CHAPTER 18

Info: The italics are Daniels dreams/ flashbacks.

We are nearing the end of this story. I hope you enjoyed it! I'm probably going to write little one shots to this as I have so many in my head.

Sorry for the delay, it's been my 18th so I haven't really been coherent enough to write. Legal drinking age is 18 in UK.

Please Review! Thanks!

The last thing Dan saw was his dad smiling sadly at him as he felt the drugs run through his system and his eyes slowly closed. The feeling of the warm, strong hand left his conscience and his hand went slack as he drifted into an aesthetic induced sleep.

House was ushered away as they pushed Dan to surgery. He grabbed Chase and pulled him to the side.

"I trust you Chase. Don't let anything happen on your watch." Chase swallowed heavily feeling a lump develop in his throat and his hands began to sweat. He looked towards Wilson who laid a hand on Houses shoulder.

"He's one of yours. I think he's learnt a trick or two in the last ten years." Wilson smiled reassuringly.

"We are talking about the same guy right? The one that X-Rayed the wrong leg on a patient twice?" House looked at Wilson.

"Yes, he's grown from that act of stupidity which was years ago by the way House." Wilson replied.

"Yeah, I'm also a surgeon. I've done this before House and never fucked up. I've got this." Chase replied. He secretly thanked Wilson for making the situation less daunting.

Wilson grabbed House and led him away.

"He's going to be okay House."

"I know."

He was at daycare when his mum came to collect him. She was dressed in all white, standing whole infront of his small figure with a big smile on her face.

"Mamma, I paint! Look!" Dan cheered as he held up the picture.

"What's it suppose to o be darling?" His mum said. Dan looked at up confused.

"You and daddy." Danny pointed at at the cane thing in the stick mans hand.

"Ahhhhh of course. Mummy was just being silly."

Foreman and Taub had been given the day off due to both of their bosses being busy. Taub had taken full advantage of this and had gone out for the day but Foreman had headed in, thinking he'll catch up on some paperwork.

He was sat in the office, contemplating the days events when a woman entered the office.

"You must be Dr Foreman. I'm looking for my son, Gregory." It was Blythe. She'd aged a lot. Grey hairs now covered her scalp and the wrinkles were more defined. She must of been in her mid 70s.

"Hello Mrs House. He's probably with Wilson."

"That should of been my next guess. The boy has been avoiding my calls so I thought I would come and surprise him." Blythe smiled at Foreman and then left. Foreman then realised what had just occurred. House hadn't told his mum about Daniels Cancer. Had he even told her that she had a grandson? He quickly grabbed his pager and sent a message to Wilson but feared it might be too late.

Blythe knocked on the door to Wilson's door and entered at his request.

"Gregory Sebastian House! Why haven't you answered my calls?" Blythe stood in-front of the two boys, hands on hips.

"Your middle name is Sebastian?" Wilson questioned, not even knowing that he had a middle name.

House stood up and hugged his mum, totally ignoring Wilson.

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see my son and grandson. And you don't answer your phone. Where is Daniel? It's the school holidays." Blythe questioned. House took Blythes hand and led her to the sofa.

"I think I've got some explaining to do."

Everything around him faded and his mum disappeared. He found himself lying in his bed awake. He couldn't sleep. He heard raised voices. It wasn't Uncys voice but his fathers and females voice. He couldn't place it though. It definitely wasn't his mums.

"You're a mess Gregory. That boy needs you to be a farther and your just mopping around feeling sorry for yourself."

"My wife is brain damaged! What am I supposed to do Sarah? I don't know if I can do this by myself. I'm disabled myself if you haven't noticed!"

Huh? Dan thought. His mum should be with his dad, not this weird woman. This new woman scared him. Why was she shouting at his dad? And where was his mum?

"I'm not here to lecture Greg. I'm here for my best friend. I'm here for her son. It's been 6 weeks. You need to go to work, pay the bills and put food on the table for Daniel. If you don't, I will fight you for custody."

He heard something clatter to the floor and heavy footsteps.

"Get our of my house and don't you dare think about coming near me or my son again!"

Blythe sat there, gripping her sons hand tightly. Wilson had excused himself to go check on Dan.

"Why didn't you tell me Greg? I could of been here." Blythe said softly.

"I didn't want to worry you. We've taken good care of him." Truth be told, he didn't want his mother around stressing. He couldn't of dealt with that. Not on top of everything else.

"I want to see him. I've got some presents for him as well."

"He's in surgery. It's going to be a long wait mum. You might want to get some rest."

"What's he in surgery for?"

"We had to amputate his leg. We couldn't save it. I tried. I really did but there was nothing more that could of been done."

