Chapter Four:
Anali was asleep when House entered her room. He took a seat by her bed and waited, laying his cane on the bed beside her. Her hand nudged it in her sleep and she woke. "I'm not perfect," she said quietly.
"I would never accuse you of such a tremendous sin," he replied. She smiled. "What horrible burden have you been carrying?"
"We were separated twice," she said. "When he first was hired here. That was the first. We were having problems and he needed space. So I gave it to him. I moved in with a girlfriend from church for a couple months. But I did date that time. Unfortunately, one of my dates somehow convinced me to drink. And then…"
"You were date-raped," he finished for her. She nodded. "Go on."
"I talked to my Bishop about it," she said. "And I repented properly. I haven't touched any kind of alcohol since. Not even an empty bottle. But there was a slight problem."
"Pregnancy?"
"Yes," she nodded. "I went back to my Bishop. He told me to pray about what I should do. I felt impressed to…"
"You got an abortion?" House asked. When she nodded, he continued, "You've been the strongest voice in the march against it! Is this why?"
She nodded again. "No woman should risk that," she said. "There were complications because of my anaemia. All I was told was I had lost a lot of blood. Later I learned the reason I began bleeding so profusely. It wasn't just my anaemia. They had destroyed my uterus."
"I had wondered," he said. "I could see that in the ultra-sound. It wasn't on your record, but I didn't ask. Uncharacteristic tact, I know."
"Everything checks out fine," Foreman said, taking his stethoscope ear buds from his ears. "It was just the anaemia again. You should be discharged later this afternoon."
"Thanks, Forman," she said. He smiled warmly at her and left her room while she stretched her arms above her head.
Someone knocked on her door. She looked up as House walked in. "I hear you're being discharged," he said. She nodded. "But you won't go home. You'll still spend an insane amount of time here for a doctor who doesn't work here. Won't you?"
"Probably."
"Why don't you fix that problem?" he suggested. "I've convinced Cuddy to allow me to hire another intensivist for my team. What do you say, Anali? Why don't you get back into the business? You know you miss it."
Her smile slowly faded. "I don't know, House," she said. "I'd have to talk to Robert."
"I'm sure he'll be fine with it," House said. "He wants you to be happy."
"He wants to divorce me," she said. "Somehow, I doubt he'd enjoy working with me again."
"He loves you," he insisted. "He's just being a moron."
She sighed. "I'll think about it," she said.
"Hey."
She looked up from tying her shoe. Chase was standing in the doorway, a small smile on his face. "Hey yourself," she said, smiling a little. "What's up?"
"House said you were being discharged," he said, walking over to the end of her bed and leaning on it.
"Yep." She stood up straight and looked at him. She twisted her hair up and clipped it in place. She waited for him to continue.
"He also said he offered you a job."
"He did."
"Did you accept?"
"Yes." She picked up her bag containing her personal effect and slung it over her shoulder. "Ta." She walked out of the room.
He followed her. "Why in the world would you go back to work?" he asked. "Everything was working out fine."
"Obviously not since you called a divorce lawyer yesterday," she said bitterly as she signed the release forms.
"Who told you that?"
"Cameron. Thank you," she handed the forms back to the nurse and walked towards the elevators. "She was my spy, Robert. And she does her job all too well. See you in the morning." She left without another word.
"Or sooner," he muttered. Then he sought out Cameron, who he found in the lab. "Why did you tell her I called a lawyer yesterday?"
"Because you told Foreman you did," she answered quite simply.
"I called the lawyer to cancel the meeting," he explained. He rubbed his face. "I had thought about what you had said and realised that I'd rather work it out than lose her."
"Then I suggest you go home," she said.
Anali was working on the computer when she heard the bedroom door open. "Sitting on the floor, using you laptop in little to no light, wearing nothing more than a pair of my boxers and a tight fitting black tank top," Chase said, looking down at her. "Is this a new habit House taught you?"
"I wasn't expecting you to come home," she said as she shut down her computer. She looked up. "Why are you here, anyway?"
"I've missed you," he said. "And I wanted to tell you that Cameron didn't hear the whole truth. Yes, I called a lawyer, but I called when I first told you I wanted a divorce. Yesterday, I terminated my contract with him. I want to make this work."
"Why?" she asked, setting the laptop on her desk and getting to her feet. She pulled her clip from her hair and tossed it onto the desk. "For the children we will never have?"
"I was being an idiot," he mumbled. "I'm sorry… and I love you."
"Sounds like you just want sex," she said, looking at him carefully in the dim light filtering in through the drapes from the street light. "That's the problem with men, when six o'clock hits, you rarely think with your brain and tend to listen to the logic and rationality of your penis."
"Good God, Anali," he said. "You don't need to be so harsh."
"Maybe I do," she said. "Maybe I love you so much, the only way to stop you from hurting me is to be harsh. If only to keep you a safe distance from me."
She turned to brush past him to go to the bathroom to brush her teeth. But he grabbed her wrist and stopped her. "Please don't do this," he whispered. "Angela gave me the adoption papers before I left the hospital. We can sign them now, and when she gives birth, we will have full custody of the baby." She sighed and seemed lost in thought. "Anali, we can have that family you've dreamed of having since you were a child."
"I don't know if I want to raise a family with you," she muttered, pulling her wrist from his grasp and swiftly walking the four feet to the bathroom. "Good night."