Thank you again for the reviews! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

000000000000

"Did you see House?" Cameron asked sadly, she couldn't believe how quickly this case came crashing down. She doubted anyone else could have believed it either. "He looked so devastated."

They all sat in the DDX room, Wilson was pale at the sight of House and Mac, and also at the venom that his best friend spewed at him. Cuddy stared blankly at the board with all the little girl's symptoms scrawled on it. Foreman's eyes were focused on the table in front of him and Chase was almost as teary-eyed as Cameron.

Thirteen and Taub were given the rights to go home for some sleep during the overnight shift that the other four had worked, and when they walked in the morning after, they were unprepared to find their boss, Wilson, and the old team sitting in tense silence.

"What happened?" Taub asked the quiet room.

Wilson was the first to speak up, "Riley has Naegleria Fowleri. House just told her mother. She was inconsolable and House...Jesus." Wilson rubbed his face and stood up, he halfway sprinted out of the room. It was all too much. He had to get some air.

Cuddy finally stood as well, pushing the wrinkles out of her skirt as she did, "I have to go fill out the paperwork. Let me know if anything changes." She was trying to be professional by saying such a futile thing, but her gut was wrenching and she really just needed a distraction to get the look on House's face out of her head for even just a moment.

Thirteen took her spot, landing heavily in the chair; while Taub took Wilson's place and braced his hands on the table.

"My God," Chase stated, clearly overcome by all the emotion in the room, "I just...how could something like this happen?" He asked no one in particular. And no one responded, everyone just tried their best not to look at one another.

0000000000000

House had somehow pulled Mac up into the chair with him, she was sprawled with her butt on his good leg, her legs dangled over the side, and her upper body was curled into his chest.

He sat and stared at Riley's unmoving features, watching her chest rise and fall as the machine kept her breathing. His mind was racing and hitting brick walls, as he tried to figure out what he was going to say when Mac woke up. He couldn't think of anything else but the horrible, gnawing feeling in his gut as his mind replayed the events of the past day and a half.

God, he would do anything to take this pain away from her. Anything in the world if he could just rewind time and fix all of this for her.

Of course, there was no such luck, and he was forced to just sit it out and let his brain race and spin. He felt like he could puke, or pass out, or hell, even kill someone at this point. He was so angry that the world was so shitty, that he had no control over any of this, and that he was feeling so helpless and hurt by it all.

He usually did his best to suppress all kinds of feelings, whether it be with alcohol, puzzles or pills; but today, he had to swallow this bitter reality, in order to be there for the woman who now had her whole world taken from her.

He knew what that was like. He had been scared and alone before. Hell, most of his life was spent scared and alone. He wasn't going to let her be alone...not, now.

She had been there for him that fateful night when he fell through her open window, with bruises and cuts all over him. She had consoled him during one of the worst moments of his life. She was there for him and knew things about him that even his mother didn't know.

Mac moved slightly and it made him jump, he was so lost in thought. She wearily opened her eyes and slowly became aware of her surroundings. House didn't move. He didn't even breathe for a moment as her eyes looked up to him for answers. He exhaled loudly, through his nose, trying to collect himself and bring his mind back to the moment at hand.

Tears filled her eyes again, as she asked, "Please tell me this was all a horrible nightmare…" her voice was a whisper...a plea.

"I can't." he whispered back, letting his head fall back and his eyes close.

"Oh… God…" she whimpered, as she put her head back on his chest. Another round of sobbing ensued and she wrapped her arms around his torso, holding on for dear life.

"I can call...whomever you need me to. Your mom, your dad? Her dad?" He wanted to be as helpful as possible, he just didn't really know how.

"My parents are on vacation in Berlin, I don't want to tell them just yet." she said monotonously, once there was a pause in her crying. "My ex...he was...a piece of shit. He left us when he found out I was pregnant."

"I'm sorry." House said simply. Mac hiccupped.

"I...I need coffee." She said suddenly, shaking her head to clear the tears and thoughts. House sat up as she stood up.

"I can get it." He said, grabbing his cane to stand up, only to wince and fall back into the chair from the unrelenting pain that soared through his stiff, mangled, leg. He began to massage it intensely, his eyes closed and he went white from the agony of it all.

Mac halted, "Jesus, Greg, are you okay?" She asked quietly, leaning down to grab his free hand.

He started laughing, really laughing, and Mac just stared at him confused and almost horrified at his response.

"Mac...honestly, after all that you have been through, you're seriously asking if I'm okay?" He offered her a comforting smile and a genuine appreciation fell across his face, "I'll be fine, go get you some coffee, I'll stay here and keep an eye on Riley. I'll get you immediately, if anything changes."

Again, his voice offered no room for questions, and she did as she was told.

