AN: I apologize if any of the medical information is wrong, I am not a doctor nor a nurse. Please review and let me know what you think!
Chapter 1:
Dr. James Wilson leaned against the front of his desk, half sitting half leaning, while he prepared himself to tell the Richardsons that Mrs. Richardson's cancer was back but in a different area. If another person had been observing the exchange all they would have seen is a handsome doctor whose body language was relaxed, like it was a conversation with a friend, and the only thing that gave him away was the compassion and sadness in his beautiful chocolate brown eyes. He hated giving patients this kind of news but as an oncologist he had to do it often, the only thing that differed was the reaction he got. Sometimes it was anger, sometimes it was sadness and more often than not it was pure shock.
He watched as none of them registered on Mrs. Richardson's face. The only emotions he saw there were understanding and resignation. She nodded while he told her the diagnosis and treatments and smiled, thanking him for his help. Her husband however was another matter. Mr. Richardson grew angrier and angrier while Wilson talked and after he finished he had jumped up and took a swing at the doctor, his blow landing hard on Wilson's cheek, snapping his head back and to the right.
Wilson saw stars for a few seconds when throbbing pain in his cheek became more prominent. He didn't have time to prepare for the second blow which landed on the same spot snapping his head back once again, twisting his back as he lightly bounced off the desk and crumpled to the ground. The oncologist cried out as pain shot through his back and in his ankle, vaguely aware of Mr. Richardson yelling at him while kicking him.
"You sonofabitch! You cut out part of her ovaries and then her breasts and you didn't even get it all!" He exclaimed while he alternated punching and kicking. "What are you gonna do now? There's nothing left to take!"
"Paul stop! Please, it's not his fault!" his wife yelled at him pleadingly while trying desperately to pull her husband off of her doctor.
Wilson lay on the floor trying to curl himself into a ball to keep more pain from coming, completely unaware of what was going on around him. When the blows finally stopped, he tried to control his breathing to keep from getting sick while looking around. He could tell he was close to passing out but he wanted to see why the man stopped, hoping that someone had come to his rescue. Just before darkness claimed him he saw the figure of a man with a cane standing in the doorway of the balcony and two other men standing in the doorway of his office door.
House had been in the conference room with the ducklings avoiding Cuddy and trying to look busy when he heard a thud from Wilson's office quickly followed by a cry of pain. He was immediately on his feet heading for his office, and essentially the balcony, when he also heard a man yelling and a woman pleading. That sent Chase and Foreman, who were both still sitting down trying to decide if they should follow, running to the door of Wilson's office.
They all arrived in time to see the woman pull the man off the oncologist who was on the floor curled in a ball against his desk. The man was panting like he'd just run a mile, his fist slightly bloody and deeply bruised but the look on his face was a mixture of anger and shock. The woman had begun to kneel next to Wilson with nothing but grief and guilt on her face.
"Is there a problem here?" House's gruff voice asked. Just looking at him you'd think he was relaxed but Chase could see the rage in his ice blue eyes and hear the fury in his voice.
The man just stood there dumfounded but the woman, obviously his wife, who hadn't gotten up from inspecting Wilson, spoke. "Please get a doctor, Dr. Wilson's hurt."
"Yeah, that usually happens when you let a man who is easily 100lbs bigger attack him. Back away." House replied, his voice going from mocking to growling. "Chase, check on Wilson. Foreman take this man and his wife to security."
Chase immediately went to check on Wilson, hoping the older doctor wasn't too terribly injured. He wasn't particularly close to the oncologist but he did care about him and hated to see him in pain. He checked Wilson's pupils, breathing a sigh of relief when they reacted to the light, and then moved on to checking for broken bones, grimacing when he felt a few of Wilson's ribs give.
He didn't get any further as Wilson groaned when he pressed on a tender spot and House pushed him out of the way and slowly knelt down next to him. Chase stood up and stepped back, knowing that he wasn't needed at the moment.
"Wilson." House softly called, trying to keep any emotion from his voice while he knelt next to his lover.
Wilson groaned and grimaced while slowly opening his eyes, glancing around the room until they landed on House. "House?"
"Yeah, you really got to learn to sit behind your desk when you're giving bad news." House lectured even though it came out more like a plea. "You ok?"
"Peachy." Wilson replied just before groaning again.
"Yeah, I can see that." House quipped. "Can you get up? This floor isn't all that comfortable for my leg and I'd like to be able to get through the day without it seizing up on me."
Wilson grimaced, "Sorry." He replied, knowing full well that wasn't the reason House wanted him off the floor. "You didn't have to join me down here though you know?" He countered.
House snorted, "Then who'd help you off the floor?"
"I kind of like it down here. It's comfy." Wilson quipped lightly but began trying to roll onto his hands and knees, groaning and growling when he felt his ribs groan and his back scream in protest. He tried to keep going but soon stopped, panting in pain.
House felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He knew that growl and it wasn't good. "What's wrong?"
"My back hurts, must've hurt it when I fell." He panted, waiting for the pain to settle down from a scream to a grumble.
"Alright, where else are you hurt? Besides your face and ribs, we already know about them. You'll have to stay away from your bald headed kids for awhile, you'll scare them if you show up looking like a mugging victim." House asked. His thigh was bitching at him for his position on the floor but it didn't compare to the stabbing pain he felt in his heart when he saw Wilson in pain.
Wilson lay still for a while, trying to decide where else he hurt. It wasn't an easy task, he felt like one big bruise but there were areas that stood out more. His head pounded unmercifully in time with his heartbeat, his back seared with throbbing pain and his side burned. House already knew about those so he tried to ignore them and wait for any other area to announce itself. Immediately he felt his ankle begin to throb as painfully as his back. "Ankle." He replied, hissing as a fresh wave of pain swept through his body.
"Which one?" House asked sounding annoyed. "You have two you know."
"The bad one." Wilson replied, not wanting to try to spend more time trying to remember his left from his right. He had trouble remembering when he wasn't in excruciating pain let alone when he was.
House nodded, knowing which one Wilson meant. Back when they first met, Wilson had sprained his right ankle really badly and had been forced to use crutches until it could bear weight. He had started bearing weight earlier than he was told, however, and didn't bother trying to rehab it claiming he was too busy with his patients. It resulted in a weak ankle and dozens of sprains ranging in severity along with his uneven gait which almost always matched House's seamlessly.
He maneuvered himself down by Wilson's legs, gently straightening the younger doctor out, trying to ignore the small whimpers of pain the action brought. Chase handed him a pillow that House took from him without acknowledging him and placed it under Wilson's knees to try to keep some pressure off his back. He untied Wilson's shoe and gently as he could pulled it off. It wasn't easy to be gentle however as the ankle and foot were badly swollen making it hard to get the shoe off. Wilson groaned and hissed but otherwise made no sound which made House thankful. He hated hurting Wilson more and each pained sound that came from the oncologist broke House's heart.
Once he got the shoe off he pulled the sock off and began to examine the injured joint. The ankle and foot were swollen the size of a softball and deep bruising was already forming. House knew they should put an ice pack on the ankle to keep it from swelling more but he didn't have one so he place his freezing cold hands around it instead and turned to Chase. "Go get an ice pack, a cup of water and some Tylenol 3."
Chase disappeared without a second thought and came back with the requested items and Foreman who had dropped off the patient and her husband with security and grabbed a wheelchair. Chase handed the cup of water and the medicine to House and placed the ice pack over Wilson's ankle and foot.
House scooted up to Wilson's upper body. "Here," he said while handing the pain medicine to him, "we need to move you and it's going to hurt. I'd rather not have you screaming like a girl while we do it."
Wilson took the medicine while glaring at House. The effect of the glare was dampened by the pain and fondness that reflected in his eyes. He knew House wasn't giving him the medicine to keep him from "screaming like a girl" (though he probably would have), it was because House couldn't stand to see him in so much obvious pain and not be able to do anything about it. House placed a comforting hand on his lover's shoulder, gently massaging it. He wanted nothing more than to smother Wilson with gentle kisses and caresses but he knew now was not the time. He'd wait until after they got Wilson checked out, wrapped and drugged up, and at home.
Once the medicine took effect, Chase and Foreman helped Wilson into the wheelchair, placing a pillow behind his back to help keep pressure off his ribs and back and under his ankle. While they helped Wilson, House called his secretary and told her to cancel Wilson's appointments until Monday, figuring that 5 days would be plenty of time for Wilson to heal enough to be more mobile.
Chase and Foreman wheeled Wilson to get X-Rays and an MRI while House headed down to Cuddy's office to inform her about what was going on and that he and Wilson would need the next 5 days to a week off. This would be fun!
Cuddy was sitting at her desk, filling out paperwork when she noticed House walking through the doors. "No." she said immediately figuring that was the correct answer to whatever he wanted.
"You don't even know what I was going to say. How do you know I wasn't going to ask to work the clinic?" House countered and followed up with a sigh when he received an I know you glare in response. "Fine, Wilson and I need to have the next week off."
"Why?" Cuddy asked, her tone relaying her disinterest and skepticism.
"A patient attacked him, he's pretty beat up and I'll need to take care of him." House answered matter of factly. Having had some time to calm his emotions it was easier to relay nonchalance this time around.
"Oh my god! Is he alright?" She asked, finally bringing her head up from her paperwork, concern reflecting in her beautiful eyes.
"Yeah, nothing serious." House said, twirling his cane for something else to keep his mind on rather than his lover in pain. "A couple broken ribs, badly bruised cheek, black eye from the bruised cheek, back sprain and a bad ankle and foot sprain." He rattled off Wilson's list of injuries. He had been called by Chase and Foreman to update him while they got Wilson taken care of a settled for a bit.
