Lady hummed to herself as she let herself into House's apartment. It was dark, the shades still drawn across the windows. Lady made her way across the room and opened the blinds. Sunlight streamed into the room falling on the hardwood floors and the pile of magazines and glasses on the living room table. Lady knew that House had been working on a case, the pile of medical journals and the half empty bottle of Scotch told her it wasn't going well.
Despite their rocky start Lady liked working for House and had continued to work for the prickly doctor for over two years. Once she understood how he liked things working for him was actually very simple. He liked things just so and when he was working on a case he liked the magazines placed back by the couch. She may come in twice a week and find them strewn on the tables and floors but they always went back into a pile, waiting for their owner's use. The table was a consistent; the couch on the other hand was always an adventure. Depending on the day Lady could be sure of finding anything from a sock to condom wrappers to bits of food. Today she found cash. Not a lot, it never really was, twenty-five cents here, a dollar in change there. Today it was 2.58 in assorted coins. Lady took the change as she always did and placed it in a half gallon Mason jar on the bookshelf. She always did this, it never occurred to her to keep the change. After two years the amount was not a lot but the large jar was nearly full of quarters, nickels, and dimes. House had never said anything about it and she noted on more than one occasion, he had never dipped into the stash; it just grew as she found and added change to the jar.
Lady finished up quickly and made her way out the door. Before leaving she said a quick prayer for House and his patient. The table would tell her the results of the case when she came back in a few days. She just hoped it would be a positive outcome.
On Wednesday Lady let herself into the apartment and immediately noticed something was different. The blinds were open; the slates turned so the early morning light lit the piano in a soft amber glow. Intrigued, Lady made her way to the piano. On top of the polished maple was an envelope with her name on it. She looked up and saw the jar. It was empty. With shaky hands she opened the envelope. It was stuffed with cash.
Lady,
Get yourself something nice
-H-