Author's Rant: Okay, I don't know who I'd like to smack harder after this week's episode, Wilson, Cuddy, or TPTB. Taking them in order, Wilson, who agreed to be there for House, who promised House's psychiatrist he would be there for House, gets worried about House (whom he described to Sam at the beginning of the episode as a "nightmare." Nice behind-the-back stabbing, Wilson.) So what does Wilson, who not only alleges himself to be a friend but voluntarily committed to House's psychiatrist that he would take the front line support position here, do? Rather than talk to House himself or try to do anything himself to probe House's behavior, he pays other people to spend time with House so he can kill two birds with one stone, not only hopefully distract/cheer up House but also leave Wilson with all his free time and energy for his current boring love interest. House himself immediately saw the double motive, of course. And THEN Wilson admits to House that he paid them to spend time with him, including exact figures, including that Foreman held out for twice as much. I was ready to hit Wilson even before the preview for next week, in which he blatantly tells House that not Sam but Wilson himself wants him to leave. SMACK!

Next up, Cuddy. She "wants to be friends." Oh really? At what point in the majority of season 6 has she shown any interest in being friends? She refused to even take tickets he offered her for her and Rachel (but not himself) to go see a carnival or whatever that was. She sent him on a wild, painful, and deliberately humiliating goose chase at Thanksgiving (the bit about the turkey sandwich was for pure humiliation value. That sandwich had nothing to do with her wanting him out of the way. That was just to humiliate him). She shared personal details of his mental illness, thus violating HIPAA in her position as both his physician (prior existence of physician/patient relationship between those two is established in several episodes over the series) and as his boss in the hospital. Of course, this show violates HIPAA multiple times an episode, could even make a drinking game out of it, but Cuddy's offense there was extreme, even for the show. She refused to stop or apparently that we saw even reprimand later her boy toy for blabbing all those details in a public setting at a conference of the medical community. She flaunted Lucas in front of House all season at every opportunity. And suddenly, she asks in this episode if he's okay (boy it's been most of the season since she expressed ANY interest in his recovery or how things were going for him) and then at the end invites him out to dinner and wants to "be friends." You should have tried that several months ago, Cuddy. I am totally a Huddy shipper, but I was glad, in the world they've established, that he shut her down cold. After her actions all season, she richly deserved it.

And then TPTB, who are annoying me more and more with character assassination (the Ghost of Cuddy Past could fill a volume - how the mighty have fallen), stupid side stories, 13-fests, and their ridiculous decision that House's leg is basically a psychological/emotional problem. Watch Three Stories and then watch the S6 episodes. They are not compatible. And there is zero question which one was better and more riveting television. I don't want House to be in pain, but having established that world and that medical background for him from season one, they do not have license to change it. I hate it when a writer changes factual background on a character. Once they create them that way, they are obligated to hold to the created facts of that character. Characters can develop, but backgrounds and medical facts CANNOT change. If you stated medical facts in S1 on, those are the medical facts you have to work with. I especially noted in this episode the clear, anvil-worthy, "House is heading for an emotional/psychological crisis, which is making his leg hurt just because he's having feelings he can't deal with, and he's going to relapse to his addictions" message, blatant foreshadowing for the future.

The only time we have indication physically that his leg is hurting lately, him rubbing it, etc., is in immediate context of emotional conversations or situations. Contrast this to Skin Deep, where he wakes up with it hurting worse with a clear immediate weather connection (a very valid physical presentation) or Who's Your Daddy, where even before he knew Crandall was around, his leg was hurting worse (and another smack to Wilson for automatically and obviously incorrectly putting down his pain in that episode to guilt about Crandall). Watch him climb the stairs in the Greater Good, and keep in mind how much he tries to minimize and not appear disabled in front of people (show established - see Pilot). For the reaction he had to those stairs, in front of his team, he had to be under extreme purely physical duress. That is a genuine physical disability that genuinely physically hurts and has physical escalations sometimes. Much as I hate the Greater Good for the ongoing Cuddy character assassination, that stairs scene as shown then could not have appeared in S6. The S6 version would have had House notice the elevator out of order, then as he turned away see Cuddy and Lucas cuddling and acting professionally inappropriate as she flaunts him openly in clearly visible parts of her workplace. House would have then gotten that wonderfully expressive HL "this is hurting me, but I refuse to show it" face, would have rubbed his leg twice subtly, and then would have slowly hauled himself up the stairs, dripping emotional angst and rejection at every step. Cuddy, who caused the elevators to be out, although House didn't know it then, would have glanced sideways at him starting the stairs, looked briefly guilty, and then Lucas would have laughed and said something, and she would have turned back to face him and laugh along with him. Closeup camera on their faces, having a good time together as House in the background labors his way up the stairs. Focus goes soft on them, though they are still in the foreground, and sharpens up on House as he reaches the first landing, glances briefly back, and rubs his leg again. There you have it - a scene from the Greater Good redone a la S6.

