Daily Drama

Note before the chapter: 
Sorry for the late upload; the power went out in the afternoon, and I had to leave the house. I only returned recently.

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It seemed like Dr. Foreman wanted to say something, but after a few moments of tightly closing his mouth and biting his lips in annoyance while avoiding direct eye contact with me, he said, "Well, I'll have the thousand dollars tomorrow," and continued walking somewhat defeated.

"Friday, I won't be coming tomorrow," I said seriously, causing Foreman to stop for a moment. Without saying anything, he nodded and continued walking quickly.

With a friendly pat on the shoulder, Dr. Chase smiled and nodded, "Well done," he said under his breath as we moved forward. "You won't be coming tomorrow?" Dr. Cameron asked suddenly, intrigued.

"No, tomorrow is the first game of the season," I replied calmly as we walked.

"Oh, surprisingly, you're into sports," House said, walking slowly. "I didn't see that coming; I thought you'd be a bookworm," he continued sarcastically.

"Not at all, it doesn't seem strange to me; you're tall and look fit," Dr. Cameron said kindly.

"Watch out, Cameron, Duncan has a reputation for being attracted to older women," House teased. "Besides, if you want him, you'll have to win him over from the outpatient clinic nurse," he continued, leaning slightly with a smile.

Ignoring the first part of the joke, Dr. Cameron and Chase both smiled strangely at the comment.

Rolling my eyes, irritated by the constant teasing, I said, "Again, House, it's called being nice to nurses; you should try it sometime."

"Yeah, medical workers in a hospital are important too, blah blah," House said, feigning irritation.

Refusing to continue the discussion, I stayed silent.

A moment later, we reached the office, entering behind Dr. Foreman, who was walking ahead faster than the rest of us.

"So," House said when he entered, going to his desk, "Sub-acute Sclerosing Pan-encephalitis," he continued slowly, sitting in his chair and getting comfortable while staring at Dr. Foreman intently.

"I suppose you could make an argument that the kid's still in stage one," Dr. Foreman said, still defeated. "Once SSPE moves to stage two," he continued, but Dr. House interrupted him. "Boom!" he shouted, hitting his desk. "Stage two is universally fatal," he cryptically concluded.

"I assume it's impossible to tell when he might move into stage two," Dr. Cameron asked inquisitively as she took her seat.

"Kid," House said, urging me to respond as I took a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"He's already started showing symptoms," I said disheartened.

"So it could be a month or tonight," House commented sarcastically.

"Can we treat it?" Dr. Cameron surprisingly asked me expectantly.

I didn't really know the answer.

"Intraventricular interferon*?" I said, unsure, turning to Dr. House for guidance.

"I don't know; let's ask the neurologist," House said, shaking his head with amusement.

"Yes," Dr. Foreman finally replied after a moment.

"We're not gonna shove a spike into his brain and drip interferon without confirming this diagnosis," Dr. Cameron objected.

"After all we've been through, you still don't trust the kid's diagnosis?" House said ironically.

"It´s ok we need to confirm it," I quickly said, avoiding embarrassment for Dr. Cameron.

"We won't get a reliable result for measles antibodies in his CSF, not after everything we've given him," Dr. Foreman surprisingly directed to me.

"So the wrong treatment kills any hope of the right diagnosis," House leaned on his desk. "Why do people lie to me?" he sighed, leaning back in his chair. "It could also kill him," he added, nodding to Dr. Cameron. "Your call, Foreman; tell me I don't have to biopsy his brain," he continued after a moment of contemplation, making everyone in the office focus on him.

Dr. Cameron's question made me seriously ponder the issue. Doing a brain biopsy after everything Dan had gone through and endured could certainly affect him, even lead to his death.

"Well, there is one other way," Foreman finally said.

"A retinal biopsy," I blurted out, coming up with a solution as soon as Dr. Foreman spoke.

"Yes," Dr. Foreman replied, pursing his lips.

"Alright, do that," Dr. House said, nodding seriously.

Chase offered me a fist bump with a big smile before leaving with Foreman.

"See you on Friday, PJ," Dr. Cameron said with a friendly smile as she followed the other two doctors out.

Remaining silent next to House, I grabbed my backpack a few steps from the chair I was sitting in. With the backpack on my lap and staring at House, who returned my gaze calmly, he straightened up in his chair, reached into his coat, and said, "Your presence here doesn't displease me," sarcastically leaning slightly over the desk with the folded letter in his hands. "But it's entirely up to you," he continued seriously, handing me the letter. "Read it when you leave; I don't want your tears to mess it up," he said sarcastically, walking out of the office after handing over the letter.

