Thanks for all the reviews, hopefully this chapter should satisfy your questions :P and also sorry its shorter than others, I just wanted to give you something
THANKS TO MY BETA ADRIKA!
Chapter 13 – Story time
"He looks fine, Wilson, stop worrying!"
We were back at House's apartment now.
The team had gone home, but Cuddy had come along to help me with Greg.
Greg had cried for a while longer until I managed to get his sobs back down to little whines and sniffles with some back rubbing and scalp scratching.
The crying had tired him out and with some soothing words and some extra scalp massages he eventually fell into an exhausted slumber on my shoulder with tear tracks still down his face and mouth open in a silent sob. I insisted Cuddy give him a physical examination at the apartment, just in case.
"He has a slight bump, nothing else" She informed me whilst I sat on the sofa
with him rocking him slightly back and forth and petting his hair.
"Good, that's ok then" I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Honestly, you´re really living up to that "Jewish mother" name he gives you" Cuddy scolded.
"Didn´t you see what happened tonight, he nearly got crushed!"
"I doubt it would have escalated to that, someone would have stopped that truck way before that. We are lucky Chase got to him as quick as he did, though."
"Yeah, and nearly cracked open his skull!" I cried, cradling Greg closer to my body in a protective manner.
"Oh don't exaggerate, it was a little bump" Cuddy protests.
"A little? Chase nearly gave him concussion!"
"Wilson, stop being an over protective parent. It is not like Chase wanted to hurt him; he just reacted quickly to stop Greg. If he hadn't, then Greg could have been in real danger. You should be thanking him instead of acusing him!"
I snorted and buried my nose in Greg's hair.
"Honestly, you´re worse than a pregnant woman" Cuddy said.
I narrowed my eyes at this and growled. "I just don't want to see him hurt or upset"
"Neither do we, we all want what is best for Greg, that is why Chase acted in
the way he did. The best thing you can do for Greg right now is tuck him into
a nice comfy bed and get some rest so your both feeling better tomorrow morning"
"Speaking of tomorrow morning, can we possibly come in a bit later? It´s terribly late already…." I began hoping for a little lie-in tormorrow but to my disappointment, Cuddy just snorted and crossed her arms.
"I expect you to be in at 9 a.m as usual tomorrow, Dr. Wilson and to carry on with your appointments as usual"
I rolled my eyes and groaned "Thanks Cuddy"
She beamed back at me in return. "Anytime, Wilson"
The next morning, the annoying blaring of the alarm clock all too soon disturbed my peace. It felt like I had only been in bed for a few hours and looking at the time, it was somewhat true. I rubbed my eyes, which felt like sandpaper, and dragged my groaning muscles from the sofa. I was surprised that Greg wasn't up yet, but I got my answer when I saw he was still wrapped up in his quilt, fast asleep, just spikey tuffs of hair sticking out from the top. I let him lie in whilst I got ready for work and seeing as we were running a bit late; I packed some fruit in my briefcase for breakfast. Finally I ventured into his bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Hey, buddy" I tried which was greeted with no response.
After a few tries and only getting a few groans in response I decided I was
wasting too much time. Carefully I removed the quilt and maneuvered a sleepy
Greg so he was sitting upright and leaning on my shoulder. Carefully, with
doctor's precision, I peeled away his pajamas and changed him into his day
clothes. Once he was ready and wrapped up in his coat, I bent down and hoisted
him up so he could carry on dozing on me. Checking everything was in its place, I finally left the apartment, briefcase in one hand, Greg in the other.
We were greeted very enthusiastically at the hospital, much to my chagrin.
I was walking through the doors, Greg whining sleepily into my neck.
I was getting slightly annoyed by the sudden onslaught of light and the noise of Greg´s dozing, as if they had been waiting to spring on us, the team leapt out.
Cameron and Foreman were at the front, their faces a mix of worry and relief with a more hesitant and nervous Chase edging closer behind them.
"Greg, you´re ok!" Cameron cried, oblivious to the drowsy youngster burrowing in my neck.
