#chase reader insert

"Why not?"

"Because," She had nothing to say. No excuse, no reason.

Haley whined at her friend's daftness. "Okay, there's no real reason for you to not go for it. He likes you, you like him. So what if he was married?"

The doctor froze. "Married?"

"Yeah. He and Dr. Cameron were married. Not for long, though."

"Allison Cameron?"

"This is weird, I thought you knew." Haley looked to her watch. "I better get going, you have to start your shift."

-

Y/N had taken extreme measures to ensure that Robert Chase stayed a mile away at all times, by declining his coffee offer, to rescheduling her surgeries for earlier times. She'd successfully gone 3 days with little to no contact with him.

She wasn't sure which was more disheartening, the fact that he has an ex-wife, or that his ex-wife is a doctor.

"Is Y/N avoiding me?" Chase called after Haley who was finally working a day shift.

The woman shrugged, near a pout. "I don't know. She may just be a little on edge about things."

With a frustrated sigh, he ran a hand through his blond hair. "What do I do?"

"Take her out to dinner, show her a nice time."

That's what he'd do, he decided.

It took another day for him to hunt her down again, finding her giggling at the nurse's station with a coffee in her hand. "Y/N."

She practically jumped at his presence, nearly spilling the hot liquid contents of her cup. "Sorry, ladies, I gotta go. I have a consult with a patient. Julie, tell me how that dinner goes." Y/N began walking away, her colleague not far behind as his long legs took very long strides, soon walking right next to her. "Sorry, Robert, I'm busy."

"Where have you been?"

"What? Did you chase me down?"

Robert couldn't help but crack a smile at the pun, before remembering the matter at hand. "Why don't you go to dinner with me tomorrow? A date."

They'd only been on a couple of dates, coffee dates, breakfast, but somehow dinner seemed like a step so large it loomed over her like a shadow. They reached her office, her hand wrapping around the handle bar of her door as she turned to face him. "I want to, I really do, but I can't."

He frowned, defeated. "Why? Did I say something? Am I not good enough?"

"No, no! You're great, you're amazing, you really are." She'd let go of the door now, wringing her hands. "It's just, we could never work. I'm a doctor, you're a doctor. That's a concoction for distaster."

"Loads of couples here who are doctors work! Julie and her husband, John from the ER and his spouse are doing great."

"What about you and your ex-wife?" The question had caught him off guard as his mouth was left agape. She took his silence as confirmation, entering her office. "Exactly."

Chase followed her in, finally regaining his voice. "We didn't divorce because we were doctors. We divorced because," His head hung low. "she didn't like the impact House had on me. It was either I leave the hospital with her, or she leaves me."

Y/N's silence had left him anxious. "I'm sorry you went through that."

He nodded. "I really like you, Y/N, and nothing so trivial will ever stop me from wanting to be with you."

"I like you too, Robert." She readjusted his lab coat. "Dinner, tomorrow night?"

"Sounds good, I'll pick you up."

"Where are we going?"

He pondered for a moment. "Italian?"

She shook her head. "Indian?"

"Chinese?"

As two of the hospital's most renowned surgeons, the rivalry between the pair was unwavering despite them maintaining a civil manner in the workplace. "Got a date for the benefit gala?"

She resisted the urge to quirk a brow at his choice in conversation. "Yes." Lie, she didn't. She hadn't even thought about it. "What about you? I'm sure you've got hundreds of women at your feet."

"Of course I have a date." Lie, he didn't. "I look forward to meeting your date."

"Feeling's mutual."

-

"I see it. Removing the tumor and nearby tissue."

Soft music played in the background of the operating room as Y/N poked and prodded at the patient before her. "Sally, any idea who Chase's date to the benefit is?"

The assisting shook her head. "Why?"

In truth, she didn't know why she was so interested in his date. She'd never shown any interest in that part of his life, and she swore she never would. Was his date prettier than her? Smarter? Or even worse, was she a pediatrician? A kind doctor with a heart of gold and soft spot for children would be a potential cliche that Robert Chase would fall for.

"Doesn't matter."

The surgery had been successful, which lead to Y/N bursting into the office of a certain James Wilson. "I need you to tell me who Chase's date is."

Wilson pouted at her abruptness. "So, I guess we've moved past the 'Hey, James. How are you, James? How was your evening?'"

"Hey, you're fine, your evening was great. Who is Chase's date to the benefit?"

He stood, too used to her behavior to be baffled. "I don't know. Why does it matter unless you're asking him yourself?" His eyes widened at his own words. "Are you?"

Her mouth fell agape. "Absolutely not! Why would I? I have a date."

"Really? Who?"

"You. Pick me up at 6." She huffed, exiting the office.

-

"Forgetfulness, nausea, paralysis on one side,"

House continued to list the symptoms of their newest patient before waving his cane in front of the blonde's face. "I don't pay you to sit there, Aussie. Give me something."

Chase sighed, blurting out his first diagnosis. "Bell's palsy."

"Did you hear anything? Doesn't explain the forgetfulness, nausea, spasms and paralysis." Foreman retaliated.

"Fine, then. A clot near the brain. Explains the weakness which has progressed to paralysis and everything else."

The cripple pursed his lips. "Boring. Go CT his head."

The three fellows scurried out of the office. "Who is L/N's date to the benefit?"

Thirteen nearly snorted. "Why do you care, are you like in love with her or something?"

"What? No. She's a fellow surgeon who I respect and have a genuine curiosity about."

"Oh, L/N, make sweet, sweet love to me in the OR. Oh, suction! Scalpel!" She teased, her drama eliciting a chuckle from Foreman.

Rolling his eyes, Chase parted ways from his colleagues, leaning against the nurses station. "Hey, Janet." He smiled.

"Hello?"

