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Eye of Newt (sequel to Your Wife-House/Cuddy)
by gorblimey2
Eye of Newt
(Sequel to Your Wife)
Lisa looked at Wilson as they left House's apartment. She still had tears in her eyes
and Wilson reached over and gave her a little hug. "This sucks...I can't believe that
Jordan is dead. House looks numb, like he's running on autopilot."
"Well, what do you expect? Not everyday that your girlfriend dies in a terrorist attack
leaving you with a one year old. I don't know how he is going to do it. It was going to
be hard for him to be a father with Jordan helping him, but alone? I have real doubts."
"But he's so good with Newt. That baby adores him."
"Well, that baby may adore him but that doesn't mean that House is going to be able to
pull this off. Raising a baby by yourself is hard, even harder if you have a bad leg and
are hooked on Vicodin. And even harder if you are a doctor that gets called away at all
times of night. The odds aren't good."
"Well, what are his options? Jordan was an orphan, did she have any other family?"
"She did have an aunt, but last time I heard, her aunt was very ill." Wilson said grimly.
"What about House's parents?" Cuddy asked.
"They don't even know that they are grandparents yet. House had planned to tell them
at the same time he told them about the wedding."
"He needs our help." she shook her head in disbelief.
"Well, you're good at rescuing people, you've been rescuing House for the last ten
years."
House had just gotten back from Shannon, Ireland where the terrorists had blown up
the plane with his girlfriend and mother of his son, Jordan Morgan, and 198 other
passengers in it. Luckily, she had managed to sneak their son, Stephen Isaac off the
plane before it exploded. House pulled out the engagement ring he had bought for
Jordan. It all seemed surreal. He had planned to ask her to marry him this weekend.
Now, he was going to be making plans for her memorial.
The FAA said that it was doubtful that they were going to be able to find any body parts
or DNA in the wreckage that belonged to Jordan. The bomb had been especially
destructive and had just about vaporized everything within 300 feet of it. Jordan's seat
was within less than 20 feet of the bomb. The FAA didn't tell House this, it seemed
especially gruesome to share with a family member.
House put Newt to bed in the middle of his queensized bed. He didn't have any baby
equipment, Jordan was going to bring her travel crib and stroller along with all the other
baby stuff that comes with a traveling one year old. He looked at the pile of mail sitting
on the desk by the door and decided he didn't have the energy to go through it. He
poured a single malt whiskey and went to chug it but decided against it. He needed to
have a clear head just in case Newt needed him. How did he ever end up being a single
parent? This didn't make sense. He had never intended to be a father at all.
The message machine was full. He listened to some of the messages. Most of them
were from "the nerds," Jordan's friends and colleagues from the Institute for Advanced
Study at Princeton. Jordan was brilliant and had worked with some of the top minds in
physics. She was finishing up a stint as Stephen Hawking's assistant in Cambridge
when she got on that plane to come see him. Newt was named after Stephen
Hawkings and Isaac Newton. Stephen Isaac Morgan became "Newt" when Stephen
Hawkings decided that having two heavyweight physicists for namesakes was too
much. One of the phone calls was from Stephen. He was obviously upset and his
physical caretaker, Geoff, had to finish the call for him. He wanted to be kept apprized
of the memorial service.
House went into his bedroom and stared at the bundle in the middle of his bed. He felt
a rush of feelings that he had never expected. Whatever it took, he was going to do
whatever was necessary to keep his son safe and healthy. He got undressed, sat down
on the edge of the bed, and then placed his hand on his son's cheek. He crawled into
bed and turned out the light.
House had a hard time getting to sleep. He hadn't slept well since the bomb. He kept
playing over and over the last few moments in the terminal. He had been talking to the
woman who had managed to sneak Newt to safety when he felt the percussion of the
bomb on his back, throwing him to the floor with Newt. He could still hear the sound of
the window shattering, the screams...the screams. He wanted to take more vicodin or
a sleeping pill, but his son deserved to have his only parent sober enough to change his
diaper, fix his bottle, or just hold him. He was living in hell.
Newt woke up at 3:30 a.m. and was unconsolable. He kept asking for mommy...one of
about a dozen words in his vocabulary. "Hey dude, I want her too, I want her too." He
kept rocking Newt back and forth.
The next day Lisa showed up at 9:30 a.m. in her jeans and short sleeved sweater. She
took one look at House and knew that the night had not gone well. "You look bad,
really bad. Didn't get much sleep, huh?"
"He seems to want the one person in the world he and I can't have. Hard to argue with
that."
"Come on, let's go shopping. It always helps me." she smiled at him.
"Yeah, well let me remind you that those are testicles between my legs and shopping
doesn't rank high up there."
"Well, first we need a stroller. You're going to get tired carrying a one year old on your
back."
They went to Target and started to load up several carts. They grabbed toys, clothes, a
baby bath, a crib and a stroller. They picked up more food and a better car seat. After
loading up Cuddy's SUV, she could see that House was hanging on by a thread.
"I want you two to come over and stay with me. Look House, you need a hand with
Newt. You are both going through a lot right now and you need help. I can help. I
have two extra bedrooms, come and stay for a few weeks until you can figure all of this
out."
"Lisa, you're Dean of Medicine, you already have a lot on your plate, besides, I don't
think I make good company right now." he sounded sad.
"Did you ever make good company? That's not the point. I can watch Newt while you
work out the details of the memorial. I can help with laundry. I can feed you
two...maybe from the local deli, but still, I could be responsible for that. You can't afford
to say no. You have to think about what is best for Newt and you know that this is
best." She said sternly.
House knew she made sense and it was a generous offer. Still he ached inside so
much that the idea of being around another person and having to interact was
overwhelming. He looked at her and she looked so earnest. He knew she would be
disappointed if he said no and right now he didn't want to let anyone down.
They went home and got his things. He moved into the guest room on the first floor.
They assembled the crib and realized they needed a high chair. Lisa helped House
unpack his bags and then washed the new clothes for Newt. House and Newt both
went down for a nap.
Lisa had never had a child so having a one year old around was new to her. Her house
was immaculate and she knew that all the knick knacks were going to have to be
packed away. She started to baby-proof the house while they were asleep and realized
that her whole life was not baby friendly. This was not a pleasant revelation, especially
since she had been going through Invitro Fertilization treatments for the last year. She
tried to comfort herself, "Hell, if Brittney Spears can have kids, I can handle it."
She made several bottles up and put them in the refrigerator. Lisa ordered Chinese to
be delivered. She remembered that House liked Kung Pow chicken and Garlic Shrimp,
so she ordered it for him.
Newt woke House who was feeling somewhat better after getting some sleep. He
picked up his crying son and started to rock him up and down. Then he changed his
diaper. Cuddy was watching him do this from the doorway. She was touched. There
was House, the irascible jerk, being so tender and sweet with Newt. He kept making
funny faces to entertain Newt. He looked up and saw Cuddy.
"This guy is going to start wailing in a few minutes for food. And since I'm not
anatomically designed as a delivery system, we better make him a bottle." House
smiled and raised his eyebrows.
"I've already made a bottle for him. I'll go warm it."
"Don't bother, this buckaroo takes his bottle cold, like his beer. Don't cha big boy?" He
picked up Newt who looked over to Cuddy with curiosity. Newt had a habit of studying
people.
"Those blue eyes are gorgeous. He's going to be a real ladykiller when he gets older.
And when he looks at you it's as if he's studying everything about you. He is so much
like you, my God I just realized, he IS the spawn of the devil!." She chucked and
reached out. Newt came into her arms.
She carried him out to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle out of the refrigerator. "Are you
sure it is ok to give it to him cold?" She asked.
"We westerners only heat it because we think it should be body temperature, but he
takes it cold. Jordan had a baby book from England by a doctor named, Hugh Jolly.
He said that if a baby takes it cold, let them. Sure saves time in the middle of the night.
It makes sense."
Newt drank the bottle with no problems. Cuddy loved holding him in her arms and
letting him look up at her while he drank. He was a sweet baby. After he drank the
bottle, she asked House, "What next?"
"Oh, some of that lovely beef stew in a jar. Or carrots or peas ...he even eats real
people food if it isn't in large chunks. And he loves his bananas, apples and pears."
Cuddy got down a jar of baby stew and a jar of peas. She warmed them in a
microwave. Since she didn't have a high chair, she bounced him on her knee and fed
him. "Oh Newt, this doesn't look all that palatable. After we go through these jars, I'm
going to start making you real food." Newt didn't seem to care, he ate it up.
After Newt was done eating he wiggled to get down. Cuddy thought to herself, "Well
here we go...we'll see how well I did baby-proofing things."
"You better watch it. He gets into everything and I mean everything. He is incredibly
curious. Jordan was going nuts trying to keep him entertained."
Newt took his clue and within a few minutes he had managed to grab the tablecloth and
yank it off the table along with a bowl of fruit. Cuddy and House scrambled to catch the
bowl but as House said..."It was fruitless."
"I think we need to start taking some of those toys out of their boxes to keep him
occupied." House suggested.
"Amen." Cuddy said, "I think on Monday we should take him into the hospital daycare
and get him signed up. He'll have a lot more stimulation if he is around other kids. Plus
you're going to need a place to leave him when you are working."
"Work, ah, I haven't even thought of work."
"House, you're entitled to family leave so you don't have to think about going back right
away." Cuddy told him.
"Well, I don't think sitting at home is the best use of my immense talent. I think sitting
around will do more damage than help. I guess you're right, we need to get him
enrolled or he'll tear your place apart."
***
House had decided that he would enroll Newt on Monday and start back to work on
Tuesday. That would give him a chance to finalize Jordan's memorial and to go over to
the new house he was having built. It was suppose to be where Jordan, Newt and
House would have started their new life together. He wondered now if it would be too
big for the two of them.
House got up at 6:30 a.m. with a chirpy, babbling Newt. Since House was not a
morning person, this early wake-up was getting old. He dragged himself out to the
kitchen in his boxers and t-shirt to get some coffee that he could smell all the way into
the bedroom. Lisa was already dressed and ready to go when House came into the
kitchen. Lisa couldn't help but think he looked sexy with his bed head, shorts and those
blue eyes. She chastised herself, "Lisa, he grieving over the mother of his son....whoaa
girl."
"Some days it's not worth chewing through the straps." He said, grabbing a mug and
pouring the coffee.
"Where's Newt?" Lisa asked as she bit into a doughnut.
"In his crib having a conversation with himself. I'm just having a quick cup and then I'm
going back in to break up the conversation. Watch that pastry, instead of buns of steel,
you're going to have buns of cinnamon." He smiled and went back to his room.
Lisa smirked at him, threw the doughnut away and grabbed her purse. She was off for
a busy day. There was a review coming up by the Attorney General's office of one of
the obstetricians. He had been accused by a woman of inappropriately touching her
during an exam. Of course, it's hard to touch anyone appropriately when you're doing
a gynecological and breast exam. It was going to be a rough day.
House grabbed the babbling brook known as Newt and got him ready. A few months
ago, House had traded in his motorcycle for a Volvo. It had pained him to give up his
Honda Motorcycle but he wanted to have transportation when Jordan and Newt arrived.
He loaded the boy and smiled at him, Hey dude, it's a day for firm decisions, or is it?
Well, I'm taking you in to daycare so you can hit up on all the toddler chicks.
Remember, most of them are doctor's kids, so you have to brush up on your anatomy."
Newt looked at him like he was trying to understand him. "Newt, don't bother...you're
gibberish is no better than mine."
House got to the daycare and thought he had entered the fourth gate of hell. Children
dodged in and around him. His face must have shown how uneasy he was, the teacher
came up and asked him, "Don't you like children?"
"Oh, I like children, I just don't think I could eat a whole one." House said.
"Excuse me?" She was taken back.
"This is my son, Stephen Isaac Morgan and I need to enroll him."
"Are you faculty or hospital staff?"
"Dr. Gregory House."
"Oh, Dr. House, I heard what happened. I am so sorry. That was so tragic, we'll take
good care of your son. He's adorable. His eyes are so gorgeous. Oh, I see he has
your eyes." Then she blushed realizing she had just indirectly told House how attractive
his eyes were.
Newt was enrolled. House provided the birth certificate, his passport and his mother's
death certificate, provided by the United States Government through the Irish Embassy.
He didn't want to look at it. It made it all too real that she was gone.
Newt was already in his element watching everything around him and taking things
apart. "We have a webcam set up in each room, so you can log onto this website and
see your son. We also have a lunch room where you can eat lunch with your son if
you want to check up on him. He has to be picked up by 6:30 p.m. We do have a
second shift, so if you do need to stay an extra shift, just let them know by 5:00 p.m.
It's an extra $50 for each shift. We need a list of those people who can pick Stephen
up if you can't."
House filled out the forms, put Lisa Cuddy and James Wilson down as emergency
contacts, and gave her a check for the first month. He left Newt, who started to
whimper as he walked out. But he was assured that he would settle down soon after he
left. She suggested that if he was worried he could check the webcam.
He went to the new house, it was almost done. He walked through it with the contractor
but it was overwhelming. This was going to be a place for him and Jordan. He wasn't
sure what to do with it. He was going to need a bigger place for him and Newt, but this
big? Still it was beautiful and it would be a great place for Newt to grow up in. It was
near good schools and it had a great back yard. The only problem was the lake at the
bottom of the yard. He worried about Newt drowning. So he had already built a lovely
wrought iron fence around the entire back yard.
Next stop was the Church of Religious Science. House thought it was a joke when he
found out that Jordan actually was a card carrying member. It wasn't Scientology,
thank God, but a religion that celebrated all religions. Jordan used to tell him, "We think
that any path that leads you to God is the right path. We celebrate God in the purest
form. I like to think of it as celebrating, The Force' I believe in God and this is how I
celebrate it."
The Church was plain but cheerful. Jordan would go to church on occasion in
Princeton and this was her church. The pastor was a nice looking woman who spoke
very fondly of Jordan and expressed her concern for Newt and House. She was truly
convinced that House and Newt would meet Jordan at the next level of consciousness.
House told her that if he had his way he'd be so drunk when he died he wouldn't regain
his next level of consciousness. She laughed at the joke. The arrangements were
made for a memorial and a wake.
House was emotionally spent. He wouldn't have held a memorial, he didn't believe in
God or an afterlife, but she did. He didn't want Newt coming back as a teenager and
asking him why he didn't honor his mother's memory and her beliefs, so he was going
through with it.
There was an announcement placed in the Princeton and Trenton newspapers, the
faculty newsletter and the campus website. Within hours he was approached by five
different television channels for rights to film the service. Apparently, he hadn't realized
how big this story would be. Stephen Hawkings and several other prominent physicists
and Nobel Prize winners were attending. The Vice President and several congressmen
were also coming...it ended up that the church was going to be too small and so they
had to switch it to the campus chapel at Princeton.
Lisa was worried about House. He went to work the next day but his head wasn't in the
game. He was relying heavily on his Team. Lisa didn't mind this, so far nothing
important had been compromised and his Team had really stepped up. They were
doing a great job and had even covered House's clinic duty. Still, she hated seeing the
Great Gregory House fumbling his way through a day at work.
Lisa was starting to enjoy having the company at the house. It seemed more like a
home to have people there when you got home. Taking care of Newt was exhausting
and House was doing the lion's share of the work! Chasing a toddler after a long day at
the hospital was difficult. Even though he was beat, House seemed to really enjoy his
son and played with him until Newt was tired and was ready for bed. House would then
collapse in front of the television until Lisa would wake him and send him off to bed.
She had to chuckle. The great Greg House slayed by a one year old.
On Wednesday Lisa came home and found House dialing the kitchen phone. Newt
was having a snack in the high chair they had bought. "Hello, it's Greg. I'm fine, just a
little tired that's all...I have something to tell both of you, is Mom there?...Hello Mom,
yeah miss you too. Just a little tired. ..Well, I met someone...no Mom, hold on...I wish it
was, but ...well, her name was Jordan Morgan. We'd known each other for about two
years. Yeah, close...very close. I was going to ask her to marry me. She died in the
terrorist attack on the American Airlines plane...yeah the one in Ireland....I appreciate
it...but there's more...we had a son together...I know.... I should have told you but I was
waiting until we got engaged...she was coming here and I was going to ask her...he's
one year old...Stephen Isaac...quite a handful. We're going to have the memorial next
on Friday. ...yeah, I would like you to meet him. Please, yes I would like for you to
come. I know, it doesn't sound like me...well, I think being a father has a lot to do with
it. Sure, send me an email with the flight plans and I will make the hotel arrangements.
Ok, I'll email some photos. I love you too. Bye."
Lisa had been on one side of the conversation but she could tell that his parents had
been very kind despite receiving rather important news. He was lucky to have them.
"Are you ok?"
"I should have told them before. I don't know why...they are good parents. I was just
an impossible child. My Dad just didn't understand the child that always bent the rules.
I hope I understand. They're going to come out for the memorial and to meet Newt.
God, I don't know if I should continue to call him Newt..what do you think?"
"It's kind of cute and when you find out he is named after two physicists, including his
Godfather, Stephen Hawkings, well it makes it even cuter." Lisa said. "Look, I arranged
for my maid to come over and watch Newt tonight. I'm taking you out for a drink and a
meal."
He looked at her sideways, "Are you trying to seduce me? I know, you see what my
seed produces and you want some of that."
"Right, like you're going to have any energy left after a meal and drink to spill your seed.
Give me a break, you're running on two cylinders. I just want you to have a chance to
relax. Newt will be fine with Maria. She has five children of her own."
"You have a date."
***
Lisa drove them to Lahiere's Restaurant on Witherspoon, one of her favorites. On the
way over she had been telling House all about the afternoon she had with a very
eccentric donor who was willing to donate $2.0 million dollars if they would use $15,000
of it to put up a statue of Darth Vader. The Board of Directors had been wrestling with
the decision and, if they agreed to it, where would Darth go? The donor had suggested
the clinic area, but of course the Board didn't want the first impression of everyone who
comes to the hospital to be of Darth Vader. Lisa told the donor it would be really nice if
they put it nearer to the children's ward. But he told her that Lord Vader was a serious
character, with dark undertones, mythical designs...he needed to be appreciated by the
masses.
House was cracking up. It was the first time in two weeks that he had been able to
laugh. House told her about his Star Trek cruise with Wilson and how they had been
politely informed that they were no longer welcomed aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise
again. They both laughed so hard that she was having trouble driving.
When they got to the restaurant, House ordered a Grey Goose on the rocks. Lisa had
a Mojito, easy on the rum.
"Ok, what are you going to have?" She asked him. She wondered why it was that
everyone always had to ask each other what they were going to have? Was it
something primal?
