Ch. 4 Discussions and Concussions
"So what's this thing between you and this Dr. House?" James asked from the passenger seat of Angela's rental car. Angela smirked. "Wow, you don't waste any time, do you?"
"Angela, you're not exactly known for making quick decisions. You don't usually jump right into relationships. So what's going on?" Angela paused for a moment.
"Well, we're in love. I like him because he's kinda rough around the edges, yet a very nice guy." James went on. "He just doesn't seem like your type. He's- well, there's the leg thing for starters. I mean, he's not that handsome-"
"Oh, please. You think because he's crippled, he's only after me because I'm the first woman in ages that will take him? Come on."
"Well, then why is he attracted to you?" Angela was quiet as she mulled the question over. "First of all, men are not directly attracted to me. They are attracted to a particular aspect of my personality or something like that." James thought for a moment then asked, "So what about you is Dr. House attracted to?"
"I don't know. You'll have to ask him." James nodded. "I will."
"Well?" Lily asked, watching Dr. House. The two had gone to one of the hospital lounges after Harry had fallen asleep. House looked at her.
"I told you, I'm not entirely sure why I'm in love with her. There's just something… She keeps me on edge. She can figure out things about me that even I don't know." Lily smiled.
"Yeah. She does that. Constantly." Lily leaned against the wall, and crossed her arms. "The weird thing is… most people hate it. They hate her sense of intuition. So why don't you?" House said nothing because in truth the question didn't have an answer.
"It's not that I don't hate it, but more… It's a good thing for me. I have a feeling she's a good one for keeping a person honest about their faults."
"So what are your faults?" Lily asked, her green eyes scrutinizing the doctor. House looked at her. "Why do you need to know?" Lily licked her lips, giving herself time to think. "Because Angela's my best friend. I want to know that she's going to be treated the way she should be treated. So answer the question. I'll start off easy. What happened to your leg?" House leaned back against the couch.
"I had a blood clot in my leg. It went undiagnosed and I ended up with dead muscle and nerve damage." Lily said nothing for a moment then said, "And you're on pain medication? What, exactly?"
"Vicodin. Anything else you need to know about me?" Lily nodded. "Does Angela know about all this? The drug addiction?" House couldn't believe that this woman knew he was an addict just by looking at him.
"Yes, she does. And I know about her addiction to sleeping potions, but how did you know that I-" Lily smirked.
"My mother had a prescription drug addiction. Caffeine pills. She was a functioning addict, and I learned to recognize the signs. Look, Dr. House… if Angela knows, and she's okay with it, I'm not going to say anything. James on the other hand is the one who you're going to have to really prove yourself to."
"And why is that?" Lily sighed. "Because James is very protective and possessive of his friends and family. He's going to give you the full interrogation when he finds out." House looked at her.
"'When' he finds out?" Lily nodded.
"James is going to find out. And when he does, you're going to have to really prove yourself. You should consider yourself lucky, though."
"And why is that?" Lily sighed again.
"If Sirius were alive you'd have to practically battle it out over Angela." House nodded, pensively. "Well, then I guess it's somewhat fortunate that Mr. Black is dead." However, just then, a voice was heard from the doorway.
"Someone mention my name?" House and Lily looked up at Sirius Black who looked none the worse from his death.
James looked at the numerous books on Angela's antique shelves. "How can you tell which is which, Angela? Half of these books the lettering is almost microscopic, and the others, it's peeling." Angela was looking on another shelf.
"I know how to tell. Ah, here it is." Angela pulled a large volume off and set it on the desk nearby. She sat down and started looking through the pages. "Okay. Cersic, Cersic. Got it. Cersic Plague. It says that there's a potion to help, but it won't cure him. It just helps tone down the various side-effects." James started reading over Angela's shoulder.
"What kinds of side effects are we talking about?" Angela's finger scrolled down the page. "Well, with the potion it looks like it could be anything from rashes to blindness. Mostly, though, it looks like it mutes most possibilities."
James looked at the potion recipe. "You have all the ingredients?" Angela looked as well.
"Yeah. I'll get started on this and-" Angela heard her phone ring and signaled for James to answer it. He did so and heard Lily's hyper voice.
"Whoa, Lily, calm down. Wha- No. Lily, let me talk to him." Angela tuned out and headed down into her potions lab to get started on the formula for Harry. The potion was rather simple and in about half an hour, she had bottled some of the potion to take to the hospital. Going upstairs she found James with an odd look on his face.
"Oh, god, please tell me Harry hasn't gotten worse."
"No, it's not Harry. It… Angela… Sirius is alive." Angela looked shocked for a moment, and then she set the potion next to the book. "James, Sirius is…"
"Dead, I know. He was, but he's alive now. He's with Harry and Lily at the hospital." Angela looked scared. "He's really alive?" James looked at Angela. She had an odd expression on her face, as if her world was about to come crashing down around her.
"Angela what is it?" Angela sat down, sighing.
"He's going to try to get me back. James, I… I don't want to be with Sirius. " James pulled Angela into a hug.
