"FUCK! TARA, TIGHTER!" This sounds like something very sexual, but in truth, it was House's screams after their tiny and supposedly innocent cat scratched his face in the morning while he tried to put a sun-shaped e-collar around its neck. House at least succeeded and now Steve had a cute sun-shaped thing on him, making him look like a joke.
" Oh, sorry! I will take a look at those scratches to avoid scarring." Tara exclaimed, Steve, scratched him because she was almost crying at seeing their cat having to suffer from the bandage change and ended up letting go of him. Steve was now lying peacefully on her lap, just a little annoyed by having to use an e-collar.
" Stop crying, it's a bandage change, YOU OPEN PEOPLE UPON a DAILY BASIS!" House exclaimed after they finishing changing their cat's bandages.
" I can't operate on a relative, especially not on my own baby cat." Tara cooed at the cat, who started to purr and knead on her lap.
" This demoniac ball of fur tried to kill me, stop cooing at it." House muttered while his girlfriend fetched the first-aid kit. He complied when she pulled his hand and pushed him into the piano stool so that his face would be lower. His face ended up being at the same level as her breasts " But I do like the view, looks like I was sent to heaven."
" Shh, patients can't get involved with their doctors." Tara said with a small smirk, pulling his chin up to stare at the scratches " Steve is vaccinated, but it's very important to clean this up, he buries his shit with the same claws that scratched you. It's going to sting a little."
" Your boobs in a robe really take the sting out of it. Wait, the shit thing, you let the cat on our bed." House said with a small smirk and Tara smiled.
" Well, Mr. House, you don't need any stitches and it's a very shallow wound that won't leave a scar. The only lasting symptom will be that you look tough as hell with those scratches, but in a week it vanishes off." Tara said professionally and ruffled his hair, kissing the top of his head " The cat is a part of the package, you can have a very beautiful woman on your bed, but the cat has to come along."
House started to travel his hand over Tara's robe until it finally found its way to her breasts.
" We have work. " Tara muttered " You are the one who agreed to take care of Stacy's husband. Your patient is waiting for you. Plus, I have a piggyback transplant today."
" Piggyback? Pfft, doggy with me is way better."
" You are a dog."
Late as always, House entered his office and found his ducklings already there. Cameron was up next to the whiteboard, Foreman was eating his cereal and Chase was sitting over the table.
" Morning. You guys got the file? What's wrong?" House asked the team, the only thing written on the board was Mark's name.
" Previous tests revealed nothing that would cause abdominal pain or the mood swings," Cameron answered.
" Then we're done! What do you think, ball game, zoo? I don't care, I just want to hang with you guys." House said in his usual sarcastic way.
"What about drugs? His tox screen on admission showed a massive amount of chloral hydrate." Chase suggested.
" Yeah, sorry, that was me. I had to dope him up to get him in here. Guy doesn't think he's sick." House turned down the possibility of drugs.
"Who does?" Cameron asked.
"His wife." House said truthfully.
"The woman you used to live with. What happened to your face ?" Cameron inquired
"That's her Indian name. On her driver's license, it's Stacy. "
"You believe her over the patient himself. That's why we're taking this case. What happened to your face? " Cameron exclaimed.
" This? Oh, just Tara being a drama queen." House lifted a fork to take a look at the wound.
" Your girlfriend assaulted you?" Foreman asked, finally being moved by something other than eating his cereal. Chase and Cameron were wide-eyed expecting his answer.
" On a scale from one to a moron, you guys are definitely far above morons. Of course, she didn't assault me, surgeons have short nails. The only scratches she gives me are on my back when we are-"
" Then what happened?" Chase asked him before he started another metaphor of his or made a sexual innuendo.
" She threw a cat at my face. Tara is responsible because she had the bright idea of adopting a dwarf."
" A dwarf?" Cameron asked.
" Dwarf cat, we adopted a munchkin. The blasted thing had some expensive surgery done and we need to change bandages. The so famous surgeon forgot to hold the cat while I performed the procedure."
" You have a cat ?" Foreman asked, almost not believing it. House just nodded and gestured to the scratches adorning his face.
" What's its name ?" Chase asked.
" Steve McQueen. " House answered as if they were supposed to know it.
" By the time Tara was born, Steve McQueen was retired. You named him ?" Foreman asked, he couldn't believe that his misanthropic boss could create an emotional connection with a pet, let alone name it.
