;let g o. [o p e n]

[Dr. Robert Chase]

and then it rises with the fall

..

---

Robert Chase walked out from the NICU ward, looking disheveled and tired in his generic pale green hospital scrubs. Another case, another day, another life saved. It would have felt incredible, if it were not for the bone wearying fatigue that was weighing him down as his white and crimson sneakers squeaked against the tile floor of PPTH. He pulled another shift after completing his last one, and decided that the NICU ward would be a good enough place to earn a few extra bucks to keep him going this month, at least so that he could pay the rent. He was on his way to the locker room to change into some clothes he could go home in, and hopefully he would make it there without being snagged by a nurse, or worse, one of his colleagues. All he wanted to do was get back to his ridiculously small apartment and collapse on his probably unmade twin bed.

His gaze kept to the ground in a tired fashion, in reality he was just trying to avoid the gazes of the nurses still on duty, and he accented that attempt nicely with the slight curtain his dark dirty blond locks created as they curved over his face to shield it from any unwanted viewings of his visage. Pensive looked crept over his face as he let his feet do the walking, hardly paying attention to where he was going, he knew the hallways and wings of the hospital that well. His thoughts were scattered, ranging from the case they had solved the day before to what awaited him when he got home to his apartment; which was, sadly, nothing. He hardly let anyone get close, and was extremely flighty once they accomplished that. He had managed to avoid House, for the most part, that day, they didn't have a case, so he was free to roam around the hospital doing what the ducklings did when there were no cases to keep the team busy; meaning, Chase had found some other places to take a shift, to get that extra oomph for his next paycheck. He wasn't that bad off, just a little tight with money at the moment.

In his hand he held a coffee stirrer, the one he had neglected to throw out along with the Styrofoam coffee cup he scored from the nurse’s lounge about twenty minutes earlier during his last five minute break, and he continued to roll it softly between his fingertips, not paying it the slightest attention. The hospital noise was muted, mostly because it was later in the evening and there wasn't much noise to begin with. Chase didn't actually look all that tired; he appeared to be bearing the double shift quite gracefully, at least physically. As previously mentioned, what he really wished to do was get home as fast as he could and get to sleep, but it would take at least twenty minutes to get there, not counting the time it would take him to change and gather his stuff, including the crap he had left in the Diagnostic room earlier that morning when he had checked to see if they had any cases. Rather, peeked his head in the room and looked around to see if House was in, then snuck right on in and deposited his shoulder sling backpack in its customary place, along with his jacket which was still hanging on the small coat pronged hanger they had in there.

Anyway, he continued his solitary journey down the ever growing hall, or so it seemed, all the while not even bothering to lift his gaze to inspect his path for obstacles, or more importantly people. He was counting on the fact that it was late, and even though he knew that the hospital never really did sleep, that no one would be in this part of the building, or at least not anyone who wouldn't be wise enough, unlike he, to watch where they were going.

[Riley Gray]

Just when you think it is over something usually pops to prolong your stay in that little version of hell that has been the work day. You know those types of days where even when your mind isn't on it still your eyes find themselves starring heavily at the clock. In the bleakest corners of your mind murmurers a wish for time to speed up just for you so the work shift can end and the journey can end. Sadly in the case of Dr.Robert Chase his job here wouldn't be ending as soon as he wished it, for fate had another idea in mind and had pre-decided that the duckling had to endure his stay here a bit longer. You would have thought that most patients would be asleep by now or at least would be well on their way to that happy place known as dreamland but always there has to be an odd one out, someone who just has to stray from the norm.

It had been only one day and yet like the exhausted doctor was ready to leave, by all rights Riley Gray never had been much of a fan of hospitals though unlike most he didn't have a clear reason for this. Whenever you asked the young man why he didn't like them all you would get for a reply was that he just didn't, it was a short story but in his opinion thats all he had to give anyone. This had been his third trip here in a month though this is not to say he willingly came here, no in-fact Riley never was willing to come to the hospital but in this battle his aunt and uncle usually won and he'd end up here. Within this month Riley had been sent back and forth here because of various incidents, this last reason had been about throwing up blood at the video store during his lunch break....who doesn't love alittle blood with their food? Polycythemia vera; the little reason why he had numerous trips back to this happy place, it was a rare blood disease that ran on his fathers side of the family that had recently been poping up in Riley. There was nothing like having a mad itchiness riddling your body or having a burning pain throbbing in your hands and feet that would rival the firiness of hell's flames themselves.