Taking the letter tightly in my hands, I couldn't muster the courage to open and read its contents. If this was what I thought it was from Dr. Donnall, it was undoubtedly another significant step in my medical career.

Unable to decide quickly, I carefully placed the letter inside the book House had lent me to prevent it from creasing, and quickly left the office to rejoin Mom.

As we reached the reception area, where I had parted ways with Mom a few hours ago, I greeted the nurses again.

"PJ," Mom suddenly said, coming out of a door a few steps from the reception area, "Is it time to go?" she asked, looking at the large clock on the desk. "Look at the time, Florence; I'm leaving. See you on Friday," Mom said as she bid farewell to the senior nurse, who was also behind her with some documents in her hands.

"Yes, see you on Friday, Amy," the nurse replied, nodding after glancing at the same large clock that Mom had consulted moments ago.

"Good luck at your game, Dr. Duncan," the nurse continued, cheered on by the other nurses behind the desk, giving me gentle taps on the arm with the palm of her hand, wearing a big smile.

"Go Wolfs!" Mom suddenly exclaimed, excitedly raising her hands and smiling at her co-workers because they also joined in the celebration, except for the senior nurse, causing the people in the waiting room to be surprised and turn their heads, intrigued by all the commotion.

Thanking the kind nurses, I quickly left, feeling a bit embarrassed, urging Mom to walk with me.

"So, are you taking the day off tomorrow?" I asked Mom as we left the hospital and headed to the parking lot.

"Yes, I told you; I wouldn't miss your first game for anything," Mom said with a big smile, taking small hops as she walked.

Amused by her childlike attitude, I couldn't say anything as we made our way to the car.

Inside the car, Mom began to tell me about her day as we drove home. Time passed quickly, and before I knew it, we were entering the front yard to park Mom's car.

"So, I told him, 'Sir, your father was discharged several days ago; you should have a better relationship with him so this doesn't happen again,'" Mom said, finishing a story about her day as we got out of the car.

"Well, dinner will be ready in a few hours, PJ; you can do your homework in the meantime," Mom said after we entered the house.

Separating in one of the hallways of the house, I continued to my room. A few steps from my bedroom door, I almost stumbled into Bob, who came out of the bathroom drying his wet hands, hopefully from washing them, without paying attention to where he was going. "Oh," Bob said, surprised, "son!" he continued excitedly, lightly tapping my shoulder and playfully assuming a fighting position. "Hello, Dad," I greeted him with a smile, joining in his game.

"Remember that after dinner tonight, we're going to the Iron Sanctuary," he said, exaggerating the flexing of his arms.

"Iron Sanctuary?" I asked, amused by the name.

"Yeah, I mean, if it's not that, then what is it?" Bob asked again, flexing his arms exaggeratedly.

"Okay, Heracles, don't hurt yourself," I said, lightly tapping his shoulder, causing him to release the built-up air from flexing. "We can call the garage the Iron Sanctuary if you want, but don't give yourself tendinitis* before lifting weights," I continued playfully with the older man who pretended not to feel embarrassed while puffing out his chest.

"I don't know what that is, but it's not going to happen; like I said, these muscles are made of steel," he commented, exaggerating while winking proudly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a magazine with my name on it in the living room," he said, puffing out his chest and walking away with exaggerated pride.

Chuckling amusedly at Bob's strangely similar childlike behavior to Mom's, I continued on my way, passing by Teddy's door. As usual, he had music playing, not loud enough to be annoying but enough to seep through under the door. Knocking loudly on his door so he could hear over the speakers, I waited a moment until Teddy yelled his permission for me to enter.

I opened the door and said, "Hello, little sis-," immediately stopping in surprise when I not only found Teddy inside her room but also three other girls, along with a pile of magazines and makeup on her bed. One of them, whom I already knew, was Missy. With a big smile, she asked, "Hi PJ, do you like my hair?" excitedly showing her hair styled and decorated with small figures and stickers.

"Hello, Missy. Yes, I really like your hair," I replied, smiling at the little girl who was smiling with happiness on the bed.

"Hi, PJ," Teddy said, smiling as she reached to lower the volume of her music. "These are my friends, Baja and Bianca," she said, introducing the other two girls present.

"Hello," I greeted the slightly embarrassed teenagers.

"I know you," the second girl introduced suddenly exclaimed, "Well, not really, obviously not," she quickly corrected herself, blushing at her sudden excitement. "I just know of you," she tried to explain, avoiding everyone's gaze, especially Missy and Teddy, who were teasing her. "My sister says you're the best student in her year and that you're also the quarterback," she quickly finished, looking even redder now.

