Just thought I'd do a write-up on the way I imagine House and Wilson will be living as clapped out but loved up geriatrics, so here goes… ;-)
My stories are set about 30 years into the future from now, so House is in his early eighties and Wilson is in his early seventies. They got together about 20 years ago and live in a lovely third floor apartment off the less busy part of Nassau Street. With one glaring exception, they get on well with their neighbours, though they occasionally knock and tell House to turn down the music. They share Wilson's Volvo, and are financially comfortable enough to have fun together, though, between stupid decisions and alimony payments, by no means rich. They're honorary grandfathers to Rachel's daughter Gina and love her to bits. Gina is also the reason why they're now owned by a cat, a big, red rescue tom, who flatly refuses to answer to the name of Henry unless there is tuna involved. She gave him to House as a present when, just after his second hip surgery, he was hardly able to leave the sofa, so he wouldn't get lonely when Wilson was out. Henry is a fairly docile, cuddly cat who enjoys Wilson's cooking just as much as his human acquaintances. Between friends, family and cat, House and Wilson are by and large enjoying their old age.
House has had two hip replacements on the left, one in his early sixties and one two years ago. He didn't really bother with a proper rehab after the second one, cos he didn't see the point at his age, so he mostly gets around with a walker now, and - hesitantly - uses a wheelchair for longer distances. He sold his last motorbike five years ago when he realised that the fun he got out of an hour's ride on Friday was usually followed by a three day recovery period. He misses it, but, hey-ho, life's got to go on. After a major scare when he woke up with bright yellow sclera one fine morning ten years ago, House has been clean. He's still taking it a day at a time, though, and gets fierce cravings for narcotics under stress. His liver has taken a hit from the decades of abuse and he has regular check-ups with a hepatologist for what looks to be a fairly static case of cirrhosis. That still hasn't stopped him drinking, though, but he's certainly got more careful, never going beyond five units a week. For pain management, he uses a vast array of non-narcotic prescriptions and a spinal implant, and to keep himself functioning emotionally he takes Lamictal. He also still enjoys the occasional cigarette when Wilson is not looking. He retired at 65 on the dot, and outside Wilson has retained Foreman and Cuddy (with whom he'll make up about five years from now) as friends from his working life. He's now firm friends with Stacy, who he occasionally goes up to see in New York, and is also quite close to Danny. His joys in life are still the same as they've always been, Wilson's cooking, spectator sports, books, gadgets and music. He's mellowed a bit with age, rather owing to resignation than wisdom. He's now mostly bald, with white leftovers, still only shaves once a week and still dresses for comfort rather than style unless the occasion demands otherwise. As age and disease have made him more susceptible to cold than he used to be, that usually means a fleece, jeans and Timberlands
Wilson retired five years ago, but runs a monthly clinic for a local cancer charity as a volunteer. He's still the same warm, caring guy he's always been, but in the meantime has learned that occasionally it's just better to leave people in a crisis alone and wait till they're ready to talk. His mornings aren't complete without House's coffee and he takes Zoloft for and the occasional Valium for his emotional issues. House's messiness still drives him up the wall, but as long as he keeps to the agreed boundaries – top of the piano and his half of the closet – he grins and bears it. He generally looks after his health, keeping fit with gym and tennis, but also likes his food as much as ever, so can't exactly be called lean. He still dresses more conservatively than House, favouring chinos, chunky sweaters and deckshoes. His relationship with Danny still hasn't quite healed, which is something that drives House round the bend. He looks younger than his age and has retained his thick mop of hair, only it's almost white now. He also wears varifocals full time.
Cuddy retired a couple of months before Wilson and is enjoying the life of a retired single lady of independent means, with the occasional boyfriend and annual trips to Europe. She's back in Princeton, largely because, by pure chance, Rachel ended up going to university there and has a beautiful house in Cranbury. There is as much sexual tension between her and House as there's always been, and she still dresses in a way that not many women of her age and position could pull off.
Stacy is long widowed and has a small apartment in Gramercy Park. House occasionally goes up to see her and they do things together that Wilson just wouldn't see the point of, like going to the opera. They've worked through their issues with each others and emerged as firm friends. Both have never quite shed their regrets about what happened to their relationship.
Foreman has recently retired and is married to Jada, a midwife who is still working part time. She's a warm, motherly person with a tough, no nonsense streak that comes through in a crisis. She and Foreman complement each other well and are both practicing Christians. They are parents to Luther, who is in his late twenties and currently qualifying as a nephrologist at UPMC, and Michelle, who is three years younger and doing her medical internship with MSF in Chad. Luther and his wife Amelia have recently made Foreman and Jada proud grandparents to baby Nathan.
Rachel is currently setting up her own architecture practice and is mother to Gina, who was the result of an accident after her university graduation party. Basically, she and the guy had both been stood up by her dates and decided to take matters in her own hands. She is still in touch with Gina's father, but they both live their own lives and indeed he has recently started his official family so to speak. Rachel has just emerged from a five year relationship and is currently quite enjoying being single. She very much sees House and Wilson as father figures in her life, and insisted House be in the room with her when Gina was born because she figured it would make the pain seem more survivable. She absolutely thinks of both of them as Gina's grandfathers.
