Title: When Mom’s Away.....

Series Title: The Inner Child

Author: Goddessof7s

Summary: A tow headed boy wanders into the Clinic and the team has its most interesting case yet.

Rating: PG

Notes: This is not, I repeat Not part of the Deaf!Chase Universe. Now I would like to warn all of you fans who like plausible stories, with no fiction except characters. This is not the story for you! This will require heavy suspension of disbelief, YOU ARE WARNED! Flames regarding scientific accuracy will be printed to be scoffed and mocked in front of all my friends!

Archive: www.angelfire.com/weird2/butterflywings

Warnings: There is no slash in this story. It is more of a character study. Major characters are Chase and House with bit roles from everyone else.

House didn’t want to be in the clinic, he never wanted to be in the clinic, but Cuddy was standing right there glaring at him so he was forced to pick a room. Seven, he decided would be his lucky number today. Hmmm, he wondered if he could become suddenly superstitious and couldn’t go into evenly numbered rooms. He’d still have to do clinic duty, but it’d still be fun to annoy Cuddy with. Clinic room number seven had a tow-headed boy who appeared about 11 or 12. Damn. He was just starting to buy into the whole lucky number thing, kid was just old enough to be really pissy, but young enough to come with one or both over-bearing incredibly annoying parental units. A quick survey of the room produced none, though, so House suspected that mommy dearest was in the bathroom, probably snorting cocaine.

“So what’s wrong with you.”

“I think I have a broken clavicle.” Hey an Australian accent, he’d have to think of a way to torment Chase with the boy. Come to think of it, the boy’s eyes bore a remarkable resemblance to Chase’s. Actually over all the boy was a spitting image of Chase. Maybe 7 was his new lucky number after all.

“So what’s your name.”

“Robbie.” Ooooookay.

“Your last name?” The boy winced at that and cast his eyes down.

“Chase.” Holy Beejesus! This kid was Chase’s son! Little old though.

“So how old are you?”

“Twelve and half.” Damn, Chase was getting some as a 14 year-old? Holy shit!

“So what makes you think you have a broken clavicle?” Everyone thinks they’re a doctor, apparently especially the sons of doctors.

“It’s really painful. I know breaks are hard to detect, but it just feels off besides the pain.” Yeah well if it was really painful, which it should be, the kid’ be screaming his head off. House highly doubted that Chase light had a broken bone.

“So where are your parents?”

“I dunno.” There was a pause and House knew the kid had a question, he just had to wait for him to ask it. He expected it was something like ‘do you work with my dad?’ or some such. “Is,” ah ha! “this America?” He knew th-wait what?

Was Chase light damaged or something? “Uh yeah?!”

“Oh okay.” Tight lipped little tyke wasn’t he? Well an X-ray would give him more time with the boy. Then they could swing by Wilson on the way back, he couldn’t resist this was the juiciest piece of gossip he was ever going to get in his life time.

“Okay Robbie lets go.” House watched with a critical eye as the boy slid slowly to the floor, not even moving his right side at all. Maybe he was injured in some way, probably a pulled muscle.

They walked through the halls quietly and House was half tempted to make a detour through diagnostics to see Chase’s reaction to Chase-light but then he remembered that Chase was off and had been for 2 days. He wouldn’t be back until tomorrow morning, so maybe House would actually provide a door to door service. Just this once mind you. House supposed that for an annoying whining brat this one wasn’t too bad. He just walked along, matching House’s pace without making it seem like he was. He stood where House told him to, and didn’t move for five solid minutes when instructed not to. House was actually rather impressed.

“Damn.” House stared at the x-ray the kid was right, he’d never hear the end of it.

The fracture wasn’t bad, and there’s not much you can do, just give him pain relievers, he didn’t really even need a sling. Which House supposed was a good thing. House gave Chase-light some painkillers, not as strong as his stuff but after a quick stop to Wilson he’d probably take him to Chase’s place so as to not have to deal with a cranky child with a broken bone. He watched as some color came back to the kid’s face as he loosened a bit, unwound. House supposed that the kid had been in more pain than he’d thought. His respect for the kid rose another notch. Chase-light was less annoying than most adults he met.