Of course there were other symptoms but I guess you could call Riley lucky that he hadn't face those yet, he would be even luckier he didn't have the disease at all. Like the previous times Riley had been brought in they'd mostly have him lay in a room and have him 'donate' blood, well it wasn't donating exactly since no one else would be receiving the blood. Aspirin and blood letting thats just about all they could do for the moment the odd thing was that for such minor treatments Riley's stay lasted between a few days to a week at most only time would tell how long he'd have to stay this time. Going back to the here and now; it had been an easy going day with the young man just entering his twenties laying in a hospital bed watch the old tube while connected to needle and tube draining excess blood out. It had been just that time when a nurse would come to hook Riley up for alittle blood letting once more when he decided that he was frankly tired of this mundane day of radiating in-front of the tv.

Over the intercom his name had been called out some odd number of times as a few nurses looking as exhausted as Chase roamed that halls searching about, so what exactly had happened? From the last occupant of the room a wheelchair had been left and so when the young nurse poped in the room, Riley was already gone racing down the hallways in the wheelchair. She had just gotten a small glance at him before a corner obscured her view, after only fifteen minutes of a game of cat and mouse here we finally Riley pumping his arms to propel the chair forward clad in a hospital gown and boxers. So where exactly did Robert Chase come into this?....roaring down the halls and around a corner the wheelchair bandit would come into view yet Riley was too busy looking behind him at narrowly avoid nurse to see he was rolling in a collision course towards the tired doctor.

[Dr. Robert Chase]

and then it rises with the fall

..

---

The coffee stirrer could represent many thing in the young Intensivest`s life. The way he clutched it and rolled it over and over again in his hands spoke of comfort and familiarity that he had with the object, well, not exactly that object, just with the type in general. He had long grown accustomed to doing something with his hands at all times, or most of it anyway, and some people could even call him fidgety. Anyway, it could probably represent most relationships he had. He kept them close, but he was mostly unaware of them. Take his and House’s relationship for instance. It was screwed up and complicated beyond belief, with drama and backstabbing and all the other stuff he had managed to accomplish those years working for House. But, though Chase would never, ever admit it, he saw House as a fatherly figure. He admired House, for, really, you could not deny that man’s brilliance, and at the same time, Chase could often find himself viewing his boss with a mixture of emotions.

First and foremost there was just plain distaste, even though he was often guilty of going along with whatever sick little plan House had concocted, and laughing at his cruel jokes. Then, there was guilt. The guilt because, the fear of loosing his job had caused him to betray his boss, the man he viewed, subconsciously as someone to look up to. How does this relate to the coffee stirrer? Well you see, Chase had the habit of mindlessly going through the motions of their relationship, until he didn't observe quickly enough, or put something together correctly, and he’d end up with something like a bruised jaw. The wound had healed fast, but it affected considerably the way Chase saw House. At least for now, though he tried his best to put it behind him and regain a semblance of the normality, however abusive it was, that he had managed to secure when he got the job at PPTH. He could cling to this job, and he had, when nothing else in his life seemed to be looking up. Sure, he was humiliated, teased, insulted, and a bunch of other negative things when he came to work, but in a way, that helped him keep what was important to him in focus. Even if he did resent House just the littlest bit for his brilliance. That’s a whole other story that was partially attributed to Chase’s own insecurities. His gaze was vacant, and he saw what was in front of him, his shoes, and the tile, but when you focus on something for a long enough while, it just fades to the background.

Chase saw a lot of things, being a doctor, and at the moment, he couldn't help but let his thoughts stray to all the diverse patients that had passed across the Diagnostic Departments trusty white board. He could count numerous symptoms that had been written in dry erase marker upon the surface, clues and puzzles that House loved so much, and so many lives saved it was just fruitless to try and count. Of course, Chase felt as if he took a small part in saving those lives, and of course it was, but he couldn't help but have that nagging doubt that he really hadn't deserved any part in any case, and that they owed it all to House. Unless you count the one time where Chase was right, but then again, all he had received in thanks for the right diagnoses was a fist in the jaw. Chase could almost taste the fresh air that could be found in the parking lot, and he blinked against his thoughts to focus his attention on getting home as quickly as he possibly could, though he kept his ears open for the tapping of a cane, the only sound that could make his heart stop. At least, while he was trying to get far away from the hospital.