"I'm going to get the honey-glazed roasted duck with hoisin jus. I haven't had duck in
awhile. Not since Christmas Eve in England." He said.
Lisa took in a breath, oh no, he was thinking of England and Jordan. She expected a
darkness to come over his face but it didn't. He still looked relaxed. "I'm going to get
the pan-roasted poussin with tomato ragout, it's my favorite. Can I have a taste of
yours, I've never had duck?"
"Hell no." He said seriously and then smiled, "Only if you share yours."
"Settled."
House thought that Lisa looked lovely tonight. But then, Lisa was always lovely. She
had a great eye for fashion and what would look good on her petite frame. She didn't
have the nice round breasts or round hips of Jordan, but she still had a great body. He
thought back over the last twenty years and how many times they had almost hooked
up. In fact, there was the one time he was at a party, got drunk, managed to corner her
in a back bedroom and she was just about ready to let him screw her when he threw
up. It was a real buzz kill. She didn't talk to him for half a year. He didn't blame her.
After the drinks came and the waiter took the order, House sighed, "Lisa, I should
probably take this opportunity to tell you how much your help..."
"Please Greg, I can't take this from you. You don't have to say anything. I know you're
grateful, just leave it at that." She knew it had taken a lot out of House to muster up the
words to thank her and she didn't want him to be taxed anymore than he already was.
He nodded quickly at her in thanks and then he told her about the mysp@ce profile he
had made up for Wilson about two years ago. It said he was gay and looking for a
relationship. Lisa howled. He also had a hotmail address for messages that were
forwarded to Wilson's hospital email. "I didn't hear that." Lisa admonished, but secretly
she was laughing inside. Apparently for the last two years Wilson was trying to figure
our why so many gay guys wanted to go out with him.
"I'm going to change the profile soon."
"To what?"
"I thought I would announce that he has found Jesus and has gone straight and he
urges all gays to follow his path. What do you think?"
"Oh God, you have to show me this profile."
There were no gaps in the conversation. Lisa and House shared so much history that
they had plenty to discuss or reminisce about. The food arrived and they shared the
dinners as planned. House liked Lisa's more than Lisa liked the duck. "It's too greasy
for me." She said.
"I can't get enough artery blocking fats." He said as he took another large bite of the
duck.
The night went by quickly and when House got back to Lisa's he was relaxed and ready
to sleep. They said their goodnights and were off to their rooms. Lisa was smiling to
herself. It was the first time in a long time that they had just talked, not sparred, not
played games or power trips, just talked. It felt good. Lisa's heart ached for House
and Newt, what a horrible thing to go through.
The next morning there was a knock on the door. Lisa answered it and a man was
standing on the doorstep.
"Hello, is Dr. House here? I was told I could find him here. I'm Edward, a friend of
Jordan's. I'd like to talk to Dr. House."
Lisa thought the man looked as bad as House. He obviously was upset and had bags
under his eyes. "Sure, I'll get him, please come in. Have a seat."
The man came in and had a seat in her living room. Lisa went into the kitchen where
House was feeding Newt. "Greg, there's a friend of Jordan's here, a guy named
Edward."
"Oh." House said in acknowledgment. "He's from the Institute. He and Jordan were
roommates for a long time. That guy is probably going to win the Nobel prize this year."
House was washing his hands of the green peas stains. "Ok if he comes in here?"
"Sure."
House invited Edward into the kitchen. He was delighted to meet Newt for the first time.
"Boy, he really looks like you doesn't he?"
"That's what they say. What can I do for you?" House was gentle with Edward. He
knew that Edward had been in love with Jordan and he knew that he was suffering too.
"I was wondering what you were going to do for music at the memorial?"
"I was just going to have the pastor pick something and get an organist. I don't know,
why?"
"When Jordan lived with me we used to get into these strange conversations...you know
like, if you had a million dollars what would you do? If you could have lunch with
anyone dead or alive who would it be? Etc. Etc. Well, one day we both picked out the
music for our funeral. I'd like to make the arrangements for the music. I'm too shy to
get up and say anything at the testimony for her, but this would be my way of honoring
her."
"I think she would like that. It would take a burden off of my shoulders. There is one
thing. I have one song that has to be played, it was her favorite. She said it reminded
her of me and Newt."
"I already know the song and I promise, it will be played."
They talked for a few more minutes, he played a little with Newt and then he was off.
"Boy he's in bad shape isn't he?" Lisa commented.
"Yeah, I have a feeling the whole gaggle of nerds is taking this hard. Danny was the
only female in their group and they treated her like a sister."
"Greg, when your folks get to Princeton, I'd like for them to stay here."
"No, you don't mean that."
"I do. Your mom is going to want to spend as much time with her grandson as possible
and it's only for three nights. I have the room upstairs. You'll need your parents and it
will be good for Newt to have as much time with his grandparents as possible."
"I don't think it is a good idea." He was unconvinced.
"I'm not giving you an option." Lisa was firm.
Surprisingly House never pointed out that he could just move back to his apartment.
He accepted that it was out of his hands. Maybe it was because he knew Lisa was
right.
House sent an email to his parents suggesting the arrangements and his mother was
excited to meet his friend and boss and very happy that she was going to have time to
get to know her grandson. It was settled.
Late Thursday afternoon House asked Lisa to watch Newt while he went to the airport
to pick up his parents. Lisa couldn't believe this, "Are you kidding? Your mother is
going to want to get her hands on this baby the minute she gets off that plane. It would
be pure torture to have to wait another hour to get here. Newt goes with you."
How did she know these things? House gave in quickly and saddled Newt into his car
seat. All the way to the airport Newt babbled in the back seat. Occasionally a word or
two would pop into the conversation, "Daddy," "mommy," "car," "dog," "nana (banana),"
and "Cuddy" were some of his favorite words that kept repeating inside the jibberish.
House didn't want to go into the terminal, not after Ireland. He thought, appropriate
name, "terminal." His stomach turned and he started to sweat a little. He heard the
screams...the screams. His heart started racing. He sat down and looked at Newt in
his stroller. Someone came up and asked him, "Are you ok mister? You look really
pale?"
"Yeah, thanks." House got back up and continued to the security checkpoint. He
wasn't allowed any further. Everyone was waiting for their loved ones at the
checkpoint. They waited fifteen minutes and then they could see a crowd of people
coming up the gangway and to the security checkpoint. About five minutes later he saw
his Mom and then his Dad. They were both waving at him, he waved back. His mother
picked up the pace and made a beeline straight for the stroller.
"Greg, he's adorable, oh...he's beautiful. He looks just like you when you were his age.
Oh, I can't get over it, he is the spitting image." She had already scooped up Newt into
her arms and then she leaned over to House, gave him a one armed hug, "I'm so sorry
honey. I wish there was something I could do. She must have been special if you
loved her. I know she was special, look at this beautiful baby..." His mom was crying.
His Dad was playing peekaboo with Newt, "Sorry son, those damn terrorists. Jesus
you'd think they could cull out the sympathizers ...to think the bomb was directly below
the passengers in the luggage area when it went off...how barbaric."
"Dad, I don't really want to hear about it. I can't deal with that right now."
"Sure, I understand. He's a cute kid. Your mom's right, he does look just like you.
Blythe, let me hold him." She handed Newt over to his grandfather who bounced him
and tickled him.
Blythe insisted on sitting in the back of the car with her grandson. She couldn't keep
her hands off of him. She kept holding onto his little hand or his tennis shoe. She
hadn't been there five minutes and she had already bonded to this little blabbering ball
of curiosity.
"Does he always stare?" She asked.
"Yes, pretty much that's what he does these days...stare and babble." House said.
"You used to stare, it's uncanny. You would watch everything. People always
commented on how spooky you were sometimes. You seemed to be reading their
minds. Of course you weren't, but they said that the way you looked at them, it was if
you could read their minds."
"Sounds familiar. Newt gets that too."
"Newt? I thought his name was Stephen." she was confused.
"His middle name is Isaac for Isaac Newton, hence "Newt"
"That's interesting...he's so cute...are you my little pumpkin?" She gave Newt kisses on
his cheek. He laughed.
House smiled to himself, how many times had his mother said that to him growing up?
The French called their children "little cabbages" and the Americans called their children
"Pumpkins." How culinary.
"So you're living with your boss? How does that work?" His dad asked, uncertain about
the arrangements.
"No, I'm just staying with her until after the memorial and the house gets built."
"House? What house?" His Dad asked.
"I was building a house for Jordan, Newt and me to move into. It's almost done. It
should get a final from the city in a few weeks. Then I may move in, I'm not sure yet, it
may be too big for the two of us."
"I'd like to see it."
"Sure."
They got to Cuddy's and she showed them their room. No one could pry Newt out of
his grandmother's arms. Cuddy gave House a, "I told you so." look. He rolled his eyes.
When House and his father went to get gas and a run by the new hosue, Blythe
cornered Lisa. "Lisa, tell me about Jordan and Greg. Please?"
"Well, she was brilliant. You'll probably hear a lot about that at the memorial. If things
had worked out differently, she might have held Isaac Newton's chair at Cambridge.
But that's history. She was good for Greg. Newt is good for Greg. It gives him
something to think about besides himself. I think Greg was as happy as Greg can be.
He really loved her and he really misses her. He was looking forward to her and Newt
coming over when it happend. Jordan was beautiful and funny."
"Whatever happened to Stacy?"
"Stacy married someone else, she has a child now too. But I think Jordan was better
for him. She could make him have fun. He loved Jordan on a level that he never loved
Stacy."
They talked more about Stacy and Jordan until House and his father got back. The two
men were actually holding a conversation about cars (without fighting) when they
walked in with some Kentucky Fried Chicken.
***
BLYTHE SPEAKS
When I got off that plane and saw those blue eyes in that stroller I thought I was twenty
again and holding my son. Newt looks just like Greg, so much so that it really shocked
me. He also has that funny way of staring at you until you have to look away. When
Greg did that, it used to bug John, but I found it funny.
Don't you love holding babies? They smell so...so like a baby! He is a sweet baby. My
grandson is a doll. Actually, Stephen is calmer than his Dad was. I do see that
difference. He isn't as anxious. Greg was always a little on the nervous side.
John was not happy that the baby was born out of wedlock but I told him to get a grip
and get over it. This was my only grandchild and my son obviously loved his mother so
he needed to deal with it. I wish I had met Jordan. All the news accounts seemed to
talk about was how brilliant she had been. It seems such a waste for her to die so
young. But I have to give it to her, and I thank her for this, it took guts to get Stephen
off that plane...to let him go with a stranger. She had to love her son an awful lot to do
that. She followed her instincts and it paid off. Her son is alive...thank you Jordan,
thank you God.
Greg looks like hell. He always looks like hell. I don't know where we went wrong. He
never looks happy, never sounds happy, never acts happy. It's like he's had a chip on
his shoulder his whole life. I don't know why. It always hurt to know that he hadn't
found happiness. Every parent lives for the day that their child is happy or content.
Greg has never been either. I hope he finds happiness for Stephen's sake.
Lisa says that he was happy with Jordan. It sounds like he was. He was building a
house, he bought a car (thank God the motorcycle is gone) and he was planning on
marrying Jordan. I do see a glimmer of happiness in him when he talks to Stephen.
Oh, I guess I should call him Newt, everyone else does, but what kind of name is Newt?
I must admit, John is absolutely over the moon with the fact that his grandson's
godfather is Stephen Hawkings. John is a big science fiction fan, so is Greg, and he
showed me an episode of Start Trek the other night where Stephen Hawkings makes a
cameo appearance. I didn't realize Dr. Hawkings was in a wheelchair until I saw the
episode. I guess he suffers from ALS. That's sad. Anyway, he's going to be at the
memorial tomorrow and John is very excited about meeting him.
I like Lisa. She's very down to earth and a take charge person. I can see how much
she has helped Greg and I am truly grateful that she is around. She and Stephen get
along great. He goes straight to her and that's a good sign.
I'll let you in on a little secret. I never liked Stacy. She was nice enough, but I always
felt that at the slightest hint of trouble she would be gone. I was right. When things got
tough between her and Greg after his operation, she bolted. I can't tell you the times I
wanted to bolt out of my marriage. Marine fighter pilots are not the easiest of people to
live with. But in my day you stuck it through and I'm glad I did. John and I are very
happy now. He treats me like gold and I let him. What I mean is that you don't
abandon ship at the first sign of a storm.
Must go, I have to get ready for the memorial. It seems strange going to memorial of a
woman I never met and yet I feel such a deep love for her. I see how she touched my
son's life and I wish I could hug her and thank her. I feel very sad.
But isn't my grandson adorable?
***
By the day of the memorial, the nerds had taken over just about every aspect of it.
They had arranged the speakers, the music, the decorations, the wake afterwards.
House had to do very little and this was fine with him. He was exhausted from waking
up in the middle of the night in sweat and tears. Every night at 1:05 a.m., the same
numbers as her flight. House would have the same dream, he could see Jordan sitting
all alone in her seat without anyone to hold her hand or protect her, she closes her eyes
and braces herself and then the flash of light, the pressure on his back, the
screams...the screams. Each night he jumps up from his bed and the tears are flowing,
he can't stop them. It takes him hours to get back to sleep.
When House, Lisa, Newt and his parents reached the University Chapel they were
shocked to see satellite trucks taking most of the parking lot. Spain, France, Britain,
Australia, Italy, India and China were just some of the networks represented on the side
of the trucks. Blythe and John looked at each other with trepidation. This looked like a
circus and they knew Greg would not be pleased. He hated ceremonies anyway, but
one that was being broadcast out to the entire world with him and his son as the focus,
that was going to be difficult.
What they didn't know was that House had already prepared himself for this. He knew
that the world wanted to put a face on the terrorist tragedy and Jordan was a pretty face
with a very dramatic tale of sacrifice for her son. Her story involved celebrities, nobel
prize winners, and now politicians. It would probably end up being the movie of the
week a few months from now. He knew that for everyone's sake he needed to stay
calm and focused.
House was allowed to drive the car up to the front of the chapel. They all got out and
Blythe took Newt out of his carseat. Newt was looking around excitedly at all the
people and cameras. He was dressed in a little top and pants that was sewn to look
like a suit. His grandmother had bought it in San Diego and brought it with her. He
wanted to get down and walk, so his grandmother let him. He held her hand and his
father's as they walked into the chapel. The photo was on the front page the next day.
The chapel itself is a large gothic chapel with beautiful restored stained glass panels. It
is magnificent and House thought that the British would feel right at home in it. It
looked like it had been imported from England. The chapel seats more than 2,000 and
most of the chapel was filled.
House had worn his dark blue suit. His mother had ironed a light blue shirt and he had
picked out a tie that Jordan had bought him in Cambridge. It had the Cambridge coat
of arms on it. Lisa was in a two piece ST. Johns' navy blue suit. Blythe wore the
obligatory plain black dress and John was in a blue suit like his son.
They started their way up the aisle to the front of the chapel. The chapel went quiet as
they made their way to their seats. House saw Stephen Hawkings off to the side about
half way back. House went over to Stephen. "Stephen, I believe that Jordan would
have preferred for you to sit with us. She thought of you as her family. Why don't you
and Geoff come and sit in the family pew right behind us." Stephen was touched. He
was wheeled up to the family pew and House took his seat. His mom had toys to keep
Newt occupied, but Newt had so many people to observe that he didn't need the toys
for quite awhile.
The music started, The Princeton Chapel Choir started to sing:
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy lamb of god
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark satanic mills?
Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear: o clouds unfold!
Bring me my chariots of fire!
I will not cease from metal fight;
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.
This was England's famous hymn, sung by most of the Oxbridge University choirs and
Jordan had loved it. She told him the story of the time she was in a pub in Soho with a
very rowdy English rugby team. They were all kicked out into the mew where the team
started to sing their bawdy rugby songs. The team was stinking drunk and they were
falling over themselves. Just as the pub was closing and she was about to leave, the
rugby team started singing "Jerusalem." Instead of the previous drunken slur and loud
yelling that they had called singing, the voices became melodic, angelic and serious.
They sounded like a chapel choir and it took Jordan's breath away. After they were
finished, they were slurring and swerving all over again. Jordan simply got up and left
without saying a word, she wanted to keep the image of the angelic rugby team in her
head. She always equated "Jerusalem" as the anthem of the British backbone. She
admired it.
The first speaker was her friend John Parkington who had worked with Jordan the first
time she was in Cambridge as the Lacasian Fellow to Stephen Hawkings. John told
funny stories about their travels through England and their attempts to drink their way
through the 101 pubs in Cambridge. He then broke down as he talked about her
kindness, generosity and cheerfulness. His wife Carol had to go up to the podium and
escort him to his seat. The nerds were barely hanging on to a thread.
Lisa was crying, Blythe was crying, almost everyone in the chapel was in tears by now.
House was solemn but not tearful.
A singer came forward and sang the only song that House had requested, it was her
favorite song and she told him that it was even more poignant now that she had him
and Newt in her life:
There are places I remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends
I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all
But of all these friends and lovers
there is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
In my life I love you more
House could not contain the tears and a few escaped down his cheek. The cameras
zoomed in. His Mother took his hand in hers. Newt looked at House and his little voice
could be heard throughout the chapel. "Daddy, daddy, daddy..." House reached over
and picked him up. Every woman in the chapel started sobbing. Lisa was going
through kleenex like mad and was sure she was going to run out.
Stephen Hawkings took the podium. He had already typed out his memorial so that the
computer would not have to interpret it in real time. The speech was very generous.
He compared Jordan to the first female Isaac Newton, he talked about the jealousy that
her intelligence had incited among her male peers and the beauty of her soul and ability
to rise above it all. He then mentioned that she must have been intelligent, she named
her son after him. The mourners laughed.
Stephen was wheeled back to the pew behind House. The vice president got up and
gave a very short speech about her sacrifice and the sacrifice of everyone on that plane
for their country. He said the whole nation admired her bravery and her ability to keep
her wits and sneak her son to safety. It was appropriate, not overdone so House wasn't
upset. The V.P. took his seat.
House got up from the pew and went to the podium, he simply said, "Jordan had an
uncanny way of making me laugh when I didn't feel like laughing and love when I didn't
think I could love. I hope to get to a place where remembering Jordan does not involve
remembering how she died. If I try, I can see her with Newt playing and feeding him,
nurturing him like she had nurtured me and everyone around her. I feel her loss keenly
and I am reminded of Byron's poem:
SO, we'll go no more a-roving
So late into the night,
Though the heart be still as loving,
And the moon be still as bright.
For the sword outwears its sheath,
And the soul wears out the breast,
And the heart must pause to breathe,
And love itself have rest.
