Wow. Is it truly Wednesday? Can I finally update? I swear, it feels like ages since I've updated my stories... I think my little inner writer is still used to updating every Saturday and Wednesday. Well, she and I will just have to get used to it. (:

Thanks to Spring Break, there's no school until next Tuesday, and you'd think I'd have tons of time to write, right? But between sleepovers, shopping, and, well, chores (lol) I've had no time to actually sit and write, so you guys should be very honored I made special time lately to get this to you all ;P All I can say is, thanks to all the reviewers, and I hope you all enjoy this one.

Well, thanks for reading, you guys are amazing! And I'm happy to finally get quiet and present the next chapter... (:

(Well, not yet, one thing first...) Disclaimer: Nuthin is mine(:

Now....


Chapter Seven: Practically Killed

"What do you think your doing?" came a growl.

Jane smiled and glanced over his shoulder. It was Dr. House.

"Oh, I was just looking out the window. Beautiful morning, you know," Jane said calmly, face crinkling into a smile.

"Yeah. Gorgeous. But you aren't supposed to be out of bed, blondie," House growled.

Jane glanced at his feet. "I feel fine. Isn't it a good sign I can walk?"

"Anyone can walk," House said patronizingly.

Jane walked slowly over to his hospital bed. "But you can't," he pointed out.

House was startled to be talked back at like that, but quickly recovered. "So that makes one person, good job," he said roughly, jabbing his cane at Jane, who easily dodged it and slipped into his bed. "Now stay in bed."

"What happened?" Jane asked, pointing to his cane.

House's blue eyes glanced at Jane, then at his Cane, and back at his patient. "I'm going to ask you nicely just once to shut up. Okay?"

"Okay," Jane said with a smile and a shrug.

House eyed him as he limped around the bed. "So, blondie, how are you feeling on this beautiful morning, hmm?"

"Perfectly fine. That's why I was walking around," Jane answered.

House mumbled and slipped a folder out from his scrub.

"Do you have a family?" Jane asked after a moment.

House paused, and glared at Jane. "I told you to shut up, blondie."

"But you didn't tell me to stop asking questions," Jane shot back, eyes bright.

House blinked and stared hotly at Jane. "No," he reluctantly replied. "I have no family. Now tell me what's hurting you."

"I'm not in pain, I'm perfectly fine."

"But you look like crap," House rumbled.

"You're one to talk," Jane replied, teasing.

House glared at him. "Look, blondie-"

"Have you ever fallen in love?"

House stopped, and angrily replied, "Shut up, stop asking questions, how direct do I have to be? Would the magic word "duct tape" do anything to make you quiet?"

Jane considered this. "Probably not."

House shook his head and slapped the folder down on the night table. "Fine. Look, I'm here to get a brief check-up, see how your pathetic body's running. So get up."

"You told me to stay in bed."

House gave a dramatic sigh. "Now I'm telling you to get up. So up!" He waved his arms as Jane got easily out of bed.

He pulled out a stethoscope and pressed the cold circle close to Jane's heart after the blondie pulled his hospital gown down.

House was quiet, listening. "Healthy heart," he said simply, putting the device away after a moment and pulling out a otoscope. "Ready?"

"Sure."

House peered into Jane's ears, checking if every part of him was healthy or affected by the brutal beating.

"I am ready to go home, you know," Jane said as House began to strap a blood pressure monitoring device around Jane's arm.

"Sure you are, just a few days after you were nearly beaten to death."

"I don't feel sick. This hospital is a waste of time," Jane said sharply.

House glanced at Jane. "Hold still," he ordered gruffly as he began to squeeze the blood pressure pump. The little numbers quickly rose. "Your blood pressure's fine. Let me test your reactions," House mumbled as he unstrapped the device and tossed it on the night table, grabbing a small hammer next to it and motioning for Jane to sit back on the bed.

"My turn to ask questions," House said finally as he began knocking the hammer against Jane's knee. His leg kicked up obediently.

"Fair enough," Jane agreed.

House was quiet as he knocked the other knee. "You ever fall in love?"

Jane's face was swept clean of emotion. "Yes. I have."

House frowned and scoffed. "Let me guess... she left you? No. Cheated? No, you're too pretty a boy for that. Ah... oh, I know... she was dramatically murdered and left you heart-broken?"

House's tone was scornful, yet he didn't realize how close he'd struck the truth.

