Author's Note: Sorry this chapter has taken a million years. It's a lot of expedition, so it's pretty lengthy. Next time, more fun. Thanks for reading and reviewing-- you're awesome! Also, I don't own House, but I think you know that.

Chapter 2

Twenty-seven minutes. She was supposed to be here twenty-seven minutes ago. I know the flight landed on time. How long should it really take to get here?

Lisa Cuddy paced nervously on the sidewalk outside Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. She had taken great care in planning the events for the day. House had clinic duty starting at noon, so she knew that he would probably find a room and hide from her until his shift was over (even though they were becoming closer, House's attitude toward clinic hours had not changed). From noon to three Wilson had back-to-back-to-back appointments, so all she had to worry about was getting her visitor into the building without drawing too much attention. Well, at least, that would have been all she had to worry about if everything was going according to plan. She glanced down at her watch for possibly the fifty-second time that afternoon. 1:28. Great. Lisa was beginning to wonder if she had made the right decision.

But before she could chastise herself further, a taxi pulled up to the curb. Cuddy checked her watch-- 1:30. There still was a good chance that they could enter undetected by House. Maybe House would never have to know she was here.

The cab door popped open and a warm voice greeted her, "Lisa!"

Cuddy took a moment to take in the sight of her friend. It was almost as if she had stepped out of a travel brochure for some far away, barely inhabited tropical island. Brown, wavy beach hair, flowing dress, sandals and a permanent smile. She was the same as Cuddy remembered, still young and eager to please, desperate to befriend, but more comfortable in her own skin.

"I missed you! You never came for that visit," her friend reprimanded, hugging her. "You look amazing!" she said, taking a step back and appraising her friend.

"Oh, yeah. Fourteen hour days and sleepless nights really work for me," Cuddy said sarcastically. "You on the other hand... Costa Rica really agrees with you."

"Not being a doctor any more, now that agrees with me. Now what's all the secrecy for? You know that I love to visit, but my assistant said you just needed to see me as soon as possible. No information, no details. What's going on?"

"Why don't we go inside and we can talk in my office?" Cuddy thought that her tone was casual, but as her companion's smile faded away she knew she was unsuccessful in hiding her worry

"Lisa," her tone suddenly turned serious. "What's going on that you can't tell me over the phone?"

"Jules, we should go inside."

She studied Lisa for a moment, then paid the cab driver and took her suitcase. "Ok."

The sounds of PPTH surrounded them as they walked in, every so often a nosey nurse or curious doctor would glance at them, wondering who the pretty brunette accompanying Dr. Cuddy was and why she had a suitcase. The walk to her office seemed to take a lifetime, but luckily the two friends arrived there undetected.

"I'm unavailable if someone comes by," Cuddy told her assistant. "And if House is looking for me, tell him I'm in with Wilson." She knew that was the only thing that would keep House away.

As she entered her office she locked the door behind her and shut the blinds around the room.

"Why are you locking the door?" Jules asked.

"Insurance. I don't want House to come barging in."

Juliana's worried look turned into confusion. "Wait. House, he's here? At the hospital? But I thought that--"

"I needed you to come and I couldn't wait until I sent him to a conference or gave him the day off."

"Does he know I'm here? You know how much he hates me--"

"He doesn't hate you, he envies you. He's jealous."

"Lisa, what's going on?"

"Why don't you sit down," Cuddy said, motioning to the sofa while taking a seat on a nearby armchair.

"What is going on?" she asked forcefully, taking her seat on the couch.

Cuddy took a deep breath, gathering up the courage to say what she knew she had to. "When was the last time you spoke with your brother?"

"A week or so ago. He and his new girlfriend were going to come see me, take a little vacation, but he said he couldn't get off work. He didn't sound too good, so I figured that they had a fight and things weren't going well between them. That's his usual MO-- calls me, sounds horrible, insists he's fine and then three months later I find out that he had a fight or got divorced or cheated on his wife. You know, the usual. Why?"

"So he hasn't told you anything about--"

"Lisa, is Wil okay? Did something happen?" Terror filled Juliana's face as she waited Cuddy's answer.

"Three weeks ago, there was a major bus crash--"

"Oh my god... Was James... Is he hurt... Did he suffer--"

"No." Lisa cut in quickly. "No, he wasn't on the bus." Temporary relief washed over Jules' face. "Amber was on the bus and so was House."

"I don't understand. Obviously, House is fine because you said he was here and if Amber..." Juliana's voice trailed off as she noticed that Lisa had stopped making eye contact. Which always meant something was wrong.

"House suffered from Edema, swelling in the temporal lobe, bleeding in the brain, was in and out of a coma for three days, but now he's mostly recovered."

"Mostly?"

"He still can't remember all of the events leading up to the bus crash. Amber, on the hand, suffered from massive injuries, organ failure and Amantadine poisoning. She didn't make it."

"I don't understand," she said quietly. "I talked to him a week ago. He didn't say anything. Why wouldn't he tell me?"

