speeds up. Wilson screams. There’s blood, there’s so much blood.
He's in a house, watching out the window. Cuddy is sitting next to him, Rachel in her arms. House sees the bus speeding towards them. It's coming straight at them, he reaches out towards Cuddy, to push her and Rachel out of the way but he can't quite get there, it's like he's moving through quicksand, he stretches out his hands and he just grazes her fingertips with his, and then the bus comes through the glass.
He's on the bus, again. Amber is sitting next to him, a metal pole through her thigh. If she lives she'll be damaged just like he is, he laughs at the irony. Will Wilson prescribe for her too?
There are bars on the bus windows, and a lock on the door. He's trapped here. He turns to Amber and she's wearing a prison officer's uniform. She takes a key out of her pocket and laughs as she tosses it out the bus window. Then she kisses him lightly on the cheek and whispers in his ear.
"Welcome to hell, House, you kinda deserve it."
His eyes snap open and the sight of his dreary prison cell greets him, he never thought he would be grateful to stare at the same four walls again, but it's better than being on the damn bus, and much better than having Amber with him. He looks around cautiously, she's not here. She's never reappeared since that endless detox at Mayfield. He has never stopped expecting her to reappear though, especially now that he’s taking Vicodin again. He checks for her presence constantly. Once, on the beach at Fiji, he thought he saw her in the distance staring at him, but it couldn't have been her, one thing Amber has never been is silent.
He wonders, just for a second, if a hallucination of Amber would be better than being in this cell by himself but he knows it wouldn’t be. Amber is his failure, the terrible thing he’s done that has overshadowed all the time since, he's never going to forget her, but he doesn't want to see her.
He rolls over on the bed, his throat dry and painful, and his mouth hanging open as he gulps in air, his nose having been rendered useless by his cold. He feels miserable, and there's no relief in sight.
Foreman meets with Matt Johnson, the hospital lawyer. Matt isn't very optimistic on the chances of Foreman getting House out on conditional parole.
“He's a doctor, but America has a slew of them, it's going to be hard to convince a judge that he's some sort of irreplaceable asset and that legions of people are going to die without him – I mean he's been away for a year or so at this point, the hospital seems to have got along quite well without him.”
“He's unique – he saves lives that other doctors can't.”
Matt shrugs. “Maybe so, but you're going to need some sort of compelling set of circumstances before they'll release him, and then it will probably only be for the one patient, and then he'll go back in. If they let everyone out of jail who has some useful skills then there'd be a lot less people in jail.”
“Jails are overcrowded, is there any point in keeping him in there, when he could be so much more useful out here?”
“Well I don't think so, but it's not me you have to convince. What he did, well it was pretty bad.”
“He's served nine months for that already, out of a twelve month sentence. These other charges, they're all related to him saving the life of an inmate. He shouldn't have to serve another day because he obeyed his medical duty of care over the orders of some prison guards."
“Maybe not, but again, that's not our decision. A judge thought that he should. ” Matt starts gathering his papers together. “Look, don't even try for a few weeks – they'll want him to serve his solitary time, and at least some more time off the original sentence, get a bit closer to the year. Then, if you can come up with some case, some unique case, where his special skills are needed, and make it as urgent as possible, then you can approach a judge. We'll emphasise that he was about to get out on parole anyway, and that he's facing additional time because he saved someone's life, and we'll make a point about his disability. Hopefully the judge will go for it.”
Foreman nods and stands up, going towards the door with the lawyer. “I'll keep an eye out for a case.”
Matt shakes his hand. “Okay, but, Foreman just think about what you're inviting back into the hospital. Look what happened to Cuddy. Do you think you can manage him? If you can't it's going to backfire on you, and may end up causing him grief too.”
“I'm looking to hire him, not date him. I can control him, just like Cuddy used to, he'll have no choice but to co-operate if I can get him out of there. I’m sure I can make him understand that simple fact.”
Matt looks at him sceptically but doesn’t say anything further. Foreman sits back down, satisfied. Now he has a plan of action, something to work towards. He’s sure that he can find a case for House.
Characters: House with small bits of various others
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: For everything up to and including Twenty Vicodins
Summary: House was sentenced to thirty days of solitary confinement for his actions in Twenty Vicodins. This is the story of his time in solitary, and what was happening back at PPTH while he was there. Story will mainly focus on House, but there are segments featuring the rest of the cast. Starts just before the end of Twenty Vicodins.
A/N : Many, many thanks to
damigella_314. Without her constant help and encouragement this story would be called 'Five Days of Solitary'. Click for previous part
Day 22 Friday 28th October 2011
He wakes up in the morning sick, running a fever, his throat is sore, and his nose is running. Even without being a diagnostic genius he’d know what this is - a rhinovirus in full flight. Wonderful. He’s had virtually no human contact for three weeks now but somehow he's still managed to contract a cold – one of the stone faced guards must have been nicely incubating it.
He knows there'll be no array of OTC medication for him, no whiskey or brandy to burn it away, no Wilson to stick his head in the office and offer very little sympathy but some laughs. He's stuck here, in this cell, with absolutely no distractions, nothing to focus on but how lousy he feels.
He lies down again, when his morning Vicodin comes he'll request something for the cold, the most he can hope for is some Tylenol, and he’ll probably be lucky to get that. He doesn’t hold out any hope that they will take him to the clinic unless he gets a lot worse, and he’s not keen to go there anyway, not after the debacle with Nick. Sykes was no doubt pleased when House was hauled away in handcuffs, although House would have liked to have seen the expression on his face when his diagnosis was eventually proved right.
