CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
Lucy set the table, and went looking for Jim and Greg. She didn't have to look very far. They were in the family room drinking beer. Lucy just stood in the doorway with her arms crossed, watching them. "What a couple of jackasses!" Lucy said to herself. "Greg said he wanted to be alone tonight and he's sitting there letting my brother drink beer!" Lucy cleared her throat loudly to attract their attention, startling them.
"You went through the trouble to have Maria cook today. Isn't my cooking good enough for you two connoisseurs?" Lucy said sarcastically. "Get your asses in the kitchen now. It's ready." Lucy turned and went back to the kitchen. When Greg and Jim looked at each other, you knew they were both thinking the same thing. "We're in for it now!" They meekly followed Lucy to the kitchen.
Maria's quesadillas were excellent. Greg and Jim ate like they were starving, but Lucy was playing with her food. She didn't feel quite as good as she was acting, and although her voice was slowly coming back, her throat still hurt like hell. She just should have had some soup. "Did the results of my blood work come back yet or do I have to call and get them myself?" Lucy asked which ever one would pay attention to her.
Greg and Jim stopped chewing their food and looked at each other. Greg thought to himself, "Damn it! Now that she seems to have settled down a little, I'm not even talking to her! I'm too busy shoving food in my mouth." He stepped up to the plate. "Lucy, I'm sorry. Your results did come back. No signs of infection." he said with a smile, hoping to avoid an explosion. "Thank you, Greg. It's nice to know one of you cares about my well being." Lucy said with just a touch of sarcasm. Both of them looked at Lucy's plate. It was still almost full.
"Lucy, do you really feel all right?" Jim asked her. "You've hardly eaten anything, and the food is delicious." "I'm fine Jim. I really can't taste anything, and I'm still a little tired." Lucy replied "My throat is still sore, too." Greg had been watching Lucy closely. "Wilson, where do you want to go for breakfast tomorrow? I'm buying" Greg said. "I'm coming here for breakfast." Jim replied. "No, you're not." Greg replied. "What do you mean, no I'm not?" Jim exclaimed. "Where else am I supposed to have breakfast?" "Moron, didn't you just hear me say I was buying? Your sister has been feeding our sorry asses all summer. She's been through hell the past four days. Can't you give her one day off?"
Lucy realized that Greg was trying to get them alone time, but she went into cranky mode anyway. She couldn't help it. Coming down off that damn cough medicine was a bitch, and the force had already been disturbed enough by them forcing her rest and take her medicine. "Greg, I feel well enough to cook. What's the big deal if I get up to make breakfast? You two will probably force me back to bed afterward anyway, whether I want to go or not." she snapped. "Besides, I have to try and eat or you might try to force feed me or something equally hazardous to your health." Greg looked at her. Hopefully, she realized what he was trying to do. He looked in her eyes. She knew. She was just being Lucy. Not liking being told what she could and couldn't do.
"Yeah, House, she needs to eat too!" Jim piped in. In a very authoritative voice, Greg told his best friend, "Wilson, I said I was buying. This summer was supposed to be a vacation for your sister, and she's been taking care of us instead. Give her a break for at least one day, for Christ's sake. I'll make sure she tries to eat something and we'll go wherever you want to tomorrow."
Wilson shook his head. Damn it! House was right, as usual. How could he be so inconsiderate of his sister? He was spending time here to avoid going home. He honestly didn't think Lucy minded cooking for him and House. "Lucy, have I really been such a pain for you this summer?" he asked her.
"Jim, you're a pain in the ass all the time. Why should this summer be any different? I'm cooking for you two Looney Tunes because I want to, not because I have to. But what I want to know is why are you passing up the chance to have Greg buy you breakfast?" Lucy said with a smart ass smile on her face. "House, are you really going to buy, or are you going to stick me with the check like you usually do?" Jim asked. Greg just shook his head. "Wilson, not only will I buy breakfast, I'll buy lunch tomorrow, too!"
