Chapter 6
It was Bob's senior year and as she approached graduation, House though that she would soon be leaving.
"So when are you moving out?" He asked her.
"Who said I'm moving out?"
"Well, you're graduating."
"You trying to get rid of me, jerk?"
"No, I just figured you'd go get a job. You know, do all those grown up things."
She hesitated, then told him. "Actually, I'm thinking about going for my Masters."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, maybe. I don't know. Thing is, the museum offered me a full time job, not as a tour guide, but in the educational office. But they want me to have a Masters. They said I could continue to work there twenty hours a week and study for the Masters. And when I'm done, I'll have a job."
"Wow, that's great."
She shrugged.
"It's not great?" he asked, perplexed.
"It's just that…I never thought about a Masters. I just wanted to learn about Art History and go work as a tour guide in a museum. That's all. This is a lot."
"So? Gee, how sad, a career that's bigger than the one you dreamed about. How will you ever stand it?"
She smiled. "I'm not you, Greg. I don't have big dreams."
"Maybe you should. You're smart and you know your stuff. Why else would the museum want you? They think you have the potential to be something big. So go be something big."
She looked at him and chuckled. "Okay, then I guess I stay here for a little longer. No reason to move out right now."
"Good. Means I don't have to break in a new drinking buddy."
Bob finished her senior year and graduated with a B.A. in Art History. Her family came to Baltimore for her graduation and they all went out to celebrate. She was the first in their family to go to college and they were enormously proud of her.
But she noticed that her father seemed rather subdued. When she asked him, he said he was just missing her mom, since he knew how happy she would be. She didn't totally believe him, but didn't pursue it either, since she knew how close mouthed he could be when he didn't want to talk.
So Bob stayed at the house after her graduation with plans to continue her studies in pursuit of her Masters degree. Which was fine for House. He didn't want to lose his friend. The whole sex situation with her had unsettled him. He didn't want to think about her with a boyfriend. He didn't want to share her with some guy.
But he didn't want to be her boyfriend either. He was sure he didn't. She was his friend and he'd never had a friend like that.
Bob worked all summer at the museum. House had been able to get a job at another hospital. He tried very hard to keep his mouth shut. Luckily, at this hospital, there was a doctor who didn't get mad when he made comments. He actually laughed. And he realized how smart this young man was. He knew he would be a very special doctor some day. So he let him hang around sometimes and he talked to him about the medicine.
House found himself able to control his sarcasm when he was talking to Dr. Printz because the man was intelligent and actually listened to House and answered his questions without treating him like he some sort of moron. He also gave the young pre-med student good advice for applying to medical school, which House would soon be doing.
It was a very productive summer for the future doctor.
In August, Bob got a phone call from her uncle.
"Robbie, you need to come home as soon as you can."
Alarmed by her usually jovial uncle's solemn voice, she asked, "Why? What's the matter Uncle George?"
"It's your dad. He's had a heart attack."
"Oh, my God! Is he going to be alright?"
"Thing is, this isn't his first. He had one back in April."
"April? Why don't I know about that?"
"He didn't want to worry you. You were starting your finals and with your graduation and all, he didn't want to upset you. But his heart was already damaged by the first one and, well, it doesn't look good. That's why you need to come home as soon as you can."
Bob called her job immediately and told them she needed to take some time off. When they found out why, they told her not to worry. Then she started packing some clothes. While she was doing that, House came home. He peeked into her room and saw her packing.
"What's up?" he asked.
She quickly told him about her father. "I'm leaving as soon as I get my things together."
"Wait five minutes until I get my stuff."
"Your stuff?"
"Yeah, I'm coming with you."
"Greg, you don't need to come."
"You're upset. There's no way you can drive all the way to Millsboro like that."
"What about your job?"
"Fuck 'em."
She gave him a look.
"I'll call Ricky. He can cover for me for a few days."
She smiled and nodded. He ran upstairs, threw some clothes quickly into a duffle and was back at her room just as she was closing her suitcase. They were on the road in minutes.
They went directly to the hospital. Her father was in the ICU and the nurse tried to stop her, saying, "Immediate family only."
"I'm his daughter."
"Oh, okay, Miss Janorski. And this young man?" The nurse looked at House.
"He's my brother."
House smiled at the nurse and she nodded and directed the both of them to Walter's room.
She was shocked by what she saw. Her usually robust father looked like a shell of the man he was. His skin was pale, grayish in tone and his eyes were dull and had dark circles around them. They brightened a little when he saw his daughter, but not very much.
"Robbie. You didn't have to come."
"Of course I did. Oh, and meet your son, Greg."
"Hi 'Dad.' " House said with a brief smile.
"That was the only way they'd let Greg in."
"No problem. I'd be proud to have you as a son." Walter told him.
House wished his own father had ever said that to him.
Walter deteriorated very quickly after that. His heart was too damaged to do surgery on it and he was too old for a transplant. It was as if he was waiting to see his daughter before he died. She had only a day or two with him, before his heart just gave out.
In those last few hours, he spoke to her in a weak voice.
"Robbie, honey, don't be all sad for me. You know that I spent the last twenty years missing your mother. It's going to be good to see her again."
"Oh, Dad!"
"Don't be sad." He said again. "And don't be lonely. Tell that guy how you feel about him."
"Sure." She said, knowing she was lying, but unable to tell him that it would never happen.
Within the hour, her father was gone. She proceeded through the wake and funeral in a daze, barely aware of what was happening.
After it was over, she took House to Rehoboth Beach, which was only minutes away from Millsboro. As they walked on the sand, she told him things about her father, memories from her childhood, precious moments that they'd shared.
Even though House had no knowledge of what she was talking about and this closeness between father and child was foreign to him, he knew that she needed this, so he let her talk.
"Things will be different now." She told him.
"Of course."
"I mean, I guess I'm glad I decided to go for the Masters. It would be too hard to have come back home and then lose him. This way, I'll be busy and on my way to a more challenging career."
"You're welcome."
She smiled at him, realizing that he had pushed her to dream bigger than she had ever thought to dream.