"Just wondering if you had any idea as to who Dr. L/N's date to the benefit is?" He made sure to make his smile wider in hopes of charming the poor woman.

Janet only raised her eyebrows with a half hearted shrug. "I don't know."

His smile dropped. "Sorry?"

"I mean, I don't know. Better luck next time, lover boy."

"I'm not in love-"

-

"This is House's patient, right?"

Y/N began directing the catheter toward's the blood clot as the nurse beside her confirmed that it was in fact, House's patient. "I hope Chase isn't scrubbing in."

"Well, too bad he is." The spoken of surgeon entered with a smug smirk painted on his face.

She nearly sighed in frustration. "Dr. Chase, how nice of you to join us."

"It's a pleasure, as always."

They got to work, Y/N's brow furrowing within minutes. "I thought there was supposed to be a clot here."

"There should be, CT showed one."

"Well, there isn't."

"Then get the catheter out!"

The machines around them had began a painful chorus of loud beeping. "I'd already injected the heparin, we've got a bleed!"

"BP is dropping!"

She raised hand, eyes closed, silencing those around her, the beeping still incessant. "Can somebody just get a suction in here, a sponge and a harmonic scalpel."

Chase watched the woman in such awe as she silently worked at the problem before her, machines slowing down as she concluded the operation. "Your patient has a brain tumor."

It had taken him a full minute to catch up to her in the hallway after her curt departure, thanks to him standing in the silent OR in shock. "L/N! Hey, Y/N!" His calls had finally gotten through to her as she turned, arms crossed. "That was amazing. Thank you."

"I was just doing my job."

-

"What's your current salary?"

House had rudely barged into Y/N's office, mortifying both her and the patient she'd been breaking bad news to. "I'm with a patient, House."

"I need a consult, but seeing as your appointment is taking too long," The older man snatched the file from her, skimming through it. "Well, Mrs. Garner, Your brain is too big so this gorgeous lady is going to remove a piece of your skull so you feel better."

Mrs. Garner looked to her doctor mortified, waiting for confirmation. "I'm afraid Dr. House is right, Mrs. Garner. It's a highly invasive surgery." Before Y/N could finish, she ran out of the room, sobs escaping her lips. "You know, sometimes I want to shove my foot so far up your ass-"

"Oh, I didn't know you were such a masochist. What's your salary?"

"None of your business."

The older man rolled his eyes. "Patient is a 19 year old female, sensitivity to cold, fatigue, weight gain, slowed movements due to muscle ache and weakness, and carpal tunnel syndrome."

Her eyes landing back on to her documents. "Sounds like depression, she's a 19 year old trying to pave her way in the world. This isn't my department, and it isn't yours either."

House pursed his lips. "Yeah, she's got depression, who doesn't? Mental illness does not cause anemia, slowed heart rate or hearing loss."

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows, finally looking at him as he sat himself down before her. "Did you say sensitivity to cold?" He nodded. "Go get her tested for an underactive thyroid."

"Hypothyroidism?"

"Just do it."

It would be a few hours later when he stood at her doorway again, his cane hitting the floor catching her attention. "She'd been taking lithium for her depression, it's been linked to causing an underactive thyroid. Soon after she stopped, her immune system began attacking the thyroid gland, damaging it, so she couldn't produce enough thyroxine. We're starting her on a low dose of levothyroxine, and will adjust as needed." He sighed. "Thank you."

She smiled at him, her hands interlocking. "I'm glad to help."

"There's a spot open on my team."

"Are you asking me to join your team?" His silence was the only answer she needed. "I'm sorry, House, I can't afford a 140,000 dollar salary cut right now. My place is in the OR, not in a conference room."

"Yeah, I get it."

"I'll join if you tell me who Chase is taking to the benefit."

"Nice try, piner."

-

The hall was crowded in men clad in tuxes and women in the most fabulous gowns, the best a doctor's money could buy.

Y/N sipped at her champagne, arm looped with Wilson's as he whispered in her ear. "I don't understand why you didn't ask Chase to be your date."

"I can't fraternize with the enemy."

"How is he the enemy?"

"He started it."

Their whisper match had ended as a certain Australian approached them, a sweet old nurse a week away from retirement named Edith on his arm. "Dr. L/N, Dr. Wilson."

"Dr. Chase, Edith."

The atmosphere had shifted between the four, the oncologist instantly pitying the oblivious old woman. "Edith, why don't we go for a dance?" Wilson suggested, extending his arm, relieved when she happily agreed.

"I'm surprised you brought Edith."

He shrugged. "A retirement gift to her. I'm surprised you brought Wilson."

She, too, shrugged. "A general gift to him."

"Would you care for a dance?"

With a tentative stare, she placed her empty champagne flute on a nearby table, accepting his hand and graciously falling into a smooth dance. The tingle his hand left on her waist was not a welcome distraction from their interlocked hands, the ends of his blond locks tickling her fingertips that rested at the back of his neck. "I'm surprised its taken you so long to crack."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Chase chuckled. "We're both adults here, Y/N. I can understand why you'd like me."

Y/N scoffed at his confidence. "If anything, you're the one who likes me."

"And so what if I do?" The soft rumble in his chest from the quiet laugh had sent a shiver down her spine and she realized what he found so humorous.

He'd rendered her speechless. "You alright there?"

"If you do like me, then why the sly remarks and subtle rivalry?"

"You started it, I was just pushing back to send a message."

"How is pushing back your way of telling me you like me?"

He pouted, amused. "I don't know, I thought it was yours!"

She burst into a quiet fit of laughter, mindful not to disturb the other couples during the slow dance, her dazzling smile leaving him to gaze down at her.

Their eyes met, cerulean blue had never looked so bright. "So, are you going to kiss me or not?" Y/N challenged.