Wilson's Turn
Chapter 7
"And the hardest part
Was letting go not taking part."
-The hardest part, Coldplay
Part 1
They were both asleep until about one, when the oncologist came in to check on Wilson and meet with House. He had expected House in his office around noon, and figured he was with Wilson, so he came to the room.
"How are you James?"
"Pain's low, morphine's good. When was that meeting? I've been out of it most of the day."
"So has your friend, he missed it. I've come to get him for our discussion. I need more x-rays from you while I chat with him."
"No problem."
Wilson looked over at House, he was still asleep.
"House…hey House!"
"What do you need?" He rolled over so that he was facing Wilson, his eyes still closed.
"Your meeting was an hour ago. Dr. Wagner's here, want to go discuss while I got get more x-rays?"
"Sure, yea. Be back in an hour or so."
House got up with some difficulty. Taking the Vicodin off the table he followed the doctor to his office.
"My bad about earlier. We got in late…"
He cut him off.
"No need to apologize. I get it, no big deal."
Sitting in the office they began to discuss what will happen to Wilson.
"I know you already told me what you want to do but would you mind telling me again?"
"Sure, in simple terms, you find the affected bone, cut it out and replace it with a metal rod. The muscle will allow function and he will still have use of the leg."
"Right. We can do that but it will take longer than the usual course of action."
"I don't care about time. I care about function."
"Function you will get after a long rehab battle."
"We can do it."
They shook hands and House was on his way out.
"Make sure you explain the procedure to him before we do it."
"Will do."
House made his way back to the room, and waited until Wilson returned from Radiology.
When Wilson returned House was watching TV, waiting for him. Wilson was a little shocked, he wasn't away very long and wondered how the discussion went.
"How'd it go?"
"Fine, quick and easy. How was the meeting?"
"The same, quick and easy."
"What did you talk about? I only kind of know your idea."
"They will take out the removed bone and place a metal rod in the space where the bone was. The tumor should be in the middle of your leg, leaving both joints unaffected and you should be able to walk and function properly without that piece of bone."
"Hope it goes as smooth as you explain it to go."
"You're fine and set with the procedure?"
"Yeah, as long as you make sure it goes to plan."
"What if it doesn't? You know I need to know what you think if they can't save your leg."
"Don't cut it off without me knowing about it first. Got that? I don't care if they close me up and then open me up again, no cutting without me knowing first. I don't want to wake up surprised."
"I got it. And will make sure that if it does go wrong that you know before anything happens."
"So what are you going to do while I'm under? Catch a movie?"
"Oh yeah, I had thought about that. No, I'll be in my office, in the building the whole time and they know to page me or call me about anything, anything at all. You nervous?"
"Yeah, you?"
"Yeah."
He could see how worried James was. He was really scared, truly scared.
"Wilson, it will be fine, I'm here and you know I won't let anything happen."
"True. Just don't leave me until you have to."
"You got it."
Part 2
The hours passed and the surgery started. House was with him until they started the procedure basically. He sat in the hall for some time, not really knowing what to do with himself. He once said, "I'm bad at sitting around looking nervous doing nothing," and it was completely true. His leg started to hurt so he walked back to the room to try to loosen it up. Being there made him just think about everything too much and he grabbed his Ipod and walked to his office.
He drew all the blinds and posted a note on the door. "I'm in here and I'm fine. Go be productive." He didn't want any ducklings or Cuddy bothering him. They all knew what was happening today and knew that they might stop by for condolences or whatever else they wanted to talk about. He made sure to lock all the doors that lead into his office so he defiantly could only be reached via phone or pager.
With the Ipod plugged in he began to listen to anything and everything it played. He was feeling a range of emotions, how he loved Wilson, what he would do without him, anger, guilt, pity, any emotion that could be named, he felt at this time. The play list he had just created he decided to play. That set his emotions spinning and resulted in him crying. He didn't know what else to do, he felt bad and wanted Wilson back, the old Wilson. By the time he was done being emotional about an hour had passed and he felt drained, every feeling was out and dealt with in a matter of speaking.
Once he had composed himself he went back to the OR suites to check with a nurse on his buddy's status. Since he had received no phone calls he had to check on what was going on. Suspense and not knowing really killed him, no matter what it was.