Puppet Master
Chapter eighteen-"Closing Night"
By:Purpleu
"I wish you would have agreed to use a wheelchair."
"I didn't need one when I came home from having a building dropped on me, I don't need one now."
Lydia opened the door to House's apartment and stepped inside. House followed slowly with Wilson right behind him; Wilson was carrying two large bags marked "Patient's Belongings." As House moved far enough into the living room, he walked past him and placed the bags on the floor near the boxes holding the things Lydia and Annie brought with them from Arizona. He surveyed the stack of cartons.
"This is everything you brought with you when you moved?" Wilson asked. "I know you have furniture in the storage unit, but this isn't too bad. Between all of us, we should be able to move this easily," he said referring to the team.
"Actually, a few of them are empty; I've been taking things like towels and dishes and other supplies over to my place a little bit at a time. Those things, in addition to a few things I've purchased, and the two bathrooms and the kitchen are all set. I even have food in the cabinets and refrigerator," Lydia said.
"She was holding on to the cartons in case I needed them for my new crib. Did they give you a time frame for the delivery of your bed?" asked House who was sitting on the arm of the sofa. "Or is it a matter of we'll put you on the truck first, but you'll be delivered last."
"No, they were more specific than that; they said between three and five on Saturday."
"How many rooms need painting?" asked Wilson.
"Just the three bedrooms. The landlord had done the living room, dining room, kitchen and bathrooms before they started showing it; oh, and Annie's apartment is done, too. I guess he was anxious to get it rented, so he figured he'd leave the bedrooms to the renter's discretion. As I said to Dr. Hadley, since we are renting it with an option to buy, the landlord is being very laid back as far as any changes we want to make. Short of knocking down walls, we are free to do what we want."
"I think you need to install an elevator," said House as he gingerly rose into a standing position. He grimaced as he took a few hesitant steps toward the hallway.
"Do you need any help?" Wilson asked.
"Nope, just going to go pee; now if you asked me that question," House said nodding in Lydia's direction, "I would have asked you to hold something for me." Lydia gave him a look and folded her arms.
"I'm not going to start anything that we can't finish. And I know you would try to start something." House acknowledged Lydia's words with a pained look.
"Don't count on it tonight. Of course it would help if my doctor let me have medicine," House said pointedly.
"Lydia has the four Tylenol with codeine; you can have one after you eat something," said Wilson. "You know they can't be taken on an empty stomach."
"I told you, I made a pork loin, mashed potatoes and broccoli when I was at my place setting things up. I brought it here and now it just has to be reheated. Eat some of that and I can give you your pill." Lydia now had her hands on her hips and had her head tilted to the side. House pursed his lips as he thought over the deal.
"OK, but no greens. I'm a bovine and spud kind of guy." Lydia shook her head.
"Fine; I won't force the issue for now. When my kids are around, though, I'll need your help in setting a good example." Wilson started to laugh.
"Lydia, think about who you're asking to set a good example," he said.
"Laugh all you want Mr. Potato Head," House said turning around and facing the two. "But you're hopefully going to spending a lot of time with Annie; guilt by association: you're going to be spending a lot of time with the kiddlings, too. And you hate the green stuff as much as I do." Lydia gave Wilson a "gotcha" look; Wilson seemed embarrassed at being caught.
"Go…do what you have to do and get back out here so I can leave," Wilson said quickly changing the subject. House continued down the hall to the bathroom as Lydia shook her head.
"You know, he's probably going to try and convince the children that he's allergic to vegetables," she said smiling.
"I tried that on my parents when I was a kid; it didn't work," Wilson said.
"James! I'd expect that out of Greg, not you." Wilson smiled.
"I'm not as innocent as I look; and I'm sure he tried something along those lines as well."
"I'm sure he did," Lydia said as she walked to the kitchen. "You're heading home now, aren't you?"
"Yeah, but not to rest; I've got a lot of paperwork to look over. And now, with what Hunter pulled, we're going to have people crawling all over the hospital and poking their noses in everywhere. I am not looking forward to this," Wilson said.
"Would you like to take some food home with you?" Lydia offered.
"I'd love to have a home cooked meal; I don't get them unless I make them for myself."
"Or I help you make them," House said re-entering the room.
"Yes and he even knows how to cook," Wilson said with mock disgust. Lydia looked at the two skeptically. "He really does; we both do. We took a cooking class together when he got out of Mayfield."
"I needed to do something to stop thinking about you," House said. "Then the instructor had to bring up the fact that we'd be cooking chicken breasts and thighs and…"
"Stop!" Lydia said squeezing her eyes shut. "I get the idea. Go lie down on the couch; I'll put together a plate for you and one for James to take home." She opened her eyes and looked at Wilson. "Meat and potatoes only?"
