029. iPod
Hideaway
Of all of House's toys, the iPod was the one Wilson hated the most. At least with the other things House couldn't completely ignore you. He could still hear you even if he pretended not to be listening. He always was listening, just in case you might come up with something worth hearing. But the iPod was different; it allowed House to block everyone out completely, to lose himself in a world of music where no one could reach him.
Wilson knew that House resorted to the iPod when he wanted to retreat. Either because of a patient whose diagnosis was frustrating and eluding him or because he wanted to avoid talking to people or because this day was a bad day and maybe the music could drown out the pain for a little while. Most of the time Wilson was exempt from this retreat. Most of the time House would at least pull one earpiece out.
But there were days when even he was thrown out of House's world and he hated those days. Hated how helpless he felt when he would get nothing more than that blank, distant, faraway look. Hated how it made him want to grab House by the shoulders and shake him until he was allowed in again. He always had to shove his hands into the pockets of his lab coat to hide the clenched, shaking fists.
But most of all he hated the reminder that no matter how far House let him in, no matter how much further inside those monolithic walls he was compared to everyone else, not even he was allowed all the way in.
And that was where he wanted to be…