A lot more about what happened to Cameron as well as Audra's reaction to bad news.

Glad you're reading this story. Thanks for any and all comments.

Chapter 21. FAMILY TIES - 6 PM

"Did you call Aunt Bonnie or Grandpa Butch?" Gretchen suddenly asks.

"Bonnie?" My daughter's mind is racing with thoughts as much as mine, it seems.

"Yes, to tell them about Mom."

"None of them have to know. There's nothing they can do."

"You should tell Aunt Bonnie about Alex. Do you want me to call?" she suggests. She begins to pull out her cellphone.

"No, I'll do it." It might be better for me to break the news. I don't have the

number saved on my phone, but Gretchen does, so I take hers. "Hi, Bonnie? It's House. Greg House. Your brother-in-law." Why am I blathering?

"Is Allie alright?" she immediately demands, probably wondering why I'd be calling instead of her sister.

"Um, I don't know how to tell you this." This is harder than I thought.

"Just tell me, is she OK?"

"Yes and no," I tell her, then take a deep breath and plunge in. "A doctor who used to work here attacked her in the lab. He knocked her around, threw a vial at her that broke and splattered glass and a reagent into her eyes, and then tried to strangle her."

"Oh, my God!" she exclaimed. "But how is she now? I'll be there as soon as possible."

"She's unconscious. There's nothing you can do, not even anything any of us so-called genius doctors can do," I say bitterly. "She just has to come out of it on her own."

"And her eyes? You said glass and a reagent?"

"We don't know about her eyes yet. Another doctor and an orderly got Davidson away from her and the doctor, his name's Billings, immediately flushed her eyes." Even saying it, I still can't believe all of this happened.

"What about the baby?" She wants to know next. Definitely Allie's sister.

"The baby," I say. "The baby's fine. He was born a few hours later. A healthy boy. Eight pounds, 22 inches."

"Can I talk to Gretchen? She's there, isn't she?" Bonnie asks.

"She wants to talk to you." I hand the phone back to my daughter.

"Hi, Aunt Bonnie," Gretchen tries to sound upbeat. She listens to her aunt and then says, "Dad and I are just waiting for her to wake up." Bonnie probably asks about Alex again, because Gretchen says, "He's sooo adorable." I know she's not talking about me. After another minute of listening, Gretchen finally says, "OK, we'll see you soon," and then ends the connection. "They're taking the next plane they can get. They'll be here tonight or tomorrow morning."

"They don't have to."

"Yes they do. They're family."

I've never had a sense of 'family', at least not until Gretchen and Allison and now Alex. But I guess it's important to most people.

A few days after I'd seen Audra's grandparents leaving Wilson's office, I was walking towards my office when Audra barreled into me. She began pounding at me with her small fists and I grabbed her arms, dropping my cane.

"Audra, stop. It's Dr. House, Gretchen's dad," I shouted to get her attention.

"Let me go!" she shouted back, tears streaming down her face.

"What's wrong?" I hadn't a clue what to do with her, but I realized she must have just gotten the bad news about one of her grandparents from Wilson.

"C'mon, I'll take you to Dr. Cameron," I told her. Allison would know how to comfort the girl. She wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand and whimpered a little, but she seemed calmer. Wilson came out of his office and I told him that I was taking Audra to Allie's office. He nodded solemnly. Probably thought Audra didn't need to hear the rest of what he had to say.

I took the girl's hand in my much larger one, picked up my cane, and took her to

Allison's office in Infectious Diseases. The door was open, as it often was, but my wife wasn't there. The only occupant was Nancy Lloyd.

"Lloyd, do you know where my wife is?" I asked.

She was staring at Audra. "She's with a patient," she said, but her eyes never left the child.

"This is Audra Swenson," I said. Maybe giving a name to the blond girl would break the fascination Lloyd had with her. "She's a friend of Gretchen's and Tommy's."

"Hi, Audra. I'm Dr. Lloyd."

Audra stared back at the woman, an odd expression on her face.

"Audra's just gotten some bad news about one of her grandparents," I guessed.

Both of them now turned their eyes to me. With trembling lips, Audra said. "My

Grandmother is going to die. She has cancer."

"Is that what Wilson said?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Just that her tumor is cancer and it's spread. That's what they said about my mom eight months before she died."

I thought about the implications of that. No wonder she was so upset. Then I realized that if Audra was right and she lost Ingrid, too, all she'd have left was an absentee father and a grandfather who knew even less than I did about raising a 9-year-old.

I didn't know what to say to Audra. She didn't need my snark or indifference right now. I looked pleadingly at Lloyd, but it seemed that she wasn't sure what to do either. Then she seemed to get an idea.

"Why don't you come with me to see one of my patients," Lloyd suggested, reaching out a hand for Audra's. I guess she figured that would distract her.

