Chapter 9

PT or Not PT

Kelly woke slowly. It was harder than normal to brush back the gray. As awareness came again, all the colors in her view were muted and a gray haze lingered at the edges of her vision. She tried to call up the events that had occurred after the teal had left, but all that she could find was a dark hole in her memory. A slight panic overtook her. Never before had she lost time like this. Yes, hours were spent in the gray world, but those hours could be counted and if she tried she could find the events that had occurred around her during her time in the safe place. Seeing a spot of color approaching, she closed her eyes and slowed her breathing. The spot came, made some noise, touched her gently in a few places, and receded. When all traces of the color had faded from the room Kelly reopened her eyes and took in her surroundings. This was a different room than the last one. The windows were at a different place, and she was pretty sure that she was now farther up in the building. There were more monitors now, and her left leg was suspended in a sling. She was enthralled by the contraption that held her leg in place, and for a moment she just stared at it. She tried to piece together what should have caused this strange thing to be put there. Then surprise hit her. She didn't have any pain! Where was it? Why had it left her? Again she was gripped by a panic and this time one of the monitors picked up on it. Another person flitted into the room and Kelly couldn't hide the fact that she was awake.

"Oh, so you are awake. Good thing, we were beginning to worry. I think Dr. House just got back. I'll go call him." The person fluttered back out, and Kelly was left to make sense of her words.

'House.' She thought. The color teal flashed through her mind. House was the name of the teal. A small smile slipped onto her lips and she sighed, content. If he was coming everything would be all right.

After a wait that seemed to take forever, Kelly saw a hint of teal, and heard the uneven steps that told her that the...House was there. It was going to be hard to think of him by that name. It was such a funny name. That thought filled her mind until she heard him enter the room; he was alone. That was good. Kelly was still a little confused and the gray had not gone away yet; she didn't want to sort through the different colors and voices that came along with a group of people.

She heard a chair being pulled across the floor, and then a soft sigh as House sat.

You House she signed, spelling out the letters to his name. Her hands felt slow and clumsy as she tried to mold them into the letters. It had been a long time since she had felt safe enough to talk to someone. She still couldn't totally understand why she felt safe with House. Yes, he had a good color, and he had a nice smooth...something...but why was that enough?

"Can you say that again?" House asked her. While she had been pondering her slow fingers and him, House had been trying to translate what she had signed to him. She gave him another tentative smile, and House couldn't help but feel as if it was like the same smile that he gave to people who just didn't get it.

You

"Me?"

She nodded. H...o...u...s...e

"H...o...u...s...e, I'm House?"

Yes

"Where did you hear that? He asked with a hint of surprise in his voice.

O...r...a...n...g...e

"O...r...s...n...g...e that isn't a word."

O...r...A...n...g...e

"OrAnge. Orange, what's orange?"

Talk me House

"Orange told you my name was House?"

Yes

"You talk to fruit?"

No...c...o...l...o…r

"C...o...l...o...r, the color orange told you?"

Yes

"I don't understand."

House...t...e...a...l. Talk me House Orange

"Wait. You associate people with colors?"

Yes, you no?

"No, most people don't, but that's ok, if anything it makes life more interesting. You said I'm teal?" He tried to reassure her. He had been told by the annoying DCFS lady that if Kelly suspected that she was doing anything wrong she would tend to withdraw back into her private world, and House didn't want that to happen.

Yes, nice

"Huh. I would have thought I'd be a nice black, or maybe gray," he said with a small twitch of his lips that could have been a smile.

g...r...a...y bad

"Gray...yuck?"

No, gray no good...gray BAD Kelly had to smile a little. It was fun trying to talk with House. For the first time in a long time, she was fully aware of what was going on around her, and there was no pain to dull the nice feeling of being completely awake.

"Oh, gray's bad. Ok." House looked at Kelly's elevated leg. "Does your leg hurt at all?"

No

"Are you sure?"

Yes...hurt...g...o...n...e

"So hurt...gone? It hurt before?"

Yes

"Why didn't you say anything?"

More hurt

"Ok, something hurt. I didn't understand that first word." House was annoyed. He needed to be able to talk to her, and here he was stumbling over any word that wasn't 'yes' or 'no'. He realized then what a good idea the private lessons would be.

M...o...r...e

"More? More hurt if you said it hurt?"

More hurt a...l...w...a...y...s

"Always" he whispered the word, anger threatening again. "Who Kelly? Who hurt you?"

R...e...d

"Red. Ok. You don't know their name?"

Red...bad...no red?

"No, you don't have to worry. He can't hurt you anymore." Kelly have him a wan smile that suddenly turned to a grimace. "Kelly? You ok?"

Hurt

"Where?"

L...e...g

"Ok, hold on." House pushed himself up and checked over the IV. It was then that he noticed the problem. Kelly hadn't used the pump for morphine. 'Of course! She wouldn't understand.' House mentally kicked himself and pressed the button that released the drug into Kelly's bloodstream.

"It's ok now, I'm sorry Kelly." He sat down at her side again and placed his cane's handle where so she could grip it. Within moments her fingers had wrapped around it and her eyes closed as she drifted off with the drug.