Sorry this is like crazy late compared to how I used to post. My muse left me, but has sort of made a comeback. Be patient with me. Thanks again for all the readers sticking with this insane story.

A Dose of Reality

While they stood waiting for Foreman and Taub to arrive at the patient's room, House sat in the wheelchair and began to doze off under the exhaustion that was looming. When the remaining doctors showed up, Kutner tapped House's shoulder and he popped awake.

"What is this? You're supposed to be in bed, resting." Foreman said not caring about his tone of voice towards his boss.

"I'm about to save the patient, so pay attention." House snapped back. "I'm tired so I'm only going to say this once. Test his DNA…"

"We already did!" Foreman interrupted.

"Shut up and let me finish!" Foreman rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "I'm assuming you tested his DNA via cheek swab. Take his blood this time. Compare it to the first sample, his daddy's and get back to me." House watched as Foreman rolled his eyes before ducking into the patient's room followed by Taub and Thirteen. He looked over at Kutner. "Why are you still standing here?"

The younger man shrugged. "Figured you wouldn't want to sit in the middle of the hall, and it's not like you can exactly push yourself."

House pursed his lips and nodded shortly. "True. Park me over there." He pointed next to the nurse's desk and Kutner maneuvered his chair and Morphine stand over next to the desk. House watched through the glass as his fellows drew the patient's blood and went to run the DNA test. When he was eventually alone minus a few nurses, House's eyes began to close and his head bobbed a few times as the exhaustion finally got the best of him. His head fell back making contact with the wooden surface behind him. A passing nurse stopped and smiled at him before continuing her business.

Cuddy groaned and tried to adjust her position in the chair. After a few failed attempts at comfort, she sat up straight and climbed from the chair. She froze as she glanced over to the now empty bed. Reaching forward she felt the bedding and found it to be cold to the touch. Panic began to settle in her nerves and she rushed around the bed and out into the hall. Her eyes scanned the area before glancing back into the room. Cuddy noticed that House's Morphine pump was missing as well.

She sucked in a deep breath and headed towards the diagnostics department most current patient. Her sneakers were soft against the floor as the stormed down to the fourth floor. Cuddy didn't know how House would have gotten out of bed by himself, and knew he had an accomplice. As she walked she vowed to kill said accomplice.

Cuddy rounded the corner just past House's office and noticed him sitting at the far end of the hall in a wheel chair. She ran towards him when she noticed his head back in a state unconsciousness. Fear gripped her as she thought the worst and when she reached him the first thing she did was feel for a pulse. At her touch House's eyes slowly opened. "How the hell did you get out of bed?"

House shrugged. "I was kidnapped, and abandoned here. I'm surprised you didn't get the ransom note."

"House, you shouldn't be out of bed."

He nodded towards the room. "I'm impressively saving my patient."

"From a wheelchair in the hall?"

"Yeah." He noticed his fellows coming down the hall towards him. "Watch this."

"How did you know?" Taub questioned him first.

House smiled. "You crazy people kept bitching about the sickle cell trait and it got me thinking. He may be the son of his father on the outside, but on the inside…" House paused giving them the chance to announce the results. "Drum roll please…"

Foreman rolled his eyes and read the DNA results. "He only has eight markers in common with his own DNA."

Cuddy's mouth fell open as House smiled like a Cheshire cat. "He's one boy with the same Mommy and two different Daddies'."

"He's a Chimera?"

House nodded. "Yup, but instead of being fraternal twins, he's the even more complicated result of Mommy sleeping around while ovulating two oocytes. I'm sure if had his twin been born, Daddy would have divorced Mommy after seeing the mixed bag of kids."

Cuddy backhanded his shoulder. "That's not funny."

"Sure it is." House countered.

"So, how do we treat him?" Kutner asked.

All House did was shrug. "He's two different people in one body. I'm sure if you test his immune system he's suffering from a central immune tolerance."

"His life will be complicated if that's all it is, but he'll live." Thirteen said optimistically.

House nodded. "Tell the father, and try to help the kid." They dispersed and he glanced at Cuddy. "I'm exhausted."

"Ha. That should be an understatement." She grabbed a passing nurse. "Can I get a hand getting him back to his room?" The nurse nodded and assisted Cuddy at getting House up to his room and into bed. She replaced his oxygen line and before she finished tucking him in, he was asleep. At first she was furious about him putting his patient's diagnosis over his own health, but once she found him and watched him gloat in victory, she felt proud of his drive to do his job. Cuddy smiled at his sleeping form before putting a hand over her stomach. She retreated to the small cot and sat down. Her exhaustion was also beginning to overtake her and she eased down to sleep for the remainder of the night.

When Cuddy woke, she was still tired and House was still asleep. After a quick check of his vitals, she retreated to the small bathroom to get ready for her day. She used her makeup to conceal the tiredness across her face. Once dressed she returned to his at his bedside and eased herself down next to him. Her hand slipped over his gown and she pulled the garment open to look at the dressing over his surgery site.

A nurse entered seconds later to record House's vitals. "He's also going to need this bandage changed." The nurse nodded at her boss' request and replaced the chart before leaving to acquire the materials needed. Cuddy smiled at his sleeping form and reached out to run her fingertips through his short hair before letting her touch trail down through his growing beard. "We're going to have to address this later." She leaned forward and softly kissed his cheek just as her cell phone began to ring. Cuddy left him with a smile and answered her phone when she stepped out.

