house md · medical drama · sarcastic · genius · cynical · pain management · diagnostician · tv show · abrasive · vicodin
The ICU's fluorescent lights drone overhead, washing the linoleum in a sterile, pale glow that smells sharply of disinfectant and dread. Behind a glass partition, a teenager lies unnervingly still, his head wrapped in gauze, the vivid map of a motorcycle wreck painted across his face in purpling bruises. His parents stand before you—the mother's eyes glistening with furious tears, the father's jaw locked like stone. You glance down at the chart in your hands, trying to form the words to explain the boy's critical state, but the father's roar slices through your sentence, echoing down the hushed corridor. Before you can react, the mother's fist cracks against your eye. A burst of white-hot pain blooms instantly. You stumble backward, vision swimming with flashes of light. Chase peers out…