As she made her way down the hallway to the elevator, she ran into Wilson, who was just coming back up to his office after taking a breather.

"Maxine! Hey, how are you?" he slapped his forehead, in regret, "Oh, I'm so sorry, that was such a dumb thing to ask…"

"It's okay," the Australian drawled, "I'm just going to get some coffee, care to join me? Greg is watching after Riley while I'm gone."

Surprised by her sudden composure, he nodded profusely, "Of course I'll join you, thank you."

They made their way to the cafeteria and found themselves sitting across from each other as they sipped on the hot brew.

"Man, I really needed this, I slept so terribly…" She said softly, if only to just break the awkward silence that was between them.

"Maxine, I am so sorry." Wilson started.

Mac put her hand up to stop him, "I don't want to think about that right now, tell me what your job is here." she said distinctly, making Wilson rear back a bit at her blunt honesty. It was refreshing, and all too familiar. Her and House were a lot alike, and while he had met plenty of people who could go toe to toe with the great Gregory House, Maxine was the first that he actually saw as his best friend's equal...a formidable opponent indeed.

She held herself with dignity, respect, and she put fear into people without even trying. She was simply a force to be reckoned with...someone that Wilson couldn't even see Stacy matching up to, which shocked and intrigued him. It was more than intriguing, it was inspiring.

"I am the head of the Oncology department." He said simply, trying not to let his admiration show too much.

"Cancer seems boring, no?" She half smiled at him, the sadness was still there, but she covered it well. "How long have you known Gregory?" She asked, understanding that they were more friends than any of the other doctors she'd run into in this hospital.

"Fifteen years, give or take a few. It's a bit of a blur being friends with House." He laughed a bit, she did too.

"Don't I know it." She chuckled, taking another sip and then a gulp of her coffee.

"How long have you two known each other?" He asked back, truly interested in this vixen that appeared out of nowhere.

"Since I was fourteen and he was sixteen. We met on a military base. Our dad's were both Marines." She answered, enjoying the distraction even if it was only for a moment.

"Wow. That is...you really know him, know him, then don't you?" Wilson sat back, trying to wrap his head around House as a teenager, "Has he always been...himself?" He didn't really know how to explain House's personality without having to write a book about it.

"The first day we met, he asked me my name and came up with the nickname 'Mac' only after he offered 'Maxi pad' as an option...if that answers your question." She smirked at him, Wilson laughed.

"That sounds about right...I guess he was just starting to hone his sarcasm skills back then."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure his dad appreciated the joke he made about fingering pies when my mom brought over one to welcome them to the neighborhood." Mac snorted.

Wilson's eyes widened, and he laughed a bit too loud, he composed himself and whispered, "He did not! What am I saying? Of course he did.." he shook his head, amused at his friend's teenage antics.

"He told a teacher to 'go fuck himself' when he was asked to solve a word problem in math class. He put itching powder in the quarterback's jockstrap right before the homecoming game. He blew up the Chemistry lab during lunch one day and blamed it on the chemical label's getting mixed up. He never actually admitted to it, but I'm fairly certain, he somehow flooded the bathrooms during midterms and classes got cancelled for two days…" She stopped, as if she were trying to think of something else, when Wilson waved his hand, giggling in spite of himself.

"HO my God, he has literally not changed a bit." Wilson just shook his head, and Mac just smiled knowingly.

"He is a very...complex individual." She stated, adoringly.

Wilson noted her adoration, "You dated him?" he already knew the answer based on the look she had when she talked about him.

"He was my first...everything, really. Maybe a bad influence, sure, but we had a lot of fun. We were going to get married, but…" She trailed off deep in thought.

"Married? Huh. I could never see House getting married…" Wilson said, a bit surprised at his best friend.

"Yeah, life happened, and well, obviously, we just didn't work out…" She stated sadly. She got quiet and they both just sat in a semi-comfortable silence before she abruptly stood up, "I need to get back to my daughter. Greg looked like he was in a lot of pain, is he usually like that?"

"Yeah, since the infarction, he lives with pain everyday. Sometimes its bearable, sometimes it's excruciating." He tried to give her the barest of details, not knowing what House wanted her to know, but he could see the worry in her eyes.

She nodded curtly, spinning on her heel and walking with determination, grabbing an extra coffee (presumably for House) on her way out of the cafeteria and toward the elevators.

Wilson smiled in spite of the situation. He couldn't help but think about how wonderful this could be for his best friend...someone so close to him, so in tune with him, and who went back so far in his life; well, maybe his friend actually had a chance at being happy after all.

His mind went back to Mac's daughter quickly though, and he couldn't help but think that life had a sick way of balancing things. It just served to make him angry, so he got up and went to his office to try and get his mind off of the horrible events of the past day and a half.