-Ch 15-
Chase blinked woozily up at the ceiling.
He could see House and Wilson moving around his head, and it took a minute for him to realize he wasn't in the hospital room that'd been his prison for the last 4 days. From the hallway Chexie screeched, letting the intruders know she wasn't happy at being removed from the room. Chase frowned. He knew she would be upset, but Wilson had put his foot down. He tried to tell him that Chexie was cleaner than House, but no one ever listened to him.
Still though, they had let him come home.
A happy, more then slightly dopey smile appeared on his face.
House looked down and smiled. "Looks like our little princess is finely awake."
"Hey. Home. Wow. I love my home. Home is good."
House snickered and checked the IV line hanging from the stand they'd bought to his apartment, among other medical equipment. "Still feeling no pain I see?"
"No. Uhmmm.. Yeeeah. I feel...good. Really good. Did I mention I love my home?" Chase said happily.
House exchanged amused looks with Wilson. "I'm so glad I talked him into being drugged up for the trip home."
Wilson nodded, chuckling, moving away from the head of the bed.
Chase blinked and tried to focus though the drug induced haze. "Um. So everything went...good?"
"Yep. We drugged you to the gills, we moved you, and we settled you in with no problems. Well, I think we freaked out your neighbors."
"Didn't like them anyway." Chase muttered. He blinked at the empty table near his bed.
"Chexie?"
"Living room."
"Oh."
Chase went back to staring at the familiar ceiling. He smiled happily. "Hoooome! I'm home!"
House snorted sitting down in a comfy chair placed next to Chase's bed. "I don't think we're going to get anything more coherent out of him for a while."
"Hey! I'm perfectly coherent! I'm just...happy. Relieved. ...and kinda stoned." Chase defended him self.
House snickered. "Go back to sleep. You could use the rest, now that for the first time in almost a week you're not stressed."
Chase made a happy sighing noise and wiggled down more comfortably in his bed and quickly dozed off again.
House looked over at Wilson sitting next to him and smirked. "You know this is going to be even more like having a toddler then when Chase had his concussion."
Wilson sighed and leaned his head back against the chair. "You're still the mom."
"Nuh-uh. Husband remembered. You're the mom now."
"So that makes me your mother in law?"
House snorted. "Knew there was a reason I didn't like you."
--
House played with his game boy with the sound on mute while Wilson read a medical journal, both sitting next to Chase's bed side, keeping a eye on the sleeping intensivist.
House huffed as his game avatar died his final life, and pulled his large tennis ball from the night table to toss at Wilson's head.
Wilson's hand shot up and grabbed it before it could hit him and dropped it onto his lap without looking up from his journal.
House whined.
Wilson snorted.
House whacked him in the shin with his cane.
Wilson yelped and dropped the book to glare at House. "What!"
"I'm hungry, mom." House playfully whined.
Wilson snorted and rolled his eyes. "I'm his," he pointed at the sleeping Chase. "mother, not yours."
"Awww! But I'm your adorable, charming son-in-law!"
Wilson nearly choked laughing.
House huffed trying to look mortally offended.
Both jumped, startled when Chexie squawked loudly, and crankily, from the hall.
Chase's eyes popped open and he sat up, causing the doctors to jump again.
He threw off his blanket and sat up, and moved to get out of bed.
House promptly pushed him back down glaring. "What are you doing, you idiot?"
"Chexie. I have to feed her and change her water. It's been days and I don't think the auto thing last this long." Chase explained trying to get up again.
House rolled his eyes and kept his hand on Chase's chest, holding him down. "You are deeply stupid. You're 4 days past being cut open! I thought the whole reason we let you come home was so you would stop trying to escape.
"But...Chexie..." Chase whispered plaintively giving him large puppy eyes. Stoned puppy eyes.
House glared at him.
"It's ok Chase. Go back to sleep. I'll take care of her." Wilson assured Chase sticking a slip of paper into the book to mark his page, and then dropping it into the dresser with House's ball.
"You will?" Chase turned the puppy eyes on Wilson.
Wilson nodded quickly. "I'm going now."
"Oh...good." Chase mumbled before drifting off again.
House snorted and grabbed his ball. He thought for a moment and stole Wilson's book as well, sliding it under Chase's mattress.
"SHIT!"
He jumped yet again as he heard Wilson scream, followed by a more avian screech and a loud metallic bang. He automatically threw out an arm to keep Chase in the bed. House looked uncertainly between the wide-eyed intensivist and the hallway, torn between keeping his employee down and saving his friend what sounded like certain bird induced death.
His problem was solved when Wilson stumbled back into the room, a cockatiel hanging from his tie and yelling, beating the bewildered doctor with her wings.
"Wilson!" Chase cried out accusingly. At the sound of her master's voice, Chexie abandoned her attack and flew to his bed, landing on top of his head. He lifted his hand and she cuddled up against it.
"That" Wilson panted. "is not a bird. That is a demon from the depths of hell."
Chase scowled at him and Chexie hissed, spreading her wings menacingly.
Wilson backed up.
"What did you do?" House asked, reaching out and scratching Chexie behind her head. She bit him gently but allowed herself to be picked up, fluttering to hop to his shoulder.
"Nothing! I didn't do anything. She attacked me!"
"You probably deserved it." House defended the bird, settling back in to play on his game boy again.
Wilson snorted and flopped down in his seat. Chexie gave him a final hiss and turned her back, snuggling down against House's neck.
Wilson ignored the bird and looked around. "House… where's my book?"