The Decline of Two Doctors or The Family Man Chapter 36, a house, m.d. fanfic

In case I don't get around to updating before then, Happy Easter/spring holiday time to everyone who reads and/or reviews this fic =) Here we go with chap 36! Hope you enjoy.....no own and all that.

"Dusty?" A small pathetic voice came from the direction of House's bedroom. Wilson quickly got out of bed and jogged the short distance down the hall. He had been dreading the moment that House woke up to find Rusty missing and couldn't say that he had come prepared either. He had no idea how the older man was going to react and no idea how to explain that the dog was fine and would be home soon.

"Hey buddy." Wilson flipped on the lights. House was huddled up in the corner of the bed closest to the wall griping tightly to his teddy bear and shivering lightly. As Wilson sat down on the edge of the bed his friend pushed himself closer to the wall. He flinched as Wilson reached out to put a hand on his shoulder.

"Dusty." House sniffled. Wilson wondered if House had actually witnessed Thirteen stabbing his little dog with the syringe full of morphine. "No Dusty."

"It's okay buddy." Wilson tried to soothe. "Dusty is at the doctor's but he will be back soon."

"No Wilson!" Wilson was shocked when House actually pushed his arm away with a great deal of force. The blue eyes grew wide with fear as Wilson tried to moved closer and reach out for Greg's shoulder again. House curled up tighter and tried to shield himself with his teddy bear.

"Greg." Wilson said softly as his heart was torn by the sight of his terrified friend. "It's okay. Dusty is okay. You know I would never hurt you." House actually cried when Wilson tentatively reached out and put his hand back on his friends shoulder. After letting it rest there for a few seconds Wilson cautiously put out his other arm and pulled his shivering friend into a warm hug.

"Dusty." House sobbed into Wilson's shirt.

"It's okay." Wilson gently rubbed Greg's back. When the older man finally pulled away Wilson wiped the tears from his friend's face with the corner of a blanket. "Let's go see Dusty okay?"

"Dusty?" House asked tentatively.

It was the middle of the night but Wilson was fairly certain that there would be someone at the vet clinic looking out after the sick animals. Still dressed in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms, Wilson threw on a jacket and a pair of slip-ons. He pulled a sweatshirt over House's head and loaded him into the car. "Let's go see Dusty."

When a sleep deprived Wilson finally arrived at the vet clinic there was a light on the lobby. Leaving House in the car Wilson stood banging on the door for several minutes before a very irritated looking vet assistant finally came to the door. "Can I help you?"

"I am so sorry to bother you this late. My friend's service dog…"

"Oh! You're Rusty's dad! You must be so worried! He is doing great!" The girl's demeanor changed instantly. "He should be ready to go home tomorrow morning."

"I know this is probably too much to ask but could I bring Rusty's owner into see him? He has special needs and…"

"No problem." The girl said quickly. "The vet told me the lady who brought Rusty in was really worried about the disabled guy that Rusty looks after. I'll bring Rusty into an exam room and you two can meet him in there. You'll have to wait until tomorrow to bring him home though."

"That's fine. Thank you." Wilson went to the car to retrieve House.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day found Wilson back at the park watching House and Rusty play in the grass next to a small duck pond. Rusty stood patiently between the water and his master, gently nudging him away every time House ventured too close to the water's edge. The little spaniel seemed a bit tired from his ordeal but otherwise no worse for wear. He valiantly kept up with his owner, who still seemed at little groggy from the morphine but no less willing to get himself into trouble.

"Careful Greg." Wilson warned as House tried to approach a larger duck, holding out a piece of string cheese. "I don't think the duck is interested in your snack."

"Dusty!" House giggled as the little dog half heartily chased off the quacking beast. Wilson shook his head as House spotted another duck and starting stalking it with the string cheese.

"I thought I'd find you here." A voice came from behind him. Cuddy took a seat on the bench next to Wilson. "I made sure your patients for this morning were covered but I was hoping I could convince you to come in this afternoon."

"I was planning on it." Wilson replied. "Greg's music teacher squeezed him in for the day. I just wanted to spend a little time with him before I dropped him off. He was really upset when he woke up last night."

"See you this afternoon." Cuddy gave Wilson a quick pat on the shoulder and left him watching House and the ducks.