"Hey, don't worry. It'll be okay. Hey, come on. Harry needs us." Angela nodded into James's shoulder. "Harry. Yeah. You're right; let's go." James and Angela went back to her car and headed down to the hospital.
House was not in a good mood. Sirius Black, Angela's former beau was alive by means unknown- at least to him- and he, Dr. Greg House, was in danger of losing the love of his life. His leg started aching as he continued pacing in the doctor's lounge. He quickly downed one of his vicodin and continued pacing. How could this happen? This was a nightmare- a total nightmare. He needed help. He needed advice, he needed… He needed to talk to Wilson. Wilson would know what to do. He pulled out his cellular phone and dialed James Wilson's number. After three rings, the young oncologist picked up. "Dr. Wilson."
"It's me." Wilson's voice sounded surprised. "What is it? Something wrong?" House paused for a moment before saying, "Angela's old boyfriend is here. He… Well, he was away for about 13 years, and he's back. I-I just wanted to, you know… Talk. See what you think." Wilson sounded both surprised and amused. First, House called him. That in itself was highly unusual. Add the fact House was asking for advice… But Wilson heard the slight tremor in House's voice, giving away the real reason for the call. "House, you're afraid of losing her, aren't you?"
"Gee, what gives you that idea? Angela's only the first woman to want me around in years. Now her ex shows up? Of course I'm worried." Wilson sighed. "Look, you have to fight for her. This woman is your soul mate, right? So fight for her." House sat down. "And how am I supposed to do that? This guy is fit and good-looking… and everything I'm not." Wilson heard the defeat in House's voice and it worried him. His friend didn't give in. So why would he start caving now? "House, you can't just stand aside. This woman loves you. You have to do something."
"Like what? Knock him over the head with my cane?"
"I wouldn't go that far, but do something. Look, you want me to come over there?" House didn't want him around. And yet he needed his friend there. He needed the support and a strong, able body in case things got rough.
"How soon can you get here?" Wilson sounded slightly relieved. House sounded back to normal, but still unsure.
"I'll be there tomorrow. Take care." House signed off and headed back to the Potter boy's room. On the way, though, he saw Sirius Black standing in the hallway. When Sirius saw House, he started towards him, smiling. "Hey, I want to thank you for coming to help with Harry. I appreciate it, and I'm sure Angela does, too."
"Yeah," House replied, blandly. The guy who was going to steal his girlfriend was being polite? This was a nightmare. Sirius looked at the doctor for a moment before saying, "Look, I know about you and Angela." House didn't say anything. He knew? How much did he know? How did he know it? Sirius sighed, happily.
"I'm glad she has someone she can talk to." House hesitated for a minute before deciding to nip this conversation in the bud.
"I'm in love with Angela." Sirius looked at House in disbelief. This guy was in love with Angela? They'd just met! Sirius looked baffled.
"You're what? When did this happen?"
"Sometime between she refused to help me with a case and when she and I slept together." Sirius's blue eyes grew icy. "You're sleeping with my Angela?" House's eyes narrowed. Unbeknownst to the two of them, Lily had left Harry's room to meet Angela and James who were coming from the opposite end of the hallway.
House looked at Sirius. "Your Angela? I don't remember seeing your name on her anywhere." Angela saw the two squaring off, saw Sirius pull his fist back and hit House hard in the shoulder, knocking him down. Angela gave a shout of alarm. House clambered back to his feet just as Sirius made to hit him again. As Angela hurried to the two, House used his cane to redirect Sirius's second punch into the wall. Angela came up next to him and slid between House and Sirius.
"Stop it, both of you!"
Sirius turned to look at Angela. "Angela, what are you doing with this guy? I mean I thought we were together." Angela pulled her hand back and slapped him hard across the face.
"Yeah," she snapped, her eyes ablaze. "We were until you became an idiot. Going after Pettigrew, going on the run, never contacting me. And then you had to go and get yourself killed! What the blinking bloody hell were you thinking! The phrase is 'till death do us part'! Till death," she said, poking Sirius hard in the chest on the last two words. "Which was you, you great moron!" Sirius looked at her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Come on, Angela. I'm here now. Let's just go back to how we used to be. Please?" Angela looked at Sirius's hands, then looked right into his eyes. "Do you want to get slapped again? Cause I got a lot more in me."
"Okay, okay," Sirius said, dropping his hands. "Look, I'm sorry. But I love you. I'm not going to back down." House looked at Sirius before taking Angela's hand. "And neither am I." Sirius scoffed. "I am NOT afraid of you." House didn't back down. "And I'm not afraid of you." Angela squeezed House's hand. "Come on. Let's go to my place." When he didn't move, Angela gave a slight tug. "Come on." House finally started moving, and James and Lily stood preventing Sirius following. When the two were out of sight, James pulled out a small bottle. "Sirius, give this to Harry. It'll help him. Go." Sirius gave a curt nod and took the potion. As he went into the room, James looked at Lily.
"That was close," James said, pulling his wife close. "We almost had a brawl on our hands." Lily nodded.
"Poor Angela. Torn between two people? God, and Sirius was a real git. He has no right to be so possessive of Angela." James nodded.
