The diagnosis we're trying to solve | Doctor House | Omegaverse

“What do we have planned for today?” Foreman asked his colleagues, adjusting his lab coat, as he hadn’t had time in the morning.

“Nothing,” Chase replied, reviewing the case they had worked on the previous week.

“Nothing? Really”

“Well, since House has been more absent than present, it seems like cases just don’t come in if he’s not around,” Cameron joined the conversation. “He’s lucky Cuddy isn’t around to give him her usual lecture because she hasn’t been around to take care of the consultations she owes him.”

“Is she still dealing with her Ruth?” his colleague, who had arrived late, asked.

“That’s right. She’s probably with some omega right now, trying to drain her heat.”

“I don’t blame her,” Chase defended her boss. “As you explained to us, because it’s recessive, she tends to have stronger and more irregular bursts of mood swings, unlike you.”

“It’s not like I have it easy either, Robert. If I weren’t constantly medicated during those long periods of intimacy, believe me, you’d see a side of me you wouldn’t want to provoke.”

“I would. I’d love to”, the beta said without any fear as he sat down next to the man who was reading at the table.

“Shut up, Foreman. I won’t sleep with you for all the money in the world.”

“You would if I were an omega, Cameron, and you know it. But, just like what happened with Chase, because he’s just like me, you’d back out because you’d be left wanting since we don’t smell delicious, and we won’t fulfill your desire to carry the baby you so badly want inside us.”

“Oh, you are so…”

“For God’s sake, I can’t just disappear for a few hours in the morning while Cuddy’s away, and when I get back, all you guys are talking about is having kids,” House interrupted, having just arrived at his apartment and not expecting to find his team bickering like children. “If you’re going to have babies, find some compatibility. Don’t be needy teenagers who want to conquer the world. Seriously, how pathetic. Let’s change the subject: What’s on the agenda for today?”

“That’s exactly what Foreman asked, and like I told him: nothing,” Chase repeated once more.

This took Dr. House by surprise. He really thought that if he was late, he’d have something else to do to distract himself from what had happened in the last few months.

“Well, something will turn up,” he said to his staff. “If that happens, wake me up. I’m going to take a nap; I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Didn’t the omega you paid satisfy you as you wanted to help you sleep?” Foreman continued making his remarks to provoke him.

“Foreman, if Dr. Cameron hasn’t told you to shut up already, I will: Shut your damn mouth,” he said irritably. “If there’s nothing to do by the end of my shift, I’ll leave pretending I did my work.”

“I’m sorry, House, I thought that…”

“Don’t make me repeat myself using my cane,” he warned, sounding more exasperated than usual. “I’m not in the mood to tolerate any more nonsense than what comes from patients.”

The three watched their boss walk, leaning on that wooden crutch. They noticed that the wound on his leg bothered him more than usual, as if it were being pressed hard. Perhaps, if they looked discreetly, they could tell that his thighs were thicker than before.

Given how thin he is, it was impossible not to notice.

Perhaps he had been overeating at his favorite restaurant and had gained weight this past month, since he had switched from jeans to a jumpsuit with an elastic waistband so he could continue to enjoy it guilt-free.

They could say that was odd, but not unusual. Except for Cameron.

She’d noticed that man had a subtle scent of sweet apple pie with hints of rosemary for a couple of months now—she mentioned it to her beta colleagues in case they knew anything, but none of them had noticed until she pointed it out. It was probably some omega who wanted to mark him as hers without him realizing it… or maybe he was sneaking around to indulge himself without being judged.

Although they didn’t care much. In the end, House always did what he wanted, so why should they be worried now that he was indulging in some sweet dessert he wanted to brighten his day?

If I had to compare it, you could say it was the same as when he started taking Vicodin , but for some time now they hadn’t seen him swallowing them like candy. There wasn’t even a trace of the pill bottles in the office, much less in the trash.

Upon hearing that fact spoken aloud by the only woman in the room, the trio of doctors looked at each other as if they had thought the same thing.

Undoubtedly, that was a mystery that sparked his curiosity.

“Cameron, Chase, and Foreman, if Dr. Wilson comes here, let me know,” Dr. House gave them as his final order once he leaned back on the couch. “I don’t feel like seeing that spoilsport today.”

Didn’t House want to see Dr. Wilson?

With that question hanging in the air, the diagnostic department realized they didn’t have to wait for a medical case to solve; it was already right in front of them. After all, their beta boss was bothering his alpha friend too much, constantly asking for money to sleep with any omega, to ignore it now.

Indeed, all of that did point to many hypotheses that warranted a complete psychological analysis.

At least they’d have something to do. They got rid of having their own notes.

That’s how their little detective game began. Cameron, Chase, and Foreman—after the latter apologized for acting like a jerk that morning—set to work, trying to recap: What was different about House?

The three of them began discussing how, for the past one, four, or five months, there had been some tension between Wilson and Cuddy regarding House, but that wasn’t so significant, since there were times when House and Cuddy argued. Although they did remember correctly, the most recent arguments were mostly between their boss’s friend and the head of the hospital. It seemed as if they wanted to claim him, like the territorial alphas they were, as if they were implying that House was an omega they wanted to claim, which was absurd to believe since he wasn’t one.

For that reason, they discarded that first hypothesis. Then, Cameron thought about that fragrance she’d been wearing lately.

However, since Chase and Foreman didn’t notice, they just joked that their superior had been eating too much cake to balance his egocentric nature. There was also the assumption that there might be an omega in his life marking her territory, which is why he carried her so often.

Amidst the laughter of his colleagues, Cameron began to wonder why this disabled man would allow himself to be marked with such a sweet and pungent fragrance. Even so, it seemed irrelevant given the man’s arrogant personality.

Also, returning to the topic of Dr. Wilson, Chase alluded to the fact that Dr. House seemed a little more affectionate with his longtime friend. He said this with a hint of discomfort in his voice, simply because it seemed odd to him.

Given how little I knew about Gregory House, this was a revelation. Anyone who had heard of him would know that the renowned medical genius from Princeton- Plainsboro hated being touched for anything other than pleasure. However, the others speculated that he might have done it to squeeze a couple of dollars out of the oncologist’s white coat.

At this point, their conjectures ran out. They had no reason compelling enough to declare a verdict.

The three of them turned their heads in the direction their boss had gone to rest, hoping for an obvious clue, but there was nothing. They were about to let it go when Foreman’s eyes fell upon a stack of books that made him wonder: what were they about?

