Chapter 12
Hot Spot, Out I Say
The next day, House took MacBeth a milk shake, sat in the chair and drank one with her. Wilson walked in very agitated. House was sure that Wilson had come to yell at him for some infraction, but instead he turned to MacBeth and with a stern voice and said, "Your blood tests from when you were admitted just came back. I ran a test to find out the levels of the Gleevec and Ceflatonin so I could compare them to the levels six weeks ago. It lets me know what strength to give you." Wilson was shaking his head at her while she looked away from him, "Explain to me how I only found trace amounts of it in your blood?" He stopped to try and control his voice, "You haven't been on your chemo. Why?"
House looked at her and then at Wilson. This was better than General Hospital, his favorite soap.
"House get out of here. I need to talk to MacBeth." House hesitated. "Out!" Wilson yelled with a voice that typically meant you'd be dead meat if you didn't obey.
"Meowwww." House got up and left but didn't go far, he waited just outside so that he could hear their conversation.
"What's going on? When did you go off the chemo?" Wilson asked her. He tried to sound calmer. MacBeth didn't respond. "The nurses tell me that you've been having vaginal bleeding, more than a normal period. They also told me that you had some pretty bad cramps. Is there something you want to tell me?"
She stared at the florescent light and then realized he already knew. "I'm having a miscarriage."
He remained silent while he thought through what to say next. "So that's what happened. When you found out you were pregnant you stopped your chemo." He could tell by the tear that rolled down her cheek that he was right. "You had to know that with your relapse you wouldn't carry the baby full term. Why? Why did you risk going off your chemo when you were doing so well on it?"
"I just wanted to see if there was one miracle left on this earth for me before I died. I lost a baby the first time around with this cancer. I had just turned 30 and found out that I was pregnant the same day that I found out I had leukemia. They made me abort my baby, said that the chemo would kill her anyway, that I could have another when I got better. The baby was 14 weeks old. I couldn't look at my boyfriend after that; I felt so guilty. We broke up. So you see, the thought of aborting another baby...I just didn't have it in me."
Wilson felt like crap, but not as bad as House did. Now he knew why she looked so sad in her portrait and had the same look the other night. He started counting back the weeks and wondered if he had gotten her pregnant. The odds were pretty good.
Over the next week, the chemotherapy and the Gleevec started working and MacBeth started putting on weight. The bone marrow drive in Princeton didn't find a donor for MacBeth (although several were found for others,) but a match was found in San Francisco at the beginning of the year. Two weeks later she was back in PPTH for the bone marrow transfer. Armitage flew out to conduct the transfer with Wilson and to pick up his check for the $2.0 million donation to the cancer center from the Stratford Foundation. Wilson was thrilled to have a whole afternoon to discuss new treatments with Armitage and possible corroboration on new protocols .
After the transfer, MacBeth lost more weight because of her lack of appetite and sores in her mouth so she drank nutritional drinks and was given nutrients through a central line. Her mouth became sore due to the radiation she had to receive prior to the bone marrow transfer to bring the cancer cell count down to zero. She had both ulcers and thrush – a fungal infection in her mouth that drove her nuts. She used all the mouthwashes and lozenges they gave her, but eventually they ended up giving her painkillers. To top it off, she developed diarrhea from all of the radiation, chemotherapy and medication. It was pure hell on earth. But within weeks she began to turn the corner.
House had abruptly stopped coming to see her the day Wilson kicked him out and he discovered that she had been pregnant. MacBeth missed him and knew he had purposefully stopped coming to see her. She figured that her condition had started to bore. House had always made things interesting when he was around and without him her stay was boring. But MacBeth had been born into years of disappointment and struggle despite the huge checkbook. She learned long ago that money smoothed a lot of paths but it didn't stop the road of life from going up great mountains and down deep valleys.
Boz managed to get the trial postponed to the beginning of April but the judge had warned that there would be no further postponements. At the end of January, a healthier MacBeth went home to recuperate.
House had been thinking a lot about MacBeth and her weird outlook on life. He had stopped going down to MacBeth's little dominion in the hospital after he heard about the pregnancy. After all, what could he say? Besides, she was just a one night stand, one he barely remembered and they weren't even dating.