"He is terrified of his music teacher." Wilson said sadly as he entered Cuddy's office. "I could still hear him screaming when I got in the car. I don't know what to do. Should a take a few days off? Let him stay home for awhile? Should I keep pushing him and hope that he just gets past this?"

"Be glad the music teacher still agreed to take him." Cuddy pointed out. "You are out of vacation time and if you miss anymore work the board is going to start pushing to make someone else department head."

"I'm afraid to bring him back to the hospital. He freaked out when we drove by it on the way to his class."

"James, I know it's hard. But you can't protect him from everything. He is going to have to come back here eventually, even if you find another solution for daycare. And I think it's better for both of you if he's here during the day. He can have lunch with you and you can check on him instead of sitting there worrying. Thirteen is gone now. We'll make sure that he never gets passed around like that again. Things will be fine."

Wilson ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm not sure about that babysitter. Should we look for another one?"

"It's up to you Wilson. I have to get back to work. I have a meeting with some potential donors in fifteen minutes and I am still working out the details for the Spring benefit. Are you and Greg going to be there? The invitation says kids welcome. I am planning on bringing Rachel."

"We'll see." Wilson sighed and headed back up to his office but found himself walking past the door and down to House's playroom. The tops of the shelves were now littered with Get Well cards from various staff members along with several brightly wrapped packages and a huge jar of cherry lollipops from the clinic. Wilson smiled as he looked over the cards. He jumped as a voice came from behind him.

"Dr. Wilson?" Foreman stood in the doorway holding a huge box wrapped in bright orange paper. "Sorry I didn't drop by your place last night with everyone else. I had some thinking to do."

Wilson stood there for a moment not knowing what to say. He finally took the box and put a hand on Foreman's shoulder. "I'm sorry too. I know you're going through a hard time."

Foreman shook his head. "I just can't believe that she did that. I never thought…I mean I thought I knew her. Is House doing okay?"

"He's much better now that he has Rusty back. Last night was rough but we got through it. He's at his music therapy class now. I have to go pick him up in a few hours."

"You told us he can still play the piano. That's amazing. Have you considered having him play at the Spring benefit? Cuddy is still looking for people to do entertainment."

Wilson shook his head. "House never liked an audience. At least when it came to the piano."

Foreman laughed. "I guess he saved that for when he had just figured out a huge case or was insulting someone. He always seemed to enjoy an audience then. See you later Dr. Wilson."

When Wilson opened the door to the music class he heard the sad strains of Damien Rice's Nine Crimes coming from the piano. House sat on the bench with Rusty at his side. His eyes were closed as his fingers delicately danced across the ivory. He looked so much like his former self that Wilson felt a bit ill and had to retreat to the parking lot to recover. After a few deep breaths Wilson finally went back to the door. He had been spotted and House was limping across the floor to greet him.

"Mine Wilson." House grinned. He threw his arms around his friend in a tight hug.

"You would have thought the world was going to end when you left this morning." Dr. Hansen smiled at Wilson. "It took about an hour to calm him down but once he did we were just fine. He even had some lunch. Do you want to show your friend the new musical instrument we played with today Gregory?"

"Yay!" House agreed happily. He went over to a large xylophone and began plucking out the scales with the wooden hammer. He beamed up at Wilson.

"Very good." Wilson smiled, still feeling a bit sick at the memory of House sitting at the piano looking so much like nothing had ever happened to his head.

"Of course Gregory's first love is still the piano." Dr. Hansen smiled. "Have you found one for at home yet? I really think you would both enjoy it."

Wilson shook his head. "Things have been a little crazy lately."

"Well I hope thing settle down and I am glad that Gregory wasn't hurt by that awful woman. I hope to see him again next week. I was also going to give you this." She handed Wilson a flyer. "It's a swim class at the local pool for people with special needs. After hearing Gregory's newest word today I think he might enjoy it."

"New word?" Wilson asked.

"Duck!" House piped up. He pointed to a picture of a green duck on a poster of alphabetically arranged animals on the wall. "Red duck."

Wilson shook his head. "The duck is green buddy. Thanks for the flyer. We'll look into it. Say bye Greg."

"No you." House smiled sweetly as they made their exit and headed out to the car.

Obviously don't own Damien Rice or his music either...if you have never heard the song Nine Crimes it is worth looking it up on youtube and having a listen. The music video is very weird but the song sad but nice. You can also find a couple of versions of people playing on the piano without the lyrics if you search youtube for Nine Crimes Piano.