"Yes, please." Wilson wandered back into the living room as House was positioning himself on the couch. "What do you want me to do with that stuff?" Wilson nodded toward the two bags he had brought in with him; they contained the foam and other supplies House used to protect himself from Hunter's assault.
"I'll have to figure out what to do with it; probably hold on to it for the next time I royally piss a psycho off. Do me a favor; go into my bedroom, try not to think of all the fun I have in there and get me my cane. It's leaning against my night stand."
"What's wrong with the one Lydia made?" Wilson asked. "It seems quite functional."
"I plan on framing it; keeping it as a memento of good triumphing over evil," House said as he held it up and looked at it. Wilson laughed and went down the hallway to the bedroom. House surveyed the cane and squeezed different sections of it, marveling at how it held its shape despite the pummeling he received from Hunter; he also noted that Lydia's design probably saved his life.
"Did you send Wilson to go get your real cane?" Lydia asked as she saw House examining her creation. She came into the living room carrying a plastic grocery bag containing Wilson's dinner.
"Yeah, I told him I'm preserving this one for posterity." Lydia smiled as she walked over and sat on the edge of the couch.
"It served its purpose; it protected you as best as we could have hoped," she said as she reached over and ran her hand down House's right cheek.
"Here you go," Wilson said handing House the cane he and the team had given him the day he left the hospital.
"Thanks; put the MacGyver cane over by the piano," House asked. Wilson and Lydia both laughed.
"That's a very apt name for it," Wilson commented. "Boy, if you can come up with something like this," he said holding up the cane to Lydia, "You could be a new age Bond girl; tech savvy and beautiful."
"That's far from high tech," House said, "But you're right about the beautiful part." Lydia smiled and rose from the couch; she carried the plastic shopping bag to Wilson.
"There are your meat and potatoes and a few biscuits. Oh, and I also made a gravy out of the drippings from the pork loin, so you do have gravy for the mashed potatoes, if you like." Wilson shook his head.
"How…when did you have time to do all this and make the magical cane, too?" he asked.
"The cane I made last night after we got home from dinner…"
"And did some other really fun stuff…." chimed in House. Lydia took a deep breath and ignored him.
"…And the food I made this morning after I dropped Greg at work and went to the house to do some work. I…I'm just used to taking care of people. This is what I've always done." Wilson smiled.
"You're amazing," he said and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Hey, what is this with everyone taking shots at my girl?" House said sitting up as he spoke. "First Thirteen tries for girl on girl action, which normally I wouldn't mind if I'm also a part of it. And now you're getting all kissy-faced with her."
"OK, I have to confess: in these few short days, I have fallen head over heels for Lydia," Wilson said as he walked over to the sofa. "How could I not fall for someone who's made my best friend wildly happy; something I never thought I'd see." He looked down at House; his forehead had a huge lump on it that was starting to turn purple. The contusion under his eye was less swollen, but also showed evidence of changing colors. It bothered Wilson more than he thought it would to look at House that way. Lydia came and stood next to Wilson.
"I never thought I'd see it either," House said looking up at Lydia and smiling.
"Well, let me get out of here, let you two eat and that way I can dive into my own dinner," Wilson said. "Good night, Lydia." He gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Again with the kisses," House complained. He looked up at Wilson mischievously.
"Good night, House. Thanks for everything you did…even if you are crazy." No other gesture seemed appropriate, so he held up his hand for a fist pump. House responded in kind.
"Good night, Wilson." Lydia walked with him over to the door and opened it.
"If there are any problems, call me," Wilson said quietly.
"He'll be fine," Lydia reassured him. He stepped out into the hall and then out of the building. Lydia closed and locked the door behind Wilson. She walked back over to the couch and sat down beside House.
"How are you doing?" she asked as she took his hand. "Do you want any ice packs?" House shook his head.
"Nah, not now; maybe after I eat. I want to get the food into me so I can take the pill. Wilson should have prescribed two at a time; he knows I can handle it."
"No, he shouldn't have; especially with head trauma, you don't want to overdo things. What can I get you to drink? And nothing with alcohol," Lydia warned.
"Damn, you are no fun," House said tapping his cane on the ground in mock frustration.
"That's not what you said last night; or the night before that. Or the night before that." Lydia leaned over and gave House a gentle kiss; she was afraid to do much more.
"Come here," he said and wrapped his arms around her. "I haven't been able to have any decent physical contact with you since everything happened this afternoon." Lydia hesitated.
"Greg, I don't want to hurt you." House shook his head.
