shivers. :open:

[Nikole Ross]

Heals tapped against the tile floor, echoing in the clinic as if to announce her presence, as she approached the desk. In the room she probably stood out like a sore thumb, but Nikole really didn't mind. Half the fun of dressing up was turning heads. Today she was adorned in a black halter dress with white polka dots. The trim fell just short of her knees, loose and flowing, and had a folded-flat collar. Wrapped around her waist was a thick red sash with a tight bow in the back. To match this outfit she had a red ribbon with a bow tilted to the side crowning her head. The young woman went as far as to paint her nails - red tipped black - to match the outfit. The outfit, completed with inch high black heals with black strings criss crossing over her calf and a small black purse, took hours. It was better than sitting around doing nothing.

The symptoms started a week ago, but it was dismissed as Lithium side effects and she was released from the hospital immediately. Jamie insisted that there was something else wrong, Lithium didn't cause muscle weakness or her persistent cough. Nik was sure he would be by her side all the time, then, but instead he always had his nose in the books. Realizing they were out of chocolate, which was her worse nightmare, she took a bus to the hospital to find Jamie and inform him of her crisis. had it been anything else she wouldn't have bothered, but she needed her chocolate.

"Ah, excuse me..." Nik began to the nurse at the desk who seemed extremely busy, talking on the phone while sorting files. "One minute." Licking her lips, she tapped her nails on the counter restlessly until the phone was hung up. "New patient?" The woman asked. "No, I-"

"Have a seat, you'll be called in a minute." She interrupted, going back to her files without giving Nik so much as a second glance. The brunette clucked her tongue in annoyance and walked over to the chairs, sitting down. If the only way to find her brother was to see him as a physician, or another get another doctor to fetch him, then so be it.

After about twenty minutes a second nurse called her and lead her to one of the rooms. Again she attempted to ask for her brother, but was turned down once again. This time by a door closing in her face. Nik gave it a solid kick and glanced around the empty room.

She hated empty rooms.

First she just paced the room, twisting the end of her dress with her fingers, memorizing each corner, whatever she could do to occupy her mind. During her fidgeting she grabbed a tissue, placing it over her nose and mouth as the frustrating cough returned. Then she stopped, scrunching the tissue in one hand, staring at the cabinents. Curiosity dawned and so she opened one up, standing on her toes to see the shelves. Nik shifted through the things, though put them back exactly where they were, before going to the drawer below the counter and repeating the process.

[Dr. Gregory House]

Gregory House was finally caught. After about a good chase that lasted God-knows how long, Cuddy had finally caught up to him. After all, there were only so many places a man with a bad leg could hide from clinic duty in this hospital. So it was with a five minute argument, a little sexual harassment here and there, and finally an annoyed grimace for both parties that the Head of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine was forced to limp into the clinic. It was going to be the longest few hours of his life. Where was someone having a stroke or a seizure when you needed them?

The agony of boredom already began to mix with the agony in his leg the moment he looked into the faces of the people sitting impatiently in the waiting room. The temporary eye contact was immediately cut off after a millisecond without his acidic expression faltering one bit. Look into their eyes too long, they'll realize that you're a doctor, and then you'll be in for it. There was one confrontation that he didn't need. The odds were low that he'd be approached today anyway. You see, House happened to get off on the wrong foot this morning (Pardon the subtle pun.) and thus dressed accordingly. A pair of casual jeans and the usual t-shirt with some graphic printed on the front struck his fancy, along with the normal black jacket. It was just the outfit to make his look unprofessional enough to repel the common patient. It was a comforting defense, but it wasn't going to be of any use now that Cuddy was on top of him. Oh God, how he wished that was literal.

Gregory sneered at the situation one last time before he faced what was behind door number one. And into the abyss he went. The flamed tip of his cane entered first, only to be followed by the reluctant rest of him before the door slammed shut. He looked at the ceiling for a final moment of "What am I doing here" before his eyes began to focus on the patient. When he finally did, a single brow raised at what he noticed. Rather than sit nervously an the examination table set out for them, the woman had decided to poke her nose around. While he face was in the drawer where it didn't belong, she had given the doctor enough of a chance to jump to the obvious conclusion: He had a drug seeker on his hands.