House began to wake, and as he woke his leg began to cramp. He was hazy at first, but as the pain intensified, the clearer his head got. His right arm reached down and tried to message away the cramp, but it slowly intensified. As his heart rate intensified the monitor alerted the nurses' station.

Wilson was chatting with one of House's nurses when the alarm sounded. He accompanied two nurses to the room and stood at his friend's side. "Is it your leg?"

"Cramp!" He yelled through gritted teeth. "Where's my pills?"

"Add ten units of calcium to his IV." Wilson ordered. "House, just try and relax."

"I need my damn pills!"

Wilson reached over and unlocked the morphine pump and pushed the relief button. He shut the door on the controls and watched as House began to relax. The morphine only rendered House semi-unconscious verses eliminating his pain. His eyes grew heavy and his lids were barely open.

With a sigh Wilson pulled back the blankets and House's gown to expose his damaged thigh. He could see the tightness in the muscles as they cramped. "Get a hot pack for his leg; we need to get this cramping under control."

The nurses applied a hot pack to House's leg before covering him back up. Wilson sat in a chair close to his friend as he went through his morphine induced haze. He glanced at his watch and decided it would be another ten minutes or so before House was lucid enough to talk so he watched television until House's voice caught his attention.

"Not fair."

Wilson stood and went to look again at House's thigh. "What's not fair, the fact that I denied you Vicodin or substituted it with Morphine?"

"Both."

"House, you can't take Vicodin while on Morphine. That's like combining dynamite and gasoline, all it takes is a spark and you're dead." Wilson hope the metaphor would work better than the usual lecture.

"Done it before."

"Dammit House! When are you going to stop and see that your life doesn't just affect you anymore? What about Cuddy? She loves you and I'm pretty damn sure you love her." House only gave him a blank expression. "You two are going to have a baby. Wake up and see how good your life can be. Use this chance to get off the Vicodin, for good this time." Now House looked away wishing he could walk away from this lecture. "I know you're scared of relationships after Stacy, but I think Lisa's done more to prove to you that she's not going to leave. For God sakes, she's put up with your bull shit for how many years now?" Wilson paused and noticed the fluid bag with calcium was nearly empty. He began to prepare a new one as his words worked on House's psyche. "For once in your life, think about her needs." Wilson hung the bag and changed the spike set before hooking it up to House's IV. "And she's going to need your help."

House just looked at Wilson with a blank look. "And what if I can't stay clean? What if she realizes that I can't be there for her, and she drops me like the bad habit I am?"

Wilson sighed. "Look, you need to stop comparing yourself to your father, because that's not who you are. I've seen the compassion you have deep down in that hollow soul of yours. And if you can't man up for her and your kid…" He paused and shook his head. "Then you have become your father."

House's eyes narrowed as he watched Wilson leave without a second glance. He looked around the empty room and sighed. The last thing he wanted to do in his life was to become his father, and as he thought about Cuddy going through her pregnancy alone and raising his child without help infuriated him. House had witnessed first-hand in his own life and through his patients what happens to children that didn't have parents or even worse, a dead beat dad.

He licked his dry lips and reached painfully over to his cell phone on the table next to his bed. Smiling he sent a text to Cuddy.

'I woke up to Wilson instead of you. I don't want to ever do that again.'

House then changed the channel on the television to something that he could tolerate watching, and moments later his phone buzzed.

'I'm sorry. I'm in a board meeting. How are you feeling?'

'Lonely and starving. Come back and keep me company and bring food.'

He knew that would make her smile and that's what he wanted. His phone buzzed again and he smiled himself at her response.

'I'll bring you a ruben for lunch.'

She knew him all too well. House decided that Wilson was right. He always hated to admit things like that but in this case, his friend was indeed correct. House responded with a smiley face and then went through his contact list on his phone. The name stared at him for several minutes before he mustered up the strength and pushed the call button. The line ringing made him second guess his decision and he contemplated hanging up.

"Greg, is something wrong?"

Blythe's voice stopped him cold and for a moment he hesitated. "Hey Mom. No nothing's wrong."

"Well, you never just call so I have to assume." She joked.

House smiled at his mother's comment. "Yeah, I know. Look, I had to have my spleen removed."

"Greg…!" She exclaimed interrupting his thought.

"Mom, please, I'm fine, don't freak out. I just wanted to tell you. I'll be out of the hospital in a few days." He explained. "Cuddy's going to probably insist on taking care of me, so don't fret about that."

"Well, she's more than capable of controlling you." Blythe said and then she sighed. "I'm glad you told me honey. Now, I have some news for you." She hesitated leaving House in suspense. "I'm moving…to Trenton." House's eyes widened and his mouth went slack. She had just dropped a bomb on him. "Greg, are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"I know this is probably not what you were expecting, and I don't intend to pry into your life any more than I already have. But I think it's time for me to be closer to you."

House stared ahead in shock. Once again, his life was about to be turned upside down.

Uh oh! How's House going to react when his Mom is within a short drive to pester him constantly? Can he change for Cuddy? Stay tuned.

TDCSI