Title: It's My Life
Part: 1
Author: Mlizhobie
Fandom: House, M.D.
Pairing: Wilson/OFC
Disclaimer: Don't own House or any of the other characters except for the OC characters.
AN: This is my first time writing any type of fandom – so be kind and review. Thanks to my Beta reader, without whose help I wouldn't have had the courage to even think about posting this.
AN2: this takes place starting late S2
AN3: This may be what some call a tear-jerking chapter.
Cuddy had suggested that James call in the 'Make-A-Wish' people to help lift the spirits of one of his latest patients. He liked to make his patients feel hopeful, but somehow calling in 'Make-A-Wish' made James think it was a definite death sentence for the child. They were set up to take the family on one last trip together before a child passed away and it broke James's heart to call them in.
But he finally agreed and grabbed the phone to make the call. Taking a deep breath he quietly informed the secretary of all the needed details and wrote down the time she said one of the reps would be over that afternoon. Placing the receiver back on the phone James looked up at Cuddy and said, "There are you happy? One of their reps will be over around 1 this afternoon." Lisa Cuddy studied the man as he quietly lowered his head and looked over the dying child's file once again.
She sat down on the couch across the room and said, "James, you did all you could for her. The family knows this and has told me how much they appreciate the fact that you went far above what any other doctor would do. Sometimes no matter how much we do for these patients we still can't save them." Sighing James looked back up and met Lisa's gaze before saying, "Yes I know, but she isn't even 13 years old and this girl is dying. I see how much her family loves her and has done everything they can to help her fight against this cancer. I just feel like I am letting them down."
Cuddy understood what James meant, after all they as doctors were trained to do everything they possibly could for their patients. James Wilson went far and above that statement and as hard as he tried not to, he became attached to every patient he had. Lisa just smiled sadly and left James to go over the patients file before he had to meet with the Make-A-Wish rep that afternoon.
A few hours later after House was forced to cancel their lunch together James returned to his office with a cup of coffee and sat at his desk. He was still trying to come up with the best way to tell the family that he had referred them to this office and make it sound like a fun thing. In his heart he knew that it was just a fancy way of saying goodbye to their child. Hearing a knock on his door James looked up and saw one of the nurses. She wanted to tell him that the Make-A-Wish rep was there and ready to meet the family.
James thanked the nurse and headed out to the waiting area where he saw a beautiful young woman with long golden brown hair, she was studying the water feature that had been installed a few years back. He smiled slightly and walked over, holding out a hand he said, "Hello, I'm Dr. Wilson. I had called about you meeting with the Jones family." The girl smiled warmly back and said, "Oh hello, I'm Lorelai Nelson. It's a pleasure to finally meet the famous James Wilson." This caused James to blush slightly and say, "I don't know about famous, but thank you for coming down."
They exchanged a bit more small talk before James took Lorelai down to meet the family. After spending over an hour with the family James & Lorelai left so the family could spend some time together before the father had to go to work that evening.
Back out in the hallway James thought he would ask Lorelai if she might like to go out for drinks sometime. But just as he opened his mouth to ask, she spoke up first and said, "I know we just met and all, but I was wondering if you might like to go out to dinner tonight?" James was surprised that he was being the one asked out this time and quickly said, "Sure, that would be great. I will call this place I know and set up a reservation. Why don't you come down to my office while I make the call?"
The pair headed down the hall to James's office and while they walked they were both thinking, 'Oh my God, this is so fast. But it feels different this time, so who knows?' When they reached James's office he opened the door for her and they walked in. He grabbed the phone and called a restaurant he had driven by earlier in the day and was curious about. James was able to set up a reservation for 2 at 8 o'clock that evening. Smiling widely James hung up the phone and said, "Ok, we are all set, tonight at 8 down at 'Restoration'. Do you know where that is?" Lorelai nodded and said, "Yeah, just down the street about 9 blocks or so? I have wanted to go in and see how it is."
Glancing at the clock on James's wall Lorelai saw that already past 4 and she needed to get back to her own office. So she excused herself and agreed to meet James later that evening for dinner. James thanked her again for coming and told her he would see her at 8. Lorelai left and James leaned against his desk and began to daydream.
