Chasing Grace:
The Call
…
Unnecessary disclaimer: None of the characters or storylines appearing in the TV show "House, M. D." belong to me.
Abstract: Follows Saving Grace. The four members of the House family each embark on a personal journey, and grow together as a family.
…
"Greg, can you get the phone?" Allison House called from the kitchen.
Greg House rolled his eyes, but complied. She couldn't see his eye roll from the other room anyways. "Hello?" he said gruffly.
"Hey Dad," crackled a voice across the line.
House pulled the phone away from his ear and called out to his wife of over twenty-five years, "Allison, I think you want to take this call."
"Greg, I'm busy," she scolded.
"Just come in here and get the phone!" House called back in annoyance.
He heard a rather loud sigh from her before she appeared in the doorway. "You really can't take care of this one?"
He smirked. "Believe me, you want to take this call," he said, handing the phone to his wife.
"Hello?" Cameron answered, taking the phone from her husband. She listened for a moment and then squealed with delight, her face lighting up entirely. House grinned, watching her.
"Ben! How are you? Where are you? I miss you!" Cameron said affectionately into the phone, hanging onto it as if it were a lifeline.
"I'm doing great, Mom," crackled the voice across the distant connection. "I miss you too. I'm in Edinburgh. That's where I've spent the past month."
"When are you coming home?" Cameron asked zealously. This was the first time she'd been separated from her son for longer than a month or so at a time.
"I don't know. I still have plenty of Grandma Blythe's money left."
"And yet, we're still paying his cell phone bill," House cracked.
When House's mother had died, she passed the majority of her assets on to her grandchildren, with her express wishes for them to travel the world with it. With his parents' blessing, Ben was spending several months in England and Scotland just after his graduation from college. He was planning on entering medical school when he came home, although he wasn't sure yet when that would be.
"You must be having a great time there if you're still not ready to come home," Cameron mused with a smile.
"That's why I'm calling, Mom," Ben said.
Cameron's smile turned slightly bewildered. "What do you mean by that?"
"Mom, I…" he trailed off. "I want to stay. I want to go to med school here."
Cameron went pale. House reached around her waist and pulled her down to sit beside him. He leaned close to her to see if he could hear what Ben was saying that had disturbed Cameron so.
"You still there?" Ben asked, after a long silence.
"Yes, Ben," she said. "I just don't know what to say."
"I love it here, Mom. It's a beautiful country, and they have good schools, too. I, uh," he paused. "I met someone."
"Is that what this is about?" Cameron asked. "Ben, baby, you can't build your entire life around another person, especially at this stage!" she argued passionately.
House quirked an eyebrow. Says the woman who married at 21, he thought.
"Medical school is a big decision, not one you want to make based on a crush," she continued.
"This isn't a crush," Ben interjected. "Mom, she's…" he trailed off, at a loss for words. "I want you to meet her."
"Why don't you bring her home for a visit?" Cameron asked, brightening already at the idea of him coming home, if even for a little while.
"She can't leave right now because of school," Ben's voice came across the line. "Why don't you come here?"
"We'll think about it, Ben," Cameron said with a sigh. "We need to wrap this up—I have food on the stove. Want to say hi to your father?"
"Nah, he probably wouldn't be able to hear me anyway," Ben said jokingly.
"Hey!" House said, jokingly offended. His ear had been pressed up close to the other side of the receiver ever since Cameron had sat down.
"Oh, guess the old fart's ears are still working. Hey, Dad," Ben said.
"I'm not talking to you," House said in a childish tone.
Cameron laughed. "Okay, we better go. I don't want to burn the house down! Love you, Ben."
"Love you too, Mom. Bye."
Cameron sighed as she hung up the phone. "You heard most of that, right?"
House nodded. "Our son is an idiot."
Cameron shook her head. "I think…" she began, trailing off. "I think he may really be in love with her," she finished, a wistful look on her face.
"Of course he's not," House said firmly. "He'll get over it, we'll get him home, and he'll go to med school here, where he belongs."
Cameron didn't look so sure.
House shook the bottle before popping off the lid and dropping a single pill into his hand. He examined the pill. White and oblong, such a small thing that had such a great impact on his life.
Ever since the fateful discovery, he had been looking up alternative options to the vicodin. He had already completed physical therapy years ago, when the kids were young, reducing his intake significantly, but that was not enough. Lesser painkillers were not an option—the strength of the vicodin was what allowed him to function. He considered methadone, as he had used once before, but that had dulled his diagnostic abilities as well as coming with it's own package of potential dangers. He was old enough to retire, but diagnostics was his lifeblood. The only other seemingly viable option was a newer, experimental version of the ketamine treatment he had attempted so many years before. And this held no guarantee.
He looked over to see his wife sleeping beside him, still beautiful after all these years. He hadn't told her anything yet. She would only worry. House wondered what he would tell her, and when. He hadn't decided yet, but he couldn't wait forever. His time was running out.
…