" What? She wanted to name him something stupid like Brownie, as much as I hate that creature, I couldn't let him suffer that much. Don't worry, Foreman, you will always be my brownie."
" And he's back." Chase muttered with a smirk.
" Now, enough chit-chat about my personal life, it's time for my minions to do the things, the, you know, blah blah blah blah blah, all that stuff the other docs did. If that's negative, ultrasound his belly. If that's negative, CT his abdomen and pelvis, with and without contrast."
Tara was busy reorganizing the interns' rounds when House and Wilson barged into her office.
" Hello, intruders." She said, not looking up from her work.
" House says you're fine with Stacy being here." Wilson showed her their case.
" Partially, yeah. I just find it curious that she went after him and will kill them both if anything sexual or loving happens." She said, finally looking up. House was by her side, sitting over her desk.
" Why are you suspicious ?" Wilson asked Tara.
" You don't date someone like Greg and then settle with someone so... Common? Basic? Usual? Uninteresting?" Tara explained.
" Yeah, Wilson." House said to his friend as if he was right before he thought about what she said and looked at her " Wait, what am I then? Alien? Weird?"
" No, you look like any regular white person, love. But you are uh-" Tara was trying to find the word. " Intense."
" I do get what you're saying." Wilson agreed.
" When you date someone intense, smart to the point of bothering you and unique, it's quite a downgrade to be with someone so regular. Really, look at any waiting room here, there are at least 5 guys who look like Mark."
" See, I'm intense, smart, and unique." House mocked them, pretending to be flipping his hair.
" And annoying. But my point is that she is either desperate to save her husband, either hoping that he dies and she snatches you from me."
" In which scenery you end up Jell-O wrestling with her ?" House asked his girlfriend, she threw a pen at him but he managed to grab it.
" None, my hands cost millions of dollars, her face isn't worth using my knuckles and risking my hand. You, on the other hand, I'd quickly stab with a scalpel on a main artery."
" You wouldn't kill her? Just me, am I that special? "
" Honey, you are the one who would actually cheat on me, she would be the toy, but the fat kid playing with it would be you. Of course, you are special, special enough to bang me."
" You're both disgusting, do you guys need to be so crass at all times ?" Wilson asked the couple.
" Wilson, where did you find those exes that treated infidelity with a mere divorce ?" House asked his friend " We're not crass, we're intense" House mocked the way Tara said that earlier, and she stuck her tongue to him
" Stop pestering Wilson. Treat the husband, stay away from the wife, capiche ?" Tara commanded.
" See, Tara is finally putting you in your place." Wilson said with a small smirk.
" But what if they get close to each other? What do I do then?" House asked Tara with a small smile, waiting for her to tell him to go to hell.
" First you go to hell with your sassiness" House smirked at this, he knew her all to well " And then you treat this like a regular case."
" How do I treat a regular case? You were hugging a patient last week"
" A 15-year-old transplanted and innocent boy." Tara pointed out, Wilson was just watching their interaction with a small smile on his face. Wilson knew that most people think that they were fighting or having some serious argument, but he knew that they were just mocking each other in their twisted loving way.
" Luv, I was a 15-year-old boy once and there's nothing innocent about hugging a chesty woman that looks like you do when you're that age. My hand at that age was the most muscular part of my body from the excess of exercise."
" And will be again if you come anywhere near this Stacy." Tara shot back.
" House, you just need to be yourself: cold, uncaring, distant." Wilson pointed out.
" Please, don't put me on a pedestal." House rolled his eyes " Why did you start this meeting, Wilson? We already established that I'm not running away with Stacy, considering she was the one responsible for taking away my ability of running."
" See? That, you are bitter and I'm afraid you will seek revenge." Wilson pointed out " Tara, don't let him."
" Don't let him do what, work ?" Tara asked " Wilson, I'd love to side with you, but House was involved with Stacy before, he might be an asshole, but he deeper than deep down cares for her, I think. He is confused and I need a cigar."
" Since when do you smoke ?" House asked her.
" Since I'm stressed and have an oral fixation. Plus, your offices have balconies, I get a huge bathroom but nowhere to smoke." Tara shot back to the two other doctors.
" Meet me in the rooftop laters." House winked at her.
" I will, message me the details."
" Stop flirting in front of me, it's disgusting."
" He's bitter 'cuz his wife won't ride him." House explained to his girlfriend, who mouthed 'stop' to him but laughed anyway.