A tap of his cane on the floor rang out just to share how he was feeling about this. Pale blue eyes bore into the back of the woman's skull as he noticed the way she was dressed today. It didn't help much to dismiss his hypothesis. House let out a loud sigh.

"You do know that you're far less likely to be caught getting it off a street corner than in a public hospital, right?" He questioned in a hard tone, brow still raised. "Or you could've at least made it look like something was actually wrong with you. That tends to make it way more successful," Maybe he'd get to send someone to the psychiatric ward today...

[Nikole Ross]

Syringe, tongue depressors, gloves...nothing interesting. Again, this was better than sitting around doing nothing. Or, rather, pacing back and forth. Her thoughts raced, though, restless and never tiring, and so only half her attention was on the few medical items. When the door opened she heard it, but it didn't quite register in her thoughts. Well, not until someone spoke.

"You do know that you're far less likely to be caught getting it off a street corner than in a public hospital, right?" Nikole straightened, turning partially to see who spoke. As he continued she slowly closed the drawer, giving it one last glance to make sure everything was in place. "If I was stealing I would have worn something with pockets, not a cute dress." She replied with a small smirk, twirling the tissue between her fingers restlessly, but she didn't stop there. Instead she kept talking, the words running into each other though she tried to slow herself down. "I'm not really sick, either, I was trying to find Dr. Ross but the nurses around here are idiots."

Well, she was sick, but that's not why she was here. The youth paused, as if looking at him for the first time. She took a step back from the counter, then continued on after a second.

"You don't look like a doctor. Did the nurses stop paying attention and forget they shoved me in here?" Nik let out a small, sarcastic laugh, though that almost instantly turned into a cough. Once again she covered the lower half of her face with the tissue until the cough stopped. She fisted her hand around the tissue, rubbing a corner of it with her middle and index finger, unable to stop fidgeting.

[Dr. Gregory House]

House tapped a finger against the pommel of his cane with an air of skepticism that was just as well reflected by his expression. Her defense seemed logical enough, but her body language and the way she spoke threw it completely off. Fidgeting, talking quickly, yeah, she seemed suspicious. The tiny details her actions had to offer pointed towards his theories, and he was already forming words to make that quite obvious. However, her second statement stopped him. "I'm not really sick, either, I was trying to find Dr. Ross but the nurses around here are idiots." she had said. He couldn't help but allow a smirk to crawl onto his face in agreement to the attack on the nurses. Really, did Cuddy pay any attention to them anymore?

A moment passed as he allowed her time to step away from what seemed like her mission here. "You don't look like a doctor. Did the nurses stop paying attention and forget they shoved me in here?" The smirk disappeared, but not because he felt insulted. It was just that the amusement from the previous comment had worn off. The moment she went into her coughing fit, Gregory really payed a bit of attention. It didn't sound abnormal at all, nor did he see any odd-colored phlegm in the tissue. It was probably just from the common cold, but his curiosity probably wouldn't let the woman leave without confirming that. Now he figured that it was his turn to be a smart ass.

"No, the nurses just think it's hot when I rebel like this," he shrugged as if this was a common statement. "It makes them feel like I'm more at their level, if you know what I mean," The usual frown stayed put as House's leg tempted him to sit down. Who was he to refuse? It did seem like he would be here for a while after all. House flipped his cane over so he now held the tip and used the curve at the other end to pull a chair closer to him. It sounded dully against the cold, hard floor before the doctor plopped himself down.

"And I could call Dr. Ross here, but trust me; Sex on an examination table isn't as fun as it looks," he made a face as if he were remembering something unfavorable from his own experience. And of course, he had insulted her without second thought, since why else would she come in here looking for that specific doctor? It couldn't be that she was a fond patient or family, oh no. Besides, being dressed so cutely like that? It had to be the lucky bastard's birthday or something.

Then he quickly became serious. House narrowed his eyes intently at the tissue she held in her fidgeting hand and completely changed the subject without a signal of concern. "How long have you had that cough?"

