Author Notes: I know it's been a while, and I barely have anything to show for the two weeks since my last post...this is just something to keep me going (and keep you reading fingers crossed) while I try to sort myself out for the start of yet another school year. Reviews much obliged! They'll get more chapters up sooner :-P. And I promise chapter 3 will be much longer...

Disclaimer: I still don't own House, never will, and (through many steps) I have accepted it. Quite reluctantly.

Second Time's the Charm - Chapter 2

House was shaken by the ding of the elevator as he reached the landing. He hobbled up two more steps and peeked from behind the wall to see Wilson ask for Cuddy at the lobby desk. The tracker was beeping madly now. House fumbled to silence it, pinning his cane with his arm to his body while trying to find the switch. "House!!" Everything dropped with a nervous crash, and House looked up the stairs to see an angry Foreman glaring down at him. Uh-oh. He knew he should have splurged for a second tracking device.

"I don't even want to know what you're doing. Just go up to your department and do your job." Foreman sounded more like a disappointed, disgruntled employee than the intimidating figure House expected. After he saw that Foreman had passed him and turned the corner, House let out a breath that he didn't even know he had been holding. Then, Foreman tossed words over his shoulder that made House's blood run cold. "You know…you can't hide from Wilson forever."

How did he know I'm hiding from Wilson?

Everyone knew. Not that House had made Cuddy place a harmless, ol' sensor on the back of Wilson's ID and made sure he was at least five feet away from it at all times. But they could have figured out why he wouldn't want to face Wilson. Within two months, word had spread around Princeton-Plainsboro about Amber. Wilson related the story of how the irresponsible and selfish Dr. Gregory House went for drinks with his best friend's girlfriend, led her onto the bus which was doomed to be hit by a speeding truck, and let her die under his care. Only people who voluntarily talked to House (which happened to be seven people in the whole hospital) knew the truth. Wilson had everyone else convinced that it was House's fault.

Rumors about House and Wilson flew around the place faster than paperwork was ever filed. House could tell what all the nurses were thinking as they shot him piercing stares.

"You don't rest until you save a stranger's life…but you can't take care of a person who would have done anything to work for you."

"Wilson puts up with you everyday. And that's how you reward him, huh?"

"Here. You dropped these."

Wait. That last one sounded like a real voice. House blinked, yanked himself from his depressing thoughts, and noticed a woman holding his cane and a broken, little black box towards him. He reached out for them slowly, still a little dazed. Before he had recollected himself enough to say thanks, she walked down the stairs, glancing back to give him a friendly smile. House couldn't help smiling back. It was almost by instinct. There was a certain sparkle in her eyes when she saw him smile back that was…enchanting. He remembered the box in his hand and looked down to see how much damage the handheld monitor took from the drop. "Ugh. It's probably broken," he muttered to himself. All of a sudden, House heard a rumble and a crash. The girl who had picked up his cane fell down the last half flight of stairs and lay there on the floor unconscious.