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Chapter 4

Friday

"Greg?" Kate crept into the bedroom and stood watching as he slept. His arm was up over his head resting on the pillow revealing the curvature of his muscles. The hair on his chest was turning silver to match the hair on his head. Any other time in her life she would have thought him handsome, but now she felt detached from such sentiments. He was just a man to her, a man who might help her redeem herself. She kneed the bed, shaking it and House gently. "Greg, we have to go in to the hospital for your tests."

She saw him swallow and then try to open his eyes. After a few seconds of grimacing, he fixed one of his bold blue eyes on her and nodded to let her know he was awake.

"Coffee or Tea?" She asked.

"Coffee, milk and one sugar. You look ready to go."

"I am, but take your time, the salt trucks are just now getting to the back roads."

House watched her as she walked out of the room in her designer jeans and crisp white Oxford shirt. Her hips were swaying softly, just what he would expect from a mature woman whose hips have spread with either age or childbirth. Her ass wasn't thin, but it wasn't wide. He had to admit, her ass had a nice, womanly curve to it. A flash of him banging her from behind passed through his brain. He could envision the white orbs of her cheeks sticking up, his hands riding on their curves as he plowed between her legs. Looking down he groaned with frustration; his morning wood was now stiff and uncomfortable.

I need to get laid.

Half an hour later after shaving, taking a shower and getting dressed, he joined her. She slid a thermos cup of coffee across the breakfast bar to him.

"Do you want me to fix you breakfast or do you want to eat when we get to the hospital?"

He wasn't really ready for food. "I can wait."

"Fine, then we should get going. It's going to take an hour to get to the hospital with this fresh snow and I've already had three calls this morning asking if you had arrived safely. I think they're anxious to get you tested."

"Sure." He grabbed his pea coat and started for the door.

Walking up to a closet, she reached in and grabbed a ski hat, throwing it to him along with some stretch gloves. "You might need these, it's down in the twenties out there."

"What time is it?" He asked her, but was already flipping his phone open to check. It was six-thirty-five. "Christ, when did you get up?"

"Four-thirty. I had to feed the horses and barn animals."

"You have horses?"

"And a cow, her calf and a few chickens. The neighbor usually comes over and takes care of them when I'm not around. He also gets the milk and eggs if he does, but I needed some milk for your coffee and the hen left us three eggs."

"I just drank unpasteurized milk?"

She shrugged. "Don't worry, I put some extra toilet paper in your bathroom. Besides, it was in your hot coffee." Grabbing her keys, Kate passed him as they exited the house, not bothering to lock up.

They walked to the SUV. House noticed that the windows had been scraped and the engine was already running. This woman was amazing, she covered all the bases. People who could function before noon annoyed him. Climbing into the cab, he watched Kate walk down to the end of the driveway and checked the road. Apparently, she found it plowed and salted because she climbed in and they began their trip to Seaside. Just like the trip the night before, she said nothing, concentrating on the road in front of her instead of chit chat. House couldn't figure out what made her so enigmatic. She seemed to exist in her own world, putting up the proverbial wall to keep everyone else out and that included him.

Driving along Route 26, only one lane traveling each way was open and it was slow going. He was happy that she loaned him the hat because he was freezing until the heater kicked in and warmed the cab. Looking out the window the beauty of the forest finally made an impression. All of the branches were heavily laden with snow and the entire scene was a serene white with patches of green pine dotting the horizon. It looked like a post card from some ski resort in Switzerland.

"Mind if I put on the radio?" House asked.

She took a sip of her coffee and shook her head to let him know it was okay. House pushed the button and hit the tabs for each of the stations she had stored. He found one that was announcing the news and weather reports.

"…Developing in the middle of the northern Pacific is a potent system set to unleash severe storms, heavy rain, snow in the mountains and gusty winds through the weekend and into the beginning of next week. The system is expected to gather itself by tomorrow night and will shift to the east by mid next week—"

"Damn." Kate mumbled under her breath.

"Excuse me?"

She shook her head. "It's going to be difficult getting you up and down the mountain over the next few days. We'll see. Maybe Steve will want you to stay with him."

They pulled into the parking lot of Providence Seaside Hospital, about fifteen miles south of Astoria. It was a small hospital; the main building occupied one expansive floor. There were several outer buildings with two stories, but it was nothing in comparison to Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. House wondered if the hospital even had the necessary tools to complete a transplant or stem cell transfer.