She asked the question loud enough for her colleagues to answer. Although Chase didn’t know, Cameron did and explained that it had to do with pregnancies in recessive hierarchies and that she had seen her boss secretly reading them a few times between consultations.

“About pregnancies?” Foreman asked, incredulous.

“Maybe she’s doing it because Cuddy already managed to have one on her own,” Chase argued. “We know she asked House for advice about it because she desperately wants a baby. Who knows if she already is.”

“Chase might be right, Foreman. Maybe Cuddy is one of those recessive alphas who can reproduce,” Cameron agreed. “Biology these days with secondary genders has been mutating so much that it’s possible. Does it bother you that the woman who pays our salaries might be happy?”

“No, it’s just that it doesn’t explain why House would be interested in learning about the subject if it’s not to prove the value of his mind. Much less because he wants to avoid Dr. Wilson while he goes to eat the apple pie you say he’s been smelling every day for the last couple of months,” the neurologist suggested. “And the strangest thing of all: it also doesn’t justify why he stopped taking his drug called Vicodin , when he was practically drowning in it.”

After hearing that, Chase and Cameron dismissed the idea. Neither of the doctors could understand why their boss was acting so strangely, so irritable, even though he wasn’t taking his pain medication.

That got them thinking, especially the only woman in the group, who suspected House might be feeling guilty about something. Like with that patient he couldn’t save and wanted to find some solace in. They ran out of ideas and, seeing the time, each had a few appointments to attend to related to their respective specialties.

The three sighed in disappointment. Then, they said their goodbyes, leaving their little detective game unfinished, to go off and fulfill their responsibilities.

They left the medical diagnostics department, each going their separate ways to different areas of the hospital. They had the entire afternoon to do something before a case appeared, although at this point they didn’t think anything of interest to House would come up.

Foreman went to assess a few geriatric patients for potential age-related disorders. Chase was in intensive care, assisting the nurses who were caring for patients with serious injuries from a recent car accident that left several people hurt, and Cameron was in the ER treating allergic reactions in a few patients who were nearly going into anaphylactic shock.

Everyone was busy with their work. Well, almost everyone. The only alpha female in the group was still pondering the theories she and her colleagues had come up with. She believed something strange was going on with her beta boss. Especially since the scent of apple pie with a hint of rosemary wouldn’t leave her nose.

She stood there again, pondering the rosemary scent that the man had ingrained in his clothes.

Honestly, dwelling on that peculiar fragrance House wore made her realize he’d arrived this morning with subtle herbal notes that went unnoticed because they were so mild. But they were there, and for any alpha or omega, that would reveal the reason why she hadn’t slept well last night.

Thinking about it made her blush, as she speculated about how it could have happened, to the point where she became distracted and released her pheromones alluringly towards Jasmine, wanting to captivate someone. It wasn’t on purpose, but she earned a scolding from the omega nurses because it wasn’t the time to try to charm those of her kind.

She apologized. She even asked for a few minutes to clear her head while she was going to take suppressants to calm her animal side.

She went to the pharmacy, looking for her assigned dose, swallowing it as if nothing was wrong, and then walked back down the corridor to continue with her work.

“Dr. Cameron!” someone called from behind her, making her stop. She hoped it wasn’t who she thought it was. “Dr. Cameron, have you seen Dr. House?” asked the voice of a doctor who, unfortunately for her, she knew well.

“If I knew, I would tell you, Dr. Wilson,” he lied to the oncologist, turning to face him.

“Oh, I thought so. I have an important matter to discuss with him, but he’s been ignoring my calls for a while now.”

“Do you want me to say a word about the subject so that you stop avoiding it?”

“No. It’s between him and me,” he assured her firmly. “You don’t have to show any interest in him.”

“Excuse me?”

“Forgive me, it hasn’t been an easy few weeks for me. I’ve been a bit temperamental lately, my alpha side acting up, and I tend to lash out at my peers,” he explained to the doctor, noticing his change in demeanor. “It doesn’t matter, he must be hiding in his office. I always forget to look for him in the most unexpected places. I’ll head over there before his shift ends.”

Before the woman could say anything, she realized that the doctor, in his sudden rage, had released his pheromones, which smelled of rosemary. They couldn’t be the same ones that permeated her boss’s clothes; however, she had nothing to lose by asking.

“Dr. Wilson, by any chance, have you noticed anything peculiar about House?”

“No. Well, not since the last time...” He wanted to answer the young woman, but grunted at the thought that this alpha was interested in his friend. “Nothing’s different about him. House’s still the same arrogant beta. If you think something shouldn’t be, you should have consulted him or me before assuming it, just like that time you thought he had syphilis.”

“We just wanted to know. We’ve noticed he’s been tired lately,” she explained, worried. “My colleagues and I thought he’d had another relapse and was stuffing himself with painkillers to ease the pain, but he hasn’t been doing that for a while now.”

“Oh, seriously, I need to talk to that lunatic,” James blurted out irritably. “When I get my hands on that liar...”

Dr. Wilson, in his sudden bad mood, headed to the medical diagnostics department to confront Dr. House and discuss the matter they had pending.

Nervous, Cameron, seeing that he had another piece of the puzzle for the new game he was putting together with his colleagues, quickly went to tell them about his new idea. Although, he thought it would be better to go to his boss and warn him that the person he didn’t want to see was on his way to his office. He would tell them later.

Along the way, she ran into the other team members, so she didn’t have to wait to tell them. The three of them, remembering the order, decided to quicken their pace to reach their regent’s office. Upon arriving, they found that he had somehow disappeared sooner than expected.

The only person they encountered was the alpha male they were supposed to report to, but, as they could see, he was disappointed. Nevertheless, when he saw them, he approached them with the same cold demeanor he had displayed toward the only woman present in the room.

That doctor cornered them to interrogate them, wanting to know where House was.

None of the members of the medical diagnostic team knew where House was.

The trio of doctors were in for a surprise when they went to tell their boss that the person he didn’t want was coming to his office, but he wasn’t there. What was there was Dr. Wilson, very annoyed —as if they’d messed with one of his appointments again— and intoxicated by the sweeter scent of apple pie in the air.

It was so delightful that Cameron couldn’t resist acting on her alpha instincts, just as James did.

