I realized I haven't really covered how our Wilson is doing, so here is a short chapter to ease those worried hearts.
OH, AND AS I AM NOW GOING INTO MIDNIGHT, THINK I'LL HAVE TO CHANGE THE TITLE TO: THE DAYS FOLLOWING THE DAY AFTER. Lol just joking :o)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN – Don't Bet On a Loser
A few hours later, the floor of the Intensive Care Unit is quiet except for the varied but continuous beeps of heart monitors of the patients in for whatever major medical reason. A nurse checks the back of a patient's hand to make sure the I.V. tube is securely fastened in his vein, reviews the vital stats on the screen next to the bed and quietly slips out of the room.
Down the hall, a man lurks behind a corner and watches the nurse leave the room he's been keeping an eye on for the past five minutes. When he sees her sit behind her desk and turns her back away from the door, he slowly yet fearlessly shuffles his cheap, cottony papered slippered feet across the cold linoleum floor.
'My leg…my leg…hmmm, don't know if it still hurts or not, but my side is killing me.'
He cringes when he suddenly hears a high pitched protest from the wheels of the stand he's pulling, one that holds a bag of fluids with a tube leading into his right arm. 'Shhhh, shut up, wheels!' he says to himself as he keeps watching the nurse as he gets closer to the door.
When he finally enters the room successfully he heads straight for the bed of the patient. The man he's looking at appears pale, his face cut here and there but nothing too deep; his right arm in a cast and an oxygen tube in his nose; he is breathing steadily, not labored at all. He leans against the railing of the bed for support because he suddenly feels weak.
He stares at Dr. James Wilson for a few minutes, looking at him intently when suddenly a noise comes from the corner of the room that makes him jump and turns his head in the direction of the noise.
"Well," says a female's voice. She stands and looks at her wristwatch as she approaches the bed. "It's 12:03 am, looks like I won the bet."
"Cuddy," House says, looking startled. "What are you doing here so late?"
"Two of my best doctors of this hospital are cooped up as patients and I have to find replacements awfully quick. I've been busy. But it's okay, the $200 I won from Foreman and Chase will help toward a vacation."
House nods his head, looking not at all ashamed of 'being caught in the act'. "Has he woken yet?" Cuddy simply shakes her head.
"What about the concussion?"
Cuddy shrugs her shoulders. "Still don't know, but I don't think there's any permanent damage." She walks around to the other side of the bed, grabs the I.V. stand and starts to walk away with it, House still being attached.
"Hey! I'm connected to that!" House gripes but has to take a few steps to avoid ripping the needle out.
"Then you'll just have to follow me, won't you?" she asks as she stops, turns around and looks at him.
He challenges her by glaring right back at her and says, "I want to stay a few more minutes, Mom, please? Can I? Can I, huh, huh?"
At his childish begging she has to smile at him. "No, I don't need two of you in the I.C.U. Now, come on." And she walks toward the door once more.
He doesn't have a choice at this point so he follows her out of the room, trying not to walk too fast but finding it hard to keep up with her.
"Thanks, Maddy," Cuddy says to the nurse, the very nurse House had been hiding from moments ago.
"What was that for?" he asks as they walk down the hall.
"Oh, when she came in to check on Wilson she told me a weird looking man was behind the corner, holding an I.V. stand."
"She so did NOT see me!" he protests as she presses the down arrow button for the elevator. "And I am NOT weird looking."
"Yes, you are," Cuddy disagrees as the elevator door opens and they step on, both watching as the door closes. "But you won't be in, I'd say, two more days."
"What are you talking about?" he asks as the door opens a moment later and they step out into the hall.
"Your shadow."
"We just left my shadow in his room, Cuddy," House says as they enter his room, knowing full well what she meant. "I think I look dashingly handsome and young without my beard," he says as he sits down on the bed.
"More like dastardly ugly and old without it," Cuddy corrects as she finishes pushing the stand into place beside the bed.
"Ok, now, you'd better stay in your room or I'm going to have to take drastic measures," Cuddy says.
"Ooooh, tie me up? I think I'd like that. But, you know, with my wounds and all you know we can't have sex."
"Wow, I wonder how I'm going to sleep tonight," she teases as she puts her hands on her hips. "Keep your tush in bed and STAY THERE!" she orders as she turns to walk away.
"Yes, ma'am," he says with a smile. "Cuddy? What was the bet?" he asks as he settles in bed.
"Chase bet you'd be in Wilson's room between 5 and 6am, Foreman bet after 2 but before 5am and I bet after midnight. You were three minutes late," she says with a wink.
"Wait, didn't Cameron bet?"
Cuddy smiles and tells him, "No. She didn't think you'd leave at all. Silly girl, she'll never learn," she says with a laugh. "Now get to sleep."
House gives her a huge smile and softly chuckles. "That's my girl."