Chapter Four:

The phone went to voice mail again. David had tried to call Susan three times since class ended and had gotten voice mail every time. Maybe she just didn't want to talk to him. She did seem a bit embarrassed when she fell off the lecture stage. He decided he would go to her lab and catch her there.

He walked in her lab, it was quiet. Her jacket was still over the back of her chair, so she hadn't left yet. He saw the blind man's cane propped up to the desk and wondered what that was all about – surely it was a joke. He saw her message light flashing on her phone, so she hadn't checked her messages which made him feel a little better, so he grabbed a post-it and left her a note to call if she needed a ride.

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Chase walked in the lab and made sure everything was shut down for the night. He went over to Susan's desk grabbed her jacket and unlocked her desk drawer to get her purse with the keys House had given him. He saw the blind man's cane propped against the desk, picked it up and shook his head; it was amazing watching those two harass each other. He wished he'd been closer to his half-siblings, it might have been fun. Just as he was setting it back against the desk, he noticed the note. Well, he thought to himself, she wouldn't need a ride tonight anyway. He left it there and headed out.

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House pulled into Susan's apartment, got out and helped her out of the car. She was still a little loopy from the medication, but she was fine to manage on her own tonight. He wanted to make sure she had something on her stomach before she settled in for the night. When they went inside he went straight to the kitchen, "You don't have any food," he said.

"I didn't have time to go by the grocery store to stock back up and then when my glasses broke, I couldn't drive. Don't worry, I'll figure out something, go on home," Susan said.

"Nope – not tonight. I'm calling a pizza, what do you like?" he asked.

"About anything – except pineapple. I can't for the life of me figure out why people want to put fruit on their pizza," she said.

House ordered a large supreme and a large pepperoni, "I can't eat that much pizza," Susan said.

"Who said it was all for you?" he replied. He sat down on the couch and turned on the TV and started flipping channels. "There's nothing on," he said. "Why don't you have cable?"

"It's too expensive and there would still be nothing on. I have a Netflix account, hit the menu button, you'll see several options come up and Netflix is at the bottom. Find something you like since you're going to stay. I'm likely to fall asleep anyway," she said.

House found a good movie and had just started to settle in when the doorbell rang. Susan started to get up, but House told her to stay put. He paid for the pizza and then went to the kitchen to get a couple plates and drinks.

"Thanks for everything," Susan said. "I haven't eaten all day, I'm starving." She reached for one slice each of both pizzas. "I can't believe I completely lost the vision in my left eye and I couldn't tell."

"You know I approved Dr. Williams to correct your vision in your left eye since you were going through a procedure anyway," House said.

"I have a vague recollection of something like that. It's OK, I've never gotten the surgery because I was always afraid something would screw up and I'd end up blind. But since I was already blind in that eye, it wouldn't matter anyway." Susan said. "I'm going to look pretty weird though – with only one lens. I'll have to get one of those monocles that old men used to wear in the old days."

House looked at her, "You are kidding right? You could just have him fix the right eye too."

"Of course I'm kidding," she said. "If all goes well, then I'll have him fix my right eye if it's possible. If it doesn't go well, then I'll probably just wear lopsided glasses because I'm not going to risk being blind in both eyes. I don't want to have to really start using that beautiful red and white cane you put in my office."

House's phone rang, it was Foreman, "Great, have the nurses monitor her and go home." He hung up.

"Mrs. Jones is doing well?" Susan asked

"Who?" House asked.

"Your patient! You imbecile," Susan said and then realized House was teasing her.

"Yes, she is improving," he answered with a smirk and then turned back toward the movie.

"Good." Susan paused. "At the risk of inflating your already inflated ego, you realize you solved that case inside of two days."

House nodded, "Got lucky."

"No, you didn't get lucky. You solved it and in plenty of time. You're not losing your mojo just because you're happy. You don't have to be miserable to be good at what you do," Susan said.

"Cuddy talked to you," House said.

"She might have said something," she replied. "She loves you and she's worried about you."

"She doesn't have to worry about me. I just need her to love me," House said.

Susan put her plate on the coffee table, "The two go hand in hand."

"Would you shut up and let me watch the movie?" House said.

Susan chucked and leaned over with her feet curled beneath her and rested her head on the arm of the couch. After a few moments Susan said sleepily, "We should probably make that official."

"Make what official?" he asked.

"You as my medical proxy," Susan answered with a yawn. "We're family." It wasn't long before House heard her breathing become steady and regular. He finished the movie and then got up and went to her room to get a pillow and a blanket. He stretched her legs out on the couch, put the pillow under her head and placed the blanket over her. Having completed that, he turned off the television and put the leftover pizza away and the dishes in the sink, but he made no move to actually wash them. She could do that tomorrow. He started to leave, but on his way to the door he stopped at the couch and tenderly brushed her hair away from her face, "Goodnight Sis."

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It was late and Cuddy was already in bed when House crept in and lay beside her. Cuddy stirred and opened her eyes, "How's Susan?" she asked groggily.

"She's fine. She crashed out not too long after she ate but I stayed for a while afterwards just to make sure," he said.

"You're a good brother," she said as she closed her eyes submitting to the sleep that was taking back over.

House wrapped his arm around Cuddy and held her close. As he drifted off to sleep his mind couldn't help but ask himself what he possibly could have done to deserve the love of the two very special women in his life.