Occasionally, House would see MacBeth being wheeled to oncology or someplace for a test but he tried to avoid her. He was in the elevator one day when the doors opened and he came face to face with her in a wheelchair. The nurse pushed her inside and hit the floor for oncology. MacBeth had on a bright turban made with a fruit print material and an equally garish mu-mu.
"Hi, Greg. Keeping busy?"
He shook his head yes. "How are you doing?" He already knew because Wilson would give him updates from time to time.
"Okay. How's Jessica? I heard you two are a pretty hot item."
"She seems to put up with me--why, I don't know."
"Jessica's pretty tough skinned. I'm sure you two make a great pair. We need to get together to get back on track for your trial."
"Aren't you going to let Boz take over?"
"No, I'll be ready. I go home in a few days. You can either come and see me here before I go or at my house and we'll prepare your testimony."
"Are you sure you should be handling the trial? You seem ok, but I wouldn't want to see you working with subatomic particles."
As the elevator arrived at her floor she turned to House, "Greg, before you criticize me, you should walk a mile in my shoes, that way when you piss me off you'll be a mile away and you'll have my shoes." The nurse wheeled her out the door laughing. Without turning, MacBeth waved over her shoulder and chirped, "Have a good day!"
He couldn't help but grin. She's funny. At least she'll be more fun in the courtroom than Boz.
House and Jessica went on a ski trip in January out to Jessica's cabin in Telluride. House spent his time either reading or on a snowmobile, while Jessica joined friends on skis. Sometimes House watched the skiers from the large glass windows as he read next to the fire in the lodge. He remembered past vacations spent on the slopes hitting the diamond trails. Fast and dangerous, that's how he liked his skiing. But that was a thing of the past for him, but not for Jessica. He envied her.
They spent their nights in Telluride with her friends, some who wondered why Jessica was with someone so brash. The others adored House because of his caustic wit and sharp observations. They found him entertaining.
At night Jessica was more than enough for House. She had a gorgeous body--full hips, large breasts and a thin waist. She was 5'8" and the green-blue eyes were the envy of people wherever they went. House thought she was smart, but not brilliant. However, whatever intellectual assets she lacked she made up for with her money. House was enjoying the good life, going places and doing things he'd never do even with his ample salary. He often spent the weekends in different, fascinating places he had never gone before.
Jessica liked a little S&M, something House wasn't that fond of, especially since she liked to be the dominatrix. House wasn't in to being called names and being punished. When she would insist, he would play along, but it got old quickly and then he'd take over, pissing her off. It was the biggest bone of contention between them except when he spent his time on a case and not on her. But then, Stacey and all the others had complained about his absorption with his work.
Jessica's birthday was at the end of February so House took three days off before the weekend and they spent five days in Cancun. They arrived in Cancun and that evening at dinner Jessica popped the question, "Greg, I think we should get married. I'm in love with you and I don't see any reason for us not to marry."
House was in the middle of a bite when she asked. He stopped chewing as his throat went dry. After staring at her for a few seconds, he began chewing again, giving him time to think. Was he in love with her? Maybe. He was rapidly approaching 51 years old and had never been married, why marry now? If he said no, would she walk? He was conflicted and he had to come up with a solution by the time he finished chewing.
"I'm not opposed to marriage, just getting married so soon. What about an engagement, say about a year long. If we still like each other after six months, we can set a date for the beginning of next year?"
She looked at him, amazed that he even committed to that and nodded, "Sounds good, now should I look for an apartment for us in Princeton?"
"Let's talk about moving in with each other in a couple of months, after my trial. Right now I don't want to make any changes."
"We need to look for a ring."
"When we get back to Princeton." He smiled and reached out for her hand. She came around the table, sat in his lap and they kissed as he felt her breast through her sweater. She finally went back to her meal while House swallowed hard and took a deep breath.
House was comfortable with his decisions. It was a commitment that gave them the time to decide if it would work. For the first time in a long time House felt optimistic.