He swallowed, turning his head slightly with a tired sigh, a sigh that reached his toes and would have made him ashamed had anyone heard. Chase put the stirrer in his mouth, the habit that was caused by his oral fixation, and clamped it between his lips. It was this or tic tacs, and House had confiscated his last batch a few days ago, and Chase hadn't gotten an opportunity to head to the store and pick some up. Though, it was much easier to just lift some from a patients House, but whatever. A few more steps forward and he got this feeling in the pit of his stomach. You know the feeling you can’t explain, and yet it's there. He was reluctant to raise his gaze, because the safety of his thoughts and the floor was much more comforting than viewing any of his colleagues or the nurses at the moment. But, alas, he did happen to look up, just in time to see a wheelchair barreling down the hall, more like a few feet away from him. The brief five second period it took him to realize that it was actually coming toward him, well, that was a little too long. He let out a quiet yelp of surprise, which actually sounded quite like, “`ey!” Before he jumped out of the way, but figuring that any patient barreling down the hall in a wheel chair shouldn’t be barreling down the hall in a wheel chair, he reached out, as quick as he could, and grabbed one of the handles, hoping to jerk it around to the side so it spun in a circle, or stopped. Whichever came first. Amazing how fast you could become awake if the situation called for it.

[Riley Gray]

Like all good things his little joy ride through the halls of the hospital had to end at some point or another, two factors came to mind at why it had to be stopped; it was night-time and of all places this was a hospital. Riley was like a human version of a hotwheels car lodged in his wheelchair with the hallways being the fragile plastic track full of twist,turns and loops....so what did that make Dr.Chase? The other man only a few years his senior was like that ramp that you hadnt peiced together right having the two ends spaced too far apart so the little hotwheels car would never make the jump thus ending play time. It felt like his breath had been ripped right out of his lungs as the chair was yanked backwards before the stuttering around as the smaller wheels of the chair gave way to the sudden jerk. Awkward was one of the few terms that could be used to describe the feeling of the chair being forced around, for a moment it felt as if the chair was gonna fall over onto it's side in midturn. Much to the delight of everyone in the hospital except the wheelchair driver Riley had been stopped, and for a brief moment a look of surprise was on his face though was quickly replace with a scowl.

"Whats the big idea?"

You could compare this whole event in Riley's eyes as to someone telling a kid what they got on christmas right before they unwrapped their gifts or to a parent pulling out the unsave video game of the system during their child's playtime. No matter how you choose to describe the event or whatever you choose to compare it to it still ended the same way and nothing would change this. Granted there was always the attemp to roll backwards to restart his romp through the hallways yet Riley's child-like angered mind was oblivious to this thought. Common sense wasnt exactly present in his mind meaning that he should probably be quiet in the hospital around this hour was also oblivious to the depths of his mind.

And just like that the scowl flipped, inverted, and did a little jig before it melded right into a grin. The thing about it was it wasnt one of those grins appear when a joke sparks up an infectous laugh but when someone does something very stupid or appeared right before an insult of sorts. In this case it would be the latter as the young male slowly eased back in the chair going alittle limp and laid back. While some of the time Riley's insults were equal to wha a third grader could come up with, he was known around the hospital to be rude and in some cases a bit grabby. Well mostly it was towards the female members of the hospital staff was the young man grabby to. But there was some cases even outside of the hospital were he had ventured into the personal space of other men before.

"Guessing you're the party-pooping Dr.Killjoy?"

[Dr. Robert Chase]

we'll scream at night, to make it go away
..

