053. Eat
Feed The Man
One of the biggest problems they'd faced after the infarction was getting House to eat. Pain was not something that sharpened the appetite and the amount of weight House lost in the first month, while not dangerous, was definitely a worry in someone who was naturally rather slim anyway. It was not something they'd wanted to continue and in the end Wilson was the one delegated to try and get House to eat.
At first he'd been forced to resort to threats in the face of House's stubbornness. The threat to have a nasogastric tube inserted had been effective but had also led to House sulking openly and audibly for several days. Wilson had put up with the sullen and slightly resentful remarks his threat had gained him with a certain amount of resigned patience. That was until the day he'd had a brainwave. The conversation with Lisa Cuddy had been amusing to say the least.
"You want to do what precisely?" Cuddy asked."I want to get him eating again but I can't do that with hospital food," Wilson replied. "I can with junk food though but if I just come waltzing in with it, he's going to get suspicious and with the mood he's in right now that'll just mean he'll refuse to eat it."
"So what do you want from me?" Cuddy asked.
"I want you to…to catch us on occasion," Wilson said with a small smile. "Not all the time but just often enough to make it look like we're doing something against the rules."
"Bringing junk food into the hospital is against the rules," Cuddy said dryly. "But I do see you're point. So why do I get to be the bad guy in this?"
"Because you delegated me to get him to eat," Wilson countered.
Cuddy stared at him for a long moment then shook her head. "I can't believe I'm saying this," she muttered under her breath before continuing in a louder voice, "So how often do you want me to come in and catch you?"
"Enough to make him smug about eating apparently illicit food," Wilson replied. "I'll start tonight."
So he had. Starting by supposedly smuggling in burgers and fries from one of their favourite bars. House had actually perked up when he'd produced the bags and Wilson had gotten the closest thing to smile that he'd seen from House since the infarction. Cuddy had come storming in just as they where finishing the last of the fries and proceeded to give them an impressive lecture on what constituted the appropriate food for a hospital environment. House had snarked at her and eaten the last of the fries in an obnoxious and ostentatious manner that had had both Wilson and Cuddy inwardly cheering and outwardly rolling their eyes.
They'd continued this until House had been ready to go home with Cuddy coming in at indeterminate intervals to scold them. House's weight loss stopped and he even gained a few pounds. Once House got home it had been a lot easier to get him to eat simply by coming over, ordering in whatever they felt like and eating while watching TV and drinking a few beers. The only thing that worried Wilson was that House didn't appear to be eating much in the way of lunch or breakfast. Unfortunately there wasn't much he could do about that without looking like a mother hen and completely alienating House.
Once House returned to work, Wilson found it easier. He could amble into House's office and suggest they eat lunch. He was more than happy to pay for House's meal if that was what it took to get him to eat. But he always made sure to complain and look exasperated. House would expect that and the last he wanted was for House to realise how much he cared.