Nolan cleared his throat. Wilson shot House a sideways glance, "That's it? I apologize and all I get in return is a shrug?"

"What would you prefer? Would you rather I break down, cry, and tell you all is forgiven? There's nothing to forgive. Nothing to do with the infarction itself or the struggles after the fact was your fault."

"Be that as it may," Wilson acknowledged, "I still lived through it with you. I'm allowed to be upset when I hear about you in pain – especially when it's a story you apparently hid from me for years."

"That's what this is about?" House asked incredulously, "I hid it from you because, contrary to popular belief, I don't set out to make people's lives hell. If it were up to me, you wouldn't see me in pain at all."

"I'd prefer not to either, but it is what it is. I've picked you up off of the floor more times than I can count. That's just part of life with you."

"That's the point!" House bellowed so loudly that Wilson flinched. The pain in his leg was beginning to return and with it came his customary fiery tongue, "It shouldn't have to be part of your life. My pain should be mine and mine alone, but no. It has to fuck with the lives of everyone around me too." House rubbed his aching thigh, both out of frustration and need for relief.

"Okay…" Nolan began slowly as his hands came up in a 'calm down' gesture, "Clearly this subject is bringing out a lot of emotion. Why don't we all take five?"

"That sounds like an excellent idea." agreed Wilson. He let out a sigh that was some combination of exasperated and exhausted as Nolan got up for a glass of water. Neither House nor Wilson made any move to follow. Wilson waited until Nolan had disappeared around the corner to spare House a worried glance. He was still rubbing his thigh furiously.

"You alright?" Wilson hedged.

House rolled his eyes, "See, this is what I mean."

"Is me checking in on you really such a bad thing?"

"No, but dear god," House moaned annoyedly, "My issues are not worth all this fuss. I just took a fall. Not my finest hour, I'll admit, but I'll be back to baseline in a day or so. You can relax."

"House, you fell hard. Hell, your therapist was concerned enough to call me. I think that warrants a little extra fuss."

Whatever smart reply awaited in House's throat was cut off by a groan he could no longer suppress. Previous discussion forgotten Wilson instantly found himself crouched in front of his friend.

"Hey…easy, you're okay." Wilson tentatively reached out to touch House's remaining thigh muscle. It was rock hard and twitching away beneath his fingertips. It was as if Nolan's earlier dose of morphine had never been administered.

"I'm fine." choked House through clenched teeth and barely concealed tears.

"You're about as far from fine as you could possibly get right now so stop pretending to prove a point and let me help."

House only nodded; he no longer had the energy to keep up the act and the walls that were keeping the dam of pain at bay melted away. The man was spent and it showed. By the time Nolan came back into the room tears were streaming down House's face and, for the first time, he had to admit, the pain wasn't the only reason for them.

Nolan, understanding nothing else could be done for House in his current state, brought the session to a close for the day so that his client could get some much needed rested. Before Nolan said his final goodbye, however, he had one last piece of advice.

"Dr. Wilson", Nolan began as Wilson busied himself gently helping House to his feet, "you handled today's crisis rather well".

Wilson shrugged sheepishly; Nolan continued, "However, it seems you and I have both begun to fall victim to the same issue: we only acknowledge and assist with House's pain when it hits crisis levels. Perhaps going forward it would be best to check in with him a little more regularly."

Wilson nodded quickly before turning to leave the office. As he drove to House's apartment, he turned Nolan's words over in his mind. He'd always thought he'd been good about keeping an eye on House's pain. The more he thought about it, though, the more he realized he was only ever extra attentive when things were already on the verge of getting bad. The day-to-day pain House was in often slipped his mind. Wilson resolved to himself right then and there that wasn't going to happen anymore.

A few hours later Wilson got the chance to test his newfound conviction. House had recovered enough from the earlier episode in Nolan's office to attempt to be up and about; Wilson watched with intrigue as he stood at the microwave waiting for the timer to run out. When it did, he spun carefully to grab a plate – right leg barely touching the ground. "Does that hurt you?" Wilson asked.

House looked up from salting his food, "Does what hurt me?"

"You know, standing and preparing a meal like that. You hardly have any weight on the leg."

House looked down as if he was just now noticing this fact for himself. "I mean…. I suppose it's still sore from earlier, but no worse than usual. It's just habit to stand like this now, especially when I don't have the cane."

Wilson was speechless; not only had House answered his question without mocking him once, but the answer itself was also troubling. House had developed a habit of standing a particular way because it hurt him less and shrugged it off like it was nothing. Throughout the remainder of the evening, Wilson unfortunately got to witness plenty more of these little habits. The way House expertly juggled his dinner dishes one-handed or hopped rather than walked his way back to the living room. Even House's casual plop onto the couch next to him was more casual than it seemed. Wilson had never noticed before, but House made sure to straighten out his bad leg in front of him and put all his weight on his left as he sat. Again, House thought nothing of it, but Wilson shook his head sadly. He couldn't imagine what it must feel like to live in constant pain bad enough that efforts to relieve it became unconscious. He selfishly hoped he would never have to find out.

A/N: There we go! Another chapter down. Not as fast as I would've liked, but definitely longer so…kind of a win. Also, Wilson is definitely going to find out what it feels like; I'm just not sure how yet. Until next time, enjoy!