Take your meds - House M.D.
House walked in to find you with your head down on the table in the DDX room. “Hey, newest duckling! What gives? I thought I told you to go run a CBC and a D-dimer, not to take a nap - get a move on!”
You look up, movements sluggish, eyes half-lidded and brain fuzzy. You really didn’t feel well at all, but House didn’t need to know that. In fact, you were hoping he never found out anything more than what was absolutely necessary about you. “You did tell me to do both of those things, I just…needed a minute. Sorry, I’m going now.”
You brace yourself on the table, starting to get up, but House has a different look in his eye now; it’s more analytical, but soft at the same time. He stops you from moving by putting the tip of his cane to your chest.
“You didn’t take your meds today, did you?”
“What? What are you talking about?” I’m not even on any.” You sputter, trying to defend yourself without giving anything away.
“Sure….. I’m going to pretend I believe that. Except for the part where I absolutely don’t. You don’t think I comb through every bit of information I can find about every new employee? Everybody lies. And apparently you don’t even do it well. Though I have to say, I didn’t expect a doctor to be dumb enough to lie about medical records.”
You slump back down in your seat, defeated. “Fine, you caught me. Happy?”
“No, actually I’m not. I know I’m the last one to be lecturing you on proper use of medication, but you really need to take it. I didn’t bother looking too closely at your medical history, but I can hazard a guess based on what you’re on and not taking those meds could have serious consequences. Just because I take far too many drugs, does not mean you have to compensate by taking none of yours.”
“I know. It’s just they’re new and they make me feel like crap.” you reply meekly.
“Don’t care. You want to keep this job, I need you to be functional.” His tone softens a little. “Seriously, take the damn pills, give them 20 mins to kick in, and go figure out what’s wrong with our patient. Take it slow if you need to. I’ll deal with Cuddy if she pesters you about clinic duty.”
You send a small smile House’s way as he retreats back out the office door. You do as you’re told and swallow the pills. Bitter as they are, they’re now a reminder that as much as your new boss may pretend otherwise, he really does care about you.