Audra wasn't too sure, so I said, "Go ahead. Maybe you'll see Dr. Cameron on the way."

But five minutes later, Allie returned to the office, somewhat surprised to find me there.

"Did you see Lloyd and Audra?" I asked.

"What? Why is Audra with Lloyd? She's not sick, is she?"

I shook my head. "Audra's fine. Well, physically. She was in Wilson's office with her grandparents but couldn't handle what he said." I suddenly realized how the news about Ingrid might affect my wife. "Sit down, Allie." I waited until she did. "It's Ingrid. She has a malignant tumor. Or had. I think they removed it, but the cancer's spread."

"Oh, no!" She looked stricken. See, now that's what happens when you get too close to too many people. "Have you talked to Wilson?"

"She's not my patient." I didn't mean it to come out as harsh as it did. I purposely softened my voice. "He can't share the details about one of his patients. You should know that."

She nodded, but she still seemed so sad. I leaned over and put my arms around her. She stood up again and pressed herself to me, and I just held her as she sobbed into my shoulder.

Chapter 22. THE COMFORT OF STRANGERS

Nancy - 6:30 PM

"I just thought I'd stop in before I go home for the night," I tell House, as I walk into Allison's room. "Have you two eaten anything?"

"Uncle Jimmy brought us Reubens." Gretchen's voice is flat, devoid of the usual spark. I can see the barely eaten sandwiches on the table.

I search for something pleasant to talk about. "How's baby Alex doing?"

"He's just fine," House bellows. "Any more inane questions before you leave?"

I swallow my retort. For once he has a reason to be surly. "I just wanted you both to know that your friends, yours and Allison's, are here if you need us."

"We know." Gretchen's eyes apologize for her father. He looks almost

contrite for what he's shouted at me.

I hug Gretchen, then feel the urge to smooth Allison's covers before I go. Guess I'm still not so good at bringing comfort to those distraught over ill family members.

The day House brought Audra to our office, looking for Allison to provide the comfort she needed, the day I met the girl, I knew I couldn't help her the way Allison does. But I tried.

I took Audra down the hallway to the room occupied by one of my younger patients, Cathy Anderson, thinking it would distract her from what she'd have to face over the next months.

Cathy was a seven-year-old with a resistant ear infection that had spread to her

throat as we tried to find a cure.

"Audra, this is Cathy. She has an infection and we're trying to find the right

antiviral to fight it," I said as we entered the room.

"Hi," Audra said shyly.

"Hi," Cathy replied, grinning. She had a friendly smile and loved visitors. You

couldn't help but smile back at her. It was just what Audra needed at that point.

"I hope Dr. Lloyd finds the right medicine for me soon," Cathy said. "I wanna go home and go back to school."

"What grade are you in?" a very polite Audra asked.

"Second."

"So you're seven? I'm nine and in fourth grade. I have a great teacher," Audra told the younger girl. She seemed to be warming up, relaxing a little.

While they chatted, I checked Cathy's vitals. The most recent antiviral seemed to be working.

"Well, it looks like you're getting better," I was happy to tell Cathy. She beamed at me.

"That's good," Audra agreed. But suddenly her relief for Cathy was replaced by her original sadness. "I don't think my grandmother will be getting better."

I sighed. The temporary reprieve I'd given her, or rather Cathy had, was just that. Temporary. Maybe House had been right. Maybe she needed Allison's touch.

"C'mon," I told Audra. "Let's go see if Dr. Cameron is back in the office."

"Don't you have other patients?" Audra asked.

"You don't have to come with me to listen to Mr. Barroni complain about the hospital food, or Lorraine Talmadge moan and groan," I told her. A smile crossed her lips, but she was content to walk back with me the way we came. I was a little surprised when she put her hand in mine. It just made me feel even more pity for the kid.

We found Allison and her husband in the office, talking to the head of the Neurology department. I wondered what Dr. Foreman was doing there. Sounded like he'd just arrived. He was telling them, "Emily Palmer told Dana that the 'dog lady' had some more puppies."

"Oh!" Audra exclaimed. "Bassets like Junior?"

I'm a cat person myself, but I had to admit that Gretchen's dog was very cute.

"Yes," Allie told Audra. "I'll get you her number," she said to Dr. Foreman. "Ricky's probably old enough now that he can help take care of a dog, and I'm sure he and 'Becca would love one."

"We'll see," Dr. Foreman said.

Audra turned to me. "Do you have a dog?"

"No, I have two cats, Fred and Ginger." I expected the reaction I'd gotten from the classic movie buff Gretchen.

But all the girl said was, "Oh. My grandfather won't let me have any pets."

"Audra, honey, we'd better get you back to Dr. Wilson's office," Allison said gently. "Your grandparents are probably wondering what we've done with you."

Audra just stared at her, then turned to House. "Will you take me back?" she asked. We all looked at her with various levels of astonishment.