CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

Henry was in the middle of one of his stories when House entered his room quietly and leaned against the back wall.

"Gerry was on our trail, literally. Lefkowitz was bleeding so badly at that point that a trail of blood marred the pristine snow and pointed Gerry straight toward our hiding place. There was nothing we could do though. O'Brian and I couldn't keep carrying Lefkowitz. I had my own injury that needed tending. Still have the mark where the bullet grazed my shoulder." Henry pulled the hospital gown sleeve up to his chin to show the small white blur on his shoulder. "Hurt like a bitch, but we had to keep going.

"Lefkowitz, bless him, told us to leave him. Maybe when Gerry found him they'd think he was alone and wouldn't come looking for us, but we couldn't do that. We were in this together. It was…"

"How long ago did this happen?" House called over the gathering crowd of nurses and doctors, each pulled in by the draw of Henry's expressive story telling.

Henry did some math in his head. "Good 68 years ago. I was just a boy. Lied about my age to go serve with my brother. He died before I was out of basic training, but by that time I felt I had a job to do, and I went to Germany to rid the world of those Nazi scum."

"Good to see you don't hold a grudge." House snided, receiving dirty looks from several of the more compassionate nurses on staff.

"I'm not holding a grudge," Henry replied. He didn't bother explaining further. He had people waiting anxiously to find out what had happened to the rest of C Company.

"What happened next?" Kutner, who had taken a seat front and center asked eagerly. "Did you get Lefkowitz out of there?"

"We did indeed." Henry smiled proudly, pointing it directly at House, almost as if to challenge him to say something. House remained silent and Henry continued. "O'Brian found some planks from a bombed out house nearby. He fashioned some crutches for old Lefty and we made a fake blood trail going off in one direction while we waited for Gerry to pass, then headed back the way we'd come."

Everyone applauded the heroic escape. Everyone except House. He was watching Henry intently, not really hearing the words coming out of the old man's mouth, but marveling at the youth in his eyes, the change in his whole demeanor. The man who had been in a coma the day before was gone. In his place was a 19 year old war hero in an old man's body.

Henry was accepting their accolades when House left. He'd seen enough.

"Things seem to be going well in there," Cuddy said, seeing her favorite doctor emerge and hurrying to greet him.

"Things aren't always what they seem." House took her hand gently in his and gave it a small, loving squeeze then let go before anyone noticed.

"Any hints about where we're going for the weekend?" She was becoming excited about their trip. It would be their first non-business trip together. She was trying hard not to make a big deal out of it, but her girly little heart couldn't help itself.

"You'll have to wait and see." As would he, but she didn't need to know that.

"Are you sure you can get away?" She looked over his shoulder into Henry's room.

"He's fine. The team can handle anything that comes up." He really didn't think anything would come up. He already had an idea of what was wrong with the old man and it wasn't as fatal as they'd originally thought.

"Okay." She was hoping he'd say that. She didn't want to put off their trip, but wanted to make sure he wouldn't have any excuses to run away leaving her wherever it was they were going.

"You're going to be stuck with me all weekend," House said rather adorably.

"Good." Cuddy looked around her quickly, then leaned in and pecked House on the cheek before anyone noticed. Without another word she turned and hurried away, her heels clicking on the floor in a fast rhythm. House waited until she was out of sight before turning and heading to his office.

A few hours later Kutner came in to find him at his desk, books strewn across the floor, discarded when they offered no help in the case of Henry Rose. House had his feet resting on a stack of paperwork piled precariously on his desk. For a split second the young man imagined pushing the pile over and watching his boss topple over himself, but he liked his job, so he refrained.

"What are you looking for?" Absentmindedly he began gathering the books and returning them to their shelves in no particular order.

"What are you doing?" House looked at him.

"Putting these away." Kutner was holding a book guiltily in mid air.

"If you're going to put them away, at least do it properly."

"And how would that be?"

"Figure it out." House went back to reading.

Kutner looked at the books he'd already put away and began to rearrange them alphabetically. "Why'd you come see Henry earlier?"

"He's my patient." House didn't look up from his book. He was reading an interesting article about Somatization Disorder.

"That's never stopped you from not bothering with him before."

"Guess I was in the mood for a good story." House finished his article and watched Kutner. "I'll be out of town this weekend. I'm putting you in charge of the case."

"What?" Kutner dropped the book he was holding.

"You're in charge. Whatever happens, deal with it. Don't call me. Don't page me. Don't send me a carrier pigeon."

"What if he dies?" Kutner was suddenly terrified. He'd never headed a case himself.

"Then there's nothing more I can do for him." House seemed amused by Kutner's discomfort.

"Shouldn't Taub be in charge? He's got more experience…"

"Which is why I'm giving you a shot. Relax. It's just a babysitting job. You'll do fine."

Kutner looked confused. "That was oddly supportive."

"Just don't screw it up." House diminished any good will between them with that missive.

He rose slowly to his feet and left Kutner to finish sorting out the bookshelf. Rather than heading to the hall, House went out onto the balcony and tapped a few times on Wilson's window before entering.

"You could have waited for me to say come in." Wilson wasn't busy. He was playing Castle Mouse on his computer, but House didn't know that.

"It was cold out there."

"You could have come in from the hall."

"That's not nearly as cool."

"What do you want House?" Wilson watched as House dropped into a comfy chair.

"Just dropped by to say hi. Can't a friend just say hi now and then?"

"A friend, yes, you no."

"Fine. Then how is my trip going?"

"The one you're making me do all the work for?" Wilson sounded so put upon.

"Yeah, that one." House didn't notice.

Sigh. "I reserved you the best room at the Overlook."

"And what's the Overlook?" House liked the best room part.

"It's…you've never heard of it? It's this beautiful old Victorian with its own lighthouse on the shore in Connecticut. Very exclusive and hard to get into. I had to buy off the couple who had booked the room…"

"How much is this going to cost me?" House narrowed his eyes.

"Isn't she worth any price?" Wilson, ever the romantic.

"No." House, never the romantic.

"I'll pay for it." House didn't realize that Wilson had found his credit card number and was holding it for just such an occasion.

"That's very generous of you," House said doubtfully. He knew there had to be a catch, he just wasn't sure what it was yet.

"Here, here's everything you need to know. Directions, a description of the room, activities nearby, have a good time House. And talk to her. Tell her how you feel."

House looked confused. "Which do you want me to do? Talk to her or have a good time?"

"Go!" Wilson pointed to the door with exasperation.

"I want a new employee when I get back."

"Yeah, fine." Wilson watched his friend leave then returned to the fifth level of Castle Mouse. He was determined to beat his high score from yesterday.