[Nikole Ross]

From the expression on his face and the irritating tapping on his cane Nik could tell he didn't believe her. Luckily he didn't seem to need too much convincing; her comment on the brilliant nurses put a smirk on his face. The expression faded quickly enough, but she was sure he wasn't going to call hospital security or kick her out or something now.

Nikole rose a brow when he finally spoke, now that she had stopped rambling. He seemed less and less like a doctor, yet somehow that convinced her he was one. The man certainly had a way of getting under her skin. She could really use a bit of chocolate now. Her fidgeting increased, a small way to channel her frustration.

Her gaze drifted to his cane when he used it to pull the chair closer. The youth clicked her tongue; apparently there wasn't much of a chance to get out. Then again it was him or the nurses. Sure he was irritating, but so far there weren't any signs of stupidity.

"And I could call Dr. Ross here, but trust me; Sex on an examination table isn't as fun as it looks." The nurses, maybe they were a better idea. Her weight shifted to one leg and she crossed her arms over her chest, one finger tapping her arm rythmically. "One: this dress," Nik uncrossed her arms to indicate to the dress as she spoke, "is way too good to ruin on sex. Two: Dr. Ross is my brother." She managed to space her words enough to put an emphasis on brother.

Next she noticed something in his attitude changed. He seemed like less of a jerk or something. Though his gaze was on her hand, which caused her to look down at the cloth she held between her still moving fingers. "How long have you had that cough?" Her head snapped up, blue eyes locked on him. She only stared at him for a second, as if waiting for him to make a sarcastic comment or something. Then she let out a small, disbelieving laugh. She turned halfway, her free hand wiping a few stray locks from her eyes while she tossed the tissue into the trash can.

"I, I don't know...a week maybe." Nik replied, deciding to skip the sarcastic comment she had ready. "It's just a cough, it should go away on it's own soon." Well, that's what the last doctor said. She was fine with that explanation, but then she hated it when people fussed over her. Naturally, her protective doctor brother wasn't satisfied. Without the tissue her hands migrated to the edge of her dress, twisting it around her fingers then untwisting and repeating the process.

[Dr. Gregory House]

House leaned back in his seat as he carefully examined the woman standing before him. The initial awkwardness of how he found her wasn't about to go away, but that fidgeting of hers had caught his attention for a moment. It could be tied into his original drug theory, but even now it could be more and more linked into something else. However, the drugs still seemed most likely. Thus was one of the reasons why he wasn't considering leaving this room any time soon. Another reason, quite obviously, was because he was curious. Interested was much too strong of a word for this scenario, since the odds were huge that it'd just be a boring rhino virus. He supposed he'd just have to deal with her more and find out.

Her sign of irritation didn't shock him at all, nor did it seem to phase him. After forty nine years of being an asshole, these things just happen naturally. Although, her reply was enough to earn a reaction. Number one seemed to fly right over his head. It was number two that he took a snap at. "Oh. Ew," he twisted his expression into mocking disgust. Although anyone could tell he was only pushing her buttons, for the point's sake he kept his tone quite serious.

Now, the concept that a sister would come in looking for a brother didn't spur any concern. There were no thoughts of a potential family emergency or anything like that. The reasoning was simple enough; He just didn't care. It didn't effect him, so why bother with it. Besides, it wasn't like this girl looked desperate at all.

Once she continued her reactions to him, a small moment of silence passed after she snapped her head up to him. Both sets of blue eyes met for a moment, both equally expectant. The idea that she may be waiting for another one of his comments both amused and frustrated Gregory at the same time. On one side, it was somewhat funny, but on the other, she was wasting his time for a diagnosis. Either way, his face returned to its cool, calculating front, despite the anticipation that sparked in his eyes.

The response forced House to shift his lower jaw in dissatisfaction. That wasn't a decent answer, as far as he was concerned. "Right," he grumbled as he shifted his weight over to the drawer closest to him. A single hand raised for a moment to pull it open and retrieve a pair of plastic gloves. His gaze moved over to them as he snapped them onto his hands and didn't bother looking up at his patient until he was good and ready for her next form of action.

"Sit on the table and drop your straps,"

[Nikole Ross]

Somehow just being in the same room with him started to annoy Nikole. Well, annoyance was slowly turning into anger. Her fidgeting became more constant and she began fisting her hands around the trim of her dress. Luckily the Lithium did work; if it wasn't she probably would have hit him by now. Instead she was just resisting the very strong urge to.

