038. Work

Missing the Pieces

Wilson had never really considered himself a workaholic but he did take his work seriously. Cancer sort of demanded a certain amount of focus and dedication, at least from those who lasted for any length of time in the demanding and heart wrenching field, but Wilson had always felt that he had learnt how to keep things separate and keep enough time to relax and unwind, usually in the company of House.

But as he looked at the unconscious form of his friend through the window of the isolation room he wondered what the hell had happened.

It was true that they'd had an unusually large influx of patients after the closure of a hospital across town that had led to all of the doctors in the Oncology Department, not just himself, working long hours to sort everything out. It was also true that time he'd also had two conferences he'd had to attend within two weeks of each other that had eaten up a lot of time beforehand in the preparation of his presentations as well as the time he'd been away. But as far as he was concerned that was no excuse for ignoring what must have been in front of him the whole time.

How had he not noticed that House was ill? How had he not noticed that his friend was quieter, less argumentative and less of a pain in the arse? How had he not noticed that House wasn't eating properly? Drinking more? Taking more pills? How had he ignored the symptoms that must have been right in front of him?

"He will be alright," Cuddy said from behind him. She sounded certain.

"Yes," Wilson replied but it was mostly an automatic response.

"James," Cuddy said firmly. "He will be alright."

"How can you be so sure?" Wilson retorted. "It was caught late. His respiratory system, gastrointestinal system and his renal system are all involved. And just how the hell did he catch Rocky Mountain spotted fever anyway? Isn't it spread by ticks?"

Cuddy came up beside him at the window and nodded. "Cameron checked that rat of his but it was clean. She also didn't find any trace of ticks in your apartment."

"You sent Cameron to our apartment?" Wilson said with an incredulous look.

"She was the only one available," Cuddy replied. "It was Foreman's day off and Chase was busy taking care of House."

Wilson grimaced and nodded and hoped like hell there hadn't been anything too incriminating in the apartment, especially the bedroom. Unfortunately neither he nor House tended to be careful since nobody other than him ever really came round to House's place and he was fairly sure there was more of his stuff in the bedroom than could be easily explained.

"It's not your fault," Cuddy said, proving that she had a fine understanding of the people that worked for her.

"I should have noticed," Wilson said in a voice full of self-recrimination. "I can't believe I got so wrapped up in work and failed to notice when my own lover got sick."

"He's very good at hiding things," Cuddy said soothingly. She was well aware of the relationship between the two men having walked in on them several times in the last couple of weeks, much to her combined exasperation and amusement. "What I'd like to know is how you managed to avoid catching it from him?"

Wilson grimaced. "I've been sleeping in my office or on the sofa a lot in the last couple of weeks. He hasn't been sleeping well and I didn't want to risk waking him." He shook his head. "I should have known. House can have trouble getting to sleep but once he's asleep he's hard to wake. I should have known when he kept waking up so easily."

"James, stop beating yourself up," Cuddy said firmly. "It wasn't your fault. And he will be fine."

Wilson drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, nodding absently. He knew that, House was strong and almost insanely stubborn. He'd get better. He was sure of it.