"I'm fine. You made sure of that." Lydia smiled and leaned forward into his arms. As Lydia held on to House, images of the horror she witnessed this afternoon flashed through her mind; she knew he was OK, but the whole situation, what she saw, knowing House's reasons for what he did, hit a little too close to home. She began to cry. House felt her body shake as he held her; he pushed her back slightly so he could make eye contact with her.
"I'm fine…hey, come on…what's the matter?" House couldn't read what he saw in her eyes, so he wasn't sure how to react.
"I just can't get the picture…of Hunter beating you out of my head; and then…when I think about why you let him do that to you…I think of what Annie did for me…and...I…" Lydia fell against House sobbing; he held her as tightly as he could manage as he kicked himself for letting her see what happened today. He could have had her wait up in his office and have someone call her to come down; but he was afraid she wouldn't stay up there, that she would come down too soon and ruin everything. House thought that if she was near what was going on and could see it, it would be better than the uncertainty. He couldn't allow himself to trust her, to trust that she would respect his wishes; House knew now he was wrong.
"Look, don't try and make me into some kind of hero that I'm not," House said pushing Lydia back, but not looking at her. "I did what I did for myself; I didn't want to hear Wilson crying about how he couldn't save people from dying and I don't need the hassle of forming a new team. Not that there would be a need to if Hunter had won." Lydia shook her head.
"You're lying to yourself if you really believe that you did what you did for strictly selfish reasons; you did it because you care about James and your team. No one would deliberately subject themselves to a beating like that if they didn't care."
"It wasn't the first time in my life I'd gotten a beating; at least this time someone was there to try and protect me." He looked up from the floor where he had focused his gaze, and saw Lydia looking at him with pity that he wasn't sure he deserved. "I was wrong…I never should have had you watch what was happening in the lobby; first of all, I should have known it would make you think of what happened to Annie. Secondly," House drew a deep breath, "I didn't trust you to do what I wanted. With you being right there where you could see everything, I thought you'd be in shock and would freeze up and just stay in Cuddy's office too afraid to come out. I knew you'd get upset…but I didn't care." House closed his eyes and leaned his head gingerly back on the couch. "I should have trusted you. I'm sorry." There was silence in the room; it seemed to House as if an eternity passed.
"You haven't been able to trust most people in your life; parents are a child's first protectors and look what yours did. Your father and other people in your family abused or ignored you and your mother did very little to stop any of it. You never made any close friends in school because you couldn't trust that they weren't going to be taken away from you. It was a miracle you and James became friends; even with him, you're always doing things to see how much he'll put up with. And from what you've told me it's been a lot." House slowly shook his head.
"A hell of a lot more than most people would." House turned and finally looked at Lydia again; he reached out and took her hand.
"And then came your leg and the decisions that were made that went against your wishes. The fact is neither Stacy, nor Dr. Cuddy, nor the other doctors who refused to listen to you, trusted your medical judgment; they showed you no respect. How can you trust someone who doesn't respect you?" House looked away from Lydia and stared off across the room.
"I never gave a crap about anyone respecting me as a person, only a doctor. Trying to get respect as a person was a losing battle from the beginning," House said. Lydia heard the catch in his voice and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Do you know my father never showed up for my medical school graduation ceremony? Or graduation from college?" House assumed a hunched position and looked at the floor. "He wouldn't even come to my high school graduation. He said, 'Why bother? What good is ever going to come of him?' All because I didn't want to be like him," House said disgustedly. Lydia thought for a moment, then bent herself over from the waist so that she too was hunched over and was even with House's line of sight.
"It's a good thing you're nothing like him; if you were, we wouldn't be sitting here like this right now." House was quiet for a moment; then seeing the grin on her face and realizing the absurdity of the position they were both in, he smiled and started to chuckle.
"Leave it to you to find something funny in all this," he said slowly straightening his back. Lydia put her arm around House and began to lightly massage his shoulders.
"I'm so proud of you for what you did today; it was brave and crazy and unbelievably selfless for you to have put yourself at risk like that; I don't care what the reasons were." House looked off to the side, away from Lydia.
"I don't deserve any…"
"Greg, yes you do," interrupted Lydia. "You deserve to be loved and cherished and…praised…and I don't care if it takes the rest of my life…I am going to make sure that one day you believe that. Nothing," she said "would make me happier." She fought desperately to hold back tears, but she was failing miserably.
House wasn't too far behind her; his eyes had moistened and he was breathing rapidly to hold back his emotions. He ignored the pain he felt and pulled Lydia in to a tight embrace; he began kissing her anywhere his lips could reach: the top of her head, her neck, her shoulder, her cheek, her lips. He finally looked at her; it made it harder to control his feelings, but he managed to hold on enough so that he could speak.