Her fellow Betas noticed his behavior, especially the way they heard him inhale deeply during the interrogation, as if he were in a state of ecstasy, without a thought for how the oncologist who had them intimidated would react. His already bad mood worsened because of his colleague’s actions.

To be honest, Chase and Foreman were powerless to control two people of dominant rank who sensed whatever it was that had them behaving like animals.

It was so difficult to keep them under control that nurses had to come and help stabilize those alphas . The solution was to put odor-proof masks on them so they wouldn’t get even more agitated by whatever was inside House’s office.

Obviously, the doctors who witnessed the incident couldn’t know exactly what it was because they lacked the olfactory capacity, being betas, but they could speak to an alpha female who would tell them once she regained consciousness. But as much as they wanted to ask her —now that the alpha male who started it all was gone and his partner had come to— they would find the answers later, as there was a new case to solve.

They knew immediately because the emergency room’s loudspeakers kept calling the medical diagnostic unit. They had to go see what was happening. Later, they would give their boss the details, since he hadn’t shown up and they seriously doubted he’d even bothered to respond to the call.

Although he didn’t do it because he was distracted in the maternity ward.

House was overthinking his own problems and knew that one of them had to do with a parasite growing inside him that made him look with adoration at all those little brats in the nurseries that he once hated.

He admitted that he still did it, but not as much as before now that he was living through the situation and understood why he had been acting strangely.

He knew it a couple of months ago when, purely on instinct, he decided to stop taking the drug that calmed him down, suddenly thinking it would harm him. That’s when he realized something wasn’t right, not to mention that he was also releasing too much of his own sweet pheromones due to his hormonal state.

And that was strange. Despite being recessive, it only indicated one thing that the capricious nature of his species wanted to tell him: he’s expecting a baby .

The news was still as shocking as it was difficult to process. At least, nothing betrayed him yet. His scent could only be detected by dominant alphas and omegas, so, being the proud man he was, he took full advantage of it to try and keep this whole secret calmly ever since he found out.

Although he acknowledged that his team must have suspected something.

Before taking his nap earlier, he noticed how intrigued everyone was by his behavior, the books on pregnancy, and his strange order not to see Wilson. Dr. Cameron had also become very protective of him lately.

Her alpha instinct compelled him to take that position, for she unconsciously knew that she was expecting a baby —or accident, as he nicknamed it— long before that stupid pink test with its positive result along with the blood tests only corroborated that it was not a mistake.

Given that, his secret of being a recessive omega was bound to come out eventually. He didn’t want it to be that way, but he was also tired of repeating the same story and making excuses. But that bunch of idiots—as he occasionally called them—were too gossipy about any emotion he might have, and now that his belly was showing more, he wasn’t going to be able to hide it any longer.

He was too foolish not to realize it sooner. Instinctively, he had stolen several of Wilson’s hospital gowns, each imbued with that overpowering fragrance; they were infused with the scent that would help him create a nest, making him feel safe and comforted, just like on the many nights they spent together. Besides, he was a little more affectionate with the children he saw at the hospital.

The signs were too obvious to ignore.

He went to a private clinic, hooded and under a false name, for an ultrasound to check on the pregnancy and decide what to do. His decision was the unthinkable. Now, he’s been dealing with the consequences this past week, experiencing strange cravings for sweets he never imagined he’d taste.

Without a doubt, that embryo was just like him. It did whatever it wanted inside, causing all those emotions and symptoms that made him the opposite of the sarcastic, unconventional, and nonconformist person he was.

“You haven’t been nearly as annoying as some of them. I thought you’d make me nauseous so I’d find out about you and get rid of you, but you’ve been so elusive,” the bitter man muttered to himself. “Not to mention you managed to hide well for two months. You’re lucky I grew fond of you and wanted to take care of you like some pathetic omega. ”

>>However, that doesn’t change the fact that you’re as untimely as the person who put you inside me.

After saying that, he looked again at the little ones sleeping in the cribs.

“Will you have his eyes? I hope so. I’d also like you to be a girl. A lovely little girl with his pretty eyes, for a change,” House blurted out, feeling tender for once in his life. “Anyone would think, from the way I’m talking to you, that I’ve gone mad, which I suppose I have. But that’s what happens when you let a creature grow to almost thirteen centimeters and cause the unexpected.”

»Seriously, I don’t know what you did to me that made me decide not to abort you and refuse to continue with this, even with the fact that I’m recessive and sick in other ways. Do you want me to treat you like one of my cases because pregnant male omegas are so rare?”

He knew he wouldn’t get a response from his host. However, if there were one, it would surely come in the form of fetal movements, which he couldn’t yet feel because he was still too small to sense them.

Just imagining it brought a small smile to her face.

“House, there you are!” Cuddy shouted, happy to find him.

House’s torment, the famous clinic manager, had returned to work without prior notice.

He thought she wouldn’t be back until next week because of how irregular her routines were as an alpha. However, there she was, her heels clicking through the neonatal unit as she approached him. It was obvious she wanted to confront him, like a bloodhound searching for a bone it had buried in the yard.

She must have been desperately searching everywhere for him to finish his pending tasks. Her expression betrayed how annoyed she was.

“Ah, Dr. Cuddy, I see you finally got to enjoy your heat like any alpha. Were you lucky this time?”

“I just enjoyed a good moment,” he said with a hint of disappointment. “My chances at my age are impossible. You know this because I begged you so many times to read my test results to give me hope.”

“And I did. Just because you’re recessive doesn’t mean there’s no possibility when you find the right person. You can even have it on your own.”

“I’ve lost all hope. Unless I can change my gender and become an omega. They have a better chance than I do as an alpha, despite being recessive, and most of their pregnancies result in premature births due to the size of their uteruses,” she reminded him, considering that these were the last babies they had received at the hospital. “If this last option doesn’t work, I’ll explore other possibilities.”

“Don’t be bitter, Cuddy. Remember that every little bastard gets lucky and decides when to torment Mommy and Daddy, Mommy and Mommy, or Daddy and Daddy.”

Lisa was confused that Greg had said that phrase with a certain sarcastic tone —his characteristic way of speaking—as if it were motivational. It felt unusual coming from him. She didn’t know if he was trying to play it cool, distracting her with something else. After all, he knew her desire to start a family and used it to his advantage, especially since they were alone together in the maternity ward.

“What are you doing in the newborn ward?” she dared to ask, realizing the truth.