" Well, since I have fixed your marital issues, please, scat, I have ER rounds now." Tara said to the doctors in front of her and they started to protest " Don't worry Wilson, I have him now but you'll always have his heart. Love your bromance, Hilson forever." She swayed out and left them alone in her own office.
" House." Wilson called his friend. Both men were still looking at the door, amazed by her exit.
" What?"
" Marry her, she's perfect."
" Why all relationships revolve around marriage to you? That's why you are a two times divorcee, heading for the third." House joked, desperately trying to change the subject " She's perfect, though, even her oral fixation makes my day in so many ways and positions."
"Ew."
" She is definitely invited to poker night and soccer games, though." House said to his friend.
Sometime later, Tara's phone rang, it was House. She was suturing the wounds of a screaming 5-year old whose hand was lacerated after the little girl fell over her mother's favorite flower vase.
" Hamilton." House said on the phone. An intern was holding the phone onto her ear.
She knew that he would only call her that whenever he pretended to be a little bit professional.
" Just a minute." Tara said to House and looked up to the intern " Goldberg, learning time. Here, look at how I did the first stitches, I want them close enough to leave a tiny scar. Do you want to assume this laceration ?"
" Yes, chief."
" Great, the laceration looks scarier than it actually is, no muscles nor tendons were damaged." She said to the internt and the kids' parents at the same time.
Before she left, she apologized to the parents for leaving the case and explained that she was very busy as chief of surgery. They thanked her with smiles while their kid kept on screaming. Meanwhile, House was not-so-patiently waiting in the line.
" Hamilton here."
" Really, Tara? That long just to appease everyone ?"
" Unlike you, I don't want annoyed patients. Why did you call me saying 'Hamilton' as if you were professional?"
" Haha, I need an exploratory surgery."
" Ben Goldstein is the General on call, but his schedule is tight, almost locked. I guess the tests were all inconclusive, then."
" Yeah." House said frustrated.
" Let me talk to him and see what I can do. Dinner is your threat today."
" Aren't you on call till 2 am. today ?"
" Love, you have a case. You are addicted to puzzles to the point of not going back home until you figure something out. Plus, I have time to eat and you promised roof cigarettes."
While the surgery went on, House was waiting for Tara on the rooftop. As promised, he had a pack of cigarettes and a lighter with him. Tara appeared without her lab coat, only using her scrubs. He was smoking peacefully when he hears Tara's steps, only the Crocs she wore while working could make a squishy sound like this. Suddenly someone stole his cigar and puffed it.
" Hey." Tara said with a small smile.
" Hey." House softly said back to her.
" Thanks, Greg." Tara said in between puffs.
He hugged her from behind and rested his head on top of hers
" I don't think I hate Stacy." House said to Tara after they spent some time in comfortable silence. The great thing about her was that she understood silence and could understand him without even saying a word.
" I know. I would be angry if you did hate her. You lived 5 years with her, not 5 days, it's not the kind of thing that someone can easily put aside. Plus, if you hated a five-year ex despite the time together, me, the one-year girlfriend would be damned." Tara replied with a small smirk and House kissed the top of her head "Don't leave my hair smoky smelling."
House's pager went on and he looked at the message discreetly.
" Wanna watch some porn with me right now?"
" What? I mean, I'm always up for some porn, but here? You pager just went on!"
" Surgical porn, you perv. The exploratory is finished, wanna watch the tapes with me ?" House invited her.
" Fine. The ER is a bore, no huge wounds, and deadly accidents, the interns can handle it."
They went back to House's office and started to watch the surgery's tapes. Tara tried to contain her laugh at House's owl-like face while he stared at the screen wide-eyed and not blinking.
" Stop laughing, Tara." House said with a small smile " There!" House pointed to a dot.
" It's nothing, just a smudge." Tara cleaned it up with her finger " This image sucks, he could have a gigantic cancerous mass and we wouldn't see a thing because of this video quality."
" Wait here." Greg got up and went somewhere. He took at least 15 minutes to come back and when he did, he had taken the ob-gyn plasma screen.
" Case solved, he is pregnant. Explains the abdominal pain and mood swings. He's now an ob-gyn patient." Tara commented with a smirk and House let out a small laugh.
They went back to their task of staring at the screen when both noticed an altered movement.
" Holy fuck. Abdominal epilepsy." Tara muttered.
" Yes! And the idiots said it was nothing." House said with a smirk and called his team.
