Chapter 11

Freaking Fifth Floor

House had returned to the hospital to find that Kelly had been taken to the fifth floor for physical therapy. That presented a small problem, because House refused to go anywhere near the fifth floor, and that section in particular. So, he was sitting on the edge of Kelly's bed trying to figure out how to find out what was going on without getting too close to that restricted part of the hospital. He thought about asking one of his minions to go check, but he quickly dismissed that plan. They would ask far too many questions, and they weren't worth the time or effort that would be involved. Wilson was another option, but he was dismissed because House knew that Wilson would just laugh at him, and tell him to do it himself. Trying to think up a plausible reason not to go there himself was giving him a headache.

"Damn it all!" he stood angrily, and regretted it instantly. Pain shot up his leg, and he hissed softly, hoping not to draw the attention of the seemingly ever-present nurse. He reached for his pills, took one, and set off for the elevators. Just because he said he would help with Kelly didn't mean that he had to devote his life to her. He would just go back to his office, and if anyone needed him, they could very well find him there. He was just about to push the button to go down, when he heard an anxious, "Dr. House, wait!" coming from behind him.

He actually considered ignoring the person, because the elevator had just arrived, but instead walked into the car, and held the door open. If she wanted to talk to him that badly she could afford to take an elevator ride with him. She entered, and without asking, pressed the button for the fifth floor.

"What do you think you're doing?" If the nurse had more of a clue she would have been running for her life, but as it was, she took the question at face value and answered with another little smile.

"Dr. Cuddy told me to find you and bring you to the fifth floor as soon as you got back. Something to do with a patient of yours."

House figured there was no was to get out of it without looking desperate, so he decided to sulk against the back wall. This day was becoming even more of a pain by the minute. He figured that he could find out what was going on without getting too close to the PT wing. The elevator lurched to a stop, and the doors opened to reveal Cuddy. She had her arms crossed and was looking decidedly pissed off.

"House, you need to come." It wasn't a request, but when House made no move to get off of the elevator, she added an order that couldn't be ignored. "Now."

'Shit,' House thought. He really didn't want to go this. He had made himself a promise that he would never again enter this portion of the hospital, and until now it had held. House could one simple girl mess up his world so quickly; first with going back to high school, and now with this? 'Well, at least she's getting me out of clinic duty,' he thought somewhat morosely. That was another self-promise that has been ripped to shreds by a patient. Stepping off of the elevator, he lagged behind Cuddy. If he was going to have to do this, he didn't have to be happy about it.

House hated physical therapists. All they were good for was nagging and causing pain. He'd had enough of both to last him several lifetimes. Wilson had made a valiant effort to make him go to PT regularly after he was discharged from the hospital, but even he didn't have a chance of succeeding after an argument of proper cane usage. Now, here he was again, back within their grasp all because of a silly girl.

He was jerked from his internal ramblings by the sight that greeted him from the doorway of the small private therapy room at the end of the hall. Kelly, now dressed in scrubs and a robe, with her leg encased in a large black brace, was slumped between two parallel bars. Her eyes were closed and she was rocking slowly back and forth. House could tell that she was in pain; her back was ramrod straight, and if her eyes were squeezed any tighter he was worried they might pop out. Looking quickly at the therapist, he had to take a deep breath before he said anything. These people were morons.

"Whose bright idea was it to give her a male therapist?" House demanded after a moment.

Cuddy turned sharply toward him, "What does that have to do with what is happening here?"

House gave her a look of disbelief. "She was abused for months by a man, and no one is sure if that was the only time. You then take her, giver her to another man, and again she's in pain. How did you think she would react?" It was said much more harshly than he'd intended, but how could they all be so dense?

"We thought, well, we thought, that because she responded to you so well, that this would be for the best," Cuddy was clearly upset, and seemed to realize her mistake.

"Yes, well, unlike the people in here, I'm not in the business of torturing people." He turned back to the still rocking girl, "Get everyone out of here for a while. I'll see what I can do, but like I said before, I'm neither a babysitter nor a shrink."

"Fine," Cuddy said after a moment. Giving the few remaining people a pointed stare, she left the room and the others trailed out after her. House waited until the door clicked shut before moving towards Kelly.

"Well, I can see you like this place about as much as I do," he said softly when he got closer. Using one of the bars as support, he carefully lowered himself towards the floor. Once settled in a semi-comfortable position, he gently slid his cane into Kelly's twisting hands. At its touch, the frantic movement slowed, and she started stroking the smooth wood. They sat like that for what felt like a year. House talked the whole time, telling her about his visit to the school, and the annoyingly perky Erin. When he paused to give his voice a break, he saw that Kelly was looking at him, and her rocking had stopped.

"You back now?" he asked, trying to keep from smiling.

Yes she answered, but her gaze dropped to the floor.

"Do you want to go back to your room now?"

Yes

"Ok, well, I can't get you back there by myself, so I'm going to get some help. You going to be ok with that?" There was a long pause, and House wondered if she had retreated again.

No, h…u…r…t? it was a question, but House didn't know how she had made it one. Something to find out later.

"I can't promise it won't hurt at all, but they won't hurt you on purpose."

Yes It was hesitant, but it was there, and House took that as an okay to get someone to get her back to her room. Getting up was more of an effort then getting down, but after a lot of work, and more then a few curses he was again vertical. It was then that he realized his problem. Kelly was still in possession of his cane. He didn't want to take it from her for fear that would be all she needed to withdraw again. 'Oh, you idiot,' he berated himself. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his cell phone.