Cuddy paced in her office, quietly absorbing Foreman’s recollection of the events in the hallway. She believed Foreman’s account--it had been self-incriminating enough--though she would have to check with other witnesses to verify what he had told her.

Foreman watched her pace, waiting for the hammer to fall. The interns had been thrown out of the program based on their partaking in gossip. He had already been warned about his behavior, but he had ignored the warning and physically attacked another member of the staff. Whatever happened, he knew it would be severe.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Cuddy asked, turning on her heels and leaning against the edge of her desk.

Foreman looked down at his knees, “Messed up,” he answered. It may have been a weak answer, but it summed up the situation well.

“You have done exactly what we have tried to avoid. You just confirmed details of the attack to a floor full of doctors, nurses, and patients.”

“It was in the newspaper,” Foreman argued.

“Sexually assaulted,” Cuddy told him. “The AP report said Two doctors, held at gunpoint, one was sexually assaulted. Not only did you confirm that the two doctors were Dr. Chase and yourself, you confirmed that there was a rape. Sexual assault can mean groping, fondling, kissing, oral sex, any unwanted contact. You confirmed forcible penetration.”

Foreman squirmed, uncomfortable with the list she had just given because each word brought an unwanted memory of what he had witnessed. “Everyone knows something severe happened. He’s been off work nearly a month.”

“Strangulation. Mutism. Physical injuries. There was a whole list of medical reasons for an extended leave, none of which anyone had a right to know about, but at least they were circulating in the gossip too.”

“So your way of handling it was to let anyone say anything they wanted?” Foreman asked. It made no sense to him at all. “To let people spread malicious lies and slander Chase?”

Cuddy interrupted him, “To let their sordid tales conflict with each other so much that no one knew the truth.” She moved to her chair to sit down. “I’m very aware of what is being said. There’s the one about Chase rebuffing some guy in a bar and said guy seeking him out. There’s one about the two men being escaped prisoners. In that one, you and Chase just got unlucky and happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. There’s one that the man was a former patient of House’s who held a grudge and was punishing House by attacking his team. There’s one that you were sexually assaulted too.”

“What?” Foreman asked, appalled at the suggestion.

“Yeah, apparently in that one, Chase put up more of a fight, so that’s why they nearly killed him.”

Foreman was insulted. He would have put up a fight too. “But why let people get away with spreading this garbage?”

“You can not control gossip. Even if I issued a warning that anyone caught gossiping on hospital grounds would be immediately fired, people would talk outside the hospital. The warning would ignite the gossip. By letting the stories conflict, no one knew what was truth and what was fiction.” She sighed heavily. “Now, the new buzz will be exactly what you said. Dr. Chase was raped. Dr. Foreman said so.”

Foreman closed his eyes, shaking his head. “I didn’t mean to make things worse. They just made me so angry.”

“I understand,” Cuddy told him, sounding truly sympathetic. “Unfortunately, we have more problems.”

“I know. I hit a guy.”

“Not just that,” Cuddy frowned. “I listened to you give your medical opinion about Chase. By virtue of your being on House’s team, I let you confide your suspicions about his mental state. By announcing to anyone in earshot that he was, in fact, raped, you revealed confidential medical information. His medical file was the only source of irrefutable evidence of the attack.”

“I’ve never even seen his file,” Foreman said, distressed at what he had inadvertently done.

“But you’ve consulted,” Cuddy’s face was lined with worry. “Chase will be well within his rights to sue the hospital for breach of confidentiality and hold you personally liable as well.”

Foreman curled forward as he propped his elbows on his knees and covered his face with both hands.

“I can’t make any promises,” Cuddy started softly, “I don’t know how Chase will react to this development, but he assured me that he had no intention of suing the hospital,” she turned her palms upward as she spoke, signifying her uncertainty. “However, he was heavily medicated when he said that. The fact is, he has a solid case should he pursue it.”

Foreman put his hands in his lap. “But I was there too. It’s my story too. I don’t want lies circulating about me.”

“I’m sorry,” Cuddy said. “I wish I could assure you that this will all go away, but I can’t. At this point, I think the hospital will just have to offer a settlement to protect you and us.” The lawyers were working overtime this month.

“I was there,” Foreman repeated. It was unfair that telling his own truth could endanger him with breach of confidentiality.

Cuddy pitied the man sitting in front of her. She had believed her threat of revoking his treatment privileges would help him regain focus. She had never expected his anger and hostility to take this turn.

“I was there too. They held me at gunpoint too. They made me help them,” his voice caught.

“What?” Cuddy asked, panic-stricken by this admission. “What do you mean they made you help them?” She wracked her brain for any indication she had been given that Foreman had been forced to participate in the things that were done to Chase. There had been nothing in the medical exam that would have implicated Foreman’s involvement. She was not privy to the police reports. House knew the details though. He had read Chase’s statements to the police; if Chase had said anything about Foreman’s participation, House would have known. How could he not have told her this? Forced participation in a sexual act was sexual assault too.

She tried to calm the administrator within her by reminding herself that Foreman had been given ample opportunity to admit the full extent of his own victimization and had not done so. She had offered him a paid leave of absence similar to the offer made to Chase, which he refused to take. She had ordered him to have therapy, which he had avoided until threatened with suspension. “Please, tell me what happened. The truth.” Her words were soaked in desperation. The nurturing part of her nature fought back the businesswoman. “I need to know so I can help you. We have to work this out.”

Foreman swallowed the lump forming in his throat and looked away from Cuddy, choosing to focus on the colorful abstract painting on the wall behind them. “They made me tie his arms behind his back.” He closed his eyes, recalling the way he had taped Chase’s wrists together, wrapping the adhesive strip around and around, hoping that he was not making the restraint so tight that it would be excessively painful. “They made me hold him there while that man…”

Cuddy waited without interrupting. She knew what the next part of the story was. They had swabbed Chase’s mouth for evidence, after all.

