Okay, sorry this is like way way late. Life has thrown me a Randy Johnston type of a curve ball and I couldn't hit it. I have internet and that's about it, thanks to where I work. So, I'm still able to update thank goodness. Big thanks to those still reading and to those who have reviewed.

Chapter 14

The weeks past by swiftly. Even though House was now fully capable of getting around at home himself, he was still living with Cuddy. He had moved most of his clothes he wore, and he managed to talk her into having his acoustic guitar with him. She only went with it if he would sing her a song, but so far he had avoided it.

It was now Saturday, and the day before Chase had given House the all clear to walk without the use of the braces. He gave his former boss plenty of warning but also knew since he had not missed a physio session; his leg was healed enough for House to start walking on it without any aids.

As usual for Saturday Rachel woke up and began fussing to get her mother's attention. Cuddy attended to her daughter before returning to bed. She placed Rachel between her and House.

"Why is she here?" He grumbled with his face half buried in his pillow.

"Cause she woke up and I want to keep sleeping." She informed him.

House ignored the active body next to him when the phone rang. "Oh for fucks sake."

"House, you don't need to swear."

"She's a year old; she has no clue as to what I'm saying."

Cuddy picked up the phone as it started ringing. "Hello."

Rachel turned her head to look at the warm body next to her. Feeling the stare House opened his eyes and met her brown ones. "What kid?" She babbled and rolled over onto her stomach getting closer to him. Her hand reached out and she touched the scruff on his face. House didn't move he just let the baby feel his face.

While on the phone Cuddy watched the interaction. Her smile was bright seeing the patience House had with her daughter. "Okay, bye." She hung up the phone. "I've got to go."

"No you don't. There are people capable of handling crap at the hospital."

"Not a massive paperwork screw up." She laid back down on the bed and scooted close to him. "Look, I can take her with me. I know you had plans with Wilson."

House's eyes went back down to Rachel as she continued to feel his face. "She's fine. I guess Wilson will just have to come here."

Cuddy smiled and leaned past her daughter to kiss him. "Thanks." She quickly got dressed and left.

With a sigh House knew he needed to get up. "Okay kid." He sat up and took two Vicoden. "I've got to pee, and I'm sure if I leave you on the bed you'll crawl off and I can't deal with your crying all day. So…" He picked up Rachel and set her on the floor. "Stay there, I'll be right back." He took a step towards the bathroom and turned back towards Rachel. "Stay." His finger was aimed at her.

House limped to the bathroom. As he relived himself he listened for any noise hoping Rachel would just sit still and not get into anything.

He flushed the toilet and washed his hands. "Okay kid…" His eyes scanned the room. "Kid?" House limped around the room. "Oh shit."

Using his cane he lifted the bed skirt and looked under the bed. No Rachel. He went into the hall and started looking in every nook and cranny he could find. Still no Rachel.

"Mother fucker!" House grabbed his phone. "Wilson, you need to get over here." He listened to his friend for a moment. "Yeah well long story short, something about paper work Cuddy went to the hospital, and I was watching Rachel." Wilson interrupted him with a laugh. "Shut up dammit, anyway I need your help. I can't find her."

The doorbell rang fifteen minutes later and House quickly opened the door. "Find her yet?" Wilson inquired as he walked in.

"Hell no. I have no idea where that little shit crawled off too." House limped to the bedroom followed by Wilson. "I set her down right here so I could pee. Not one minute later I came back and she was gone."

Wilson kneeled and went to look under the bed but stopped and looked back to House. "Is there anything under here I should know about?"

"Might be a few of Cuddy's bras that were discarded haphazardly."

Wilson shook his head and lifted the skirt. "She's not under here."

"I looked under there already." House limped over to the bathroom and looked again. With still no sign he moved to the door. "The door was open so I'm thinking she crawled out."

With a nod he and Wilson looked down the hall. "Were any of these doors open?" House shook his head at his friend's question. "Okay, if I was a baby, where would I be?"

"You are a baby." House limped past Wilson. Suddenly they heard crying. House moved faster as they entered the den. The single step down on the hardwood floor had been Rachel's undoing.

She lay on the floor crying. House assumed she didn't make the step very gracefully and took a header. Wilson picked her up and she cried harder.

"Here." House held out his arm and Wilson passed Rachel to him. As he pulled her body closer to him, she began to settle down. "Well if you would wait until you can properly walk before attempting to go down stairs."

"House, she's one. She doesn't know what she can and can't do yet." Wilson informed him.

"She's gotta learn sometime." House limped out of the den and went to sit in the living room.

Wilson joined him on the couch. "So, now what?"

"Good question."

They both looked around the room as Rachel had calmed down in House's arms. "I'm sure we can find something."

House looked at Wilson as he flicked on the television and found an appropriate channel. They started watching Looney Tunes, and eventually House found a monster truck rally on cable.

They started watching the trucks as Rachel fell asleep in House's arms. Wilson noticed the connection between his friend and the little girl, but he knew better than to say anything. They had pizza delivered and about two in the afternoon Wilson was stretching.

"Well, as always Grave Digger put on quite a show." Wilson commented.

"Yeah."House looked down at Rachel sleeping on the couch beside him. His phone began ringing. "Yo." He answered and Wilson rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, okay yup, I'm here." He hung up and looked at Wilson.

"So, who was that?" Wilson asked curious.

"Your Momma…" Wilson rolled his eyes. "It was Clark." House said simply and stood up stretching his own muscles.

"Who's Clark?"