“I wanted to see them and play fortune teller, trying to guess which one will be a drug addict, a prostitute, or an idiot,” he lied, trying to hide the fact that she saw his small belly, not wanting to reveal the real reason he was there. At least his pheromones wouldn’t be a problem now that his boss’s ex -husband had passed and she wouldn’t act as interested as she had a few weeks ago. “I can tell you that little girl on the corner will be kept by someone twice her age in a sugar baby and sugar relationship daddy that some of the young people I see daily talk about.”

“House.”

“What? Children are more entertaining than the adults I always deal with.”

“And that’s no excuse to waste time,” he reminded her, crossing his arms. “Your team is aware of a new case involving a recessive alpha male who’s struggling with his nature. His partner informed us that the man has been complaining of headaches and dizziness that have left him more fatigued than usual.”

“If you studied medicine like I did, you know that’s a common cold that will go away with some simple magic pills, and if you don’t want them, chamomile tea solves many things.”

“I couldn’t prescribe just that, House. His condition doesn’t allow it, which is why I think this case might interest you,” Cuddy insisted. “We have the first pregnant alpha male at our clinic.”

That piece of information left Dr. House quite confused. He spent a few minutes thinking about what to tell her.

“So what? Wasn’t his omega able to do it that he had to resort to his own unconventional methods?”

“That explains it. His partner is an alpha female who achieved the impossible,” he confirmed. “The problem is that being a recessive alpha, his condition is delicate. He’s received the same advice from the many doctors he’s seen, who have prescribed the best course of action for his condition. However, something is wrong with him. Several experts suspect it’s preeclampsia .”

Gregory let those words overwhelm him. So much so that, unconsciously, his hand passed over his small, swollen belly, worrying that the same thing might happen to him because they shared the same condition.

“It isn’t. If it were, he would have lost it already,” he said confidently, trying to make himself feel better. “Maybe it’s just a heat triggered by everything he’s going through right now. It’s normal if he’s recessive, and with him being an alpha...”

“If you’re going to speculate so much, tell me, will you take the case?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Even though the medical diagnostic team had the case they’d been hoping for, none of them had abandoned the one concerning their boss. After finishing this matter, they would return to it.

Aside from their own duties, both professional and personal, they would also have something else to do later, for a change. The matter of Dr. Wilson and Dr. House remained a mystery. Foreman wanted to say something about it. But before he could delve into it, they were interrupted by the protagonist of their detective game.

The disabled man entered his apartment with a cold attitude, but interested in starting with what this day had in store for them.

There was a silence in the room, as Dr. Cameron, who always provided him with information, became distracted when she noticed the apple pie pheromones he carried wafting through the air. For his alpha side, it was as delightful as the first time he’d smelled it; he stopped paying attention to his surroundings, wanting to be enveloped by it.

However, before letting herself be carried away by that fragrance, her boss brought her back to focus by asking the typical question:

“What do we have?” asked the man carrying a walking stick.

“A twenty-seven-year-old alpha male, approximately twenty-five weeks pregnant, who has been experiencing dizziness, fatigue, and cramps since the start of his pregnancy.” Chase replied, opening the file.

“Wow, six months with your little bastard,” House remarked. “Besides the usual pregnancy symptoms, what are you feeling? What’s your fetus like?”

“The ultrasound showed it measures almost fifteen centimeters, like a bell pepper growing inside,” Foreman commented, “but the heart rate is between 110 and 160 beats per minute, which is fine for its stage of development. The only worrying thing is its size because…”

“He’s too small for how far along he is, and that’s bad for Mom and Dad, especially Dad, since he’s the one carrying him,” House declared. “Get another ultrasound to make sure it wasn’t a rookie mistake, and more blood tests to check his hormone levels.”

The medical diagnostic team complied with the order.

Everyone gathered their things to leave for their respective exams—well, almost everyone did. Cameron had stopped just a few steps from the door. That scent she’d noticed earlier had ensnared her again, making it impossible for her to leave.

“Is something wrong, Dr. Cameron?” House asked, noticing her lost in thought.

“No... I don’t think so,” he answered vaguely. “Or maybe I do. Tell me, don’t you notice any sweet smell?”

In a way, that matter got on his boss’s nerves. He didn’t quite understand why he reacted that way, but when he did, he could smell that peculiar fragrance even more strongly.

“You must be imagining things,” the man said, trying to ignore her doubt. “Stop wasting time with your primal alpha desires and go solve the case. We have the lives of two patients at stake.”

She nodded.

Perhaps House could be right that he might be acting on her own instincts, to the point where she was already starting to imagine any pheromone because she hadn’t taken a break since starting her shift at the hospital.

And with nothing more to add, that woman left, leaving the renowned genius in medicine alone to think about the case or, rather, to focus on dealing with what she mentioned about certain pheromones —his— that were in the air.

He took the opportunity to go to his desk to look for the rosemary-scented robe of the alpha who drove him crazy.

He knew he urgently needed his daily dose to keep his pregnancy stable. But before he could start his routine, the moment he sat down, he realized the person he was trying to avoid was coming toward him, ready to confront him.

Just thinking about what the conversation was about, he knew he had to act fast. He didn’t want to see his best friend yet and deal with that particular issue that bound them together more than those unresolved issues.

“Oh, baby, this time I won’t be able to give you your daily dose of the essence you’d like to enjoy,” he warned softly as he put the garment back in her desk drawer. “It’s time to run.”

House grabbed his cane and left his office as quickly as possible, heading for somewhere in the hospital. It was a bit of a struggle, as the pain in his leg and his newfound extra weight made things a little more difficult, but he managed to disappear into some corner at his new pace.

He sighed with relief. He had managed to escape from where he wanted to be. Although it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. Unconsciously, his steps led him back to the maternity ward.

When he realized she was there, he cursed himself for letting his secret get the better of him. However, before he could acknowledge how foolish he was, he heard a patient—perhaps his own—screaming in severe abdominal pain, which seemed convenient to him.

After all, the complaint came up just as they arrived at the apartment. At least that would keep him busy.

He approached the room where the man in crisis was, who, to no one’s surprise, was the pregnant alpha he was supposed to treat. He didn’t have to be a mind reader. He simply had to enter to witness Foreman fighting with the alpha female who had him by the collar of his gown, threatening to kill him for having touched her mate.

House couldn’t help but laugh at seeing him in that predicament with Chase trying to help him.

They stayed like that for a couple of minutes.

