This is a sequel to Prompt 093. Silence – The Sounds of Silence

094. Night

By My Side

Wilson lay in his hospital bed and stared up at the ceiling. Although it was the middle of the night, the lights were on in his room. He'd asked the nurses to leave them on, not feeling comfortable in the dark while he was unable to hear. It made it difficult to sleep but between sleeping and being comfortable, right now he was going to choose comfort. Besides, House didn't mind sitting beside his bed while he slept; it got him out of work, after all.

It had been five days. Five very long days while he waited to see if his hearing was going to come back. The last of the swelling in his brain had gone down two days ago but his hearing still hadn't returned and today the specialist had told him that if it hadn't come back by now, it probably wasn't going to. House had gotten angry at that news. Wilson had seen him snarling at the specialist as he lay numbly on the bed. He hadn't had the strength to get angry. All he could see was a future that seemed bleak and empty.

He'd withdrawn into himself after the specialist left, closing his eyes on House. He'd opened them with surprise when he'd felt the thump on his bed and had seen House limping out of the room. That sight had filled him with despair; at the time he'd seen it as House's abandonment of him. He'd felt like a bit of a fool when House had come back dragging…literally dragging by the arm…a rather exasperated Cuddy.

"Tell him he can keep his job," House had demanded, making sure to face Wilson so that he could follow the conversation.

Cuddy had looked blank for a moment then she frowned. "Of course he can," she said to House.

"Don't tell me," House had growled then pointed at Wilson. "Tell him."

Comprehension had dawned on Cuddy's face and she'd looked over at Wilson.

"You can keep your job," she'd said clearly. "You'll need to be trained in ASL and make sure you have continuing speech therapy, maybe also have a translator for dealing with patients, but no one is going to take your job."

Wilson hadn't been able to understand everything that Cuddy said but he'd caught enough. He'd sagged back in the bed with relief and watched as House let go of Cuddy's arm. She had seemed to make a few tart remarks to him but had smiled softly at Wilson before she left. House had watched her go then returned to his seat beside the bed.

"Stop worrying. Get better," House had said to him and Wilson had smiled wryly.

"Sorry. Just…" His voice had trailed off, unable to articulate what he meant.

House had seemed to understand though and his hand had closed around Wilson's wrist in a comforting grip. They'd sat there in silence for a long moment then House had grinned wickedly.

"I'll learn ASL with you," he'd said abruptly.

Wilson had frowned, unsure if he'd gotten that right. "You're going to learn ASL?"

"Of course," House had said with a roll of his eyes. "You're going to need someone to wave your hands at."

Wilson stared up at the ceiling and smiled to himself at the memory. House was making sure, in his own uniquely blunt way, that Wilson wasn't going to be alone in this. It was reassuring, if somewhat alarming, since he was sure that House was going to find even more way to get him into trouble now.