His comment made her narrow her eyes, though she decided not to say anything. A few strongly worded comments came to mind, though. Her mind was really just on her need for chocolate, much like a drug addict would, which lead to contacting Jamie, which seemed nearly impossible. Nik glanced at the door, which he was in the way of. A small feeling of being trapped crept up with her frustration and anger. Heat flooded in her veins, hands sweaty and face flushed.

"Sit on the table and drop your straps." His 'request' took her mind from her unstable emotions, drawing a sarcastic "ha!" from her. She drew in a sharp breath, though didn't let it out; not quite holding her breath as much as biting her tongue. This proved to be pointless, though. Nik let her hands fall from the edge of her skirt; without the fidgeting their trembling was much more obvious.

"I am not here to be treated or diagnosed or whatever," She began, refusing to look at him now, her gaze locked on the floor in front of her. While speaking she made a few subtle, though sharp, movements with her forearms and now clawed then fisted hands, as if trying to make her point through physical movements. "The only reason I am here is to find my brother. So either call him or get the hell out of my way!" At first her voice had just been a bit raised, but as she carried on she heard her voice become louder until she was shouting. Once her mini-rant was finished she let out a quick, shaky breath, eyes closed shut to force everything that was making her so angry from view and arms lightly shaking.

[Dr. Gregory House]

Oh dear, and now she was snapping. It did seem a bit early in the game for that though. Even the most impatient people had lasted at least five minutes with him without having a minor meltdown. This factor, as you can imagine, didn't work in the favor of the unwilling patient. It seemed more and more like drug seeking behavior by the second. Either that, or she had a mental condition. See, this is another reason why House hates clinic duty.

His eyes flashed wider for a moment in controlled surprise, yet he somehow managed to remain unperturbed by the raging woman before him. Another idea for a remark came to him, but a fist to the face wasn't exactly in his plans for today. Instead, he played with a few thoughts in his head and sorted through what happened so far. In mentioning her brother, she had given him an easy alibi. If she was going through some sort of drug withdrawal, a sibling was more than likely to offer some evidence, involved with it or not. Even if it wasn't drugs, maybe, just maybe, he'd be willing to offer some sort of control on figuring out more information about the spur of his curiosity; that cough. If the two doctors just let her walk out of the clinic with no exam and it did turn out to be major, Cuddy would jump down both of their throats. So, at least now he had a basis for a plan of action.

"Okay," he said in a gruff voice. Surely she'd understand that he was submitting too easily for a reason. Some people could just tell these things by the tone of his voice. That, and the gloves weren't coming off. "But, you're not leaving this clinic. Hospital policy. If you show any symptoms at all, we can't let you walk out without a diagnosis," Well, he was stretching the truth a little. The rule usually only applied to serious conditions or admitted patients with more tell-tale symptoms, like an increased white blood cell count. Unless big brother opened his mouth when/if he got here, he would get his answer.

"So sit down and do as I say, so things can go a lot quicker for us both," While he spoke, his hand fished into the pocket of his jacket. A small rattle rang out as he pulled out an orange pill bottle filled halfway with small, white pills. House spilled one into his palm, just enough to take the edge off of everything. He all too casually popped a Vicodin into his mouth. He had a feeling he might just need it.

[Nikole Ross]

"Okay." Nik let out another shaky breath, making an attempt to get her breathing under control. Now she opened her eyes again, slowly raising her gaze to glance at him. A bit of relief flooded, but then he had to ruin it. "But-" It was all the youth could do to stop from hitting him. Her shaky hands turned to hard fists again, knuckles whitening from the pressure. As he continued she dabbled with the idea of punching him (or beating him with his own cane, which was an amusing mental image), but knew that would only make things worse.

Nikole was fairly certain he was lying about the hospital policy. Yet how could she point it out; she wasn't aware of hospital policy. "So sit down and do as I say, so things can go a lot quicker for us both." After he spoke she felt the knuckle of her thumb pop, squeezing her fists tighter. Well, fine then. She was sure to either get him fired or sneak in a kick at some point.

