36 – Touche

_____

'Hey, look, you got a TV Guide,' Johnny said, sifting through my mail as he trailed behind me. It was my day off, and we had gone to the movies. Johnny had taken the liberty of emptying my mailbox on the way back into the house for lunch. After unlocking the door and swinging it wide open, I snatched my mail back and watched my brother go inside with a fun little immature smile.

I was probably four feet into the house when I heard a familiar beeping sound come from my purse. With a sigh, I dug through my purse and pulled out my pager.

'Let me guess…' Johnny said, a knowing smirk on his face.

'I'll be back as soon as I possibly can,' I replied apologetically, giving my brother a quick hug before grabbing a jacket and heading toward the door. 'Feel free to raid the fridge if you're hungry!' I called back just before pulling the door shut behind me.

After getting back in my car, I threw the mail that was still in my left hand onto the passenger seat before slipping the key in the ignition and starting my Nissan.

'This better be good,' I muttered to myself as I pulled out of the driveway.

_____

'Hey, Mr. Wiiiiilsooooon!'

I turned my head toward the voice I knew so well, and watched with a smile as Greg chased after Wilson, a sadistic smile on his face. Wilson, for his part gave up and stopped abruptly, almost making Greg slam into him. I waited a moment before making my way toward them, shaking my head amusedly. As I got closer, I could hear Wilson trying to psychoanalyze Greg into submission, as usual.

When I reached them, I actually stood there silently for a moment, watching their little discourse until my presence was acknowledged. When I finally was acknowledged, though, I think it was more as a means of escape for Greg than an actual excitement of my being there.

Greg smirked over at me with a playful look in his eyes and then soon sobered. 'Why are you here?'

'Are you kidding me?' I began, shooting him an annoyed look, 'You paged me!'

'No, I didn't.'

I was silent for a second. I was too busy sizing Greg up and wondering whether to believe him or not.

'You know he did,' Wilson interjected.

'No… I didn't,' Greg said again, shooting a warning glance at his friend.

'Did you?' I asked, my train of thought moving closer to bewilderment now. Then, redirecting my attention to Wilson: 'Did he?'

There was a tense glance between Greg and Wilson before the latter shot the former a smirk and opened his mouth to speak.

'He did.'

'Damn it, Greg!' I exclaimed.

'Damn it, Wilson!' Greg echoed, turning a glare on the aforementioned Oncologist.

'I was there.' Wilson finished, taking a little step back to watch his creation take form.

'It's my day off!' I told Greg sternly.

'Oh, come on, you're going to believe him?' He began with a wave of his cane toward Wilson, 'He's managed to sleep with almost every nurse the hospital; he's practically made lying an Olympic sport!'

At that, a couple nurses raised their heads and shot indignant glances at Wilson before stomping off in a huff.

'I was about to have lunch! I was actually having a nice day,' I argued, already calming a little, although a stubborn look was still on my face.

'Without me?' Greg asked incredulously with a mock-hurt look on his face.

I raised an eyebrow and smirked. 'Believe it or not, yes. If they ever do announce a central point in the universe, I'd like to see your face when you realize it's not you.'

Greg didn't look amused. Wilson did, however.

'You're buying me lunch.' I told Greg matter-of-factly, beginning to walk toward the cafeteria.

'Why?' Greg asked, giving me a look like I had just sprouted another head. I turned back toward him and pointed an accusing finger in his direction as I began to respond.

'Because you pulled me away from a nice day with my brother, dragged me into work on my day off for God only knows what reason, and made me miss my nice lunch. All I've eaten today is a bowl of cereal and a small popcorn, and for all the trouble you've caused and probably will continue to cause me today, you can ditch out ten dollars and buy me a sandwich and iced tea.'

'Sounds fair.' Wilson said, poking his head into the conversation again and clapping a hand on Greg's shoulder. Greg only glared at him in reply –like a kid that had gotten his plans foiled by that particularly snotty, annoying cousin- as we made our way to the cafeteria.

After getting a nice turkey and swiss sandwich and an ice cold Brisk, my mood improved considerably.

'So, why did you even call me in, anyway?' I asked, looking over the table at Greg and taking a quick gulp of tea.

'I was lonely,' he smirked over his tray. I rolled my eyes at his answer and shot a glance at Wilson, to which I got a shrug in return. He didn't know anymore than I did. But, then, for all of Wilson's psychoanalyzing, even he couldn't get Greg all the time.

'Since when do you need anyone?' I challenged, a mischievous smirk playing on my face.

'Since I stopped being the central point in the universe,' he shot back, taking a huge bite of his club sandwich.

'Touche.'

_____

Greg, in his usual style, avoided any kind of pointed questions for a good couple of hours before he told me about the case he had taken on that day. I ended up getting back home after midnight, mail in hand. Johnny, for his part, was still there, sprawled on the couch watching TV.

'God, Johnny, I'm so sorry,' I said softly, my voice tired.

'Do you know they actually give Spongebob Squarepants this late at night? I mean, who's going to watch it? Eight year olds with insomnia?' Johnny rambled sleepily, stretching a bit.

'You're watching it,' I pointed out as I pushed his legs to the side so I could plop on the couch myself.

'Yeah, but I'm special.'

'That's what your teachers always told us,' I teased sifting through my mail and opening letters at random.

'At least my teachers didn't say I should spend more time with the other children and less time bugging the teacher,' Johnny retorted, settling himself into a pillow I hadn't even realized he had a second ago.

'That was different. I had a crush on him that year. Plus, look where all that attention to my studies got me: I'm a doctor,'

'Damnit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not an engineer,' Johnny laughed, making his voice husky to shoot me the quote.

Laughing softly, I opened the next letter in the stack, too tired to even look at the return address. I slipped my finger under the flap and tore it open, snatching the sheets out of the envelope and tossing the casing to the side. In the light of the television, I could just barely make out the letterhead and my eyes widened as I scrambled to read the rest, too anxious to wait and turn on a light.

'Oh, my God,' I muttered, staring at the paper in my hand.

'What is it?' Johnny asked, turning away from the television for a moment to face me with a slightly concerned look. I glanced back at him and opened my mouth to speak, but all that came to me was an echo of what I had said earlier:

'Oh, my God,' I squeaked.

_____

A/N: It's ridiculously inexcusable how long I've taken to write this story again. Any of my stories, really, but this one in particular. It's my longest running fic and undoubtedly my most popular one, and it's taken me the longest to update. I can honestly say I had not gotten a good idea until a couple of weeks ago, and I don't know what's worse: waiting for a really, really long time for an installment, or me forcing out crappy ideas and risk screwing up the story.

So, basically, that was a long, roundabout way of saying: 'Holy crap, guys I'm sorry! I grovel before you, seriously.'

Additionally, that 'good idea' I mentioned a second ago is a reboot of this story. I have an idea of how I want to end this story and start the plotline again with a sequel. It would allow me to bring in the new characters that the show has and the new situations each original character now finds themselves. It would also develop the relationship between House and Frankie interestingly. So, I hope to be finishing this story soon, to start the sequel. I promise I won't post the last chapter of Healing Wounds until I've written at least one chapter of the sequel, that way you're not left with a cliffhanger for a year, just in case. Although I don't mean to leave this story that long anymore! I recently got a new computer, and I have a feeling writing will be a lot easier and more comfortable now.

I know, huge A/N. I just wanted to clear everything up with you guys, the readers. I want to thank all of you guys that stuck with me through this whole hiatus (you know who you are), and I want to thank everyone who reviews in advance, 'cause reviews are seriously what keep this story going, even if it's going slowly. Anywho, please R&R and tell me what you think and have a wonderful, musical day.