Clearly a having lost so much money, Doctor Foreman didn't respond to my gratitude, instead sitting behind a microscope, occasionally jotting down notes in a log.

  "How was yame, PJ?" asked Doctor Cameron, also taking a seat. "We wao e and cheer you on, but you know how it is. We had to monitor Dan's treatment. By the way, he's doing really well. His parents were very happy," she tinued, examining one of the syic skins spread out oable.

  "We were lucky to diagnose Dan, and even luckier that the treatment is w," I said, relieved for the sick teenager. "The game went pretty well. We won o py," I replied to the kind doctor's first question while still suturing. There came a point in all my years of practice where it was natural for my hands to tiheir work even when I was focused on other things.

  After a few seds of not hearing any feedback from Cameron, I shifted my focus from my suturing work to find the reason behind Cameron's silence. She was carefully examining one of the syic skins that she had left aside after suturing.

  "What's up?" I asked the focused doctor.

  "This is very good, well done, Chase," replied Doctor Cameron, nodding approvingly at her medical colleague.

  Chase, also diverting his attention from his own suturing work, briefly ied the syic skin in the doctor's hand. "That's not mi's House Junior's," he said, identifying the work with a mildly ironic smile.

  Ign Chase's joke, I expio the astonished doctor who was still closely examining the work, "Chase has been teag me."

  "Then this one is yours?" she asked incredulously, scrutinizing each point more closely. "It's unfair," she tinued, pg the skin oable. "How someone be born with so much talent? For me to reach this level, I had to practice for years in school."

  L my head, avoiding Cameron's incredulous gaze, I tinued with my own sutures.

  "Scary, isn't it? Imagine what he'll achieve after medical school," said Chase, ughing and shaking his head.

  Exhaling with exasperation from his solitary workstation, Doctor Foreman made his annoyanown.

  "Oh, e on, Foreman," said Cameron, pig up the syic skin again from the table. "Look at this. You 't say that PJ doesn't have talent. Knowing things from books is ohing, but having the talent for these things is another," she tiossing the skin to the irked doctor, who took it and studied it for a moment before setting it aside with a tightly closed mouth.

  "Anyway, he 't be here," he suddenly said, more excitedly, ign Cameron's strange proud looks.

  It seemed like Cameron was going to say something again, but the sound of a pager interrupted her. The three doctors, ign the current discussion, quickly checked their own devices, two of them putting them away again, presumably having not received any news.

  "House is looking for you, PJ. He's in the ic," said Chase, who hadn't put down his pager until that moment.

  Getting up from my seat, I silently thanked Chase as I also bid farewell to Cameron with a wave, walking towards the door. Uhe doorframe, I remembered Foreman's ent. "By the way, I be anywhere in the hospital," I said, searg for my credentials. "Doctor Cuddy takes care of that," I said, showing the annoyed doctor the said credential.

  Before he could respond, I left the b for the outpatient ic where I was sure House was waiting for me.

  After greeting Nurse Fryday, she pointed me to where House was, also handihe chart of the patient.

  "Hey," I greeted House, who was sitting on the bed in the room, reading a magazine. "opolitan?" I asked, reading the magazine in his hands.

  With some effort, House got up from the bed with annoyance, setting the magazine aside. "Research," he said shamelessly, sitting down on the chair in the room. "Today, I'm going to teach you something very important that a good doust do," he tinued, pying with his e in his hands.

  "What do you think is the first thing to do when diagnosing a patient?" he asked, still pying with his e.

  "Read their information," I replied, pointing to the file in my hands.

  "No," said House seriously, finally lifting his gaze from his e. "The first thing to do is to observe the patient," he tinued, pointing his e at me. "You make eye tact, so you're not ashamed to be here. You're wearing cheap but good quality clothes, retly bought. You have your wat your left wrist, so you're right-handed. Your fingers are and smooth, but your palms aren't. You don't do manual bor, obviously. So you probably exercise, possibly just started liftis. Your haircut, unlike people ye, is short and well-styled, simple, ravagant. You have good hygiene. Your nails are well trimmed, and there's no dirt uhem, so you wash your hands enough to reduce the risk of a stomafe. Obviously, you don't wear gsses. If you did, you'd have marks on the bridge of your nose, and right now, you're not wearing tacts. You have good vision since you read the title of this magazine from where you're standing, and as far as I see, both your ears work well. Usually, when a person has reduced hearing in one ear, they tilt their head in that dire," he finished when the door to the office was heard.