"Oh Greg." She embraced him in a hug. He accepted gratefully and put his head on her shoulder and let her rub his back like he was a child again.

—

Wilson had gone to scrub in. He entered and sighed in relief at the stable stats. But it was the small leg in the tray that made his heart skip a beat. The amputation was above the knee and it was the first time he realised the enormity of the situation. The amount of rehabilitation it was going to take.

"Dr Wilson, we have some good news." Dr Brooke's brought Wilson back into the room.

"Theres no other growths apart from the original growth. There shouldn't be anymore complications after this."

He was sat in a waiting room, on his Uncy's lap running a little car over his leg. He stopped and looked around at the bare walls. He tapped Wilson on the arm.

"Where's Mummy and Daddy? It boring here. I wanna go home." He pouted. He saw Uncy shuffle in his seat and he turned him to look directly at each other.

"Mummy is very sick. Daddy is looking after her so you have to be really good for me and sit quietly. I promise that when we get out of here, I'll buy you an ice cream."

"Ice cream!" He squirmed.

"Yep, ice cream." His Uncle seamed sad, but he didn't know why.

His dad came out and he jumped of Wilson's lap and ran over.

"Daddy! Where mummy?" His Dad bent down very slowly and picked him up.

"Mummy can't come home with us. She's very very sick Danny and you have to be really strong. Can you do that for me?" His dad sniffed.

"Yeah. Can we go home now?"

"He's going to be okay House. There's no more growths and the surgery is going well." Wilson walked back into his office an hour later. Blythe was still there. House hadn't managed to get rid of his mother just yet.

"How longs left James?" Blythe asked.

"2 hours at most. Maybe 3."

House let out a breathe he hadn't known he'd been holding. It had been a good 4 hours since he had seen his son and he had refused to go up to the observing area.

"Thank you James for looking after my grandson"

"He's my Godson. I wouldn't of even had a second thought about it." Wilson smiled softly at the elderly woman in front of him.

—

He felt like he was drifting through space and big fluffy clouds. It was like he was superman, flying high. From a distant, he heard hushed voices. All of a sudden, the voices came closer and more defined.

"Daniel can you hear me?" It was muffled. But he didn't care right now. He was flying.

"Danny, I know you're probably having superhero dreams but I need you to come back to us." It was his dad. A hand was gripping his and he thought through the fog to slowly open his eyes. They were half lidded and felt heavy.

Everything was so bright and harsh to his view. He instantly noticed his dad beside him and Uncy. It was the other woman that took a while to recognise.

"It's Nana Daniel. I bet you feel all sleepy." His nana walked over to the bed and laid a light kiss on his forehead. He smiled at the woman he hadn't seen for so long. She always brought him presents.

Pain shot up through his right leg . He put a hand down to feel for it. It wasn't there. Then he remembered. Why did it hurt if it wasn't there?

"Nnnnnn" Dan groaned.

"Are you in pain Dan?" He nodded in response and House went over to the morphine pump to increase it.

His eyes started to fall shut as the pain relief courses through his veins.

"Go back to sleep Kiddo. I'll be here when you wake up." He did exactly as his dad told him to do and fell back to sleep. He wanted to be superman again.

Blythe looked at her unconscious grandson in the bed and felt tears prick at the edges of her eyes. His body was surrounded by leads and a tube led out of what little was left of his right leg. House wandered cautiously over to his mum and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Mum, you might want to go back to the hotel. He's not going to awake for awhile now." House turned her around and gave the tearful woman a hug.

"You're probably right Gregory. I might go back home and come back in a few weeks." She smiled up at him. Her health wasn't too great anymore and she didn't want to put any more added pressure on her son.

"Okay mum. I think that's best. I'll let you know how he's doing and I promise to answer your calls."

Blythe bent down to kiss her grandson one last time before giving the boys hugs and leaving.

House practically threw himself on the chair next to the bed.

"Thank God for that Wilson." He sighed. Wilson let out a soft chuckle as he sat next to House.

"What?" He glared at Wilson.

"Your mum does have a habit of turning up at the most inappropriate times." Wilson grinned.

"She has a sixth sense that woman." House smiled. They sat in silence for a while, taking in the days events.

"Wilson?"

"Yeah?" Wilson looked up from the book he'd been reading.

"Do you think it's too late to change my mind?" House nearly whispered, looking up the ceiling, fingers intwined.

"About what?"

"About my leg?" His voice became stronger as he grew in confidence over his decision.

"It's never too late House." They looked towards each other and smiled. Wilson picked up the book and continued reading, leaving House to his thoughts.