In her anger she almost didn't notice him take some pills. The action registered as strange to her; usually people took prescription pills in private, with something to drink, so it wouldn't be obvious. After all, who wanted everyone to know about their problems? (Grant, his crippled leg was fairly obvious, but it was still odd to draw attention to it.) He almost made a show of it.

She took in another rough breath as she spun around on her toes, moving over to the table. Nik set her hands on the table, sliding herself up and onto the top with trembling limbs. In her mind she was still plotting for a way to hurt him though. Then she decided to focus on something out: smoothing out her shallow breath and not being sued for assault. At least not before finding Ross, getting money from him, and finding herself chocolate.

Instead of removing the halter straps of her dress she simply loosened the tie on the nape of her neck, moving her hair over one shoulder. Hands in her lap, once again tense fists, she half glared at him expectantly, silently telling him to hurry up.

[Dr. Gregory House]

House's attentive stare followed her as she moved across the room. Only an idiot wouldn't notice how pissed off he had made her, and last time he checked, Gregory didn't consider himself an idiot. The open display of her fiery temper was warning enough for him to not get too engrossed in what he was doing. Part of him throughout the entire examination would be on the lookout for any flying fists. Oh yeah, this was going to be a very interesting day.

Her breathing was just loud enough for House to pay attention to for a moment. At first, anyone would've figured her awkward breaths to be a soothing tactic after the heart-pounding frustration. To the more observant ears, however, a doctor could notice the breaths being more swallow than he'd like to hear. His brows lowered to a more serious position as the woman pulled herself onto the table.

House's frown deepened as she only loosened the tie around her neck. Sure, he could still get a stethoscope onto her chest to listen to her heart, but it would make her lungs a trickier target. He recognized the feeling of her eyes burning a hole into him as he reached over to retrieve his tool of choice for the moment. Then came the need to ask a few questions.

"This may be a silly question after seeing your temper," he added his own spin to the common procedure with a cynical air. "But do you or anyone you live with smoke at all?" He placed the buds into his ears and raised the coldest part of the stethoscope to place upon her chest. "Any allergies?" House shut up for a brief second to focus on the beats he heard. The lines in his forehead deepened with an unreadable expression. Then, he attempted to move on to her lungs.

Rather than ask the temperamental stranger to move, House took advantage of the growing effects of his medication. Retrieving his cane, he stood up and walked around her enough to be able to reach her back. He didn't even comment as he tugged at her clothing a little to get a better spot on her skin. Once he found it, he pressed the metal against her yet again.

[Nikole Ross]

Her unstable moods were no mystery. Slowly, but surely, she was already calming down. Focusing on calming herself worked surprisingly well, though she continued to squeeze her fists and breathe quickly. Even when he moved to exam her she kept her gaze locked on the place he had been. Now that she wasn't planning her death she had to wonder something.

Why was he so intent on keeping her here? Nikole was sure it was just bad luck, the way the universe seemed to work against her. Her curiosity was too strong to dismiss on such a silly notion, though. He certainly didn't seem like the type who just wanted to be thorough. Now that she thought about it, she didn't even know his name. Nik cast a glance at him, more toward his name tag. Or where it should have been if he wore a coat.

His inquiry raised her sharp gaze to his face. "No." She replied shortly to both questions. Actually, the thought of her or Ross smoking was...highly amusing. Her health-obsessed doctor would have probably panicked at the smallest hint of a cigarette in their apartment.

She sat still, aside from lightly swinging her legs and fisting her hands, as he moved behind her. When she felt him shift her dress she jerked a bit, one arm moving back suddenly as if to elbow him. Luckily she managed to stop herself, it was more of a defensive reflex then anything. The cold caused her to breathe in roughly, only to let out the breath shakily almost right away. Even though she was clearly less pissed her lungs still struggled to draw in air normally. Of course Nik wasn't worried, she still had her mind on...well, everything else.

"Tell me, why are you doing this?" She asked impatiently, ready to bolt for the door. "A cough should not cause this much concern." Her comment came in small mumble, more to herself than to him. Well, the girl wasn't sure if it was concern. Concern was when Jamie rushed her for X-rays of her leg when she fell down the stairs and scraped and bruised her knee. This was....irritating and inconvenient.