It was over a half an hour later when James's best friend Greg House walked in and cocked his head to the side and smiled at the younger man staring blankly across the room. As House crossed the room and headed for the couch in front of James's desk, he lightly slapped James's arm and said, "Hey space cadet, coming down anytime soon?" Pulling James from his thoughts Greg sat down in front of him waiting for a response.
Wilson shook his head slightly, focused on House and said, "Oh hey, sorry, just thinking about stuff." House laughed and said, "Stuff my ass, you were thinking about a girl. I know that look." James blushed under House's scrutiny and said, "Ok, yeah I am thinking about a girl. Have you ever met the girl from the Make-A-Wish foundation?" House thought for a moment and then said, "Wait, which one, the funny one or the freakishly tall one?"
James then said, "Yeah the hot, funny one and her name is Lorelai. She was here meeting with a family earlier. You won't believe what happened." Again House cocked his head at James and said, "What did she sprout another head or something?" Wilson smiled and said, "No! She hit on me." Greg laughed loudly and said, "Oh my God, are you kidding me? A girl hit on you before you could hit on her! Are you losing your touch Jimmy boy? Wait a minute, how old is she? Are you sure she is of legal age, you know how Cuddy gets about under age girls!" This caused James to roll his eyes and say, "God, House, shut up. She has to be like 30 or around there, I am not exactly sure how old she is, but trust me – she is legal. And no I haven't lost my touch; I was getting ready to ask her if she wanted to get some coffee or something when she asked if I would like to go out for dinner tonight. I was floored, but totally accepted. How could I refuse, she is amazing."
House smiled at his best friend's assessment of the girl and said, "Well at least this time you won't have to cut the date short to get home to your wife!" Greg's usual jibe at James's marital history fully pulled James from his daydream and he said, "I didn't have an affair. Julie had slept with that guy before I could even think about looking at another woman. And you can't say that it isn't true, because we hadn't slept together in over two months when she told me that she was pregnant."
James's sharp dose of the facts of past relationships stopped House's joking. He studied his friend's face a moment longer and said, "So you are going out with this girl tonight then?" Wilson again smiled and said, "Yeah, I'm meeting her at 8 at that new place called 'Restoration'. Have you been there?" House shook his head and said, "No, but I heard Chase talking about taking Cameron there, sounds pretty cool."
That night as James walked out of the hospital and across the parking lot to his car he thought of all the things he could possibly talk about with Lorelai. The more he thought, the more he felt like the unpopular kid back in high school who could only talk about science. But that was really all his life consisted of, his patients at the hospital and any research he did for the oncology department. Nothing he thought of sounded good enough to talk about with the amazing woman he was meeting. Even as he started the car and buckled himself in, James couldn't come up with anything worthy.
Shortly James pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and slowly rolled to a stop in front of the valet parking station. He climbed out of the car and handed his keys to the too young valet. In his head James thought, 'How old is that kid? He only looks 17; I hope he just looks really young.' When the young man spoke he said, "Thank you Doctor, I will take good care of your car." James was slightly taken aback when he heard himself being called 'doctor' and looked down at his coat. He saw that his jacket was hanging open and his hospital badge was in clear view. Smiling as he blushed, James reached up and snatched off his badge. He then said, "Thanks," grabbed his valet ticket and took off towards the doors to the restaurant.
Lorelai stood just inside the restaurant's bar watching the door for the man she had bravely asked out for dinner. She had only just today seen how wonderful James was as he interacted with his patients. Anyone that spoke of him said that his bedside manner was one that should be studied; he was such a gentle and calming spirit. The adult patients were always praising his efforts and the children loved how hard James worked to make their time in the hospital at least somewhat fun. He would encourage families to bring in familiar items from home. James would sit with the younger patients and play countless games with them, teach them magic tricks, and even read them stories.
