PPTH (Unfinished)

IT'S a House/Coldplay crossover! How cool!

---

Everything was going great. The band were performing somewhere in Europe, their one-too-many-eth concert of that tour. They were already half-way through the set list, the arena filled with the sound of Will slamming the giant bell and the audience chanting, "Oh-oh-oh-oh-ohhh!" Chris bounced his way over from the B-stage and began to sing the song that brought them so much over the past year.

They played beautifully, and by the end, the energy in the place was ricocheting off the walls and into the hearts of everyone present. It was like a never-ending circuit of enthusiasm. Once the final line was sung, Will and the audience continued their chants and Chris fell to the floor of the ramp like he always did. The girls on either side of him screamed in disbelief, and some of the guys did, too. Jonny and Guy carried out their impressive, "Oh"s, and within a minute or so they jammed right into the beginning of 'Lost!'.

But Chris never got up. A few seconds into the song, Jonny threw his guitar to the side and ran to his friend. Suddenly, everything stopped. Will and Guy watched on as Jonny tried to wake Chris, and everyone else in the arena held their breath.

-

The sound of a cane hitting the hard floor echoed throughout the lobby. Everyone's favorite doctor was in. House made his way past the nurse's station and to the elevators. Half way, he was greeted by a rather scruffy-looking, blond-haired doctor.

"32-year-old male," Chase began, shoving a blue folder in House's face.

"Oh, this sounds important," House cut him off, not stopping for one moment. Chase followed him to the elevator doors and pressed on.

"His heart stopped while he was onstage. He just collapsed, but everyone thought it was part of the act." House paused, hit the button with his cane, and turned to Chase.

"And why should I take this case?"

"He's the lead singer of Coldplay."

Completely unfazed, he repeated, "And why should I take this case?"

"Cuddy wants you to."

"... And why should I listen to Cuddy?" The door of the elevator opened, and the two men walked inside.

"The woman lets you keep your job, the least you could do is take one patient a week," Chase said. "Besides, I thought you liked her."

"What I wanna know is why you're so keen on this. It's not an extraordinary case, is it? So, either you really, really love this... Cold... whatever, or you're looking for a distraction," House said, using his infamous evasion technique.

"Cameron left a week ago. I'm fine. The patient, on the other hand..." House observed Chase's expression, knew he was lying, but grabbed the file anyway.

"If I cure him, I better get backstage passes."

-

Taub and Thirteen were already sitting at the rectangular table in House's second office when House and Chase walked in.

"We've got a case," House said, throwing several folders onto the table. Taub and Thirteen each grabbed one and began to look through the file. "Where's Foreman?"

"He's not here," Thirteen replied, coldly. "Is this Chris Martin, like...?"

"Like the living ball of energy," House finished. "The man runs around for a living, and everyone's surprised he has a heart attack."

"He's only 32," Taub said. "And it says he has no prior history of heart disease or-"

"Yeah, it's a complete mystery. He's also confessed to using sleeping pills more than he should. Think maybe the two are connected?"

"Sleeping pills could cause heart problems," Thirteen said, still leafing through the pages of the file. "It would also explain the low CS levels."

Chase, who had not made even the slightest noise since entering the room, indiscreetly coughed and said, "It could be Dent's."

"No," Taub quickly disagreed. "If it was Dent's he'd have some sort of physical mark."

"He has a mark on his left calf," Chase fought back. "It could be-"

"That's a birthmark," Taub interrupted. "Sleeping pills makes more sense."

Chase stood still, gaping for a retort. He quickly glanced at House for help, though he knew he wouldn't receive any.

"See? Even the kiddies agree with me."

"Wait," Thirteen said. She had the folder open to a specific page, and was pointing at something on the chart. "That's not a birthmark."

House furrowed his brow and craned his head over her shoulder. "You got a picture in there or something?"

"The history says he's only got a birthmark on his right shoulder blade. It doesn't say anything about his legs."

"Test him for Dent's," House nodded to Chase, heaving a defeated sigh.

Chase silently nodded, then turned, a smile cracking it's way onto his face as he opened the door.

-

"Is it serious?" Chris asked as Chase stuck a needle in his arm to retrieve the blood necessary to complete the test.

"It's a disease, of course it's serious," Chase replied, perhaps a little too snappish. "But it's not fatal or anything. It's actually curable."

