Up to now it had actually been kind of cute: the hotel, the hookers, the monster truck (sure he'd bitched to Cuddy bout it, but when he and House took it to that empty parking lot outside of town, well it was "teenage boy" fun) even the Sedgeway and the new wife were fun. The Cannonball , not so much, but OK he got it. All part of the manic response to a depressing situation.
The crash was coming, And when it did Wilson wanted instant access to the apartment, to his friend.
And here we go! He's on the floor, muttering something, he's moving his good leg, so not dead yet.
Wilson went over simultaneously checking for a pulse and pulling a penlight from his inner breast pocket. Pupils bad, but he'd seen them worse. No sign House knows he's there. Just more mumbling. OK not critical, not yet. Wilson went to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. It was going to be a long night, might as well make a sandwich too,.
Tbe phone started ringing, didn't matter, Even if it was the team, House would be useless to them at this point, Let it ring.
"Mom, mom. It's OK I took the pills"
"Shit" Wilson yelled across the room "get the hell off the damned phone" Now he's running.
"Yeah, I took them all, It'll be a good night. He'll be OK. I took them all" House's voice had a robot quality, not one he normally got when he wasn't normal.
Wilson grabbed the phone,
"Mrs. House, yeah it's James. I am so sorry, He's a bit drunk, We had party at work and ...Oh yeah, I'll stay with him tonight, Ah, no I'm fine I was the designated driver."
Hand pinching nose, eyes shut, not wanting to say it, but
"I just," a moment's hesitation "the pills he keeps talking about,. Do you have any idea what he means? Did he have to take pills..."
Lips pressed together, eyes opened looking at House sitting on the floor looking up at him.
"No, its just as his doctor if there was some kind of health issue as a kid, then I...Of course, I'm sure its just the scotch,. Yes, I'll be here all night with him. ...No, not a problem,. I'll call if there is. Yeah, you're welcomed"
He hung up,.
"You're mad" House's voice, what the hell was with that voice,
Wilson sat on the floor across from his friend, and he saw it in his eyes, fear, What the hell was his maturity level right now? eight maybe nine years old. That was the voice of a child, a child afraid he's in the wrong.
"Why are you mad? I did good...I"
Wilson cut him off, this he could not take. A smile the best he could manage,. "I'm not mad at you. You did great. You took all the pills, right? Like Mom told you to, right?"
A hesitant nod, a child not really sure he is safe yet.
"Right. it'll be OK tonight" House looking away, out the window at something.
"yeah, you did good,. The pills, you remember what Mom calls them?"
Now a big smile, this he knows, "Valleys they're Valleys"
Valium, sure, Easy to get, Ritalin not available back then, and certainly not in the out of the way places the Houses called home after home after home. Valium the perfect way to deal with an overactive kid. especially if you had an on the edge husband,
What had House always said, "Mom likes to avoid conflict"
And so she had.
And so he cried, softly. Wilson always cries softly.