Ch. 7 Recovery and Proposed Proposals

Angela slept all through the night, waking only when Dr. Tonks came in to get her ready for surgery in the morning. "Hey, doc. How's it going?"

"Just getting you ready." Angela waved a hand, casually.

"Bring it on." The doctor nodded and got a pair of orderlies to take her up to the OR. Angela closed her eyes as she was wheeled through the hospital. When she got to the prep room, she saw Wilson already standing there. She thought that was slightly strange, so she asked, "What are you doing here?"

"House asked me to stay with you. Your friend Lily made him go home and get some sleep. Though he actually didn't. Don't worry. You'll be fine." Angela nodded as the doctors started the immunosuppressants and the anesthetic. Angela started feeling relaxed and calm. As she fell asleep, she thought of House.

Angel couldn't think. He couldn't sleep. His sister was having her leg amputated because of… he saw Sirius Black pacing in the OR waiting room. Oh, how he wanted to rough the kid up. But Angela wouldn't like that. Still, the guy was a wizard. He could heal the injuries before Angela woke up. No. No, he couldn't do that. It wasn't fair. He looked at the other end of the room, where House was sitting. He decided he should go talk to him; get to know the guy who had finally truly fallen for his sister.

"Hey." House looked up.

"Hello, Angel." Angel sat down.

"I just want to say 'thank you' for calling me."

"Angela asked me to. It wasn't a big deal." Angel looked at him. House said nothing for a while, and then said, "How long has it been since the two of you talked?" Angel thought. How long had it been? They had talked 3 years ago, then…. Wait. They had bumped into each other last year.

"A year. It wasn't even on purpose. I was in this shop and Angela happened to be there. Sometimes I feel like she wants to pretend I don't exist."

"It's more like she's afraid of what you felt when you killed her."

"If she's thinking I enjoyed it…" Angel said, slightly horrified. He hadn't enjoyed it. But the demon in him had been hungry, and her blood had been so sweet…

House shrugged. "Frankly, I don't care what happened. But it matters to Angela. She needs you." House stood up and looked down at Angel. "You're her family. Better start acting like it." House limped off to get a cup of coffee when he had a different thought. Turning around, he headed back up to the children's ward to find Lily.

When he found her, she was just coming out of Harry's room. "How is he?" House asked, seeing that Lily's face didn't look as anxious. "He's doing better. They think he'll be able to go home in a week or so." House smiled, softly. "That's good news. Listen, I need your help with something."

Sirius kept pacing. It was his fault Angela was hurt. He'd have to live with that. And strangely enough, that fact hurt more than remembering how possessive he'd been. He didn't deserve Angela. She was so open and loving, and he'd been, well… an idiot. Sirius looked over at Angel. Ever since the start of the surgery, Sirius had been expecting Angel to come over and beat him near to death. But Angel had shown control, though Sirius wasn't sure how long that would last. The guy was a vampire after all.

When Angela first started dating Sirius, he had felt that it was a sign that he really was a good person. It was like he could say 'I'm a good guy and I've got a great girl to love me to prove it'. But it wasn't true. Sirius was a bad boyfriend, breaking hearts left and right. He dumped them quickly, while James had always let the girls down gently. As a godfather, Sirius hadn't fared much better. Instead of doing the smart thing and going to Dumbledore and explaining, he had gone after Wormtail and had gotten himself locked up in Azkaban for it.

No wonder Angela preferred House to him. Sirius was bull-headed and irrational. House seemed to be more calm and organized, and certainly more compassionate. Thinking on it, Sirius realized that House was everything, he, Sirius, was not. With that sobering thought, Sirius sat down, and sighed. It was over. It was actually over.

Lily looked at the rows of engagement rings. House had asked her to help him find the perfect ring to propose to Angela, so what could she say other than… well, actually she hadn't said anything, just grabbed his arm gleefully and dragged him to the nearest jewelers. House was looking at another case when he saw the perfect ring. It looked like the ring Angela had told him that her mother had worn on her wedding day. Lily came over next to him.

"Which one are you looking at?" House pointed at the Claddagh ring in the middle. Lily looked. The ring was made of intertwining bands of silver and gold. The left hand on the ring was silver, and the left was gold with a gold crown and a heart made of amethyst.

"Oh, my God. It's perfect." House grinned at Lily's reaction and called over the salesperson.

"Hello. I see you've made a selection," the woman said, smiling. House gave her a 'duh' look and pointed at the ring. "I want that one, please."

"Size 8," Lily said, as she looked at necklaces. Looking at the saleswoman, she said, "He's marrying my best friend. I know her ring size." House smiled and said to the saleswoman, "Size 8."

"Do you want an inscription on the inside, sir?" House thought for a moment, then said, "'AM, To the love of my life' GH." The woman smiled and wrote the message along with House's name and his cell phone number. He paid for the ring and looked at Lily.

"Come on. I want to see how Angela's doing." Lily said nothing; the man was currently single minded, but she understood. Chuckling to herself, she and House headed back to the hospital.

Sirius was dozing restlessly when Angel saw Dr. Wilson come out of the OR. Angel stood up and went over. "How is she?" Angel said quietly, so as not to rouse Sirius. The last thing he needed was to wake the prick who put her in this position in the first place. Wilson sighed.

"She's fine. She's still out, but she should be coming around in about an hour." Angel nodded, and sat down again. Angela was fine. That was good. As for Sirius…. That guy would get his later on. Looking up, he saw Dr. Tonks instructing the nurses to take Angela to recovery. Standing up again, Angel followed his sister.