Cameron, Foreman, and Chase arrived promptly and sat down on the other side of the office while House showed them what he found. Meanwhile, Tara was taking a shower at her office and changing out of her scrubs. After she was refreshed and clean, she went back to House's office and found his team there.
" Hey, everyone. Have a good night you guys." Tara greeted everyone at the door while she waited for House. The entire team was looking at them curiously, trying to understand how House would act with someone who's dating him.
" Bye, losers." House said to his team and made his way towards Tara. The couple left quietly, the team kept staring at them until they entered the elevator.
" You owe me a hundred bucks." Foreman said to Chase.
" But House's acting the same." Cameron commented.
" Duh, she likes him like that. Probably is Stockholm Syndrome though." Foreman answered her with a small smile.
" Dude, have you seen her? Like, seen her, really seen her. She's perfect." Chase commented.
" Of course I have, I have eyes and I'm a guy. She's a looker, but she's too commanding. " Foreman commented.
" So when a pretty woman is in charge she is too commanding? I like her, she seems nice." Cameron defended Tara.
" House has gotten very few complaints this year, I think that he's got at least gifts from PATIENTS. I mean, it's House." Chase pointed out.
" That's true. And I think I've seen him smiling without any sarcastic or sadist reason behind it." Foreman agreed.
" They got a cat, what's more, domestic and unhouse-like than getting a pet." Cameron said while grabbing her bag to go back home " Chase, you're a surgeon, how's it like when you work with her."
" She is okay. She is nice with the competent interns and she leaves the useless ones around the morgue. In general, residents and attendings like her. I've seen one of her trauma cases, her work was borderline perfect." Chase commented while the team made their way outside "House has been less of an ass and popped less Vicodin than usual. He rarely swallows two pills at once now."
" Which is a very small dose for him." Foreman agreed.
" Tara is very popular among everyone, it's like everyone likes her or at least pretend to like." Chase pointed out " Some interns hate her but end up loving her."
" Why would someone like her be with him? It's like polar opposites." Foreman stated when the trio entered the elevator.
" Cameron, you had the hots for him, what's up with him?" Chase asked Cameron with a grin.
" Shut up, Chase!" Cameron said angrily.
The next day, Tara didn't have any serious surgery scheduled and would focus on upcoming traumas in the ER and the clinic. She was looking at her agenda and sipping some tea while House showered.
" Tara!" House called her from the bathroom and she went running, thinking that something might have happened.
" Are you okay ?" Tara exclaimed.
House had a towel wrapped around his waist but would move a muscle and kept staring at the bathroom's open door where Steve McQueen, their infamous cat was staring at him.
" This thing is creeping me out. Look."
" Hey, Stevey Boy." Tara cooed at the cat and picked him up, it instantly began to purr " Greg, cats are lions in a tiny package, they keep out watch while the pack is vulnerable, and using the bathroom is what they consider vulnerable."
" Lion my ass." House muttered while trimming his beard in front of the mirror.
" Well, sir, from this spot your ass looks rather fetching." Tara said with a smirk while she watched him shave.
" Oh, stop, you're making me blush."
" Yeah, your cheeks look rather reddish, and I'm not talking about the ones on your face." Tara said with a smirk, Steve was peaceful in her arms while she talked, the cat stared at House as if saying 'she's mine'.
" Wanna make out?" House said with a grin and Tara smiled at him. Tara was moving closer to him, still holding Steve and she was about to kiss him when a pair of tiny paws pulled them apart, the cat was trying to push House " Really, Steve? I had her first."
" Boys, stop. Steve, time to leave." Tara said to the cat, who just shot her a bored look, she put him outside the bathroom and closed the door on him. Tara turned to her partner and asked: "Where were we ?"
" Hello, lovely people, what a beautiful day to diagnose." House said to his team when he entered his office.
" Our patient has brain damage." Foreman pointed out to fix House's statement about a beautiful day.
" Look at the bright side, if we mess up, the chances of many organs being donated are high." House answered.
Foreman switched the topic of their conversation back to the fact that the patient's nerves were dying and it could be fatal to the patient. Cameron and House discussed the patient's medical history and this ended up making House sent Chase and Foreman down the patient's house to look for any possible cause.
Tara had to got to the lab to get hurry one of her interns. She sent the intern to run some tests and he had been gone for over two hours, his task could have been done in minutes. She didn't find the intern, she found Cameron and Stacy instead. She almost rolled her eyes at the thought of all the women that wanted to bang House in one room together.
