"Is this some kind of joke?" Obviously annoyed, Dr. Foreman asked.

  "Yeah," with false incredulity on his face, House sarcastically said, "I thought that was clear to everyone." Looking at the other people in the room, House tinued, "Are you okay, Foreman?" he asked with false .

  Ign House, Dr. Foreman tightly closed his eyes, sighing for a few seds before forcibly walking to one of the empty chairs to sit down, annoyed, crossing his arms.

  "So what are we going to do about it?" Clearly unfortable with the situation, Cameron asked, shiftitention from Dr. Foreman to Dr. House.

  "We o ehe child's theory is correct immediately and find out what ied the babies," House said calmly.

  "What about the antibiotics?" Cameron asked, worried.

  "We o move fast," I said, knowing we couldn't stop House's pn. "We now have the source of the iion. We o culture it. Let's start with MRSA and Pseudomonas," I offered.

  Standing up while slightly sn, "You heard the kid, go bear hunting," House ordered, mobilizing the other doctors.

  Before leaving the office, Chase amusedly stopped for a moment to bid me farewell with an exaggerated military salute.

  "Let's go," House nodded his head, me out of his office. "That was funny, but you'll need many more years to take trol of my department," House tinued sarcastically as we walked to the maternity wing.

  "Just give me a few months," I replied to him with a small smirk.

  "Yeah, sure," House nodded ironically. "A few months you'll o learn not to cry when making tough medical decisions," House asserted haughtily.

  Accepting my defeat, I apanied House to the maternity wing.

  "I'm looking for a woman," leaning on the nurses' station desk, House said with an exaggerated smile to Nurse Brenda, who, taken aback, immediately had an unpleasant expression as she leaned ba her chair, moving away from House. "Oh, don't ftter yourself. The woman I'm looking for is an older woman, a volunteer, loves babies, and gives away stuffed animals," House tinued sarcastically.

  "Just your type," I quickly said to House.

  "No, I prefer blondes, pregnant, and with the most annoying voice possible," House responded ironically immediately.

  "I think it might be Elizabeth. We have many older female volunteers, but only she brings stuffed animals to give away. She was one of those who went home whearted removing vulnerable people from the maternity wing," stopping our little quarrel, the nurse said, "very kind woman, her husband passed away a few years ago, and-" the nurse was saying until she was interrupted, "yes, yes, the husband dies, the children don't visit her, and therefore she fills that void by ing to the hospital to see the adorable newborn babies," exasperatedly House monologued.

  "Brenda, we just o know where-" I was trying to say.

  "Where does she hide her secret stash?" House interrupted me, asking the woman seriously, theatrically hitting the desk, narrowing his eyes accusatorily.

  "Her secret stash?" The ed woman asked.

  "The stuffed animals," I immediately crified, causing House to move away from the desk with an exaggerated sigh. "Oh, e on, just when I thought you were fun," House said falsely disappointed.

  "I'm sorry, honey, but she takes the stuffed animals with her. You know volunteers don't really have a pce to store things," Brenda kindly said, shaking her head.

  "Brenda, do you have any way-" I was trying to say.

  "What are you two doing here again?" from one of the hallways of the maternity wing, Mr. Stratford's annoyed voiterrupted me.

  "Stratford, don't you have a pregnant woman to deworm?" House sarcastically asked the man.

  "And you don't have a-" in an attempt to respond to House, Mr. Stratford said, running out of ideas, obviously frustrated.

  "Good one," House responded ironically to the other doaking him shut up. "We have to work with what we have," ign the embarrassed Mr. Stratford, House instructed me before walking out of the wing again.

  "Thanks, Brenda," as a goodbye, I said to the nurse, who kindly bid farewell back, "Mr. Stratford," avoiding the man's gaze, I quickly walked past him, following House out of the wing.

  Following House through the hospital corridors, we arrived at the bs where only two of the three doctors under House were w, focused on the microscopes in front of them. "Where's Cameron?" breaking the tration of Dr. Foreman and Chase, House asked.

