NO ONE CORRECTED ME ON THIS BUT I CAUGHT IT ONLY AFTER I POSTED. There is no chapter missing—I mislabled 13 as 14 so I'll just keep it the way it is.

And you must excuse the medical information on the next few chapters because some meds I make up and level of certain tests – like are high but s/b low, etc. For everyone's knowledge, PKD is Polycystic Kidney Disease – listed only as PKD.

Ok, enjoy and review. :o) And thanks for all the reviews already sent.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN – End of Story

House sat behind his desk later that morning with a sick feeling in his stomach as he looked over Kathi's prior medical file but nothing showed out of the ordinary. The more he read, the worse his stomach felt – like butterflies, but evil butterflies – nothing cute about them. And it was all over Kathi; someone he hadn't known for very long at all. Hell, they didn't have more than eight hours of conversation. He didn't know why he was feeling the way he was but it bothered him, right down to his Nikes. But he hadn't seen her since she'd been in the ER. He wanted to see her, but something held him back. That was the million dollar question.

They'd controlled the bleeding but her blood pressure was dangerously high and the medications were not bringing it down. The side and back pain had subsided somewhat although she was still in pain but she refused anything for it. When Cameron told House he had to control the urge to throw his ball at her, not that he was mad at Cameron, she just happened to be the closing living, breathing target.

Her blood work the gang took was not good, either. The pancreas wasn't regulating the insulin her body needed for her kidneys to function properly and her blood sugar levels were through the roof. In combination with the high blood pressure she was clearly on her way to a stroke or heart attack or aneurysm, whichever would come first. Regardless, none were a good sign.

He sat back in his chair hards and sighed deeply. He looked at his watch and it read 8:46 a.m. Breakfast crossed his mind but he wasn't hungry, even though he knew he had to eat. But he couldn't. Not now. He had to figure out what the hell was wrong with Kathi. Anger was building up within him – but was it because he was worried over Kathi or angry with himself because they hadn't determined what was wrong with her yet. The great Dr Gregory House was actually worried over someone other than himself. The butterflies went from his stomach to his head. He felt dizzy. His leg hurt. He was now nauseous.

He put his face in his hand and closed his eyes for just a moment. He heard his office door open but didn't bother to look up. He heard someone sit in the chair on the other side of the desk but ignored them.

"House, her liver enzymes have decreased to 12 and the blood is back in her urine. Chase and Foreman are doing an MRI of her liver and kidneys." Cameron said, majorly overdoing her sweetness to comfort his as best as she could. House willed his evil butterflies to attack her but they only fluttered wilder.

House only mumbled into his hands and she got up and left. Only when he heard the door close behind her did he open his eyes. On his desk was a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich, toasted white bread with three packets of ketchup; just the way he liked it. A smile escaped his lips as he reached over and tore off a small bite, slowly putting it into his mouth. He chewed but to him it tasted like cardboard. When he took the last bite his stomach and head didn't feel any better.

He figured some cool, autumn air would make him feel something, if anything. He stepped out and leaned over the brick wall that overlooked the courtyard. He wanted to be alone, but heard Wilson step out from his office.

"House, Stacy just called me," he told him.

"So," he snapped.

"She wanted to know how Kathi is. She wants you to call her at this number. I didn't know what to tell her about her condition." He handed him a piece of paper.

"Why should you know? You're not her doctor."

"No, but you are and I figured you would have consulted me, for some strange reason. Why aren't you racking your brains or tearing your hair out or … wait, you don't have much hair to tear out," Wilson teased, hoping to get some reaction from House. It backfired.

"I am so NOT in the mood for you right now."

"House, what's eating you? I've seen you obsessed over cases before but this is different. You seem almost depressed about it. Have you even seen Kathi? Cameron said she asked to see you."

"Yeah, so?"

Wilson could do nothing but shake his head and walked away. Just as he got to the door he turned around. "Oh, my god. You like her, don't you?."

House turned around and looked at him, with piercing eyes that threw daggers at him. "So what if I do?"

"House, go see her."

House simply turned back around and looked at the changing colors of leaves on the trees. He would go see her at some point. But Stacy wanted him to call her, like he really wanted to. He sighed, reached in his pocket for his cell and dialed the number Wilson left on the ledge.

