Hours later, the pain in his leg woke House up. He looked for an alarm clock. It was a little past four a.m. Jesse was wrapped in his arms. He didn't want to move. He didn't want to let go of her. Ever. She was without a doubt the most exquisite being he had ever known. And there she was, peacefully cuddled beside him. House fought down the pain. It wasn't anything foreign to him. Just ignore it, he told himself. Close your eyes…no…look at what you have in your arms. Just look. He brushed some hair from her eyes and she stirred a little, moved a little closer. Forget the vicodin for their remaining few hours. The only drug he needed was lying beside him. And she wanted to be there. Jesse chose to be there…with him. House was so moved by her words and her beauty that his pain seemed to fade at the thought of it. His eyes closed after a bit and it wasn't until sunrise that either of them moved.

He woke with the sun streaming in the windows and a throbbing pain in his leg. Jesse had disappeared. House got his bearings and heard the shower running. He reached for his jacket lying by the side of the bed and the Vicodin bottle tucked safely away. The shower stopped. House held his breath, hoping, and sighed in relief when he heard a hair dryer. That much hair would take some time. With any luck…

He massaged the bad leg for a while, oblivious to anything but the pain subsiding. He didn't hear the hair dryer stop or see Jesse standing in the doorway of the bathroom. She saw the pain on his face and got her first visual of the damage.

She'd felt it when they were under the blankets and knew it was bad. But…her eyes fixed on the horror of it. Her fingers moved to her lips in disbelief. What on earth…House happened to look up and saw her, frozen in the doorway, her hand over her mouth.

"It's not as bad as it looks." He'd been trying for some humor but the pain in his voice startled her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare." Jesse's voice was a whisper.

"I know you didn't. It's like driving by a bad accident on the highway…" House looked away. Jesse was beside him in an instant.

Jesse knelt beside him and gently placed her hands on his leg after much protesting by House. "My turn, to help you relax a little?" Jesse argued. She then rubbed her palms together for a bit and closed her eyes. Her palms were face down just above his thigh and moved carefully over the damage. House sat in silence, unsure of what he was watching. She inched them closer till they were just above the damage and stopped. Her head bowed, her hands barely touching him, they moved in small circles that grew with each pass. House was stunned. The throbbing stopped. The tightness, the stabbing pain, all of it went away within a few minutes. And she seemed to know when to quit. Jesse stopped, looking up at him from where she knelt by his side. "Better?" was all she said.

House stared at her. "What did you do?"

"Is it better?"

"It stopped." House was still staring. "Jesse…what did you do?"

"I made it stop. Would you like some coffee? It should be ready…" House gently took her hands from where they were resting on his leg and turned them over, searching for something…anything to explain what he'd just witnessed. Jesse gently pulled herself free. "I'll bring you back a cup…I always take my first cup back to bed with me…"

House put an arm around her waist and pulled her toward him. Those blue eyes were boring in to her…Jesse only smiled. "Jesse…it always hurts…always. It never stops."

"Does it hurt now?" she asked.

"No. Even with the vicodin…" House tried to explain. "Jesse…"

"It doesn't hurt now, and you said yourself it's not fixable so enjoy it while it lasts…"

"I want to know how you did that?"

Jesse opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't find the words. "There's this saying…if I have to explain, you wouldn't understand?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…I'm not a stupid man. I would try to understand if you explained…"

"How do you take your coffee?" was all she said, gently spinning free of him and walking out the door. House reached for his cane to ease himself off the bed…he stopped and tried standing up without it. There was the usual stiffness, but for the most part, it was numb. He took a step or two. The limp was still there. It was obvious the pain would come back sometime…he thought. His eyes turned toward the bedroom door as he made his way to the bathroom. She would be back in with the coffee…he didn't dare corner her. But he had to know…House splashed some cold water on his face and washed last night's cobwebs down the drain. He could hear Jesse chattering away from the bedroom. When he came in she was already on the cell phone. There was a tray over her lap with coffee and she motioned him back to bed, lifting the tray when he eased himself under the blankets beside her. The coffee was excellent, better than any of the ducklings had managed.

House listened to Jesse rattle on as he put an arm around her. There was such a musical quality to her voice, her laughter. How could anyone go from zero to wide awake that quick. House sipped his coffee. His mind raced while she was distracted. How to get an explanation out of her…how? The cell phone clicked off.

"Do you always wake up this bright eyed and ready to take on the world?"

"No. Most mornings I try to sleep through. I can do this, but not normally. You probably have early hours so I thought I'd better get up and be useful."

House laughed. "Early hours. Not if I can help it." His arm tightened around her. "Jesse…I had a great time last night."

"I did too. And if I don't see you…"

"No…no." House stopped her immediately. "That's not how I am." House winced when he heard those words come out of his own mouth.

"But I bet you'll catch a serious earful at the hospital today…"

"You think I give a damn about what anybody thinks…Cuddy in particular? Any hints you might care to give me would be helpful." They exchanged a look. "You don't give a man much to work with…Jesse Amarantha, woman of mystery."

"I'd say you nailed it with that remark so I must have given you…everything you needed last night?" Jesse smiled up at him. House laughed in spite of himself. "If I started on the story of my life, we would be here a very long time. Neither of us have that kind of time?"

"Agreed."

"I don't know what she might say…" Jesse said.

"I thought you could read minds…"

"You're being catty."

"One of my best qualities."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Jesse laughed, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You're trying to distract me." House made a face. Jesse laughed.

"Yes I am."

"It's not going to work. What's with you two?"