"So, I guess between what you just said and repainting all the bedrooms, you plan on sticking around for a while," House said with a slight smile despite his tears. Lydia was able to laugh.
"I plan on sticking around as long as you want me to," she said smiling. She leaned forward and kissed House very lightly.
"Hey, bring those lips back here; I'm capable of a little more activity than that," House said. He began kissing her again and got more and more intense with each kiss; House reached up and started playing with Lydia's ear, which unfortunately made her jump and bang her forehead into his cheekbone.
"Oh, Greg I'm sorry!" House winced and brought his hand up to his face, not sure whether to touch it to console himself or just leave it be.
"It's OK; that's what I get for tickling your ear. I should know by now how you would react." Lydia smiled, but her expression soon changed to a quizzical look. "What's the matter?" asked House
"I think the natives are restless," she said standing up. Now it was House's turn to look puzzled. "Your stomach is growling like crazy; I'm going to go warm up the food." Lydia started to head toward the kitchen.
"Just remember to keep the kale or whatever the green stuff is off my plate." She stopped, turned around and gave House a look.
"Gravy or butter on your mashed potatoes?"
"Both." Lydia looked horrified.
"Greg!"
"Lydia!" he replied, mocking her. "With everything I've been through today…hell, with everything I've put my body through in my life…high cholesterol really isn't an issue for me." Lydia let out a sigh.
"I can't argue with that point; what do you want to drink? Water, soda…"
"Water's fine. And two Tylenol fours." Out from the doorway to the kitchen, came Lydia's head.
"What makes you think I'm not paying attention?"
"My indisputable good looks and charm are distracting you."
"Those two things can distract me from a lot; taking proper care of you is not one of them." She disappeared back into the kitchen. House smiled as he settled back against the couch; he still had to convince himself this was really happening. He wished he hadn't spent so much time in his life going in and out of unreal estate land; maybe if there had been fewer hallucinations, he could see that this wasn't going to all disappear into a vaporized mist. He was in a real relationship with a beautiful and real woman, which was almost more frightening and daunting than anything. But he knew it was because of Lydia he got through his confrontation with Hunter; without her, he knew he would have gone back to Vicodin.
"Here you go," Lydia said as she approached the coffee table. "Take this and lay it on the table, please." She held out a placemat which House took from her and put down on the tabletop.
"Where did that come from?"
"I had a few random mats in my linens; one or two to a set of four gets destroyed, but you never know when the others will come in handy," she said as she set a plate down in front of House, then utensils and a napkin. "Here's the water and your pill. Eat a few bites before you take that; you don't need to make yourself sick." House put the pill down on the mat and dove into the food which looked delicious; he hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was beginning to catch up to him. Lydia brought a mat, her plate, utensils and a bottle of water in from the kitchen and sat next to House on the couch.
"Oh, I forgot a napkin," she said.
"Here," House said handing her one. "You gave me two of them; I thought maybe you were trying to tell me I'm a slob." Lydia gave him a look as she took it from him.
"How is it?" she asked as she cracked open the water. House rolled his eyes as he swallowed what was in his mouth.
"Fantastic; I feel like squealing as much as this pig used to; there is not a lump to be found in the spuds and I haven't even gotten to the biscuit yet." He looked at Lydia and smiled. "First the French toast, now this; you're going to make me fat." Lydia bit her bottom lip as she scooped up some potatoes onto her fork.
"Never trust a Fraulein not to try and fatten you up; of course, there are all sorts of ways to help you burn those calories off." She opened her mouth, put the forkful of potatoes in and slowly slid the fork back out of her mouth is a sexy manner. House smiled only slightly; it wasn't that he didn't enjoy Lydia flirting with him, quite the opposite. No, it was the mention of that word trust that put a damper on his reaction.
"Greg?" He snapped back to the moment and saw that she was looking at him curiously. Might as well get this over with, House thought.
"It's still really bothering me that I didn't trust you enough to know that you'd do the right thing for me. That I didn't care how you would feel; I was more concerned with doing what I thought had to be done to get the results I wanted. It was all about me." Lydia had continued to eat while House was talking, but now she put down her fork, took a drink and looked at him.
"You and I are looking at this from two different points of view. You see this as you being self-centered and selfish; I see it as you trusted me to do what you asked on something that was very important to you. This thing with Hunter had to go right or it would have affected you, James, the people on your team, and so many other people. Most importantly, it would have affected us and our future if you thought you couldn't trust me. So I had a choice: go running out there, grab the cane from Hunter and smack him in the head a few times myself," Lydia said as House smiled at seeing the fire in her eyes, "or stay put and show you that I trusted you and your judgment, just the same as you can trust me. Besides, you proved that you trusted me to make my own decision about the situation; and you know how important it is to me that I'm allowed to make my own decisions," she said with a big smile.
