Author's Note: Thanks for the kind reviews. I have been busy and not able to write as much as I would like. Thanks to those of you who keep reading.
Chapter 13: Not the momma
Kate is sitting in the cafeteria with Wilson, sympathetically listening to Wilson rant on about House. She is picking at her wilted spinach salad and finally pushes the plate away from her. Wilson stops to catch his breath after close to 10 continuous minutes of complaining. Kate takes the opportunity to offer some advice.
"You know, Jimmy, Greg has you completely whipped."
Wilson's warm brown eyes nearly bug out of his head. "He does not have me whipped!"
Kate earnestly nods. "Of course he does. You are tending to him like you are his momma. He treats you like a doormat. You deserve better."
Wilson considers what she says. He seems to be poised to agree, but then says "But he's my best friend."
"I know he is your best friend. But you're acting like you're his mother. You shouldn't have to do that."
"If I leave him to his own devices, he'll drink for the next three months."
Kate shakes her head. "He'll drink for about a month and then get bored with it. He doesn't have the attention span or devotion to make an effective alcoholic."
"Well, that may be true, but he has no food in the apartment. But I really don't want to go over there tonight and deal with him."
Kate asks "Do you want me to go pick a few things up for him and bring them over tonight? That way you can have a break from him. Face it, you have spent every evening with him since he woke up from his coma. You are getting burnt out. Go out and have a nice dinner with Lisa or some cute nurse from the pediatric wing. I will baby-sit Greg tonight so you can have a break."
Wilson skeptically says "Do you really think that's a good idea?"
Kate shrugs. "For you, sure. For me or Greg, not so much. I'm doing this for your mental health, not his and certainly not mine."
"Do you promise not to smother him with a pillow?"
Kate laughs and hold up three fingers in the Girl Scout pledge. "I promise." She puts her hand down and adds "But I can't promise I won't do something else to him." Wilson gets a troubled look on his face and Kate laughs harder. "Ok, ok. I promise not to kill Greg off tonight."
Wilson nods. "Ok. Then I will take you up on your offer. Oh, yeah. He asked that I bring Steve McQueen home tonight."
Kate looks confused. "Um, you do know that Steve McQueen has been dead for over 25 years, right?"
"He has a pet rat that he named Steve McQueen. Cameron had brought the rat to the hospital shortly after House was hospitalized so she could keep and eye on it and feed it."
Kate sighs. "Ok, I'll bring him his pet rat. Anything else I need to know?"
"I can't think of anything."
The afternoon passes quickly. Kate is getting along well with the ducklings. She is sitting in the conference room catching up on House's delinquent files. Chase is in the clinic and Foreman is tending to their current patient. Cameron is pouring over the patient's latest lab results. Kate glances at her watch. She sees that it is 5pm and she stretches and says to Cameron "Did anything show up in that latest round of tests?"
Cameron shakes her head. "No, everything is still the same. No improvement but he's not getting worse either."
"Let's keep him on the current round of meds then and retest in the morning. I am going to head out for the evening. Page me if anything changes or you need anything."
Cameron nods. "I will."
Kate stands up and smiles at Cameron. "This is going to sound insane, but where is Steve McQueen? Wilson asked me to bring him the rat."
Cameron smiles slightly. "He is probably going to bring Steve back to House." Cameron stands up and leads Kate into House's office. The two women walk over to the bookshelf where Steve's cage is. "There he is, the infamous Steve McQueen." Steve is running in his exercise wheel. He pauses a moment to peer at the women. The rat derisively sniffs at the women and goes back to running.
Kate laughs. "When I was married to House, we had a cat named Burt Reynolds. House picked the name. Burt was a good cat."
Cameron sneaks a glance at the nostalgic look on Kate's face. "What happened to the cat?"
Kate sighs. "He passed away a few years ago from old age."
Cameron has a sympathetic look on her face. "I'm sorry."
Kate shrugs. "Eh, he had a good run. He was possibly the most interesting cat I ever met. House doesn't go for boring pets with no personality."
Cameron ever-so-slightly changes the subject. "I never though of House as a cat person."
Kate laughs. "He wasn't. I came home with a cat one night. I am a sucker for animals. A lady was giving away kittens at the grocery store and I came home with one. I'm pretty sure the only reason House agreed to keeping the cat was that he found the cat interesting."
Cameron goes for the million dollar question. "What was House like then?"
Kate smiles at her. "Pretty much the same way he is now. Well, maybe not quite as sarcastic all the time, but I think he was a lot more active then and it ate up some of the spare energy. I think now he focuses that energy into being a bastard. He was handsome, talented, athletic, smart, witty, sarcastic, successful and well-traveled. Being with him made me feel alive; invincible."
"Then why'd you get divorced?" Cameron's eyes search Kate's face for some unspoken answer.
Kate doesn't feel so chatty anymore. She stiffly says "People change." Kate grabs her jacket and pulls it on. She picks up the cage. "Oh well, you have a good night, Dr. Cameron. Remember, page me if you need me. I won't rip your head off for paging me, unlike some people I know."
Cameron nods, accepting that she pushed for too much information. "Ok. See you tomorrow." She watches Kate walk to the elevator with Steve McQueen in tow.