"I see." Cuddy began while she bounced her pen between her fingers. "Fine, you can have a week. Wilson can have longer if he needs it but YOU will need to be back here by then. I don't care if you don't have a case or that Wilson is your boyfriend, the clinic needs you to be here."
"But mom! How am I supposed to do the whole "concerned boyfriend" thing if I'm not around?" House complained just for the sake of annoying her. He knew a week would be long enough for Wilson to take care of himself if he felt like he wouldn't be able to return to work, however he also knew that Wilson wouldn't want to be away from his bald headed cancer kids that long so he wouldn't have to worry about it.
"You'll just have to do your best with the week you've been given." Cuddy countered sweetly. "Now shut up and go to your room" she finished, the words sounding more like she was joking than serious.
"Sounds like a great idea, I'll just go get Wilson and we'll go home." House stood up and limped out of her office before Cuddy had a chance to say anything else.
Cuddy sat, staring at his retreating back, the smile that had been threatening to break through creeping onto her face. It still stung at times that House had chosen Wilson over her but seeing both men as happy as they are, eased the sting from that of a burn to that of a paper cut. It warmed her heart to see Wilson smile genuinely, something she hadn't seen since Amber, and even more so to see House smile genuinely, something she hadn't seen ever. Plus, she had Lucas who is a great guy and a wonderful father to Rachel, something she could never see House being.
She tried to keep a straight, disinterested face while House was here but it was very hard. She saw how his demeanor went from relaxed to agitated when he went from informing her of time off to informing her about Wilson's injuries. She knew that he didn't have to worry about "doing the concerned boyfriend thing" because he IS the concerned boyfriend, whether he'd admit it or not. Even before he and House got together, Wilson was the only one who could get any sort of emotion out of House, especially concern. For the longest time she didn't think that he actually cared about Wilson but when Wilson went through with the LDLT to save Tucker, House was there every step of the way even though he told Wilson he wouldn't be.
She went back to doing her paperwork knowing full well that she didn't have to worry about Wilson while he was in House's care.
Before House went to his office to grab his stuff he stopped in Wilson's office to check on him, wanting to make sure that he was ok for right now. He walked in quietly not surprised that the door was unlocked since his staff knew he was injured and not to bother him for the next week.
Wilson was lying on his couch, a pillow below his knees, taking pressure off his lower back, and a couple more pillows stacked under his right ankle which is now heavily bandaged. A dark bruise covering the left side of his face from his prominent and beautiful cheek to his gorgeous puppy dog brown eyes. His brow is furrowed with pain and a grimaced chiseled on his handsome features.
House's breath caught in his throat and he felt a stab of pain in his heart when he saw Wilson lying on the couch looking fragile. How could anyone do this to Wilson? House knew humans are violent towards each other but how could anyone be violent towards Wilson? He's as gentle as a kitten and he cares about each and every one of his patients like they were personally related to him. House felt a surge of protectiveness and anger flare up so he quietly closed the door and escaped to his own office to get ready to leave for the day and discuss things with Chase before he left.
He poked his head in the conference room to find that Chase was the only one in there. He took two seconds to wonder where the others were before saying, "Chase, my office." and leaving to begin to pack up for the week.
"What's up?" came the familiar Australian accent.
"What medications is Wilson on and do I need to stop by the Pharmacy to get them?" House asked quickly.
"I've prescribed Ativan for his back and Tylenol 3 for the pain. He should have the two filled prescriptions with him already, I grabbed them for him while Foreman took him back to his office."
House merely nodded, only half listening. Ativan is used as a muscle relaxant which will help with the pain in Wilson's back but House wasn't sure if Tylenol 3 would cover for the rest. "Why not something stronger than 3?"
"He wouldn't let me give him anything stronger. He said he wouldn't need it."
"He's an idiot." House replied quickly.
"Maybe, but it's his decision." Chase said, crossing his arms in the I'm ready for a challenge kind of way that he does when he's firm in his decision. "Anyways, he seemed fine when I checked on him a few minutes ago so it seems the 3 is doing just fine for him."
House's head snapped up at that. There was no reason, in House's mind, for Chase checking on Wilson. "Why did you check on him?"
"I was worried about him and wanted to make sure that he was ok." Chase told him, sounding off handed. "You aren't the only one who cares about him House."
"Yes, because you two are SO close, I almost forgot." House quipped.
Chase sighed, "No we're not close but that doesn't mean that I don't care or consider him a friend." He countered. He stood there observing his boss's demeanor for a minute before cracking a wide smile. "Don't worry House, he's all yours and always will be."
House narrowed his eyes at the Australian doctor before he quickly grabbed his backpack and keys and limped out of his office. "Don't burn the place down while I'm gone!" he yelled out before he walked out the door and headed back to Wilson's office.