"You make very good decisions," House said as he took her hand. "Coming back to New Jersey, looking me up…."
"Falling in love with you," said Lydia.
"That's still up for debate. There is one bad decision that you've made, that I know you will agree with me on." House began to play with the ring finger of Lydia's left hand; she knew immediately what he was referring to.
"Please don't keep reminding of that," she begged.
"I won't have to; the presence of your children will do that for you," House said as he let go of Lydia's hand and began to eat again.
"My children are the only good thing to come out of that debacle." She picked up her knife and fork. "You'll see next week." She cut into her food and continued with her meal. She started to tell House all about Ben's first soccer game and how Elise ran out on to the field because she wanted to play, too. And all the while, little Ben was yelling at her calling her a "poopy head."
"And do you know what she said to me when I got her off the field?" There was no response. Lydia looked over at House; he had closed his eyes, leaned to his right and placed his head on the back of the couch. His plate was empty and he had taken his pill; Lydia thought it best to get him to go to bed.
"Greg…Greg…" she said quietly as she stroked his cheek. He finally jumped a bit and started to mumble.
"Yeah…hmm…what'd you say?"
"You're falling asleep on the couch; I think you ought to go to bed." Lydia knew it wasn't the pill; there was no way for it to react that quickly. House was just genuinely exhausted from the day and needed to rest. He rose rather unsteadily and wavered back and forth as he stood there.
"Come, I'll help you," said Lydia as House started to move away from the couch and toward the hall.
"I don't need any help," he protested; yet he knew better than to try and fight his weakened body. What he went through today would have knocked the hell out of anyone, never mind someone who was buried under several tons of concrete a few weeks ago. They got to the bedroom and House went straight for the bed. Lydia reached behind him and pulled the covers down before House sat; he closed his eyes and sat motionless as Lydia undid the buttons on his shirt and slid both of his arms out. She knelt down, untied his sneakers and took off his socks
"Lean back." House complied so she could undo his belt and open the fastener and zipper on his pants.
"I can get them off," he said slightly embarrassed; certainly not by being naked in front of Lydia, but by requiring so much assistance. "Open the middle drawer," he said pointing to his dresser, "Pull out pj's and a t-shirt." She complied with his request and gathered up his laundry as he put on the sleepwear she had gotten out. House winced and let out a yell of pain as he swung his legs into the bed. Lydia hovered nearby as he readjusted the pillows and tried to find a comfortable spot. Once he seemed to settle down, Lydia moved closer to the bed and pulled up the covers on to his body. She stood for a moment, watching him as he lay there falling asleep; why so few people had bothered to see what an amazing, wonderful man Greg was, she couldn't answer. She was just so very happy she did. Lydia leaned over and gave House a kiss; he quickly stirred and lifted his head slightly until he saw her. He smiled and laid his head back down on the pillow.
"Good night, Fraulein; Ich liebe dich," House said in a sleepy voice.
"Ich liebe dich, auch," she said as she reached over to turn off the light. Lydia gave House another kiss and then headed to the living room to clean up the dinner dishes.
It was an uneventful night for House and Lydia; she followed standard procedure for a head injury and set her cell phone alarm for every hour, that way she could lightly touch him and make sure he responded. She stayed in a very light sleep all night and was awakened by House tossing and turning a great deal around five-, thirty; figuring that it was the pain waking him up, she got a fresh bottle of water, some cookies and his pill from the kitchen. He barely spoke, just downed a bit of food and his medicine and fell back to sleep. By eight-thirty, both were awake again; House from hunger, Lydia from the need to get things done. He insisted he wanted to take her out to eat; there was a place on the way to PPTH that did a breakfast buffet every morning and House knew from first-hand experience they were great. So after having some toast and coffee to tide them over, Lydia helped House get into the tub to soak his leg.
"You really should come in here; the water's fine," House said with a sly smile.
"No, that's OK," Lydia said. "I've already taken my shower, remember?"
"Yeah, you were sneaky about it, too. You took it when I was on the phone with everybody and their mother."
"Well, I wanted to keep things moving so we could get to Bon-Ton Café; from what you described, the food sounds yummy."
"I'm yummy, too," House said looking at Lydia from under arched eyebrows. Lydia smiled.
