Love Hurts

Chapter 11 – The Breaking Point

After his conversation with Christine, House felt compelled to go and talk to Michael for himself so he did. He walked into his room and over to his IV and injected a stimulant into the line. Within seconds, Michael woke up feeling completely disorientated. "Where am I?" he asked House as he came to. "You're in Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey…do you remember anything before your accident?" House asked him. "I…remember-" Michael was cut off by House. "Do you remember cheating on your fiancée? Do you remember the look on her face when she caught you?" House asked him. Michael just stared at House. "Come on Mike…I don't have all night…I have lives to save" House said. "I remember her sitting there" Michael said as he pointed to the empty stool next to his bed. "Great and do you remember her drugging you as well?" House asked him. "What? No…what are you talking about?" Michael asked him. "Hmm…that's strange…you remember her being here in this room but you don't remember her drugging you" House said. "Christine wouldn't drug me" Michael stated. "Right…because she trusts you so much" House said to him. Michael continued to stare at House as if he was a lunatic. Right as House was about to say something, Michael spoke up. "I remember…God the look on her face…I thought I was dreaming" Michael said. "You do remember cheating on her?" House asked him. "Not that I want to but yes…yes I do…where is she?" Michael said. "Well lucky for you, she remembers it as well and she's probably home right now…or sleeping with some other guy…you never know nowadays" House said. "When can I get out of here?" Michael asked him. House let out a long sigh as he looked Michael right in his eyes. "You're dying…you have stage 4 brain cancer located in the cerebral cortex part of your brain…Christine is aware of your condition and the only thing we can do is make you as comfortable as possible" House explained to him. Michael was silent as he let everything that House said sink in. "I have brain cancer?" he asked. "Yea…you've had it for a few years…unfortunately it wasn't caught in time and now there's nothing we can do" House said. Michael was silent again. "Why did you do it?" House asked him. "Why did I do what?" Michael asked. "Why did you cheat on Christine?" House asked him. "I didn't want to but it was something I had to do…I was freaked out" Michael said. "Right…you had to sleep with someone else because it occurred to you how you were engaged and you'd only be sleeping with that one special person for the rest of…oh I don't know…your life?" House said to him. "It's true! I know I messed up and I'm sorry…so sorry" Michael said. House just looked at him and shook his head. "It's not me who you should be apologizing to" he said. Michael looked at House as he tried to sit himself up but he couldn't…he was weak and that made him even more depressed. "I'll have the Nurse in the morning start you on a Morphine drip" House said as he looked over Michael's chart. "Wait" Michael called out as House was about to leave his room. "What?" House asked. "Christine has spoken very highly of you…can you just make sure that she finds someone to take care of her when I'm gone" Michael said to him. House just stared at him and then gave him a small smile. "What makes you think that she hasn't found someone already?" House stated as he left Michael's room.

The next day Christine woke up feeling horrible. Her head was pounding and her throat was sore. She sat up in her bed and couldn't remember how she had gotten into it or anything from the night before. As she was getting out of her bed, she heard a noise coming from her kitchen. She slowly walked down the hallway and peeked her head into the kitchen only to be shocked and even more confused when she saw Dr. Robert Chase cooking what smelled like bacon and eggs. "Chase?" Christine said as she walked fully into the kitchen. "Hey, good morning Druggie" Chase greeted her. "Druggie?" Christine repeated defensively as she sat down at the table. "Anti depressants and alcohol don't mix well together" Chase said as he placed the bottle of anti depressants down in front of her. "Oh God…no wonder I feel like this" Christine said holding her head. "All you have to do is eat something and take some aspirin and you'll be fine" Chase said as he placed a big plate of food down in front of her. "Thanks…Dr. Chase" Christine said as she began to eat the food he had cooked. "So what happened last night? I don't remember anything after I left the hospital" Christine asked him. "Well…I came over here and you were already drunk and high…you said a lot of crazy things and…you tried to kiss me…" Chase said to her. "Oh My God…I'm so sorry Chase" Christine said covering her mouth with her hand; she truly didn't remember any of it. "It's ok…it was actually kind of hot…you threw me against a wall" Chase said to her with a grin. "Oh God…I'm sorry" Christine said feeling even more humiliated. "Don't worry about it…it's not every night that a beautiful woman throws me against her wall and tries to have her way with me" Chase said to her. Christine just looked at him and hid her face in utter humiliation. "You just tried to kiss me…it's no big deal…it's forgotten" Chase said to her. "Did you pull away?" she asked Chase which surprised him a bit. "Yea…I knew you were vulnerable and compromised at the same time" Chase said to her. Christine just stared at him. He was gorgeous and just an all around amazing guy but then there was House…extremely sexy and an all around complicated guy who she knew she couldn't betray. "If we ever were to kiss…I want us both to be happy and sober during it" Chase said as he looked right into her piercing green eyes. Christine smiled, not really knowing how else to handle his comment. Silence fell between the both of them as they continued to eat. "Like now?" Christine finally said. Chase just looked at her and as their faces inched closer to one another, their beepers went off.

"Go say goodbye and then we'll get started on this new case…that's if you don't want to go home for the day" House said to Christine as she went into his office as it was requested on his page to her. "Is he really doing that bad?" Christine asked him. "He's hanging on for you…well that's according to one of the Nurses but you know them, they lie…everybody lies" House said to her. Christine just looked at House. He looked up from his desk and his eyes met with hers. "Just let him know its ok…once you do that-" House was cut off by Christine. "I know how it is…I am a Doctor you know" Christine said to him. House just nodded his head. He didn't know what else to say to her. "Say goodbye and then let me know if you want to stay for the day" House said. "Ok" Christine said as she went to leave the room but House stopped her. "Christine, wait" he said as he got up from his desk. "After you left last night…I spoke to Michael…he knows he's dying…and…he asked me something" House said as he limped towards her without using his cane. Christine's eyes were already tearing and House couldn't bear to look at them so he spoke mainly to the floor. "He asked me to make sure that after he's gone…you'll find someone and move on" House said. Christine was silent for a few seconds, it definitely sounded like something Michael would say. "So what did you say?" Christine said as the tears started to stream down her freshly made up face. "I said…that I would help you find someone" House said but this time to her face. Christine just stared at him, she didn't know where this was about to go. "How do you really feel about…Chase?" House asked her hesitantly. Christine's eyes grew wider; House noticed and silently cursed himself for even opening up his mouth. "The last time I checked…it wasn't Chase who I woke up next to for the past few weeks…it was you House" Christine said as she again tried to leave his office. "What do you want from me? I'm old, crippled and mean…I can't give you what you want…I can't even take care of myself" House said to her. "What makes you think that you know what I want?" Christine said back to him and then left his office for good.