Though the night was made for loving,
And the day returns too soon,
Yet we'll go no more a-roving
By the light of the moon.
House sat down. The chapel was quiet.
The pastor said very few words. She talked about Jordan's belief in an afterlife and
indicated that she believed that they would all see Jordan again, on a different level of
consciousness. She looked over and smiled at House, acknowledging his scepticism.
As the mourners filed out House was amused as Jimi Hendrix played over the
speakers. Danny loved Jimi. The stereo was playing House Burning Down." He
smiled. House's mother looked at the speakers, confused at to why this music was
playing at a funeral. "It's ok Mom, Danny asked for this." Blythe relaxed once she knew
it had been a part of the plan.
Jordan had never wanted a "reception." Both Edward and House knew she wanted a
wake. The politicians and officials were surprised to find an open bar, a barbeque and
Jimi Hendrix playing at the hall where her wake was being held. There was a table with
photos of her and a book of anecdotes that had already been half filled. Others were
waiting in line to add to it. People were dancing, laughing, crying and just letting it all
out. Danny would have loved it. There was also a box of cards with her famous
recipes and everyone was welcomed to take them.
After an hour, Blythe and John volunteered to take Newt home and put him down for a
nap. John told House to feel free to get drunk, he'd come and pick him up, just like he
did when he was a teenager. House gave his Dad a hug, a short brisk hug, but a hug.
His Dad was moved. House wasn't sure why he did it, but a lot of things had changed
inside of him since becoming a father.
House wanted desperately to find a distraction from all of the trite words of comfort that
were being bantered about by those who barely knew her. He saw a young brunette
sitting near the window. She was gorgeous. She was about 25, tall, leggy and big
breasted. She smiled at him and then came over. "I'm very sorry Dr. House about your
loss, if I can do anything to help you, feel free to call me." She took a pen from her
purse and grabbed his hand and wrote on the back of it, "Shelly, 809-221-3939. She
gave him a sexy smile and then went back to her table.
House looked at the number and then looked up. He was being watched by Cuddy who
just shook her head back and forth in dismay. House decided not to go over to Shelly,
at least not while Lisa was watching. But he did transfer the number to a napkin and
pocketed it.
A few minutes later, Lisa came over to him with a plate of food, "You need to eat, I can
tell you're losing weight. The pounds are coming off faster than your pants at a
whorehouse."
"How would you know how fast my pants come off at a whorehouse...Oh, making a few
bucks on the side?"
"Come on, mange..." She put the plate on the table and he sat down to eat.
"It really was a beautiful service. You should have seen the women's restroom
afterwards. I've never seen so many women trying to use a mirror to repair their
makeup. God, what a tearjerker. What did that girl want?"
"What girl?"
"That's right, your eyes were so fixed on her breasts you probably don't remember her
face...the brunette."
"Just platitudes and offers to help." He told her the truth.
"Yeah, I saw that smile, I'm sure she was going to off to help with your zipper."
"It frequently gets stuck."
"House, be a good boy tonight. A lot of people are watching you. It's been lest than a
month since she died. "
"Ok Mom. I promise not to shag the brunette TONIGHT."
Several hours later, John House made good on his word and came back to pick up his
son and Lisa. Lisa liked John a lot. He was funny and very frank. He looked you in the
eye and said what he meant, no B.S. The more she got to know him, the more she
thought that the problem between House and his Dad were that they were more alike
than different. If John House had been raised during the seventies and eighties, he
probably would have been as irreverent as his son. As it was, he ended up in the
military where the structure kept his personality in check. John probably disapproved of
his son's actions because it reminded him too much of himself, the part of him that he
had to stuff down to function in the military.
House got home and was relieved. The ceremonies were over. The memorial was
done. He could now put grieving behind and get on with his life. He was anxious to get
back to work, anxious to get back to normal and just plain anxious. House went to
sleep. At 1:05 a.m.,when he jumped up from his bed with his heart pounding, he wiped
the tears away and laid back down. He fell asleep at 4:00 a.m.
John and Blythe packed to go home to San Diego. "Honey, why don't you and Newt
come out to San Diego to live. I could look after him while you worked, we could see
more of you two."
"Mom, you know my life is here. Besides, with my reputation, I doubt I would find a
position as good as the one I have here. But I promise that we will come out and
anytime you want to come back, I'll pay for the ticket."
"You know how much we love you. And we love Newt. Please don't be a stranger
anymore. We are your family."
"I know Mom. I love you too."
The following week House began to get his head in the game. On occasion he would
drag Wilson out to the new house at lunch time. "I think we can move in sometime in
the next two weeks."
"You need more furniture to fill that house...it's pretty big for the two of you. You still
look like hell. Are you still waking up at night?"
House nodded yes.
"You know it is classic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Waking up at the same time
each night, having the same dream, reliving the events. You need to get in and see
someone. If you don't, things will get worse and you won't be able to function. Sleep
deprivation is a killer...especially for someone who uses their brain for a living, although
not much to worry about there, you rarely use your brain these days....Seriously, you
need to get in to see a therapist who specializes in these things."
"Yada yada, yada yada...you are a broken record."
It was six weeks after Jordan's death and House was about ready to move into the
houses. He had gotten home late from working up a case. Lisa had turned on the
baby monitor when she went to bed since House wasn't home yet. She was having
trouble sleeping herself. She was worried about House. Cameron had come to her
and said that, although his work was improving, he had developed a shaking in his right
hand. She didn't think he was sleeping and he had lost some more weight. Lisa could
see that he was losing weight.
She heard something through the baby monitor, it sounded like muffled crying, it wasn't
a baby's crying. It had to be House. She felt sick to her stomach, House sounded so
distraught, so lost. She got up and went down the hall to his room. She knocked on
the door and heard nothing. House was trying to compose himself.
She opened the door anyway. He was sitting on the edge of the bed in a t-shirt and
shorts with his back to her. "Yes?" He asked.
"I'm having trouble sleeping, could you use some hot chocolate or a snack?"
"I just had to get up to go to the bathroom."
"House." She said it as if she knew he was lying. "Come on, join me in the kitchen."
He reluctantly got up and followed her. When she turned on the kitchen light she
turned and saw the red watery eyes. It melted her heart. He sat on a stool and she
started the kettle.
"Wilson told me that you have been having dreams about the explosion. Is that true?"
"I'm going to have to get Guido to break his legs."
She gave him a look and he finally admitted, "Yes, I have the same dream each night."
She turned off the kettle and turned to let him finish what he was saying. "I ...I see
her...she's alone. That's what hurts the most, she's all alone, there's no one around her
as she sits there. She's just waiting, quietly waiting, she braces herself and then...."
He lost all control and started sobbing. Lisa came over to him and put her arms around
him and brought his head to her chest. "I feel so powerless, unable to protect the
people I love."
She stroked his head and back as he leaned into her. He felt horrible, crying like a
child, but the tears wouldn't stop. He leaned back and looked into her blue eyes. She
was looking at him with understanding, compassion and so much affection. He knew
she wasn't judging him.
He reached out quickly grabbed her and kissed her. Lisa's mind filled with warnings
and admonitions. He needed a friend, not this. He didn't really want her, he wanted
compassion. This wasn't right. But it didn't matter, all the feelings she had for House
over the last fifteen years were funneled into her response to his kiss. It was
passionate and loving. They started fondling each other. He wanted her, he needed
her compassion.
They went back to her room. He took the lace strap of her cotton nightgown and pulled
it down on the right shoulder as they stood next to her bed. He kissed her shoulder and
then her lips. He then pulled the strap on her left shoulder and the gown fell to the
ground. He smiled at the slightly uneven breasts, the thin waist, the small thin hips. He
wanted her. He pushed her down to the bed as he got out of his shorts. She reached
up and grabbed his t-shirt and helped him take it off. They kissed deeply as they each
explored the other's body. He rolled to his back and then she mounted him. I t didn't
take long for either of them to climax. The sex had been a release for both of them.
She sat on top of him looking down. His eyes were closed and he was quiet. She fell
off to the side and he turned to face her. He opened his eyes and then kissed her
again. The release of tension and anxiety had relaxed House, he was the calmest he
had been since the explosion. But then it hit them both at the same time, this had been
a mistake. She was his boss and his friend. What were they doing?
House was even more confused. He felt guilty. Not for having sex, he saw that as a
physical release that he desperately needed, but because he had felt something for
Lisa while they were having sex. It wasn't just a meaningless, pity screw. He actually
wanted HER. He felt guilty, how could he want another woman so soon after Jordan's
death? There was something wrong with him.
She saw all of this in his eyes. The self-recrimination, the confusion, and somewhere in
there, the feelings he had for her. "Greg..."
He kissed her to keep her quiet. "Let's not analyze this yet. There's going to be plenty
of time for that. Let's just hold each other and get some sleep."
Lisa heard Newt through the baby monitor. She looked up, it was 6:30 a.m. on a
Sunday morning. Ughh, children were work. She looked at him laying next to her and
he was sleeping soundly. She didn't want to wake him. She went down the hall and
got Newt out of his crib.
"Hey sweetie, you're pretty chirpie...you need your diaper changed?"
"Cuddy...nana. Daddy."
"You want a banana and your Daddy? Ok, let me change you first and then we'll go
find both." She changed his diaper and then took him down the hall so that he could
see his Daddy sleeping. He tried to wiggle out of her arms to go to see his daddy, but
Lisa took him into the kitchen. "Daddy needs his sleep, let Cuddy feed you. I'll get you
started on that banana."
House stumbled out to the kitchen for a cup of coffee around 9:00 a.m. He looked like
he could use some more sleep.
"If you want to go back to bed, it's ok. I can watch Newt. I'm just doing laundry, do you
guys have any? Silly question, you have a baby...there's always laundry." She kept
talking to fill in any gaps of silence between them. House just watched her babble.
"About last night." House started right in on it. "It was great but we both know it was a
mistake, right?"
"Sure." She was devastated and started to clean up to keep her hands occupied.
"It's a mistake because it's too soon, we're friends and you're my boss." He looked at
her for a reaction.
"Right..." There was a pause and her face had registered her disappointment, "Don't
look at me that way...I agree with you. We both just needed a physical release last
night. It's ok....it's OK."
He was pretty sure from her body language that it wasn't Ok. But they had to find a
way back to what it was before and this was her way of letting him off the hook.
"I have to go to the new house today. I think the contractor is going to give me the keys
and I can move in this week. It's probably good that we get out of your hair soon. Just
so we don't need anymore physical releases."
"Oh, you weren't that good." She laughed.
"Gee, thanks." He acted hurt.
***
Chase, Cameron and Foreman were all waiting for House to show. They had a new
case and he was late. He had been late most of the week because he was moving into
the new house and his mind was preoccupied.
He had Newt with him when they did show up. "What's Newt doing here?" Cameron
asked as House automatically handed him over to her.
"Check up. After I get you guys going, he gets a checkup, some vaccinations and then
he's off to daycare."
Cameron loved holding Newt, it was like holding a piece of House. Newt was picking
up more and more vocabulary. "Binky, baby, bocks (blocks), bye-bye, J-J (for Wilson),
doo (dude), cracker, ca-ca..." all came out at one time or another as he sat with
Cameron. She pulled out the blocks that House kept in the corner of his office for
whenever Newt was around.
House and Foreman went down to neurology to talk to the neurosurgeons, to see if a
specific procedure could be modified for their patient. Cameron stayed behind with
Newt. She watched him place the blocks in a pattern that allowed him to stack them in
a pyramid. When she saw him stack the blocks 8 high, she got excited. She was
curious about something. She pulled out five blocks.
"Newt, I am going to count..." with each number she showed him a block and put it in a
group. "One block, two blocks, three blocks, four blocks, five blocks. See there are five
blocks here. One, two, three, four, five. " She repeated this over and over.
When House got back she said, "You need to see this."
"Later." House was preoccupied with the case.
"NO, House you need to see this NOW. It's about Newt." She got his attention.
Chase and Foreman were standing nearby. Cameron got on the floor. There were five
blocks on the floor in a row. "Newt, how many are three blocks? Three blocks, show
us three blocks."
Newt looked around at everyone watching him. Cameron repeated it,"Newt, show us
three blocks." Finally Newt stood up reached out and knocked two of the blocks away
and then sat back down and looked around. Three blocks sat in a row in front of the
blue-eyed baby.
There was complete silence. "Try that again." House told her.
She lined the blocks up again. "Newt, how many are four blocks? Show me four
blocks."
Once again Newt looked up to his Dad and then to Cameron. He grabbed a block and
put it behind him. Four blocks sat in a row in front of him.
"Did you know that he can stack blocks eight high without falling? And he can create a
pyramid type structure. House, do you know what that means?"
"He's an architect?" House mused.
"Well, you're being funny, but in a way yes. I took a lot of courses in undergrad in child
psychology and development, he shouldn't be doing this until kindergarten. He
understands spatial relationships at a level that is way beyond his fourteen months.
He's smart, he's scary smart."
"Great, just what I need, a son that's smarter than me." House wasn't kidding. House
had been smarter than his parents and he knew the rings he ran around his old man.
"House, you need to get him some one on one work with an early learning specialist.
He needs to be tested." Cameron was serious.
House said nothing but just shook his head in quiet resignation.
After he passed his checkup, he took Newt to the daycare. "Dr. House, I've been
meaning to call you." Ms. Cranston, the daycare supervisor, stopped him.
"Yes?"
"It's Stephen, we think he needs tutoring. We get smart kids in here all the time. I
mean we have children from a lot of the faculty at Princeton and the doctors at the
hospital, but Stephen is off the charts...all the charts. He needs more attention than we
can give him. I'd like him tested. Princeton has an excellent early childhood
development testing department. I think you should consider it."
"Well, you're the second person today who has suggested that. Where do I sign him
up?"
House was overwhelmed. He was dealing with a difficult case at work that wasn't
responding to the differential diagnosis. He was also trying to move into a new house.
Now his son needed special attention. On top of it, he no longer had Cuddy to fall back
on for babysitting. He needed to find a nighttime nanny that could take care of Newt on
the days when House had to go in early or work late. As if this wasn't enough, he was
still having the dreams and he was sleep deprived.
Lisa had backed off and given House space. She could sense that he felt uneasy
around her and guilty about what had happened. But after they moved into the house,
she missed Newt. Wilson had invited her to lunch and she was lamenting, "I miss that
baby. I don't know why, I was exhausted each night helping House take care of him.
Newt's so smart, he's curious and more than a handful. But he'd look up and grin and
you'd just have to laugh. I miss those little fingers trying to grab my earrings. Oh and
those peanut butter hugs and kisses. And his sheer delight when I came home from
work. I feel like something is missing now. I really fell in love with that baby."
"Well, he's only five miles away and I am sure House will be more than happy to have
some help. Right now he's scrambling to find an early learning tutor. Apparently Newt
is too smart for school."
Lisa went to see the new house a week after they moved out. It was a one story
modern design, three bedrooms, one office/media room, backing up to the lake. It was
gorgeous but bare. The furniture from House's apartment barely filled one room, let
alone a 4,500 square foot home. Newt's room wasn't decorated and it made Lisa a
little sad. She knew Danny would have decorated it in some "little boy motif." Most of
the windows had sheets on them because House hadn't had time to get window
coverings. Lisa wanted to step in, take over, help out. But she knew that right now that
would make House feel uncomfortable.
"It's gorgeous House. Needs an interior decorator, but it is gorgeous."
House was picking up toys and throwing them into a corner when he turned around and
asked,"Cuddy, do you know any nannys? I need someone desperately."
"Maria's older daughter is looking for a job. She goes to college during the day, but
she's available nights. I like her, she's sweet and she's smart."
House looked relieved and asked for her phone number. He took out a napkin from his
suit coat pocket and wrote it down, "Theresa, 808-488-2483. Nanny" He then turned the
napkin over and saw Shelly's phone number from the memorial. A smile crossed his
lips.
House managed to hire Theresa and she lived in the little studio that had been built
over the garage. She picked up and took care of Newt in the evening whenever House
was still working. She liked the job because it allowed her to go to school and get her
homework done. She found Dr. House a little hard to read and get used to. He was
somewhat brisk and rarely smiled around her. But he was fair and he was paying her
well. And she loved Newt, he was always making her laugh.
House was notified a few weeks later that Newt would be receiving $250,000 as a
settlement for being one of the released passengers. He was also going to receive
$2.0 million as the heir to one of the bomb victims. Jordan had a $250,000 life
insurance policy so Newt now had a trust fund of $2.5 million dollars. It made House's
head spin. Because it was so much money and needed to be actively managed, the
court had ruled that Newt could keep the money in an irrevocable trust, not the typical
blocked account. The only catch was that the trustee had to be someone other than
House. Usually, if the parent is the trustee, the account is blocked until the child
reaches 18. This means that if the parent wants to use the money to pay for anything,
they have to go into court and petition for permission to withdraw that amount from the
account. House named Lisa Cuddy as trustee and it was approved. Since the account
was not blocked, Lisa could write checks without the court's permission. However, she
would have to account to the court once a year for every check she wrote.
"I'm honored that you trust me with his money." She said the day he gave her the
checkbook to his trust.
"Well, it was either you or Wilson and let's face it, Wilson likes to give money
away...what else would account for three wives and three divorces?"
It had been three months and House was still having problems sleeping. He thought a
diversion might help so he took the napkin under the magnet off the refrigerator and
dialed Shelly.
"Hello?" a sultry voice answered the phone.
"Hello, this is Greg House. We met at Dr. Jordan Morgan's wake?"
"Of course, I remember you Dr. House. How are you?"
"I'm doing well. I was wondering if you would like to go to a movie and dinner tomorrow
night?"
"I'm not a movie buff, but I'd love to have dinner with you."
The arrangements were made and House asked Theresa to watch Newt Saturday
night. She was fine with it. House showered, cropped his beard, combed his hair, put
on levis and a clean t-shirt. It was a hot summer night. When he picked Shelly up he
felt under-dressed. She had chosen a summer low-cut cocktail sheath to wear. Her
shiny dark brown hair was pinned up and she wore just enough makeup to make her
face look gorgeous. Her lips were red and full. He felt like skipping dinner and taking
her straight home to ravish her.
Shelly knew this effect she had on men, especially older men. They were such easy
saps. She had hit the jackpot. Greg House was well known around Princeton and now
nationally. He was sexy, in an older-man way. And he had money, or at least he
probably had money. After all, he was a doctor.
