A/N: Slow and steady...here's another chapter. I have three days left of my spring sport, so I'll have all kinds of time on my hands after that! So faster updates soon, I promise.

Two rings...He's probably not in his office this late. Another ring. Come on..."Hello?"

Remy breathed a sigh of relief at the now-familiar Australian accent. "Chase? This is Remy Hadley again."

"Oh, hello, Remy. How's it going with our patient?"

"Well...how's everything there?"

"Same - no one's concerned except Wilson, who seems to be panicking. There's still not a lot he can do. I think he's accepted that House will be back whenever the hell he wants to. I've never seen him this upset, though."

"So whatever argument sent House running in the first place, Wilson seems to be over it?"

"Looks like it from here," Chase confirmed. "Of course, once he's not so worried, he might be pissed again."

"House seems to think so," she said. "Which brings me to my reason for calling. House has been unusually civil the past few days. You'll never believe this, but he's been letting me bring breakfast, stop in during the day just to say hi, and come watch TV or play board games in the evenings."

She could hear his smile on the other end of the phone. "Actually, I do believe it. I told you he always liked you. So he's doing better?"

She sighed. "He was. This morning, I found out he was listed for early transfer back to Princeton-Plainsboro."

He took in a sharp breath on the other end of the phone. "How'd he take it?"

"He knew before I did, and he wouldn't even talk to me. It took me a while to figure out why. He was scared, Chase. He withdrew and nearly bit my head off when I tried to talk to him."

"Of course," Chase groaned.

"But I had an idea - actually, a good friend of mine did," she continued. "If House could handle these things separately, first the extra leg injury, then the problems at home, he'd definitely recover faster. You know as well as I do that with both those stacked on top of each other, he'd hide away and self destruct."

"And it's better for his and Wilson's fight to be worked out on its own, so they can deal with the real root of it without the added element of House's injury," he agreed.

"So we were thinking...it'd be better for him to complete some of his out-patient time here." He was silent, waiting for her to continue. "Obviously, out-patient means he won't be staying in the hospital, but I have an extra bedroom." She held her breath, praying he would think it was a good idea. Chase was the only one she'd spoken to about the issue who was familiar with House, so his opinion mattered.

"Well...wow." He sounded surprised and cautious. "And have you run this by him yet?"

"Again, you'll never believe this...he actually agreed to it. Of course he argued a little, and I had to tell him instead of asking, but as of right now, he's coming over tomorrow morning."

She smiled when he let out an impressed whistle. "Wow. Good luck. You sure you can handle that?"

"It'll be fine. I'll be at work most of the day, and he'll have physical therapy and exercises to do at home."

"You don't want him entertaining himself on your internet or TV," he advised her, laughing.

She grimaced at the thought. "Thanks for the tip. Anyway, I hope to get a little closer to figuring out what's going on with him and Wilson. If you make any progress on that end, will you keep me posted?"

"Of course," he promised. "He still doesn't know we've talked, right?"

"No, I thought it'd be better this way for now. I'll tell him if he needs to know, but till then..."

"I'll keep it to myself," he agreed. "If you need anything, please call me anytime. The next couple weeks won't be easy."

"Thanks, Robert. It helps."

"I'll talk to you later. Goodbye, Remy."

**********

Remy dug through a hall closet in her apartment that night, searching for an extra set of sheets. "Gotcha," she mumbled as her hand closed around them. Good thing I have that bed in the guest room. She wouldn't have bothered, but it was there when she first rented the place.

The guest room was sparsely furnished, but it would do. Across from the bed sat a small wooden table with a simple engraved design. The closet was empty; the walls unpainted. Not like House will care. It's better than a hospital. She spread the blankets over the bed, then glanced around the room once more. Well, that's that, I guess.

Leaving what was soon to be House's room, she walked through the rest of her apartment in an attempt to tidy up. Dishes to the sink, laundry to the basket, shoes to the door, makeup to the bathroom...Wow, this place is a mess. She didn't usually let it get so chaotic, but it had been a busy week. Besides, there wasn't usually anyone around to see it. She had few friends outside of work - years of the party-girl lifestyle left her sick of that scene. It just seemed so shallow. Dinners and occasional movie nights or sporting events on TV with Stephen were much more appealing. Not while House is here; he'll never let it go. Maybe, she hoped, he'd be too distracted with his own problems to try to screw with her and Stephen. Yeah, right. If anything, all his issues will just drive him to meddle more, to find a distraction.

I just HAVE to figure out what's wrong with him. He's acting so weird about the Wilson thing...it's almost like he's ashamed of whatever it is. I've seen him do some pretty bad stuff, take advantage of Wilson while mocking him and poking at his weak spots, but he's always been proud of his manipulative skills. This...he's not proud of. That means he crossed some line he's always stayed back from, and God knows I have no idea what that could be. Was there really anything off-limits between him and Wilson? Even Amber was fair game for sarcastic comments. If there's some sacred topic House won't use against him, they've kept it well-hidden...

Anyone have any guesses as to what they're fighting about?? If someone guesses it this early I'll be impressed =) Reviews and thoughts please!