I have a bad leg myself that is as good as it's going to get after 3 surgeries. It's not close to the level that House has, but yes, there are plenty of times that the bloody thing just hurts more with no correlation to mood. Weather and activity are big connections; sometimes it hurts more just for no apparent reason at all. Distraction can help a bit but does not come close to eliminating a flare-up (I nearly threw a rock at the TV when House suddenly went from such extreme pain he almost relapsed to having his leg just "stop hurting" in Epic Fail as soon as he got on a case. Wonder if they feel his missing muscle and damaged nerves magically grow back when he's in a good mood, too. They apparently magically grew back with the Ketamine, after all.). Can emotions affect it? Yes. But the baseline injury and the baseline pain are physical, and they physically ramp it up at times, whether he is in a good mood, bad mood, or whatever. But every single time lately that his leg pain is indicated on television is when something emotional is going on. They've forgotten about the other aspect of it. Granted, House has a lot of emotional issues, but that doesn't mean they are the sole reason his leg hurts. Lately, judging from the show, we are supposed to believe they are.

If you have established a severe physical cause with severe physical results ongoing, there is going to be PURELY PHYSICAL PAIN, regardless of anything emotional. If you didn't want such a large physical component existing to it, create your character with a much less severe medical cause up front, like an injury that really would heal or be just a minor inconvenience. Again, watch Three Stories. There would be real, lifelong, severe at times, physical pain resulting from that, even if the patient were the most happy and well-adjusted person on the planet. The PTB created House with that medical backstory; they should have to live with it. But TPTB have apparently decided this season that his leg pain is 95% if not 100% emotional. I would bet money that House relapses on Vicodin in the season finale, which they are obviously building up to, and that it is presented as a product of psychological and TOTALLY psychological pain. I was especially noticing the flashing neon "PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS === CAUSE OF PAIN" message at the end of this episode.

I am THIS close to totally stopping watching this show, even given HL. He is the only reason I still watch it. If the finale indeed presents purely emotional/psychological pain causing his leg to hurt and inducing a relapse, continuing to ignore any contribution at all of physical aspects of his disability, along with even more deterioration of Cuddy, a once strong woman, into something more suited to a teenage schoolgirl, the requisite overfocus on 13, and some boring sidelight stuff more suited to a bad soap opera instead of a case that really grabs you and kicks like they used to, I probably will stop watching. I will happily spend the rest of my House-life watching reruns of the first few seasons, when the show made me actually care about the medical mystery, the POTW, and other characters along with House, even though he was always the main focus, as he should be. But rewatch S1. The snap, the spark, the drive, the momentum of the show back then just is not there now. It's been a while since I wanted to rewatch a whole episode. There are none from the last two seasons saved as "permanent" in my DVR. Pure bad writing lately. And they got paid for it. Being paid for your work carries a higher responsibility to the reading/watching public than free sites do. In my opinion, they have failed in that responsibility lately.

Whew! Okay, rant over. We now resume your regularly scheduled fanfiction.

(H/C - I'm trying this as a divider because the site has apparently for some reason decided to delete my former dividers, even though they show up in the document preview)

Everything was peaceful the next morning until most of the way through breakfast. Then Susan arrived.

"Good morning, Lisa, Greg." Rachel, in her arms, immediately reached out toward House, and Susan spoke to her. "Not just yet, Rachel. Let him finish eating. Have some patience."

"No!" Rachel protested, reaching out.

House chuckled and started to push his half-finished tray back, and Cuddy nailed him with her eyes. "Finish eating, Greg. She can wait 5 minutes." House looked from her to Rachel, then picked back up his fork. Rachel continued to squirm.

"How are you two feeling this morning?" Susan asked.

"Better," House replied.

"Better all the time," Cuddy stated. A smile of anticipation lit her face. "I was even thinking of actually going into NICU later today. Riding the wheelchair down, of course, but putting on scrubs and walking in. Just to be closer to her."