She looked him over as he went to the bar to get her a drink. He wasn't buff, he
obviously didn't work out that much. And he did have that limp, so dancing was out,
which is a shame because dancing is one of her best weapons. A 25 year old rubbing
up against an older guy on the dance floor always got them hot. She noted that he
liked looking at her breasts, and why not? They were the best that money could buy
She knew that if she refused to go to bed with him tonight, he would be hers for the
taking. Men like House needed the chase. He probably thought they were going to go
straight home to his house and screw. Poor Dr. House, he looked like he needed to get
laid. He was skinnier than the first time she met him. He's losing weight, probably not
sleeping. Well, just wait Dr. House, once I come to get my hands on you, I'll screw your
brains out and you'll sleep like a baby. And if you don't, well I have something in my
medicine chest that will help you.
"So what do you do for a living?" He asked her.
"I do some local modeling, but I also go to college. I'm majoring in physical education.
I want to teach it in high school. I think it is so important for children to be fit, especially
these days." In reality, she let guys pay her way through life, that was her local
modeling gig.
"How noble." He said tongue in cheek. "So, just how old are you?"
"Oh I hate birthdays...let's not talk about them." She took a drink of her pina colada.
"Birthdays are good for you - the more you have the longer you live." He smiled.
"Twenty-five. I have a birthday next month."
"Let me guess, you'll be twenty-six?" He gave her a sly, sexy smile.
She giggled. He took a drink and tried to sum her up. He thought to himself, "I don't
think I'm going to be discussing quantum singularities or the strategies of Julius Caesar
with her. The only cosmic questions we'll be discussing will be ribbed or french tip?"
It was ok, he just wanted a mindless distraction anyway. They spent the evening
together and when House put his hand on her thigh she didn't move it. That was a
good sign. In the car he turned to her, "My house is just a few miles from here, would
you like to see it?"
"I really would, but I need to get home. I'm getting up early to go crew on Carnegie
Lake." It was a lie but it gave her an out for the evening.
House kept the disappointment inside and drove her home. He let her out and said
goodnight without giving her a kiss. This threw her off, she needed to seal the deal,
"Dr. House, I would really like to see you again. Maybe you could invite me to your
house again and I could cook for you?"
House, thinking with his little brain, thought, maybe this can be salvaged? "Sure, next
Friday?"
"Great, pick me up at 6:30 p.m.,ok?" She closed the door to her apartment and
laughed. He was easy pickings and horny...poor guy.
Throughout the week House kept thinking of her body and what it was going to be like
when they finally did the deed. It was a great distraction. At work House had just
pulled a miracle out of a hat and diagnosed a local politician with an Aspergillus Niger
lung infection caused by the air conditioner venting system in his house. The politician
was grateful, Cuddy was grateful and the team was happy.
Newt had finally been tested. House asked Cuddy, as Newt's trustee, to go to the
appointment with him to get the results of the testing. Dr. Altain, the head of
Princeton's child development testing unit, was a kind looking gentleman with a sweet
nature, perfect for working with children. He sat behind the desk and looked at Newt's
results.
"Dr. House, I don't envy you. You are going to have special challenges raising your
son. Stephen is incredibly gifted. In fact, we've only seen one other child come through
here with similar scores. It is hard to get an accurate score for a fifteen month old, but
we did our best. Your son's verbal skills are high, very high. But we see this level of
skill in other children, not often, but enough that it doesn't surprise us. It is your son's
math and spatial skills that are off the chart." He took a deep breath and handed
House a chart of the results.
The chart showed that Newt had the verbal capacity to understand language of a six
year old. His verbal skills for speaking were above normal too, his vocabulary was
mixed, he had the vocabulary of a four year old and the ability to put together
sentences of a three year old. He was already using two words together, like "Daddy
nana," for Daddy I want a banana" and he was accurate 94% of the time when he was
asked to point out a certain object in a picture.
Then they handed House a chart that said his spatial and math abilities could not be
measured. They were higher than a six year old, but without the verbal ability to answer
questions, they couldn't actually plot where he was on the chart. Which meant quite
literally, he was off the chart.
"We thought he might be a savant. But his social skills are excellent. He is personable,
relates to both adults and other children and he has no trouble making eye contact.
Your son is just one of those 1 in a million or billion that come along that are too bright
for our tests."
"We highly recommend that he be transferred to our child development unit. It is a
daycare for the very gifted. We use numerous activities to stimulate their abilities and
bring out their gifts. It costs the same as the campus daycare and operates during the
same hours. I know we are further across campus from your hospital, but I am sure
that your son will benefit greatly from being at the unit."
House just sat in the chair dazed and rubbing a finger back and forth across his chin.
Lisa was excited. "Are you telling us he is a genius?"
"Oh, definitely. He's going to wipe the floor with all of us. It's going to be rough as a
parent. He will be so bright that he will find it hard to relate to others who don't get it as
fast as he does. School may bore him, he may actually do poorly in school. Which is
why he needs to be kept in an environment where he doesn't get bored." House looked
like a deer in headlights. "Dr.House, you look surprised. Surely it doesn't surprise you
that genetically this child was destined to be extremely gifted. I looked at your previous
tests, the ones you provided to the clinic from when you were a child. They show that
you were functioning at a level high above your age. And I know about Dr. Morgan's
reputation in physics. What did you think you would get if you had a child?"
"Chewbacca?" he paused, "Well, when do we switch him over?" House asked.
"He can start Monday." Dr. Altain told him.
Lisa and House stepped into the hot humid summer. "I could kill Jordan. How am I
going to raise this child...it was going to be hard enough raising one I thought was just
bright. I need to talk to Stephen, maybe he has some thoughts on this."
"You're going to talk to Newt about this?" she asked.
"No, are you crazy? I mean Stephen Hawkings. He was born a genius. Maybe he can
give me some advice."
"It sounds like from what he just said, you were also born a genius or at least very
gifted, and look you were the product of two normal parents and a somewhat normal
environment."
"Yeah Lisa, precisely what I mean, look at me? Social misfit, addict, unable to tolerate
normal social contracts, bored and unhappy most of the time. I'm just the picture of a
well-adjusted adult. I don't want this for Newt. I want him to be happy."
"You know most people would be celebrating if they found out their child was a genius."
"Well most people don't know the hell it can be to be a genius or they'd be worried."
"Well, I know I am excited, I'm the trustee for the next Einstein. Wow."
House went and picked up his son from daycare. Newt met his dad with a big smile
and big hug. House always made a silly face, called him "loser" or "beer gut" and
kissed and blew on his belly until he laughed. They drove home. House was silent.
Newt kept a running conversation with his soft sided superman doll...oh, yeah, House
remembered, boys don't have dolls, they have "action figures." House had never paid
any attention to Newt's ramblings but now he could hear it. Newt was saying things
like, "fly me, gun bang, mercy, owww, hurt" apparently the action figure was taking or
giving a pounding to someone. This was a vocabulary of a preschooler, not a young
toddler. Since being with other kids in the daycare, Newt's vocabulary had grown by
leaps and bounds. House needed a drink.
***
It was Friday. Getting laid was now a mission for House. He wanted to get in bed with
Shelly and have mindless sex with, no emotional connection, no chance for love, just
screwing until it hurt. He thought of Shelly's breasts brimming over her dress. He was
pretty sure that she wasn't naturally well endowed and that she had a good plastic
surgeon. Still they'd be nice to play with. Then he thought of Jordan's naturally high
and symmetrical breasts and the nights he spent sleeping with his head on them. He
ached for her and her beautiful breasts and hips. House was turning into Shelly's
neighborhood as he thought of lovemaking with Jordan.
And then his thoughts turned to Lisa and he felt something stir. Something he hadn't
expected. He was getting hard thinking of Lisa and her tight figure. The sex with her
had been more than mindless. He had connected with her in a way that reminded him
of his connection with Danny. Now he felt guilty, why was he having carnal thoughts
about her? She was his friend, the sex had been great, but a mistake, just pity sex on
her part. House found Shelly's apartment building and got out. He needed to stop
thinking and just get laid.
Shelly had made it easy for House to have his way with her. She had on a loose fitting
halter blouse with no bra and a short skirt with no panty hose. Even the shoes were
easy to get off. She was going in for the kill tonight.
Shelly had brought over flour tortillas, cheese, vegetables and mushrooms and made
quesadillas. Not exactly a difficult meal to prepare, but filling enough. House thought
about Jordan's Chicken Khorma and beef stroganoff, he missed them both. Even Lisa
had whipped up a delicious chicken cordon bleu. Obviously, Shelly was not gifted in
the culinary arts, but maybe her art was yet to come.
They sat with their wine on the couch. "Where's your son?" She asked.
"He's in the studio over the garage with his Nanny this evening. She's going to put him
down in his room in a couple of hours. So we have some time alone."
"That's good." She moved closer to him, put down her wine, grabbed his glass and put
it on the coffee table. Then she ran her hand over his thigh and up to his zipper where
she placed her palm flat over his crotch so she could feel the excitement mounting in
him. He reached over, undid the tie behind her neck on the halter and watched her
breasts spill out. He started playing with them as he kissed her. She started rubbing
him. Within minutes they were in his room and he was inside of her. He was trying to
hold back, make it last, but she was doing everything in her power to make him
explode. She started bucking hard and fast while talking dirty and kissing him deeply.
He couldn't hold on. He lost it and within seconds he was spent.
"Oh, that was great." She said.
But to House it didn't ring true. He knew women and he knew how to pleasure them.
This had been all about him and making the sex go fast. Still, he had to admit, he
enjoyed it and he could see that she wasn't running away, so round two was just a half
an hour away. He was sure that the second round would go better.
Thirty minutes later they had sex again. Once again, it was all about House and his
pleasure. She asked him how he wanted it and he told her. She bent over to let him
take her from behind. It took a little longer this time, but not much. She did everything
she could to make it quick. When he was done, he offered to pleasure her, she feigned
surprise. "Greg, I've already climaxed."
House was a connoisseur of women's physical responses to sex. He enjoyed giving
them an orgasm and watching and feeling their body respond. He especially enjoyed it
if he was inside when it happened. He knew all of the physiological signs and she had
none of them. Why was she playing him? He was curious.
She jumped up and took a shower and then asked House to take her home. As she got
out of the car she said, "I'm still hot from the sex, do you want to come inside for
another go?"
House was still curious but he had promised Theresa he would be back by midnight
and it was almost midnight now. "Some other time. I'll call you."
"Great."
***
Wilson was on his way over to House's place with some fish and chips for dinner. He
had been in the office when House got the message that Jordan's things had arrived
from England and were waiting at the port in Philadelphia. House had arranged for
them to be delivered late this afternoon. Wilson knew this was going to be difficult for
House, so he told him he would come over around 6:00 p.m. with dinner and they could
unpack the stuff. House didn't argue. He knew he was going to need a hand.
"Fish and chips..." Wilson said, handing the bag over to House in the kitchen.
"Does it still have the shiny silver skin on it?" House asked with a grin.
"What are you talking about?"
"In England it sometimes comes with the skin on. It's wrapped in brown waxed paper
and you eat it fast. It sounds disgusting but it's actually pretty good."
"I think I'm losing my appetite." It was a lie, Wilson had been to Italy and had eaten in
several restaurants where the head of the fish had been removed after being served at
the table. Wilson was hungry, he could eat just about anything.
Wilson looked around. There were several boxes marked, "Newt's room", some
marked "kitchen" and others marked "salon" (the British word for living room.) House
had told Gemma and Stephen to sell or give away the big items, like Jordan's bed, her
television, Newt's crib and most of the other bedroom furniture. They had already sent
him the items from her jewelry box, including the diamond earrings House had just
given her. Looking around, Wilson couldn't tell where Jordan's things were. While
House took the fish out and put it on paper plates, Wilson continued to snoop. He
finally found her boxes in the third bedroom, hiding in the dark.
They ate dinner. Wilson started in again, "House, you're still losing weight. Christ you
have to be 25 pounds thinner than just three months ago. You're depressed, that's
understandable, why don't you get help?"
"Come on, depression is merely anger without enthusiasm. I'll start eating soon, as
soon as I can get all of this unpacking and decorating behind me. Besides, I'm finally
getting my other needs met, now I can concentrate on food."
"What, you're getting laid?"
"Man cannot live by bread alone." House paused, "Well, I guess unless he's locked in a
cage and that's all you feed him."
"Who's the lucky nubile teenager."
"She's not that nubile...she's 25...the brunette I pointed out at the wake."
"Do you think going out with a 25 year old is wise?"
"If I want your opinion, I'll ask you to fill out the necessary forms."
"Ok." Wilson shook his head, "Let's start unpacking, I think we need to start in the
guest bedroom."
"Not a good idea." House said quietly.
"That's why I came, to help you deal with it. Let's get it over with."
House wasn't sure he wanted to open the boxes. He had thought about donating them.
But then, Newt was entitled to something of his mother's and that would be something
in those boxes hidden in the guest room. He slowly got up, took a look at Wilson and
then walked down the hall to the guest room. Wilson followed him with a knife to open
the boxes.
There were six boxes of various sizes. He opened the first one and there were books
and papers, including various thesis, notes and calculations. Inside was a note from
Stephen. "I've made photocopies of these. I think there are some important issues to
be explored in these theories. If anything comes from them, I will make sure Jordan
gets credit."
Wilson started going through the papers, he had never seen the work of a genius. He
looked at the meticulous formulas and theorems, there were stacks and stacks of them.
He was impressed, these should be kept, just as you would keep Einstein's notes or
Hawking's computer printouts...this might be important historical data. He put them off
to the side. "You need to get a professional in to preserve those otherwise they'll fade
or deteriorate." House nodded in agreement.
They opened the second box and House pushed away from it, almost falling backwards
to the floor. Wilson wondered what it was. He looked into the box and it had
clothes...pants, shirts, levis, jackets, suits. He didn't understand why this had caused
House to bolt.
"What is it?"
"The smell. It's her smell. God, I can't do this." House was sweating and pale.
"Ok, I'll close this box up and Lisa and I will take care of it. If she sees something that
Newt should have, she'll save it, otherwise we'll give it away. Ok?"
"Yes."
Wilson packed the box back up and set it aside. They went through the other boxes.
The third box was filled with photos and scrapbook items. It was a history of Jordan
with photos from when she was a platinumed haired little girl with freckles to a photo of
her with Stephen Hawkings on the night they attended the OBE dinner. It was on that
night that Jordan and House had reconnected. There were albums filled with photos of
Newt, including photos of Newt with Stephen Hawkings, Newt with House and Newt
with his mother. There were also several photos of just House and Jordan. They
looked so content. In addition to the photo albums there were cd's of additional photos.
The scrapbooks had airplane ticket stubs, Stephen Hawkings thumb print on a napkin
that said, "Newt rocks." There were post cards, greeting cards, announcements and
invitations. There was also the hospital wrist band for Newt from when he was born.
Wilson took the photo and scrap albums and put them on one of the built in
bookshelves. He took the rest of the contents and put them in a drawer in the media
room.
They moved on to other boxes and found old baby dolls, a baby blanket, several photos
in frames, jewelry boxes, music sheets and other items. House packed most of it back
up and realized that all of the boxes except the clothing should be kept. He knew what
was in the boxes now and knew he could deal with them.
After Wilson left, House sat down with a single malt whiskey. He knocked it back and
then went back into the guest room. He opened the box with Danny's clothes. He
pulled out a cardigan sweater than had obviously not been washed and still had
Danny's smell. He buried his face in it and let the smell waft through him. He then held
it to his chest and stood still for a few minutes. He thought about sleeping next to her
and waking up to the smell of her. He then took the cardigan into Newt's crib and
placed it next to him. The next morning he found Newt crawled up in the sweater,
sleeping better than he had for weeks.
***
Lisa watched as House seemed to melt away. She tried buying him pastries and
goodies but they just sat on his desk until either Chase or Foreman ate them. She took
him out to lunch on the pretense of office work or questions about Newt's trust but he
would eat half his meal and then be done. The bags under his eyes continued to grow
and his team was complaining that he had trouble concentrating. So far no case had
been jeopardized, but still it did not bode well.
They had managed to get past the "night of passion." Lisa still thought about it on a
regular basis, but she knew it was just a one night event. She doubted that House ever
thought about it. Wilson had told her that he had hooked up with a twenty-five year old
and was having mindless sex whenever he wanted it.
Wilson was worried too, he had met Shelly and he was not impressed. She was
gorgeous, but there was something so superficial about her that he thought she would
crack if she was left out in the sun. House didn't seem to care, so why should he?
House was picking up Shelly for a sleep over. He was spending most of his weekends
with her. At first he would take her home after the evening was over. But then she
started spending the night. After awhile, she didn't go home during the weekends.
House kept her around because she was the equivalent to "white noise." She helped
mask the emptiness he was feeling.
Shelly realized that sometime during the night he would get up and go watch television.
He wasn't sleeping, even after marathon sex. She thought, if she could help him sleep,
he'd be even more grateful for her services and want to keep her around. She liked
being around, it was better than the pit she grew up in. She liked House, he took her
out to nice places. It was nice to be with a doctor, people seemed to treat him with a lot
of respect.
"We double dated and she just kept talking about nonsense. We humored her, I think
we talked about Brad and Angelina, Megadeath, the movie "Jackass" and you know,
fairly trivial things. I mentioned, "From Here to Eternity" and she asked if that was the
new Colin Ferrell movie. I was embarrassed for her, for House too. But he just
laughed. I don't think she understood why he was laughing. Lisa, I don't know why he
is with her."
"Give me a break, I can give you two reasons and I'm sure she paid a good price for
them." Lisa said.
"It's just that she is spending a lot of time over there. And...." Wilson went quiet.
"AND???" Lisa prodded.
"I saw her wearing the earrings that House had given Jordan. The diamond earrings. I
didn't have the heart to ask if he had given them to her. I didn't want him to hear the
answer." Wilson muttered.
"Oh crap. He better not have given those to her. Legally, they're Newt's. House gave
them to Danny and, since they weren't married, they should go to her only heir, Newt."
"Well, like I said, I don't know."
It was one in the morning. Newt was safe asleep in his crib, Shelly was asleep in
House's bed and House was watching a rerun of Saturday Night Live in the media
room. The dreams about Jordan were getting worse and even more real. It was getting
harder to get back to sleep after the dreams. He was drinking a lot of whiskey during
the middle of the night to get back to sleep but it just made him groggy in the mornings.
House thought about Shelly, she was innocuous. She didn't have an original or
intelligent thought that House had observed. But she could carry on a conversation
about current events and she looked good sitting across the table. Plus, he couldn't
deny that he enjoyed the sexual release she provided even though the sex was
mediocre at best. She never wanted satisfaction herself and always feigned an
orgasm, which amused him more than anything else. Still, it was a release.
***
SHELLY SPEWS
My stepfather never stuck around after sex. He'd sneak in, pound away and then
without so much as a, "thanks," he was gone. Most of my boyfriends fell asleep after
sex, so I don't understand why Greg wants to, well, he wants me to have an orgasm.