"If I have it... how did I get it?"

"Well, there are a number of ways to get Dent's, but it's usually through contact with another person who has it. If you've had any sexual partners recently, we're gonna need-"

"I haven't," Chris interrupted. "Unfortunately."

"You're sure? Not even a one-night stand? Drunken hook-up or...?" Chris shook his head.

"I wish," he dully replied. Chase closed the vial he was holding and went to leave the room.

"Hey," Jonny said to Chris. "I'm gonna go get a drink, do you want anything?"

"No, I'm fine."

"OK." Jonny left the room, racing out into the hallway. "Excuse me, doctor?" he shouted after Chase.

Chase stopped and turned around. "Yes?"

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Um, OK. Go on."

Jonny took a deep breath and said, "Last week... we were at a party, the four of us. We all got pretty drunk." Jonny looked down at the floor, trying to find the right words, and Chase watched him, noticing his awkwardness. "Chris and I sort of... but I think he was too drunk to remember."

"Oh. Well, uh, we're gonna have to get you tested, too."

Jonny nodded. "Could you not tell him? If he doesn't remember, then he doesn't need to know. I don't want it to ruin our friendship."

"I'll keep my mouth shut," Chase said with a reassuring smile.

-

"Do you realize," House said, leaning over Chase's shoulder as he was testing Chris's blood. "You have dirt on a celebrity."

"What's your point?" Chase dumbly asked, fiddling with something on the machine.

"Are you going to do anything with that dirt?"

"Of course not, I made a promise."

House snorted. "You also took an oath, but that didn't stop you from killing a patient on purpose. Besides, you only said you wouldn't tell... Craig, or whatever his name is."

"Chris. And I'm not gonna tell anyone anything."

"It's a shame. You could make a lot of money if you happened to slip that info to some tabloid," House not-so-discreetly said. Chase shot him a look of hatred, just as the machine beeped. Chase checked the results, and House asked "Is it Dent's?"

"No," Chase said, clearly displeased.

House peered at the paper in Chase's hand and grinned smugly. "Looks like I was right after all.

-
"We're back to square one," House said. He made a thinking sort of face and added, "I think that's a song."

"Sleeping pills," Taub said. "We never ruled them out, they fit perfectly."

"Right," House agreed. "Everyone but Chase agreed. And he was wrong, so who cares what he thinks?"

Foreman nonchalantly walked into the room, and House watched him carefully as he sat down and grabbed a file.

"So, we just discharge him, then?" Thirteen asked.

"Yeah, you can go tell him he's free to go," House said, still watching Foreman. Thirteen and Taub both left the room, leaving House, Chase, and Foreman behind. "Boy, I'm sure glad you're here, Foreman. Otherwise we'd never have solved this case."

"I was busy. Forgive me," Foreman said, reading the file despite the fact that the other two doctors left to discharge the patient.

"Busy doing what? Avoiding Thirteen?" House pressed on.

"Yeah," Foreman simply replied. As he was reading, something caught his eye. "You're discharging this guy?"

"If you want an autograph, you better go get one now."

"You tested him for Dent's?"

"It was negative," Chase said. "Why?"

"His red blood cell count is a little low. Combined with the heart problem... it could be anemia."

House nodded to Chase, "Go stop Taub and Thirteen. And test for anemia." Chase got up without saying a word and left. "So, why were you late?"

"I don't think that's any of your business," Foreman replied.

"It's not my business why one of my employees didn't come to work on time?"

"It's not any of your business," Foreman repeated.

-

"The test was negative," Thirteen said to Chris. "We think your problems were just the cause of sleeping pills."

"You know, I always figured those were doing me no good," Chris laughed. "So, what, then?"

"We'll keep you here overnight, but you're free to go home tomorrow," Taub said. "Just stay away from the-"

"It's not the sleeping pills," Chase interrupted as he burst through the door.

"We ruled out Dent's, you were there," Thirteen said.

"Foreman thinks it's anemia."

"Anemia?" Chris asked.

"It's a blood problem," Taub explained. "Do you have fatigue, dizziness, anything like that?"

"Well, I get tired sometimes, but I just thought it was 'cause of the tour."

"He does look a little pale," Thirteen said. "Let's test for anemia, then."