042. Tears
I'll Be There
House limped out onto the balcony, coffee cup in hand, and raised his face to the warm sun. He closed his eyes as he stood there and sighed deeply. As he did this, a muffled sound came to him and he opened his eyes and looked around curiously.
Wilson was sitting hunched over in the chair on his section of the balcony, his face buried in his hands. The muffled sounds were clearly coming from him. His shoulders were shaking and House was fairly sure he was crying. He put his coffee cup down and rather awkwardly and more than a touch painfully manoeuvred himself over the low wall that separated the two sections of balcony. It was a measure of Wilson's preoccupation that in spite of House making no attempt to be quiet, he never once looked up.
Once he was over the wall, House limped over to the chair and knocked Wilson's shoe lightly with his cane. Wilson looked up with surprise and House saw that he'd been right; Wilson was crying, the tracks of tears running down his cheeks.
"What's up?" House asked slightly awkwardly.
Wilson swallowed and scrubbed at his face with his hands. "I…Nothing. Everything."
"Gotta be one or the other," House observed as he tapped his cane on the ground.
"I just told a six year old girl and her parents that she'll be dead before Christmas," Wilson said drearily. "Before that I told a forty-year-old mother of four that she'll be dead before the end of the month. And before that I told a twenty year old man that if he's lucky he'll get another year to spend with his baby son." He paused and looked like he was about to start crying again. "And Julie's moved out. She hates me."
House was quiet for a moment then he reached out and laid a hand on Wilson's shoulder. The younger man did dissolve into tears at this. House stepped forward and Wilson wrapped his arms around House's waist, burying his face into the slightly wrinkled shirt. House shifted his hand and gently stroked Wilson's hair.
"Guess I owe you thirty bucks," he said after several minutes and he heard Wilson give a shuddering huff of laughter against his shirt.
"Twenty," came the muffled answer. "The six year old and her parents were too shocked to say anything."
"Well, that's good for me," House said in an off-hand manner, gaining another small huff of laughter.
Finally Wilson pulled away from House and wiped his eyes with the back of one hand. He looked a little calmer and more settled and he climbed to his feet. He took a deep breath and looked House in the eyes.
"Thank you."