  "Here," said House, handing me a small notebook and snatg the file from my hands. "Try what I just did now and write down what you see. In the end, we'll see how you did," he tinued seriously. "Go ahead," he said when the office door was knocked, raising his voice to the office door.

  Nurse Fryday entered along with a patient behihanking the nurse, I closed the door behind her as House got up from his chair, making the patient sit on the bed.

  "Well, let's see what we have here," said House after a few seds, opening the file in his hands and reading the papers inside.

  Opening the small notebook that House had given me, I attempted to do what he had shown me, listening in the background to what House was discussing with the woman.

  Woman in her early twenties, not embarrassed to be in the office, clutg her stomach, possibly in pain but without facial expressions indig pain. She's sweatie being in a well-ventited room and wearing fortable, cool clothing, especially her shoes. No impnt as far as I could tell when she moved her arm.

  Closing the notebook, House, who seemed to have his attention divided, asked me silently if I had finished, nodding as the doctor handed me the open file, urgio read it.

  Quickly reading the file, I o House, aiting for me. "So, do you have any additional questions?" he asked arrogantly, probably knowing the diagnosis.

  "When was the st time you had your period?" I asked, trying to ignore House's attitude.

  Furrowing her brow, the patient seemed to try to remember. "A little over two weeks ago," she finally replied after a few seds of thinking.

  "So, Dun?" House asked again, sitting ba his chair and crossing his arms.

  "Pregnancy," I said, closing the file.

  Nodding slightly, House returned his attention to the remely pale patient.

  After House dealt with the patient, providing the necessary information and anizing an appoi with an obstetri, he took the notebook from my hands.

  "Well, I guess you could say this's good, you have good instincts," he said after a moment, reading what I had written. "Well spotted with the shoes, but you missed the reason behind it. She had some swelling in the lower part of her legs. She didn't have a ring, so probably we will have a new messy marriage there. She didn't have a watch, so you couldn't tell whether she's left-handed ht-handed, but she did have a mark on her right hand's middle finger, which is usually caused by writing a lot," tinued House seriously, expining things I had overlooked. "You might think that kind of stuff isn't important for making the diagnosis, and in the vast majority of cases, that's true, but you don't want to miss out on a truly vital piece of information in a case," said House again seriously, opening his magazine.

  After a few seds of silence, abs what House had expined, I asked, "What's ?" House looked up from his magazine. "Go for the one," he tinued, handihe file in his hands.

  I tinued with the same routine alongside House. While House preteo engage in a friendly versation with the patients, I jotted down my observations of eae.

  After bidding farewell to the st patient, House checked his watch. "Well, it's time," he said, getting ready to leave the room. "I want you to fill that notebook with people you don't know," he said, pausing at the door. "Pay attention to things you normally wouldn't," he tinued, pg his hand on my shoulder. "And maybe, just maybe, you might bee oh as good as me," he finished with an ironic smile.

  Ign his joke, I removed his hand from my shoulder ahe ic. "See you ter, House," I said, bidding him goodbye. After saying goodbye to Nurse Fryday, I went to House's office to grab my backpad head home with Mom.

  After Mom said goodbye to her co-workers, we left the hospital. On the way home, while Mom asked questions about my day, I reted how hers had been.

  At home, after greeting Bob, who was as usual sitting in his armchair watg television and drinking a beer, I went outside Teddy's room, knog on the door to make myself heard over the musiing from my sister's room.

  "e in," I heard Teddy's voice over the musi her room.

  Opening the door, I found my sister reading a magazine on her bed. "PJ," she greeted cheerfully, putting the magazine aside.

  "Did you finish your homework?" I asked, taking a seat in the er of her bed.

  "Yes," she said calmly, "it wasn't difficult," she tinued quickly, worried after seeing, presumably, a disappointed look on my face. Helping her with her homework was an important part of my day.

  "It's okay," I said, trying to reassure my sister, sitting in the er of her bed. "How was your day?" I asked, trying to start a versation.

  "Fine. My friend Baja told us about a..." she began to speak after a moment, like a faucet being turned on, Teddy gradually started talking about gossip in her school and the people involved, who likes whom, 'horrible' things someone did, and a bunch of other things that are important to a teenager.