  "She ruled out Pseudomonas iuffed animals," pointing to various bags with teddy bears in front of them, Dr. Foreman replied.

  "So the two babies are now off Aztreonam," House said, receiving a nod from Dr. Foreman, "so MRSA?" House asked Dr. Foreman, whed, replying, "I'm waiting."

  "There are a lot of things here, House," Chase said, shaking his head, "we'll never know what ied them."

  "What's the differeweewo sick babies and the ones who aren't?" House asked.

  "They all received stuffed animals from the same woman," Chase recalled.

  "Their immune systems are worse," Dr. Foreman said.

  "Yes, but there's a much more important piece of information than that," House said ironically. "Where did the babies e from?" he tinued sarcastically.

  "We had already ruled that out; they are from different delivery rooms," Cameron said, entering through the door with a frustrated expression on her face.

  "No, not that," House immediately denied. "They came from different orifices; they have their mothers' blood, and therefore, their antibodies too."

  "Cross-refereng the antibodies of the sid healthy babies?" Chase asked, ed.

  "That would take days; we would have to search through an immense amount of things," Foreman dismissed the idea, shaking his head.

  "No, that's why the mothers' antibodies are important. We look for what antibodies the mothers have, and with that, we'll know what the babies are protected against and what they're not," I theorized.

  Pointing one of his fingers at me while nodding, "Cuddy has an army of students; use them," House ordered, prompting the three doctors to get moving. "Wait, Cameron," House said, stopping the doctor.

  "What?" Cameron asked, pressing her lips together.

  "Two theories for your long face: the -Lupinos yelled at you for taking their baby off antibiotics, or—" House was saying, but Cameron interrupted, "I was about to kill their baby."

  "That," House affirmed.

  "If it hadn't been for PJ and his discovery, I would have killed their baby," Cameron affirmed again, g her jaarently trying to hold back tears.

  "You're setting a bad example for the kid," House said sarcastically. "We're doctors, Cameroick with our diagnoses until something makes us ge our minds. Your theory was just as good as Foreman's until it wasn't," House said seriously before leaving the boratory.

  "He's right," wiping her eyes and sniffing, Cameron said when House disappeared from view. "But, anyway, I want to thank you, PJ."

  Not knowing what to say, I stayed by the sad doctor's side. "You don't have to say anything, just thanks," apparently uanding my silence, Cameron said again, smiling slightly before also leaving the boratory.

  On the boratory tables, the small stuffed bears in separate sterile bags were leaning against each other, looking as harmless as they should be.

  Taking my attention away from the stuffed animals, I also left the boratory, walking towards House's office. Passing by one of the hospital windows, surprisingly, I found darkhat would only be possible if...

  Cheg my watch, I hurried much faster to the office because, due to everything that happened during the day, I was deyed much more than usual leaving.

  In House's office, there was no one; House's backpack, which was usually hung on the side of his bookshelf, was also o be found. The man had probably left immediately.

  After gathering all my things, I left the hospital, hoping that the doctors, along with the students, could discover whatever was affeg the babies.

  Upon arriving home after parking my car, I eo find mom and Bob sitting together on the couch, although it would be more accurate to say that mom ractically on Bob's side, seemingly pletely worried.

  "Sorry for being te—" I was saying, but mom quickly got up from the couch, interrupting me, "how are the babies?" she asked, surprisingly anxious.

  "Oh, fine," surprised by the suddeion, I responded, "we found out that the babies had stuffed animals from the same pce, and they are currently runnis to find out what they're ied with," I tinued.

  "Oh, thank God, I was so worried about that," relieved, mom sighed before sitting back down, practically on top of Bob, who had an unreadable expression while staring at me.

  "Yeah, so, as I was saying, sorry I arrived so te; the case captured all my attention," I said, not really knowing if I should apologize.

  "Oh, don't worry about it, PJ, as long as you drive safely, it's all okay," leaning on Bob's shoulder, mom said without giving it much importance.

