A/N: I'm back! Sorry to have been gone so long. My life went into a tailspin this spring/summer with my dad getting sick. I quit my job to help him and my Mom sell their house, then I went on vacation, caught covid, so I was stuck in California for a couple of weeks (Such a hardship! LOL) and then when I came back from another trip, my dad passed away :( Since then, I've gotten a new job. So yeah, super busy, and the urge to write anything just wasn't there. I started writing this story back in January and I thought I'd post the first chapter and see what you guys think. So sit back and relax and enjoy the ride. This has been beta'd by the lovely Hughville :)

Disclaimer: I don't own House or any of the other characters from the show. They belong to FOX. As for the others, them people are my creation :D

Chapter One

"There's no way to prevent a fat embolism," Foreman reminded House as he sat in the empty ambulance. "Even if you'd done this in an O.R., you couldn't have saved her."

House tossed the stethoscope aside and climbed out of the ambulance. Foreman followed him into the dark and empty hospital lobby.

"You can't blame yourself for her death. This wasn't your fault."

House threw up his hands. "That's the point! I did everything right. She died anyway. Why the hell do you think that would make me feel any better?" House stumbled as he limped over to the reception desk, grabbing onto it for support. "You shouldn't be alone right now," Foreman said softly. "You're bleeding."

House straightened up and tried to look as menacing as possible. "I'm gonna give you a task as an employee. Get out of my way."

Realizing he'd said all he could, Foreman stepped aside and watched House limp out of the lobby to the exit.

When House got back to his apartment, he tossed his keys aside, went to the kitchen, poured himself a drink and sat down on the couch with his laptop. As if on auto-pilot, he opened his email and typed a very short but succinct email to let Cuddy know that he was done. Then he started packing.

XXX

"Wilson! What the hell is this?" Cuddy demanded once Wilson appeared at her door.

"What the hell is what?"

"Did you get an email from House?"

Wilson shook his head. "Nope. Why?"

"He quit. He's gone, according to this email. I just called his apartment but there's no answer and his cell has been disconnected. It says out of service."

"That's weird. He didn't say anything to me, but then I know he lost that patient last night so maybe he's just taking time to process. It's not out of the norm for him to go into hiding when he's down. That patient really shook him up."

"Did you see him last night?"

"No, but Foreman did. He said he'd never seen House like that and it was almost scary."

Cuddy rubbed her temples. "We have to find him."

"Why?"

Her head shot up. "What do you mean, why?"

"I mean why don't you just leave him be for once?"

"He can't just walk away."

"Sounds like he did just that. What did the email say?"

She glanced at her screen and frowned. "He says "I quit. I'm done. Don't bother trying to find me. By the time you read this, I'll have left the state."

"Wow," Wilson said, as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Just…wow."

"I'm calling Lucas," Cuddy said as she picked up the phone, but Wilson placed his hand over hers and made her put the handset back down in its cradle.

"No, you're not. Cuddy, just leave it."

"But what if he doesn't come back?"

"He doesn't owe you anything, Cuddy. If he says he's done, you and I both know that he means it."

"He seriously didn't say anything to you?"

"No, but then I was on call last night. I heard about the building collapse but I was assisting a surgery so I didn't see or talk to House. And he didn't call me, either. So I'll repeat, let him go. If House doesn't want to be found, you're not going to find him."

"He's under contract…"

"With all due respect, Cuddy, screw the contract. Just leave him alone. And no, I'm not going to help you find out where he is. Hell, he could be in another country by now."

"You don't even care where he went?"

"Of course I care, but I'm not going to go chasing after him like some child who ran away from home. Now if you'll excuse me, I have patients."

When Wilson left her office, Cuddy picked up the phone and called Lucas. "I need you to find House…"

XXX

House got off the plane and took a deep breath in. With the weight of PPTH off his back he felt free, for the first time in ages. He knew it was only a matter of time before his past caught up with him but he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. At least he had the good sense to get rid of his phone and get a new one so Wilson or Cuddy wouldn't be able to screech at him and tell him to get back to PPTH.

That was no longer his concern. He knew Foreman or Chase were more than able to run the department. It would still probably crash and burn, and the very idea brought a smile to his face as he made his way through the busy airport terminal and headed toward a rental car agency to get a car.