Foreman changed direction, trying to avoid the most graphic details. “Chase was on his knees and I had to hold him there.” He remembered those hands tangled in the blond hair, Chase whimpering I don’t know how, the eager promise the attacker made to teach him, and the way those hands controlled Chase without any trace of compassion. He had wanted to look away and to cover his ears to block the sounds, but he had kept his hands firmly on the younger man’s shoulders, steadying his trembling body, assisting the beast who was abusing him. He tried to forget the way the brutal force had pushed Chase’s head against his own crotch, trapping him between the two men. He was haunted by the image of his colleague, forced into submission, tears streaming from his eyes, his body fighting to just catch a breath.

Cuddy felt sick, processing the twisted scene with its implications.

“They had already started to hit him because it was... he was... having trouble cooperating. He couldn’t balance with his arms bound that way.” Foreman looked to Cuddy, “I was afraid that if I didn’t do what they said, they would shoot me or him or both of us or everyone in the waiting room or somehow hurt him even worse.” The first quiet tears that Foreman had allow himself to shed since the ordeal slid down his cheeks. “I didn’t know what else to do, but obey them.” He averted his eyes again, “I helped them,” he whispered. “I’m no better than they are.”

Cuddy left her chair and approached Foreman. “Don’t say that,” she said, kneeling in front of him. “You really didn’t have a choice. I’m sure they would have made things worse if you had not done as they wanted.” She pulled him forward and hugged him.

“I was glad it was him and not me,” Foreman whispered, resisting the comfort she offered. “What kind of person does that make me?”

“Normal,” Cuddy answered. “No one would want to go through that. It doesn’t mean you wished it upon Chase either.”

Foreman leaned back into the chair and Cuddy stood again. “It’s no wonder he acts so erratically around me,” he confessed. “He wasn’t victimized by two men. He was victimized by three men.” He could not bear to admit to Cuddy that he had turned his back and allowed the men to do whatever they wanted without so much as a word of protest. How had he stood idly by while Chase was strangled? How had he missed that? He would never forgive himself for his own cowardice. If Chase had been killed, he would not have even been paying enough attention to notice.

Cuddy was at a loss for words. The sad truth was Foreman was had been both victim and unwilling assailant. She could see that it was tormenting him and could only imagine how it tormented Chase. Did his association with Foreman make it easier for him to be bound and held by him in that position? Or had it been even more of a violating for Chase to have a friend take part in the crimes committed against him? She had no idea what the complications were, but she was certain that somehow it had to cloud his ability to cope with what had happened. It had certainly affected every step Foreman had taken since. She shook her head, trying to find the right thing to say. “I don’t think Chase would blame you,” she offered.

“He should. If I hadn’t called him for a consult because some squirrelly patient was annoying me, none of this would have happened.”

“You could not have predicted what would happen.”

“But I knew they were specifically there looking for Chase and I knew the guy was off his rocker. If I hadn’t been frustrated or impatient, I would have seen them as the threat they were. I should have called security instead of Chase.”

“Just stop,” Cuddy told him. “You’re looking for ways to make this your fault and it’s not. Is it Chase’s fault for having dinner at the White Dove Café one night? Should he have just let the guy die instead of saving his wasted life? If Chase hadn’t saved him in the first place, none of us would be in this mess.”

Foreman’s head snapped up, stunned by what she was saying. “He couldn’t not try to help the guy. It’s what Chase does.”

“Exactly,” Cuddy told him. “You wouldn’t have denied that man care any more than he would have. It’s unfortunate for both of you that he and his accomplice were unstable. But it’s the fault of neither of you. We all take the risk of encountering unbalanced people every day that we're in these jobs.”

Foreman nodded. His logic told him she was right, but her words could not erase all his doubts and guilt.

“You have got to continue to see Dr. Johnson on a regular basis,” Cuddy instructed.

Foreman nodded. “I know.”

“At some point, he may want to see the two of you together. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted to see the whole department,” she said with half of a laugh.

“Will I still be around to see Dr. Johnson?” Foreman asked, skeptically.

“I’m going to suspend you for two weeks. You hit a coworker and, in your case, I’m sure the person you hit will file a complaint.”

Naturally, only House could get off with no ramifications from punching an employee.

“Thank you,” Foreman said. He realized his penalty could have been much worse. He could have been suspended for a longer period of time or fired altogether.

“Dr. Foreman, if you fail to comply with Dr. Johnson’s treatment or if you verbally or physically attack another member of this staff, the consequences will be severe.” Cuddy’s voice was stern. “There’s no wiggle room in this arrangement.”

He nodded. “I understand. Nothing like this will happen again.”

"It better not," Cuddy told him. "Go home and take a break. I'll have Dr. Johnson contact you about your next appointment."

Foreman nodded.

Cuddy watched him leave. There were so many problems to deal with that she was not sure where to start. Two of her doctors were incapacitated.

Patients were not getting the care they deserved because the staff was too distracted by current events to focus entirely on the work. Spirits were sagging. Few people actually felt safe, despite the increased security. She never should have added notes about Foreman’s observations to Chase’s file. She should have demanded that Foreman take some time off instead of believing him when he said he would cope better if he could focus on work. It was foolish to think a person could go through that kind of ordeal and actually focus on anything else. The throbbing pain in her temples only magnified as she considered all the mistakes and all the damage control that needed to be done. She did not consider the consequences as she reached for the paperweight her aunt had given her so many years ago and flung it across the room. She regretted it before it even had time to land on the floor with a crash, shattering into innumerable tiny fragments.