"Your sister?" I asked to the embarrassed teenager.

Grateful to find an escape from the teasing, she quickly cleared her throat and adjusted herself on the bed. "Yes, she's your classmate at Medford High. You might not know her, at least she says so," she said quickly.

Nodding in understanding, I asked, "What's your sister's name? Maybe I do know her," to the now calmer teenager.

"Katherina Stratford. She's in the same year as you, but she's in different classes," the girl said with strange excitement.

"Yeah, I definitely don't know her, but I'll look for her tomorrow to thank her. I study a lot, and I'm glad people think highly of me," I said with a friendly smile to the now very happy teenager.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Baja, Bianca," I said, nodding to the two girls, receiving cheerful acknowledgment from both. "See you later, Missy," I continued, bidding farewell to the younger girl.

"See you tomorrow, PJ. I'll be in the stands cheering for you," Missy said excitedly with a big smile.

"Thanks, Missy. Knowing that, we'll definitely win," I said, winking at the little girl with a friendly smile.

"I won't bother you anymore," I said as I left my sister's room and closed the door. A moment after closing the door, I heard a muffled scream followed by laughter from inside the room, and the music returned immediately.

It was good to see Teddy making friends here; I hope this helps her get over the sadness of leaving her friend from Colorado.

When I opened the door to my room, I found it completely empty. Gabe was nowhere to be seen. It seemed strange for a moment, but thinking it was better than finding him completely exhausted and asleep, I decided to start my homework.

Several minutes later, after finishing my assignments, I carefully put my notebooks away, making sure not to bend the corners of the covers. I then noticed the book House had left in my possession and remembered the letter I had placed there earlier that day.

Feeling my heart rate rise, I slowly took the book out of my backpack and opened it, where the folded white sheet protruded. Taking the letter with both hands, I found it difficult once again to summon the courage to open it, so I just stared at it intently for a while.

After a few minutes of contemplating the blank page, marred only by small grooves probably made from writing on the other side, I decided to open it. Slowly, I grasped one corner of the paper, taking a deep breath to calm my racing heart. "PJ!" Gabe suddenly yelled, causing me to drop the letter back onto my desk in surprise.

"What's going on?" I asked nervously, quickly turning to see my younger brother, who appeared happy but sweaty.

"I knew you'd arrived," he said excitedly, approaching me with a flushed face. "Let's play. I met some kids a few streets down," he continued, pulling my arm.

"Alright, alright, don't pull me. I'm coming," I said as I was dragged along by my younger brother.

In the living room of the house, easily more than ten kids were gathered around Bob in what seemed like a staring contest. None of the several children moved, while Bob, who looked nervous, simply stood there, shifting his gaze like a child every few seconds.

"Let's go!" Gabe exclaimed excitedly, quickly exiting the house followed by the small army of kids, all of whom were no older than him.

With a sigh of relief, Bob shook his head and reopened the magazine he had in his hands.

Laughing at the scene, I left the house to find a bunch of kids talking loudly among themselves, bicycles scattered all over the front yard. In the center of all the kids was Gabe, chatting happily with the others. "That's my brother, PJ," Gabe said, noticing that I had come out of the house with them. "He's cool, and he can run really fast," he continued, showing off, especially to a little boy next to him.

After Gabe's declarations, all the present kids stared at me, trying to judge his claims for themselves.

"Alright, what were you guys playing?" I asked, feeling a bit nervous with all the expectant eyes on me.

"We were riding bikes, but I saw Mom's car, so I thought you'd arrived," Gabe explained quickly. "We can play football or baseball or whatever," he said, getting more excited.

Approaching the gathered kids, I nodded, "Sure, let's play whatever you want," I said, patting the head of one of the younger kids there, whose ears, surprisingly, were quite large.

"Your brother is way cooler than mine," the quiet boy with big ears calmly affirmed, making Gabe puff up with pride.

Seeing so many kids gathered made me remember my past life before Dad's death, playing with other kids outside the house, how fun it was just to run around chasing other kids, riding bikes, or playing ball.

Seeing my younger brother's joyful face, I decided to play one of those many games. Touching the shoulder of one of the kids present, I said slowly, "Tag, you're it." The noisy kids around suddenly fell silent, and no one moved until a moment later when they all started running, screaming, and laughing.

The tag passed from one kid to another; all of them ran, with the older kids who didn't seem much older than Gabe occasionally slowing down so the younger ones could catch up. Not once did any of the kids manage to touch me.