Walking into the entrance, several nurses nodded a greeting at Kate. House followed her down the corridor into a ward with eight private rooms that radiated out from a large nurse's desk. Standing at the desk was a man dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt. He turned and smiled at House as the man walked towards House, hand extended.

"Greg? I'm Steve."

House would have recognized him anyway. He looked like a plainer version of Keith. The last time House had seen Steve he was only twelve years old and a pain in the ass. Where Keith was ornery and curious, Steve was priggish and afraid of his shadow. House wondered if he'd grown out of it.

"I can't tell you how much this means to us." His voice was genuine, full of deep gratitude.

House ignored the thanks. "Where's his file?"

Steve looked at Kate who gestured to the nurse. The nurse produced the file for House. Surprised by this little performance, House looked at Kate sideways.

She could see the bewilderment in his face. "I'm the head of Oncology."

He tilted his head slightly. "Really?"

Without any change of expression she simply said, "Really."

House reviewed the file and could see that the best chance his nephew had was a transfer of stem cells from a healthy donor to the boy. House also noted that the kid had his blood type, AB positive, which meant that House's father, Michael Huntington, was probably AB+. Daniel had AML, Acute myelogenous leukemia, a form of leukemia that could develop in days or months. Apparently, Daniel, a star baseball player, had contracted the disease two years ago. His first symptom was mind numbing fatigue. When he was first diagnosed with anemia, Kate had ordered a full work up, obviously concerned because she saw bruising on his legs. Caught fairly early and treated, the disease had gone into remission and then returned a year later. It was now being treated aggressively with chemotherapy to force it into remission so that a stem cell transplant could be accomplished once a donor was found. House looked through the results and it didn't surprise him that Daniel's father was the closest match with two out of three of the major HLA factors, but Kate didn't feel comfortable doing the transplant with anything less than three out of the three major ones. She was hopeful that a better donor could be found. Although Kate was active in Daniel's care and listed as his attending, she wasn't his direct caretaker. A resident named Ryanne Lowe was. House wondered why the head of oncology had taken such a personal interest in Daniel.

"I'm going to check on Daniel." Kate said as she walked into one of the rooms.

House closed the file and followed her. The first thing he saw was the lovely view of the sea. The second was that the teenager in the bed had his blue eyes and they were staring at him. It had never occurred to House that his blue eyes had come from Michael Huntington, but now he remembered that he and Keith often received compliments on their blue eyes. Not only that, several people had remarked on the fact that they could be brothers. It should have been a clue, but House had focused more on the family friend with the birthmark on his scalp as his father. Wishful thinking? Maybe. The man with the birthmark was a well-liked pilot with a reputation for always having a book in his hand. House liked the idea that his dad was the cerebral hero.

But, when House thought about it, Michael Huntington had been no slouch. His Dad, John House, had even remarked that Michael was the most logical thinker in the squad, by far the best stategist, but also the laziest, getting everyone to do his work by charm and manipulation. Keith was the same way, always scoring high on intelligent tests, but barely getting by with C's. Keith had hated school, but loved learning.

The sound of a bedpan being dropped down the hall brought House back to Earth. The boy now staring at him was tall and bone thin, not unusual for a cancer patient. Having just finished chemotherapy, he was probably still puking his guts out, the proof being that there was a small receptacle on the tray just for that purpose.

Steve introduced House. "This is your uncle, Dr. Gregory House. He's here to see if he is a match."

The teenager nodded at House. "Thanks." Then he turned back to his Dad. "I didn't know I had another uncle."

Steve looked uncomfortable. "Greg is our half-brother. Grandpa Mick was his father. Frankly, I didn't know he was related until recently. Greg, Keith and I used to hang out…or you might say I tried to hang out with them, they were older and meaner."

The boy gave House an analytical eye, sizing him up. House had to admit that he knew that look, he'd given it a thousand times over his lifetime. "Where do you live?"

House took a seat. "Princeton."

The kid perked up. "I want to go to Princeton!"

House gave him a nod of acknowledgement. "What major?"

"Physics."

"Good school for Physics. Good school for just about anything. Got the grades?"

Daniel looked away, his lips turning down slightly. "Yeah, until I got sick. I've got a lot of catch-up ahead of me."

"Don't worry, Princeton loves a sob story. What could be more compelling than a star athlete and student who beats leukemia?"