" Hello." Tara greeted everyone one " Cameron, have you seen Three, the intern?"
" Hey." Stacy said quietly.
" Hi, Hamilton. No, the lab was empty when I got here." Cameron looked at the other doctor and said.
" Shit, the dumbass ran away again." Tara muttered, " How long have you been here ?"
" About two hours." Cameron said to the doctor.
" I'm killing this motherfucker. Let me just look on the computer if he at least tried to analyze the crap I told him to." Tara sat down near Stacy and Cameron, they kept looking at her " I don't bite non-inters. What do you guys want?"
" Aren't you curious about how House was before the leg ?" Cameron asked Tara.
" Not a lot, I bet a hundred bucks he was pretty much the same. He is very hard to change."
" You're right." Stacy agreed with Tara.
" How did you meet him?" Cameron asked them both " I mean, Hamilton must have met him here at the hospital."
" I met him at a paintball game between lawyers and doctors. I shot him." Stacy said without sounding mean, which made Tara let her guard down a little bit " What about you?" Stacy asked Tara.
" Everyone thinks we met here at the hospital. I met him at a bar the day before I started to work here, he sounded smart and I'm a sucker for smart men so I ended up sleeping with him that night." Tara said with a small smile recalling the events. "You also moved in quickly?"
" Yeah. Our first date sucked but one week later, I moved in."
" I used to work at the Hopkins and live nearby. I got a very good job offer from Cuddy and moved here, I actually started living with him the moment we started to sleep together. My stuff stayed at the hotel for some time, but I gradually moved in, until one day he just made me get all of my stuff and move in."
" He's like that." Stacy agreed with Tara.
" Yeah." Tara said with a lovesick look on her face, although she would completely denying if someone said she looked lovesick.
Before they could continue their conversation, the machine Cameron was working on beeped to indicate that the test results were already there. It also reminded Tara that she had an intern to kill.
" I gotta go." Tara said before Cameron divulged the test results, Greg would tell her the results later either way.
Tara was having lunch and gossiping with Cuddy when House stormed in and sat next to her before stealing her food.
" Do you pay him that little? Poor guy can't buy his own food." Tara mocked him.
" Surprisingly, he has a very nice salary. He is just a cheapskate." Cuddy agreed with her " Tara, as always, talking to you was amazing, but I have a meeting in about 5 minutes."
The dean of medicine left the couple alone to have their lunch in peace. House kept stealing Tara's food.
" Why don't you steal the salad ?" Tara provoked.
" I am not a rabbit." House defended himself.
" Neither am I." Tara replied " Talked to Stacy today. She's nice."
" You didn't try to strangle her or anything ?" House looked a little suspicious.
" We talked about the one thing we have in common: you."
" Why in the hell is she talking about me ?" House asked sounding very annoyed by it. He was afraid that something that Stacy said might have been said with the intent of driving Tara away.
" No clue. But you have a modus operandi when it comes to moving in quickly, sir."
" You never moved in or out, you just left your stuff at the hotel and gradually brought stuff, even your hamster." House recalled " But what business does she have with this? What's her point on talking about me? Maybe I will talk about her too." House was about to get up, but Tara pulled back by holding his hand.
" Gregory House, what are you going to do? She was nothing but nice, talking about you is like an olive branch to diffuse all the damned tension." Tara surprised herself by defending Stacy.
" I'm going to do the same." House said as a matter of fact.
" Don't be an ass." Tara advised and let go of him.
Tara didn't have to be on call at night and after she spent 10 minutes lecturing and screaming at the intern who managed to lose the blood he was supposed to have analyzed and treated some trauma patients, it was almost time to go home. Her phone vibrated and it was Greg inviting her to meet at the roof. House was staring into the night and Tara snuck behind him and kissed his neck.
" That's a better greeting than good night." House muttered to her before he turned to kiss her lips.
" How's Mark?" Tara inquired.
" Every single test was inconclusive. " House told her, he was now resting his chin on her arm while she stared at the night.
" Damn, so I guess you're just waiting for things to get worse." Tara muttered.
" Yep."
" And not knowing is eating you alive." Tara said with a small smirk.
" Duh." House said sarcastically.
They ended up making out and didn't notice that Stacy was approaching them. They only noticed it when the older woman shoved House.
