Chapter 27 Part II

The Line Between Life and Death

x x x x x xx x x x break

"He knows about Jack," Sean spoke into his Bluetooth.

"Yes, I knew he was close to discovering the truth, that's why I left."

"He wants his son."

Caleb said nothing at first, absorbing what this meant. "I'll be back over in two weeks. Did he have you give Kiara some blood?"

"Yes, do you think he's right?"

"It's the only other thing we did to treat her. It's worth a shot."

"He's running more blood tests today. I gave her the blood on Monday."

"Let me know."

"Goodbye Caleb, give Jack my love."

Caleb smiled, Sean was finally forgiving the little baby for Kiara's illness.

x x x xx x x break x x x x x

"Lord Larkin, I'm convinced her hand has relaxed. It's not as rigid, not as tight fisted." The new nurse was standing in front of him, having stayed over to help House pull more blood.

"Show me." He followed her up the stairs.

Entering the room, Sean turned on the lights and examined her. He noticed that her head had pulled away slightly from her chest, that the fist was relaxing. Sean ran down the hall and crashed through the door. House was asleep in Kiara's bed and, according to the staff, House had slept twelve hours straight.

"Greg! Greg!"

House stirred and lifted his head. "What? Riane?"

"No, Kiara. You need to see this."

House jumped up as if a fire had been lit under him. Splitting his time between the patients at the hospital, Kiara and Riane, the lack of sleep had finally taken its toll and he had collapsed. But, the excitement in Sean's voice had stirred him. He ran down the hall in his boxers and t-shirt.

Throwing the door open, he went to the bed and immediately saw the changes. He turned to Sean.

"You have to give her more blood."

Sean nodded vigorously. "Of course, of course." He immediately repeated the process and then stepped back.

House dressed and ran out the door, driving to PPTH on a moonless night to check the blood samples he had just drawn at PPTH. Wheeling into the parking lot, he felt elated, a happiness he hadn't felt in a long time. After words with Foreman, he made his way to the lab and looked through the slides prepared by the lab for him. He had explained to them how he wanted them to be prepared, but told them that they did not have to read them, he would. With the backup in lab work, the staff was more than happy to skip reading the slides.

He took a deep breath and then peered down at the slide focusing it into sharp clarity. He counted and then pushed back from the bench, overwhelmed with the relief and happiness he was feeling. Sobbing, he tried desperately to get control of his emotions. Fortunately he was in the back of the lab away from the glass walls and prying eyes of the casual observer. He pulled out his cell phone and called Sean.

Sean answered his cell with a hopeful, "Hello?"

House burst out with, "The tests show that the antigens are clearing dramatically! About twenty percent less today."

The guttural sound that came from Sean matched the emotions that House had felt. He understood when Sean could say no more on the phone.

"I'll be back in the morning; I need to talk to my staff before I leave."

After a few seconds, there was a very weak and wobbly, "Thank you" from Sean.

"Don't thank me; it's your blood doing the job."

"Should I give her more?"

"No, I think every few days will be enough."

"Fine. Do you think she'll come out of the coma?"

House thought for a second, "I don't know Sean; I just don't know."

"Well, I'm going to be hopeful. In fact, I think I'll go down to the Church tonight and light some candles and go to confession. I'm also going to call Caleb."

"Sean?"

"Yes, Greg?"

"Let him know that he saved Kiara that night by giving her his blood. If he hadn't stopped the process, she'd be dead."

"I will."

"Of course, if you two had been forthcoming, she'd be well on her way to recovery, possibly cured, so don't go patting yourselves on the back yet."

It had been three days since he told Sean that his blood was saving his daughter. Each day Kiara showed some improvements-- some bigger than others. She had reacted to sound one day, moved her lips in a sucking motion the next and generally started to show response signs.

House stayed to brainstorm with his team regarding their new patient, before running back to see if Kiara was improving. He was on the computer at PPTH when the phone call came through from Kiara's current day nurse.

"She's not curled up today! I massaged her legs and arms and they stayed straightened! I'm so excited! Dr. House, I think she's getting better! I was able to move her without propping her on her side with wedges. Even her bed sore looks better today."