"Let's just say we have similar tastes in men. We didn't like each other a long time ago for that reason and she obviously didn't like seeing us together night. She's the kind of woman that doesn't let go of things. It's her fuel." House raised an eyebrow. Jesse pegged that one. "Other than that, if you don't like what you hear, you know where I'm at. That way we can just skip over the fine points and address any questions you might have. No questions, was for last night, for a perfect evening. It's the cold light of day."

House gave her a look. "I have a question."

"I know you do." Jesse reached for the coffee pot and poured herself another cup. She topped off the second cup appearing in front of her from his side of the bed. "Ask."

"What did you do to my leg?"

"I took the pain away." Jesse said flatly, nothing more.

"How?"

"Some things one can't explain…" she idly said, sipping her coffee.

"There's no scientific explanation?" House asked.

"No there isn't. Not everything can be explained by science. Get over it, medicine man."

There was a look on his face that almost made her laugh. This skyward glance and a look of utter impatience. "How long have you been able to do this? Where did you learn...?"

"How long? Since forever. Learn? It's not a parlor trick. It's not about learning." Jesse said, hoping to lay it to rest. House was staring at her, waiting.

"I'm listening." They stared one another down till Jesse relented.

It's about the other ten percent we don't use." Jesse touched her fingers lightly to House's forehead. "It's about exploring…opening doors."

"How…with drugs? People don't just rub their hands together and kill pain." House argued.

"No! You're missing the point entirely. It's about unlearning a lot of things we're taught as children. And this could get very long winded and end badly." House could tell Jesse was getting frustrated, trying to dance around the subject.

"Oookay…let's try this. When you were child, what is your earliest memory of this? I'm not dropping it, Jesse I want you to explain what you did?" House insisted.

She thought for a moment, filing back through a lot of memories. House could tell she wasn't stalling, so he waited. "When I was very young, I was quite the tomboy, lots of scraped knees and elbows, lots of tears. My grandmother could do this, and she taught me how. Very simple in her simplistic view of the world. I bet I couldn't have been more than three, so anything made perfect sense. She also taught me never to tell anyone about our little secret, because grownups wouldn't understand." Jesse took a long sip of coffee, she wasn't finished. "And as I got older and learned about a great many things, one solitary philosophy stuck with me. Not everything on this planet can be explained scientifically. It doesn't mean that there is no scientific explanation. It just means science hasn't caught up to some earthly anomalies yet."

"And you believe this." House looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"You should too, medicine man. Only a few centuries ago if you performed your miraculous feats of healing, you would have been burned at the stake. It wasn't that you couldn't do these miraculous feats. It's that science in that space and time hadn't caught up to those miraculous feats yet."

"Scientists…doctors, didn't have the tools…"

"If you had performed CPR or mouth to mouth resuscitation on a medieval battlefield you would have been burned at the stake. No tools necessary. And it would have been some great men of science and religion at the time that would have said you were possessed by the devil "

House was silent. He had no argument. He had to sit back and think about it for a moment.

"So maybe, just maybe, scientists don't 'have the tools' yet to know everything. Just because science has made all manner of wonderful discoveries, please don't tie their hands behind their backs saying they've discovered everything. Science is good enough at that already. Instead of trying to embrace what they study they do their best to deny. How can one study what one denies? It would seem to me the best way to expand one's knowledge of anything is to embrace it. Positive energy. That's the ticket."

House closed his eyes for a moment. There was an odd look on his face. Jesse laughed.

"I told you this could get long winded. So let's stop there…" House shook his head. "Okay fine." Jesse took the coffee cup from his hand and set it on the headboard. It was obvious she was getting a little exasperated. She got out from under the covers, climbed on top of him straddling his lap. House's eyes widened. She started rubbing her palms together, eyes closed for about thirty seconds. "The only sticking point," Jesse said as she concentrated, "is that you're so mired down in black and white that you're missing all of the other colors, specifically shades of gray." She kept rubbing her hands together. Now dispense with everything you know to be undisputable fact for a bit. You're at a scary movie and the big green monster is eating people across the street…and you believe because you paid good money…for this entertainment."

House laughed. He watched her hands move apart and together and start the slow circular motion again. "You dispense with facts when you want to…so…want to…"

Her hands separated again. She sat perfectly still for a moment like she was holding something in the palm of her hand. Then she took House's hand and placed it several inches above hers. "Feel anything?"

House ran his hand over what he could only describe as "warmth"…except it had a shape. "I feel the heat coming from your hand…" House knew better, but maybe if he pushed her…just a little. He was intrigued. He'd never seen anything like it.

Jesse motioned his hand away. She blew into her hand and gave the "warmth" a nudge with her free hand.

Whatever it was had shape and form because House felt it brush against him. It caressed his neck and slid teasingly across his mouth. He stared at Jesse, wide eyed. She snapped her fingers and it disappeared. "You didn't need to be afraid of it. It was…a kiss from afar." Jesse laughed. House continued to stare. What was this lovely being perched atop him. "Anything else?"

"You didn't explain a thing." House glared at her.

"Oh, I'm a Wiccan high Priestess and familiars are part of my repertoire." Jesse laughed. "You're the man of science. You explain it. Embrace me or deny me." Her voice ended in a whisper. House wrapped his arms around her.

"Well, that's an easy enough choice." He smiled, rubbing her shoulders.

"Work…" Jesse reminded, as he slipped her robe gently off her shoulders.

"If I showed up this early the building would collapse around me." House glanced at the clock, "We have plenty of time."

Chapter 7