" Hey!" Tara put herself in front of House in a very defensive way.
" Hot." House said to his girlfriend who grinned.
" He's sick, paranoid, and you keep hammering him about me?" Stacy said to House.
" What did he do now ?" Tara asked Stacy calmly.
" You hammered Tara about me." House pointed out.
" In a friendly conversation." Tara pointed out and raised her hands " Leave me out of this fight, although if I have to pick a side I'd side with the one that has sex with me. Sorry, Greg."
House couldn't help but smile at her humor that was always rising in inappropriate moments.
" The questions were designed to define the operational parameters of his limbic system -" House tried to explain.
" Elevate the words all you want, you were just screwing with him. Low even by your standards." Stacy was still very angry.
" Medical screwing. It's what I do. If you wanted some doctor that would hold his hand while he cried and died, you wouldn't have come to me." House pointed out sarcastically.
" I came because I was desperate, okay? I wasn't talking about you with Tara to make her run away from you, I was being friendly. Yeah, Tara, he was scared that I would drive you away, that's why he pulled this little stunt, this guy loves you more than he ever loved me, or any other person. Just, please, stop being an ass and fix my husband." Stacy almost begged and Tara was the one that ended up hugging her.
While the women hugged, Tara was facing House and mouthed him a 'shut up', he rolled his eyes and mouthed an 'okay' back to her.
" I haven't given up." House said almost kindly, he received a thumbs up from Tara and stuck his tongue for her.
" So what do we do?" Stacy asked I'm a teary kind of voice.
"We wait." Tara said to her and let go of her.
"For what?" Stacy asked the couple.
"Something to change. It's one of the great tragedies of life, something always changes." House stated.
" Poetic, aren't you?" Tara mocked House.
" Annoying, aren't you?" House mocked back.
" Third wheel, am I?" Stacy joked before leaving them alone again.
" Loves me more than ever loved anyone." Tara said dramatically with one hand on her forehead and another over her heart.
" Shut up." House said with a smirk.
" Geez, you're blushing." Tara joked.
" Stop, let's go home. Today is your turn to hold Steve while I fix the bandages."
" We can exchange, you hold Steve and I fix the bandages?" Tara pleaded.
" Hell no, I'm not getting anywhere near the scratch zone." House pointed to his face.
" Wouldn't do it even for sex ?" Tara asked.
" You can't withhold sex from me. You are the one who ends up cranky and horny." House rationalized.
" Damn it. Okay, then. I bet a hundred bucks that he's not scratching me."
" It's on." House said to Tara with a smile, they were about to leave the roof together and head back home when Foreman appeared.
Foreman found the weirdest view he had ever seen, House was smiling at someone without being an asshole to the person and actually looking happy, Foreman raised his eyebrows at the sight, and House's expression quickly changed to annoyance.
" What, now? Need me to tell you the difference between a patient's head and their asses ?" House mocked Foreman.
" It's Mark, the waiting finally resulted in something: paralysis. " Foreman answered impatiently.
" Cool." House said and he received a playful slap in the chest from Tara " Meet you at home?"
" Yep, I'm drained." She pecked his lips and waved goodbye to Foreman " Bye, Foreman."
Tara was sleeping by the time House arrived home. He showered before getting into bed and she lazily opened her eyes.
" Hey." She said in a sleepy voice.
" Hey."
" What happened?" Tara asked and pulled House's arm behind her head to use it as a pillow.
" Betting on infection, put him on plasmapheresis and IVIG. I left Cameron there to deal with it." House said and felt Tara's hand stroking his hair. He was about to fall asleep when his phone rang again, he picked up on the third ring.
" What now ?" House asked annoyed, Tara just opened her eyes lazily and grunted " Shock? Look at his O2 stats. I know they're normal, I'm usually right. Just push two milligrams of Ativan, it's a panic attack."
" Panic attack ?" Tara mumbled.
" Yep."
" You needed there?"
" Nope."
" Good." Tara said and snuggled closer to him " Sleep."
House's patient, aka Stacy's husband, wasn't responding to the treatment. He was walking down the hallway when Stacy found him.
" You and Tara are good together." Stacy said to House " She is very nice."
" So are you two?" House answered without any snide remarks, he looked honest and true to what he said: " And well, he took you to Paris, that's good enough for me."
" We never went to Paris." Stacy said to House.
"Your honeymoon. It's been your dream city, you wanted to go since you were sixteen, he actually took you." House explained what he found out when he bothered Mark during a test.