Amid shouts, complaints, and a triumphant entrance by Dr. Cameron, they managed to maintain the woman’s composure while the head of the diagnostic department analyzed his patient’s ailments from the corner.

Seeing him in person, it was clear that he was suffering from spasms that were possibly tormenting him, and that even with all those screams he could not cope with them.

“Stella, those people were just here to do their job!” scolded the man on the stretcher. “I want to know what’s wrong with our daughter! Nothing I’m feeling is normal for you to be acting like this!”

“Yes, you’re right, Mark” she admitted, sounding more relaxed.

“Well, we already know who’s in control in the relationship,” Dr. House said ironically.

“Who are you?” Mark asked.

“The doctor in charge of your case. I’d like to know everything, because for a four-month-old…”

“He’s not four months along. He’s six months pregnant,” Stella corrected.

“Yes, that’s what we were told. I just wanted to make sure, since her belly looks too small to not be a mistake.”

Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to say that.

The dominant pheromones of those two alphas spread through the air, and although Dr. Cameron didn’t notice them with her keen sense of smell—she was surely sedated with an alpha suppressant—House did, to the point that they made him a little dizzy.

He had to hide her feelings; those mint and lemon scents made him nauseous. He took a deep breath to maintain his composure and try to explain the situation to the dominant couple who had decided to defy logic.

At first, they did not understand the explanations.

With Dr. House’s acerbic humor, they thought he only wanted to do it to lighten the mood until Dr. Chase intervened.

He was the one with the best knowledge of the obstetrics area, so he tried to be gentler than his boss to get him to stop making comments in which he called them idiots and to focus on what was important.

Although all other members of the department—except for Cameron—agreed that they were.

Stella and Mark had taken a huge risk with the alpha male’s health by believing they could have a baby so easily without knowing the risks. As healthcare professionals, they knew that a pregnancy in an alpha male was more difficult to manage than one in a female, regardless of whether the trait was recessive or dominant.

Even if it was almost nonexistent, it was more manageable compared to the case that man was handling, and, being related to the latter, it made it more difficult for the fetus to remain stable under suitable conditions. So much so that it could cause growth problems like the ones it was experiencing now.

When Mark and Stella realized that their situation was more special than they had thought, they were discouraged.

The couple looked at each other, then at the man’s small, swollen belly, making them think that, given everything they’d been told, something was wrong with their little girl. They feared the worst, but before giving in to despair, they decided to accept the experts’ advice and recommendations so they could begin studying their case from scratch.

That’s how they did it.

Although House didn’t think it was appropriate, since it would only delay the solution they’d come for, he knew something was seriously wrong. Mark’s lemon scent was becoming increasingly acidic; anyone who smelled it would know something was wrong with him.

For that reason, he sought to expedite the testing process. Foreman managed to draw the blood he needed to send to the lab; meanwhile, Chase performed the ultrasound. The machine showed the tiny baby girl struggling to develop in that womb.

Seeing that image touched House, and he discreetly thought of his own situation as well. He longed to be there in his moment of solitude to comfort him, but he kept his head hunched over so as not to betray his new figure. The case was stressful enough without him wanting to steal the spotlight.

Furthermore, Cameron was watching him very closely, paying attention to his every move, and that made him feel nervous.

He didn’t want to give himself away, so he had to continue his charade, leaning on his cane and pretending it was his leg while he waited for the ultrasound technician’s comments. Judging by how long it took, everyone present knew they wouldn’t hear any good news.

“We’ll need to administer corticosteroids,” Chase informed those present once he finished examining the newborn. “Your baby’s lungs are quite premature, and it’s clear that, given his size, he’s having a lot of trouble breathing. That must be why his body has struggled to develop properly. It would also explain why you’re experiencing these aches and pains.”

The announcement shocked the expectant parents. They truly hadn’t realized it was so serious. A few tears escaped them, overcome with emotion. They were worried that their own alpha nature might harm their baby because of things they hadn’t been told.

They felt both deceived and disillusioned, but, as in the beginning, they refused to give up and accept the loss. They still believed that it was possible, that the baby could be saved. So they agreed to let their baby receive the treatment.

Chase told them he was going to get the chemical he would supply, and as he was leaving through the door, Foreman arrived with the terrible news that the patient was suffering from iron deficiency anemia and they had to supply him with erythropoietin, a drug that would help his bone marrow produce more blood cells.

They had ordered two medications to be administered in less than an hour: one for the alpha cell carrying the fetus and another for the fetus itself. The diagnostic team knew it was serious, as they were dealing with two distinct health problems in two people requiring different care.

However, that wasn’t all they had to deal with. Cameron realized from the results that there was something they weren’t seeing, something far from normal. They needed to perform the hormonal test for an alpha male to determine how his gland was developing at this stage of the pregnancy.

That’s when Stella, Mark’s wife, declared with embarrassment that they had marked each other some time ago and from then on it was obvious that her partner’s hormonal disorders had begun.

“That’s all we needed,” they all thought.

And now that they knew this information, another new symptom had appeared in the patient: bluish spots had appeared on his arms. Apparently, he was experiencing a disorder in his own body that they didn’t know what to make of, and they couldn’t medicate him properly because they didn’t want to affect the baby’s development.

Everything became so desperate.

Now Chase, Cameron, and Foreman understood why the head of the diagnostics department did not tolerate human stupidity, and, speaking of him, it was clear at this point that he could not stand the tension of the matter.

His patients’ pheromones disgusted him, and he also felt that something was wrong with his own secret.

House needed to get out of there as quickly as possible and have a moment of peace. He tried, but his team interpreted his escape as a sign that they should follow him to his office to continue discussing the case.

Although it was important, that wasn’t what the great genius at solving medical enigmas wanted to do right now. What he wanted was to escape, to run back to his nest and feel safe.

With all this, his animal instincts were restless, so much so that he felt a cramp coming from his pelvis that worried him because of how sudden it was. It was surely because of how stressed he was. That’s why he needed to find an immediate solution to the problem, as soon as possible, before it was too late.

The hours began to pass, and this case was not sitting well with House.

All those symptoms—fatigue, cough, sore throat, and rash—could be strep throat, listeria, fifth disease, or cytomegalovirus infection. It could even be gonorrhea, in case she had a wild, unexpected fling due to the imbalance of her pregnancy hormones mixed with alpha phosphate.

The results pointed to too many variables, to so many diseases that the pregnant man with a dominant character could have.

