Ok, I was busted on the last sentence in the last chapter and am just TOO lazy to go back and fix it. House is tickled he and Wilson are roommates cuz he can be as juvenile as he was while Wilson was at his apartment, NOT while they were in med school.

The point I was trying to make was he was more juvenile in med school and played pranks on other students…although he IS kinda juvenile now, isn't he:o)

And to further explain the rants of the woman who was fussing at Foreman – that is actual medical experience that I am going through now. Well, except the passing out part. Anyway, she'll be explained a bit more thoroughly in the next chapter.

Thanks for the awesome reviews and keeping me in line.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO – Tigger Gets Trapped

"Jimmy? Jimmy!" House says from his bed trying to get Wilson's attention.

"Please, Dr. House, he needs his rest," the nurse tells him somewhat perturbed that he has the gall to bother him.

"Oh, he'll be getting plenty of rest the next few weeks. I'm bored," he whines through the curtain.

"Heddd hurtzz," House barely makes out from Wilson and becomes a little troubled. It might just mean he is still suffering from the concussion.

"You've got a morphine drip here if you need it. If the pain gets worse holler for me, okay?" she says pleasantly.

House rolls his eyes; he hates bedside manners. 'Just because they're sick doesn't mean you have to be nice to them,' he thinks to himself.

He hears the nurse move around to the foot of his own bed and she suddenly appears. "And how are you feeling today, Dr. House? How's your neck feel?"

"Great! I'm ready to play some rounds of golf," he says sarcastically but the nurse ignores him.

"Well," she says as she adjusts a few knobs on the monitor, "I know all about you and I think my shift will go by quickly and smoothly if you just keep your snide little comments to yourself."

House squints his eyes at her and says, "I'm not going to like you, am I?"

"It's okay if you don't, I don't like you, either. I'm just doing my job," she answers with a smile then turns to leave.

"Hey, can you please open the curtain?" House asks sweetly, and it almost kills him to do so.

She turns back around and thinks for a second before she grabs the top of the curtain and pulls it to the head of both beds. "One complaint from him and it goes back," she says, giving him an 'I dare you' glance before she walks out of the room.

House looks at Wilson who has his head turned away from him so he can't see his face. "Jimmy?" House says, continuing his banter, or more like abuse of his roommate. Wilson doesn't turn his head.

"Don't make me get up," House says playfully.

At that non-existent threat Wilson turns his head toward House and stares at him for a minute. House is stunned when he sees tears in Wilson's eyes and the side of his cheek is wet with tears.

"Wilson? Is the pain that bad? Did you do the morphine?" House asks, almost caringly.

"Yeah, head hurts," he says more clearly than before to the nurse then closes his eyes.

House softly sighs and tells Wilson, "Get some sleep, buddy." There's no word from Wilson but as House stares at him he sees his respiration grows shallower and knows he has gone to sleep. House shuts up and actually lets him.

HOUSE MD HOUSE MD HOUSE MD

"Ms. Vaughn, Dr. Foreman is a good doctor. It was an unfortunate oversight," Cuddy tells Bonnie Vaughn, the woman who was yelling at Foreman earlier in the hallway.

"'Unfortunate oversight?' Is that what you call it?" she says angrily.

"You have got to calm down, please. Have you seen the neurologist or orthopedic doctor yet?"

"No, I haven't. I just saw the ENT last week."

"Okay, let us do a thorough exam and we'll cover the cost," Cuddy suggests, hoping it will appease her but it backfires.

"You're joking, right! I've already seen one of your doctors and he couldn't even diagnose me correctly," she snips.

"Good point. Look, rest assured that I'll assign only the best doctors for your care. And I will personally keep a close eye on your case to make sure you are indeed receiving the best possible care."

Bonnie sits there a moment contemplating the offer and Cuddy notices the stress and anger seem to fade away from her face. Cuddy relaxes knowing she has succeeded in retribution. Bonnie stands then suddenly sways, holding her face in her hand and before Cuddy can even get close enough to catch her she collapses to the floor.

"GURNEY! I need a gurney in here!" she yells.

HOUSE MD HOUSE MD HOUSE MD

'…thirty two Angelina Jolies…thirty three Angelina Jolies…thirty four Angelina Jolies…'

"Hi, Tigger." House hears from a familiarly comfortable and soft voice. He opens his eyes to see his mom standing there looking at him with a smile on her face. "Whatcha doin?" she asks as she bends over and kisses him on the forehead.

"Counting Angelina Jolies so I'd fall asleep," he tells her as he smirks slightly.

"Honey, are you having trouble falling asleep?"

"No, I'm sending out vibes to her so she'd have my baby, too. Here's your sign," he says sarcastically and Blythe smacks him on the forearm, hard.

"Don't talk to me like that, Greg," she tells him sounding very upset. House frowns and knows he's just crossed the line with his mother, something he hasn't done since he was in high school; once was plenty for him to know where the line was.

"I'm sorry, Mom," he says sincerely. "It's just…there's a lot going on."

"I know that, son," she says as she pulls up a chair beside the bed and sits down. "How have you been feeling? Did you sleep well last night?"

House nods his head and shifts in the bed uncomfortably. "Have you found everything at my place you need?"

Blythe takes a deep breath before she says, "Yes, and a little more than I expected to find but nothing that I need; seems you do, though."

'Oh, shit. Here it comes.'

"Greg, how long have you been taking the morphine? Has the pain really been that bad?"

House nods his head silently, almost shamefully. "Yes, Mom, it has been."

"For how long?"

"Do we really need to talk about this now?"

"Yes, we do."

"Look, if the Ketamine worked, which hasn't been determined yet, I won't need the morphine anymore. And I haven't been taking it here unless I absolutely need it, and that's only to help me sleep."

"I don't believe that for one second you need morphine to help you sleep. There are other medications to take. Don't lie to me, Greg. Does Dr. Cuddy know?"

"Cuddy doesn't need to know."

HOUSE MD HOUSE MD HOUSE MD

While House and his mother speak, Wilson feigns sleep to listen in on their conversation. And truth be told he doesn't feel guilty about it, either. In a way he's glad she's confronting him, but also feels a wee bit bad for him, although now he knows House is going to be more of a bear of a roommate than he ever was while he stayed at House's apartment.