"Yes, actually," Jane said quietly.

House glanced up at him as he put away the small hammer. "Huh?"

Jane took a deep breath. "My wife was murdered. And my daughter."

House was silent. For the first time in his life, unable to come up with a sarcastic, mean response. "Oh," he lamely managed, and glanced at the floor, then back at Jane. He took a limp back, and gathered his supplies. "Your
check-up's over. You're not ready to leave the hospital."

Jane did not reply. He was gazing out the window, but the light did not reflect in his swirling eyes.

* * *
Lisbon pushed herself through the doors of Princeton-Plainsboro, sweeping into the busy, noisy lobby.

William had just dropped her off from lunch, and she wanted to get the team together, to regroup, figure out what the plans were for the next few days. The investigation was leading nowhere, and she'd learned nothing more about the false invitation. Feeling frustrated, she stomped further into the lobby, stopping at the desk, where a tall, slender woman with black hair was finishing up a call.

"Hello," she said as she placed the phone in its cradle and approached Lisbon across the desk. "Do you need some help? I'm Dr. Lisa Cuddy."

"Hey, I'm looking for my friend's doctor, um, Dr. House?" Lisbon inquired.

A look of old weariness passed over Dr. Cuddy's face, but before she could speak, there was a shout. Everyone in the lobby stopped and looked over to where an angry-looking janitor was standing, dripping wet with water, and shaking his fist up at the second level. Little bits of a blue balloon were scattered around him, like someone had dropped a water balloon on the poor guy.

Slowly, Cuddy and Lisbon glanced up, and saw House chuckling to himself, leaning over the second-floor railing that overlooked the lobby. When he saw Cuddy glaring at him, he faked flinching and cried out, "Oh, I am ever so sorry to that poor janitor. I wonder who dropped a water balloon on his head?"

"House!" Cuddy growled. Lisbon was immediately reminded of Minelli. "Stay right where you are. Come with me, please," she added to Lisbon.

"Um, sure. Oh, I'm Teresa Lisbon, by the way," she said hastily.

"Pleasure," Cuddy said, voice severe as she stomped up the silver stairs to cross over and meet House.

"Oh no! The British are coming!" House exclaimed, wide-eyed.

"What is this place to you, a kinder-care? You're a doctor, House, and you have responsibilities. This woman was looking for you, by the way," Cuddy added.

"Ah yes, Blondie's girlfriend," House remembered.

"Girlfriend?" Lisbon repeated.

"Who's Blondie?" Cuddy snapped.

"My patient."

"His name is Blondie?" Cuddy asked, confused.

Lisbon shot a look at House. She didn't know how this woman tolerated him every day. "No, his name is Patrick Jane."

"Patrick Jane?" Cuddy echoed, frowning like the name was familiar. "Hey, I think I know him... didn't he have a TV show, he was a physic...?"

Lisbon stared at Cuddy with surprise. She knew Jane had the past of a semi-celebrity, faking his way to the top as a physic, but she didn't realize people still remembered him. "Um, well, yes, but he quit that job, decided to
help the police..."

Cuddy shrugged. "Interesting. Now House, be nice to Ms. Lisbon here, and don't cause another lawsuit." With that, she clicked off, and disappeared back to the lower level.

House frowned at Lisbon as he looked her up and down. "So, Ms. Lisbon, what is it you wanted with me?"

"I want to know how Jane's holding up. When will we be able to leave?"

House turned around and began limping away. Lisbon guessed he wanted her to follow, so she did.

"Blondie's fine, but not fine enough to leave. It's only been a few days since he was attacked, if I released him so soon, I wouldn't be acting responsibly, now, would I?" the older man grumbled.

Abruptly, as they entered a hallway and began to turn the corner, Cho appeared. "Boss, I've been looking for you."

"Cho, what's up?"

"What do you know, Jackie Chan, in my hospital," House marveled, glancing Cho up and down with a crooked grin.

Cho stared, unamused, at House for a moment.

"Who ripped out your funny bone?" House snickered.

"Cho," Lisbon demanded as they began walking again.

"I just got back from the crime scene. They've got no new leads, and no real ideas about this. I mean, it's like one in a million, trying to find this attacker."

As they continued walking, they were startled when Van Pelt suddenly popped up, eyes wide, hair messy. "Boss!"

"Dear god," House swore, startled.

"Van Pelt," Lisbon said in surprise.

