Chapter 21

What the Team Heard

Still stunned, they gathered for Friday's 3 p.m. meeting in the board conference room. It was impossible not to look at the place where House had sat only the day before. Today, his chair sat empty.

Wilson wasn't there, which wasn't surprising. Jacey Liu was with Rainie, but was expected any minute. Karen Langley was in ICU, but said she'd try to stop by. In addition to the regular team, Ajunta had asked Chase, Foreman and Rajghatta to sit in, since the conversation would concern them.

This is just like the other time, thought Chase, recalling his shock when Allison Cameron had been murdered and House had been arrested for that murder. My brain just won't work right; thinking is like trying to swim in pudding.

Naveen Ajunta cleared his throat. "Let's get started. We have a lot to work out."

The room quieted down. Notebooks opened and pens were readied.

"Given the circumstances, I guess we'd better rethink everything. What still applies from before, and what needs to be updated? In addition, I've asked the Diagnostic Medicine department to join us, because what happened affects how they will do their jobs. Claudia, would you be willing to continue doing the honors at the whiteboard?"

A red-eyed Claudia DuBois got up and made her way to the board as Jacey Liu slipped quietly into the room.

"Thanks. Let's start with some basic administrative tasks. Not unexpectedly, some of Rainie's friends and colleagues have been calling. I'd like to arrange a meeting with them as a group so we can brief them all at once. Would someone be willing to coordinate that? If House…" he paused, realizing he'd heard a slight gasp when House's name was mentioned. "…If… the situation… hadn't changed, I'd do it myself, but I'll be taking on more duties now."

Throughout this speech, Ajunta had avoided looking at the faces around the table, afraid that his colleagues' feelings might trigger his own emotional reaction.

Devi volunteered to help. I've got to do something, she thought, something constructive.

Methodically, the group went over Rainie's treatment plans, adjusting strategy and brainstorming new ideas based on what had happened over the last couple of days.

The biggest hurdle facing the group was what to do about the role House had played in Rainie's recovery. According to Dr. Liu, Rainie had woken up a couple of times. When she didn't find House at her side, she became distressed, and Liu had needed to sedate her. She wasn't responding well to anyone else, Jacey included. Finding someone Rainie could trust as much as she had House was going to be difficult, if not impossible.

The conference room door opened slowly, and Karen Langley entered, followed by Wilson. It was obvious to everyone present that both had been crying.

Chase looked away, unable to view the raw anguish on their faces. Please, god, no, he prayed. His chest hurt and he couldn't swallow. Not for the first time, he wondered where god had been during House's suffering. And now this.

The faces around the room looked away as the grim pair settled into vacant chairs.

Ajunta took a breath. They needed to know, one way or the other, he thought. And suddenly, he was in charge.

"Dr. Wilson, Dr. Langley," he began, "may we have an update on Dr. House's condition?"

Wilson shook his head slightly, unable to speak. Dr. Langley looked at the whiteboard a moment before speaking.

"It's hard to have to say this," she said, pausing.

No, no, no, thought Chase, desperately.

"We've done everything we can," she continued. "I know we'd all like to believe that Dr. House is… somehow invincible… after everything he's already been through. But the truth is that sometimes the damage is too great." A couple of tears slid down her cheek.

Ajunta heard a sob from across the room. He didn't know where it came from.

Realizing at last how people were reacting, Wilson finally spoke up, slowly and shakily. "No, he's not invincible. What Pevey has done to him is catastrophic. But somehow, he's still holding on."

"Thank god," whispered Chase, finally allowing tears to fall.

Dr. Langley pulled herself together. She spoke haltingly. "When he was injured before, the intention was to cause him pain but to make sure he continued to live. This time, the intention was clearly to kill him. His injuries are quite severe, especially to his head. We're not going to know for some time if he's going to survive. And if he survives, whether or not there will be brain damage.

"Even without brain damage, he faces yet another long and painful recuperation. I can't imagine that he'll be able to work after this, perhaps ever, but certainly not for a very long time. We're going to have to proceed without him."

Jacey spoke up. "I know this may sound trite, but all of us here can't help but be affected by what's happened. If any of you need to talk about it, I'll make myself available."

As the meeting broke up, Ajunta saw several members of the group hug each other before leaving. All of them were clearly still in shock, but they had developed the beginnings of a game plan.

* * * *

Wilson was drained. He'd slept a few hours here and there, but nothing that would qualify as a full night's sleep. As tired as he was, he knew he needed to call House's folks before they heard about it on the news.

The phone rang three times, just like before, but this time, a woman answered.

"Blythe? It's James Wilson. Something's happened that I need to tell you about."

As an oncologist, he'd gotten good at delivering bad news, but telling cancer patients they were terminal was different from telling his best friend's mother he'd been injured… again.

He broke the news as gently as he could. There was a long pause on the other end. He could tell she was crying.

"Thanks, James. We'll fly out as soon as we can."

We'll fly out, she said. His father is the last thing House needs, thought Wilson, who once again found himself puzzled by House's father.

The man seemed to have a gruff affection for his son, but there was no denying that father and son irritated and infuriated each other. It was almost impossible, even under the best of circumstances, for them to be in the same room together. There was always seething tension under-girding their interactions that made everyone around them acutely uncomfortable.

"No, don't," said Wilson quickly. "Wait till we've got more information. There's no point now. I'll let you know when he's up to having visitors." If he's ever up to having visitors, he thought.

"Dr. Wilson?" It was John House. Damn, thought Wilson.

"Yes, Mr. House?"

"What the hell is going on?"

"Your son has been badly injured," replied Wilson, trying to avoid giving him any information he could twist around.

"Is he okay? Tell me what happened."

Wilson sighed.

"He was attacked, Mr. House."

"What, again? What did he do this time?" he blurted out.

"Nothing," said Wilson, stifling his surge of anger. "Nothing justifies this."

John House was a man of limited imagination, who through years of conflict with House, had developed a very narrow view of his son. Part of the problem came from his military outlook. In some ways, he'd never been able to get past the fact that his son had an inherent streak of anti-establishment stubbornness that refused to kowtow to authority, whether that authority was a teacher, his boss or his father.

In John House's mind, an order was to be obeyed, unquestioningly. For his son, an order was to be avoided, gotten around or just plain flaunted. The two men were never going to have a meeting of minds about it.

In part because of this fundamental clash, John House had never really been able to see past their fractious relationship to comprehend the man his son actually was. In his mind, it was some sort of odd fluke that Greg was a world-renowned doctor. The idea of it had created such a paradox in his head that he tended to set aside that part of the equation because he just couldn't figure it out.

The whole situation was sad in a way, because he did actually love his son. He just didn't understand him. So, despite everything that had happened, despite all the evidence to the contrary, nothing could shake him from the belief that Greg had brought all this upon himself.

"Oh, for crying out loud. You know he did something to deserve it. He's never been able to control himself. He's always been a troublemaker."

That tore it. Even knowing it would upset Blythe, Wilson slammed the phone down on House's father.