"I'm sorry; I must have dialled the wrong number. I wanted to talk to James Wilson and not with a medium from the psychic line," replied House with a tone of voice that was almost imperceptible.
Wilson knew that House wasn't in his normal self. By the way he was talking to him, Wilson guessed that he had loaded his body with an excessive amount of painkillers and that his blood stream was filled with alcohol.
"Are you drunk?" asked Wilson, concerned with his best friend's health.
"Drunk is such a strong word to use, I prefer to say that I am… ah, forget it. You caught me, I'm drunk."
In the background Wilson could hear a song that became very familiar to him in the last months, a tool that House recently started to use to demonstrate his state of mind since he would never express it by words.
"Is that Massive Attack you are listening to?" he asked.
"Yes it is. 'Unfinished Sympathy' is a great tune, isn't it?"
Wilson heard the impact of an empty bottle on floor. "The lyrics of the song are a little gloomy to my taste."
"Oh, shut up, what do you know about music?"
"That's a great idea, House, to insult your only friend," sighed Wilson.
"You are not my only friend, Jimmy. I was going to call Kevin from Bookkeeping, but apparently I've lost his number…"
"For the last time, his name is Carl," cried Wilson.
He knew that this wasn't the right time to make stupid jokes, but he couldn't help it; House always liked to play with serious issues. He didn't mind about that, Wilson unfortunately had to learn that these conversations were all House had to fill his melancholic nights, the only weapon that he had found to ignore the chaos that was his life since he started seeing Cameron.
"Is Cameron still there?"
"I don't want to talk about Cameron," spat an anxious House.
"Then why did you call?"
"Well, I've just finished my late night snack and I can't find any dessert… so I was hoping that you could come here and make me one."
"Since you consider a bottle of scotch and a bottle of Vicodin a meal, I can only imagine what you mean by dessert," said Wilson with sarcasm.
House laughed hard after hearing these words. "You can bring a pack of cigarettes if you want; I'm not strange with food."
"Knock it off, House; you have more important things to think about right now... For instance, do you know where Cameron is?" asked an unenthusiastic Wilson.
House was disappointed. "Shouldn't you be worried with me?"
"You aren't the victim in this situation, House, what you are doing to her is…"
"That girl intrigues me," cut House.
"Oh and why is that?"
"C'mon, Wilson, she has skeletons inside her closet and she is guarding the key with all her strengths. No one as beautiful as she is can be that nice, it's impossible. Unless she was an ugly duck, who had to develop her personality during college, she…" House didn't know what to say for the first time in his life.
"Allison just wants someone to love her, House, there's no big mystery there."
"But why, why love? Why can't she drink like a normal person to fulfil the hole she has in her… you know what I'm talking about, right?"
"What do you want me to say, House?"
Wilson wanted to play the part of the sympathetic friend, but he also knew that he wasn't in a good position to give advices regarding love. A man that was married three times had to have a lot of issues of his own. "Do you know this expression, 'Omnia Vincit Amor'?"
"You know, a conversation is going nowhere when one of the parts starts using Latin expressions," replied House, disappointed.
Wilson ignored the commentary. "It means 'Love Conquers All', and for me that's the type of motto that Cameron uses to live her life. It doesn't matter if you are poor, unhappy, miserable, and lonely; the only thing that matters is the hope that love can cure all your problems."
"OK, now I know why you usually cheat on your wives," murmured House.
"I thought that we were talking about you, not me."
"I'm done talking about me."
"Then this conversation is over."
A scary silence broke between those two men. They knew that they were two different sides of the same coin and because of that they would never agree in anything. It's ironic how they need each other to survive.
"Can you make me a favour?" asked House.
"It depends of the favour."
"Tell Cuddy that I'm not going to be able to arrive on time to work in the clinic."
"You never arrive on time," mocked Wilson.
"I know, what I want is for you…" House doesn't talk about these things. He can't admit to another human being that he cares about others.
"I'll make sure Cameron is all right, don't you worry about that."
"Who cares what you do or not do?"
"Don't mention it."
This was the only thanks Wilson would receive from his best friend.