Chapter 24: Last day

Kate heads out to Lisa's living room. Lisa is sound asleep on the couch, exactly where she was when Kate came home the night before. Kate walks over the couch and taps Lisa on the shoulder. Lisa jerks and her eyes fly open. Lisa blurts "What are you doing?"

Kate rolls her eyes. "I am getting ready to go to work."

Cuddy rubs the sleep from her eyes. "When did you come home last night?"

Kate evasively shrugs. "It was late. You looked so cute curled up on the couch that I didn't have the heart to wake you."

Cuddy stands and stretches. "Did you sleep with House?"

Kate ignores the question. "Go get a shower. You are going to be late for your meeting this morning."

Cuddy sighs in frustration and runs a hand through her unruly curls. "Dammit, Kate, I hope you didn't. He is just going to break your heart again."

Kate says "I am heading out to the hospital now. Go get a shower. Don't be late for your first meeting, or you're going to make my meeting with you be late too."

Kate drives herself to the hospital. She has the windows down and the breeze blows her hair. The day has dawned crisp and bright. She parks the car and hops out. She heads up to House's office. The ducklings aren't anywhere to be found, but Kate correctly assumes they are somewhere since there is a fresh pot of coffee there. She is pouring herself a cup when House wanders in.

"Where's the ducklings? This is a pretty crappy welcome back party."

Kate smirks. "I was thinking that this was a crappy going away party."

House wanders over to the coffee pot and pours himself a cup. "Who made the coffee?"

Kate takes a sip and says "This has to be Cameron coffee."

Kate walks out to the balcony. Once House has poured his coffee, he joins her on the balcony. He leans on the railing next to her and says "Great weather we're having today."

Kate nods. "Indeed." She sips her coffee.

"Did you get grounded by mommy for staying out too late?"

"Mommy was asleep on the couch when I got home and I didn't wake her up until I was leaving for work. She is probably sore and cranky now."

Wilson sees Kate and House on the balcony and walks out of his office to join them. "Good morning."

They both look over at Wilson. Kate says good morning and House says "Aren't you glad she is leaving? You didn't catch her cooties while she was here, did ya?"

Wilson dryly says "I had my cooties shot before she arrived."

"Wilson, you're ever the good boy scout. Prepared for everything. So, where are you taking me for lunch today?"

"House, who said I was taking you to lunch?"

Greg smirks. "I thought it was customary to give your friend a welcome back lunch when they have been out of commission for awhile."

Wilson shakes his head. "Kate and I are going to lunch."

House incredulously says "You give her a going away lunch but won't give me a welcome back lunch? That is entirely unfair!"

Kate rolls her eyes. "If you can go for an hour without being an jerk, you can come."

House strokes his chin thoughtfully and says "An hour is a long time."

Kate shakes her head. "I'll leave you two so you can have a private reunion. I've got some things to take care of before my meeting with Cuddy."

Wilson and House watch Kate walk away. Wilson says "While I'm glad you're back; I'm going to miss her."

House pouts and says "It's because she has boobs, isn't it? It's not my fault that I'm not that pretty."

"Actually, I got used to not being verbally abused every morning when I got to work."

"You're such a baby, Wilson. Take the abuse like a man. Hell, Kate takes it like a man better than you do."

Meanwhile, Kate has attended her final meeting with Cuddy. Cuddy has chosen not to mention the previous evening and Kate doesn't mention it either. Once the meeting is over, Kate finds the ducklings in the Clinic. She pulls them into an empty exam room. "Wilson and I are taking House to lunch as his welcome back thing. I would like it if you could all join us."

Foreman looks cynical. "House agreed to this?"

Kate laughs. "Of course not. I owe him some payback for making me uncomfortable while I was here. And, even though he's going to protest and complain the entire time, he'll appreciate it."

Chase shrugs. "Sure, why not?"

Cameron nods. "I'll go."

Foreman shrugs and says "Fine. But he better not hold this against us."

Kate reassures Foreman. "I promise he won't hold it against you. We're going to Umberto's. We have a reservation for noon under my name. Meet us there, ok?"

The ducklings agree to meet at the restaurant. Foreman and Chase go back to their clinic duties, but Kate grabs Cameron before she can leave. "Hey Cameron, do you have a minute?" Cameron nods and Kate shuts the door behind the other two ducklings.

Cameron has an aloof look on her face. Kate says "Cameron, I want to thank you for being such a great person to work with. I know we had our fair share of awkwardness and disagreements, but it was a pleasure working with you."

Cameron's look softens. "Well, thanks for helping me get the article published."