---

Nothing was better for waking you right up then a near collision with something that could probably knock you down, and if it did, would leave two wheel imprints upon your face. Dr. Chase suddenly could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins, even if he desperately wanted to sink back into that sleepy stupor. It was like he had guzzled a few caffeine drinks, something he was known for doing when his insane boss called the ducklings, Chase included, for an all night case. Caffeine was a friend, a very good, well known, familiar friend to Chase, and you could often find him during the days with a cup of coffee clutched in his hand, like most of the other Diagnostic team. They needed it to put up with House half the time. Anyway, slightly off track there, but still, Robert Chase knew that feeling well, though at the moment he did not appreciate the heart beat pounding in his ears at a decibel he was sure anyone else could hear if they concentrated heard enough. His hand remained tightly clasped around the handle of the wheel chair, for two reasons. One being he really didn't think any of the nurses would appreciate him letting this kid go, and two, he needed it to help keep his balance, because pulling the chair toward him had greatly threw of his center of balance, and well you get the picture. The curtain of dirty blond hair curved over his forehead, exposing his pale skin. His lips were parted slightly as his cobalt green eyes narrowed on the patient.

Chase listened to the young man’s complaint, which to his ears sounded more like a small child whining, and while Chase infinitely preferred the company of younger patients to the older, he found this particular strain of whining to be grating to the ears and just downright unpleasant. He knew kids should be disciplined and not let to run all over the hospital, but this wasn't even a kid, and Chase had the strong feeling the man should act like it. But, you wouldn't count on Chase showing what he thought to patient, he covered it up with a fake smile and his doctor attitude. He had the complete and utter ability to call upon it whenever he felt like, and the only time you could see him acting rudely to a patient is if something prior to his visit happened to upset him greatly. Otherwise, he'll put on the act that you’ll never see through, and the only people who actually know who, or a part of who he really is, are the other ducklings, and unfortunately House. He could say almost for a fact they didn't exactly like him, but he was perfectly fine with that, no matter how much his need to be accepted nature seems to beg the contrary.

The only way you could tell that he was remotely annoyed was that subtle tightening and clenching of his jaw, as he tried his best to remain positive and not say something he would regret, or more importantly, something he thought House would say. He took a few steps once his balance was caught, securing his hold on the wheelchair and stepped to the side so he was not directly in front of the two wheeled transporter, but rather to the side. He found it comforting that this ensured he would not be run over in the near future, but then again, you never really know. He choose to ignore the young patients comment and shook his head, swallowed, and went on in his best…erm…Chase voice. “Sorry man, this is a hospital, you can’t go around causing havoc like this. You could hurt someone or yourself. “ he paused. “Now, where’s your room so we can get you back there.”

[Riley Gray]

Usually when you reach the age of twenty or twenty one you stop being referred to as a kid though this doesn't exactly mean that you are mature or anything like that even if the law states that you are an adult. Such was the case of Riley as he may have been along the age where you are stopped being called an adult but sadly this young man like most swam in the ignorant bliss of still acting quite childish in many ways. Now then a child isn't exactly happy when one of two things happen; the first being when they are ignored or what something they say goes in one ear and out the other, meanwhile the second would have to be whe something they consider to be fun is stopped. The later could mean something like when an actual action is stopped or when a favored play thing is taken away, you can only imagine what goes through their head when bother of these requirements for unhappiness are fulfilled. For Riley it had been this man who had ended his fun, it a sense it was this man whom had taken his balloon and poped it that is if you could put your lips to the wheelchair and inflate it like one. Having his precious little insult ignored was no picnic either no matter how juvenile it had been.

In his opinion this man only seven years his senior didn't exactly fit the doctor type, he looked more like one of those kinder-garden level surfers that called the beach their home and never took a bath unless it was when they were wiped out midwave. What else could go through your mind but the stereotypical view of a surfer when looking at a roll of blond curls gently falling down infront of blue pools that reflected the world around them. For all rights Riley should be abit anger for his 'fun' being stopped but something about the surfer look almost made him want to laugh at this so called doctor and yell 'Cowabunga Dude' or something along those lines. Despite what he may look like one thing was fairly obvious and that was that this man wasn't exactly the happiest to have bumped into Riley or at least to find someone racing down the hallways. No matter how hard you try to hide it from others somehow they always know that you're angry, its like the almighty one blessed his creations with a little radar that could alert you when someone was gonna snap. At least he was trying to stay calm the young doctor had to score some points for that didn't he, but in the case of getting Riley back to his room.....well nothing was gonna be scored for that.

