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You Could Meet Him on The Bus: If I Don't See You
by Taima Hiroshima
The snow was beginning to fly. House's car was fixed. But he had to ride the bus one more time. Just once more. He had to tell her. He owed that to her, didn't he?
How many doughnuts had they shared? How many mouthfuls of coffee? How many cold bus rides, on a vehicle laden with the desperate and the desolate? How many times had he sat in this seat just to tease her?
Tiffany. Much as he hated to admit it, he was going to miss seeing her. Today she was wearing a heavy black jacket and a red scarf around her throat. It was strange seeing her like that, standing against the blanket of white that was falling fast. This was the first snowfall that was actually going to stick.
She stood out, a vision of black with the one spot of color. House swallowed as the girl stepped onto the bus, looking fresh faced and chilly. She was shivering slightly, and there was a delightful cold red on her cheeks.
She spotted House and smiled, hiking her bag higher up onto her shoulder. She trotted to the seat and dropped down, leaving a trail of snow behind her. She reached into her bag and handed him two doughnuts.
"Here," he passed her back a cup of hot chocolate. She grinned as she wrapped her hands around it.
"Sure is nice to have this now that it's cold, huh? You should really start putting this in a Thermos, House, it'll be easier to carry that way." She chattered. Rarely was she so awake in the morning, but maybe it was the snow that did something to her.
It always just depressed the hell out of him.
"That's not going to matter, Tiffany."
"How come?" she asked as she wiped frosting from her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Because I'm not going to be riding the bus anymore."
"What?" she blinked.
"My car got fixed. You didn't think I was really riding this for fun, did you?" he raised an eyebrow. Tiffany looked at him for a minute, and he thought he saw her world shatter just then.
"No, no of course I didn't." she shook her head. "You're a doctor, and you'd be a piss poor one if you had to ride the bus forever. Of course your car just got fixed."
"You're not upset or anything, are you?" House asked cautiously. Tiffany looked out the window and shook her head.
"No. Not at all. Why should I be? After all, you're just some guy I met n the bus, aren't you? You never even learned my last name, and I never even learned your first name. I only talked to you because it kept the real freaks away from me."
"The real freaks?"
"Face it, House, you're a freak. But that's okay, because there are worse ones on the bus. I guess I'll just have to get used to carrying my pepper spray on me again, won't I?" she gave a wan smile. House examined her for a second before turning around and facing forward.
He thought, maybe, just maybe he heard her breath hitch. He thought he saw her lift up her hand and swipe it across her face, but when he craned his neck as subtly as possible, she was still as a stone, looking out the window.
The bus stopped at the hospital. House stood up and hovered nervously for a second.
"So... I guess I'll see you around."
"No you won't," she didn't look at him. "If I go to the hospital then there must be something very wrong with me, and we won't get a chance to have a conversation. If you go back to high school, then there will clearly be something very wrong with you and no one will want to speak with you."
"Right," House limped off the bus. He stood on the snowy sidewalk for a moment, watching the bus go off into the distance. He stood there, feeling the wetness from the snow seeping into his jacket.
"Hey, if I don't see you... I'm gonna miss you, kiddo." He mumbled, before carefully making his way into the hospital.
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Legal Disclaimer: The authors published here make no claims on the ownership of Dr. Gregory House and the other fictional residents of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Like the television show House (and quite possibly Dr. Wilson's pocket protector), they are the property of NBC/Universal, David Shore and undoubtedly other individuals of whom I am only peripherally aware. The fan fiction authors published here receive no monetary benefit from their work and intend no copyright infringement nor slight to the actual owners. We love the characters and we love the show, otherwise we wouldn't be here.
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