Cuddy made her way towards the MRI lab. She needed to talk to Wilson and she was told that was where he was. She wanted to find out exactly how long she would have the 'pleasure' of House's company at her hospital. She knew it was a little selfish under the circumstances, but she couldn't help but focus on the discomfort having him around was going to cause her.
Cuddy walked into the lab and found Wilson there about to put some scans on the board.
Wilson turned the second he heard someone enter. "Oh, hey. Do you need something?"
"Well, I don't know how to ask this without sounding incredibly heartless, but how long will House be around?" Cuddy asked. She didn't mean to come off unfeeling, although she was sure she did. She knew that a child's life was in jeopardy and she didn't mean to worsen that in anyway. She just wanted House out of her life as soon as possible.
"Well, without having a treatment plan ready yet, I can only guess that it's going to be several months. Curing cancer is a process, as I'm sure you know. We're talking months at least. I'm sorry, Cuddy. I just couldn't say no," Wilson told her.
"Of course not. I would never want you to. I mean, we're a hospital. We don't turn away patients because we don't like their family members. I just want this to be over as soon as possible. I in no way want to inhibit that child's recovery though. God, I still can't believe House has a son," Cuddy said. It was unbelievable to her that House had a child. House didn't care about anyone but himself. How in the world could he be a parent?
"Yeah, I know. It's hard to believe, huh? House and parenthood just don't seem like they should go together. But he's actually a pretty good dad," Wilson said. He'd only seen House with Logan a couple of times and that was enough to know that he was a good father. He was so patient and understanding with Logan. He was everything he wasn't with everybody else in the world.
Cuddy gave him a 'yeah right' look.
"No, I'm serious. You haven't seen him with that little boy, Cuddy. He's so good with him. I've never seen him like that with anybody," Wilson said.
"That's something I'd have to see to believe, not that it matters. It doesn't change what he's done," Cuddy said.
"No, it doesn't," Wilson agreed. "But then again, I don't think it has to. I don't think it's something he is to make up for the past. I think being a good father is just something he yearns
to be for his son."
"He's pulling you back in. You realize that, right?" Cuddy asked.
"No. He's not pulling anybody in, at least not intentionally. His sole concern is his little boy. Nothing else matters to him right not," Wilson said. No matter what else, he was sure of that. House had made that fact perfectly clear. Logan was his only priority right now.
"What's he like? House's son?" Cuddy asked. She didn't know why she was so interested, but she was. She wanted to know what a child of House's was like.
Wilson smiled. "Oh, he's an amazing kid. He's so loving and so happy. It saddens me because I'm going to be taking that away from him shortly."
"To save his life, Wilson," Cuddy said.
"I know. I just wish the treatment wasn't so taxing," Wilson said.
"And I'm sure it doesn't make it any better that this particular child is the son of someone you considered a friend," Cuddy said. No matter what, she realized how hard this had to be for Wilson. Treating the child of someone you once considered a friend had to difficult.
"I'm trying hard not to think about that," Wilson said before going back to the scans he had in his hands. He placed them on the wall and examined them. His face became immediately sobered. "Oh God."
"What is it?"
"These are Logan's scans. It's not good."
Xxxxxxxxxxx
House was in Wilson's office sitting in front of him. He had to say that this was weird. He never thought he'd have this kind of conversation with Wilson. The type where the other man would lay out treatment plans and prognoses. It was not a conversation he wanted to have either, but it was unavoidable. His son was sick. He had to know how to make him better. "Alright, let's have it. And don't give me any of the crap you give your other patients' families. I don't wanna hear about hope or the statistics for beating the odds. I don't need you to treat me like I'm new to the medical field. Just give it to me straight."
Wilson nodded after a minute. "Okay. Well, the first thing you need to know is that I confirmed the original diagnosis of Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma."
"I wasn't really expecting anything different. How about telling me something I don't already know?" House asked impatiently.
Wilson sighed. He was really not looking forward to this. What he had to say was not good. "I compared the scans I just took with the ones from the original physician. The original scans showed a tumor about four centimeters big in the neck area. It was close to the spinal cord, but far enough away that we could safely operate. My scans, however, show that the tumor has grown another full centimeter."
House took a deep breath as sheer terror began to take over. The tumor was already growing. This was bad. His little boy was getting worse. They had to do something now before it was too late. "You've gotta take him into surgery. You have to remove it now before it gets any worse."
"I can't. With the way tumor grew, it is now dangerously close to Logan's spinal cord cord. If I try to remove it, I could paralyze him," Wilson said sadly. He hated this. He hated having to tell anyone this kind of news, but especially House. Cuddly was right. It was worse because he knew House.
House felt his fear rise even further. He was facing the very real possibility of losing his son and it was tearing him apart. He couldn't lose Logan. It would kill him. There would be no coming back from it.
Wilson saw gripping fear come across House's face. It unnerved him. He'd never seen him like this. It seemed he was seeing a lot of things in House he'd never seen before. "House, listen to me. I knew this is scary, but it is not over. I know you didn't wanna hear words like hope, but there is hope. Logan still has decent odds."
"The tumor is inoperable," House said.
"It's inoperable now, but maybe with a few rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, we will be able to operate. If we can shrink it enough, we'll still be able to take it out," Wilson said.
"I need to get out of here for a few minutes," House said before standing up.
"I understand, but come back soon," Wilson said. There was still much to be discussed as far as Logan's treatment went, but he could tell that House couldn't go on right now. It was best that he did take a few minutes because this conversation would only get more intense.
House nodded and headed for the door.
"House," Wilson called just as the man reached the door. He waited for him to turn before going on. "I will do everything I can to save Logan's life.
House stared at him for a minute before walking out.-