Danny lives a fairly quiet and contented life in Queens. He indulges in all sorts of intellectual pursuits in his personal life, and is semi-retired, spending his working time as a landscaper with the Department of Parks and Recreation, because he's found that kind of work is doing his head good. He has a small circle of good friends and is serially unlucky in love, because he always manages to fall in love with women who can't seem to cope with the realities of schizophrenia, so as soon as he has a psychotic attack they're off like a rat through an aqueduct. That said, he hasn't got many of those these days, between better medication and having come to a point of reasonable stability in his life. They happen about every three years.
Alvie is still as nuts as he's ever been and therefore still in and out of hospital most of the time. He would like to entertain a closer friendship with House than the latter considers a good idea, so occasionally bounces back into his life unannounced and at breakneck speed.
Lydia has recently retired and moved back to Germany. The usual post-retirement stocktaking meant she decided it was time to get back in touch.
So much about the people we more or less know from the telly, and here are the ones that will only enter House and Wilson's life long after the end of the series:
Gina – full name Gina Elizabeth Blythe Cuddy – is seven years old and in first grade. She's a bright, inquisitive little girl who adores her Grampa and her uncle Greg. For no good reason, she looks quite a bit like Wilson, meaning that a lot of people think they're actually related. She comes to stay the weekend with House and Wilson once a month and has herself spoiled rotten then. Her best friends are Meera, whose family came over from India two years ago when her mom was appointed to a fellowship at the university, and Rosie, whose actual name is Rozalia and whose family are recent immigrants from Poland. Her nemesis is Billy Codswaller, the first grade bully. Gina loves music, cats and pineapple juice and wants to be psychiatrist when she grows up.
Ella Kaminiski, widow of the late Abe Kaminiski who owned a Deli on Witherspoon Street, is in her late seventies and lives across the hall from House and Wilson. She gets on well with both of them and shares House's passion for music, so House will occasionally amble across to her place for Beethoven and sneaky cigarettes. She also has a bit of a crush on Wilson and occasionally goes out with him, for dancing or tennis. Her family all live out of state and she usually spends her holidays there.
Gary and Jane Carver are a newly-wed couple who live in the apartment straight underneath our heroes. Jane thinks they're an adorable old couple and wants herself and Gary to grow old the same way, but Gary is a radiographer at PPTH and has heard a lot of stories from that old Australian surgeon that make him think that maybe these guys are maybe not so adorable after all below the surface.
The Reverend Gavin Wright lives across the hall from the Carvers and is a total pain in the ass. He's a hardcore evangelical preacher in his late thirties whose views make him run a harassment campaign against House and Wilson. None of the neighbours likes him.
Matty and Jack – full names Matthew Jong Cho and John Padhraic O'Sullivan – are second year medical students who share the apartment underneath the Carvers. They were floored when they realised who they're sharing an apartment building with and occasionally come up for informal tutorials, for which the Reverend is convinced they pay in sexual favours. House and Wilson both enjoy these – honestly sexfree and purely academic – sessions, cos they're bright kids and tutoring them keeps their brains in gear, not to mention that House went around in a haze of intolerable smugness for about six weeks when they passed their first year diagnostics exams as first and second of their class. They're all on first name terms with each other and maintain a loose friendship. Matty keeps a ferret whose smell occasionally makes people wonder what they hell is going on in their apartment.
The Garrisons, Tom, Jenna and their 12-year-old son Ben, live in the other ground floor apartment. Tom and Jenna are both in their mid-thirties and Tom is a self-employed handyman who also carries out the janitorial duties around the building. Jenna works part time as a dental nurse and is a friendly, pragmatic woman who comes up to the old folks every two days to check if they're ok and if there's anything she can do to help. Ben is really a nice kid, but has just hit puberty, so he's beginning to kick out a bit. They keep a West Highland White terrier called Spiffy.
Mrs Krummbichler – first name Jacqueline – is in her mid-fifties and originally from Erfurt, Germany. She came over to the US with her husband Stephan when they were both in their twenties and is the best cleaner House and Wilson have ever had. She's under strict instructions not to touch the mess on top of the piano, which she keeps to in an admirable manner, and not to ever move House's emergency painkiller stash on his nightstand, which she unfortunately doesn't always keep to. On the whole, she's a nice, kind woman and she occasionally swaps recipes with Wilson.
Adrian Gimignano is an Italian-American lawyer who suddenly finds himself in the unfortunate position of being House's attorney about what might just be the stupidest criminal case in American history since some kid in the 17th century was sentenced to death for having sex with a turkey. He's straight and married with two kids, but doesn't come across that way.
Well, I think that's it. Here's hoping you enjoy their interactions! ;-)