"I thought he had. He told me that you couldn't make it up. Something about a prior engagement--"

"Lisa, you know me. You know that I would have come even if I had to walk the entire way. I would have never left him alone to--"

"I know. I'm so sorry. I should have called you, but I was so preoccupied with House. I don't know. I was focused on House and I should have paid closer attention to Wilson..." her voice trailed off and she looked down and tears flooded her vision. She couldn't bear to look at her friend. She knew she had let down Wilson in that first week and felt horrible about it.

"It's not your fault," Juliana said, taking Cuddy's hand, trying to comfort her. "I'm not trying to make you feel guilty. I know you were worried about House and you were scared you would lose him. You took care of the friend who needed you the most. I understand."

Lisa looked up into Juliana's glassy green eyes and took refuge in the fact that her friend didn't blame her or fault her. Juliana gave Cuddy's hand a final squeeze before releasing it. Sighing, she stood up and wiped her face of tears.

"I need to go and see Wil before heading to the hotel. You don't mind if I leave my suitcase here while I talk to him, do you?"

"No, of course not." As Juliana turned to leave her office, Cuddy stopped her. "There's something else. About James."

Juliana turned to face Lisa, a troubled expression returning to her face. "You said he was okay."

"He's fine physically, but mentally... I could be wrong, but I think... I think that James is dealing.. Or rather not dealing--"

"Lisa, what's wrong with him?"

"He's been drinking. A lot. He doesn't seem drunk, but he's definitely drinking off hours and here at the hospital."

"He wouldn't."

"There have been complaints. Nurses have noticed the faint smell of alcohol on his breath when they pass him in the hall or sit next to him in an exam room. And another doctor has noticed Wilson adding more than creamer to his morning coffee. It's why I called you. I can't talk to him about it. I've tried. I thought that maybe you would be more successful."

"I'm glad you called me. I'm glad I came, but I'm curious--why didn't you just ask House to help? He's right down the hall?"

"Wilson blames House for Amber's death, though he denies it."

"Why would he? You said they were both on the bus. Did House cause the accident?"

"No. House was drinking at a bar and called Wilson to pick him up. Wilson wasn't home, Amber was. She went to retrieve House, he climbed on the bus, she followed him on to make sure he got home alright."

"There's no way he could have known that she--"

"Of course not," Cuddy interrupted. "But Wilson's in pain and he needs someone to lash out at. House is an easy target. Add to that the fact that James asked Greg to risk his life to help Amber--"

Juliana cut Lisa off, "What do you mean risk his life? What did James ask him to do?"

"House was suffering from memory loss and couldn't remember anything. He knew there was something in his memory that would help diagnose Amber. Even though he knew the risks, Wilson asked House to do deep brain stimulation." Juliana's mouth dropped open in disbelief and Lisa continued. "House did it and suffered from a complex partial seizure. The procedure is what caused the brain bleed and the coma."

"I've got to go see Wil. I need to talk to him. I'll know where to go from there. At least, I hope I will." Juliana took a deep breath, walked to the door and unlocked it. Before she opened it, she looked back at Lisa. "You know, when you called me and told me you needed me to come right away, then outside when you said House was here, I swore you were going to tell me that you and House finally got it on."

A soft smile broke on Lisa's face as she shook her head in amusement.

"I really wish that was your news," she called over her shoulder as she left Lisa alone in her office.

Clinic hours over for the week. House had spent the last three hours of his time watching television with a fourteen year-old idiot complaining of a stomachache. The kid wasn't sick and they made an pact, House would write him a note for school if he would stick around until his duty was done.

House grinned as he tossed the patient file on top of a stack Brenda was organizing.

"I'm outtie." No matter how close they got, Cuddy would never let him out of clinic duty. With all the drama that surrounded his life in the past weeks, he took comfort in the idea that something, however small, wouldn't change.

A few minutes later House found himself limping past Wilson's office. He paused and listened at the door. Neil Young. Wilson was still wallowing. House wanted to knock on the door, but thought better of it. On his first day back House came to Wilson's office, sat in the chair across from his friend's desk to lament about how the nurses in the clinic were giving him the most boring cases (at the time he was only allowed to do clinic work because Cuddy insisted he needed recovery time before returning to his regular job). It was his attempt to restore some kind of normalcy. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Wilson sat at his desk and stared at him, barely acknowledging his presence. House made it halfway through his story before Wilson cut him off and asked him to leave so that he could catch up on his work. As Wilson shut the door behind him House knew that things were never going to be the same. That his friend would never really be able to forgive him.

And here he was, weeks later, still outside Wilson's door, hoping it would open, hoping that he would be greeted by his best friend, that they could walk down the hall together, go to lunch together without Cuddy having to babysit them. He even missed the the unwanted advice, insufferable nagging and the unsolicited character studies.

Taking a deep breath, House turned away from the office door and continued on his way. If Wilson's in his office then he wasn't in Cuddy's any more. At least House had one friend to talk to. He hobbled to the elevators and pushed the call button with the end of his cane. While waiting he concentrated on crafting the perfect opening line for his conversation with Cuddy.