Daniel smiled, mostly because his father frowned, finding House's words to be too cynical. But Daniel was cynical too, which didn't go down well with his father. His uncle Keith had appreciated his sense of humor, but Steve had always frowned when the two of them got going. Daniel pressed the button to raise his bed. He looked to Kate and asked, "Aunt Kate, how likely is it that Uncle Greg can be my donor?"

Kate, who had been looking at stats and adjusting his medication, stopped. "Doubtful, but he's got a much better chance than a stranger."

"Well, I have a flight back to Princeton tomorrow, so let's get started." House announced. The fact that House had booked a flight said volumes. It meant that he doubted seriously that he would be a match. The room grew quiet; the only sound was the equipment doling out the meds to keep Daniel from throwing up and the nutrients to keep him from starving.

"This way, Greg." Kate motioned to the door.

House got up and was surprised to find Daniel extending his hand. Taking a deep breath, he reached over and shook it.

"Thanks, Uncle Greg."

"No problem."

Kate walked a few steps ahead and then realized that House might be having trouble keeping up. She stopped, turned and gave him a polite smile, waiting for him to catch up.

When he reached her, he couldn't contain his anger. "You didn't tell me you were Daniel's aunt. You're either his mother's sister or you were married to Keith, which is it?"

She wasn't flustered by his explosion. "Keith."

Shaking his head in disbelief. "Why didn't you just tell me when we were driving?"

"I just thought you knew."

"Well, you have a lot of explaining to do."

"I owe you nothing. Now this lab is where we'll do the preliminary test." She opened the door to the brightly lit waiting room. House could see through a separate door that blood was being drawn in the next room. Six people waited their turn. "If you'll follow me, I'll draw your blood for you."

"The head of Oncology is going to do the grunt work?"

She shrugged. "I think I'm going to draw ten vials if that's okay with you. I'd hate to have the preliminary test come back as a possible match and you be on a plane for Princeton before we can test other samples for the remaining markers."

"Ten?"

"Yes. You do know that if you're a match you'll have to get a chest x-ray, more blood work, urine analysis, and an ECG? We have to make sure that you'll hold up to the procedure and won't pass any cooties to Daniel."

"What exactly are you going to do? A bone marrow transplant?"

"Probably not. I think you will do better if we do a Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Collection."

"Why?"

"There's more of a chance that you could experience significant pain after a Bone Marrow Transfer than with a PBSC. With your previous infarction, I don't really want to risk causing you additional pain along the sciatic nerve."

"How do you know about my pain?"

"As your attending physician, I had your records emailed to me yesterday."

He was about to call her on the carpet, but he appreciated her concern for his welfare. "Will it give Daniel his best chance?"

She nodded. "The way we do it now, yes. However, it does mean that beginning five days prior to transplant, you'll receive one to two daily injections of a drug called granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF). It will stimulate the recruitment of bone marrow stem cells into the circulating blood. Then we filter your blood and harvest the cells from your blood."

"What side effects can I expect?"

"The G-SCF can cause headaches and bone pain, which are typically relieved with Tylenol or ibuprofen. Obviously we won't be using Vicodin."

House rolled his eyes and watched as she took vial after vial of blood until there were fifteen. Once she undid the rubber band from around his upper arm, she applied a band aid.

"You're good. I hardly felt that."

No smile, just a simple, "Thanks."

"When will we know?"

"I'm putting a rush on it show we should have our answer this afternoon. The problem will be confirming whether Daniel is in remission, it's a little soon to tell."

"When will you know that?"

"A few days, maybe a week, depends."

"So I might have to fly back out in a week or two?"

"If you can't stay for the next week then yes. That is if you're a match."

"What are my chances?"

Her eyes turned sad. "Only about one in twenty, if that."

House nodded that he understood. "Well, it's better than nothing."

"That's true. I have to do rounds and take care of a few things. Perhaps you'd like to spend time with your family?"

He sighed, indicating it wasn't really his cup of tea.

"I promise I won't be too long. Then I can run you back to the house or wherever you'd like."

"Fine." House acquiesced.

House made his way back to the darken room and discovered that Steve had gone to work and in his place was Ann, Steve's wife, a pretty woman in her early forties with brown hair, highlighted by lighter, almost blond streaks. She was medium height with plump cheeks and a somewhat plumper bottom. Jumping up from her chair as soon as he walked in, Ann looked at his cane before she even looked into his eyes.