Kate says "If you genuinely like House, go for it. If you can crack his shell, it will be well worth it for you."

Cameron stammers "Wh-what? I'm not interested in him."

Kate smirks. "Right. And birds don't fly south for the winter. Look, the way to his heart is confidence. Be confident in yourself and in what you believe in. Even if he doesn't agree with your beliefs, he will respect you if you stand by what you believe in. Don't straddle the fence on the tough issues. Pick the side you believe in and go with it."

Cameron indignantly says "But I do pick sides!"

Kate shakes her head. "No, you really don't. You're wishy-washy and unwilling to commit because you don't want to be condemned for choosing what might be the 'wrong' answer. You're an intelligent woman. Stop worrying about if you are wrong or right. If you believe in something, stick to your guns about it."

Cameron sighs and then asks "What about you and him?"

Kate shakes her head. "Cam, he and I are divorced. There is nothing left to us. We've managed to start a somewhat shaky friendship, but it will never be more than that."

Cameron slowly nods. She says "I really don't know if I'm still interested."

"Fair enough. Should you decide you are interested in him, follow my advice. He'll be yours in a heartbeat."

Cameron nods and smiles. "I'll keep that in mind."

Kate fights back the small flame of jealousy and forces herself to smile. She says "Now you have an unfair advantage over Greg. Use it wisely, ok?"

Kate walks out of the exam room and heads back up to the office. Greg is sitting in the desk chair watching Jerry Springer. Kate flips the television off and House grumbles "I was watching that!"

Kate shrugs indifferently. "It's time to go to lunch. I'm starving."

Greg stands up. They walk to Wilson's office. Greg announces "The queen is hungry and demands food. Let's go, boy wonder."

The three doctors go down to Wilson's car. They quickly arrive at the restaurant to find the ducklings waiting for them in the lobby. House gives Kate an accusatory look. "You invited them."

Kate says "Welcome back to work, Dr. House. This is also my going away lunch. You just need to suck it up and deal with it."

The group is seated. Lunch goes well. House stops pouting and is nearly pleasant to everyone. The group has a good time and several laughs. Towards the end of the meal, Kate says "Well, I officially step down and turn the ducklings back over to you, House."

House studies his ducklings. "I can tell just by looking that you made them soft."

Kate rolls her eyes. "I did not. They're just as tough as they were before."

Foreman smirks. "She gave us some pointers on how to handle you."

House flashes a dirty look at Kate. "I told you, no pointers."

"Did you? I don't remember that."

House groans. "The next thing you're going to tell me is how you sat around and shared your feelings about the cases you had! It's going to take me months to deprogram them!"

Chase says "Don't worry, she did the best to run the show like you do."

House smirks at Kate. "I think Chase just called you a bastard."

Kate grins. "I don't care. He doesn't work for me anymore." Kate glances at Wilson and says "Let's head back. I have a conference call with my boss in Seattle at 1:00. Can you guys give House a ride back to the hospital?"

House starts to object, but Wilson throws down a hundred dollar bill and says "That should cover the majority of the meal. See you guys later."

Wilson walks Kate to his car. They get in and head back to the hospital. They spend most of the car ride back to the hospital discussing how well House has recuperated from the gunshot wounds and how good it is to see him walking with relatively little pain and without his cane. Wilson turns the conversation to Kate and says "I'm going to miss you, Kate. It's been great having you here."

Kate warmly smiles at Wilson. "I have enjoyed getting to see you every day. You need to come visit me while you aren't married. Maybe we can hook you up with some Seattle sweetie and you can come live out on the west coast."

Wilson chuckles. "I don't see myself leaving New Jersey anytime soon. But I promise to come pay you a visit soon."

Kate smiles. "I guess that will have to do." Wilson parks the car and gets out. Kate walks over to him and gives him a big hug. "Thanks for everything, Jimmy. You're a great friend, and if Greg can't figure that out, the hell with him." Wilson can't help himself, he plants a kiss on her.

Across the parking deck, House is staring at Kate and Wilson. His stomach is in his throat and he is pale. The ducklings are torn between staring at House and Kate and Wilson. Chase finally breaks the silence by saying "Well, I guess that's why she wouldn't go out with me."

House glares at Chase and then stomps away. Chase says "What did I do?" Cameron and Foreman shrug and they all head into the hospital.

Kate gently shoves Wilson away. She shakes her head and says "C'mon Jimmy. It was never meant to be between us."

Wilson sheepishly nods. "I'm sorry."

Kate smirks and ruffles his hair a little. "You're not a bad kisser, Dr. Wilson. Too bad you're like a brother to me." He smiles at her and they walk back into the hospital.