They say that orgasms are great, but I think having an orgasm means that you give
away some of your power. Men are slaves to orgasms, I don't want to be a slave. I
want to be a master. She who controls the sex, controls the middle aged male. And
middle aged men have the money, the houses, the careers. You get it. Greg House
has all of that and more. Young guys are used to hot young bodies. Middle aged men
lust after them. But sometimes I can't read Greg. I know he likes sex, but sometimes
he seems distant when we're in bed and then I have to do something to get his
attention. He likes to have his earlobes sucked (as well as other things,) now that gets
his attention.
I want to have nice things, I deserve them, I've done without all my life. I've had to sleep
with a lot of frogs to get here. I want the car, the fancy dresses, the fine wine, the
maid, I want it all and Greg House can give it to me. I once found a pair of diamond
earrings in his nightstand drawer while he was taking a shower. My God they were
gorgeous. I thought that they might be for me for our three month anniversary. So I laid
down nude on the bed with just the earrings on. When he got out of the shower he
went ballistic. "You silly cow. Are you a moron? Who said you could touch those..."
His face scrunched up and I was pretty sure he was going to strike me. He was really
angry. I started to cry my best tears. I told him that I had never had nice things and I
just wanted to wear them for a little while. He calmed down and after some fancy
footwork on my part, he agreed to let me wear them to dinner. We had dinner with his
friend, James. I don't like this guy because I can tell he doesn't like me. He talks too
much about Jordan... "DANNY"... and some woman named Lisa. Now I can handle
Danny, she's dead. But Lisa? What has she got to do with the price of bread? I'm
going to get those earrings. Greg's going to give them to me someday.
His kid is rich. Stinking rich and apparently this Lisa controls the money. There has to
be a way that Greg can get his hands on it. I mean, he is the Dad. I'm not happy that
he has a kid, even though the kid is cute. But still, I'm 26. Who wants to be saddled
with a kid at 26, even a rich kid? Greg dotes on him, plays with him, and spends more
time with him than with me. I don't think that's fair, do you? I am his guest, he should
be paying attention to me. I know that the kid comes with the Dad, so I figure I've got to
be nice to the kid, or at least tolerate him. Apparently, the kid has some relationship to
this smart guy in England. The guy must be pretty important because even Greg listens
to him and Greg doesn't tolerate many people. Greg says that the guy is famous and
that his son was named after him. But I don't recognize his name, Stephen Hawkings?
Must not be that famous if he hasn't been in People.
I'll let you in for a little secret, whenever Greg leaves me alone with the little rugrat, I just
ignore him. If he cries, I turn up my IPOD. If he gets into something, I just keep
watching television. He's not my responsibility. No one ever cared about me when I
was his age. And I grew up ok. Oh, when Greg pulls into the driveway or walks in, I
always pick the kid up and pretend we've been together the whole time, but then, I am a
good actress.
***
House was surprised when Shelly told him it was their six month anniversary coming up
that weekend. He thought it was pathetic that she counted the months that they were
together. It just said how young she was. She seemed to think she was entitled to
something. House felt guilty for using her as a distraction. He was still having the bad
dreams, but at least the sex was a release for the tension he felt all the time. He had a
dozen roses delivered to her apartment and he bought her a pair of earrings. A nice
pair of small rope hoops made out of 18KT gold.
"I love the roses and the earrings are really nice. Maybe on our one year anniversary
you'll let me have the ones in the drawer."
House just laughed to himself, "Cheeky devil."
They went out for a nice dinner and came back so that the babysitter could get home.
After House got Newt to bed, he had sex and then fell asleep.
Shelly woke up, it was 1:30 a.m. and House was missing again. She grabbed his t-shirt
off the floor and put it on. She joined him on the sofa and he put his arm around her
shoulders. "You know, I can help you sleep."
More sex?" he smiled.
"No, I have something in my purse, something I take when I can't sleep."
"I'm a doctor, I can get Ambian or Lunestra if I needed it." He smiled.
"But this is a drug that makes you feel real good while you slip into sleep...I get it from a
friend."
"What is the drug?"
"A very weak form of GHB."
"Oh...GHB...a date rape drug. You know, if you want I'll let you rape me without it."
" I said a weak GHB." She grabbed her purse and pulled out a vial of a lavender liquid.
"Give me your water and I'll pour a little in...just try it."
House hesitated, but then the thought of having to wake up in a few hours without sleep
and deal with Newt was overwhelming. He just wanted one good night's sleep. He
handed her his glass. "Just a little." He told her.
She only poured a little into the water. He drank the glass down. At first he felt nothing,
then he felt a euphoria, then an inebriation. After fifteen minutes he was starting to fall
asleep. He barely made it to his bed and he was out.
It was 9:30 a.m. and Theresa was standing over House's bed trying to wake him up.
She couldn't get him or the naked woman next to him to wake up. Theresa was late for
her Saturday class. She had come into the house to grab her biology textbook when
she heard Newt. Newt was screaming, hungry, wet and very unhappy. If Theresa had
not come in to grab her textbook, Newt would still be trying to get someone's attention.
Theresa gathered up Newt, his clothes, some food and left.
House eventually woke up at noon. He looked at the clock and bolted straight up.
"Sh!t, Newt." He hobbled as fast as he could into his son's room. No sign of Newt.
House was frantic. Where was he? House ran through each room trying to find him.
What had he done? Christ. He phoned Theresa but it went to her voice mail. He left
her a message. House threw on some levis and then grabbed his cane and made his
way out front. He went upstairs and knocked on Theresa's studio door but she wasn't
there. Her car was gone. House didn't think to check his own answering machine.
Theresa had left him a message.
House knew he had to call the police but then he would have to explain why he had
been asleep and how someone could take his son without him knowing it. Just as he
started to go back into the house, Lisa pulled up. In the back seat was Newt. House
grabbed the back passenger door and yanked it open. He grabbed his son out of the
car seat and turned to Lisa.
"What the f#3k are you doing with my son?" House was yelling at the top of his lungs.
"How dare you yell at me. You stupid jerk, you're lucky the police aren't here arresting
you for child endangerment. What, the hell were YOU thinking? And what were you
on?"
House's face collapsed... she was right. Lisa was right. What the hell had he done,
what was he doing, what was he thinking? They went into the house.
Lisa was calm. "Theresa shows up at my doorstep at 10 a.m. this morning and tells me
that she can't wake you or that girl you're sleeping with...Newt is hungry, wet, miserable
and crying his heart out. Thank God she just happened to forget her textbook in the
kitchen or Newt would probably still be crying for you. She had a class today so she
brought him over to my house. Greg, what were you doing? What were you thinking?"
House was sitting on his couch with his head in his hands. "I was tired, I barely get
through the days, I'm so tired. I can't sleep, the dreams are getting worse. I wake up
every night and it takes longer and longer to get back to sleep. Last night Shelly offered
me something and I took it. It had a bigger effect on me than I thought it would."
"She gave you drugs and you took it with Newt here in the house?"
"Yes..yes...I know, bad judgment. But I was desperate. I've been so sleep deprived
that I don't know what to do. Lisa, it won't happen again."
"Oh, Greg, that doesn't even cut it. You know that. This woman gives you street drugs,
she doesn't even consider that you have a young child in the house and YOU take them
without thinking about your child? You need help..." As she said this, Shelly walked in
wearing House's t-shirt. Lisa looked at her.
"Am I interrupting anything?" Shelly asked. "I'm Shelly." She said to Lisa.
"Well, Shelly, I'm Lisa and I'm just about ready to become your worst nightmare. Are
you crazy? Did the aliens forget to remove the anal probe? What was your plan? Find
a vulnerable man who's just lost the mother of his son and then get your claws into
him? I can't think of anything more immature than giving someone who is responsible
for a young child, drugs. Except of course taking them if you are responsible for a
child." She glared at House. She turned back to Shelly, "Honey, you don't fool me, I
deal with scam artists all the time and sister, you are an amateur..." Lisa was on a roll.
"Who the hell do you think you are treating me like this?" Shelly was interrupted.
"OK, I'll try to being nicer if you try to being smarter. Get your clothes on, tuck in those
phoney boobs and get your tight @ss out of here. You make me sick, you're a leach, a
carbuncle. You're a stupid cow. I bet your parents are siblings. I want you out of here
and don't come back. I'll have the police on your butt so fast if I see you within a mile of
this man." As she was saying this, Lisa was chasing Shelly down the hall. Shelly
grabbed her clothes and put them on. Lisa wouldn't leave her alone. She was going to
make sure this one was gone.
As Shelly went through the living room, she said, "Greg, are you going to let her treat
me this way?"
House was both embarrassed and amused by what was happening. He was about to
say something but Lisa opened the door for Shelly, " Come on, if I throw a stick, will you
leave? Good bye." Shelly was out the door.
"Lisa..." House said.
"WHAT?" she turned around to face him.
"I'm her ride." He said sheepishly.
"Oh." Lisa opened the door but Shelly was nowhere to be found. "I guess she found a
ride because she's gone."
They broke down laughing and then Lisa's shook her sadly. "House, I want you to give
me custody of Newt for the next few months and you go get some help."
"You're joking. I'll be ok, I'm making some progress."
"A hard on doesn't count as personal growth. If you don't agree to it, then I'm going to
go into court and get it myself. You have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's not going
to go away on its own. I've called a good friend who has a clinic in Santa Fe, New
Mexico. You're booked to go in on Monday. It's a month program with outpatient
treatment here in Plainsboro. I have you already booked on a plane. Your alternative
is that you will probably lose your son and possibly your job. I didn't want to do this, but
Newt needs you functioning like an adult; he needs YOU back; the hospital and your
team needs you back; and, I need you back."
I'm not into pop psychology."
She sat down on the couch next to him, "You know this isn't pop psychology, PTSD is
well documented and you have classic signs. They can get control of your dreams.
They use 'Imagery Rehearsal Therapy'. It does not involve the use of medications. The
treatment involves helping you change the ending of your nightmares while you are
awake, so that the ending is no longer upsetting. You rehearse the new, nonthreatening
images associated with the changed dream. Imagery Rehearsal Therapy helps with
problems associated with nightmares, such as insomnia. They'll teach you basic
strategies that may help them to improve the quality of your sleep."
"Right, I'm going to imagine that the plane didn't explode and Jordan's just been sitting
on her @ss on Maui?"
"No, but you could imagine that she was surrounded with other passengers, that your
son is safe, that the two of you survive. I don't know, I'm sure they'll provide the
appropriate happy ending. Anyway, I am not giving you an option. I love that baby too
much. I'm not going to let you screw around with his future. So let's get you packed."
House was too weary to resist. He followed her into his bedroom. She looked at the
messy bed and was a little embarrassed by what it implied. He got down a suitcase.
"You're going to need a larger one, you are going to be gone for a month."
House pulled out a second one that was slightly larger. Lisa unzipped it and looked at
him. "Lisa, I don't know what I to say about all of this."
"Don't say anything, someday we'll look back on this and change the subject. For now,
let's just get you to Santa Fe."
House was gone two hours when Shelly showed up at Lisa's office. She didn't like the
looks of this.
***
Shelly looked around the office and thought, so this is where that uptight bit@h works.
It sure looks like her, stuffy and varnished. She wondered what Cuddy did with Greg.
He wasn't answering his phone and he wasn't home the times she went by his house.
The nanny over the studio was talking to her. Well, if she thinks that she's going to just
walk away, she's kidding herself.
Lisa was just getting back from the child development day care after having lunch with
Newt. She was enjoying the time she had with him. Theresa was watching him until
she could get home, which was often after 7:00 p.m. Because she got home so late, it
meant that she would only get about an hour with him before Newt went to sleep. So
Lisa had decided to spend her lunch hour going over to the C.D. daycare to have lunch
with him. He was always happy to see her, "Cuddy, look car! See car? Car go fast."
He was excited, showing her the new Tonka car she gave him. She laughed and got
down on the floor, took off her Jimmy Choos and played cars and trucks with him while
they munched on sandwiches and vegetables.
Newt was now 22 months and just adorable. His brown hair was curly and wispy on top
of his head. He had the long face of House and of course there was no mistaking
where he got his eyes. He also had his dad's long, beautiful fingers. She did notice he
had his mother's generous smile. She shuddered when she thought of him growing up.
He was going to be gorgeous and he was going to be brilliant and he was going to be
personable. She just hoped he didn't have a 666 marked somewhere in his scalp or
they would all be in trouble.
"What do YOU want?" Lisa asked and then headed for her chair behind her desk to
establish territory.
"What I deserve."
"Well, I'm afraid I'm not wearing my boots today or I'd give you the boot up your @ss
that you deserve."
"Fine, then I'll just have to make my phone call. Of course this will mean that Greg
House will go down in flames and that little boy won't have a daddy while he's in prison,
but hey, you can take consolation in the fact that you were funny." She turned to leave.
Cuddy shook her head and said, "What...what is it you want."
"I want money and I want those earrings."
"What are you talking about?"
"I want $100,000 and I want those diamond earrings, the ones that House has in his
bedroom drawer."
"Why would anyone give you money and the earrings?" Lisa was looking perplexed.
"I have a friend on the police force. He says House is walking a thin line when it comes
to the law and that everyone on the force is gunning for him. I don't know what he did
to piss them off, but they all want a piece of him. I know for a fact that there is a vial of
GBH in Greg's house, a very large vial, a dealer's size vial. I just have to make one
phone call to my friend and his house gets searched as soon as they can get a search
warrant. He says that with me as a witness to Greg's massive drug and alcohol abuse,
he should get the warrant in an hour. Of course, I stopped seeing Greg because he
drugged me with GBH. I wouldn't do some disgusting perverted sex acts so he drugged
me. It will be my word against his. And it doesn't look good for a 49 year old man
having sex with a 26 year old girl less than three months after the mother of his son
died in a tragic terrorist attack. He's going to look a little cold and slimy." Shelly gave
her a little smirk.
Lisa's heart sank and she started to feel sick. "I see, you go away if House gives you
$100,000 and the earrings."
"No, I go away if YOU give me the $100,000 and the earrings. If we don't seal the deal
right now, I know you are going to go over to the house and turn it upside down to find
the GBH. Without that GBH my story doesn't hold water. So I don't have the luxury of
time. You have to give me the money now and we go together to get the earrings or I
make the call."
"Are you crazy? I don't have $100,000 just sitting around." Lisa was annoyed.
"No, but Greg's son does and you have the checkbook to his account."
Lisa realized she was in a no win situation. If she didn't pay her off, House would
probably go to jail or to prison, lose Newt and his career. On the other hand, if Lisa
wrote the check, she was going to have to account to the court for $100,000 being paid
to this woman for nothing...it would probably mean that Lisa would be charged with
breach of fiduciary duty and embezzlement. She would probably get probation, but she
would lose her job and her career."
"Well, how much does Greg House mean to you?" Shelly was enjoying this.
Lisa was visibly sweating. She was trying to figure a way out of all of this, but she
couldn't see one. The lives of the two people she loved the most were in her hands.
For a brief moment she considered what she had just said to herself. The two people
she LOVED the most. Well, she had finally admitted it to herself.
"I don't have the checkbook here. We have to go to my house to get it."
Oh no, we go to the bank and you get me a cashier's check right now."
Lisa thought about it.
They arrived at the bank and Lisa arranged the cashier's check to be made out to
Shelly Dawson for $100,000 our of Newt's account. On the way over, Lisa discovered
that Shelly only knew about the $250,000 Newt had received a for being a surviving
passenger. Luckily for Lisa, Shelly was ignorant. She thought $250,000 made Newt
stinking rich.
Once the check was in her purse, she told Lisa to drive to Greg's house for the earrings
and she would follow in her car. They arrived and she told Lisa to unlock the door and
wait in her car. She came out of the house with a black box, laughed as she waved it at
Lisa, jumped into her car and she was gone.
Lisa was so angry she was shaking violently. She got out of the car and went into the
house. Sitting on the coffee table was a vial of lavender liquid which Lisa suspected
was the GBH. She took it into the kitchen, washed it down the sink, swirled chlorine in
the vial, poured it in the sink and then threw the vial in the outside trash can. She went
through the rest of the house to make sure there wasn't more. She sat down on the
couch and started to cry.
***
House was lounging outside the clinic on a hammock reading a Dick Francis novel and
thinking about Cuddy. It had been two weeks and she hadn't called. He called Cuddy's
house and Theresa had answered. He spoke with Newt who made some noise about,
"Batman fly fast. Car go fast. Daddy home."
"Daddy will be home in a few more days. Cuddy will take care of you. I love you beer
gut. Be good, go play with Batman." House was smiling, but then he repeated it again
just because it felt good, " Newt, I love you. Be good. Bye Bye."
Newt said bye, bye back and then Theresa took the phone. She told House that Newt
was well, that Cuddy was spending a lot of time with him and that Newt asked for him
every day. They said goodbye and House went back to his book.
House's doctor, Dr. Drew Jackson, knew that House was going to be difficult to treat.
Not just because House had a reputation for being troublesome, but because House
was bright and skeptical about PTSD and the treatment. Dr. Jackson knew he had to
provide House empirical data or he wouldn't put anything in to the therapy.
"Greg, I called you in to talk to you about our diagnosis and to explain the illness.
People with PTSD tend to have abnormal levels of key hormones involved in response
to stress. When people are in danger, they produce high levels of natural opiates, which
can temporarily mask pain. Scientists have found that people with PTSD continue to
produce those higher levels even after the danger has passed; this may lead to the
blunted emotions associated with the condition.
Some studies have shown that cortisol levels are lower than normal and epinephrine
and norepinephrine are higher than normal. As you know, Norepinephrine is a
neurotransmitter released during stress, and one of its functions is to activate the
hippocampus, the brain structure involved with organizing and storing information for
long-term memory.
This action of norepinephrine is thought to be one reason why people generally can
remember emotionally arousing events better than other situations. Under the extreme
stress of trauma, norepinephrine may act longer or more intensely on the hippocampus,
leading to the formation of abnormally strong memories that are then experienced as
flashbacks or intrusions. Since cortisol normally limits norepinephrine activation, low
cortisol levels may represent a significant risk factor for developing PTSD.
So you see, your body has experienced an incredible biochemical change that has
triggered your flashbacks and nightmares. We need to deal with these changes and
the best way is a combination of medication, psychotherapy, imagery and a new
treatment, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing or EMDR. Now, I know
you think this is hocus pocus and you want a pill to fix you or some other quick fix, but it
doesn't work that way. "
"What is EMDR?" House was curious which was a good sign.
"Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a specialized form of
psychotherapy that is used almost exclusively for treating PTSD. Stimulated rapid eye
movement may help in the psychological processing of trauma. It is thought that the
day's events and our reactions to them are processed during REM sleep . In a
controlled EMDR session, moving light is used to induce rapid eye movement.
House asked him, "How does it work?"
"The first phase is a history taking session where we identify possible targets for EMDR
processing. These include distressing events that elicit emotional disturbances, related
historical incidents, and the development of skills and behaviors that will be needed by
you in future situations.
During the second phase of treatment, I'll make sure that you have adequate methods
of handling emotional distress and good coping skills.
In phase three through six, an event is identified and processed using EMDR
procedures. You'll identify the most vivid visual image related to the memory such as
the plane explosion, a negative belief about self such as, "I can't protect my loved
ones", related emotions and body sensations, such as worthlessness, sadness,
stomach cramps, insomnia. You'll then identify a preferred positive belief. The validity of
the positive belief is rated, as is the intensity of the negative emotions.
After this, you'll be instructed to focus on the image, negative thought, and body
sensations while simultaneously moving your eyes back and forth following the my
fingers as they move across your field of vision for 20-30 seconds or more, depending
upon your needs.
Athough eye movements are the most commonly used external stimulus, I may use
auditory tones, tapping, or other types of tactile stimulation.You will be instructed to just
notice whatever happens. After this, I'll instruct you to let your mind go blank and to
notice whatever thought, feeling, image, memory, or sensation comes to mind. This is
repeated numerous times throughout the session. When you report no distress related
to the memory, I'll ask you to think of the preferred positive belief that was identified at
the beginning of the session and to focus on the incident, while simultaneously
engaging in the eye movements. After several sets, you should report increased
confidence in this positive belief.
In phase seven, you'll be asked to keep a journal during the week to document any
related material that may arise and reminds you of the self-calming activities that were
mastered in phase two. The next session begins with phase eight, re-evaluation of the
previous work, and of progress since the previous session."
"And then the Thetans will leave my body...:" House waved his hand as if it were a
space ship.
"Greg, give it a chance, this can work. But don't go into thinking it's voodoo or it won't
work. You know, Lisa Cuddy got you into this clinic, we have a waiting list that includes
people with serious money and serious problems, if you don't want to be here, tell me
now." He looked at him sternly as if he was expecting an answer.
House looked down, feeling guilty that he wasn't giving this a chance after all that
Cuddy had done for him. "I'm in."
When asked for his history and negative stressors, House identified his leg, the time he
was shot and the plane explosion as the negative incidents he needed to deal with. He
realized after several sessions that he was relieved just to have identified that these
three incidents had shaped his life for so long. He also realized that he felt powerless
in each situation, unable to protect himself or his loved ones from what was happening.
He was angry. Angry about the failure to identify the clot, failure to protect him from the
shooter and angry at the terrorists who murdered Jordan. He was also, and he even
felt silly about this, was feeling abandoned by Stacy and Jordan as a result of what had
happened.
He wasn't sure why the rapid eye movement worked but after several weeks, he was
noticing that he could occasionally sleep through the night without waking. He was not
only sleeping through the night but he was sleeping in and having trouble waking up.
That was good because he was catching up on a lot of sleep.
House was gaining a little weight back. At night he and some of the other patients,
including a New York Police Sargeant who had lived through 9/11, went into town and
ate some great Mexican food. They would play pool and have a few beers before
driving back to the clinic which was five miles out of town. House enjoyed the
policeman, Tom, because he was sarcastic and cynical, a lot like House. The bantering
between the two of them entertained both the patients and the staff. When the two had
group therapy, the therapist typically had to end the session early because it was
useless to continue with all the laughing that was taking place.
House was finally relaxing and almost dreading going back to Princeton. But he missed
Newt and he would be glad to see Cuddy, Wilson and his team. When the month was
over, Dr. Jackson gave him the name and address of the therapist that would continue
his treatment in Plainsboro. Tom slapped House on the back as he was getting into
the cab and House nodded back. House knew he'd probably never see Tom again, but
still he had enjoyed his company.
"He comes home tomorrow. I don't know how to tell him and I still don't know what to
do." Lisa was sitting on her couch in her office. Wilson was in the chair.
"Well, we have to tell him the truth. He's responsible for all of this, he should know
what he has done to you."
"He didn't do it, Shelly did...and I did. House wouldn't have let me do it if he had been
here. But I couldn't let him go to jail, could I?" Lisa was almost in tears again.
"Cuddy, I think it's admirable what you did, knowing how it could come back to bite you,
but you have to stop beating yourself up. House is smart, maybe he can figure a way
out of this. Any news about where she went?" Wilson was curious.
"The P.I. said that she took off for Philadelphia. He has an address, but what do I do
with it? I'd like to send in the goon squad and take her out, but I can't,"
"How's Newt?" Wilson asked to change the subject.
"Smart. Quick. Hard to catch up with when he takes off and he's been doing that a lot
lately. I think he gets a perverse pleasure out of watching me try to run in high heels.
I've started wearing flats just so I can catch up. But he is adorable. His grandparents
called last night, I think they are going to come out in March for his birthday."
House got off the plane and Cuddy was happy to see that he had put on a little weight.
He walked over to her and bent down to pick up Newt who was holding his arms up to
his Dad. "Hey Beer Gut, what's up? Did you miss your Dad?" House was blowing on
Newt's tummy.
"Daddy come here. Batman fly house. Cuddy car fast." He was blabbering fast and
furious as both Cuddy and House tried to figure out what this 23 month old was saying.
House shook his head as if to say, "I haven't got a clue" and then he turned to Cuddy,
"It's cold here. It was nice and mild in Santa Fe, at least during the day. The nights
were brisk. How are you doing? You don't look so hot. Has Newt been a problem?"
Cuddy wanted to hug him hello but decided against it. House looked a lot better, he
was alert, the bags were gone and he looked healthy. "I've had a lot on my mind.
Newt's a handful right now but he's not the problem. He's been his sweet self. He's
putting a lot of words together now and he is drawing shapes like a five year old. They
say he has mastered his numbers up to 100...he understands the concept at least. And
what Altain is most excited about is that he can subtract. How they know this, I don't
know. I haven't had time to sit down with him and discuss it. Maybe you could." Cuddy
and House were walking to get the luggage.
When they got to House's home they unloaded the luggage and went inside out of the
cold. House was grateful to find that the house had been cleaned. When he went to
put Newt down for his nap he was surprised to find that Newt's room was decorated. It
had a science fiction motif. One wall had a view of traveling through stars with
Einstein's formula for relativity painted across it several times. It also had black holes
with several of Hawkings and Jordan's formulas. It was quite clever. The rest of the
room had funny looking aliens and starships. Newt had been escaping from his crib for
several months so House had switched him into a toddler's bed. His comforter was a
Star Trek scene and the original Star Trek crew was painted on the wall, standing over
Newt's bed with phasers drawn, ready to protect him. House smiled, it was all very
cool.
Cuddy was behind him. "This is great, I was meaning to do something with his room. I
just didn't have the energy." House turned to her and smiled briefly.
"Well, I'm sending you the bill."
"Fine."
House took his suitcase into the bedroom and unzipped it. He grabbed a box and took it
into the kitchen where Cuddy was making coffee. "This is for you."
Cuddy was embarrassed. She hadn't expected anything. She opened the plastic bag
and reached in to find a jewelry box. When she opened it there was a beautiful
turquoise necklace and earrings set staring back at her. It wasn't excessively large or
chunky like a lot of turquoise jewelry, but exquisitely crafted with several very select
stones. She knew that this was not a cheap set and it made her feel appreciated.
"Oh, House, it's lovely. You really shouldn't have. This is really gorgeous." Impulsively
she reached up and pecked him on the cheek. He looked at her and then grabbed his
coffee and headed for the living room.
They sat back down on the couch and Cuddy asked about the therapy. House
begrudgingly admitted that it was the rapid eye movement therapy that had given him
the most relief. He told her who his follow up doctor would be and that he had an
appointment already set up. Then he looked her in the eye and said, "What happened?
I can tell that you are very upset."
"The day you left, Shelly came into my office and blackmailed me."
House's eyes grew big and intense. "What do you mean?"
Cuddy explained the entire story to House, including the fact that she was probably
going to get arrested for the money she withdrew from Newt's trust fund. "I'm so sorry
about the earrings. I feet sick about them. How much did you pay for them?"
"$18.00"
"What?" Lisa thought House must have meant $18,000.
"$18.00." House repeated. "After that night when she took them out of my drawer
without my permission and insisted on wearing them, I went and bought some phoney
ones and replaced them. I figured that if she ever insisted on wearing them again, I
could let her and not feel like I was dishonoring Jordan. The real ones are in my safety
deposit box at the bank."
Lisa started laughing and crying with relief all at the same time. House put down his
coffee and hugged her. "Now, we have to figure out how to replace the $100,000 and
get you off the hook. The money isn't a problem, I have that in stocks and mutual
funds. It's just getting around the check that was written. The court's going to want an
explanation next month when Newt turns two and you have to account for the money."
Cuddy enjoyed having House's arms around her. He was one of the most screwed up
guys on the planet, but she felt safe in his arms. She felt calm.
"I'm sorry that she put you through this. And I can't begin to thank you for what you did
for me, and for Newt. You put your entire reputation on the line. Don't worry, if I have
to go to jail for this, I will. I'm not going to let you take the fall."
"Thanks, but I don't see how I'm going to get out of it. I'm curious, how much did you
pay for the real earrings?"
"Well the brilliancy is 160, sparkle 60, intensity 300. Their weight is 1.2 carat each.
They are flawless and colorless. They were the best I could find at the time. I got them
wholesale for $29,500."
Lisa swallowed hard. She had thought they were worth half that. She was ecstatic now
that she knew the earrings were safe.
Within 48 hours House had deposited $105,000 into Newt's trust fund. He added the
$5,000 to make up for any interest lost during the month. Now it was time to address
the Shelly problem.
***
Bill Arnnelo was a very busy man, but he owed him a lot. This had to be done with care
so that it didn't come back to bite either of them.
Fredo Palumbo knocked on the door. The apartment was in a nice neighborhood, not
like his apartment in South Philly, the Italian district. She opened the door. Man, was
she a knockout. He wanted to do things to her that would make her squeal. He shook
the thought and focused on his task. She had been one of his best customers in
Trenton, but now Arnnelo had called in a favor.
"Well, where is it?" She asked.
"What are you gonna do with $100,000 of pure crack?" he asked her.
"Turn it into $200,000, what did you think? Do you have it?" She asked again.
"Yeah, yeah, not so fast. I need to see the money."
She took out a sack and threw it at him. He looked in, picked up a wad at random and
looked through it. It was all there. He waved to his friend in the car who got out with a
small black bag about the size of a doctor's satchel. He handed it to Shelly. She looked
inside and nodded in the affirmative to Fredo.
"Great, I'll call you in a few weeks to buy more. Bye." Shelly closed the door in Fredo's
face. Fredo just smiled and took out his cell phone. He dialed the number.
Detective Bellinghere was waiting for the call. He answered his phone and heard a
voice say, "It's on." He went into action. His partner, Detective Danson drove him to
the apartment with the warrant. They jumped out of the car and Bellinghere told
Danson to go cover the back door just in case she tried to run. Danson did as he was
told. Bellinghere had ten years seniority on him.
Bellinghere knocked on the door. Shelly answered it. He flashed his badge, "Police, I
have a warrant to search your apartment." Shelly went white and tried to slam the door
shut but Bellinghere already had his foot in to prevent it from closing. He immediately
grabbed and handcuffed her and threw her down on the couch. He saw the crack on
the table and quickly took out a baggy and placed just over 1/4 of it in the baggy and
then put the remainder of the crack in the original bag. He grabbed the black bag and
immediately ran out the front door. He looked around and saw Fredo. He threw the
bag down the stairs to him and then went back inside. He went to the back window and
yelled out to Dawson, "It's clear, it's just her. You can come on in."
When Dawson got in, he saw the crack on the table. He didn't realize it was only a
fraction of what it was a few minutes ago, but still the crack that was left, the scales and
the other items were enough to collar Shelly for dealing. She'd probably get 7-15 years
and serve 5 if she behaved. Shelly didn't catch on to what Bellinghere had done. She
thought he had taken the balance of the crack out to another waiting cop for evidence
collection. Not the brightest tool in the tool shed.
Within a week, House received a money order for $9,000. Over the next 9 days he
received a money order each day for the same amount. Since the IRS had to be
notified of any transactions over $10,000, the money orders fell below the radar.
House thought, "I hope he was able to take care of Lisa."
The accounting forms were easy, there was only the one withdrawal and that was for
the $100,000. Lisa had put it down and when the form asked for an explanation of the
transaction, she simply put, "services rendered." Of course the probate examiner
flagged the paperwork for the judge, but what the examiner didn't know was that the
judge had a thing for the ponies. He was in pretty deep with the Arnello family. The
examiner found it strange that Judge Plotkin had asked for this case, but then judges
are funny animals. Plotkin sat on the bench the day Lisa and House went to court for
the hearing on the accounting.
"Everything looks in order. You need to appear next year on March 16th and give
another accounting." And the gavel came down.
Lisa's mouth dropped and she turned to House who signaled for her to get her shocked
butt out of there. "I don't understand." she said.
"Let's just say I traded in a corvette for your sweet @ss." He smiled.
Lisa didn't get it. But she did get the hell out of court "while the gettin' was good."
***
Now and again he would have a bad night. But most nights he was sleeping through.
He liked his therapist in Plainsboro, she was in her fifties and she was no-nonsense.
He liked her lack of pretense. She did her job and shooed him out.
At work Cameron, Chase and Foreman were happy to see that House was doing better.
Foreman had just accepted a position with UCLA in the neurology department. He was
anxious to get back to California. He hated the cold winters and was looking forward to
sunny days year round.
Chase had also accepted a position at Addenbrooks hospital in Cambridge, England.
He was going to head their emergency department, something he looked forward to
doing. His position didn't start for another four months.
Cameron was staying on at Princeton-Plainsboro in the diagnostic department as staff.
She was culling through applications to fill the three Fellowships that were becoming
vacant. House couldn't be bothered with it. He told her to pare it down to a dozen and
then he would look at them.
Lisa offered to help House decorate and furnish the home. He took her up on the offer.
"You need a new bed, yours is pretty lumpy."
"Yeah, it's seen a lot of action." He said as he sucked on his Icee. They were at White
Lotus Home, a furniture store on Nassau st. in Princeton. House started to try out
beds. He plopped himself on one after another. "Ah, this is a good one, try it out."
House was prostrate on the left side of them bed. Lisa laid down on the right. "Ok, it's
firm, that's for sure. Do you like your bed this firm?"
"Or firmer." He spread his legs out and his arms. His hand came in contact with
Cuddy's. He quickly turned his head to look at her. He smiled and pulled his hand
back. Cuddy shivered but House didn't notice. He bought the bed and Cuddy insisted
that he buy proper sheets. "$300 for a set of sheets? They better do something special
for me at that price, like give me a blow job."
"House, you don't get 650 threads per inch without paying good money. You'll enjoy
the sheets. Ok, you need two sets." She said as she pulled a set of beige and a set of
blue Egyptian cotton sheets out of the shelf.
"Ouch." He said back.
They purchased window coverings that would take a month to make and install. Cuddy
also talked House into purchasing a new bedroom set for himself. "You can move the
one that you have into the guest room."
After two days of shopping, House was shopped out. He gave Cuddy carte blanche to
go out and buy whatever she thought he needed and he would reimburse her. Lisa was
a happy camper. She loved to decorate. She also wanted to get Newt some new
clothes. House kept sending him to daycare in the same three outfits over and over.
They were stained and frayed.
Lisa had just gotten done with a day of shopping when she walked into Greg's house.
There on the floor was House rolled up in a ball with Newt pummeling him. It was a
male thing. House was yelling in an exaggerated voice, "Owww, owww, owww,
noooo...have mercy." Newt was giggling and pummeling.
House looked up at her from the floor. Looking down at the now prostrate Gregory
House, Lisa felt a flash of sexual desire go through her. It must have showed because
House cocked his head to the side and gave her one of his famous sideways glances
and a sly smile without saying anything.
"We need to plan Newt's birthday party. Is Blythe coming for his birthday?"
"I bought her ticket yesterday."
"What about your Dad?" she asked.
"He's got a military reunion to go to in Hawaii. He wanted to come but he is the
treasurer of their group and he needs to go. Don't we just have some cake and ice
cream and everyone stand around and sing Happy Birthday?'"
"No. We have to get out invitations to his daycare friends and then decide what the
theme of the party will be."
"You are joking, right?"
"House, these days a kid gets a birthday party every year until they have kids of their
own." Lisa paused and looked at him. He was still laying on the floor looking up at her,
"I think an Indiana Jones theme will be fun. We can hire one of those guys who brings
zoo animals for the kids to look at and pet. And we'll have to have drink and food for
the adults."
"This is crazy, for a two year old?"
She laughed. "I don't expect you to understand. Now, do you own a video camera?"
Blythe arrived two days before Newt's birthday and was in heaven. "He's gotten so big
and he talks so much!!! I love his hair, it's just like yours when you were his age. And
those cheeks, they just beg to be kissed." The whole time she was talking she was
prodding and kissing Newt.
The invitations were out. Several of the daycare kids were coming. Some of the
parents accepted the invitation because they just wanted to say that their kid went to
the birthday party of Stephen Hawking's godson. Stephen himself sent Newt a child's
microscope and bug catching equipment. He also sent him the European version of
tinker toys.
It was Friday night. Blythe and House were finishing stacking the dishes in the
dishwasher when Lisa walked in. House had given Cuddy a key before he left for
Santa Fe and had never asked for it back. He was used to her walking in and out of the
house without knocking. Of course, there was the one time when she walked in while
he was standing naked in the laundry room putting the washed clothes, including the
desperately needed boxer shorts, into the dryer. When he walked out through the living
room, there she was standing with the newspaper in her hand. Her eyes went
immediately to his package and then up to his eyes.
"Well?" He asked as if she might have a comment to make.
"I see you're still not circumcised." She said nonchalantly.
"Sorry, too busy to get around to it." he said with an air of, "what the hell is this all
about?"
"Why aren't you and Newt circumcised?" She asked as if she were in a science class.
House didn't move or try to cover up, "I was born off base in Italy. My mom didn't make
it to the Navy hospital in time. Newt was born in England. Most European males aren't
circumcised automatically. That's why, in the old days, you could tell the Jews from the
Gentiles, Jews were circumcised. But now that America chops the foreskin off on a
regular basis...they all look alike. I bet it's probably a Jewish conspiracy. Why do you
ask? You're Jewish, does that mean that having sex with me isn't kosher?"
