the diagnosis of a foreign frame of heart

063][ VIDEO ][ Early hours: Sunday

2011-10-02T18:43:11Z

[It's busy for 3am on a Sunday - must be the weekend for it - but the people still spilling out of The Coliseum give a wide berth to the figure huddled on the edge of the sidewalk.

Robert Chase is wearing a suit put on this morning but which, in the course of a day, seems to have accumulated a weeks worth of creases. He rests his elbows on his knees, focus intent on the one small bright spot left on the display of a half shattered cellphone.

With slow focus he dials a number. Listens to silence and performs the perfunctory task of hanging up on a line that never connected.

He tries again.

Again.

Finally, though there's not even a dial tone to respond to him, he just starts talking. A hopeless slur.]

I need to get a cab. I need. To get a cab. I need a cab I need a cab I need a cab I.

Need.

A cab.

[No one answers. The phone drops into the gutter, his head into his hands.]

Happy Thanksgiving.

[Chase is back in the city and CANON UPDATED to season 6 'Ignorance is Bliss'. Replies will come from intheblanks and from tomorrow that will be Chase's NEW OFFICIAL POLY JOURNAL so please friend add! Notes: as of right now he does not remember the city, but remembering things will develop over time. Please feel free to assume, for now, that he's just another 4th wall drop-in, especially anyone who has met future!Chase before.]

062 ][ TEXT

2011-09-01T02:36:35Z

I don't remember having to dig anyone's car out in August, whichever side of the globe I've been on. Anyone feel like we've skipped a season somewhere?

If I'm going to shovel driveways, maybe I should get my own. I'm getting a little sick of being in my thirties and an apartment-rat.

While I'm at it, might cut my hair.

Seasons are changing.

[ooc: total placeholder I'm afraid, tags tomorrow <3 - and if I owe you a tag somewhere pls leave me a note, things have been distracting and I've lost my place.]

061 ][ TEXT

2011-08-17T00:26:54Z

Why does Snoop Dogg carry an umbrella?
Fo' drizzle.

What's Snoop Dogg's favourite sculpting implement?
Da' chisel.

What do Snoop Dogg's long term relationships eventually do?
Dey fizzle.

What does Snoop Dogg listen for when cooking bacon?
Fo' sizzle.

Why doesn't Snoop Dogg like baked potatoes?
He drops them like they're hot.

[ooc: p-p-placeholder as I'm knackered.]

060][ VIDEO

2011-06-25T21:19:00Z

[The good doctor Chase has been caught at the nurses station by someone wanting to chek the notes on a new admission. Behind her several other nurses lean over the desk to listen.

Chase examines the chart he's given, and addresses the staff gravely.

In song.]

I'm fucking Matt Damon,
I'm sorry but it's true.
I said I'm fucking Matt Damon,
I'm not imagining it's you.
I'm fucking Matt Damon.

On the bed, on the floor, on the towel by the door, in the tub, in the car, up against the mini-bar....

[And now the whole ward appears to be listening.]

I'm fucking Matt Damon!

[Rather than move on to the next verse, Chase drops the chart and runs.]

059 ][ MISDIRECTED TEXT

2011-06-03T04:53:51Z

She might still _________ me.

[ooc: so tired and sickly, tagbacks later <3]

058 ][VIDEO

2011-05-28T16:15:41Z

...Sorry it's not been the longest speech. The best man got everything scandalous about me out in his, and anything I could tell you about Allison....

Well, it's not worth sleeping on the couch on my wedding night.

If you believe in love at first sight... that's not us. Took me about six months to realise I was interested in her, and I'm still not sure she isn't just putting up with me because I'm an ugly crier. But I love her. I've loved her longer than I think either of us knew. And if how beautiful she looks today's any indication, it's going to be love at every sight for the rest of our lives.

We'd like to thank you all for coming, please use the cameras dotted around to take your own pictures, and eat the buffet empty, it's all paid for. Oh, and we'd like you all to take a piece of the cake home with you. Trust me, the cake's greamphsgffd.

Thanks, hon.

The cake's great.

[[ooc: this will only be a little shorter than their wedding on the show. If anyone would like to be an affected member of the wedding party or Chase's best man, go for it.]]

057 ][ VIDEO ][ Filtered from: Eden, Cameron

2011-04-14T19:25:15Z

[The video shows Chase sitting casually on the steps of building twelve, sometime just after sunrise. If it weren't for the leaves in his hair, it might be a very normal scene.]

Found something in the woods last night. If no one claims it before it bites me, I might have to cut my losses and send him back to the swamp.

Any takers?

[And he holds up a barking puffball, streaked with mud from nose to tail. A little like this.]

Happy birthday, Claire.

[ooc: It's Claire Bennet's 20th birthday! Chase has booked the outside table at Angelo Amore for the night and invited several of her friends to an evening of birthdays, Italian food and singing waiters. I however have had an epic paper to write (due tomorrow) so if you are: Angela, Ginny, Rosella, Neil, Todd, Peeta, Rudy, Caspian, Peter please feel free to both assume you have already received an invitation and instructions not to tell Claire, and to assume that you went. If I've inadvertently missed you from the list and you feel your character should be there, let me know (I've probably forgotten lots). If your character would like to just invite themselves, talk to Chase. This post is very very placeholdery, for I am of the exhausted.]

056 ][ TEXT : ANON AUTHOR

2011-04-05T19:04:50Z

[At first this entry appears blank. Then, falteringly, four words type themselves out in block capitals and flash shakily on the screen.]

BELOVED HUSBAND AND FATHER

[Almost as soon as the final R appears it starts to erase itself, a whitewash sweeping backwards through the text. These words replace it.]

ROBERT CHASE
1976 - 2006

[They remain on the screen, unchanged.]

055 ][ TEXT

2011-03-01T02:31:56Z

Firstly, I get a limited time with you. If you want to know why there’s blood in your stool, don’t bore me with seven minutes on the finger you caught in the door first. Likewise, waiting until you’ve got five issues needing looking at before turning up makes it hard for me to prioritise which really needs the attention.

If you’re coming in with an intimate problem, don’t be shocked if I ask you to take your clothes off. Even if you’re not, try and show up prepared for a physical. It might not be the first rule of general medicine, but ‘Put your finger in it or you’ll put your foot in it’ is up there in the top ten. That means if you’re a woman and you come in with, for example, abdominal pain, it’s possible I’ll need to give a pelvic exam. If you’re a man and you’re having problems with your equipment, I’m going to need to look at that too. Don’t tell me you can’t because you haven’t showered that morning, or you’re wearing old underwear. Personal hygiene is always a bonus, but I’m not going to complain about treating you. If you come in to see me in your valentines lingerie, or no lingerie, I might wonder about you but I’m not likely to complain about that, either.

If you think I’m going to need to swab or test for something, try to see me early in the week. Labs don’t process non-emergencies over the weekend, and some samples won’t keep that long. For a blood test, wear a short sleeved shirt with a coat over the top. Your veins are easier to find when you’re warm. If you usually have a tough time hitting one, try taking a hot bath before you come, but any good doctor should be able to feel something out given the time.

Don’t drink caffeine for two hours before an appointment. It affects your blood pressure. Diet coke counts. Cigarettes have the same effect.

Don’t see me for toothache. Really don’t see me for cavities.

All that said? Clinic’s open.

054 ][ VIDEO

2011-02-24T02:19:09Z

[A shower, running hot enough to steam the glass opaque.

A shower, and a small toy monkey sitting innocently on the bathroom's tiled floor.

A small toy monkey which, with a jolt, goes into apoplexies of cymbal-clashing rage.

One arm, skin pink from the heat, reaching out of the shower cubicle to grab a towel.

A towel which hits the monkey dead on with a satisfying yet only slightly muffling accuracy.

An arm, unarmed, retreating.

A shower, running hot enough to turn the glass opaque, and a fitting monkey under a towel.]

053 ][ VIDEO

2011-02-20T01:36:19Z

[There is a small blond child staring directly at the wall. We know it's at the wall, because the device only catches a side view, and he doesn't seem to know it's there. He's in school uniform: black knee shorts and a crisp white polo shirt and, as we watch, he takes a deep, deep breath.]

This is my report on THE COW.

[THE COW is as loud as it seems. And this accent is a strange one. Czech-stralian? Au-slovakian?]

THE COW is an dairy beast. It is dairy because it is for milk and it lives on an farm. The cow is an mammal. It has six sides which are above and below and one side and the other side which is left. Its back side has an tail which is for swatting all the flies so the flies do not fall into the milk. I do not know what the flies do when they are swatted.

The front end is the head which is for the purpose of having horns and so that there is somewhere for the mouth. The horns are for butting and the mouth it is for mooing. Under the cow hangs the milk. It is arranged for milking. When people milk the milk comes and there is never an end to how much milk there is. How the cow does it is a thing I have not yet realised but it just makes more and more. The cow has a fine sense of smell. It can be smelled from far far away.

The boy cow is called an Ox. It is not an mammal. When it is hungry it moos and when it says nothing it is because its insides are all filled up with grass. That is the end of my report on THE COW.

[He stops, waiting, as if expectant of some response. Then, when nothing comes, takes another deep, deep breath.]

This is my report on THE COW. THE COW is an....

052 ][ VIDEO

2011-01-17T03:02:27Z

[These videos play on a loop from 10am until 5:23pm, at which point they shut off abruptly. No replies come before the shut off.]

Memory One

The room is golden with hazy afternoon light as it filters through half closed blinds and across to the couch where the woman is laying. Head tipped back, her fair hair spreads along silk cushions, and she might be asleep but for the rhythmic tapping of manicured nails (one broken) against the table pulled up to her knees. The table also holds a glass, empty except a slice of lime, and ice that chinks against the sides.

Distant, a door slams. Someone calls out for, “Mum?”

Hurried footsteps, and a boy pushes through the tall oak door and onto the scene. No older than seventeen, in blue uniform knee shorts and a blazer with piped insignia on the breast pocket. He swings down a backpack, which sinks into plush carpet, and repeats quieter, now that he can see her, “Mum?”

She doesn’t look up, but her eyelashes shiver against fine cheekbones and she asks, “Where have you been?”

Her voice is accented, European, harsh, but not enough to hide the slur.

“Chamber choir, mum. It’s a Wednesday.”

The boy walks around the couch, facing her. It doesn’t place him any more in the woman’s eyeline than before. There’s no movement behind closed eyelids and, from this angle, one side of her hair is mussed and sticky with something.

The boy continues. “Monsignor Appoli is leading another retreat. It’s for six days this time and it’s... we’ll... I’ll give you the forms in the morning. Have you had anything to eat?”

He watches for a while, but gets no reply. After a minute, her fingertips stop their drumming.

The boy vanishes, to come back ten minutes later carrying a plate with toast and peanut butter, and an apple. He puts a hand on her shoulder to wake her.

Memory Two

It’s dark, in the same room. Just as the eye begins making shapes of the dark, an electric light flicks on. The same boy, dressed for bedtime. The woman is still in place, sprawled further back than when we saw her last. The plate on the table beside her contains toast and an apple, untouched. The ice in the glass has melted.

The boy goes over to her again. This time, crouching down, he retrieves one green glass bottle from under the table. Tipping the woman forward, with care to support her should she fall, he pulls a second from behind the cushion she leant on, and feels along the rest, to be certain.

He leaves the room, and there’s the sound of running water. When he returns, both bottles are empty of their dregs, and he returns each, carefully, to its original place.

Lifting the woman’s legs onto the couch, he removes her shoes and then goes again, fetching a blanket to tuck in around her. As he does, she shifts and complains, something not English, reaching a hand up blindly to grope for his face. He lets her find his jaw, and she presses four manicured nails and one broken against his skin.

For a moment, unfocused blue eyes open and meet others their exact match for shade. She smiles, and lays back, slipping away again.

“Rowan,” she mumurs to herself.

The boy freezes for exactly one beat, then bends to kiss her forehead. The electric light flicks off again as he makes his way back up the stairs.

051 ][ VIDEO

2010-12-23T02:18:48Z

[Chase is strolling down a familiar white lit hospital corridor, ear to a phone.]

First seasonal case of sledder's testicle this morning. On his stomach, too fast down the hill, slipped through one of the slats... yep... other one was relatively unscathed, though. If I'm lucky that's my last clinic session this year.

[He pauses for the other side of the conversation, reaching up without breaking stride to catch and tug down a vibrant green sprig hanging from a doorway marked pediatrics.]

Right, just clearing out peds now. I've got plans to assist on a bypass this afternoon, after something to wake me up. Can you keep ICU updated if they come looking? Have I mentioned you're a star, yet? ...You, too. Bye.

[The phone drops back into the breast pocket of his labcoat, and the mistletoe goes into the nearest pedal bin along his route. What Chase hasn't noticed are the stray leaves caught in his hair...]

[ooc: text/voice here or action in the hospital or anywhere around town, he'll be getting coffee and going home at some point <3 and sleepy now, tags tomorrow.]

050 ][ VIDEO

2010-12-21T04:39:58Z

[The camera clicks on to an inner city river view completely devoid of people. It does, however, come with a cinematic voiceover.]

I actually grew up a bit further north, in Parkville.

[The cityscape suddenly veers upwards to be replaced by a blank sheet of white - revealed to be Chase's labcoat as he leans back to easily catch the tiny glass ball in the palm of his hand. He looks back at the camera, and smiles.]

But this is nice. Thank you.

[ooc: toooo sleepy, tags later]

49 [VIDEO

2010-11-30T19:58:34Z

Right, lets make this as clear as possible:

[The doctor sitting in front of the monitor leans close and speaks s l o w l y.]

Mammograms are not as much fun as you think. Any more patients today with a significant family history and I'm going to start delegating to the night porter.

[Private to House & Cameron]

Hemofiltration's working. At least his blood's not shredding itself when it's pumped in clean, and his kidneys may not be a lost cause either. Still take a few more units to fill up the deficit but it looks like we don't need a plan C.

[ooc: Chase is from early season 3. No House Cast duplicates (without permission) and major future spoilers will be forgotten if they occur <3 I'll be in and out but wanted to get this up.]

048 [AUDIO

2010-11-25T04:20:53Z

Want to know my favourite thing about my job? It's not patching someone up so they can go out and put someone new in my ICU the next week.

Sometimes the Hippocratic Oath can be a bitch, too.

And I know the timing's bad, but we've had a flood of new people recently and I want to remind you to give blood. If not for the sake of others, then for the reason that we're balancing the standard thirty human blood group systems with about a hundred separate species here, and some of you look too close for us to tell you apart. Give blood because you might need it back one day.

Happy Thanksgiving.

[Private to Allison Cameron:]

I'd like a consult on a patient in the ICU, when you've got time. He's got around 48 hours himself, the way he's going.

047 ][ VIDEO

2010-10-31T23:09:34Z

[It's dark outside but lights hang from the vaulted roof and reflect stained-glass colours in kaleidoscope patterns across the pews. Chase sits in one empty corner and sweeps tinted purple-red-green hair out of his eyes. He's looking up to the altar end of the Cathedral without bringing anything into focus, face turned upwards in an expression more frustrated than it is devout. There's stillness in that position, the rise of his shoulders with breath all that shifts, and then a slow sigh of an exhale.

He stands to leave.]

[ooc: replies in any format are fine but my tagging wil be sporadic. I am very tired of posting slowatus notices but it just hasn't been a great week so I'll be getting to this and my many millions of backtags ASAP. Chase has no halloween costume, you're welcome to try and get him into one. Note: he was the Dread Pirate Robert last year.]

046 ][ TEXT/VIDEO

2010-10-17T22:34:12Z

I realise there's a spate of this going round, so I'm not rating my chances, but I'm in the market for a new roommate.

Must like cats.

[Private to Sylar | Unhackable]

And I need a word. Not about the tenancy.

[FILES ATTACHED (UNKNOWN TO POSTER) | PUBLIC:]

Untitled from Pixy Styx on Vimeo.

045 ][ AUDIO

2010-09-29T20:33:42Z

Right, we've got two fibula fractures now, that's a pair. Get them on. Could use one more tibia. Which blood types were left?

[Only the rising wind answers. Chase is yelling above the rush of it, and the first spatter of rain.]

B neg. Not on my charts, look though the clinic's. I've got an O pos.... two O pos. Get them together. Have you seen Cameron? Phone's dead. Mine. I said MINE. Damn it.

[OOC: Backdated to yesterday at the construction site. Apologies in advance, I have a couple of hours to tag and then ridiculous commitments mean I will be VERY scarce until Saturday. But I will backdate <3]

044 [VIDEO

2010-09-12T05:23:37Z

[It's possible that there are more people in the city who would recognise this bed, and bedroom, as not-Robert-Chase's, than could pinpoint it as belonging to one Allison Cameron. Those that could, however, might expect to see a slender brunette curled up against the pillows, rather than the petite blonde stretching and yawning her way to wakefulness, unconscious of the blinking record button of the nearest network device.

The girl smiles sleepily, turning over to feel blindly for the warm body of the still-slumbering body beside her. One hand slips under the covers.]

Mmh, you awake, yet-- [ Pause, because besides the pronounced Australian accent, there's not much about this voice that sounds familiar.] That's... not mine.

[Robert Chase, heretofore known as the blonde, tosses a long sheet of silky hair back from his face and blinks down the bed to the positioning of that vanished hand with slow-growing horror.]

That's not mine.

[And then there's a cartoon flurry of activity almost to quick to keep up with. A flail leading to the blonde (Robert Chase) exiting the bed with a stumble and a crawl, taking just enough of the bedsheets to preserve an assumed sense of dignity.]

Right, you're going to get the hell out. I don't know how you got in here, but you're going to get up, get your clothes, and get out. Now.

[He can find out what happened to Cameron later.]

043 [TEXT

2010-08-31T22:44:47Z

MISSING FROM CITY GENERAL HOSPITAL

One (1) biopsy sample (liver)
Two (2) biopsy sample (skin)
Seventeen (17) units fresh frozen plasma
Six (6) micro vascular clamps
Six (6) towel clamps
Two (2) atraumatic bulldog clamps
Four (4) pairs locking forceps
One (1) speculum
One (1) thoracic retractor
One (1) centrifuge
One (1) portable ultrasound
Two (2) surgical saw.
Two (2) operating tables.

All the above items are awol as of yesterday. You've got until tomorrow to see them returned, no questions asked. After that the matter goes to the police. The list probably isn't comprehensive, so if you have anything that looks like it might belong to the hospital, that's where you should bring it.

If you're bringing back biological waste, reception can check it off before they point you to the incinerator.

042 [VIDEO

2010-08-17T03:08:26Z

[The camera clicks on in the interior of a wood-board hut on the beach. Its door is open to display a beautiful waterside sunset but, as the viewer is shown around, it's the internal details that become the focus. The walls are lined with racks of gleaming surfboards, on gleaming rails, on wood scrubbed and varnished until it's started... yes, gleaming. The products responsible for this surprisingly un-sandy display become the focus of the next close up : wax, polish, and several liters of hospital-grade disinfectants.

Hospital grade as in 'stolen from the hospital'.

Now follow a pair of unremarkable bare feet outside and across the sand, to climb a rocky outcrop behind the building. There's just a glimpse of blond hair pitched into hopeful blue eyes as Chase turns the camera back out over the beach.]

I LOVE YOU, EMMA PILLSBURY

[is hard to miss, drawn out in footprints just above the lap of the rising tide. Cue voiceover.]

I hope that's clear enough. There's some kid's game where if you skip a stone an uneven number of skips, you can make a wish and have it come true. Just a game, but I've been getting sevens all day. Maybe it means something.

And I... stopped by the church, this morning. [Deep breath.] Emma? There was two years worth of dust in this place when I found it, but I reckon it's about ready for a visit from you by now. I've been spending too much time out here anyway. If you'll have me, I think I'd like to devote myself to something more important from now on.

041 [VIDEO

2010-07-23T01:59:13Z

[The camera, fixed in the ceiling, looks down on one of the hospital's isolation rooms. By the edge of a crumpled bed stands a man more usually seen in scrubs than the hospital gown he has on now. Two sets of restraints seem to be keeping him there: one linking his leg with the foot of the bed, and one cuffing his wrists together.

He's slamming the tie between the two cuffs rhythmically, forcefully against the metal bedstead, and this goes on without cessation until he looks up and notices the red recording light glinting at the edge of the monitor.]

You're all wasting my time.

[The man that should be Doctor Robert Chase turns, sets his left hand against the wall and slams his shoulder hard into it. And again. When he straightens up, expression unrelentingly blank, he can slide the cuff free of that wrist.]

[Chase's alien brainslug is doing the talking for him just now. Any and all attempts to figure out what it is or plans to get it out are welcome. Rescue plans by other slug carriers ALSO welcome.]

040 [VIDEO

2010-07-11T20:56:00Z

[The video shows an expanse of office wall, the twisted cord of a telephone off the hook the only thing breaking up the blank green square.]

Well I'm off shift in five minutes, so if anyone comes back could you please explain to them the difference between a NICU and a creche? Right. You can send them... send them...

[An elbow hoves into view, casting a shadow as it sweeps backwards.]

Just send them up here. I'll stay.

[And there's a brief glimpse of a blond doctor, leaning across screen to hang up before turning back to lift something else into view.]

Come on then, lets see if we can't find your mum.

[Something small, blonde and baby-shaped. The little girl makes a grab for Chase's nose before he turns and, checking the device is recording, holds her up to the monitor. There's a quick close-up of wide-eyed baby blues, then he settles her gently between the crook of his arm and his shoulder. His ear makes a useful handle for tiny fingers, and the state of Chase's hair suggests a few of her grabs for it have missed. The doctor sighs, but all attempts to look stern are being thwarted by small, high pitched gurgles.]

Anyone missing one of these? You don't get here and give me a defining birthmark before midnight I'm going to have to box her with the other unclaimed items that turn up around here. And you don't want to know where some of those come from.

039 [TEXT

2010-06-17T01:33:12Z

Socrates. Ancient Greek Philosopher, probably had a lot to say on the subject of pain as an existential quandary.

Also a mnemonic, which is an ancient Greek word for memory aid. In this case, a memory aid for pain assessment and diagnosis. When you go see your doctor because something hurts, the questions he'll run through will you will always be along the same lines.

S: is for Site. "Can you show me where it hurts?"
O: is for Onset. "What triggers the pain?"
C: is for Character. "What type of pain is it? Dull, stabbing, burning...?"
R: is for Radiation. "Has the pain spread out since it started?"
A: is for Associations. "Do you have any other symptoms along with the pain?"
T: is for Time course. "When did it start hurting? Is it continual or intermittent?"
E: is for Exacerbating/ Alleviating factors. "Is there anything you do that makes it worse or better?"
S: is for Severity. "How bad is the pain on a scale of one to ten?"

We can learn a surprising amount from socrates. Patient comes in with a stomach ache (site) that's a burning pain (character) which feels better after a meal (alleviation), the doctor can probably send them away with a packet of antacids for heartburn. If the stomach pain is constant (time) and intense (severity) radiating out to overlay the groin (radiation) it could be associated with renal problems. Localised pain relived by sitting still (alleviation) might be peritonitis. And you just thought your stomach hurt.

Pain is subjective, which means the way you feel pain is the same for everyone, but how much you feel can vary widely from person to person. Three centres in your brain process painful stimuli: the somatosensory cortex identifies and localises the pain, your frontal cortex assigns meaning to the pain, and your limbic system weighs up the emotional suffering the pain causes you. Only one of those processes is strictly relying on the facts. How much or how little pain you feel can be exacerbated by shock, fear or anxiety, even genetics. Women are typically thought of as having higher pain thresholds than men, but they're more prone to emotional stress, which might make how they experience it worse. Studies have shown female redheads to have a mutated pain receptor - MC1r - which means they need higher levels of anaesthetic to block pain, and lower levels of opioids. Pain is a useful diagnostic tool, but there's nothing cut and dried about what it means.

Socrates, the philosopher not the mnemonic, died after being forced to drink poison hemlock, which is a neurotoxin known to induce an ascending muscular paralysis. Ironically, this means reports of his death state that, when questioned, he felt no pain at all.

[Private to Ginny Weasley:]

I've got time to start working with you on that arm this friday, if you think you're up to it.