  "Okay," leaving the couple alone, puzzled, I said goodbye as I walked to my room, ign a strange look of distress from Bob.

  In my room, Gabe was on his own bed practig with one of his guitars. "Hey, kiddo," I greeted the boy as I sat at my desk to catch up on pending tasks and study a bit.

  "Hey, do you know what happeo mom?" from his bed, Gabe asked, ed.

  "What do you mean?" I asked.

  "Mom and dad picked me up from music css, and mom was sad, but no oells me why," Gabe expined. "I think it's because of something that happe work."

  "Oh, don't worry about that, there were a few sick babies," I expio Gabe calmly.

  "Was she so sad just because of that?" incredulous, Gabe asked.

  "Need more?" worried about the pathy from the child, I turned in my chair to look at him seriously.

  "No, I mean, it's sad, of course," he said obviously, "but they're in the hospital to get better, right?" he ily asked.

  "Yes, to cure them," I o the child.

  As practically every weekday, the day tinued with retive normality; we had dinner as a family, and along with Bob and Gabe, I exercised in the garage usis.

  After my nightly routine, mentally fatigued from everything that happened during the day, I practically fell asleep as soon as my head touched my pillow.

  The day, as usual, Gabe and I woke up to go for a run early in the m, returning several mier to the house, where we prepared for the day by having breakfast at the kit table with Bob, who was the only one of the two adults awake at the moment.

  Remembering how the day before I had arrived much earlier than usual, I decided to leave a few mier from home, taking my time to have breakfast calmly.

  With my previous pnning, when I arrived at school, unlike yesterday, there were many more cars parked in the parking lot, as well as many people around the school and the cars.

  Turning off 'Debbie' aing out of the car, I once again found myself with the familiar feeling of being the ter of attention.

  Trying to ighe obvious whispers about me, I closed 'Debbie,' making sure the door didn't open, and turned on my heels to walk to the school. Before I could move forward, I had to abruptly stop, nearly bumping into a straeenager with a very extravagant haircut standing unfortably close to me.

  "Hi, you probably already know, but I'm Joey," Joey introduced himself with a strange smile, raising his hand for a handshake. "Joey Donner," he tinued.

  "PJ," I said, taking his hand and discreetly pulling away from the unscious teenager, f a smile as I introduced myself.

  "I know that," Joey said obviously. "Nice car," he tinued, gesturing towards 'Debbie' with his eyes, still holding my hand in his grip.

  "Thanks," I said unfortably, trying politely to retrieve my hand from the smiling teenager's grasp, to no avail.

  "I'm pnning on buying one myself, you know?" he said. "I've had some gigs as a model and have some dolrs saved up, so I might be able to buy a car like this or better," the teenager said with a touch ance.

  "Well, gratutions," I said, trying to be as polite as possible with a smile that wasn't forced at all. "Sorry, I have my hand back?" I unfortably pointed out that our hands were still ected by his grip.

  "Oh," apparently ign the entire awkward moment he held my hand, the teenager quickly let go.

  Despite letting go of my hand, the teenager didn't move away from me, maintaining an arrogant smile on his face as he stared at me. "So, need anything else?" a little tired of the whole awkward moment, I asked, trying to make it clear that I wao leave.

  "Alright, straight to the point," the teenager ughed strangely, slowly shaking his head. "You know why I'm here," he tinued as if the idea were pletely obvious.

  "No, that's why I asked you," I sarcastically replied to the increasingly foolish teenager.

  With dession on his face, "you and Regina Gee," Joey said strangely, puffing out his chest, "are no longer a thing."

  "What?" I asked, astonished by the direct decration of the foolish teenager. "Who said that?" I asked again, incredulous.

  "I mean, the whole school has been talking about what happened yesterday," pointing to some of the people around who tio look at me and talk among themselves, "and don't get offended, but it was only a matter of time. I mean, Regina obviously do better," Joey said, obviously speaking of himself, with an arrogant smile.