When Angela awoke, she wondered why she saw herself. No, that wasn't quite right. Her eyes were blue tinged with green, not chocolate brown. Her fuzzy brain struggled to focus when the person said, "La? Are you okay? It's me. It's Angel."

"Hey, Lus. How are you?" Angela's vision seemed to clear and she saw that her brother was holding her hand. "How are you feeling?" Angel asked, concernedly.

"I just had my leg removed. How do you think I'm feeling?" Angel laughed, making Angela smile. It had been a long time since she heard that warm, rich laughter coming from her brother. Too long. And it had been too long since they had had a good sibling relationship. Angel finally calmed down, and said, "Listen, your boyfriend is waiting outside. Do you want to rest for a bit or see him now?" Angela flicked her eyes towards the door where House was waiting anxiously. She so wanted to see him, but sleep was rapidly pulling at her.

"Later. I need to sleep." Angel nodded and stood up. Angela closed her eyes and was soon asleep. Angel went to House.

"She's tired. If you want, you can stay; just don't wake her." House nodded and slipped in. He sat on the chair that Angel had vacated and took Angela's hand.

Right now I feel just like a leaf on a breeze

Who knows where it's blowin'?

Who knows where it's going'?

Even remembering full well everything that had happened, it was still hard for House to believe how much his life had changed since that warm June morning. One month before that day, he had responded to Wilson's comment that he, House, didn't need to know everything about everyone by saying that he didn't need to watch that new FOX show, the OC, but it made him happy. Two weeks after that, he finally admitted to himself that he was addicted to the vicodin. And 5 days ago he met the one woman on the planet who completed his life. How did 5 little days seem to feel like an entire lifetime?

I find myself somewhere II never thought I'd be

Going 'round in circles, yeah

Thinking about you and me

And how do I explain it when

I don't know what to say.

What do I do now?

So much has changed.

It was hard for House to think when he'd ever felt this good in his life. When his last real girlfriend, Stacy DeMint lived with him, they did things, but it always felt like there was something missing. With Angela, there was nothing missing. There were sparks, flames, occasional chills, and various other emotions. And Love. House felt more love from Angela than he had in all his previous girlfriends combined. And he loved her infinitely more than he had loved them.

It was also strange that Angela's mere presence could make the excruciating pain in his leg dull down to a simple annoying ache. There was something magical about her. She had that even without being a witch, he figured. House had been enchanted when he first met her. And the more he thought on it, the more he realized that all the romances in his past had simply been leading him to the woman whose hand he now held. All the other women who tried to get through to him had made just the right chinks so that when Angela came along… she only needed to make a few final cracks.

Nothing I have ever known has made me feel this way

Nothing I have ever seen has made me want to stay

But here I am- ready for you

I'm torn and I'm fallin'- I hear my home callin'

Hey, I've never felt so fit so strong

Oh, no- It's like nothing I've ever known

"Dr. House?" He looked around and saw Lily standing in the doorway. She had a huge smile on her face, which told him what she was doing there. She had it. Saying nothing, Lily came in and set a ring box on the bed next to Angela's hand. With another grin and a wink, Lily scooted out of the room. House slid his hand from Angela's and opened the box. The ring was perfect. All he needed now was the perfect moment. The perfect way to slip that ring on her finger and ask her to marry him. Nothing could go wrong now. Even though Angela had lost her leg, it was only a small thing to him. He needed Angela, and it didn't matter what happened, as long as they were together.

You're the one I'm looking for

You're the one I need

You're the one that gives me a reason to believe

Following a star has led to where you are

It feels so strong now- this can't be wrong now

Getting up, House decided to leave her be to sleep. Meanwhile he could work out the problem of popping the question. He left the room and saw Lily sitting just outside the door.

"Angela's still asleep?" she asked, quietly.

"Yeah. I'm going to talk to Wilson. Keep watch over her for me will you?" Lily nodded and watched House limp off. Lily looked at Angela then back again at House's retreating back. What did her friend ever do to deserve such a man? Sighing, she went into the room to keep an eye on Angela.

"I envy you, House," Wilson said when he and House had sit down in the hospital cafeteria. House had a cup of tea and Wilson had his usual coffee- black with two sugars. House sipped then looked at his friend. "What do you envy me for? You're the healthy one."

"But you have an… absolutely gorgeous woman totally in love with you. The two of you have something I can only dream of having." House considered this, and then voiced the doubt that had been eating at him since he had met Angela. "I don't deserve her. I don't really have anything to offer her."

"House, I somehow don't think that really matters to her. I mean, yes, she's beautiful and intelligent, and all, but she still loves you. Leg, pills, and all."

"Yeah. And she's my new addiction." Wilson found this statement more than a little confusing. House noticed this and elaborated. "Whenever I'm around her, my brain's both fuzzed and perfectly sharp. I barely notice my leg hurting. When we're apart, my mind goes numb, and my leg starts throbbing. I've been on fewer pills since I met Angela, but it's like when I'm not around her, everything just goes downhill."

Wilson said nothing to this. Actually, what could he say to that?

"I've gone crazy, haven't I?" House finally said, noting Wilson's silence. The younger doctor quickly tried to cover up. "No, you're not crazy. You're in love with a woman who seems to have thrown you off course, but you're not crazy."

"That's not very convincing."

"Well, I tried."