My Brother's Keeper

A House Fan Fic

Disclaimer: I own no names of House. Only the story is mine

Chapter Three

Life is Pain

Georgia tried to avoid House as much as she could over the next few weeks.

Unfortunately, a case took her to his office.

She opened his office door.

"Hey Greg. Got a minute?"

"For you, Pretty Lady, anything."

She smiled. "How did you come up with that name?"

"It came to me when you dragged Wilson and I to see Pretty Woman. It just kind of stuck." He pointed at the file she was carrying. "What's up?"

"Oh. Seven year old with kidney problems. You're the nephrologist. I thought I could pick your brain."

"She's urinating?"

"Mom says her output is almost nothing. When she does urinate, it's bloody."

"I'll take the case. More than likely, she'll end up on dialysis. I'll have my team run some tests." He sighed.

"How are you really, Georgia?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've not gotten so much as a cold shoulder from you since dinner two weeks ago. Everything okay?"

"Greg, I don't want to come in between you and Cuddy. Remember, I was hurt by 'the other woman' when Eddy slept with Marie."

House sighed. "What I have with Cuddy is unbreakable. I would never do anything to hurt her or Rachael. I feel somewhat responsible for getting you drunk that night."

"We were both nursing broken hearts, Greg. I had to get that off my chest. I just want to know where things stand with us."

"Like I said. I love Cuddy and Rachael. You and I have, are, and always will be friends. Your brother was one of the handful of people who helped me gain my sobriety. These are the people I give a damn about. It's not a big group of people, but it's something to me."

Georgia smiled. It wasn't what she wanted to hear, It was what she needed to hear. She and Greg were friends. Nothing more.

"Speaking of which, Where is Jimmy?"

Greg looked at the calendar. He nearly kicked himself. Today marked two years that Amber had died.

"He took today off to see Amber."

"His dead girlfriend?"

"Yeah. He mainly holes up at his place after placing flowers on her grave."

"I'll talk to Cuddy. Take the rest of the day off. Be with him."

House held up the file. I'll get back to you when I have a diagnosis on your patient."

~•~

A disheveled Wilson opened the door. Georgia had never seen her brother look like this

"Jimmy, It's freezing out here. Are you going to let me in?"

Wilson stepped aside to let her in.

"House sent you?"

"Sort of. Beware of siblings bearing gifts."

She held up a bottle of scotch and two glasses.

"What? You're as bad as House."

"The last time you and I got so shit faced was after your first wife left. You've been so great about looking after me, Jimmy. Let me be my Brother's Keeper."

She poured Scotch into both glasses.

"To those we have loved and lost."

"To Amber and Ariella."

They both downed the liquor.

"So tell me about Amber. What was she like and how did she steal my brother's heart?"

Wilson showed her a picture of a lovely blonde haired woman. He gave Georgia the condensed version of how they met, her death, and the near ending of his and House's friendship.

Georgia set the picture back where Wilson had it. She noticed a picture of happier times. A picture of her and three month old Ariella.

"I can't believe you kept this picture."

"My first niece? Sure I kept it. I can't believe Eddy didn't care about his own daughter."

Georgia's confused look wasn't lost on him.

"Jimmy. I never slept with Eddy."

"Then who?"

"I had a drunken one night stand with Greg. He was Ariella's father."

"Did he know?"

"I told him about her a few weeks ago. He didn't know anything when I left for India."

"A good thing he didn't. He was pretty messed up."

"He told me about the drug abuse. He's come along way."

Georgia let her gaze fall back on the picture. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Wilson walked to her. He hugged her. "Thank you for coming when House asked. It's good to have you back, Georgie."

"It isn't fair, Jimmy. Will the Wilson Twins ever be happy?"

Wilson had asked himself that same question. Would he ever date after Amber's death?

~•~

The next morning, Georgia's phone chirped.

"Dr. Thomas."

"I see you, Georgia."

Georgia stopped what she was doing. "Eddy?"

"Welcome back, Bitch!"

"How did you get my number?"

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that I know where you live. See you soon."

The phone went dead.

Georgia was panicking. Her hands were shaking. She tried to slow her breathing.

Her phone chirped.

"Dr. Thomas," she said in a shaky voice.

"Hey Pretty Lady."

Georgia gave a sigh of relief. "Greg."

"I've got a diagnosis on your patient. We're going to have to bring Wilson in on this case."

"That bad?"

"Yeah. Are you okay?"

Georgia tried to keep her emotions in check. "I'm having a bad day, Greg."

"Come by my office in about ten minutes. We'll put our heads together and come up with a game plan for this patient."

