While House discussed the case down the hall, Wilson sat next to Marina's bed, holding her hand and beating himself up over allowing Marina and House to talk him out of getting her checked over. Marina was sleeping now; she was on medication for the symptoms she had displayed so far, but her fever was holding steady at 102.6. Wilson didn't remember the last time he'd felt this helpless. He'd felt scared, he'd felt nervous, and he'd felt upset when dealing with her before. But rarely did he ever feel like there was nothing he could do to help. But as House had pointed out, Marina was his daughter, and he needed to stay with her while House worked on treating her.

Wilson didn't know how long he'd been at the hospital, but the sun was going down now. Marina had been sleeping for a while. Wilson's mind had mostly been wandering. One particular memory stuck out.

Wilson made sure Marina was comfortable, sitting down and receiving her treatment before he walked into the hallway with Adele. Marina had been unusually quiet today, and Wilson wanted to find out why.

"Marina, we'll be in the hallway if you need us, okay?" Adele said.

"'Kay." Marina answered sadly.

Wilson and Adele walked out, Adele looking back at Marina. Wilson put his back to the wall back but made sure he could see Marina.

"What's going on with her?" Wilson asked.

"What do you mean?" Adele responded.

"Normally, she's happy, she's talking, she's playing. Today she's just kind of…"

"Sad?" Adele asked.

"Yeah." Wilson responded.

Adele sighed. "It's her sixth birthday."

Wilson was stunned. "What?"

Adele nodded. "Yeah. It's her birthday. Her first one without…"

"Without her parents." Wilson said. "Poor kid." He kicked himself mentally. He should have known that.

"Yeah."

"We could have waited a day to do this." Wilson said.

"I know. I told her this morning I would call you and ask that. Maybe take her out for her birthday. But she said no." Adele told him.

"I wonder why." Wilson asked, more to himself than to anyone else.

"She wouldn't give me a reason." Adele said. "How is she doing?"

"She's getting better and better every week." Wilson told her. He thought of something else. "What's gonna happen to her?"

"She stays at the group home till she finds another foster family or she's adopted." Adele told him.

"What are her chances of getting adopted?" Wilson asked.

"While she's sick? Not great." Adele answered. "Which is a shame, cause this is when she needs a family the most."

Wilson looked at Marina, who was now halfheartedly playing with a toy the nurse had given to her. Wilson hadn't told anyone this, not even House. But he had seriously been considering trying to adopt Marina. He was divorced, had no kids of his own even though he'd always wanted them, and felt attached to Marina. A different kind of attached than to his other patients her age. He hadn't told House because of a fear of being accused of only wanting to adopt Marina because she was "needy". But Wilson had continued to struggle with the decision. Until now.

"What are my chances of being able to adopt her?" Wilson asked.

Adele stared at him, shocked. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah." Wilson said.

Adele smiled. "Pretty good, I think."

"Really?" Wilson seemed surprised.

"Absolutely. She trusts you, you're good with kids, you're financially stable. I can't guarantee anything, but I don't see any reason why you couldn't." Adele said. She took a deep breath and looked like she might cry from happiness. "This is great."

Wilson was smiling now too. "Yeah, I can't believe it either."

"Why don't we tell her now?" Adele suggested.

"I don't want to get her hopes up in case…" Wilson started.

"Look at me." Adele said. Wilson turned and looked her in the eye. "As long as I'm supporting you, the chances of you being denied are slim to none."

"What about her parent's families?" Wilson asked.

Adele shook her head sadly. "Both her dad's parents are dead. So are mom's. He had one brother, died over twenty years ago. Mom was an only child."

Wilson knew about all that, having taken Marina's family history when she was admitted the first time. The week he had diagnosed her with cancer.

"There's nobody else?" he asked.

"Nope." Adele answered. She took Wilson's arm. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Wilson looked back at Marina. She was looking a little better, with a nurse playing with her and attempting to make her laugh. Wilson realized that what he said next would change his whole life. He also realized that he didn't care.

"Yes."

"Alright." Adele was grinning ear to ear. "Congratulations, Dr. Wilson. It's a girl."

"Dad?"

Wilson was snapped out of his daydream. Marina was awake and looking at him. Her eyes were still red, but seemed to be a little better. Her skin was still pale and she was sweating bullets. The fever wasn't going down.

"Hey." Wilson smiled.

"Hey." Marina responded weakly. "What's going on?"

"You're in the hospital." Wilson explained. "You remember what happened?"

Marina nodded. "What's wrong with me?" she asked.

Wilson sighed. "We don't know. House is working on it now."

"I'm House's case?" she asked.

Wilson nodded.

"Cool." Marina smiled a little, an encouraging sign to Wilson.

"How you feeling?" Wilson asked. "Any better?"

"The headache's a little better." Marina told him. A terrifying thought occurred to her. "Dad, is it back?"

"What…" Wilson then realized what she was asking. "No. House tested you while you were out. It's not the cancer."

Marina seemed relieved. "Do you know what House is thinking?" she asked.

Wilson couldn't help but be amazed. Even as sick as she was, Marina was curious about what was going on with her. Wilson took her hand.

"I haven't talked to House yet. You need to rest." He said.

"'Kay." Marina responded. "I'm sorry, Dad."

"Sorry for what?" Wilson asked, confused as to what she possibly had to be sorry about.

"I should have listened to you." Marina said, starting to cough again.

"Honey, don't worry about that." Wilson said. "You want some water?"

"Yeah."

Wilson poured her a small glass of water and helped her drink, then helped her sit up. He was amazed that she was even awake. He sat and tried to comfort her for a few minutes, until he felt he could no longer wait.

"I'll be back. I'm gonna find House and see if they've come up with anything." Wilson said. He got up and turned towards the door to go.

"Daddy."

Wilson turned back. Marina was holding her hand out.

"I'm scared." she said, starting to cry again. "Don't go, please."

Wilson sat back down, grabbed Marina's hand and sat on the edge of the bed. He wrapped an arm around her as she leaned into his chest, sobbing. As he'd had to do so many times before, he stroked her hair, held her hand, and mumbled to her that she would be okay.