They were slowly walking down the hall and House supposed that the peace of the moment wouldn’t last, maybe he shouldn’t have given the kid painkillers after all, not if it was going to loosen his tongue. “Can I tell you something?” House sighed, damn it sounded like one of those serious kinds of conversations, like ‘my dad doesn’t know I exist’ not something fun like ‘I can burp the whole Australian National Anthem’. Which House might actually pay money to see, he’d never heard the anthem before and the burping part could only make it more entertaining.

House’s leg was hurting him anyway so he directed them over to a set of benches next to a vending machine. “Okay shoot.”

Robbie’s eyes shifted just a bit and he leaned in, “promise that you won’t think I’m crazy or anything?” Well this was a little more interesting.

“Swear!” House held his hand up in the solemn boy scout hand position thingy, not that he ever was one, but Junior didn’t know that.

“I don’t remember coming to America.” House raised an eyebrow, what the kid just magically arrived here? “I went to bed last night in Melbourne Australia, in my bed in my room, and my mom was in her room but when I woke up I was in an unfamiliar alley, like a dero¹,” House winced, obvious Australian slang which he didn’t have a clue what it meant, but he supposed that it wasn’t plot salient. “My shoulder really hurt, so I started to wander try and orientate myself. Then I saw a bingle² and followed the ambo³ back to here. Then everyone has been talking funny and I don’t even know where I am really or how to reach my parents. I just don’t know what happened.” Oh God House started praying that the kid wasn’t going to cry. He didn’t deal well with snot, or tears or really any bodily fluid of any kind, with the possible exceptions of the kind that involved a lot of fun stuff first.

“Look I promise that I’ll help you find your family. I won’t abandon you.” House didn’t feel bad for promising that, after all he knew where Chase was and besides the little tyke was starting to really grow on him. Like a fungus or something. Something was starting to niggle at him. Like a splinter in his brain. He just didn’t know what it was. Probably a tumor.

“Wilson!” Said Doctor sighed and his shoulders slumped just a bit. House ignored his dramatics. “Wilson I need a consult.”

“House I actually ha-“ Wilson’s eyes landing on Chase light and he paused as if shocked that House was actually with a patient. Not only with a patient but holding the kid’s hand. Wilson had to wonder if House had a series of mini-strokes and lost feeling in his hand. “Have patients. What is going on here? House,” there was frank amusement in his voice, “are you actually holding that boy’s hand.” House looked down in shock and dropped the hand like it was on fire and he just hadn’t felt the heat.

House didn’t even bother to look contrite, “Don’t be silly! I don’t hold hands! I’d rather get lime disease.” Wilson flicked his eyes briefly to the boy, to see how he’d react to House’s treatment. He was rather surprised when all the boy did was drop his arm calmly to his side, and continue to stand there, face blank, waiting expectantly.

“What’s wrong?”

“C’mon,” House leads them a few feet away, enough to be out of hearing distance but not so far that House can’t watch junior. Not that it matters, House suspects that Robbie would stand there until told to move. “I think that’s Chase’s kid.” Wilson’s eyes widened in shock and flicked back over to Chase-light.

“There is an uncanny resemblance.” Wilson admitted.

“More than that. Kid says his name is Robbie Chase. He has an Aussie accent and he called his collarbone a clavicle.”

“Wow. So what are you going to do?”

“Well here’s the thing. The kid claims he was asleep in Australia last night, and that he woke up here in an alley. Doesn’t remember how he got here and there’s no indication that he knows his father works here.”

“Look, I think you just need to ask him a few more questions, like his parents names, phone numbers to reach them at. C’mon.”

Wilson walked up to Robbie, then crouched in front of him, he liked to be on the same level of the young kids, less intimidating. “We want to contact your parents. What’s your Dad’s name and phone number? Can you tell us how to contact your Mom?”

