And the waiting game begins... [Open]

[Jayme Montgomery]

Ugh... even the smell of hospitals made her feel ill. Which, given her present condition was not such a good thing. But, she knew that she couldn't put it off any longer. There was something definitely wrong.

As Jayme Montgomery entered the clinic inside the Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, one might compare her to an underfed, half-drowned rat. The half-drowned effect came from the minor snow squall she'd walked through to get here. The underfed effect was merely one of the reasons she was here.

For over a month now, Jayme had been feeling ill, with no clue as to what was causing it. After all, she was careful to stick to a strict diet and get plenty of exercise and rest. She checked her blood five times a day, when she got up, before each meal and before she went to bed. Jayme was a good little diabetic, always making sure she stayed as healthy as possible. But now, out of the blue, she just felt like crap.

She had brushed it off at first as her simply being fatigued from moving out here from Canada. A move that would tax any body. But, as the symptoms slowly worsened, she feared that there might be an underlying condition that was related to her diabetes. So... here she was... in the clinic, surrounded by other sick people... all waiting....

[Lisa Cuddy]

Lisa Cuddy was surprised at how good a time she was having. Granted, she had already fielded three comments about her backside while sitting down to lunch with House, and subsequently having to get up for condiments when he refused to get them himself, as well as two off the cuff remarks about her breasts. But that was just protocol for a conversation with Gregory House. And she, despite herself and the day she’s had at his expense, was particularly enjoying coming up with clever, innuendo laden retorts.
She wondered briefly why she did not sit down to lunch with House more often. Then her pager went and she sighed, realizing why. They were doctors.

She looked down at her pager, already knowing who it was and why they were summoning her. House’s pager, as she was sure it would, soon followed suit. Glancing across the table at him, looking disappointed and frustrated, she silenced her pager and gathered her tray.

The hospital was under staffed in the middle of a singularly vicious flu season. The clinic was over burdened, and Cuddy had put her name, and House’s against his will, as on-call doctors for whenever the clinic needed them. That had resulted in two continuous days of almost non-stop patient treating. Cuddy was fatigued, though, she had managed a very short nap not too long ago. She remembered that House had been the one to ruin it, and was suddenly not sorry in the slightest for forcing him into clinic duty with her.

“Back to the trenches,” she said, disappointed.

She took her tray and deposited it for washing on her way to the door, assuming House would follow her. And if he didn’t, she knew how to track him down. Something told her, the way the day had been going, that she did not need to worry about that. Walking with a light step, Cuddy returned to the clinic and, smiling at the relieved faces of the stressed nurses, took the first chart she could find.

Looking down it, she moved to the waiting area and, without looking up, called, “Jayme Montgomery?”

[Jayme Montgomery]

Jayme sat there, trying desperately not to sneeze as the chill slowly left her body. Great.... now she could get a cold on top of whatever was wrong with her already. Finally, she steepled both hands in front of her mouth and nose and sneezed, earning several disapproving looks from other patients.

Relief washed over Jayme once her name was called. At least the waiting game was over. She stood up, smiling slightly at the doctor who had called her name.
"That'd be me,"
she said, raising her hand a little ways.

She stepped forward, allowing her seat to be taken by another arriving patient. The clinic was full, and Jayme was amazed at how cool and calm all the nurses and doctors seemed to be.