"Shhh! Keep it down, he still hasn't woken up properly."
"Isn't it a bit late?" Foreman asked, worried, craning his neck to get a
better look at Greg.
"I know, but he had a hectic, very eventful night last night and we didn't
actually get to bed till late."
"Do you want me to take him?" Cuddy asked, coming up from nowhere as she noticed the fact my briefcase was very heavy and Greg was becoming heavier and heavier to me every second.
"Thanks." I acknowledged gratefully whilst she hooked her hands under his
armpits.
Greg mewled softly as he was transported over and I was worried he would get
upset, realizing it wasn't me anymore but as soon as Cuddy cradled him close
to her body, his child instinct kicked in and he nestled into the warm perfume
scent of a woman. Meanwhile, Chase was still fidgeting tentatively at the back of the group, unsure what to do. As I briskly walked past him to the elevator he reached out towards me desperately.
"Wilson!"
"Chase?" My voice came out colder then I meant it to and my eyes softened at
Chase's wince.
"Look I'm really-"
"Chase I don't have time for this right now, I have an appointment in five minutes"
Chase's expression dropped and he reminded me off a kicked puppy
"Ok, look I have a break for lunch at 12, come see me then in my office and
Greg will be there too"
Chase's face brightened at this and with Cuddy trailing after me with Greg, we
made our way up to my office.
"Will he be OK here?" Cuddy asked as she settled him down on the couch with a blanket.
"Yeah, he shouldn't be a problem and my patients I'm seeing all have kids as
well, so its not like they don't understand."
"Okay then just page me if you need me to do anything."
Cuddy leant down and gave Greg a light kiss on the forehead which made him
smile and snuggle closer into his blanket.
"Oh and Wilson, go easy on Chase, you can see he´s scared"
Twelve o'clock brought a shuffling Chase to my office. I was just writing up notes
on my last appointment and Greg, having only just woken up properly, was sitting quietly eating a banana.
"W-wilson?" Chase stammered, eyes downcast.
"Yes come in Chase, I'm just wrapping up"
Apprehensively, as if walking to a death sentence, Chase trundled forward and
perched himself in the chair opposite my desk. As soon as I put my pen down
and closed my folder, he was off, words spurting from his mouth as if a dam
had broken.
"Look, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for anything to happen! I was keeping an
eye on him, I swear, it´s just… I looked away for two seconds and then he was
gone! I didn't mean to hurt him! I just had to stop him before he got hurt and
I wasn't thinking… I just grabbed – and, oh God, I'm so sorry!"
"Chase will you calm down? Look I´m not angry, I overreacted last night.
I was so upset and scared and took it out on you"
"A-are you sure, I mean, you know I´d never want to hurt Greg"
"Yes, I know that. But at the end of the day you have to remember that although
he´s five, he´s still House and he is just as cunning and stealthy, only that he has
a cuter face to hide it."
"Yeah, I guess so"
"His head is OK, just a little bump, try not to be so rough in the future, OK?
But I appreciate you keeping him out of danger"
"Thanks, Wilson. I promise to be more careful in future" Chase breathed,
slumping down in relief in the chair.
"You still have another apology to make" I corrected, raising my eyebrows over
at Greg who was rolling a car quietly up and down his thigh.
"Oh God. Right." Chase almost whimpered.
That's when I noticed he was holding two flat objects in one hand.
"Chase what are those?"
"Oh, these?" Chase asked blushing slightly "Well…uh… I thought that maybe
Greg might like it if I erm…you know, read to him? I mean I know he´s five and all but it might help him forgive me?"
I smiled and couldn't help but chuckle at his blushing cheeks.
"No, I'm sure he would love that. I'm just going to get on with some work so
if you go sit with him over there quietly then you're free to do whatever you
want"
I watched as Chase nodded and hesitantly sidled over to the sofa, smiling at Greg.
Greg looked up at him with curiosity.
"Greg can I sit next to you?" Chase asked.
Greg shrugged and Chase took that as a yes.
