The final chapter! Yup! You heard right! There's a short epilogue after this though, so stay tuned!


The Wizard of PROZ

Chapter 10: The Final Chapter


"What now?" Kutner asked. Thirteen looked at him when he began to speak, just to make sure it was actually him (well, actually dream Kutner) speaking. She did not know why she cared if figments of her imagination thought she was crazy, but right now she did, so she did not want to be caught responding to any outside happenings.

"Wilson, stop making googly eyes at me and go get Cuddy," House said, sounding slightly irritated.

"Sure thing, boss," Wilson replied. He laughed, and the sound tapered off into nothing.

Dream Wilson not speaking, and dream House was not yet in sight, so Thirteen knew that she was, once again, hearing their real life counterparts having a conversation. She grinned as she tried to get an image in her mind to match the dialogue. Wilson was, no doubt, not actually making googly eyes at House (from what she had noticed, it was usually the other way around, though she was not about to speak that aloud), and he had most likely added an eye roll to his laughter when House ordered him to go and retrieve Cuddy from wherever she happened to be.

"She can hear us," House laughed.

"How do you know that?" That was Taub's voice.

"She was just mumbling about Wilson and his googly eyes."

Wilson was leading Thirteen, Kutner, Taub, and Foreman back to House's office, no doubt to discuss how House would be getting Thirteen home, since they had completed their task. Thirteen was not really paying attention to anyone, as she was far too busy thinking about how she most assuredly going to wake up from this freak fest soon. The voices floating around in the sky were not bothering her this time, as they were not in her head, and she did not yet feel as if she was awake and actually witnessing what was going on. This time, the disembodied noise was welcomed.

"Thirteen? Can you hear us?" That was Kutner's voice.

But it was the same disembodied noise that didn't seem to be coming from one specific place. "Kutner you are so loud..." she muttered to herself. The dream Kutner looked at her a little oddly.

"She really can hear us!" He sounded so excited.

Thirteen couldn't help but smile to herself as they walked into House's office. House was there, his feet propped up on the desk in front of him, a red ball in his hands.

"I see you delivered the message," he said. "Obviously." He glanced over at Amber, who was leaning against the wall. "Didn't really serve its purpose, but oh well."

"As can the rest of us, stop yelling." If Thirteen could have seen House, she was pretty sure he would be rolling his eyes.

Thirteen mumbled something about Kutner always being that loud, much to the confusion of Kutner currently occupying her dream, but it went ignored. "Yeah, mission accomplished and all that, can you take me home now?" She was not exactly sure how he would do that, but it did not really matter, as she knew she would be waking up soon anyway. She just had to continue about the dream until that time.

House sighed. "I suppose I have to, I'm a man of my word and all."

Wilson snorted in disbelief.

"Well come on, I keep the motorcycle outside. Though I suppose you want to say goodbye to all these tools," he continued, gesturing to the group.

"Why? I'll see them when I wake up..." she trailed off, remember that this was a dream and silently cursing herself.

"What did she just say?" Foreman asked from the sky. Or wherever.

"I think she said she'd see 'them' when she wakes up." That would be Wilson.

"Bye everybody," she said, turning to them.

Foreman nodded and mumbled a, "Goodbye," in reply, and Taub gave her a slight smile.

"It was nice having you around," he said. "Maybe you should come back sometime."

She grinned back. She might have felt a bit down about leaving them, since she did have some fun in the silly dream of hers, but she knew she'd awake to find everybody at the hospital, just as she had left them. When she saw the look on Kutner's face, however, she did feel the slightest twinge of sadness.

"You could stay," he said. "Just a bit longer?"

She was tempted to tell him she had a Kutner of her own waiting back home that needed her. But he wouldn't get it. "I'm sorry," she told him. She took a step forward and gave him a hug. "But I really need to get back home."

"But I like you," he whined.

"I like you too, Kutner, but I can't stay forever." Thirteen sighed. "Maybe I'll visit again. You never know. But for now, bye." She walked back over to House, waving at the three of them as she did so.

"Ooooh, did you hear that, Kutner? She likes you." House was laughing, his tone oozing of mockery.

Kutner replied with a, "Duh, of course she does." He sounded smug about that fact.

Thirteen laughed a bit, and then glanced up at House, who raised an eyebrow at her. He stood up from his desk and gestured at her, telling her to follow him. She did so, and they exited the office, Wilson and Amber trailing behind them.

They left the building through a door that Thirteen hadn't noticed until House opened it, and went outside into the bright sunlight. Dominating the scene was a huge black motorcycle. House walked over to it, examining it affectionately and looking at Thirteen, Amber, and Wilson.

"You love that motorcycle way too much," Wilson said with a laugh.

"Not as much as I love you," House retorted with a ludicrous wink.

Amber shook her head. "Don't get jealous over the bike, Wilson, it's unbecoming," she joked, punching Wilson in the arm gently.

"I'm not jealous of the motorcycle," Wilson said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Thirteen laughed slightly. "You three are so strange."

"We try."

House stuck his tongue out at Wilson. "Don't wait up all night for me, baby cakes. I might be awhile."

Wilson wrinkled his nose. "Baby cakes?" he asked, looking incredulous.

"You know you like it."

"You can keep on thinking that. I'll see you later." Wilson blew a kiss and walked off, and House rolled his eyes. House grabbed two helmets, seemingly out of nowhere, and handed one to Thirteen, putting the other one on himself.

"Wear that, I'm not having you crack your skull or something and blaming it on me," he said. Of course House would hide any concern for others with a statement like that.

"You are blowing me kisses, apparently," House said. Wilson was obviously back in the room.

"And this is news how?" Cuddy asked.

"Since when do I blow you anything?" Wilson went quiet for a moment, then laughed. House joined in.

"I am not even going to answer that one. I am sure everyone in this room already knows the answer, anyway."/I

House sat down on the motorcycle and gestured for Thirteen to sit down too. She did so, wrapping her arms around his waist. "So how does this work, House?" she inquired curiously.

"She's shifting in her sleep."

"What did you say?" Thirteen let go of House's waist, confusion written all over her face. Her head felt light, and she wanted nothing more than to lie down. She closed her eyes as a wave of nausea washed over her, and her hands curled around her stomach.

"I didn't say--" House trailed off when Thirteen suddenly collapsed, falling sideways off the motorbike. "Shit."

"What's the big commotion?"

"Go away, Cameron, Thirteen is just waking up."

"Oh, alright then. We'll stay."

"You might need assistance or something."

"You two just miss me."

"Yes, that is totally it, House."

"Stop acting like morons, she's waking up."

"Be quiet."

"Maybe us talking will make her wake up faster."

"Get the penlight."

All Thirteen felt was falling, and darkness surrounded her. She tried to open her eyes, but her lids felt too heavy to move. She finally cracked them open a bit, and a thin sliver of light filled her eyes. It hurt, so she closed them again. She could still see the light through her closed eyes, so she opened them once again, and this time not only light filled her vision.

"About time you woke up."