"Ha,ha, funny. I was just curious. You don't see too many un-circumcised men over
here." She turned and walked into the kitchen and got a glass of water to cool herself
down. House looked hot and she hadn't had any sex for several months. Lisa did find
it odd. She was Jewish and, before sleeping with House, she had never been with a
man who hadn't been circumcised.
"Hello Blythe, House. Where's the little tyrant?" Lisa asked as she walked into the
kitchen.
"Down for a late nap. I couldn't get him to sleep this afternoon for the life of me. He
has too much energy for one toddler." Blythe sounded tired.
"Tell me about it." Lisa said, looking down at her high heels.
"House I came to ask if you wanted to go to this party tomorrow. It's a Pancreatic
Cancer benefit and they are going to have Bob James play. I know you like jazz."
"I like jazz, I hate charity."
"Come on Greg, Lisa is offering you a night out. I can watch Newt and you can go and
be an adult for a few hours." Blythe liked Lisa and she was determined that he take her
up on her offer.
"My God, a conspiracy of the she-monsters. What time, where and what's the dress
code? "
"7:00 p.m., Springdale Golf Club, Cocktail. Pick me up at 6:45 p.m." Lisa smiled,
turned around and went to check on Newt and then left.
"Greg, she is a real winner. And you two have something going on between you. I can
tell."
"Mom, we've just known each other a long time. We're comfortable around each other."
"Yeah, and I'm Castro's beard." She laughed and went to the media room to watch 24.
House asked himself, "I never know what she means by that. But she is like a human
polygraph. She reads people exceptionally well, which is where I must get it. Maybe
she's right. Nah." and House joined his Mom.
Blythe was smiling to herself, when House came in and sat down to watch television
with her. She reached over and grabbed his hand. They sat through the entire show
that way.
House was late, but then so was Cuddy. She was having a hard time picking out the
right cocktail dress. She finally ended up choosing a beige lace dress with a deep v
plunging down to her waist. The dress was edged in a wide ribbon band of beige satin.
With her black hair, she looked great. She heard his car and so she grabbed her velvet
coat, her gloves and her purse. House opened the door. He was dressed in a Hugo
Boss 'Einstein Sigma' Black Dinner Suit wtih a white cotton shirt and dark tie. She
could tell that his mother had pulled his look together because he looked incredibly
handsome. He handed her a bouquet of flowers. She was pleasantly surprised and
rushed to put them in water. She wanted to ask if his mother had suggested them. But
she knew that House would never have brought them if he hadn't wanted to do so.
They made it to the golf club and started to mingle before sitting down to enjoy the jazz.
House knew several of the doctors, including Wilson who was at the event with one of
the women from accounting. She was good looking and she appeared to either be
Wilson's age or maybe even a few years older.
"I didn't know you were coming to this party?"
"Yes, I occasionally support the various charities." House retorted.
"Yeah, when I buy the ticket and Bob James is scheduled to play." Lisa and House sat
next to Wilson and his date.
The concert was great, the food was good and it was an open bar. House was having a
great time and so was Cuddy. The two couples were telling stories about their wild
college days and laughing very hard. House was drinking one whiskey after another.
Cuddy made him hand over his keys, which he did willingly.
When it was time to leave, Cuddy drove them to her house. House was tipsy but not
falling down drunk. He followed her into the kitchen and she grabbed some coffee from
the upper cabinet.
"I'm going to make us some coffee and we're going to sit down until either you are
sober enough to drive, I drive you home or you stay here in the guest room." She was
pouring the water into the coffee maker. "Well, how are you doing these days, sleeping
well enough..." and then she turned around. "House, what are you doing?"
Greg House had already removed his tie, his shirt, his shoes and was starting on his
belt. "I was just getting ready for bed."
"Well, ok, if you want to go to bed I understand. It has been a long day and we could
both use a good night's sleep." She turned the coffee maker off and they walked out
towards the hall. "Ok, you know where the guest room is, I'm off to my bedroom, good
night."
House wandered down the hall to the guest room, sat down on the bed and looked
around. Where was Lisa?
Lisa went to her room and got into her nightclothes. She crawled into bed and turned
out the light...and then she felt the bed sink next to her. She turned on the light. House
was laying next to her and staring up at the ceiling. "House, what are you doing?"
"I wanted to go to bed, not to sleep." He turned over and faced her with a very cute,
sexy, alcohol induced smile. "Come on, you don't want to go to sleep either. Every
time I am around you I think about that night we spent together in here. It's been a long
time since that night and it's been a rough year. But you've helped me keep my family
together, my little family...Newt and I. You've helped us in so many ways. This time, if
you let me, I'd like to wake up next to you and not run away or push you away. It's time
I move on and I think Jordan would be happy that I do it with someone who loves Newt
so much."
"Greg, how do I know this isn't the whiskey talking?"
"Call my Mom, she says I have a thing for you."
Lisa chuckled. " Well you're mother is a perceptive person, but I'm a little gun shy about
all of this. I don't know how we're going to work around the employer-employee thing. I
do love your son, he's precious. And I've had feelings for you since college, but just
because I have feelings it doesn't mean I should act on them."
"Ah, come on Cuddy, can't we just screw and then talk about this in the morning. I
promise I won't run or say it was all a big mistake." He was putting his hand up her
pajama top. House found her right breast and started to fondle it. He grabbed her and
pulled her closer and kissed her deeply. She realized he was naked and she chuckled
when she felt his excitement.
"Well, I guess it can wait until the morning."
Even though House had been tipsy, he had been great in bed. He made sure that she
felt just as much pleasure from the sex as he did. He was assertive, knowing just what
he wanted and how, but he was also gentle and generous at the same time. She had a
wonderful night.
The next morning Cuddy woke up and went to get out of bed to make some coffee, but
a hand reached across and grabbed her waist and pulled her back into bed. He
climbed on top of her and they made love again. "Ok, now you can go make that
coffee." House said.
While Cuddy was in the kitchen making coffee and getting some bagels out, House was
in the bedroom calling his mother to check on Newt. "Mom, I'll be home in about an
hour, are you ok with Newt?"
"Don't worry, Newt and I are fine and we're just getting ready for the party. You take
your time." She said with a knowing grin.
Cuddy came back into the room, "Your Mom?"
"Yeah. She and Newt are ok. She doesn't seem to need me for awhile. So, I suspect
this is where you say, We've got to talk'?"
"Well, I need for you to tell me what we're doing here. Is this just sex or is this the start
of something?"
"Hell, I just needed a physical release." He said as sincerely as he could muster. Then
he cracked a smile. "You moron, of course I want more. You're funny, mean, gorgeous
and you have a soft spot in your heart for baby geniuses. What else could a guy ask
for?"
"Have a bagel. I still haven't decided how I feel about sleeping with a guy who isn't
circumcised. And that's another thing. How do I explain going out with a goy to my
very Jewish parents?"
"Well, I like bagels and I am a doctor, does that help?"
"House if we do this then you have to behave at work as best as you can behave. The
board and the other doctors are going to be watching to see if I treat you more favorably
than them so I'm actually going to have to be harder on you than before. Do you
understand?"
"Not really, but I'll work at trying to get my head around it. In the meantime, I have to
get cleaned up and go, I have a children's party to give."
"Yes, I know, I'll be over in an hour to help get ready."
The party was a hit. The adults were chuffed to see the birthday card and presents
from Stephen Hawkings and they really enjoyed the beer and margaritas. Newt was
oblivious to all the fuss. He was too busy playing with his new tinker toys that Stephen
had sent over. By the end of the party, Newt was swimming in presents, cake and ice
cream. He was very tired by the end of the day and went to sleep earlier than usual.
Cuddy and Blythe had a great time with Newt and the other kids. Cameron helped out
too. By the end of the day, Cuddy, Blythe and Cameron were almost passed out in the
back yard with the pitcher of margaritas between them. Newt was curled up in bed with
one of his Mom's sweaters.
House came over to Cuddy and gave her a kiss on the neck. Cuddy sat up straight.
This was his first public display of affection and it was done in front of Cameron. Lisa
knew that Allison Cameron had a crush on House. Cuddy was often amazed at how
many women in the hospital had a crush of House. It was the bad boy syndrome.
Lisa looked at Cameron who had fleetingly registered some disappointment and
resignation. Cameron gave Cuddy a weak smile as to say, "It's ok."
House then sat down with the women. "Well, was that a successful two year old
birthday party?"
"Oh that was a very successful two year old birthday party....and guess what? You
never have to give one of those again." Lisa chuckled.
"I don't?" House sounded hopeful.
"No, now you get to plan the successful three year old party!"
His face fell, "ugh..."
Greg's mom went home a few days later very happy that Greg had Lisa in his life. She
was a good steadying influence. She had a hard time saying goodbye to Newt, who
had called him Grammy and given her hugs and kisses on demand. He was a very
sweet little boy and surprisingly, her son was a good father. She had to admit, she
never saw Greg as a father. She always thought he would be childless.
Not long afterwards, Cuddy woke up in the middle of the night. She had spent the night
at Greg's place. Greg wasn't in bed and she knew what this meant. He had probably
had the dream. She got up, put on a tshirt she got out of his drawer and went out to the
media room.
He was sitting, watching the Colbert Report. "The dream?"
"Yep, I've had it for the last few days. My therapist said to expect a relapse around
now." He said.
"Around now?"
"It was a year ago today that the plane blew up. Anniversaries are rough."
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked.
"No, not really." He grabbed Lisa and pulled her close so they could lay down on the
couch together. He kissed the back of her neck and ear and then continued to watch
the Colbert report.
"Greg, do you still miss her?"
"I'm not going to lie. Yes, I still miss her but that doesn't mean I care any less about
you, you do know that?" He said emphatically.
"Of course I know that. And it doesn't bother me that you miss her. In fact, it would
probably bother me if you didn't miss her. One year isn't a lot and I would hope that if I
died you'd miss me longer than that." She sqeezed the arm that was draped over her
arms.
"I would, but I'd prefer that we not even go there. I don't like the thought of another
woman leaving me."
The dreams subsided after a month and House was able to sleep again. Cuddy was
spending most of her time with House and Newt at their house. "Why don't you sell your
house and move in with us?"
"Oh, no. I'm not giving up my beautiful home unless this is permanent and we haven't
gotten there yet. I'm happy the way it is working out now. We'll see in a few months."
Things were going so well that House, being the pessimist, was waiting for the other
shoe to drop. He didn't have long to wait.
*** ***
Six months passed and Newt was a little over 2 years old. He was talking in short
but full sentences and, although his fine motor skills made it difficult sometimes to
understand his handwriting, he was performing simple arithmetic on paper. House was
in constant awe of his son's rapid progress . House had the feeling that by the time
Newt was in First Grade, Newt's homework would be over his head. Each day Newt
came home with some colorful papers filled with numbers and arithmetic written in
different colored pencils. Instead of fingerpaintings, the refrigerator was filled with math
papers dangling from magnets. But Newt seemed very happy in his daycare. Cuddy
just laughed whenever she saw the refrigerator. It was so cool.
House sent Stephen Hawkings some of Newt's math papers and he was delighted. He
called and asked permission to talk to the director of the child development department
about Newt. House called Altain and told him to expect a call from Stephen and his
caretaker, Geoff. Altain was beside himself and very nervous. The call went well,
Altain explained the progress Newt had made and what lesson plans they had in store
for him. He told Stephen that they were going to start him soon on division and
multiplication although it was hard because Newt's fine motor skills hadn't caught up
with his math abilities. Stephen asked to be kept up to date because he had a special
interest in his Godson. Altain now had bragging rights to the fact that Stephen
Hawkings had approved of his program.
The first Thursday in December, House was called by the daycare. "Dr. House?"
"Yes, Greg House."
"This is Meggie over at Stephen's daycare, could you please come and pick him up?
Some of the children have been getting some kind of virus and we're going to shut the
clinic for today and clean everything thoroughly."
"What kind of virus?"
"Oh, nothing too bad, just a flu. But we don't want to take any chances, you can
understand."
"Yes, I can understand." House said with an air of mockery. "I'll be over in a few
minutes." House didn't like the sound of this. How many daycare facilities actually shut
down voluntarily because of a flu? How many did she mean when she said "some" of
the children?
House grabbed his medical kit, jacket, keys and cane and told Cameron and Chase, "I
have to go over to get Newt, I want you guys to have a specimen kit ready. I may be
calling you to come over to the daycare to run some tests for viruses, bacteria and
fungi. They're experiencing a rash of sick kids."
"Is Newt ok?" Cameron was concerned.
"He was when I took him in this morning. In fact, he insisted on wearing his Batman
pajamas to school. I couldn't get him out of them, he seemed quite pleased with
himself. He's really into fantasy. Ok, I'm off, I'll be back soon."
Chase raised his eyebrows and told Cameron, "From what I overheard Cuddy saying,
House is really into fantasy too."
"Too much information." Cameron sneered.
House arrived at the daycare and saw a dozen kids waiting for their parents to pick
them up. Two of the kids looked lethargic and the others were energetic and healthy.
House went up to the two children that looked ill. He put his hand on their forehead and
could feel their fever. He could tell that it was pretty high, probably over 103 F. He
looked for Meggie, "Get Dr. Altain, I'd like to talk to him."
"Dr. Altain was going to a meeting and then he was going to go home. He said he
wasn't feeling well."
"I need a list of all the kids in the day care, their contact information and I also need for
you to highlight which ones have already gotten sick." He told Meggie.
"I can't give you that information without Dr. Altain's permission."
"Look, in about 24 hours several more of these children will get sick. Their fevers alone
could be life threatening without medical attention. We need to make sure their parents
know that if they get a fever, they should get them into the emergency room before it
spikes and they have a seizure or die. But if you don't give me the list, then I can't
contact the parents, can I? So when some of these children die and the CDC comes
here and asks you why you didn't give me the list, I hope you have a good excuse
because not only will the CDC shut this place down, but the parents are going to sue.
You, Dr. Altain, and the rest will be out of a job."
"I'm sorry Dr. House, but I still need to call Dr. Altain really quick." She ran into the
office and House could see her on the phone.
A mother entered the day care and looked around for help. One of the day care
teachers approached her, "I'm here to pick up David."
"Excuse me, I'm Dr. Gregory House, an infectious disease specialist at Princeton-
Plainsboro. Which one is your son?" She pointed to a rather spry four year old. "Your
son has been exposed to a virus that could be dangerous. I want you to give me your
telephone number and address so that we can contact you if we find that this virus is
more than just the flu. In the meantime, if your child starts to run a fever, even a low
one, I want you to bring him into Princeton-Plainsboro and ask for me, Greg House.
Ok?"
"Yes, but he has a doctor."
"Well, if you want, you can take him to your own doctor, but let him know that Greg
House at Princeton Plainsboro is monitoring the disease and has information for him.
Ok?"
Meggie returned with an Excel spread sheet. "Dr. Altain said I could give you the list.
Here is our list of students, parents' names, addresses and phone numbers. I
highlighted the five children that are home ill."
"What about those two?" He pointed to the two obviously sick children.
"No, they aren't highlighted, that's Devon MacArthur and Karthika Balasumbrumanian."
"Which one on the list called in sick first?"
"May Chin."
House put marks next to their names. He called Cameron. "You and Chase get over
here quick and I want you to bring level two protection. I think this is more than just the
flu. These kids are running high fevers and look pretty lethargic." When Cameron
acknowledged the instructions, House turned to the two sick children.
"Devon, tell me where it hurts?"
"My throat, my ears, my head, my eyes." The little boy was obviously in pain and he
had a cough.
"Open your mouth for me." Devon opened his mouth and House looked inside with his
scope.
"What are you doing to my son?" An angry voice came up from behind.
House turn to find a 30 something woman extremely agitated. "I'm an infectious
disease specialist from Princeton-Plainsboro and I have been checking your son to see
what his symptoms are. Are you Ms. MacArthur?"
"Yes."
"Dr. Gregory House. Stephen's father." House pointed at Newt. "Ms. MacArthur you
need to get Devon over to Princeton-Plainsboro hospital and have him admitted. Tell
them Dr. House wants him admitted, they have my cell number if they need to contact
me."
Her face changed from anger to concern, "Doctor, what do you think it is?"
"I don't know yet, either viral or bacterial. However, as fast as it is spreading, I suspect
it is viral." House went over to Karthika.
"Karthika, can you tell me what hurts?" Karthika was very young but she held her hand
up to her throat and her head."
"Your head and your throat hurt?" He asked. Karthika shook her head yes. Her cough
was worse than Devon.
House saw the staff with their rags and disinfectant starting to wipe down surfaces.
"STOP...STOP...are you idiots?" The staff looked at him as if he was rabid. "I'm
bringing in people to obtain samples and if you do that, we might not be able to find
where this is coming from." They all dropped what they were doing and went over to
check on the children.
"Meggie, tell the parents to call me at Princeton-Plainsboro when they come to pick up
their kids. I'm taking Stephen and going back to work. My team, Drs. Cameron and
Chase will be here soon, they'll need access to everything so it can be tested."
House got on the phone. "Chase, if you or Cameron run into any parents picking up
their kids while you are there, tell them that if their kid starts running a fever, any fever,
to get them over to the hospital and ask for me."
"Isn't this a little premature? We don't even know if it is garden variety flu?"
"Fever is too high, congestion is pronounced and the virus is fairly pathogenic. I think
we need to take precautions. The first patient to report in with an illness was a girl
named May Chin."
"That doesn't sound good."
"I know, I have to call because, I wonder where the Chinns have been."
House grabbed Newt and felt his forehead. He couldn't really tell without a thermometer
if he was running a fever. He did notice that Newt was engrossed in a jigsaw puzzle...a
child's wooden jigsaw puzzle that was very large. The pieces were big enough that they
did not require fine motor skills. Newt was not happy with his father for taking him away
from the puzzle. House carried a crying kid to the car and strapped him in for the ride
back to his office.
"Beer Gut...hey buddy." House was looking in the rear view mirror at his sobbing son.
"When we get to the hospital you can see Cuddy and JJ. You can play with your
blocks." But Newt wasn't having any of it. He was mad and cranky.
When they got to the hospital, House got a sniffling Newt from the back seat. He had a
fever. House was surprised at how fast the fever had risen in such a short time. House
was worried. He went straight into Cuddy's office.
"You need to admit Newt immediately. He has a virus and his fever is rising faster than
I've seen in the past. His daycare is closed, they already have seven sick, with Newt
that makes eight. I had one of the mothers bring their son here to be admitted."
