Warning: Death Fic
091. River
Steely Grey
Wilson stood on the banks of the river and hunched his shoulders against the bitter winter breeze. He stared down into the steel grey water bordered by dirty ice and didn't feel the tear that slid down his cheek. It had been a year. One long year since two policemen had arrived at the door to the apartment he shared with House to tell him that there had been an accident on this very bridge. That House had been thrown from his bike, striking his head on the concrete railing and falling into the frigid water of the river. The police said House had been unconscious when he hit the water and had never stood a chance. If he hadn't drowned, the head injury would probably have been sufficient to kill him.
The funeral had been small; just Wilson, his parents, House's parents, Cuddy, Cameron, Chase, Foreman, Stacy and Dylan Crandall. It had been brief and concise and Wilson had always felt that his lover would have liked it. He hadn't but that was understandable.
Life had gone on after that and Wilson had found himself somewhat resentful…and more than a little depressed. As the months had passed, the resentfulness had faded into a dull, heavy, helpless anger thick in his chest, made worse when the driver who had struck House had gotten nothing more than a slap on the wrist from the courts. But the depression had remained, hanging low and heavy around his neck, weighing him down, strangling him. He didn't sleep very well anymore and he knew he was quieter than he had been. Cuddy watched him carefully, kept dropping in to see him, kept making him eat lunch with her. But he was certain that she didn't see too deeply. She couldn't or she would never have let him be alone today of all days.
Wilson leaned against the cold concrete, letting it seep into his hands and spread the chill through his body. He looked around and saw that he was alone, very few people had ventured out into the biting cold of the day and those who had were in place other than here. He slowly pulled his long overcoat off and draped in carefully, almost primly, over the railing. He patted the pocket, nodding to himself as he heard the crinkle of the envelope that was in there.
He then climbed up onto the railing, sitting on it and staring unseeingly into the distance for a moment before he gave himself a push and fell. He hit the water with a splash, the sheer iciness of it yanking the breath from his lungs. He didn't struggle and he didn't try and regain the surface. He let the current pull him down and, as his vision slowly faded to black, he smiled.