There really wasn’t a clear answer, since all the symptoms they presented were related to all the diseases they had thought of.

Time was running out, and they had to reach a conclusion. But even with all the causes written on the board, the team couldn’t arrive at a solid hypothesis.

At this point, Greg began to despair. So many things were racing through his mind that he ended up writing ” GENETIC ALTERATION” in big letters on the whiteboard, desperately seeking some kind of insight that would give him the answer and help this patient who was on the verge of death.

But nothing came to him.

“How could they possibly mutate their own subgenre so much? Alpha males can’t gestate!” House blurted out hysterically.

“They’re alphas. He knows how proud we are,” Allison argued to her boss. “Besides, no matter the consequences, when we set our minds to something, we won’t rest until we get it.”

“They’re also absurdly territorial,” Dr. House continued, maintaining his opinion of how foolish his opposites seemed. “If they only knew the risks...”

He couldn’t finish explaining what he wanted. Standing at the whiteboard, he suddenly felt a cramp appear very close to his abdomen. Perhaps being hunched over for so long was affecting his condition.

However, given his circumstances, he had to conceal it. As much as he needed to be rid of this secret, he still didn’t feel safe exposing himself, and that thought only worsened his strange and sudden unease.

“House, are you okay?” Foreman asked, noticing him wince slightly in pain.

“Yes.” he said without thinking.

“Are you sure? He doesn’t look well...” Cameron said, worried.

“Yes. It’s the damn leg,” he said, placing his hand on the whiteboard. “Just go run more tests. Chase, go test for listeria and keep an eye on his rash. Foreman, get me a bag of chips from the vending machine, and Cameron, talk to the patient’s alpha female to find out what possessed them to do this crazy thing.”

“Wouldn’t you prefer Foreman to go?” Allison suggested. “The effects of my alpha suppressant are wearing off, and I don’t think talking to an alpha in the middle of a pack crisis with another alpha of her own kind would be a good idea. On the contrary, it could worsen the situation and the patient.”

“Fine. I’ll have to forgo my portion of fries.” He went to get them; she nodded as quickly as she could. He felt that. “Do whatever you want. Just go and give me more clues about this case. If it disappears, it was fifth disease and a scare, like what they thought was preeclampsia. If not, continue with more tests without affecting that fetus.”

His team nodded to him and left through the door to leave him alone for once.

The department head sighed with relief now that he had regained some privacy. He discarded his cane and hurried to his desk to find the rosemary-infused garment, hoping to savor it and relax in its warmth.

Having it in his hands, he briefly hugged it, letting himself be enveloped by what his instinct wanted.

It felt so good that he placed it very close to the area of his body where his small, bulging belly was. It felt good, really, but not good enough to help him get better.

Suddenly, a contraction—almost like the mild cramps omegas experience—appeared. It was so intense that it made him curl in on himself. It was so uncomfortable that he had to clench his jaw to ease it.

Perhaps the case had him so upset that it was affecting him in the same way.

However, that was the last thing I wanted to think about.

He preferred to focus more on the fact that it might be because he hadn’t received his regular dose of pheromones and, because of that, his little secret wanted his attention.

“Sweetie, everything’s going to be alright,” he said softly. “Don’t be so fussy. I’m a little busy right now.”

After that comment, he didn’t feel the pain from a few moments ago again, so he took it as a good sign.

He assumed it might be due to what she believed, so when she managed to create the safe space he longed for in those five minutes to control the situation, he relaxed. He needed to maintain his composure before letting himself be upset by what was happening to his patient.

He exhaled. Then he put everything back in its place to go and satisfy one of his cravings; he wanted something sweet.

Motivated by this, he decided to grab his cane and head to the cafeteria for a treat while his team conducted the necessary tests. Thinking again about the case of that recessive alpha male, he surmised that it could be antiphospholipid syndrome , since the fetus exhibited many of the symptoms, especially the one Chase had mentioned about not growing as expected for its gestational age.

And if that was the probability, he was bound to have a miscarriage sooner or later. Recognizing that made House agitated again, and he felt those spasms from earlier.

Honestly, he didn’t want to entertain that thought. If he kept going like that, it was going to end up affecting him in the same way.

He took another breath to calm himself from that thought and then headed to the vending machine on the floor to eat a chocolate bar.

He was approaching with an unusual excitement, eager to savor it. But he hesitated when he saw that the person he wanted to avoid was nearby: the famous oncologist James Wilson, who was currently chatting with his boss about something. Most likely, it was about him, given how familiar he was with Wilson’s expressions when he came up with the topic.

And even though he didn’t want to, he had to flee as he had been doing these last months —not to say years— in order to avoid facing his problems.

House tried to change direction. He tried again, hoping to find another vending machine, but he couldn’t. Unfortunately, he ran into his team halfway there.

Once again, he became desperate when he saw them approaching. When they were face to face, he feigned ignorance and made one of his classic sarcastic remarks, telling them they were harassing him to make him run into them like that.

As always, a bad joke towards his subordinates was inevitable, but none of them had time to analyze it, since they had come to solve the case.

In the middle of the corridor, they informed him that they had witnessed another symptom: the patient was having severe memory loss problems.

Halfway through the interrogation, Cameron noticed that Mark wasn’t finishing any sentences, as if he were making grammatical errors. They thought it might be due to the two medications he was being given to prevent this, but it wasn’t. Those drugs wouldn’t cause anything like that. What he was experiencing was brain fog.

The four of them returned to the office to write it on the whiteboard and discuss it. The way the case was unfolding was starting to get to House again. He didn’t want to think it would end like this. He worried that, if it was what he suspected, the abortion would be imminent.

Given that, there was nothing to be done because, being recessive, genetics was playing a significant role. As Chase mentioned in his tests, along with those Cameron recommended regarding his alpha gland, it was unstable, rejecting both his own pheromones and those of his alpha female due to rivalries, and it was all so stupid.

That was what House believed in order to try to avoid assimilating that reality while enduring his own sudden pain.

The thought of his patient potentially losing his baby at any moment made him feel terrible. He didn’t want to accept it. So immersed in the tragedy, he wanted to quell the instinctive worry he felt as an omega, wishing that this wouldn’t happen to him because he was recessive.

A deathly silence filled the air. Allison, Robert, and Eric knew that he, being Gregory House, had the answer, but they found it strange that for some inexplicable reason he wasn’t revealing it, as if this case was affecting him more than it should.