House smiled, glad that she would finally have the opportunity for a more close-up encounter with Abby. Susan, though, was immediately concerned. "Now, Lisa, you need to be careful. You don't need to push it too fast. Give yourself time to heal physically."

"I am healing physically," Cuddy pointed out, annoyed. "I've been walking a little bit more each day."

"She's getting better. Maybe discharged by the . . . end of the week," House predicted.

Cuddy immediately shook her head. "No, I'm not getting better that fast." House shot her a puzzled look, and then she saw his eyes leap to the incorrect conclusion she had feared. Damn her mother. She hadn't meant to discuss this yet, certainly not in front of Susan.

Susan was protesting herself. "Lisa, that's too fast. You nearly died, you know. You can't be ready to go home by the end of this week. Don't worry about Rachel; I'm here as long as you need me."

"She'll be going . . . home." House was taking on his stubborn look. "And so will . . . you."

Cuddy sighed. "We'll talk about it later, Greg."

"No," Susan objected. "This involves me, too, and you aren't nearly strong enough to think of going home in just a few days."

"Yes . . . she is," House insisted. "She won't just stay."

Cuddy gritted her teeth. "Mother, could you give us a minute, please?"

Susan stared at her. "Why on earth would . . ."

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Cuddy snapped. "Just go somewhere else for a while. Cafeteria, waiting room, I don't care. Come back in 30 minutes."

"NO!" Rachel protested as Susan, stunned into compliance, started to turn toward the door.

Cuddy glanced over at House. He still hadn't finished breakfast, but she knew there was no chance at this point that he was going to. He would not eat in the middle of an emotionally charged conversation. "Give Rachel to Greg, and then please give us a few minutes."

House pushed the tray away and reached out to take her. Rachel went to him gladly, but it was his face, not his bandage, that had her attention at first. She reached up to pat his cheek questioningly, and he gently captured her hands and pushed them down.

"Thank you, Mother," Cuddy said. "Now please, give us 30 minutes. Come back later." Susan left, taking time to give Cuddy a wounded look that emphasized just how disappointing it was when your own child, your flesh and blood, orders you from the room.

Cuddy turned to House. He was looking down at Rachel, not at her, but she could feel the emotional withdrawal. All his shields were up. "Greg, I want us to go home together."

"No," he responded, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.

"It's not that you're holding me back."

"Oh, then . . . I can leave in a few . . .days, too? Great." His sarcasm was still just as barbed, even through the difficulties.

"No, you can't, but I'm not staying to hold back for you. I couldn't take it." Her voice cracked slightly, and for the first time, he looked over at her. She squeezed his hand. "I had a nightmare last night."

He immediately jumped to his second lightning-fast misconclusion of the morning, and she sighed again. Now he was feeling both handicapped and guilty. Wonderful. "It wasn't your fault, damn it."

"You didn't dream about . . . hell?"

"No, I did, but . . ." He looked away again, the differential as firmly closed in his mind as if it had been written on a whiteboard. Cause + Effect = Blame. "Greg, please, listen to me for a minute."

"Can't leave. . . I can't walk. Remember?"

"I was dreaming about hell, but I was dreaming that I missed handing you the cane. I couldn't help you. I was the one who failed in the dream, not you. And then when I woke up, I realized that I can't possibly sleep alone in our bed when I go home. I nearly lost you. It's all still too real." Tears were starting now. "I need to stay with you. For me. Not because of you. I couldn't stand to leave you right now."

The room was silent for a moment, other than her quiet sobs. Rachel, in House's arms, looked over with concern at her mother and tried to scramble in that direction. He held her back, knowing he wasn't strong enough to safely pass her over the gap between the beds, but he pushed her hand between his and Cuddy's, letting her feel the pressure. Damn it, why had he shared hell? This was the second time she had been crying over it, and now she was having nightmares, too. "I'm sorry," he said.

Cuddy pulled her hand loose and hit him sharply across the arm. "Don't ever say that to me again. It isn't your fault." Rachel immediately switched sides of concern, rubbing House's arm where Cuddy had hit it, then turning back to aim a slap at her mother. House grinned in spite of himself and caught her hand. "No," he admonished.

She looked from one to the other of them. "No," she repeated.

"Greg, I need to stay until you're ready. Please. We came in together; let's leave together."

"We weren't admitted together."