"Yes, I know you are," she said as she knelt down, picked up the soap and lubricated her hands with it; he was in a perfect position for her to rub his back. "Lean forward." House knew what she was doing and gladly obeyed her command. As he bent over, he heard a gasp from behind him.
"What's the matter?" he asked. The sight that met Lydia's eyes, sickened her; there was not one part of House's back that did not have a bruise on it, some the angry color of the ones on his face. They all reminded her of how Annie looked after her attack. She did not want to upset House, so she quickly composed herself and answered his question.
"There are more bruises here than I had anticipated; it just surprised me." She was very careful to rub his back less vigorously than she had planned. The soaking had a positive effect on House, overall. He got out of the tub more easily than he went in and he needed very little assistance with getting dressed. By ten minutes to ten, they had left House's place and went to the restaurant. It wasn't fancy or dressed up in any manner, but it did have a certain charm and appeal and the food was delicious. The waiter came around only to take their drink orders and to see if they needed anything that wasn't at the buffet; omelets made to order as well as crepes came from the kitchen. Other than that, it was just the two of them as most of the breakfast crowd had been and gone. They both had good appetites and readily made up for their lack of food yesterday.
House and Lydia just sat in the café, enjoying their food and cappuccino, talking and laughing; he had her retell the story of Elise running onto Ben's soccer field during the game. House told her about scoring the winning goal in lacrosse at the championship game when he was in high school; she told him about making a breakthrough with an autistic child when she was student teaching. The subject matter was all the same type of things they had talked about when House was in Mayfield; little tales and scenes from their lives apart, that made the life they were working on building hold so much hope. Given the recent past for both of them, it was just what they needed.
After House paid the bill, he and Lydia stepped out into a beautiful sunny day, so different from the stormy weather that had blanketed the area for the past few days. As they walked to Lydia's car, House was holding her hand and literally swinging it back and forth; Lydia picked up on it and started to giggle.
"What's so funny?" House asked, genuinely puzzled.
"You. You're swinging my arm so much, I thought you were going to twirl me around or something."
"You mean like this?" And House quickly spun her exactly as she said; luckily she kept her balance and avoided crashing into House. She did, however, start giggling even more than before.
"You…you're crazy," she said.
"I thought I proved that yesterday," House said as they arrived at Lydia's car. He leaned back against it and led her into his arms. "Thank you." He bent his head down and gently kissed Lydia.
"Thank you for what?"
"Everything. For believing in me, for taking care of me last night; I'm sure that was the last thing you wanted to do after taking care of your parents all those years." Lydia shrugged.
"I did that because I had to; I did this because I wanted to. That made me feel like I was being kept prisoner in a very lovely little cage; this," she said as she reached up ran her fingers through House's hair, "this brings a freedom and joy to my heart that I'd never thought I'd find." House smiled; he was about to kiss her again, when a horn started blaring.
"Hey! You gonna be pulling out? Or are you just gonna stand there and suck face?" Lydia looked around House to see a guy in his twenties sitting in a large SUV.
"I'll handle this," House said quietly. He held his cane up above his head. "Handicapped," he yelled out, "takes me a little longer to do things."
"You don't look handicapped to me." Lydia was about to say something when House stopped her.
"Get in on the passenger side, reach over and start the car; I'm driving to the hospital."
"Greg…."
"Frauline…." She shook her head as she did what House requested.
"Be outta your way in a sec," he called to the driver of the SUV. The man backed up enough to allow House to pull out. House's eyes darted quickly around and spotted a car with a woman and two small children in the backseat, slowly approaching from the direction that the SUV had come from. As she pulled alongside Lydia's car, House called out, "Hey lady, you want a parking spot?"
"Yes," she called out gratefully and pulled forward a bit. House quickly got in the car, backed it up and putting it in drive, turned the wheel hard so that Lydia's car started to make a U-turn, but stopped half-way, thereby blocking the SUV and allowing the woman with the kids to pull into the spot.
"HEY!" yelled the man driving the SUV, "Hey, I was waiting for that spot! You mother…"
"I'm sorry," said House as he completed the U-turn and pulled up by the SUV, "But I just realized that the spot is for women with small children and cripples; not jackasses." House floored it, leaving the man screaming obscenities at them as they left. He had gotten several blocks away before realizing that Lydia was sitting with her hands covering her face. "Are you OK?" House asked.
"I don't know whether to yell at you or kiss you," she said laughing through her words.
"I'd prefer it if you'd kiss me." She leaned over and gave him a kiss on his right cheek.
"You're not crazy," she said, "You are certifiably insane."
"I love it when you give me compliments," he said with a smile and continued to drive to the hospital. House pulled into his handicapped spot by the door; he felt uneasy as he got out of the car, but couldn't define why. He slowly walked toward the entrance with Lydia by his side. He stopped just short of triggering the sliding door.