  By the time I fialking with Teddy, it was time for dihe family dinner happened without much important to talk about, Bob as always told us about some building with thousands of small is that he had to take care of Gabe also talked about what happe his school and Mom repeated many of the things she talked about with me in the car.

  After dinner, Bob, Gabe, and I went to our homemade gym. Bob and I worked with weights that pushed our limits, while we made Gabe work with weights that wouldn't hurt him.

  We tinued exerg for an habe, due to his age, stopped before us but stayed with us until Bob and I finished our routine. After wiping the sweat off my body, I fihe book that House had left in my care, while listening to Gabe practie of his songs. Setting aside the notes I had been taking while studying the book, I prepared to go to bed, putting the book away and lying down, still listening to Gabe py. I turned off the arm for the day.

  Unaware of when I fell asleep deeply uhe sound of Gabe's soothing guitar. The day, after Gabe and I went for a run a few hours ter than we usually d the week, I took a shower and got ready for my date with Regina.

  Bob, who would be takio the cafe, was waiting at the front door. "Ready, champ?" he asked, with his hand on my shoulder.

  Nodding to Bob, we left the house to get into his beat-up pickup truck. "You're almost sixteen. Have you thought about getting a car?" Bob asked as he drove the truto town.

  "Yeah, my friend Broe that his uncle was selling an old car. I was going to visit him on Sunday to see its dition and how much he was going to sell it for," I told him.

  "Do you have the moo buy it?" Bob asked calmly.

  "I have some savings, but I was thinking of getting a job if necessary. Maybe tut or perhaps babysitting on weekends," I lied. If my bet paid off, I would have a few thousand dolrs in a few days.

  "Yeah, that could work," said Bob, nodding. "I could lend you the money if you ," he tinued after a moment.

  "Maybe advance my allowance by a thousand dolrs," I said hopefully. With the money I had earned from House's bets and my own, bined with a few hundred dolrs that PJ had saved up, I had two thousa hundred dolrs secured for the fight bet. With those thousand dolrs, it could be three thousa hundred.

  After a moment of silend taking a deep breath, Bob nodded. "It's okay," he said, nodding slightly. "You'd better make sure yrades are perfect," he joked, ughing as he slowed down to stop in front of the ema.

  "Don't worry, they will be, and I promise I'll pay every t back. Thanks, Dad," I quickly said to him.

  Laughing as he shook his head, Bob opehe passenger door. "Let's go. You have to get there before the dy, and I have to go to the bank. See you in two hours?" he asked, opening the passenger door. Thanking Bob, I got out of his beat-up truck.

  Watg Bob's truck drive away, I walked to the cafe where I was supposed to meet Regina. "Hello," I greeted the barista behind the ter. "Sarah," I said, reading her ag. "Do you have a table avaible for two?" I asked, leaning slightly over the ter, trying to be as polite as possible.

  The busy barista, as more people ehe cafe, huffed with annoyance. "I don't know, try looking around the pce. There might be some free tables," she said exasperatedly as she worked quickly, preparing coffee cups.

  Nodding slightly to the still disied barista, I moved away from the ter, searg for aable. I took a seat at a retly vacated table o the window in the cafe.

  After waiting for a few seds, I decided to start on the 'assig' that House had giveaking the small notebook out of my back pocket, I began to describe the people in the cafe. There were elderly people sipping coffee while reading the neer, one of them took a pill along with his coffee. Judging by the tremor in his hands and the strength of his gsses, I theorized it could be a heart problem.

  Sarah, the barista, was another person of i. W behind the ter in a cafe was something I didn't have the pleasure of knowing, but the excessive sweating on her forehead and her ck of ban her feet didn't seem natural for a barista w on a cool workday.

  Focused on the barista, I didn't notice when Regina had ehe cafe. "Hey," she said, sitting across from me at the table.

  ---

  Author Thoughts:

  As always, I am not Ameri, much less a doctor.

  I have been pletely sick for several days, I don't know if it's COVID, I have to get some tests dohe weekly chapter will always be published uhere is a pletely special case. Thank you very much to all those who support this novel day by day, I hope you send me your energies like Goku because I'm really sick.

  I think that's all, as always, if you find any errors, please let me know and I will correct them immediately.

  Thank you for reading :D

  PS: PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW.