Foreman backed off when Amber startled, hearing his voice. He was going to apologize for surprising her, but her sarcasm made him feel even more defensive than he already had. "Yeah, it'd be great if he was here," he said, his voice edged with his own impatience. "But he's not, and he obviously doesn't want to be called." House wasn't a magician. He was almost always eventually right. That was a track record Foreman was fine with. They'd figure this out too, whether House was around or not. It was just a matter of getting all the symptoms on the table and testing from there.

"He's upset that I want him to work with the team," Foreman said, shaking his head and dismissing Brennan from his thoughts. If he didn't keep up, Foreman wasn't going to hunt him down and drag him to a differential session. He took the stairs two at a time, wanting to get to the conference room before everyone else had gathered, so he wouldn't look like he'd been caught standing around with his mouth hanging open when their patient brought out another new symptom. "Look, when House is around, I'm all for listening to what he says," he said. "But since I'm in charge, is a little support too much to ask for?"