"Look, Greg, I'm sorry if I hurt you last night. I didn't mean to it´s just…
I didn't want you to get crushed by that massive truck!"
Greg stared at him with inquisitive blue eyes and I could see Chase
practically squirming under the intense gaze.
"Ok then" he finally answered, obviously deciding Chase was telling the truth.
I sighed in relief to myself, pleased, that Chase and Greg were friends
again now.
"Hey Greg, I brought some books along in case you… erm… want to do some
reading…"
Greg beamed in response and snatched one of the books from Chase's hand.
"Can I read it to you?" he asked
Chase nodded eagerly whilst Greg opened to the first page. As I expected, Greg was a good reader, smart for his age and able to pronounce difficult words.
There were just a few he got stuck on. When he did, he´d stare at the page
intensely, brown furrowing and gaze narrowing as he tried to piece together the
way it should sound. He would bring the book closer until finally he would
turn to Chase and ask "What does that say?"At the moment Greg was stuck on a particularly difficult word
"Tran-transsverssee my-myel-miol – Chase what does that word say?"
"Transverse Myelitis, see the y, try sound it out"
"Chase what book have you got him reading!" I cried in surprise at the
particularly challenging word.
"A medical one of course" Chase replied and then froze his shock and moved his
arms back as Greg suddenly crawled onto his lap with the book and held it up
to him.
"You read now" he demanded.
Chase took the book slowly and positioned his arms around Greg shoulders so he
could see it over his head and then began reading for him. Greg settled down
in his lap and stared intently at the book before him, listening in on Chase's
every word. It was now I wished I owned a camera phone.
Lunch came quickly and as it had become the norm, Greg and I sat with the
team. Greg was tucking into a large helping of ice cream thanks to Chase
whilst Cameron scolded that it was not a proper lunch. Foreman and I were
discussing their latest patient when in came a very flustered and stressed-looking Cuddy. She immediately spotted us and hurried over.
"Guys, we have a problem." She stated, grabbing a chair and sitting down with a exhale.
"What's up?" Foreman asked
"In all the stress and excitement over recent events" Cuddy began, pausing to
cast a meaningful look at Greg who wasn't even paying attention but busy
trying to lick the ice-cream of the tip of his nose.
"We forgot, including me, about that medical conference in Los Angeles in a few days!"
"Wait, what?" I asked.
"Do you not remember a couple of weeks ago, I told you about that place which had a talk on that new drug treatment for lung cancer and a talk on diagnostics plus loads other useful things, so I booked it for you and the team, but of course House didn't ever get back to me on whether he wanted to go or not"
"But that's nearly a six-hour flight away!" Chase complained.
"Exactly and now we have a little problem, don't we?"
All eyes turned to Greg, who sensing so, looked up from his lunch with an
white splurges of ice-cream on his cheeks, nose and chin with wide eyes that
seemed to say "Who, me?"
"What you all looking at?" he inquired.
"Are we still going?" Cameron asked.
"Well the flights are already booked and Wilson here is scheduled to give a
talk plus the hotel rooms are reserved."
"Oh God, what are we going to do?" I moaned
"Well we still have to go, we can't just put it off because House got spontaneously turned into a child." Foreman stated, crossing his arms.
"That's a perfectly good reason to put it off!" I argued, wiping ice-cream off
a squirming Greg's face.
"Wilson, think about it, it will give us all a break, we only need to attend a
few talks a day and I'm sure he would love to go" Forearm countered
"Go where?" Greg piped, suddenly very attent.
"Nowhere" I muttered.
"On a holiday" Forearm answered and my head snapped around to glare at him.
"A HOLIDAY!" Greg screeched, practically radiating sheer anticipation.
"Now Greg, it´s not defin-" I began, but it was no use, Greg was not listening.
"A holiday! Wohoo this will be soo fun! We can go swimming and out to new
places and buy new toys and go on a real plane!" he continued, jumping up and
down in his seat.
"I don't think we really have a choice anymore" Cameron mumbled, trying not to
laugh.
I groaned and banged my head against the palm of my hand. "No, I guess we really don't"