"Can't pass that up now, can you Jim? Let's check his wallet tomorrow morning to make sure he has cash and his credit cards haven't expired." Lucy said mischievously. "Lucy, so help me, I am going to take you over my knee! I'm trying to cut you a break and you're acting like a brat!" Greg exclaimed. Suddenly, Lucy didn't care what Greg was trying to do. She was ready for a fight now.
"Try it! Let's see what you got, smart ass!" Lucy retorted as she stood up and started to clear the table. Wilson just looked at Lucy. She was all fired up, and he was slightly concerned that there might be some blood shed - House's! "House, how many times do I have to tell you you're playing with fire? She might not win a fair fight, but you'll get hurt!" "Oh, shut up, Wilson!" Greg snapped as he started to help Lucy clear the table. "Get off your ass and help clear the table before she blows up again."
Greg and Jim cleared the table and brought everything over to the dishwasher where Lucy was standing. She was so worked up, she wasn't paying attention to either of them and they startled her. "Get the hell out of here!" Lucy yelled at both of them. "Isn't there a ball game or something you could be watching?" "Lucy, we're just trying to help you clean up the dinner dishes!" Jim said. He didn't think he had ever seen Lucy get this worked up so fast.
"I don't need help!" she snapped. Jim looked at her. "Lucy, are you pregnant?" Greg almost swallowed his tongue. He knew her like a book, and faithfully used condoms when they had to, even though Lucy put up a fuss about it. She couldn't be, but if she was, all the better. They would get married, that's all there was to it. She couldn't make him wait until she was ready, and she would get through her residency just fine. It would just take her a little longer because she would have to take time off after the baby was born. And they had built in baby sitters. Nonna and Pap Pap!
Lucy just looked at her brother. "How the hell could I be pregnant? Osmosis? I would have to be seeing someone for that to happen, unless you want to pin the blame on Greg! Maybe he drugged me and did me in my sleep!" "Oh, Christ!" Greg thought to himself "She's mad enough to accidentally spill everything! I'd better fix this fast! Whether she's pregnant or not, I want her parents to know about this from us and not Wilson. He'll never keep his mouth shut that long!" He turned to Lucy. "Lucy, why are you so grouchy? Because your brother asked you a stupid question? He does that all the time" Greg said.
Lucy looked at Greg. She realized what she had almost let slip, which did not help her mood any. Damn it! She hated how she felt when prescription drugs wore off. That's why she avoided them. But since she was still genuinely mad and Jim and Greg, she threw her dishtowel at Greg and stalked out of the kitchen. "You two clean up!" she hissed "I'm going back to bed!" And she left both of them standing there with their mouths hanging open.
"Come on Wilson, let's clean up, and unfortunately for you, you'll have to go home to Julie. I don't think Lucy wants to see either one of us tonight!" "Are you sure you want me to leave, House? She's pretty pissed. I'm afraid she'll start arguing with you just for the sake of arguing." Wilson said, all the while wondering why she was so grouchy if she wasn't pregnant. "Yeah, she's pissed all right, but she'll be asleep in ten minutes and the world will be safe for a while!" Greg said with a smile.
As Lucy was going into her room, she started coughing again. She hurried into her bathroom so no one would hear her. "Son of a bitch!" she thought to herself "That hurts!" She started running water to take a bath. She got in to soak when it hit her. She was supposed to finish Greg's massage in the shower tonight. Oh, well, the evening was ruined anyway. Her period started, her brother came home with Greg for dinner, and she almost let slip that she and Greg were sleeping together, all because her stupid brother asked if she was pregnant!
She finished her bath and got out of it in the same mood as when she started; cranky and tired. She put on clean pajamas, brushed her teeth, brushed her hair and put it in a pony tail, and went out into her room. No Greg yet. Either Jim was still here or he was waiting for her to fall asleep before he came back up. She looked for her cough medicine. It was on the night table, next to a glass of ginger ale. One of them must have snuck up here while she was taking a bath. She swallowed the cough medicine, drank some ginger ale and got into bed. Within five minutes, she was asleep.