They fell into another debate where their boss wouldn’t give a verdict. He simply changed the subject rather than accept reality. They only talked about the recommendations they should make to treat the supposed infection he had.

Amidst all the nonsensical chatter, their pagers beeped simultaneously. Apparently, there was an emergency with Mark, the patient with a special pregnancy: despite being six months along, he had gone into premature labor.

All that pain she’d felt, as her abdomen hardened during the checkup, was because she was going into labor. But none of the medical team could tell because there was no bleeding. That’s what they told House.

However, everything changed when they entered and saw that the man was suffering from a hemorrhage. A sea of blood was pouring from his rectum as he groaned and sobbed loudly about how awful the sensation was.

The nurses who were present noticed when they brought her food. Suddenly, she was experiencing preterm labor, which they tried their best to prevent, but it was in vain.

The recessive alpha’s body was reacting due to his own instinct. He was rejecting the fetus that shouldn’t be there, and to save his life, they had to remove it at all costs.

They had no choice but to take charge. Cameron, Chase, Foreman, and House. Even Dr. Cuddy, who had the gynecological and obstetrical expertise for the case, was called in to assist, doing everything possible for the father and the baby, but an unexpected preeclampsia developed.

They had to act as quickly as possible to prevent the alpha from dying and his partner from going insane. They tried. Especially House, when he finally worked up the courage to tell the truth to relieve the stress that was slowly taking its toll.

Although the head of the diagnostics department, as always, was right. He knew there was nothing that could be done for that baby, given how late they had recognized that he suffered from antiphospholipid syndrome .

Although he and his team did everything they could to ensure both of them had a good chance, it didn’t work out.

That baby, only twenty-five weeks old, did not make it.

House couldn’t bear it. Despite having managed to stabilize the alpha male, no matter how hard he tried to save the man’s baby, it died in his arms. Recessive genetics worked against him.

That threw him off balance, not to mention that it had unknowingly caused him a threatened miscarriage that ended up becoming complicated.

The medical staff present alongside the M.D. team realized that Dr. Gregory House collapsed on the floor next to his patient’s lifeless fetus, while blood was flowing from his rectum.

Everyone was alarmed. It was the first time the famous medical genius had reacted like that.

None of them knew what was causing it, but they were doctors and had something to do, and just like with Mark, they took care of him. They took him to the emergency room to be examined and have the necessary tests done to find out what was wrong.

The emergency room doctors informed their colleagues, much to the dismay of Dr. Cuddy and Dr. Wilson—who had shown up because of the news—that Dr. House, being a recessive omega coping with the whole situation, had lost the baby he was expecting.

The news left them all perplexed, as none of them would have suspected it.

After all, Gregory House was rather apathetic with children. But that wasn’t really the most shocking thing; rather, it was the fact that this petty and egotistical man was an omega. He had managed to hide it well all these years he’d been in the business, concealing himself behind rumors and lies he himself had fabricated because of how badly he’d been made to feel about belonging to a lower hierarchy.

Even so, trying to come to terms with the news, Dr. House’s team now better understood why he had spent so much time reading all those books about recessive pregnancies. Hard as it was to believe, he just wanted to be able to do everything he could for the baby he had just lost.

That was the saddest thing now that the truth had come to light.

Out of respect, they observed a minute of silence. Then, the members who attended to Gregory asked them to find the alpha who had marked him to inform him of the incident and ask him to come and offer comfort, as the omega was still in a very delicate state and would need a lot of emotional support.

However, before Cuddy took matters into her own hands and sent her staff to search for the supposed alpha, everyone noticed that Dr. Wilson’s rosemary scent intensified. It struck them as odd, especially since she was recessive. She wouldn’t have noticed unless she was in heat, but the news had affected her so deeply that she became so unrestrained that even the betas could detect the scent.

They thought that, since he was their best friend, it would justify his primitive actions. But such spontaneous and territorial reluctance was not typical of him.

The staff at Princeton Plainsboro had to isolate him and take the oncologist away to calm him down. This action only revealed that he was responsible for Dr. House’s condition and the bite on the back of his neck.

Now that he had the clues, Cameron understood why he was so desperate to find his boss and talk about this important matter: he wanted to know how she was handling the pregnancy.

However, given how quickly everything was happening, they understood that James Wilson only knew this impulsively. They knew Gregory House wouldn’t tell him because of his pride, and also because he didn’t want to be treated like a cripple, constantly reminded to take care of himself.

They imagined that from his position it was difficult, but why hadn’t he interrupted him if he knew the risks he would face simply for being him?

Those lackeys in medicine had more questions than answers regarding the subject and, considering that they were thinking about their superior, he was settled in his room in the maternity wing with a serum connected to his left hand, recovering from the shock.

House woke up disoriented, but he knew things hadn’t gone well. He had a bad feeling that something had happened to his baby, so to find out, he pressed the button to call a nurse familiar with his case to explain.

Within minutes, one arrived, greeted him with sorrow, and told him what she already knew, and, despite knowing it, she couldn’t help but burst into tears.

As obvious as it was, she couldn’t believe she had lost her baby. The pain was so great that she asked to be alone to grieve, and that’s where she stayed.

The respected head of the medical diagnostics department let himself be enveloped by his sadness, all that he had accumulated, and let it go. He felt so bad, so foolish, such a failure, and above all, guilty.

He believed that because he was a lysate and hadn’t revealed his omega status, he had ended the life of the only good thing that had happened to him, but the worst came later, when the doctor who treated him in the emergency room told him what had really happened. It was so serious that they had to perform the procedure to save his life, and he didn’t know how to cope with that reality.

Without a doubt, the feeling was horrible.

Those who cared about him, watching from afar, didn’t want him to go through this alone, but House flatly refused their compassion, seeing it as pity. He hated seeing acquaintances—or friends he refused to admit—come in to try and comfort him. He continued to refuse because he didn’t want those empty words from people who had no idea what he was going through.

But he didn’t blame them. As obvious as the signs were sometimes, he never told them. Not even the person who got him into this, no matter how many times he insisted on seeing them.

And after a while, while he was spending his time alone, that person, the alpha who impregnated him, decided to come and see him now that he was calmer after so many sedatives.

Dr. James Wilson gently knocked on his bedroom door to announce his arrival and to tell him he was there to keep his company. He also wanted to try to understand what had happened to bring them to this point.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Dr. Wilson asked his friend to start the conversation as he took a seat.

