Room service was excellent, although Kelly took issue with eating before taking her medication. "The bottle says "take on an empty stomach", Greg."
"It's in fine print for a reason. Just eat."
They had already showered --- well, Kelly had taken an approximation of a shower to avoid getting her sutures wet --- and dressed, and were eating at the table in the kitchen (Greg had earlier remarked that her hotel room was bigger than his condo) when Kelly's phone rang. She excused herself to answer it, but House could easily hear her side of the conversation.
"Why are you awake so early? It's got to be 5 in the morning there!... Oh, wow... Bring me back something... Yes, I feel just fine... In a few days... No, daddy, I want to drive back. I need to finish what I started... No, don't send someone... Really, I'll be fine... I know... Listen, I have an idea, but I need to talk to someone first... Okay... Okay... I love you too. Bye."
"Sorry about that," she said to House as she returned to the table. "My crazy father is on a plane to Denmark, of all places."
House hummed, impressed. "Giving you a hard time about your trip back?"
"Yeah. He wants me to just leave the car and fly home."
"You mean sell your car?"
She shook her head. "No, I mean 'leave' it. You going to eat that?"
He pushed the melon from his plate to hers. "I don't get it."
"My parents' church has a ministry where they repair cars and give them to needy families. We always donate our old cars. He figured there'd probably be a place around here that'd be glad to take it."
House's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you for real?"
Chuckling, she proudly explained. "My dad is the genuine article. Money has absolutely no meaning to him, and yet he has more of it then even I can imagine, though a lot of it's tied up in investments. And he comes by it honestly: He bought Intel stock at the ground level with a particularly good Christmas bonus one year, and just kept reinvesting. Let's just say his first advisor will never need to work again; my dad has him and his family set for life as a thank you for all the free guidance he gave in the beginning. Put both his kids through law school."
"Wow." House didn't know what else to say. It was completely beyond his realm of experience.
"Anyway, he's freaking out, as though the drive here is what made me sick. He either wants me to leave the car and fly home or he wants to fly someone in to drive home with me."
"And neither of those options appeal to you," he stated unnecessarily. "I'm going to brush my teeth. Keep talking."
They ended up brushing their teeth side-by-side, and she did keep talking through a mouthful of paste.
"So that's that," she concluded as they headed out the door. She was secretly pleased that he had left his belongings behind.
"What are you going to do today?" he asked.
"Laundry, of course. And yesterday while you were at work I checked the Internet for local women's shelters. I'd like to do some walk-throughs and get some ideas. I left a message for one of my assistants while you were in the shower; he should be able to make some contacts and schedule some appointments for me." Kelly stopped to thank the valet for his offer, but told him they'd get the car themselves. "Lead on, Greg."
House changed into dry shoes while she drove. "So why didn't you get helicoptered to the Mayo Clinic or something? Why did you stay here?"
"Because of you, of course," she told him with a grin. "I made a call the first night to check up on you. I was told you were the best at what you do."
"So it wasn't my charm? You had to rely on outside references?"
"Considering the nature of our introduction... Turn left here?"
House sent Kelly ahead of him to his office so he could visit the restroom. Mostly to keep them from arriving together in front of the team, though he didn't say so. But when Thirteen and Kutner saw her from the conference room and came in to greet her, knowing smiles on both of their faces, she determined his true motives.
"Back so soon?" Kutner asked, and turned pink when Kelly kissed his cheek hello.
"I don't have any Synthroid left, and I wasn't sure if I still needed it."
Thirteen apologized for the oversight and immediately made a call to have her chart brought to them. "We may need to take some blood."
"That's fine. It's really not a problem." Kelly hopped up on House's desk. "Busy weekend?"
Kutner proceeded to fill her in on the apartment building fire and she reacted with interest as though she was hearing it for the first time. And when House arrived and questioned her presence with his usual annoyance, she gave nothing away.
It was decided to both give her a low dose of Synthroid and take blood to determine if her dosage was to be changed. Kutner drew the blood right there in the office, and she was given enough pills to last her until her followup appointment.
By that time Foreman and Taub had also arrived, and greeted her before moving into the conference room for the morning meeting.
Through all of this, House had sat behind his desk looking through his messages and appearing uninterested. He was still there when Thirteen and Kutner said goodbye and joined Foreman and Taub. Only then did he acknowledge her.
"You still want to do laundry at my house?"
"If that's okay."
He walked her to the door and pushed her into the hallway and away from prying eyes. "Here's a key to the front door. You coming to pick me up later?"
She nodded. "Text me."
He leaned down impulsively to kiss her goodbye, but he was stopped when she put a hand on his chest.
"Greg, would you be interested in making the trip back to California with me?"
He opened his mouth, then closed it again.
"You don't have to feel obligated," she rushed ahead. "It would make my father happy if I wasn't alone. And I just thought that maybe-"
"Sure," he interrupted, purposely nonchalant, as though both the question and the answer were obvious. "I mean, I'll have to talk to Cuddy, but..."
"Do that." She sighed happily, relieved. "I'll see you later." And she kissed him.
When House stood before his team, it was all he could do to keep the smile off his face.