"You must be Greg!"

"You recognize the cane?"

Daniel laughed.

Flustered, Ann blushed a bright crimson. "I'm sorry, but Steve told me that you walk with a cane and I've been watching that door for a cane. Sorry."

"So, you married Steve and Kate married Keith?"

She seemed confused by the segue. "Yes, that's right."

"Mom, can you get me a seven-up?"

She looked at House and then Daniel. "Uh, sure honey. Greg, do you want anything?"

"I'm hungry; can you bring back a roll or something?"

She nodded, grabbed her purse and took off leaving House with his nephew.

Settling back in the vinyl recliner and checking out the television, House saw that Daniel was watching a truck rally. "Cool, Grave Digger." The bright ebony truck with blinding chrome stormed over four school buses in one go.

Daniel grinned. "You like Truck Rally's?"

"Dude, I've been a VIP at the Grand National."

"Cool." Daniel was impressed.

Since Daniel seemed to be comfortable with him, he decided to be blunt. "Hey, what happened to Keith?"

Daniel's grin dropped. "I don't know if I should say anything. My parents talked about it before Dad left for work and he thought he should be the one to answer your questions if you had any."

"Dude, what's the big deal? He's dead, telling me how it happened isn't going to change that."

Daniel squirmed a little and looked down at the remote in his hand. He finally looked up and made eye contact. House realized that he was having a hard time talking or even thinking about it. The bond between nephew and his uncle had clearly been tight.

"I swear, my Mom and Dad will tell you whatever you need to know."

"Yeah, alright."

"I miss Uncle Keith. It's hard on everyone. The only time we see Aunt Kate is here at the hospital. Even then it's awkward."

"Why?"

"I'm sorry Uncle Greg, but you should talk to my Dad."

"Yeah, okay."

For the next hour they watched television, occasionally sharing information about a truck or a driver and sometimes about their lives in general. House found that he really liked his nephew; they shared a lot in common.

A nurse walked in with Daniel's next round of nutrients. "Do you have your appetite yet?" She asked.

Daniel hunched his shoulders. "I think I might be able to eat a little. But first I need to take a pee."

The nurse motioned for House to leave which he was reluctant to do, but Daniel looked as if he expected him to leave, so House got up and started to walk around the hospital. He was surprised to find that it actually had a few pieces of state of the art equipment, but other than that, the hospital was unimpressive. What he really wanted to do was to find a computer and Google Kate, but he wasn't sure where to go to do it.

After half an hour of wandering around, he saw Ann looking for him. She was carrying a small plastic bag, probably his roll. He waved to her and she smiled, practically running to give him the food.

"There you are! I've been looking for you. They only had cinnamon rolls."

"That's cool. Have you seen Kate? We're supposed to take a little tour of the city."

Ann shifted her weight and looked uneasy. "I don't know where she is."

"Well, I'll keep looking."

"We were hoping you would come over for dinner tonight."

"Dinner? Would I also be staying overnight?"

She winced. "I'm sorry, but my parents are here along with my sister and her two kids. They came up for the holidays and to see Daniel. We don't really have the room. But, they're going out to the movies tonight so I thought it would be a good time for you to come over for dinner. You'll have time to talk to Steve without interruption."

"Fine." He watched as Kate walked towards them wearing a pea coat over her designer jeans and cowboy boots. She was beautiful, but hollow. He realized her blue-gray eyes were lifeless as if she was just going through the motions.

Kate hung back and then approached House as soon as it looked as if Ann was going to leave.

Ann smiled briefly. "Hello Kate, I was just telling Greg that we'd like for him to come over for dinner tonight around six, does that work for you?"

Kate looked at her shoes. "Sure. Six."

Ann left. House walked over to Kate. "Well? Where are we going?"

"Would you like to go back to the house now?"

"I think I'd like to see a little of Astoria."

"There's not much to see. We can go to Fort Clatsop where Lewis and Clark ended their trip or to Cape Disappointment where they first camped here in Oregon."

"That's fine, maybe then you can tell me why you and Ann don't get along?"

"Or we could go to Station Camp. It's thought to be the most significant Lewis and Clark campsite along the lower Columbia River. During their stay there, the Corps of Discovery interacted and traded with ancestors of the current Chinook Indians."

House snickered. "You really know how to have fun here in Astoria."