DISCLAIMER: House isn't mine.

5 People in a lifetime

Phoenixgirl23

AN. Sorry, guys the prologue didn't come out as I wanted it to, but I hope its good enough. And you may be disappointed with the ending, but I'm planning a sequel, it seemed better this way. And sorry the chapters are so short! Also sorry if you disagree with what i wrote about any of the characters and their relationship with House. I just wrote as i interpreted, as best i could whilst leaning towards Hameron. I had trouble writing it, if that helps. Please don't be mean about it though, but i welcome your opinions.

PROLOGUE

House groaned inwardly as he limped down the hall towards his patients room. He could never understand it... eight years of avoiding all contact with his patients, yet suddenly he found himself visiting almost every patient in order to knock some sense into them. It was like karma's idea of a really bad joke... or a scene from a TV drama.

This visit was for their patient of the week, 23 year old college student, Sam. House's ducklings, Cameron, Chase and Foreman had stumbled upon the diagnosis a few hours earlier- terminal liver cancer that had spread to his bones and brain. Normally a diagnosis, even a crappy one that would inevitably lead to the patient's death anyway, was a cause for House to go home, play his piano and drink half a bottle of scotch with a couple of Vicodin.

Unless your patient is Sam, who was steadfastly in the 'Denial' stage of the five stages of dying, occasionally toeing the line to the 'Anger' portion. His determination to find a treatment, any treatment had already annoyed Foreman to no end. Chase's solution was to live by House's philosophy and avoid the patient, and Cameron... well, Cameron had been his shoulder to cry on, unflinchingly accepted the brunt of his anger for them not diagnosing him sooner, and then had promised to look into some experimental treatments that if they worked, would only give him a few extra weeks.

Hence, House found himself on his way to Sam's room, when he could have been on his way home to watch TV. The last thing he needed was for Cameron to get attached to another dying patient. He swore that girl would be the death of him one day.

"Who are you?"

House suppressed a smirk as he entered the room. Maybe he should make a deal with Wilson that he gets paid ten bucks every time a patient asks who he was. He was sick of paying out Wilson for 'thank you's.'

"I'm Dr. House," he answered the kid and his eyes widened in recognition.

"So you do exist."

"For today anyway," House quipped then sighed. He was too tired to beat around the bush.

"Listen, do yourself a favour and accept the fact that we can't do anything for you. I get that it sucks, but that's life."

Sam stared at House determinedly. "You ever thought about death?"

"Everyone thinks about death. Even the people who say they're too busy enjoying life to think about death, are thinking about it. Why do you think they're 'enjoying life'?"

"But at 23? Did you think about death at twenty three?" Sam demanded.

House shrugged. "Sure."

Actually he wasn't sure, but he supposed he must have at some point. And the patient sure as hell wouldn't know otherwise.

"Death isn't actually scary, you know," he told him. "It's been made scary by conventional religion. All that drama about is there an afterlife? Who gives a damn? You won't, you'll be dead."

"Death is plenty scary. Especially at twenty-three when you've done nothing with your life to be remembered for and your leaving all your family and friends behind," Sam replied quietly.

"Good thing about being alone," House said casually. "You don't have to worry about all that crap."

Sam scoffed. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

House raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"It's impossible to 'be alone'," Sam argued. "There are always going to be people you come across, even for an instant, that can have an impact on you and that you can impact on their lives. But saying you're alone makes the idea of death less scary if you convince yourself you're leaving nothing behind. There are always people, Dr. House. There are always regrets and there is always fear of the unknown."

"Right," House drawled sceptically and to his surprise, Sam smiled.

"Five people, Dr. House. That have made an impact on your life and that you've impacted on theirs. Trust me, they're not that hard to find."

"Please, it sounds like your next question should be 'what's one item you'd bring to a desert island'?" House said sarcastically.

Sam shrugged. "More like the five people you'd pick who have affected you as a person."

"Easy. Angelina Jolie, and the rest of the world can die, for all I care."

However, the look on Sam's face made House uncomfortable and he swiftly made an executive decision to give up.

"Death sucks, but it happens to everyone. It's just happening to you sooner, and the sooner you make peace with that, the better," he told him and left the room.