  "So, are you here to ask me if you go after Regina?" surprised by the ck of shame from the foolish teenager, I asked.

  "Yeah, you know, it's part of the man code, to ask before starting the race," the annoying teenager said unpleasantly cheerful.

  "Race," I repeated with disdain as the teenager nodded excitedly. "Okay, you know what, I don't know yet, I haven't had a ce to talk tina. But, I'll tell you this, if we really 'are not a thing' anymore, you'll be the first to know," I tinued obviously with sarcasm.

  Without uanding the obvious lie behind my statement, Joey smiled widely, raising his fist for a fist bump that I relutly returned. "Thanks, man," Joey said before walking towards the school with aed step.

  "You're wele," I said, amazed by the obvious ck of on sense in the idiot teenager.

  Incredulous about the eera with the foolish teenager, I chuckled amusedly before walking into the school on my own.

  As I walked to my locker, as painfully usual for me, people were very aware of my presen the hallways.

  o my locker, my friends were already getting their things ready for the day.

  "SuperStar," Brock greeted me with a friendly sp on the shoulder, a sad expression on his face. "How are you?" David, who was also there, asked seriously.

  "I'm fihanks," I responded, puzzled by my friends' attitude.

  "Did you hear about the rumor that you and Regina ended your retionship?" An calmly expined from his locker o mine.

  "Oh," I said, uanding why my friends were ag strangely. "I don't know yet, in fact, I know the same as everyone else in the school apparently," I tinued ironically, pointing to the people who were still staring at me in the hallway, managing to at least make the teenagers feel a little embarrassed.

  "Yeah, everyone knows about that," Geie affirmed.

  "Speaking of which, do you guys know a guy named Joey Donner?" I asked.

  "Yeah, I know him," An said calmly. "Thinks he's a 'model,' an arrogant idiot," my quiet friend summarized.

  "Yeah, he intercepted me in the parking lot and basically asked me to give him a heads up for the 'race' to get Regina, as if that were a thing," I said amusedly at the nonserangely not getting the expected reas from my friends, except An.

  "Oh, e on!" uanding my friends' ck of rea, I said annoyed.

  "It's a joke, it's a joke, sorry," Brock said, being supported by Geie.

  David avoided my gaze and avoided saying anything.

  "Really?" I asked, surprised and offended alike.

  "Don't be an idiot," Brock said, hitting David's nape.

  "Okay, okay, sorry, it's just that she's so pretty," embarrassedly, David said.

  "Who?" suddenly appeario us and startling many of those present, Kat asked.

  "Kat, get a bell," still shaken by her sudden appearance, I joked to the teenager.

  "Ha ha, funny, what were you guys talking about?" she asked after ughing falsely.

  "Just some idiots," I jokingly replied.

  "Yeah, unfortunately, there are many of those around here," Kat affirmed, amused.

  "Oh, guys, this is Kat, Kat, my friends," seeing that three of my friends didn't know Kat, I introduced them.

  "Hey," Kat greeted. "Stratford," Aed calmly with a small nod, being the only one of my four friends who spoke instead of just staring at the girl with their mouths open.

  "Let me guess, An?" pointing to my quiet friend, Kat asked me with a big smile.

  "Yeah, and that's Brock, David, and Geie," I said, pointing to eay friends.

  "Well, o meet you guys, I have to go to css," a little unfortable with my friends' stares, Kat said before leaving.

  "Really smooth," I teased my friends, "especially you, David, I'm sure if it really exists, you'll win the 'race,'" I tieasing my friend.

  "PJ," from the school hallway, Sheldon in his amusing formality was standing quietly waiting.

  "Hey buddy, are you ready?" I asked.

  "Yes," formally Sheldon responded.

  Csses proceeded as usual, essentially serving as an excuse for Sheldon ao pete in our knowledge test.

  At lunchtime, my friends and I took our seats at our usual table. Again, like the day before, Regina and her friends were o be found.