I agilely dodged them, evading their hands. Several minutes later, some of the older kids gathered and began discussing something in secret.

Gabe, who had stopped to let the little boy with big ears catch up, grinned wickedly and began following me. We passed by the smaller, stationary kids, but Gabe ignored them and kept following me, making the other kids laugh as they followed suit. We ran back into our front yard, where I pretended to be cornered, waiting for Gabe to approach so I could swiftly evade him again.

"Now!" Gabe suddenly shouted, and as one, all the kids began running towards me, screaming and laughing hysterically.

I managed to avoid a few of them, but when their number far exceeded my ability to dodge, they started clinging to me with force. At some point, they managed to bring me down, and a pile of kids climbed over my fallen body.

I could move; my strength was certainly enough to push them off, but I had no intention of doing so.

"We defeated you," the boy with big ears said seriously.

Slowly, Gabe approached the human mound of kids, raising his hand and his face. When he was close enough, he knelt down and slowly touched my chest, saying intensely, "Tag, you're it," then gave a big smile, causing all the kids on top of me to shout in triumph.

When the kids started celebrating with shouts still on top of me, the door of the house opened, revealing Mom, Teddy, and her three friends, including Missy, who, upon seeing the human pile, quickly joined in and made the kids laugh.

"What's going on here?" Mom asked, amused.

"We defeated PJ, that's what happened," Gabe said, making the kids, strangely including Missy, celebrate.

Unable to deny my brother's claim, I could only smile in defeat. Mom smiled sweetly at the moment, and Teddy and her friends laughed at the situation.

Teddy quietly indicated that we should move.

Seeing that the kids and I were blocking the way, I got up and removed a few kids from my arms first, making the others roll onto the grass, allowing Teddy and her two friends to pass. Definitely, they teased the situation as they left. "Goodbye, PJ," said Bianca, Teddy's friend.

With a nod, I bid farewell to the two teenagers, and in the street, two cars I hadn't noticed parked in front of the house were boarded by Teddy's two friends after saying goodbye.

"Well, kids, it's time for you to go home. Your parents might be worried," Mom said, looking at all the kids still lying on the grass, probably exhausted from all the play.

Mom took Missy's hand and helped her up. "I'll accompany Missy home. You two go inside and get ready for dinner," she ordered with a smile.

Gabe said goodbye to all his new friends, fist-bumping each of them. The smallest kid, the one with big ears, approached me with his fist raised, to which I quickly responded with a light bump.

Comically, after witnessing my interaction with the youngest child, the other children formed an attempt at a line to also fist bump. One by one, I bid farewell to the children, prompting them to take their own bikes and leave. After saying goodbye to the penultimate one, who also grabbed a bike, the child with the big ears was there again with his fist raised.

Amused again, I fist-bumped him and ruffled his hair before turning to enter the house. Only Mom was at the door waiting with a big smile. As I approached a few steps, she nodded her head behind me.

The boy was still standing there with his back to the house. I didn't see a bike anywhere. Shrugging in uncertainty at Mom, I approached the boy again to ask how he had gotten here. "Hello, little buddy, don't you have a bike?" I asked the boy, crouching slightly to be at his eye level.

"No," the boy simply replied.

"Okay... so how did you get here?" I asked again.

"I don't know," the boy replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Do you know where your home is?" I asked.

"Yes," the boy said, nodding.

Waiting a moment to see if the child would move on his own, but he did nothing, I asked, "Where?"

The child simply raised his hand and pointed down one of the streets, "that way," he said simply, lowering his hand again.

"Well, you better go, it's starting to get dark," I told the child as I ruffled his hair again.

"Okay," the child said as he walked away at a leisurely pace.

Watching him go made me feel uneasy; I remembered stories my colleague used to listen to in the ambulance during break time - 'true crime,' if I recall correctly. They were horribly traumatic stories, and seeing the little boy walking alone down the street just made a part of my brain feel especially upset.

"I'm going to accompany him," I quickly told mom, waiting for her reaction. With a sweet smile, mom simply nodded, so I took it as permission.

Quickly catching up to the child, I lifted him onto my shoulders, seating him behind my head. "Okay, which way is it?" I asked the strangely calm child.

"That way," he said with a hint of amusement in his voice, pointing.

At a slightly brisk pace, I began to follow his directions. Several minutes later, which translated to many small steps, we arrived at a house behind a big tree. "It's here," said the child.

When we reached the door, I lowered him from my shoulders and rang the bell. A moment later, a very hairy, shirtless man with glasses opened the door with a puzzled expression. "Yes?" he asked, still intrigued.