Robbie seemed a bit reluctant to give up this information. “Me Mum’s number is 03-745-8221. Sorry I don’t know the exchange. Her name is Aderlen. But she never answers the phone, she’s usually too full⁴.” Wilson didn’t interrupt to ask what Robbie had meant. “Dad’s hard to get in touch with.” Robbie brightened a bit at a thought. “But you’re doctors! You might get through. His name is Dr. Rowan Chase. He’s in Sydney. His number at the hospital is 02-678-0234, but I don’t know his extension, sorry.” Robbie looked contrite. Wilson on the other hand was taking this information about as well as to be expected. He sat down right there in the middle of the floor. Better that than to fall down. “Dr. Wilson? Are you okay? You seem a might pale.” Wilson only nodded, he didn’t have enough air to spare verbalizing anything. House on the other hand didn’t appear shocked at all.

“So, Robbie, can you tell me what the date is?”

“Sure,” Robbie seemed truly puzzled by this inane question, “June 12, 1993. Why?”

“Oh no reason.” House mumbled. “C’mon, we’re gonna go for a drive.” House and Robbie shuffled off toward the door. “Wilson get your ass moving, you’re driving!” Wilson scrambled off the floor and hurriedly followed them out.

The trip there took ten minutes, but Robbie had already started to drift off, poor kid was tuckered out. The small parental part of House, that he would never admit too and when asked about it claimed he’d carefully squashed it with the hatred of small whiney things, was loath to wake Robbie but he also couldn’t leave him in the car. Robbie was surprisingly less than cranky, House himself would’ve bit someone’s ear off for waking him up, but Robbie just took it.

They headed up to Chase’s apartment and House pulled out a key ring and inserted it into the lock and opened the door. “You have keys to Chase’s place?”

House grunted. “I took the keys from each of them and got them copied then put them back. Just in case of emergency you know.” House smirked and Wilson just rolled his eyes.

The apartment was a wreck. Papers strewn about, furniture turned over. Chase clearly wasn’t there and something bad had defiantly gone down. Wilson searched the upstairs, while House rummaged through the cupboards. Grabbing one of those chocolate Samoas girl scout cookies, he shuffled out into the living room to find Robbie crouched over some papers. He looked...distressed. “What is it?” House hobbled over an looked down at the papers too. Some were old newspapers, one was a printed article that Chase himself had written and there were other assorted documents as well.

Robbie looked up tears filling his eyes, but not falling, “something is horribly wrong, isn’t there? Something that you’re not telling me?” House stared again into those wide blue-green eyes, damn kid probably practiced that look in the mirror, cause no one came across cuteness skills like that without practice.

“I don’t know. But I promise to tell you when I know for sure.” Robbie seemed to accept that and wandered over to the window to look out, seemingly not interested in the rest of the apartment. “Wilson! You found anything?”

Wilson lumbered down the stairs, “sorry something happened here, but no clues as to what.”

House grunted, he knew now that the answers weren’t going to be here. “C’mon we’re going back to the hospital.”

The ride back happened the same was as the ride there, but House ordered Wilson to pick Robbie up so that he could continue to sleep. Wilson laid Robbie out on House’s couch and covered him with a blanket that was often around the place for when House slept in his office. Robbie mumbled a bit under his breath and curled up tight around the blanket, and Wilson thought that it had to be the most adorable thing he’d ever seen.

House limped over with a swab and took a sample from the inside of Robbie’s mouth, the motion so smooth Robbie didn’t even flinch. Cuddy walked inside. “House! You hav-“ House shushed her. “I’m sorry did you just shush —“ This time Wilson and House shushed her together. Robbie stirred on the couch.

Finally catching on Cuddy followed their gazes to the couch and spotted Robbie. “Who’s that?”

House looked up and smirked, “He says his name is Robbie Chase. He has an Aussie accent and he knows that a collarbone is a clavicle.”

“So what you think it’s Chase’s son or something?”

“No,” House smirked, oh how he liked the shock value of it, “I think he is Chase.”