House started walking to the door using his finger to get Wilson to follow. He opened the front door and they stepped outside as a full size box van stopped in front of the home.

With a grin House stepped off the porch and walked down the drive. A Jaguar pulled up across the street. Clark got out and came over to greet House. "Doctor House." He shook the taller man's hand. "Good to see you out of the braces. Are you ready to ride?"

"I've been ready." He replied as Wilson joined the two men.

The van doors opened and a man positioned a ramp directly behind the waiting motorcycle. House was getting antsy as the bike was rolled off the van.

He released a big sigh. "Damn, she's beautiful."

"Are you pleased with your order?" Clark asked and House could only nod. "Good. As requested the decals were removed, along with the tail, and a fender eliminator kit was installed. The mirrors have been brought in closer to the bike simulating a more on track appearance. All the turn signals are LED's as well as the brake light."

House looked at Clark. "Okay, I got this weird vibe from you several weeks ago, what's up with you?"

Clark waited until the van had left and they were alone. "I'm sorry Doctor House…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah you've said that a million times, get to the point."

The man exhaled deeply. "I'm the guy who hit you."

Wilson's mouth fell open and fire flared up behind House's eyes. Gripping his cane in the right hand, House balled up his left and swung. It was unexpected to both Clark and Wilson until his fist landed firmly on the side of Clark's face. The man fell back onto the ground.

"House!" Wilson grabbed his friend hoping to keep him from getting into further trouble other than the assault and battery he just committed.

"You son of a bitch! You knew it was me when you sold me the bike didn't you!" He couldn't get any closer to Clark with Wilson holding onto him. "If I'd known it was you I would have never bought this thing from you! You're a fucking crook, you lying mother fucker!" House threw every swear word out at the man.

Even when Cuddy pulled into the drive House didn't let up. She rushed up to aid Wilson. "Greg!" She stepped between House and Clark. "What's going on here?"

"That's the son of a bitch that hit me!" He pointed at Clark over her shoulder.

"Greg, calm down."

With gritted teeth he tried to get out of Wilson's grasp. "House, dammit!"

With Cuddy's hands on his chest House started to calm. Wilson loosened his grip on his friend but didn't totally let go. "Greg, where's Rachel?"

His eyes averted from Clark to Cuddy. "She's inside."

"Okay, I want you to walk with me while I check on her and then we'll figure this out." She took his left hand in hers.

He winced as she gripped his hand and pulled him away. Wilson remained standing outside with Clark. Cuddy just walked inside with House and looked at Rachel still sleeping on the couch.

She picked up her daughter. "I'm going to put her in her crib. Stay there." Cuddy was gone less than a minute. "I'm glad I came home when I did."

"That dumb a…" He started but she silenced him with a kiss.

"Save this aggression for later. Let's go outside and talk like adults." House nodded and she walked outside following him. They all met at the end of the drive. House's eyes locked onto Clark. For a moment they all stood in silence, but it was Cuddy who spoke up. "Clark, would you mind explaining what happened after the accident?"

"Not at all. After I was arrested I pled guilty. I was expecting to do some jail time, but with my father's influence I just had to do eight weeks in AA meetings." He could see House fume. "Look, I would have gone to jail. I felt so bad about what happened to you, believe me. I ride and I would want to kill whoever hit me too. I know you were complaining about the insurance company, well I thought I would do you one better."

House narrowed his eyes. "Like what?"

"I returned your check to your bank and paid for the bike out of my own pocket."

Cuddy was shocked at the gesture, but she was also thinking this was a way for him to get out of possible litigation from a civil suit. Which House had expressed to her several times. "That's very generous of you Clark. Isn't it Greg?"

House never took his eyes off of the man. Wilson probed his friend to get a response but received nothing.

"Well it's not the only other thing I did." Clark made a quick text on his phone. "I know materialistic things can't take back what I did to you but I hope they might help."

The sound of a loud truck was heard coming down the street. It was then House's eyes left his target and looked down the street. Pulling into the driveway was a Chevy Avalanche. House's jaw dropped. It was it was black with green flames coming from the hood closely resembling his favorite monster truck. The body was lifted four inches; it had custom sixteen inch wheels with thirty three inch super swampers giving it maximum tread.

The man driving it climbed out and tossed House the keys. He barely caught them unprepared for the toss. Wilson's mouth hung open, and now Cuddy was definitely thinking it was all to avoid a civil suit.

House took several deep breaths before approaching the truck. He managed to step onto the running boards and climb in. Clark stepped up to sit beside him in the passenger seat. "It's got a premium sound system, Flowmaster exhaust, cold air intake, it's been chipped, windows tinted, and the insurance and registration is paid up for the next five years; the bike too."

"Why are you doing this?" House solemnly asked.

"I'm not an evil man Doctor House. I was having a bad day, my girlfriend, yada-yada. Anyway, I just hate seeing people hurt because of idiotic decisions such as mine. Please take these as a token of my apology."

For a moment House considered telling him to shove it. "Apology accepted." Clark held out his hand and House shook it.

They both climbed off the truck and walked back to where Wilson and Cuddy were standing. "Again, I'm sorry I disrupted all of your lives. Please don't hesitate to contact with me if either the bike or truck need any maintenance."

After shaking hands Clark stepped back and coughed slightly. House narrowed his eyes as the man reached for a handkerchief and then started a coughing fit. The three doctors waited for it to subside but then they noticed the redness on the rag.

House was the first to respond. "Aww shit."

Uh-oh, is House going to treat the man who ruined his life? We'll find out next time.

TDCSI