Lisa jumped up from her desk and went to grab Newt. Newt held out his arms to her,
"Newt , sweetie, let's see. Wow, he is burning up. Oh honey, let's get you into bed."
She started to take Newt towards admitting, "I see you have your batman pjs on." She
gave House a look, "Why is he still in his pjs?"
"You try getting him out of them. They didn't bat an eye at the daycare, apparently kids
do this all the time."
"You know, this isn't a good idea. I know you can't treat him, but I'm too close to him
too. I'm too emotionally involved. Let's get Chase to admit him." She looked House in
the eye.
He gave her one of those, do I have to' grimaces. "Ok, I guess. He just won't let me
hear the last of it. Well, you trusted me enough to treat Newt. Blah, blah..." They had
arrived at admitting. They admitted Newt and he was put in a semi-private room with
Devon.
House did a full exam of Devon and had blood samples taken of both boys. He
specifically ran an H5N1 antigen test and a platelet count. He took a swab of Devon's
nose and had Devon cough so that he could get his sputum tested and kept it at 39F for
transport to the lab. Devon had developed diarrhea so House started a saline IV. They
were sent to the lab for a reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)
analysis. He also ordered am aminotransferase test to see if they were elevated. After
speaking to Chase, the same test was performed on Newt. Chase told House that he
was on his way back to the hospital and he agreed with House's treatment. They
started Newt and Devon on Tamiflu. They also ordered acetaminophen followed in four
hours by ibuprofen. Newt had started to get a cough. Devon's lungs were very
congested and he was uncomfortable breathing. House also suspected that there was
some alveolar damage so he ordered a thrombin time test.
Cuddy was in the room with House helping with the tests and trying to make Newt more
comfortable. She received a call from emergency. She got off the phone and he could
see she was extremely worried. "Did you say the first to call in was May Chin?" Well,
she's downstairs in respiratory failure. Her mother has been admitted too."
House took off for emergency but not without telling Cuddy, "Call Maggie McGee at the
CDC, tell her what we have so far and tell her to get her butt up here ASAP."
"You think it's wise to bring in the CDC so soon?"
"Yes and I trust Maggie, she's a straight shooter. Call her."
Whe House got down to emergency he saw two beds, one with an adult female Asian
and one with an Asian child. Standing by them was a very worried 40ish Asian male.
"Mr. Chin?" House asked as the man shook his head yes. "I'm Dr. House, we are
studying the illness that has spread through May's daycare. I need to know a few
things. Where have you, your wife and May been in the last 14 days?"
"My wife is a sociologist doing her doctorate at Princeton, she and my daughter just got
back a week ago from doing studies in Xincheng Village. It's in the Jiuyuan District in
Baotou City."
"Crap..." House ran with great pain in his leg to a computer and accessed the internet.
The CDC had reported an H5N1 outbreak in Xincheng. The poultry had all been
inoculated but they were still getting reports of duck, swans and now even sparrows
being infected and dying. By now Cuddy was looking over his shoulder.
"Oh, good God, no. Please don't tell me that the Chins were in China?"
House called Chase who was now sitting upstairs. "Did you guys find anything in the
daycare that might harbor Avian flu?"
He could hear Chase asking Cameron in the background. Cameron said no. "Not that
was obvious."
"Go back and ask Meggie if May Chin brought anything to the daycare when she got
back from China...if she did, bag it." House told him.
House went back to the Emergency where May and her mother had being prepared to
be taken to ICU. Their vitals were failing. Apparently, they both had Acute Respiratory
Distress and both were suffering diarrhea. The doctors had them on respirators but
the lungs were filling fast.
"Mr. Chin, your wife and daughter were in an area that has had a recent outbreak of
Avian Flu. Could you tell me if you know whether they were near poultry? At a market
where poultry was being sold?" House paused to see what the answer was.
"I'm not sure, my wife was ill when she finally got home and she went to bed. My
daughter got sick two days later. We really didn't have an opportunity to talk about her
trip. I do know that the area that she went to is rural. Doctor, do they have bird flu?"
"It's possible, but it could be several other things. We're running a lot of tests. We just
need some questions answered." House looked up and saw Cuddy motioning for him
to come out.
"A new patient just arrived in the ER, a Karthika Balasubrumanian. She is showing the
same signs and apparently from the same daycare."
"Yes, Chase told them to come straight over from daycare. I need someone to call
each of the parents on this list and ask them to bring their children in for an exam. If
we're going to make sure these kids make it, we have to catch this early." He looked at
Cuddy. "You need to call the CDC, this could get really ugly."
House left and went back to see Newt, who was still asleep. His fever was holding
steady at 102 F, probably due to the acetaminophen. Devon was not doing quite as
good, but he was stable. His parents were holding vigil at his bedside. Cameron came
in and checked both of the boys.
"We'll take good care of him." She said to House.
House nodded while stroking Newt's hair back. "I need for you to start calling in the
kids from the daycare, we need to get this isolated."
Chase came into the room, "I'm just back. Meggie said that May brought in some duck
feathers to share with the class. They had been given to her by some of the Chinese
children as a sign of friendship. Of course they passed the feathers around the entire
class so everyone could see them." Chase held up a baggy of beautiful green duck
feathers.
"Get them tested for H5N1. Give each of the kids Tamiflu as soon as they come in..."
House's cell phone rang.
"We just lost Mrs. Chin. Respiratory distress. How's Newt?"
"Stable. He and the other kid are sleeping and their fevers are 102 and 103 F so they
are holding their own." House hung up and turned to Cameron.
"We need for someone to find out all the contacts that the kids have had since coming
into contact with the feathers. Get Cuddy to get your some help, the CDC will be
arriving in the next few hours and they'll need that information. You guys better get a
shot of Tamiflu as sson as possible."
"Bird flu in New Jersey?" Cameron shook her head in disbelief.
"Had to end up somewhere in the USA."
A few hours later, Newt and Devon were awake. They were very uncomfortable and
both were having trouble laying down because of the coughing. Their beds were
adjusted up so that they could breath easier. The time test came back showing that
Devon was experiencing Alveolar damage so House ordered intravenous Albuterol.
Newt still was very congested but was not yet in Acute Respiratory Distress.
Twelve of the daycare children had presented with symptoms. Two showed up on their
own because of the rapidity and severity of their symptoms. The others showed up
because the hospital had called and told the parents to get in for a check up.
The CDC showed up an hour later. The initial tests were back and the CDC was
treating this as the first Avian Influenza outbreak on American soil. More importantly,
because they did not know exactly how fifteen children managed to get Avian flu, they
were treating it as if it was now transmittable from human to human.
***
Dr. Molly McGee had five of the children transferred into the isolation ward. She then
cordoned off a separate section of the third floor for the remainder of the children. It
was being treated as a makeshift isolation ward. Molly and Greg had known each other
for years. House trusted and treated Molly like a true peer and respected her work.
Molly was a real pistol, very dynamic and funny as hell. She wasn't funny today.
"Greg, Dr. Cuddy, Chase, Cameron, good work. If you hadn't pinned this down so
quickly, I'm sure this situation would be much worse. Now can you bring me up to date
on your findings?"
"Chase brought back a bag of duck feathers that had been given to May Chin as a
parting gift by the children in Xincheng Village. It's in the Jiuyuan District of China. The
feathers were passed around to all the children at the daycare so that they could touch
them. Then they were left out on a desk for the kids to play with. We sent samples to
our lab and here are the rest for you." House held out another specimen bag of
feathers carefully marked by Chase. "Our labs show initially that the duck feathers
have some remnants of duck feces on the tips of the feather. The lab has confirmed
Influenza of an H5 variety. We don't have the labs back on whether it is H5N1, but we
assume it is the Qinghai strain. Although I understand from the WHO that H9N2 has
been found in the same area and that they have possibly recombined?"
"Yes, we have seem some recombining of strains to form new strains in that area.
Unfortunately, we have seen it in swine as well as water-foul and poultry. The
recombining does worry us because H9N2 has some similarities to the strains found in
swine in Tennessee in the 1970's. If that's true, then H5N1 is recombining with old
familiar flu strains and becoming much more transmissible between humans. What
was that mother thinking? Allowing her child to even come in contact with anything that
flies?" Molly was shaking her head, "We put out these travel advisories and they just
get ignored."
"I'm sorry, but I haven't kept up on the literature, what's the mortality rate for this flu?"
Cuddy was worried about Newt.
"As you know the H flu of 1918 killed over 40 million people, more than World War I.
The 1918 virus had a fatality rate of around 2.5 5%. According to WHO, the current
H5N1 virus is killing on average 58% of those infected. For children, its higher. Even
though most experts believe that this figure will drop significantly if the virus turns into a
pandemic strain, no one has been able to come up with scientific evidence to support
that as a certainty. Even if true, the fatality rate has a long way to drop from 58% to
2.5%.
Both Cameron and Cuddy had chills run down their back. House seemed unfazed. He
obviously already knew the statistics. Cuddy's heart started to race. The odds weren't
even a 50/50 chance that Newt would survive. Cuddy went so pale that Molly paused
to look at her.
"Dr. Cuddy, are you alright?"
Cuddy said nothing but sat down. Cameron spoke up, "I don't know if House told you
but his son is one of those that is ill. Dr. Cuddy is very close to his son."
""Oh, my God. Greg, why didn't you tell me? I didn't see a "House" on the list?"
"He has his mother's last name, Morgan. She died a little over a year ago."
"I remember now reading about it and seeing you on the news. Well, what's his
status?"
"As soon as he started showing an elevated fever, I gave him Tamiflu and other
prophylactic drugs."
"Well, he's lucky to have you as a father, especially for acting so quickly without waiting
for confirmation. As you know, Tamiflu hasn't been able to knock out the flu and in
some cases the strains have mutated to the point that Tamiflu doesn't work. However,
so far it has been working on the Quinghai strain and the rate of death in people who
receive Tamiflu is lower. You did the right thing. I'd like to see him just to see what the
spawn of the devil looks like." She smiled warmly at House. "I'll see what I can do." She
patted House's arm and left.
After the others had left, Cuddy turned to House and said with certainty, "You've slept
with her!"
"It was a long time ago."
"Well, she's certainly fond of you. When did you sleep with her?"
"About ten years ago."
"When you were with Stacy?"
House shook his head yes. "We were having a rough patch and I met Molly when she
was a speaker at a conference in Washington D.C. The rest is history. Are you
jealous?"
"No, but don't think you're going to any conferences any time soon. I'm going to go see
Newt. I didn't realize the mortality rate was so high for this flu. That means we're going
to probably lose half of these kids. I just can't think about losing Newt. I just can't deal
with it."
Inside House was scared to death. He knew what they were up against and they had
very few tricks left in their bags. House knew that Molly had one very special trick left
and he was hoping by her comment that she meant to use it on Newt. They had
discovered that blood transfusions from patients that had survived had helped the
survival rate. Molly had most likely brought several bags of frozen blood kept on hand
at the CDC.
When House got up to Newt's room, he checked his chart. He swallowed hard with
gratitude when he saw that Dr. McGee had asked for them to type Newt's blood. She
was seeing if Newt's blood type matched some of the frozen blood. He wanted to hug
her. Funny thing, whenever he saw Molly, he wanted to hug her. It was like they had
been a couple in another life. However, he knew Molly had just gotten married and was
apparently very happy with her husband. Another time, another place and they might
have been together.
"Greg, I have some blood. It's been screened for HIV but the results for the Hepatitis
screen aren't back. We just got these in at the CDC yesterday from Indonesia. You
have to make the call now. If we don't do it soon, it will be too late. The virus has
slowed down from the Tamiflu but you and I both know that the statistics for kids, even
with Tamiflu aren't that great. Do you want to take the chance and give the blood?"
"Absolutely." House wanted Newt to have every chance in the world. He started to
choke up, "Molly," he paused, "thanks."
Molly could see tears in the eyes of the great cynic, Gregory House. She reached
around and gave him a hug which he affectionately returned.
"Is Newt ok?" Cuddy saw the comforting being given to House and thought that Newt
had taken a turn for the worse.
"No, Molly is going to let Newt be part of a CDC protocol using blood from H5N1
survivors. "
Molly handed House the forms to fill out. After she left, House told Cuddy, "She
shouldn't be doing this. Newt probably doesn't meet the protocol parameters, but they
won't fire Molly, she's too good."
"Well, I guess sleeping with the CDC has its advantages."
They immediately started the blood on Newt and then the best they could all do was
wait. They were kept busy by all the patients and the media surrounding the flu. Of
course there was worldwide panic and fear that the flu was in the USA.
"We are fairly sure that the flu was not originally transmitted from human to human
contact but by contact with infected duck feathers. It may be possible that after several
of the children were infected, they may have infected others by being in close contact.
We are not convinced that the strain has mutated to a point where it is easily
transmitted from human to human. However, we do recommend that all Americans
visit our website, www.pandemicflu.gov put out by the Department of Health and
Human Services in conjunction with the CDC. We also have several sections of our
website, www.cdc.gov devoted to avian flu and pandemic flu. The US Government has
been recommending that all families stockpile certain necessities and take precautions
in case of a pandemic. It is estimated that if the Avian flu reaches a level 6 on the
WHO scale, then we will see significant problems with our infrastructure. It is estimated
that 25% of the population will be infected, 25% of the population will stay home to take
care of the ill and 25% of the population will stay home because they are concerned
about catching something. That means that there will be very few able body persons to
run our infrastructures, utilities and other enterprises, such as grocery stores. That's
why we urge all of you to be prepared." Molly was addressing a large group of
worldwide media. Up at the table were Molly, Lisa Cuddy, Greg House and Elizabeth
De Pozo, from Health and Human Services. "We'll take questions."
"Dr. House, is it true that your son is one of the ill children?'
House looked to Molly to see if it was ok to answer. She nodded. "Yes, my son,
Stephen is ill. He was one of the first to be admitted to the hospital."
"How is he doing Dr. House?"
"He's stable for now."
The questions turned to Molly, "How are the children doing?
"Well, unfortunately, we have two fatalities so far. Mrs. Chin and their daughter May.
We also have three more that are in Acute Respiratory Distress and that has us gravely
concerned."
The press conference lasted another half hour. When it was through, Lisa and House
both practically ran to Newt's room. They put on paper gowns and N95 masks. Newt
was sleeping. House put his gloved hand on his son's little face. He wanted so much
to reach down and kiss him. Newt woke up and looked at his Dad. He reached his
arms up and House picked him up. Newt tried to grab the mask off of his father's
mouth. "No Beer Gut, don't do that." He pulled Newt's hand away.
Molly walked in and smiled at Lisa and House, "Beer Gut? This kid has more names.
Where did he get Beer Gut and where did he get Newt."
Lisa frowned, "Stephen Isaac Morgan is named after Stephen Hawkings and Isaac
Newton, so Newt for Newton. At one point Newt was starting to get a little paunch from
being fed so much at my house, so House said he looked like he had a beer gut. Well,
no one else calls him that but his father."
"Oh, I see. How is he doing?"
"He's alert, the fever is down to 101 and his lungs haven't gotten worse."
"That's a very good sign, Greg. Very good. I'm happy for you, when I saw Newt just
this morning I thought he was in real trouble. He looks much better. " While she was
talking, Newt was staring at Molly with his usual intensity. "Does he always stare?"
Lisa and House answered in unison, "Yes."
Devon was seven and he turned the corner the following day. Molly said it was House's
administering of Tamiflu that saved him. The parents tried to hug House who took
several steps back and said, "It's part of the job."
Three of the children died making the mortality rate 33% of those infected. The CDC
and WHO considered that an excellent outcome and asked Dr. Gregory House to write
up the steps he took when the children were admitted. Apparently, he had done
something right because if they discounted Mrs. Chin and May Chin from the statistics
(because they had been ill for several days before being admitted) then the mortality
rate plummeted to 28% or 3 out of 13. It boiled down to the fact that House had
diagnosed the problem quickly. Sadly, Greg House had a uncanny ability to observe
that this was not a typical flu and had acted accordingly. It was doubtful that many
practitioners would have that sixth sense.
***
NEWT BABBLES
I used to have a mommy that smelled good. She would hold me and feed me from her
breast and I would look up at her and really look at everything about her. I knew all her
freckles and the color of her eyes. They said she had grey eyes but most people didn't
notice that she had a circle of green around the black hole in the middle. She made me
laugh and when I was hurt she made me safe. I always knew she loved me even when
I got mad and hit her for taking away a toy or making me take a nap. I don't really
understand what happened and why my mommy never comes to see me. I was on this
plane and when we got off she didn't come with us. It scared me because I was with
this woman, she was nice but I really didn't know her. She was holding me and as we
walked down the aisle of the plane I saw my mommy crying. She was so very sad.
She waved goodbye to me and I waved back. I didn't want to go and leave my mommy
so sad, but I did. I remember her eyes and I remember her being sad but I have to look
at photographs to remind me of what she really looked like. Then Daddy was really
sad. He was sad for a long time. He let this woman stay with us and I didn't like her.
She would ignore me and once she slapped my hand hard when I was reaching for a
toy. I was glad when Cuddy replaced her. Cuddy is very nice and she loves me. I got
to meet my Grammy and Pop Pop. They are lots of fun and they really like to play a lot.
I think my cheek is worn down from Grammy's kisses. My Godfather is cool, he lets
me sit in his wheelchair and ride with him. It is a lot of fun. He sounds funny because
the computer talks for him, but a lot of people like to be around him, so he must not
sound too funny. My teacher says I am good at math but then he says I should be
good at math, I have two smart parents. I like math, it is so easy. I am now four and I
am doing geometry with coordinates. They say that this is really, really good. My Dad
says that he wants me to go out and play a lot. He doesn't let me do math for more
than an hour after school because he wants me to make friends. I have made friends
at my daycare, they are smart too. I got sick about a year ago. I hurt all over and my
Dad was very worried. Cuddy was crying and everyone was sticking me and Devon
with needles. It hurt but I was too tired to cry about it. I got well and Cuddy told my
Dad that he better do something because she loved me so much that she didn't want to
ever lose me. She said she wanted to adopt me and that meant he had to ask her to
marry him. My Dad looked a little scared but not too long after that I had to take this
ring on a pillow up to the tent and then my Dad broke this glass and everyone yelled
"Malt Balls" at us. Now Cuddy lives with us all the time. I don't call her Cuddy anymore.
I call her mommy. I hope my mommy doesn't mind. I miss her and wish she could
come home to live with Dad, Cuddy and me. But I told my Dad that the other day and
he got all sad and said that my mommy loved me very much and didn't want to die but
she did and it means that I won't see her again. My Grammy says that's "poppycock"
and that we'll all see her when we go to heaven.
Please post a comment on this story.
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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