092. Relief
A Normal Day
Wilson looked up from the patient file he was writing in and sighed with relief. The lift doors had just opened and House was limping out into the corridor. He was carrying his helmet and looking almost…jaunty, his leather jacket open to reveal the black t-shirt he was wearing underneath.
Wilson had never let his friend know how relieved he was to see him arrive safely at the hospital or back at his apartment after he'd been riding that motorbike. And he never would. House was alarmingly like a child sometimes and if he knew exactly how much Wilson hated the motorbike, he'd ride it more and more recklessly just to get a reaction. And House rode the damn thing recklessly enough as it was.
He knew it wouldn't do any good to tell House why he hated the damn bike. That he'd seen a good friend turn himself into a vegetable showponying on a motorcycle when they were both sixteen. That he still visited that friend a couple of time a year in the home he'd ended up in. That his friend never woke up, never did anything except breathe. That he lived in fear of House ending up the same way.
He was still staring at House when the older man turned around, seemingly aware of the eyes on him. He almost dropped his eyes to the file in his hands but House chose that moment to give him a cheerful, crooked smile.
"Hey, Wilson!" he bellowed, startling the others in the corridor and making Wilson roll his eyes almost automatically. "The ducklings have been stupid. Wanna come in and watch me yell at them? You can steal some of our coffee."
Wilson couldn't help the smile that grew on his face and he shrugged as he started walking towards his friend.
"Sure. Why not?"
"Excellent," House crowed, looking pleased.
He tossed his helmet at Wilson, who fumbled with his file as he caught the projectile. He scowled at House but it didn't seem to affect the other man. House just blithely turned and kept limping towards his office. Apparently the opportunity to yell at his team for their incompetence was what made the man cheery in the morning. He shook his head and tucked the file under his arm, following House into his office, where he dumped House's helmet on the armchair, and from there into the conference room where three very resigned-looking ducklings were sitting.
He got himself some coffee and leaned against the bench, watching House slathering his team with his normal brand of sarcasm, smiling into his coffee cup and letting his relief settle into its normal place.