One of the most difficult aspects of taking care of a comatose patient is to ensure that they are moved constantly to prevent bedsores, but even in the best situation, bedsores occur. Kiara had developed one over the last month that was proving difficult to treat.

House had expected something. The blood counts were showing dramatic improvements. In fact, the antigens had dropped by fifty percent falling ten percent each day.

House arrived back at the around six and was greeted by Riane who threw herself around her father's legs when he walked through the door. "Whoa! I'm going to fall over pumpkin. Let Daddy go, I have to go up to see Mommy."

"Mommy? Mommy talked to me."

"What?" House asked.

"Mommy told me uhhhh."

House grabbed her hand and walked up the stairs. Riane ran in front of him into the sick room, jumping up on the bed yelling.

"Mommy, wake up, wake up."

House looked at the nurse. "Did Kiara say something?"

"She groaned today."

"Really?"

"Yes, Riane was kissing her face and she gave out a soft moan. I don't know if it was in response to Riane or if it was just air escaping. But Riane thinks her mother spoke to her."

House nodded. "Thanks, you can go now. I'll watch her until the shift change."

The nurse happily left a half hour early. House pulled back the blankets and saw that Kiara's legs were more or less straight. They were rail thin, somewhat wasted, but they were not curled into her chest. House smiled to himself. Riane kept playing with her mother's short, stubbly, hair cut, rubbing her hand over Kiara's skull over and over. House almost stopped her, but decided that the stimulation might just be what she needed. Riane finally ended her affection with a big kiss on Kiara's lips and a hug around her neck.

"Mommy, wake up and play with me." She said softly into Kiara's face.

House's heart tugged, hoping that soon her mother would do just that. Slipping his arm around his daughter's waist, House picked Riane up. "Pumpkin, time for us to wash up for dinner. Granddad is going to be up soon."

House took Riane into the bathroom where they both cleaned up. He heard footsteps climb up the stairs and knew that Sean was making his way to see Kiara. House walked in behind him and caught Sean with tears in his eyes.

Sean shook his head and looked away, embarrassed that he had been caught in this emotional moment. "Excuse me. Let me just clear my throat."

"Oh, don't be such a softy. We don't know if this will last, but it's nice to see her stretched out." House went over to the bed and saw her back starting to hunch over again. "She was a little straighter an hour ago."

"Is she curling up again?" Sean asked.

"A little."

That night, after putting Riane to bed and spending a few hours with Sean in front of the television watching a couple of movies, House went up to Kiara's sick room. Anne Marie, the vampire nurse who had been the most competent and trustworthy, was with her. House talked to her for a few minutes about Kiara's improvement and then he dismissed her.

"Take the night off, I'm going to stay with her. Could you remove the IV and monitors for tonight before you leave?"

" Sure. Do you want the nasal tube removed?"

"No, leave it in."

Anne Marie removed everything, thanked House for the night off and left.

House nodded, waited for her to leave and then took off his clothes down to his boxers, climbing in behind Kiara and pulling her into him at the waist. Wrapping his body around her, he kept her from curling over during the night. In reality, the closeness was as much for him as for her. It was great holding her, feeling her in his arms, but it wasn't the same as before. She didn't smell like herself. All the lotions and medications on the bed sore and the rest of her body masked the musk that House loved so much. Even her body felt foreign with its exposed angles and bones sticking out.

During the night, Sean checked on Kiara and was surprised to find House wrapped around her. At first he was unnerved by it, but when he saw how peaceful they both looked, he backed out of the room and went back downstairs.

Saturday morning House woke up and, after having his morning pee, went to Riane's nursery only to discover that Riane was downstairs already with the nanny. He showered and dressed before joining Riane in the kitchen for breakfast. The doorbell rang, the hollow chimes ringing throughout the house. Curious, House got up and went to the front door only to watch Denton open the door so that Caleb's coffin could be placed into the cellar. House went to the car and looked inside for Jack, but he wasn't around. Furious, House followed the coffin, waited for the doors to the cellar to be closed and banged on Caleb's coffin.