That familiar tickle in her throat rose again, but she wasn't willing to have another coughing fit and give him more reason to keep her here, away from her over protective brother and creamy addiction. So she swallowed uncomfortably, a pathetic attempt to soothe the itchiness, then pressed a canine on the corner of her lip.

[Dr. Gregory House]

The sudden rush of the elbow caught House off-guard, but luckily the perpetrator was more attentive. He let out a small sigh of relief mixed with irritation as she drew it back. It was obviously a self-defense measure. After all, any woman in their right mind would've done it if it was their dress being tugged at. Personally though, the elder of the two couldn't care less about that. A bit of a warning normally would've been in order, but since she was being a pain in his ass, he skipped that courtesy. Well, sure he did start it first, but he wasn't about to think that deeply into it. All he knew was that she was being an even poorer sport than he was used to and it annoyed the hell out of him. And yes, he did realize that it was his own fault. Again, he didn't care.

Gregory managed to ignore her frustrated habits long enough to listen attentively to the sound of her lungs. Lucky for the patient, he was behind he so she couldn't see the lines on his face becoming more pronounced with an engrossed expression. It definitely wasn't a healthy way to breathe. If it was rhino virus at this point, it was a harsh level of it. The thought of perhaps running of few more exams riddled his mind for a moment. Mood swings, shallow breathing, chronic cough...

The diagnosis came skidding to an unwelcome halt in mid-thought when the woman just had to ask him a question. It wasn't even a relevant one either. House groaned under his breath. "To be honest," already his voice was tipped with sarcasm. "I was just looking for an excuse at a better look at your chest," Although he wouldn't mind looking at her chest, he made it clear that he was just fanning the flames again.

He dropped what he was holding of the stethoscope and began to remove each bud from his ear. The urge to continue speaking struck him as he limped back to the drawer to return the tool and retrieve a new one. "You got defensive," he started over again, more criticizing this time. "Most people would be interested in what their doctor has to say about a cough, boring or not. You, on the other hand, threw out your own dismissal. And since you're not a doctor, I'm assuming that's what you want to think. That means, either you are worried about it, or someone's on your case about it all the time and you're sick of it," Although his head at this point was turned to the heap of things he was sorting through, he shot a sideways glance to examine the woman's reaction when it came.

[Nikole Ross]

"To be honest," the sarcasm in his voice made Nik roll her eyes. She was sure she didn't want to hear the rest of it. "I was just looking for an excuse at a better look at your chest." The girl scoffed, letting out a small chuckle before responding. "I'm sure you had a perfect view from behind," She replied with mocking sarcasm.

When she felt the cold metal leave her back and heard him move away her hands moved up to the straps, moving them back in place and tightening the tie once again. Nikole continued to swing her legs back and forth boredly, also trying to ignore that itch in her throat. It proved useless, so she went ahead and covered her mouth, letting out a few more coughs.

Then he spoke again and she turned her head to look at him. Eyes narrowed when she saw him searching through a drawer. Nik only half-listened to his words, mostly focusing on what he was doing. For a moment she was quiet, swinging her legs still and watching him. "I have a doctor for a brother. Gee, I wonder which it can be." She replied irritably, though a bit absently.

The urge to cough again rose and she saw no reason to hide it this time. Like before she placed her hand over her mouth, though once the coughs subsided she tasted a metalic liquid and caught sight of something red against her skin. Nikole knew exactly what it was, but she pulled her hand away to look down at her pal anyways, the spatter of blood clear as day. Her eyes widened, horro evident on her features.

"...Dammit." Was all she said, her voice shaky and uneven. Right now all that went through her head was Why? and How? That soon lead to Why now? It was bad enough to be sick, even seriously sick (blood could not point to a cold), but right when she was insisting she wasn't sick? Her next thought was, 'Now how the hell am I going to get some chocolate?' The thoughts raced through her head, only taking a couple seconds, though it felt longer to her. All the while she unconsciously memorized the spray pattern on her hand, almost as if everything but the red drops were in black and white or not existing at all.