"What do you want?" House snapped into the phone.

"Well, good morning to you, too, Greg," Stacy answered. 'This isn't a good sign,' she thought. "Look, Judge Sasser, the one presiding over the case, he's … Kathi is her daughter."

His eyes lit up. "Ah, so that's why I'm here and not there."

"Yes. He said he knows you are a pompous jerk, and he's right, but he also knows you are a good doctor. He wanted you to treat her. How is she doing?"

"Not good."

"Okay, we'll have a break in a few hours and Judge Sasser will call you. I hope you'll have an answer for him."

"Yeah, me too," House answered and clicked the phone shut.

He suddenly felt tired. He had been rudely awakened and felt all the strength and energy drain from him. He sighed and headed back to his office. He sat in his 'thinking chair', throwing the cane on the floor in a childish fit. He closed his eyes to think, but was asleep in seconds.

HOUSE MD HOUSE MD HOUSE MD

"House. House?"

House jerked awake and groggily looked at Cameron, Chase and Foreman. He sat up, wiped his eyes and asked, "What did the MRI show?"

"PKD – two are the size of ping pong balls; there also seems to be a few growths on her liver and pancreas as well, which explains the elevated insulin. She's scheduled for surgery at 11:30," Cameron told him.

"She wants to see you before she goes under, House," Chase threw in.

House didn't answer. He simply stood up, rubbed his eyes and walked out, leaving the three in stunned silence.

He walked to Kathi's room, and the closer he got the more his butterflies eased up on their Death Dance. He took a deep breath before he slid the door open and walked in, his body instantly easing from the tension.

He was expecting her to be asleep from all the tests they had run since the early morning but she was awake, lying on her bed and looking out the window. "Hey," he said softly as he approached her, so as not to frighten her. She turned her head towards him and smiled weakly. "Why aren't you asleep? After our kinky trist last night I thought you'd have been exhausted. I wasn't good enough?"

Kathi laughed then grabbed her right side, quickly stifling her laughter. "Don't make me laugh. It hurts too much."

"Oh, then I guess I shouldn't make this face, huh?" He then proceeded to make the worst and stupidest facial expression he could muster.

"Greg? Why do you hide behind being such a childish dork?" she asked but had a smile on her face. He frowned, not quite sure exactly what she meant. "When you are the most uncomfortable you have to say something sarcastic… or are you more vulnerable then you let show?"

House shook his head quickly and said, "Your surgery is easy…" He then went into detail on the surgery but she didn't seem to be paying any attention. House picked up on it, too. "Also, simple nip here and cut there – cysts gone. You'll be fine in no time. Want some liposuction done? Wait – not necessary. Boop job? Triple-D's would look totally awesome on you! Oh, wait, hmmm…scratch the second part. They're perfect."

Kathi blushed a bit then slowly sat up with a very serious and stoic expression on her face. "Greg, look. I think we let things get a little out of hand."

"What are you talking about?"

"The flirting," she answered.

"Flirting? I wasn't flirting. Were you flirting?" he joked.

"I don't want to hurt you…I don't want…neither one of us needs…"

"Why, Ms. Gilmore. Are you asking me to marry you?"

"What? Where in the hell did you get…what I mean is that I don't think we should see each other after I leave here."

House tilted his head back as if a football had just landed on his face. "Um. Okay."

"Okay. Good," she responded.

"Kathi?"

"Hmmmph?" She said that as she closed her eyes; the awkwardness of the situation was starting to take its toll and she felt completely exhausted.

"We'll talk more after your surgery, ok? I'll be here when you wake up. Shoot, I can even do the surgery if you want me to."

At that comment her eyes flung open in shock, but then softened and she closed her eyes again. "No, Greg. Please. You found out what the problem was. It's getting fixed. Then I'm going home. We go our separate ways. End of story."

End of story? How could she say that? He was pleased at how they had progressed – granted, it wasn't even 24 hours, but for House that was a start. His mind reeled as he left her room.

'There's more to this story than she's letting on. Not end of story, it's just the beginning.'

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END OF CHAPTER – please review….TANKS AND HAPPY HOUSE-o-ween!!!!