After five minutes of constant banging, Caleb opened the lid and blinked up at Greg. "Greg, I'm very groggy, can this wait until tonight? Please?"

"Where's my son?" House growled.

"Your son? You mean Jack?"

"Yes, I mean Jack."

"He's at home with his nanny. I'm only staying a few days and I didn't want to upset his routine for such short visit."

"I want my son!"

"Kiara hid her pregnancy from you because she feared what you would do. She gave you her heart, welcomed you into her world with her daughter and you not only threw her love away, but decided on your own that she was an unfit mother and only you could provide a stable environment for Riane. Until Kiara decides what's in her son's best interest, he's staying with me. He's a happy baby and well loved."

Greg stepped forward and grabbed Caleb's collar. Teeth clenched, he growled, "I want my son!'

Caleb debated about baring his retractiles, but realized that House knew who and what Caleb was already. House's outburst was all show, because House knew Caleb could devour him in one swift move. The bravado was to prove to Caleb how serious he was about getting his son back. Caleb admired him for taking the risk to show how much he was dedicated to being a father.

Caleb took a deep breath. "I love Jack. Right now he's in a good place. Let's concentrate our efforts on Kiara and then I promise that I'll bring Jack over next month and you can visit with him."

"Visit? You're going to leave him here, with his sister and me."

"I will talk to you more after I've had some sleep. I have no more to say until then." Caleb tried to close the lid on the coffin, but House held it up. "Greg, when I don't have my sleep I'm a very grumpy vampire, vampire being the operative word here. I'll speak with you this evening. Now please let me sleep."

Strangely, Caleb's calmness and the use of the word 'please' struck a chord with the little boy in House. He backed off and closed the lid, still frustrated but somewhat appeased by the fact that he had gotten his anger across to Caleb. House stormed up to the piano and sat down to play out some of his frustrations.

Riane heard her father playing and ran to the salon with her arms up, wanting to climb into his lap while he was playing.

House shook his head, "Riane, Daddy needs alone time to play by himself."

When Riane continued to try and crawl up onto the bench he let out a laugh of annoyance. Gripping her waifish wrist, House pulled her off the bench, causing the startled blue eyes to burst into tears. At that moment he wished desperately that Kiara was there to step in and remove Riane. He wanted to scream at his daughter, tell her to shut up and get out, just let him alone for fifteen minutes

I just need some time on my own!

House realized he should have gone home and spent the night, taken a break from everything, but he felt that Riane needed a parent around and most parents don't get 'time-outs.' Nonetheless, he was fried. Between work, Kiara, Riane and his anger over Jack, House could feel his patience waning. Looking down, he thought of Kiara and the few times she had lost her patience. What had she done? She took a deep breath and moved forward, accepted that her daughter came first.

Crap. "Come on Pumpkin, let Daddy help you up." House reached down and picked her up, holding her for a few minutes as he used a free hand to pick out a tune on the piano. Riane watched and smiled, the last of the tears still attached to the ends of her eyelashes. The swell of love he felt in his heart for her was overpowering. He kissed the tears off the lashes and gave her a big smile. Within minutes she wiggled to get down and ran off to play with her toys. House finally had his fifteen minutes.

By four in the afternoon, House went up to see if Riane was up from her nap. Looking into the nursery, the big-girl bed was empty. House looked in Kiara's bedroom, but she wasn't there.

"Riane? Where are you?" House started towards the stairs.

"Daddy? I'm talking to Mommy." Her voice came from the sick room.

House walked down and looked inside. Riane was lying down next to her mother, her head on the pillow facing her mother. Kiara was lying in the same position that House had left her earlier, her eyes closed, her breathing normal.

"Okay, Pumpkin. It's good you talk to Mommy, she likes to hear your voice, but we need to get you downstairs and feed you."

She kissed her mother's nose and started to get out of bed. "Mommy looked at me."

House paused and looked back at Kiara and waited a few minutes, but there was no change, no reason to believe that she had opened her eyes. "Come on baby, let's go downstairs."