“Because I know you knew because of that damned brand you gave me, and if I admitted it, you’d treat me the way I hate to be treated,” he replied coldly.

“No. I wouldn’t have done that,” the man tried to lie, but his pheromones betrayed him. “Besides, all I knew was about the brand and that your scent had become stronger lately, not that I...”

“Please, Wilson. Don’t do this to me. Don’t lie like everyone else.”

“House, but you… House, those times…”

“We both wanted it those times. I couldn’t refuse, especially since it was the best sex I’d ever had in my life, and I’ve been with plenty of prostitutes who’d occasionally given it to me in the ass.”

“House, this isn’t the time for jokes. This is serious. How much did you have?”

“I was fifteen weeks pregnant. Next week would have been sixteen…”

“You were about to turn four months old. How could you hide it for so long and not tell me?”

“Me? That accident you put in me didn’t want to make itself felt until I was eight weeks old.”

That information baffled the oncologist. He hadn’t known that his baby had been living so comfortably inside his best friend that he hadn’t noticed and hadn’t removed it before it became illegal.

“That’s a lie. You should have suspected something, House.”

“I didn’t have nausea, fever, or any mood swings beyond what’s typical for my neurosis. Although I did desperately need your scent to feel safe,” he declared, placing his hands on his stomach. “That’s when I sensed something was wrong with me.”

»“The feeling of having you was different from what I’m used to, and since I didn’t want to betray my needy omega facade, I had to go to your office and steal them when you took them off to put them with the laundry.”

“No wonder I was missing some of my lab coats.”

“Oh, it’s just that our little bastard girl instinctively dominated me. I couldn’t control some of her whims.”

“Was it going to be a girl?” his colleague asked.

“That’s what I would have liked. I didn’t know yet, but with all the sweet cravings I had, I thought I would be. You know, that’s why they say little girls sweeten life.”

“I know this might be inappropriate. However, now that there are no secrets, would you like to try again?” Dr. Wilson ventured to ask.

“Even if I wanted to. They told me my uterus was so damaged and infected that they had to perform a hysterectomy,” House replied, fighting back tears from the lingering hormonal symptoms. “I guess it wasn’t meant to be. God, or whoever’s up there, knew that.”

“House, don’t put it like that. I know it wasn’t something you were used to, but if you wanted to take it to this level, it was for a reason. I’m sure you would have been the best, like you are with your work. You might even have said it was appendicitis and that the kid, who appeared out of nowhere, was from one of the omegas you claimed to be sleeping with, and that she forced you to take responsibility,” Wilson argued, tears welling in his eyes. “I know, because I know you, and that baby would have been your greatest pride.”

“That doesn’t change how pathetic I am,” he admitted with some annoyance. “I’m sorry for being a bad omega. I’ll understand if you want to deny me now, because I won’t give you a child anymore.”

“Are you crazy, House?”

“Always, but, I suppose now…”

“No. Of course not,” he interrupted. “I’ve never denied you. Not in anything, not even before the mark I made on you with my teeth during our jealousy. I’ve always boasted about you. Obviously, only as a friend, but not boast about you? Please, just as Princeton Plainsboro is lucky to have, so am I.”

“Oh, you stole my moment. Can I regret swallowing my pride a few moments ago?”

That joke, so reminiscent of Gregory House, with its ironic touches and grumpy tone, had brought a smile to James Wilson’s face.

“No. Let the hormones do their thing,” the oncologist said, placing his hand on top of the nephrologist’s . “It’s good to know you have a softer side once in a while.”

“And you like that? I mean, now that you tell me you shouldn’t have let me...” she said, her cheeks slightly flushed. “I’d like to learn about the new case I’m about to take on, this one called James Wilson.”

“Does it seem that strange to you?”

“I attract the strange. So, what are the symptoms I should treat?”

“You drive me crazy,” the man confessed directly, making his colleague blush even more. “And even though I claim you as my property, I’ve always been the one who’s belonged to you.”

Those words made House’s heart race. He sometimes forgot how passionate Wilson could be when he was open about his feelings.

“So that’s it, but I think saying it with words will suffice. We’ll need more evidence,” he hinted, a touch of emotion creeping into her as he revisited their intimacy. Despite what had just transpired, he cherished the memories of the long hours they’d spent together, like now. “Just to make sure there are no flaws in the final verdict.”

“Can it last that long?”

“Yes,” he affirmed, caressing the hand that held him. “Otherwise, the case would be pointless. That’s why I’m glad to have you, you idiot.”

“And I love you, House,” the man said, kissing his forehead without asking permission to emphasize what he had just said. “You can run all the tests you want with me to figure out what’s going on, but if something happens that puts you on the verge of death, let me know. You know I would, even if it were cancer.”

“Which would be ironic for you, you’re an oncologist.”

“It’ll happen, I’m sure. If you spend a lot of time with me, sometimes the most unexpected things happen,” Wilson assured him with a smile. “You attract the unexpected, to the point that, until you see the bright side of things with your pessimism, you don’t want to give up until you understand it.”

“Like us now,” House added to his argument.

The omega understood the rather direct hint the alpha had given him in his lecture. Thanks to it, he had an idea. He decided to take the initiative this time, unlike other times when they were alone.

He simply decided to approach her slowly. Or rather, he instructed Wilson to do so, since he couldn’t move completely, but that shouldn’t prevent them from giving each other some attention.

That’s how his lifelong best friend, the alpha who claimed him as his omega, approached, their faces very close. Their breaths mingling, they joined their lips and surrendered to the unconditional love they felt for each other, savoring the curious scents mingling in the air.

While they were completely absorbed in their own kiss, the medical team was shocked. Neither Cameron, nor Chase, nor Foreman expected to see their boss kissing the oncologist so passionately.

After witnessing that scene, the three couldn’t help but blush at having stumbled upon such an intimate moment with that egomaniacal genius. They had never seen him like this before, but they enjoyed seeing how the famous Gregory House felt.

For that reason, they decided to give them privacy. Later they could talk more calmly about everything that happened that day.

The important thing now was that, at least, that group of doctors was able to solve their own case related to House and understand why he had acted so differently than usual, even though they knew the outcome was obvious. Having lived through that tragedy, they couldn’t deny that the answer to this case called Gregory House was that he had always been in love with James Wilson.

The End.