Looking up slightly she spotted James walking in the door to the bar. He glanced around the room quickly looking for her, but apparently missed her. It wasn't unexpected because the bar was filled with people lingering around the bar itself. She gently pushed her way through the many people making their way in the opposite direction, Lorelai eventually found her way to James. He was still looking around the room for her when Lorelai reached out and touched James's arm. Jumping slightly James spun around to face her and smiled widely after realizing it was her.
Lorelai returned the smile and said, "Hey, sorry about how busy it is. I thought it would be quieter since it is a Tuesday, but I guess I was wrong." James shook his head and said, "No, its fine, why don't we see if our table is ready?" Lorelai nodded silently and they walked back to the lobby towards the maitre'd. James quietly waited for the man to finish his phone call and when asked he then replied, "Yes, we have a reservation for 2 under James Wilson."
They were only made to wait a few minutes when the maitre'd turned to them and said, "Your table is now ready, follow me please." James & Lorelai both followed the man and when they arrived at the table James beat the waiter to the back of Lorelai's chair and held it out for her. As she lowered herself into the chair Lorelai turned slightly and looked up at James blushing lightly and said, "Why thank you, it has been a long time since anyone has done that for me." Smiling James said, "Seriously? I think it would be rude not to." Then when Lorelai turned her glance back towards the table James rolled his eyes at his own remarkably lame comment and thought, 'Oh my god! Did I actually just say that?'
For the next few hours James & Lorelai spent talking about almost every topic they knew. Each was privately surprised at how fast they opened up to the other and told them intimate details they had never shared on any other date. James told Lorelai about why he had chosen to become an oncologist. Lorelai had a similar story of why she wanted to work with sick children. They had both lost very good friends as children and had been so inspired by the lengths; the doctor in James's case and the charity workers in Lorelai's, that they had gone to, to be there for the families.
They also talked about how in high school neither was very popular and were considered pretty nerdy. James, more so, because he was involved in science fairs and researching things; Lorelai was just the quiet kid who everyone ignored and she spent a lot of her time in the library reading. James thought it was cute that Lorelai still had a childlike attitude about things and could see how perfect of a quality it was for her job. She used it to make every aspect of the trips she arranged for the clients the most fun they could possibly have.
Lorelai lit up every time she discussed getting to see a child's smile when they found out what they were going to do on their trip. It reminded James of a child on Christmas morning seeing that they got exactly what they had asked for. He smiled and asked, "You are just a big kid aren't you?" Lorelai blushed deeply and said, "Yes, but I love getting to make these kids happy, even if it has to be one of the last fun things they get to do."
James discussed how he loved the will his younger patients had. He looked full of wonder as he said, "It's just like they have this built in fight. That is why I hate it when there is absolutely nothing else I can do for them and I see that fire in their eyes go out." Lorelai watched him as he told her about his patients and could understand exactly how he felt.
It was almost 11 when one of the waiters came over to the table and said, "I'm sorry, but we are going to be closing soon and I need to ask you to leave." James was surprised and looked at his watch to check the time and said, "Oh my God, Lore. It's almost 11. I haven't stayed at a restaurant until closing time in a very long time." Then after realizing what he had called her James looked up at her, blushed and said, "Oh God, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call you that…" Lorelai smiled widely and said, "James stop, I think I like hearing you call me that. I haven't had anyone refer to me as Lore since I was in high school. Come on, let's get going."
Relieved that he hadn't upset her, James grabbed the bill from the table and stood. As he waited for Lorelai to gather her things and put them back into what he assumed at first was a purse, but then after looking a bit closer discovered it wasn't a purse at all. Curiosity getting the better of him James asked, "What is going on with that purse or whatever that thing is?" Lore again smiled and said, "No, it's not a purse! I can't stand purses – makes me feel like my mother. I know it looks unprofessional or whatever, but I like having a messenger bag better. I can't help it! My college-self won't let go and I have to keep it. My mother keeps sending me purses for my birthday or Christmas or whatever, but I refuse to use it – it just pisses her off."
James laughed as they headed for the door and said, "Well then it sounds like I should just call you 'kid'." Lore blushed again and said, "I think I like that too."
Next Chapter: a few months later