"Greg, what's the matter?"
"I don't know; something's making me uncomfortable." He started to walk toward the door again.
"Maybe it's the idea of going back to the scene of the crime?" Lydia suggested.
"No, that's not it," House said as he entered the lobby. He looked up at the balcony. "That's it." Lydia followed the direction of his gaze; she broke out into a huge smile and started laughing. There, strung across from one side to the other, was a huge banner that read "Welcome back Dr. House".
"That is so sweet," Lydia exclaimed.
"Yeah, so much so I need a syringe filled with insulin."
"House!" House looked to his left; Wilson and Foreman were quickly walking over to him.
"I don't want to talk in the heat of the moment; I've heard that revenge is a dish best served cold," he said.
"We had nothing to do with this," Wilson said quickly. "One of the nurses asked me when we were expecting you back, I said you were coming in today to meet with Kyle James and the next thing we know, that banner is up."
"And you dare to stand there and tell me you had nothing to do with this? You told them when I was coming in."
"But we didn't know this would be the end result," Foreman said, trying to hide a smile. "If there had been more time, we would have helped them make it bigger." He and Wilson both started to laugh as did Lydia. House turned and looked at her.
"Please don't tell me you had anything to do with this," he said. Lydia was laughing too hard to answer him.
"No, no," Wilson said. "Lydia had no idea what was going on."
"But I'm sure the rest of my team did."
"Oh, yeah," Foreman said. "Thirteen's the one who drew and decorated the pink hearts in the corners." House looked more closely at the banner as did Lydia; in each of the four corners was a pink heart with an arrow and the initials G.H. + L.S. in the center. House didn't know whether to pass out or puke.
"That is adorable! Dr. Hadley is so nice," Lydia said. House glanced to his right ever so slightly with the most incredulous look in his face. Sensing he was fighting a losing battle, he thought it best just to cut his losses.
"We're going upstairs now," House said indicating himself and Lydia. "Take that thing down as soon as possible and burn it." He walked over to the desk, signed in, and got a visitor's pass for Lydia. He turned to hand it to her and saw she was walking back from talking to Wilson. She got to House and reached for the pass; House pulled it back.
"Not so fast," he said eying her suspiciously, "What were you two talking about?"
"I asked him how he enjoyed his dinner," she said reaching again for the visitor's pass.
"And….?" Lydia made a face.
"And I asked him for one of the hearts." House rolled his eyes.
"I had to fall in love with a hopeless romantic," he said.
"It's OK; so did I," Lydia replied as she quickly took the pass and placed it around her neck. House smiled as he watched her walk to the elevators.
After half-heartedly reaming out the team for participating in the creation of the banner, House went to check on Bonnie James. She was doing well and chatty, which was typical for her; House was glad to see she was much improved in spirit. He was still concerned about the bed wound and wrote specific instructions on the discharge orders for follow up care; it was rare that House wrote the orders himself, but this case had special meaning from several levels: patient, husband and son, not to mention his first one coming back from the accident.
Lydia had stayed with the team while House made his patient visit; he was going straight down to legal after that to give his statement of yesterday's incident. She and the team just talked and they filled her in on their backgrounds, both professional and personal; she did the same. When House returned it was after four; he looked tired and was complaining of a headache. Wilson suggested that Lydia drop House off at his place to rest and then meet them at the storage unit. As an indication of how he was feeling, House didn't argue; he did however check and make sure that the banner was down before he left for the day.
An hour later, Lydia, Wilson, Foreman, Thirteen, Chase and Taub were standing in front of the open storage locker.
"Wow, this isn't bad at all," said Chase.
"I thought there would be a lot more," Foreman noted.
"Well, some of it is taken apart, like my kids' beds; they have to be reassembled. And my bedroom set is being delivered tomorrow. Other than the boxes you saw at Greg's place, this is it."
"Where are your friend's things?" asked Taub.
"Annie's stuff? There are two boxes with mine. Everything else, she had to buy new; it was ten years, way too long to hold on to much. Sometimes, it's best to start from scratch," Lydia said.
"Everything looks good here," Wilson said. "Lock 'er up and we'll see you tomorrow at eight-thirty." Chase pulled the door down, locked it and handed Lydia the key.
"Thank you. Thank you all so much. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this," Lydia said looking at each one of them.
"That's OK; you have no idea how much we appreciate you softening up House," Taub said.
"Yeah, he didn't yell at us nearly as badly as I thought he was going to," said Thirteen.