  As I listeo my friends' versations and occasionally participated in them, lunchtime passed. At one point, Kat and anirl approached our table, takis in the empty spaces. "Since you introduced me to your friends, I thought I'd do the same. This is Mandel, Mahese are the guys," Kat said pyfully.

  "Pleasure to meet you, Mandel," I greeted the teenager.

  "Likewise, PJ, it's a pleasure to finally meet you," the girl said with a suggestive smile, leaning slightly towards Kat, who nudged her away with a small elbow jab.

  "So, Kat only told me that you were her friend—" I was saying, but An beside me gave a weak tap on my arm, stopping me. When I turo my calm friend to see what he needed, he nodded his head at the cafeteria entrance, indig Regina, who was standing at the door, obviously upset st out of the cafeteria moments ter.

  Quickly getting up from the table, I walked after her, obviously and to my sternation being the ter of attention of everyone in the cafeteria, I could feel the weight of the stares from my peers, their whispers f a backdrop to the unfolding drama.

  "Regina, wait," surprisingly, Regina had only taken a few steps from the cafeteria door. So I quickly said, stopping her aly taking her wrist.

  "What?" Regina shouted angrily, pulling her hand away.

  "Let's talk. I don't know what you think, but it's a mistake," I said, releasing her hand to avoid hurting her.

  "I don't want to talk. You're a cheater," Regina pointed her fi my chest, tinuing to shout.

  "Kat and I are just friends—" I was saying, but Regina interrupted me. "Oh yeah, clearly, the cock biter, and you're just friends," she said dryly, ughing with irony. "I don't uand you. I mean, I'm Regina Gee, and I don't get cheated on," she excimed, offended and surprisingly agitated, pointing at herself and widening her eyes.

  Surprised by her sudden attitude, I fell silent, not really knowing what to say. Regina was breathing quickly as she ched her fists so tightly that her knuckles began to whiten.

  Sighing as she shook her head, Regina calmed her expression, also adopting a different body posture. Suddenly, she began to blink rapidly, causing her eyes to start watering.

  "Regina, what—" I was asking, but the lunch bell interrupted my words. As we were in the middle of the hallway in front of the cafeteria doors, the pce quickly began to fill with people on their way to their lockers for their csses.

  Seeing all the people around us, Regina, pletely ging her expression, began to cry. "We're done," she yelled, with what was clear only to me were fake tears streaming down her face.

  From somewhere, Karen and Gret appeared, each taking one ina's arms as they led her away, shooting furious looks at me.

  In disbelief at what had just happened, I could only stand there in the middle of the hallway, watg as the three teenagers quickly left, leaving me as the ter of attention for a bunch of gossip-hungry teenagers.

  "Are you okay?" Kat suddenly appeared beside me, asking.

  "I owe someone fifty dolrs," I replied, defeated.

  --- Author Thoughts:

  As always, I'm not Ameri and I'm not a doctor.

  The resolution of the baby case is obviously a blind attempt on my part, because if you remember well, in House M.D., one of the babies had to die so they could perform the autopsy and thus find out it was a virus affeg locally. However, obviously, in my shift, I won't allow a baby to die, if I help it.

  Therefore, I arrived at the solution of this chapter. What do you think about it? I'll be reading your ents. (I would love to know how you would have solved it if you e up with another way).

  The end of the retionship with Regina attempted to frame a hint of an attitude born from the blind belief of being "perfect." So, I imagihat within the aggrieved psyche of the teenager, someone cheating on her would be an offeo her entire belief system, driving her a little crazy. (As in the previous se, I would love to read what you thought of this.)

  By the way, this is not the st we'll see ina. Obviously, she's an iing character to use as an antagonist for a while longer.

  With that said,

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

  Thank you for reading! :D

  PS: PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW.

  PS (Scribble Hub): Among all the pages where I publish the chapters of the story, Scriblle Hub is where I have the least iion with readers. I would like it if someone is actually reading this story, to leave a ent or a review so I know what you think. . Thanks in advance.