Staring at the blood on her hand certainly didn't help, so she slowly turned her head, wide blue eyes resting on the doctor. Slowly, unwillingly, she tilted her trembling hand for him to see the blood. "Now I'm worried." Nik said breathlessly, a small squeak sounding when she emphasized "now."

[[ ooc;; hm, got bored so decided to spruce it up...move things along, y'know ]]

[Dr. Gregory House]

House had no reason not to ignore the first reply the woman spat out. What he did bother to listen to though was the sound of her coughing, although with less intensity than the first time. At least now she didn't seem to put the effort into hiding anything. He was anything but absent-minded the entire time, but it did somewhat come across as otherwise as he puttered in the drawer. It wasn't like what he was looking for was missing. Rather, he was just killing time to see if anything else came to the patient's mind that she felt like saying or the patient's chest that she felt like coughing up.

The second statement came when his fingers touched exactly what he was searching for. His hand hovered in place as he waiting for her to finish, but found little satisfaction with her response. All that it told him was that it was likely that her brother wouldn't be overly pissed if he wasted his sister's time like this. A tiny plan started to form in his head, but the fragments of thoughts were dashed away by the sound of another coughing fit.

And then a small profanity slipped from her lips. A brow raised in curiosity upon Gregory's face before he bothered turning his head to the speaker. The horror on her face instantly triggered a spurt of urgency for the first time today. There was very little that could create this form of a reaction, and it definitely wasn't phlegm. Every intention to grasp her wrist and force her palm in his direction lept to him, but again she sent his ideas running with actions of her own. House's already narrowed eyes deepened as she exposed the cause for alarm. Blood. It wasn't much, but it was more than enough to gain anybody's full interest. He left the drawer empty handed.

"I thought you said you weren't sick," he mocked, even in her time of possible panic. Now his body turned in her direction, the still open drawer completely forgotten. His calculating eyes now burned into her own. Most people would imagine what was going through the good doctor's head right about now was "Great, an excuse to leave clinic duty" or something of that nature. While that was one of the perks of the situation, all he could focus on right now was that he had a case, a patient, and no diagnosis. A one track mind was now focusing on how to deal with a possibly dying patient.

House grasped a hold on his cane and pulled himself up as quickly as his condition would allow. He clearly didn't take his time as he moved to the door and swung it open to expose the rest of the hospital beyond. Rather than leave, he merely leaned out and shouted loud enough for the nurses at the front desk to hear. It looked like, in a way, the woman was finally going to get what she wanted.

"Call Dr. Ross. Tell him I'm admitting his sister,"

[Nikole Ross]

She probably should have known he'd reply mockingly. Nik half glared, but saw no need to counter. After all, she did have other things to worry about. The question of what now? ran through her head. Perhaps it wasn't very bad, she hoped. Well, he didn't seem all that worried, and it wasn't a lot of blood. Grant, she was holding back yet another cough. She didn't need to freak herself out any more.

When he moved she watched him, wondering what he was doing. Whatever he had been searching for was forgotten and the doctor didn't even bother to close the drawer. Sure, he didn't seem worried, but there was a bit of urgency in his movements. He didn't actually leave the room, instead just shouted out to the nurses, "Call Dr. Ross. Tell him I'm admitting his sister."

"Woah, no, no, no, no!" She said rapidly, another wave of panic hitting. This time it wasn't because she was coughing up blood, it was thought of how her brother would react to such news. The girl slid off the table as quickly as she could with her trembling limbs then opened her mouth and took in a breath before saying, "He can't...I..." Then common sense returned instead of the need to hide a possibly serious illness from her older brother. She cursed again under her breath, If she was really sick then he would have to worry and this would be pretty hard to keep from him.

Nikole sighed, grabbing another tissue from the counter and wiping the blood spatter from her hand. She took a moment to sort through her thoughts, which ranged from angry, to depressed, to somewhat responsible (these such thoughts being about the dozen pets she had at home). After a second she let out a sigh, a more depressed feeling taking over now. Being sick was terribly inconvenient and annoying.

"Do you have any idea of what it could be?" She muttered, sounding more defeated and reluctant than anything. At this point she was willing to cooperate with just about anything; the quicker she recovered the better.