"How bout no.........the thought of going back to the room isn't looking all too attractive"

True it was night time god only knowing what the exact time it was, the only clear thing was that it was gonna be difficult to wheel Riley back into the confines of the small room that was duplicated throughout the hospital for all patients. You had to wonder did Dr.Chase think that this patient absolutely needed the wheel chair, had the thought of Riley taking the time to remove himself from the chair ever cooked up and served in the darkest corners of his mind? For the moment anyways Riley wasn't showing any signs of unrooting himself for the chair but if needed be you could bet he'd leap out of it in a heart beat. At any rate Riley was a flickering smirk on his face sat slouching in the wheelchair looking up at his capturer noticing the tightening and clenching of his jaw, it was just small signs of this that normal people can pick up on that before mentioned anger radar. But in most cases those who notice things like this tend to try to avoid conflict yet Riley wanted to see how far this guy would be the nice doctor but shattering into something much worse.

"How come I got the feeling you'd rather play Mr.Hyde instead of Dr.Jekyll?....If you got something else you want to do or say then let it out"

[Dr. Robert Chase]

we'll scream at night, to make it go away

..

---

Chase, though sometimes you could still call him on it, had long since grown out of his childish antics, and probably had been forced to a little soon. If you give a kid a responsibility, granted they are old enough to realize it is, indeed, a responsibility, they are going to grow and learn to adapt to it, learn to do what they had to because they had to, because they had no choice. When Chase’s father left, left him with his mother, his mother who seemed to only find solace in the bottle, Chase, at first, had no idea what the hell he was supposed to do. I guess you could call him lost. The first few months, he was only fifteen, in seminary school, trying to juggle his mother and his life at the same time, when his mother pretty much demanded to be his life. Eventually he had ceased to count the times he had come home to find her passed out, or still the numerous other times when she would be in a fit of rage about something and he’d have to deal with that. And, even though it sounds as though it shouldn’t be, it was worse when she was sober. Begging him to forgive her for what she was doing to him, even if she didn't know what exactly she was doing to him. He’d always forgive her because he never knew what else he could do. For him, there had been no other options.

Most patients Chase dealt with did not get up and randomly explore the hospital, in a fashion that was both disruptive and extremely dangerous. Then again, most patients Chase dealt with weren’t exactly able to get up and walk around. The perks of having a major part in the Intensive Care ward. To say that he was not prepared to deal with patients who went wayward from their rooms was a lie, but not so very far from the truth. He didn't expect it, but a piece of himself, a corner of his mind was always remotely prepared for the occasion such as this one. Not that it really took all that much preparation, besides the amount control he had to exert about himself when the patients didn't seem to want to go back to the room where their diagnoses could be made. Which, during this time of the year was getting increasingly often. Not that he blamed them; a small part of him understood their frustration they must be feeling cooped up in a room all day. Then again, he would think they would be mature enough to realize they needed to handle that if they ever wanted to get better. Eyes flicked over the man with something almost like caution, being as the guy could probably maneuver the wheel chair over his toes if Chase didn't pay close enough attention. That’s all he needed at the present moment.

Just as quickly his gaze sharpened and his jaw tightened as the man spoke, and a frown tugged at the corners of his pale pink lips. Seriously now, enough was enough, and Chase was getting fed up, but of course, hid it well behind his professional exterior. He put his tongue in cheek, obviously trying to think of a nice, calm reply that wouldn't cause him to blow his lid or become more agitate then he already was. That was Chase for you, but up a façade for the general public to see. There were very few individuals that could see through it, but the occasional patient made headway and managed to dissect him; which, Chase had never been fond of. Eyes looked toward him with a stern, but still wary expression and he licked his lips.

“You need to go back to your room, I know how boring it is, but you have to stay there.”

Chase was sure this reasoning would probably go in one ear and out the other, but he had to try. Chase never used force, unless it was absolutely need; for example, tackling a delusional patient on the roof. He hated using force because that required him to get close to people, and that was just something he wasn't quite willing to do. Just yet, anyway. His expression cleared as he listened to the man speak, boy in essence really, and his eyes darkened slightly, and he turned his eyes to the wall behind the patient.

”Then you’ve obviously got the wrong feeling. The only thing I have to say is that you need to get back to your room.”