~•~

Later that morning, Georgia walked into House's office. Wilson, who never subscribed to the my-twin-can-feel-my-pain crap, knew something was off.

"Renal cell carcinoma," said House without any preamble.

Georgia looked from House to Wilson.

"Kidney cancer?"

Wilson, a respected figure in the Oncology field, replied, "Yes. It's bad. stage four. Your patient has maybe a year. With treatment."

"What kind of treatment do you give a seven year old?"

Wilson responded, "I've been in touch with Dr. Williams at the Mayo clinic. He has an experimental drug that's just been approved for human trials. It has a fifty seven percent success rate."

"Jimmy, She's a seven year old. Not a fucking lab rat! It isn't fair!"

Georgia stormed out of the office.

Wilson and House looked at each other and then went after her.

They found her in the chapel. They sat beside her. One on either side.

"Okay, Georgie. What's wrong?"

Georgia tried to talk, but all that came out was sobs.

House got up. "I'll be right back."

He grabbed a towel from an empty room. He ran it under some cool water.

Cuddy stopped him before he got to the chapel.

"House, what are you doing?"

"Hmmm. Wet towel, hurrying to the chapel? Someone threw Holy Water at Wilson. He caught fire. Just trying to put it out."

Cuddy smiled. "Really, House. What are you doing?"

"Family emergency."

She followed House into the chapel. He heard Georgia talking to Wilson. He put his finger to his lip, motioning Cuddy not to say anything.

He sat down, wincing at the pain shooting thru his right leg. He blamed the weather.

"How is she, James? I thought I heard a familiar name mentioned."

"Yeah. You did."

"Look at me, Georgia."

Georgia did as asked. House put the cool towel to her face, wiping away the tears. "This seems like deja Vu. I remember cleaning your face ten years ago."

"Yeah. I remember that."

"Georgia, this isn't about your patient's diagnosis. Is it?"

"No."

"Wilson, what happened?"

"Eddy called her. He knows where she is."

"Oh, damn!"

House felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at Cuddy.

"Cuddy? We have a problem."

He stood up and walked to the back of the chapel with Cuddy.

Wilson couldn't hear what was being said. But he did see House kiss Cuddy.

House and Cuddy walked back to the place where Georgia sat, her head on Wilson's shoulder.

"Okay, Pretty Lady, here's the game plan. You're going to hole up at my old apartment for a while."

"What about my patients?"

Cuddy spoke up. " You're going to work from home. Just until your ex is taken care of. If needed, House can stay with you."

"No. I won't let you do that, Greg."

"Why not?"

"I told you my reasons. You have a good thing going."

Wilson spoke up. "House, she's right. It wouldn't look right. She can stay with me."

House nodded. He knew he'd be borrowing trouble if he stayed with Georgia. It was a road that would cost him everything.

"Call us, night or day, if you need anything, Wilson."

"Sure."

"I mean it, James."

Wilson stared at the intensity in House's eyes. He knew House was fiercely over protective of those he loved.

"I'll bring dinner over tonight. It will give us a chance to come up with a back up plan if things go South."

~•~

That night, House brought not only dinner, but also Cuddy as well. For reasons, even House couldn't explain, He wanted the two most important women in his life to get to know each other.

"Where's Georgia?"

Wilson replied, "Asleep. She passed out as soon as she got here."

"Best thing she needs is sleep."

Before anyone could say anything, a blood curdling scream filled the house.

"JIMMY! HELP ME!"

The three ran to the guest room. Georgia was flailing about in her sleep.

"Georgia, wake up."

She opened her eyes. "Jimmy. He was here. Eddy was here."

"Hey...shh. He's not here. You were having a nightmare. I swear I won't let him in."

Georgia looked at her brother. She remembered him comforting her after she saw that Stephen King movie. She had nightmares for two weeks.

However Eddy was no clown. He was real and wouldn't go away with wishful thinking.

Cuddy pulled House aside. "I think it might be a good idea if you stayed here with Wilson and Thomas."

" Cuddy, I can't. I won't do that to you or Rachael."

"I trust you, House."

"And what will you tell Rachael?"

"That you're with a patient."

"And my team?"

"I'll make something up."

House confided his worst fear to her. "Lisa, I can't lose you or Rachael. If I do, I'm afraid I'll lose everything. Including my sobriety. You two are my sanity."

Cuddy smiled. "You won't lose us, Greg. Like I said, I trust you."

House went back and sat beside Georgia.

"Okay you two. I'm going to stay with you."

"House.."

"Look, Jimmy, I know I put you thru hell and back over and over. I consider you my brother. Which makes Georgia my sister. I won't stand by why some psycho fucks with my family."