" No, I had to work. We spent the night in New York, then went back to Short Hills. What is it?"
"When did Mark switch from mountain biking to yoga?"
"About a month ago. At the same time he started getting sick, what does that mean?"
"We have two more symptoms."
Tara spent her entire day performing heart valve placements, she had the bright idea of scheduling multiple surgical procedures at once. Seven hours after she started, she was on her third procedure and was about to finish it when the phone inside the OR rang and a nurse answered it.
" Chief, it's Dr. House. He says it's urgent."
" Thanks, Hill." Tara said politely to the nurse before turning to an intern " Shelly, the heart is already fixed and ready to go. I have already put it back inside the thoracic cavity and I am going to let you stitch it a little bit. Carefully, it's not a kid's scraped knee, it's a heart."
" Sure, chief." The intern said excitedly to finally put his hands on a heart.
Tara asked a nurse to put the phone on her ear so that she wouldn't contaminate her hands.
" Hey." Tara said on the phone.
" Took you long enough."
" Sorry, love. I was just touching somebody's open heart out of their chests. Your drama surely tops saving a life." Tara said sarcastically and the nurse holding the phone laughed.
" I figured Mark's case. It's AIC, I fixed him."
" Congrats, laters I will give you your reward."
" Is my reward lacy ?"
" Lacy and red."
" Damn, if I knew that saving him would lead to this, I'd ask all my exes to let me cure their dying husbands."
" Do that and I will kill you."
Everyone inside the OR was staring at her, she noticed it when she turned around and faced her.
" What ?" She said angrily. And pulled her hands in front of the intern so that he would give the sewing tools back to her and she finished her job.
" Nothing." The scared intern said, almost throwing the tools in her hands.
" Good. Anyone else wants to ask me about my personal life or would you guys rather focus on the surgery?" No one had the guts to confront the chief of surgery, so she finished saying: " Great, turn on the bypass."
Later, House was staring at Stacy and Mark while leaning in on a station. He noticed Tara talking with some nurse and laughing about something and turned his focus to her. Her laugh showed her perfect white teeth and beautiful smile, she was a sight. He didn't notice that Cameron was staring at him while he looked at Tara with a lovestruck gaze.
" Dr. House? How's he doing?" Cameron asked her boss, House quickly pretended to be staring at the patient instead of what he was actually doing: gawking at Tara.
" Good, I guess." House waved off.
" She's insanely pretty." Cameron commented about Tara " And nice. I thought you were too screwed up to love anyone. I was wrong. You just couldn't love me. It's okay. I'm happy for you. " She said this and walked off.
Tara changed out of her scrubs and into one of her expensive designer dresses after almost 8 hours of surgeries. Her lab coat was hanging on her chair and she was reading some patients' charts on the computer. She heard a soft knock on her door and invited the person in, to her surprise, it was Stacy.
" Hey." Tara said with a curious tone, looking up from her computer.
" House fixed Mark."
" He told me. That's great." Tara replied awkwardly " Don't feel offended by this question, but why Mark? I mean, Greg is so unique and he is so..." Tara was at a loss of words to describe Stacy's husband.
" Common? I've never got over House, you know."
" Wait, what? " Tara exclaimed.
" But you can rest assured that I'd never try anything with him ever again. I'm not over him. He was the one, always will be. But I can't be with him. I'm not like you, when I was with him, I was lonely, there was no space for me. I saw you together, there's room for you and if there wasn't you'd just find some room no matter how. You complete him, you are exactly what he needs. He is what I want, but he belongs to you."
" So, he's mine?"
" Yeah, I do think you belong together. You managed to make him get a cat, in five years together I couldn't convince him to adopt a goldfish."
" Thanks, Stacy, sorry for my stunt during that dinner. I was a little defensive."
" And I did act like a bitchy Karen. Sorry about that."
" Friends?"
" Yes, we could have drinks together and stuff." Stacy said to Tara with a smile " Mark's going to need close monitoring here, and Cuddy offered me a job as General Counsel. If you're not fine with my presence here, I will just leave."
" I am surprisingly fine with that, but I should advise you that if you work as a lawyer here, Greg will make your life a living hell."
" I know, Cuddy's talking to him."
" As long as he is okay, I'm okay. Although don't be too okay to the point of cheating, because then both if you wouldn't be okay, or alive as a matter of fact." Tara replied seriously