"How many of your people are running around here, anyways?" House grumbled.

"Come quick!" she said breathlessly. "I went to Jane's room to see how he was doing, and-"

There were footsteps, and suddenly Karla was pounding up behind them. She drew to a stop next to Van Pelt. "Jane's gone!"

"What?" Lisbon snapped.

"Gone?" Cho demanded.

"Yes," Karla breathed, eyes panicked. But she looked more concerned that necessary, like she was worried about something else entirely.

"Damn, do I have to put a leash on that mutt?" House growled, limping quickly down the hall now, the others at his heels. "Karla, get Chase, Cameron, and Foreman, we need to find this guy before he walks out of the hospital."

"Would he do that?" Van Pelt gasped.

Lisbon matched paces with House. "Of course he would," she growled.

Karla nodded, and was running off, dodging other nurses and doctors and patients as she disappeared around the corner.

What was he thinking? Lisbon furiously thought, heart racing.

Immediately, they split up. Van Pelt called Rigsby, who was alone at the park, to come and help them look. They alerted the hospital staff of a runaway patient, and soon the buzz had traveled around Princeton-Plainsboro.

Down stairs, through hallways, dive through busy rooms, check around the front.

Van Pelt was skipping down the stairs, anxious to find her blond friend, when suddenly she was at the bottom and nearly crashed into a man sitting quietly on the last dirty stair.

She stopped, gasping, and slowly recognized the curly blond hair, the chiseled face, the rough fingers...

"Jane?" she asked slowly, crouching down to sit next to him.

He blinked and glanced over at her. "Oh, Van Pelt. Hello."

She stared at him, eyes narrowed. "Are you alright?"

He nodded. "Perfect. Why do you ask?"

Van Pelt glanced at the stairs, then at him. She chuckled. "Well, you know, you are all alone on the bottom step of a hospital in New Jersey." She laughed and bit her lip, shrugging. Jane chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess I am. Are they looking for me?"

"Um, just about everyone."

He sighed and shook his head. "People panic too easily. I just wanted to get away from that room. From Karla."

Van Pelt was surprised. "What- you don't like her?"

Jane shrugged. "I dunno, I just get a weird feeling from her."

Van Pelt smiled. "I used to have a boyfriend like that. It turned out he liked video games more than me," she admitted.

Jane laughed and looked at her. "Really? Well, my point exactly." He stopped, then slowly got up, with Van Pelt's help. She called Lisbon, and they slowly walked back upstairs to meet her wrath.

"What were you thinking?" she snarled. "We were all scared for your safety-"

"I was fine, Lisbon. I'm in a hospital, anyways, the safest place on Earth," he said, only a hint of sarcasm.

They were standing in a hallway. Slowly, everyone came back together. Cho, Rigsby, and House arrived. Three other strangers walked behind House, people Jane had never met before. There was a young man with long blond hair, a pretty young woman with light brown hair, and a dark-skinned man with black eyes.

"Hello," Jane greeted them, waving.

"Hey," the blond man answered first.

Rigsby and Van Pelt nodded politely. Cho, however, gazed at them with curiosity; he gazed at the girl the most.

"Oh, yes, introductions. Well, this is my diagnostic team. This hottie's Cameron, the gangster is Foreman, and the Aussie is Chase. Hey," he said suddenly, glancing between Chase and Jane. "Two blondies. This is just picture perfect!"

"Uh, I'm Teresa Lisbon, and this is my CBI team: Grace Van Pelt, Wayne Rigsby, Kimball Cho, and then Patrick Jane." Lisbon motioned to Jane. She'd never admit it, but she was happy to have him back. She hadn't gotten to talk with him much recently.

"Look, blondie, you're my patient, and you aren't supposed to leave your room. Did I not stress that enough? I know you feel better, but leaving all your medicine and stuff could practically get you killed," House growled.

Jane laughed and shook his head. "You truly are an amazing man, House."

House rolled his eyes. "Oh, please, I'm too modest for this."

"Should we get him back to his room, then?" Foreman interrupted.

But before anyone could reply to that, Jane suddenly collapsed. Everyone was shocked, and they rushed to the floor to help get him up.

"What just happened?" Lisbon gasped.

"Jane!" Rigsby exclaimed.

House just stood there, eyes narrowed, leaning on his cane. "You truly are a dead man, blondie," he muttered.