"Hello, good evening, your son was playing with my little brother, and it's getting dark, so I accompanied him here," I said, pointing to the small child beside me.

The man lowered his gaze, and his expression quickly changed from intrigue to surprise. "Dewey!" he exclaimed in amazement. "I thought you were in your room with your brothers."

"No," the child said calmly as he entered the house.

Amused by the situation, I could only laugh a bit. "Well, have a good night," I said, bidding farewell to the man.

"Oh, yes, thank you very much," the awkward man said, patting my shoulder strangely and nodding slowly.

With a smile, I nodded back and turned to leave. Behind me, I heard the door close as I continued my way back home.

Upon arriving home, I found my family waiting in the dining room. "Hurry up, PJ, we've been waiting for you," Bob said.

I quickly went to the bathroom to wash my hands and face.

Dinner proceeded relatively normally. Gabe talked about how he had met his many friends, while Teddy shared some things he had discussed with his friends.

Finally, Gabe, who had been yawning repeatedly, was forced by mom to get ready for bed, annoyed because he wanted to train with Bob and me. He grumbled as he left the dining room for the bathroom.

After helping to take the dirty dishes to the kitchen, Bob and I went out to the garage, where Bob turned on the light and opened the large door, saying, "For ventilation," as he stretched his arms.

Bob insisted on being the first one under the weights.

At first, we were working out in silence, but after a few repetitions, Bob began to ask about my daily life, my friends at school, Regina, the hospital, doctors, books, and basically anything that came to his mind in between his anecdotes about infestations.

After a few hours of exercise, Bob, with a towel he used to wipe away his sweat around his neck, clapped once. "Ah, I can feel it," he exclaimed with a big smile. "The muscle burn, I missed this feeling," he said with a grin, squeezing one of my shoulders.

"Well, today was a productive day," Bob affirmed as he closed the garage door. "Get ready for bed, tomorrow is the first game of the season," Bob continued with excitement, turning off the garage light and guiding me to exit with him.

Saying goodbye to Bob, who went to clean up in his own bathroom, I quietly entered my room.

Gabe was already asleep, so I carefully took some clothes to wear after taking a shower.

After completing my nighttime routine, I returned to my room and prepared my backpack for the next day. When I picked up the book that House had lent me, the letter fell to my feet. Carefully picking it up, I felt my pulse rise again. Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I put the book in my backpack, grabbed my flashlight from my desk, and went to my bed.

Slowly, in my bed, I opened the letter, looking at the finely handwritten letters. Once again, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before starting to read the letter.

"Dear Mr. Duncan,

I write this after reading your incredibly well-structured letter full of questions and theories that honestly surprised me. You must understand, not every day does a letter filled with accurate predictions about one's own research land in your hands. When I read your letter on behalf of Gregory, I thought it would be theories of his own making, but no, remarkably they were annotations from a young person no older than sixteen. Gregory told me that you are studying with him; congratulations. Personally, I taught Gregory for a few years, and I can assure you that he is one of the most gifted doctors out there. With him, you will learn many things (I hope it's his medical ability and not his... eccentric personality).

But, I would like to offer you something better. How about you come with me to continue the research? I understand that as a teenager, you have other things on your agenda besides studying or researching a boring topic with a boring old man. So, I offer you the opportunity to be a part of the research from your home. If you wish, I can send you my current notes and the path I wish to take.

Please think about it. You can always reply with a letter through the previous means if you wish. I always have a residence ready for you here on the campus. It's your decision, and I hope to hear good news.

Dr. Donnall Thomas, Professor of Oncology at Harvard Medical School"

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Glossary

Intraventricular interferon*: Treatment for subacute sclerosing panencephalitis

Tendinitis*: Inflammation of the thick fibrous connective tissues that attach muscles to bones.

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Author Thoughts:

As always, I'm not American, and certainly not a doctor.

This concludes today's chapter. I decided not to cut it further (the previous chapter was part of this one) and to continue writing. The next chapter will likely be uploaded this Tuesday, and it will be shorter, around 1.5k-2k words.

We introduced a few characters; let's see if you can decipher who they are :D

Things I'd like to clarify:

1. The interaction with the kids was a pseudo-attempt to see how to write action scenes. The upcoming chapters will focus on the game, so I'd like to know what you thought (It's quite obvious who the kid with big ears is, but let's see who can guess it first).
2. I'll try to develop Teddy's character more because I had left it a bit unexplored.
3. The relationship with Foreman will start improving in a few chapters. Again, I like the character, but there had to be an "antagonist" at the hospital.

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.