He wraps his blanket tighter around himself and closes his eyes. The best way to get through this is to sleep as much as possible, at least there is no pressure to work through it, now that he has nothing but ‘time off’.
He's on the bus. Again. Amber is sitting next to him, her hand on his knee, that stupid, knowing smile on her face. He wishes the woman would just stay dead. Amber holds out a hairbrush to him.
He's driving the bus. Amber is sitting next to him, urging him on. Wilson is in front of them, standing in the street, his hands on his hips. House goes to brake and the bus starts to slow down, he's going to miss Wilson. He turns to Amber and she grins and the bus speeds up. Wilson screams. There’s blood, there’s so much blood.
He's in a house, watching out the window. Cuddy is sitting next to him, Rachel in her arms. House sees the bus speeding towards them. It's coming straight at them, he reaches out towards Cuddy, to push her and Rachel out of the way but he can't quite get there, it's like he's moving through quicksand, he stretches out his hands and he just grazes her fingertips with his, and then the bus comes through the glass.
He's on the bus, again. Amber is sitting next to him, a metal pole through her thigh. If she lives she'll be damaged just like he is, he laughs at the irony. Will Wilson prescribe for her too?
There are bars on the bus windows, and a lock on the door. He's trapped here. He turns to Amber and she's wearing a prison officer's uniform. She takes a key out of her pocket and laughs as she tosses it out the bus window. Then she kisses him lightly on the cheek and whispers in his ear.
"Welcome to hell, House, you kinda deserve it."
His eyes snap open and the sight of his dreary prison cell greets him, he never thought he would be grateful to stare at the same four walls again, but it's better than being on the damn bus, and much better than having Amber with him. He looks around cautiously, she's not here. She's never reappeared since that endless detox at Mayfield. He has never stopped expecting her to reappear though, especially now that he’s taking Vicodin again. He checks for her presence constantly. Once, on the beach at Fiji, he thought he saw her in the distance staring at him, but it couldn't have been her, one thing Amber has never been is silent.
He wonders, just for a second, if a hallucination of Amber would be better than being in this cell by himself but he knows it wouldn’t be. Amber is his failure, the terrible thing he’s done that has overshadowed all the time since, he's never going to forget her, but he doesn't want to see her.
He rolls over on the bed, his throat dry and painful, and his mouth hanging open as he gulps in air, his nose having been rendered useless by his cold. He feels miserable, and there's no relief in sight.
Foreman meets with Matt Johnson, the hospital lawyer. Matt isn't very optimistic on the chances of Foreman getting House out on conditional parole.
“He's a doctor, but America has a slew of them, it's going to be hard to convince a judge that he's some sort of irreplaceable asset and that legions of people are going to die without him – I mean he's been away for a year or so at this point, the hospital seems to have got along quite well without him.”
“He's unique – he saves lives that other doctors can't.”
Matt shrugs. “Maybe so, but you're going to need some sort of compelling set of circumstances before they'll release him, and then it will probably only be for the one patient, and then he'll go back in. If they let everyone out of jail who has some useful skills then there'd be a lot less people in jail.”
“Jails are overcrowded, is there any point in keeping him in there, when he could be so much more useful out here?”
“Well I don't think so, but it's not me you have to convince. What he did, well it was pretty bad.”
“He's served nine months for that already, out of a twelve month sentence. These other charges, they're all related to him saving the life of an inmate. He shouldn't have to serve another day because he obeyed his medical duty of care over the orders of some prison guards."
“Maybe not, but again, that's not our decision. A judge thought that he should. ” Matt starts gathering his papers together. “Look, don't even try for a few weeks – they'll want him to serve his solitary time, and at least some more time off the original sentence, get a bit closer to the year. Then, if you can come up with some case, some unique case, where his special skills are needed, and make it as urgent as possible, then you can approach a judge. We'll emphasise that he was about to get out on parole anyway, and that he's facing additional time because he saved someone's life, and we'll make a point about his disability. Hopefully the judge will go for it.”
Foreman nods and stands up, going towards the door with the lawyer. “I'll keep an eye out for a case.”
Matt shakes his hand. “Okay, but, Foreman just think about what you're inviting back into the hospital. Look what happened to Cuddy. Do you think you can manage him? If you can't it's going to backfire on you, and may end up causing him grief too.”
“I'm looking to hire him, not date him. I can control him, just like Cuddy used to, he'll have no choice but to co-operate if I can get him out of there. I’m sure I can make him understand that simple fact.”
Matt looks at him sceptically but doesn’t say anything further. Foreman sits back down, satisfied. Now he has a plan of action, something to work towards. He’s sure that he can find a case for House.
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no subject
Date: 2012-07-18 10:36 pm (UTC)Amber is sitting next to him, a metal pole through her thigh. If she lives she'll be damaged just like he is, he laughs at the irony. Will Wilson prescribe for her too?
Oh, I'd never thought of that! I wonder if the writers had any intention of a parallel in choosing that injury? Doubt it :) .... But it's an interesting point about what would have happened had Amber lived.
I liked what Foreman said about wanting to hire House, not date him. Very good, Foreman. But otherwise, he's being fairly delusional :)
no subject
Date: 2012-07-19 06:20 am (UTC)I must admit that the pole through Amber's thigh escaped me too at the time, somebody pointed it out in the epsiode discussion posts and i was like, oh yes - I think they must have done it deliberately, for what reason i don't know.
Foreman has a high opinion of his own abilities, despite alll evidence to the contrary :)
Thanks for reading,not long to go now :)