His next move was to find a place to live but he had no idea where the ideal place would be, he just knew he wanted to be in a small town, away from the hustle and bustle. Once he got situated, he'd send for his bike to be sent to wherever he settled down.

He picked up the car and drove to the nearest hotel that didn't look like a hole in the earth. Can't go wrong with a Hilton, he thought as he pulled into the lot and went inside.

Twenty minutes later he was sitting in his junior suite with his laptop, hunting classified ads for a place to live. There were several that looked promising so he called around and made appointments to check them out.

Two days later, he found a main level suite in a two-storey home near a place called Lake Haven, and it was a very nice town from what he could tell. When he pulled up to the house, he was already impressed with its size and curb appeal.

He went to the front door and rang the bell. When there was no answer, he tried again, but nobody came so he walked around to the side of the house and saw a woman digging in the garden.

"You live here?" he called out as he made his way across the lawn.

She looked startled when she saw him and he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said as she got up and dusted off her pants. "I didn't expect you so early."

"Yeah I got ahead of schedule."

"Are you Greg House?"

"Yep."

She took off her gardening gloves and offered her hand. "I'm Jaime Monroe."

House shook it but he couldn't stop staring at her.

"Come on, I'll show you the suite."

He let her go ahead of him so he could admire the view from behind. She was short, but she was very muscular and tanned. Her long dark hair was tied in a low ponytail and she had a sexy swagger to her hips as she walked.

She unlocked the door and stepped aside to let him in.

The suite was very bright and clean. It was also fully furnished which was a definite plus.

"All this furniture included?"

"Yes it is. Of course if you have some of your own, feel free to bring it. There's plenty of space, a little over a thousand square feet."

"Wow. I do have a baby grand piano I might want to bring over."

She looked interested. "Are you a musician?"

"That's a loose term," he said with a chuckle. "Are you?"

"I was, back in the day. Now I teach band at the high school and I give piano lessons on the weekend. Do you play anything else?"

"I have some guitars. And a banjo."

"Wow, nice. Not just a pretty face, are you?" she grinned, and he realized she had a slight southern drawl, but it was very minor.

"So how much?"

"A thousand dollars a month plus a $500 deposit. Also, no smoking and no loud parties."

House smirked. "Is that all?"

"Yep. I've had this place trashed before so forgive me if I'm a little wary."

"I'm not a partyin' kinda guy."

"Maybe not you, but you know how things go. You tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and so on, until you have a massive rager of a party and the old lady down the street calls the cops. That's never a good time."

House grinned wider. He liked the woman. She had spunk and that just made her even more attractive in his eyes.

"I just moved here so I don't know anyone, let alone anyone I'd let into my house for a rager."

"I live upstairs. This is my Grandmother's house. Or was. I was taking care of her until she passed away last year."

"Sorry to hear that."

Jaime shrugged. "It is what it is. I could move of course, but I love this house, and since it's too big for just me, I decided to rent the first floor."

"Well, it's great. I'll take it."

"I'll give you my email, you can just E-transfer me."

"Good, cuz I have no idea where my cheques are."

She laughed. "That makes two of us. Oh, and there's an alarm so I'll just show you quickly how it works."

Once that was done, and he transferred the money to her, he went out and bought groceries and a burner phone so he could call Wilson without being traced. He didn't put anything past Wilson or Cuddy to do what it took to find out where he was.

Once he was back and had the groceries put away, he called Wilson.

"House? Where the hell are you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, which is why I'm calling you."

"How could you just up and leave like that? You had us all worried. I was going to start looking in ditches for your body soon."

"Oh please. Quit being so dramatic."

"So where are you?"

"Why? So you or Cuddy can come find me and drag me to come back to Princeton because I'm the golden goose? Thanks, but no thanks. And don't bother trying to trace this call. It's a burner phone."

"What? You can't just leave-"

House ended the call and tossed the phone on the side table. He really had no interest in hearing what Wilson had to say. He was done with PPTH and with medicine, and he did not need to be escorted back to Jersey like a criminal or a child who'd done wrong. When Wilson was done being Cuddy's whipping boy, then they'd talk.