"I agree. But we can't tell him that. He won't listen. This is ugly. What are we going to do? Wait, what am I thinking, we're whitelighters. We're pacifists. Technically, there's nothing we CAN do." Lily sighed.
"All we can do is make sure Dr. House and Sirius don't go at it again. God, if either one of them really hurts the other… Angela's going to be so upset." James grinned slightly.
"Yeah, but then she'd ream out the other."
"Maybe. You know, we should give Dumbledore an update. Tell him we're back, along with Sirius. And tell his about Harry. Not that he really cares about Harry's general well-being. He more cares about our son as his weapon against Voldemort." James nodded.
"Yeah. Still, we better go. Come on." The two made sure the coast was clear before orbing to Hogwarts.
The drive to Angela's home was quiet. Angela was driving, with House in the passenger seat. House said nothing, mainly because he didn't know what to say. 'Thanks for letting your ex hit me' didn't seem like the right thing to say. After a few minutes, though, Angela broke the ice. "How's the shoulder?" House looked at her, his gaze half sarcastic, and half indifferent.
"It hurts. Probably going to have a nice bruise later on." Angela sighed. "He shouldn't have done that. Sirius should have known better. He's always been hot-headed."
"So why did you date him?" Angela paused. Explaining to Jamesa Potter was one thing, explaining to House was a different matter.
"Men are not directly attracted to me. They're attracted to a specific part of my personality. Sirius liked my daring and tomboy nature. In wits, I matched him, same for book-smarts, and athletic ability. But he's always been territorial. And to be honest… I hated it. But he was the first guy in a long time to date me and not be even remotely put off by the whole Immortal thing. We were in our third year of school when I finally told him. He thought it was cool. Didn't realize the downsides to it."
"Which are?" Angela pulled into her driveway and parked. "Pain. Loss. Knowing everything and nothing at the same time. Getting to remain young when everyone around you grows old and dies. Being a part of the world, yet always feeling like you don't belong. God, I hate my life." House said nothing, but a question was worming its way through his brain. "You've never tried to kill yourself, have you?" 'Please say no. Please say no. Please say…'
"At least once a decade." Angela got out and House came after her. He could feel 'Don't talk to me about my suicides' coming off of her in waves. He took the hint and stayed silent. Angela's place was a ranch style home with a large backyard and an herb garden. Angela unlocked the door and pushed it open. Inside, the foyer opened up into a wide living room with one wall completely covered with bookshelves. Off of this room, was the kitchen and breakfast nook. Along the hallway were bedrooms and bathrooms.
Angela went into the kitchen and started pulling food from the cupboards and refrigerator. "You want a sandwich?"
"Well, I was thinking of a well done steak, but whatever you make is fine." Angela laughed.
"You're shameless, you know that?" House smiled.
"So I've been told." Angela fixed a couple of sandwiches and pulled out a bag of pretzels.
"You want a beer?"
"Sounds good." Angela grabbed two bottles and used her wand to levitate the meal to the table. They sat down and ate in silence for a while; shortly after they had finished, the phone rang. Angela summoned it and turned it on. "Angela. Hey, Lily. Okay. Okay. Oh, good. Okay. Oh, thank God. Sure, we'll be here. Okay. Good bye." Angela hung up. "Harry's starting to perk up. He's still kinda weak, and hasn't started showing any side effects from the virus, but… So far so good." House nodded. "Well, that's good news."
"Lily's coming over later tonight. She, uh… says James wants to talk to you." House leaned back in his chair. "She did tell me to expect that." Angela looked mildly concerned. "She said that the two of you can talk tomorrow morning when we get there. It's no biggie. I'm sure it'll be okay, just… be careful. James was an expert in interrogations when he was an auror."
"Me? I'm the epitome of careful." Angela laughed.
"Yeah, I know. Really. Be careful. James isn't as hot headed as Sirius, but he's almost twice as crafty."
New Jersey
Dr. James Wilson was finishing his charts when his colleague, Dr. Robert Chase, came into the office. Chase sat down across from Wilson, giving the other man a casual smile. Wilson grinned back and said, "Hey. How're things going without House?" Chase shrugged.
"Fair. Nothing out of the ordinary. Those garden show patients are improving. I heard House called you, though." Wilson nodded.
"Yeah, he, uh, is having some problems with his girlfriend's ex. Apparently House thinks he's going to lose her." Chase looked astonished. House was actually concerned about something?
"You're joking."
"I'm not. House is really worried. Apparently this guy is good looking, athletic, energetic…" Chase nodded, slowly, getting the picture. "Everything House isn't." Wilson nodded. "Exactly."
"So why are you going?" Wilson piled his charts and set the stack at the corner of his desk. "Because House asked me to. He needs help, and as one of the few friends he hasn't alienated, I felt I should go help." Chase shrugged. "Well, good luck. I'll be sure to let Foreman and Cameron know in case we need a consult." Wilson nodded.
"Thanks, man." Chase gave a 'no problem' shrug and left the office. After Wilson finished his work, he headed home to pack to leave for England.