He didn't consider her stable so House kept his word and stayed at the hospital that night. It was smart of him to turn in soon after he'd seen her safely to the sleep lab, because he was making his way back there long before the sun would rise.
Thirteen was surprised to see him there; obviously Kelly's text had been sent in secret.
He didn't give her the chance to question his presence. "What have you learned?"
"Enough to know we don't know enough." Thirteen sighed heavily, leaning back in her chair. She'd been left alone for this shift to monitor the equipment. "In reality, we've come a long way in knowing WHAT is happening, but the WHY is another story. Not to mention the HOW she managed to survive this long. The seizure must have done something; it's the only explanation that fits."
He hummed in agreement. "But you have what you need for now? You can let her sleep?"
"She IS sleeping..." She glanced at the monitors. "Oh."
House followed her into the heated room but stood back by the door as she approached the bed.
"Miss Janes? I can take you off the monitors now." She pulled back the sheet to do so.
"And remove the temperature probe?"
Thirteen chuckled at her obvious excitement. "I suppose. You'll just need to be checked every half hour or so."
Kelly stretched luxuriously when she was finally able to turn onto her back. It was then that she saw him. She was surprised when he approached.
"Ma'am."
She stuck out her tongue at him behind Thirteen's back.
"When did you get the water bed?" He wasted no time. He wasn't sure if he'd solved the problem in his sleep, but the thought was already there when he'd wakened.
"Just after Mark died." She lowered her eyes at the memory. "I was having trouble sleeping and a friend suggested getting a new bed might help... that something new might not feel so empty."
"And you chose the water bed because..." It was Thirteen who'd interjected.
House already knew the answer. "We're idiots. Thirteen, go home. Let this poor woman get some sleep."
"But she needs to be monitored! You know what happened last night. You -"
"I'll take care of it all." Rather than answering her incredulous look with more dismissal, he chose to reassure her. "It's going to be fine; I have an idea and frankly I'm always right." He continued though she scoffed at his ego. "I need everyone fresh because at 9 o'clock we're going to meet and figure out what comes next."
"But -"
"Get out."
Thirteen glanced at the patient to see how she felt about all this, and found her smiling knowingly. "Do you want me to - "
"OUT!"
She heard Kelly laughing as she left the room. Curious and a little concerned, Thirteen sat down in front of the camera monitor and brought the room's microphone to life. But to her surprise, House wasn't on the screen. She looked up and saw him in the doorway. "I was just - "
"Do you have the sleep lab key?"
"Yes."
"Give it to me. Then go home. Now."
If she hadn't been so exhausted she probably wouldn't have let this slide. This was just too strange, and she wasn't sure how she felt about leaving him alone with the patient... on several levels. But he was more stubborn even than she was, so she surrendered under duress and handed him the keys, leaving without another word.
House locked the outer door, shut down the equipment and returned to Kelly, dialing back the heat as he passed the thermostat. She was sitting cross legged on the bed and looking at him expectantly.
"You have my cure, Dr. Brilliant?"
"Nope." Only a thin sheet had been left on the bed for modesty's sake. In the low light, he found a shelf and selected two blankets which he made a great show of unfolding and tucking in.
She waited as long as she could before she exclaimed, exasperated, "Well, WHAT?"
He shook his head. He wasn't being coy; he was proud of his deduction but knew the reality would be a sad one for her. "I think you've had this condition for awhile. A year or more."
"I haven't had the water bed for a year."
"No, you haven't." Wordlessly he got her to lay back and he pulled the blankets over her, but not all the way. He placed an ear thermometer at the head of the bed.
"Greg, spit it out. How is it you're planning to get me through the night?"
He started unbuttoning his shirt.
Her eyes widened. "Is this a modern medical technique I wasn't aware of?"
"Shut up." His half smile was sad, and it both calmed her and frightened her. What wasn't he saying?
In a moment he was left in jeans and a blue T-shirt, barefoot. In the next moment he was lying beside her, his arms wrapped around her.
"Greg..."
"Mark kept you warm."
And there is was. Her confusion left her.
"Before the accident, this is how you slept, isn't it?"
Her back was against his chest, and his voice almost a whisper by her ear. She responded in kind. "Every night. Like I couldn't get close enough."
"I think he was regulating your body temperature with his own. I think he was keeping you alive."
She would cry later. For now it was too much to absorb. For now the arms that were not her husband's but held her with as much tenderness as Mark's ever had were confusing her and comforting her and in her exhaustion she was overloaded with thoughts and emotions and the only words that made sense for her to say in that moment were, "Thank you, Greg."
She felt his body relax against hers. And she slept.
House had no problem staying awake long enough to take her temperature a half hour, then an hour later. As he had hoped, she was fine. He, on the other hand, was less than fine. He was panicked.
Not by her. But by the realization that in the morning his team would ask for his report. Would need to hear his revelation. Would need to hear that she had rested uneventfully and how that was accomplished.
What the hell was he to do?
Her breathing, her heartbeat, the warmth between them, eventually lulled him to sleep in spite of himself. And kept him asleep until his dilemma was solved for him.
