fandom_clinic | Clinic Hours - Monday January 23rd 2006

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Clinic Hours - Monday January 23rd 2006

It was one of those mornings, where he woke up, edgy and restless probably as a result of the nightmare from the previous evening. Whatever the cause, Wilson hit the floor already wound up and going at 150%.

Dressed in his old worn jeans, a red t-shirt with a flannel shirt overtop he swung into the Clinic, carrying a cup of coffee from the perk and a bag of supplies he’d picked up from the Town Clinic when he’d stopped in to flip the ‘On Call’ light on. Dropping a set of CDs into the player, ranging from Afro Celt Sound Systems to NINs, he stripped down to just the t-shirt and jeans, before going to the supply cabinet and digging out the small box of tools they kept there.

In short order the celtic tones with deep drum bass line of the ACSS was thumping through the Clinic, mixing with the sounds of a ratchet and the sloshing of water and cleaning chemicals.

Yep it was that time again a full tear up the exam rooms and strip clean them to within an inch of their lives. Feel free to interrupt him; you might just have to shout over the music to get his attention.

Doctor on duty…just follow the sound singing.

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Susan opened the door with one hand, while trying to keep a stack of folders from falling with the other. "Oh! Hello, Dr. House. Come in. Can I help with something?"

House nodded, and rubbed his lips together. "I, ah, I wanted to make an appointment. I know you, ah, you're here mostly for the kids, but, I need someone to talk to."

Susan's eyes widened, and she said, "Certainly. My schedule is still quite free, as of yet. Can I ask what this is regarding?" She moved away from the door. "Have a seat. I'll get my calendar out, and we can set a time."

House stayed near the door for a moment, then crossed into the room and sat in one of the chairs. He angled his cane to rest against his thigh.

"I've had a rough couple of weeks. Months actually. I've got a lot on my mind." He cleared his throat. The scene from yesterday flashed through his mind. He shifted uncomfortably in the chair. "I promised a friend I would talk to someone, and you're right here so I thought I'd give it a shot."

"Well, you're certainly welcome to. I don't want it to cause any awkwardness here at work, though." Susan studied him carefully, and said, "As long as we understand, that your sessions stay within these walls, I think we can do this. This is regarding your injury, I take it. And your recovery."

"No." House's gaze was steady and intense. "I'm sure it will come up. It has a way of sneaking up on me. But, no. I...Like I said, the last two months have been difficult. I've told you Dr Wilson and I recently broke up. My mother had a heart attack just before Christmas. I gave up my Vicodin around Thanksgiving," he could actually site exactly how many days it had been, to the hour. "A lot has happened since then, and yesterday I decided to start taking my pills again, and when Dr Wilson showed up unexpected, all hell broke loose and I asked him to take all the Vicodin out of the clinic so I can't be tempted by it again."

"I see." Susan's gaze was sober and assessing. "How likely are you to use the Vicodin again today? Do you want me to write a 48-hour isolation order? Or are you good for now?" She cocked her head. "Will you be alone when you leave here, or at further risk? You know as well as I do, that it's habit that trips people up, as much as desire for their addiction."

"Dr Wilson is taking the Vicodin to the clinic in town. Maybe he'll flush it. I don't know. He'll take care of it. I'm not going to do anything stupid."

He blinked at her and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What is an isolation order, exactly?"

"In the sense that I'm proposing it, I could isolate you here at the clinic while you detox; say that we believe you might have a communicable disease, and that you can't be disturbed," Susan said with equanimity. "You would have time to recover here without anyone bothering you or knowing about it. It's very slightly unethical to issue an order that way, but if you want it, it would be one more measure guaranteeing your recovery."

She studied him. "Have you talked this over with our Vice Principal? He is a doctor too, after all. I think he'd be more understanding than the Principal, if you wanted to step down from a while from your duties."

"I'm, no." House blinked. "I took one pill, and it wasn't in my system very long. Dr Wilson dropped by and we," House Cleared his throat, "we had words. I'm not detoxing." Although he had to admit, he was tempted to take her up on steppinfg down for a while. No. He'd have to give that a lot of thought. The kids were counting on him. He had a responsibility.

"I don'tthink that will be necessary. I just need to talk about some things I can't work out on my own. I'm not a drug addict, Dr Pevensie. Not actively."

Susan nodded, accepting this statement at face value for now. "All right then. But I wanted to make the offer. You know that if I have cause to actively suspect that you are using while you're in therapy with me, that I will have to report it. Keep that in mind, Dr. House. I will hold anything else between us under doctor-patient confidentiality, within the usual strictures. But you are taking a risk here. Just as I am." She let out a breath.

"But I can understand why you'd simply want to talk. It sounds as if you're under other stresses that are contributing to any problems you have, and those have to be actively dealt with too." She clicked her pen on, and flipped open her Daytimer calendar. "I'm free on Wednesday, in the afternoon, as well as Thursday and Friday. Would any of those work for you?"

"Wednesday should be fine," he answered without hesitation.

"I'm very aware of the risks here, Doctor. But I've nothing to hide. The administration was informed and aware of my prolonged prescription drug use. I am, on record, still prescribed Vicodin for chronic pain." He shifte dhs cane for effect.

"I am also legally prescribed Demerol and half a dozen other medications. I have current scripts on file with the administration. I have quit taking the Vicodin because it was destroying my liver. My Vicodin use isn't the issue here."

His eyes blazed with a quiet fire.

"The stress is." Susan nodded. "Very well. That's what we'll concentrate on, then. I didn't want you to misunderstand my position as your colleague or therapist, though. I have no issue with pain medication, especially given your physical condition. But we will probably have to discuss how often you use it, and what actions you take in place of it, when you don't want to."

She wrote down 2pm on her calendar, then took a deep breath. "Something you should know before you agree to this, which I've already discussed with James. I found out late last week that I've been displaced more than forty years from my own life into the future. Would you be comfortable knowing that I'm that out of touch? I don't believe most of the techniques for stress relief and psychotherapy have changed so much that it would make a difference for you, but I don't want you to be in the dark about this. I'm not going to inform the students unless they ask; but you're nominally my colleague, as well as a potential patient. If you have a problem with this, I can find you someone else."

"I've treated boys who turned int girls for no apparent reason. Students here are, legitimately, older than I. The fact you;'re forty years ahead of yourself is hardly going to be a problem for me."

House eyed her warily. "But if you're uncomfortable with seeing me in a professional setting, I'll apologise for wasting your time. This is, technically, my clinic, so I can see how it would be awkward." He stood and moved to ward the door. "Good day, Dr Pevensie."

"I'm not uncomfortable with it." Susan didn't get up. Chasing after him would only put pressure on him, and this had to be his choice. "And you're not wasting my time. These things had to be said before we could do anything else." She rose to her feet. "If you want to discuss your problems, and ways of coping with them, I'll be here at 2pm on Wednesday. If you do not, I won't hold it against you, or discuss any of this outside of these walls." She managed not to hold her breath. "I hope to see you then, Dr. House."

"I guess you'll just have to wait and see." House slipped out the door and to his apartment to let Cash out before he wandered over to Professor Chaucer's Western Lit class.

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Clinic Hours - Monday January 23rd 2006

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