A new doctor in the house (haha) and Mea Culpa

Mood: slightly tired
Drinking: coffee
Eating: nothing
Listening to: Once Upon A Time: The Battle Of Life And Death - Good Charlotte

Mea culpa.
Mea maxima culpa.
Yes, I know I told you I'd write more frequently here again now...
Yes, I know that this turned out to be...not true.
And yes - I vow to do it now. At least I'll try.

There's a buttload of work for me, I'm back on my cane and back on other things.
But let me tell you about the new doctor. He took up employment here at PPTH in September and he's an oncologist. So far, so good. I did not meet him for quite a while although it was originally me who was told to show him around the hospital. But I was...aaaah....tied up with business, you know? Urgent cases, clinic duty, hiding....You know what I mean.

It was the morning of September 15, 8 days to go until our 11th anniversary. (Some of the readers might remember that Jim and me met on the 23rd of September, 1996.) I was lingering in my chair sipping my coffee and watching Jim preparing scrambled eggs.
"Are they ready yet?" I asked.
"No, hun, in a few minutes."
I took another sip of my coffee. "Are they ready yet?"
Jim glanced over his shoulder - slightly puzzled. "No? Didn't you hear me?"
I sighed and looked out of the window. "Are they ready yet?"
No glance back, but his shoulders tightened. "No..."
"Now?"
"NO!"

I chuckled into my coffee and thought about how easy it sometimes was to unnerve my honeybunny.
Jim shook his head and served the scrambles eggs.
"Thank you, darling", I beamed at him with the most beautiful smile I had to offer and with a twinkle in my eyes. Jim blinked, bent down and kissed me softly.
"I just can't be cross with you when you're like that...", he sighed and ruffled through my hair.
I sighed deeply as well and then began to devour my scrambled eggs after I poured a bit of English Brown Sauce over them. "Sho", I chewed, "anyshing shpeshial today?"
Jim looked up at me, paused for a while and nodded slowly. "Yeeeeeees....."
"Mpf?", I asked and swallowed. He looked slightly uncomfortable.
"Um...you'll meet the new doctor....because....uh...ehm..er....you are supposed to oversee his project with me."
"Oh."
I was not really brimming over with enthusiasm for this. The last time I was forced to help an assistant doctor with his project it all ended disastrous and said doctor ended up in a nuthouse after attacking Jim and Chase and doing some other stupid things. Well, some of you might still remember.
Jim smirked a bit and shrugged. "Uh...yes...It was not my idea, by the way."
I leaned back in my chair and finished my coffee. "Yah, I know Cuddy loves me."
With these words I put my plate and mug into the dishwasher and went into the bedroom to dress.
"Want to join me for a while?", I purred with a melting gaze at Jim.
He jumped up, put his dishes away and joined me for half an hour.

At PPTH we both checked in at the reception desk, blew us a kiss and each vanished into his office. Standing in the doorframe I stopped a bit surprised. A large mug of Pumpkin Spice Latte was waiting for me - together with a cinnamon muffin. I frowned, threw my backpack aside and approached my desk.
The odor floating up to me was beguiling for a coffee junkie like me and at first I did not see the note:

Knitting my brow I sat down and studied the note. T.A.? Who the heck was that? And why would I meet him or her in the afternoon?
Glancing up I saw Cuddy passing my door.
"Cuddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?"
She stopped and raised an eyebrow. "Hoooooooouuuuuuuuuuse?", she answered and peeked into my office.
"Do I have an appointent in the afternoon?"
Cuddy sighed. "He did not tell you yet?"
"Who did not tell me what yet? T.A. that we have an appointment? Well...he or she did somewhen this morning", I said and waved with the note.
"No. Wilson."
I shook my head. "No."
Suddenly it began to dawn on me that T.A. must be the new doctor I was supposed to help.
"Aaaaaaaaaaah", I then launched out Napoleon-Dynamite-like. "Now...yes....uh...the new doctor."
Cuddy nodded slowly. "I hope you won't freak out..."
"Pfrrrrt. Why should I? I have no case - so why not help that guy with his project? Could be fun..."
"You look malicious", Cuddy stated and left my office with a nod.
I grinned, leaned back and enjoyed the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

And it was yummy!!!

The day was fairly uneventful and boring. I played a lot of mahjongg, tortured some colleagues and chose some all-my-eye-and-Betty-Martin-tasks for the students.
A few minutes to 3 p.m. Jim knocked at my door.
"Ready to face the enemy?", he grinned.
I sighed and arose. "Well....I have no choice. And the enemy already bribed me with Starbucks coffee this morning."
"Oh....sounds familiar", Jim said and rubbed his chin a bit.
I approached him and placed a small kiss on his forehead. "So...let's go."
James nodded and we walked down the hallway heading for the oncologists' conference room.
Before we entered, Jim placed his hand on my shoulder and looked deep into my eyes. "Now promise me not to freak out, okay, hunny?"
"Huh? Freak out? Why that?"
He patted my shoulder. "Just stay calm, will you?"
"Uh...sure?"
He then knocked and the door swung open.

There I stood, facing T.A.
There I stood, pondering whether I mistook L.A. for T.A.
There I stood, facing a man who looked exactly like Louis Allenby, He-who-must-not-be-named.
And I did not stand there for long.
Approximately three seconds.

"Fwlah?", I managed to "say", then shrieked and turned on my heels to betake myself to flight.
I ran screaming down the hallway and did not feel embarassed at all.
On my stampede I almost ran over Cuddy, pushed several patients out of my way and left about 35 people with turned heads and dropped jaws.
Jim found me underneath my desk a few minutes later.
"Damn, GREG! I told you not to freak out!!!"
"Nnnngh....", I just replied and crawled a bit further away from him.
"Greg....don't be silly...come out."
"A....A.....A....Allenby...", I stammered and refused to leave my shelter.
"The Greg House I know does not hide underneath desks...", Jim tried it again.
Behind him, the pale face of T.A. appeared.
"Have I done anything wrong?", he asked and I whimpered from beneath the desk.
"Uh...", Jim began, "...no. It's just the way you....look."
T.A. looked blank. "The....way I look?"
He seemed to ponder whether he was ugly or not. (No, he is not. In fact, he's fairly handsome.)
The blank look was replaced by a something-like-that-never-happened-to-me-before-look. "But..."
Jim raised his hands. "I know that sounds weird. I'll explain that to you as soon as he has calmed down."
T.A. nodded, rubbed his neck and then bent down to face me. "Dr. House? Ex...excuse me...I did not want to cause any inconvenience...."
That British accent....
He reached out his hand. "My name is Allenby."
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!!!!!", was my only answer.
Allenby boggled and now Jim's face appeared in front of mine.
"Sh, hunny, sh....all is well....this is not Louis."
I blinked and peeked around him to examine T.A.
"Louis?", the-man-resembling-Louis-Allenby asked. "My cousin?"
"Cousin?", I asked back.
"Yes....my cousin....he's not well at the time...I guess you know him. Uh...and obviously it was no pleasant...acquaintance..."
I inched a bit closer and eyed him carefully. No, this was not Louis Allenby, although the resemblance was striking.
All over sudden I felt a deep blush appear on my face.
"Dammit", I thought. "Fuck! That was embarassing!!!"
I covered my d'oh-feeling with a broad grin, came out and shook his hand.
"Tristan Allenby", he smiled a bit shy.
"Gregory House", I replied and smirked. "Sorry for the welcome prank..."
Jim behind him slightly raised his eyebrows and shook his head.
Allenby nodded and smiled now apparantly relieved.

Well...we went back to the conference room and I guess I saved my face.