"We should have been." Annoyance was submerged under her tone like rocks under a stream, rippling the surface. She still had several things to say to the ER staff when she got back to work. The fact that nobody in two days had given him a thorough evaluation after an accident like that was inexcusable. "And if we had been, we probably would be ready to go home at the same time."

"Except for . . . Abby," he said. His own anger was firing back up, anger against the drunk driver.

"Except for Abby," she agreed sadly. "But Greg, I need to stay here with you. I couldn't take being home alone."

He considered. "Okay," he said, but privately he made a pact with himself to redouble his efforts. There was no reason to keep her hanging around here any longer than he could help.

"Thank you." She recaptured his hand, giving it a squeeze, then hesitated, studying his expression. "And don't take that as a challenge to push it harder yourself. Recovering from an injury and coma like that should take time."

He shook his head. "Sound like your . . .mother."

"Don't try to change the subject. Promise me you'll be reasonable, Greg."

He grinned at her. "You don't trust . . . me?"

"Not on this."

He sighed. "Okay, we won't leave until . . . I'm ready." Which would be not one minute longer than he could help.

Cuddy still wasn't quite convinced, but she was afraid to keep pushing, afraid she'd get him that much more stubborn by chasing the subject. "About my mother, want to help me premeditate a murder?"

House relaxed a bit, smiling. "Poor . . . Rachel."

"Dada," she replied, happy to hear her name in this conversation which she couldn't follow but which had seemed to upset both of her parents.

House tilted his head, an idea suddenly striking. "Call your . . . father."

"You think she'd come home if he told her to?" Cuddy considered it. "She might at that. He's very big on head of the household and such. And honestly, he's going through recovery himself. You want to stay with the nanny for the next several days instead of with Grandma, Rachel?"

"Mama." Rachel tried again to flop in that direction, and House held her back.

"That's not a bad idea," Cuddy concluded.

"Of course not . . . I had it."

She grinned at him and picked up her cell phone, dialing quickly. "Hi, Dad."

(H/C)

Susan was a bit distracted when she returned. "Your father just called."

"How's he doing?" Cuddy asked innocently.

"He says that he needs me back there." She looked from Cuddy to House to Rachel, torn. "But you all . . ."

"The nanny can take care of Rachel and bring her for visits. And we're both stable now; it's just a matter of time." Cuddy smiled at her. "We really do appreciate you being here, Mom, but I'm sure Dad does miss you. He can't be discharged from the rehab facility as long as he's going to be home alone, you know."

"That's what he said. That he was ready to come home and couldn't do it without me." She sighed. "Promise me, Lisa, that you will get adequate help, like you said."

"We promise," Cuddy stated, answering for both of them. "Come on, you can roll me down for a last visit to Abby before you head off." She gingerly hauled herself out of bed and sat in the wheelchair.

Susan looked over at House with Rachel. "I'll come back up to say goodbye before I leave. You take care of yourself, Greg."

House nodded. Picking up Rachel's arm, he waved it. "Say bye. . . Rachel."

"Dada," she replied, looking at him.

He shook his head, pointing at Susan. "Bye."

"Bye," she repeated uncertainly.

Susan was glowing in grandmotherly pride. "Isn't it just wonderful to hear her pick up words like that?"

"Yes," House and Cuddy agreed in heartfelt unison.

"Bye bye, Rachel. I'll be back in a little while."

As she rolled Cuddy out of the room, House gave a sigh of relief. Back to just them, relatives almost gone. And he and Cuddy would go home as soon as possible. "Say we're going . . . home."

"Dada." Rachel hugged him.

"We're going . . . home. I will walk out of . . . here. Soon. Very soon. And no more . . . nightmares for . . . Lisa. . . Rachel . . . Lisa. . . we're going home."

Rachel listened to his manifesto, loving the intensity of his attention even if she didn't understand it. "Dada."

(H/C)

Down at NICU, Cuddy and Susan watched through the window for a while, and then Cuddy gingerly stood up, keeping Susan back by telling her that only one at a time could be in NICU. She pulled on the yellow sterile scrub and then slowly walked to the incubator, stretching her hands out through the flaps covering the holes in the side of the plastic container. For the first time, she touched her daughter, putting her hands on her abdomen, and Abby responded, turning slightly toward her mother. All the pain, all the stress for the moment, all awareness of her mother or the staff watching vanished as Cuddy stood there, lost in the future.

As soon as possible, they would all be home.