"Oh, don't underestimate him; he's still House," Lydia replied; she them told them the story of them parking space and the SUV.
"Ok, yeah, he's still House," they all agreed. Lydia laughed and said good night to the group. She hurried back to House's place and let herself in.
"Greg?" she called out. "Greg?" She went down the hall to the bedroom and found him curled up on the bed; lying next to his head on the pillow was a note.
"Fraulein, couldn't stay awake; don't worry I'm OK. Grabbed a biscuit and some of the oink. Just let me sleep. I love you."
Lydia smiled, as she reached out and touched his cheek to make sure she got a response. House squirmed at her touch and she was satisfied that he was fine. It was best to let him rest, she thought, this weekend is going to be busy.
The next morning, everyone arrived at House's apartment on time; he was still sleeping, but Wilson and the team dove in and started to grab boxes. The plan was to stack the boxes in Lydia's living room, so she could unpack them as needed. Chase took the key to her house and drove over to get things going with Taub, Foreman and Wilson right behind him. Annie had gotten there a head of them and greeted them with coffee, muffins and bagels. As soon as everyone had gotten a quick jolt of caffeine, the painting began. Thirteen showed up an hour later with the pieces of Lydia's kids' beds; Lydia arrived at the same time with House. He looked much better that the night before and Lydia had him sit on the couch and assemble the beds with Thirteen; since she had bagged and labeled all the screws, putting thing together was a breeze. They stopped at various points for meal breaks and House was surprised at how much he was actually enjoying the conversations, both as a participant and observer; he was even able to joke about the banner. The group didn't work late as some of them had plans for the evening, but agreed to meet back at Lydia's tomorrow to finish things up.
As Lydia drove back to House's apartment, she noticed he was very quiet.
"Greg are you OK? You've barely said a word for the entire car ride."
"Yeah," he said looking out the window. "I'm just going over something in my head."
"Anything you want to talk about?"
"No, not yet." He glanced over and saw the concerned look on her face. "I'm fine; I promise." She nodded, but was unsure what to think of the way House was acting.
The next day everyone met around noon to give those who needed it, time to recover. Things moved along quite well and by five, everything was nearly done. Lydia and House left the group there to get a bottle of champagne to celebrate as well as some beer, soda and iced tea to go with dinner. Lydia had ordered several trays of wings and other assorted goodies from Otto's to celebrate her new place; but when they got there, the order wasn't ready. Somehow the wrong date had been written down and Mike, the owner, said he didn't even have enough in the back to make up a decent catering order. He was very apologetic but Lydia was still very upset.
"Look, let's go back to your place and talk to everyone, we'll work something out," House said trying to calm her. She nodded and they returned to her house.
"I just don't believe they got the date wrong," Lydia said as she climbed the stairs. "I even said Sunday the eleventh."
"People make mistakes," House said. "You look really upset. Why don't you sit down?" Lydia saw the team standing in the corner of the room; Wilson and Annie were standing where the living room and large hallway to the dining room met. She got more upset, the more she looked at everyone. "Come in, sit down," House urged.
"I don't want to sit down," she said getting agitated. She began to walk toward the kitchen when House stopped her.
"Are you sure about that?" He turned her so she faced Wilson and Annie; the two stepped aside and there…was a rocker. Lydia's mouth fell open and she let out a cry; she started to take a few steps toward it. then stopped. She saw the arms, the spindles, even the headrest looked exactly the same as hers.
"It looks just like mine; where did you find one that looks just like it?"
"Oh, just lying around in the street," House said. Lydia looked at him with widened eyes and shook her head. He came over, took her by the hand and led her to the rocker; House knelt down on the floor and pulled her down next to him. He took her hand and ran it underneath the seat until she found the names that had been engraved there over the years. House watched her face closely; the look of pure shock and joy was rivaled only by her reaction to seeing Annie awaken from her catatonic state. She was moving her mouth, but no words came out.
"Remember the other day, I 'accidentally' left some paperwork by my side of the bed," House asked. Lydia nodded and took one of the tissues Annie was offering. "Well, once you came to the hospital and brought me the files up in my office and I knew you weren't wandering around the streets, Wilson gave Annie the rocker and she…"
"I brought it to Tim's brother Jason. Tim's our friend that we were staying with; him and his wife Susan. Since Jason works as an antique restorer, I figured he was the one to bring it to." House stood up and stretched his leg; Annie took his place on the floor to Lydia's right. "He did have to replace the legs leading down to the rockers themselves, but everything else is original," Annie said. "It was all Greg's idea." Lydia sat there stunned. She hugged Annie and was about to look for House, when she heard music; piano music to be exact.
"When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are…." Lydia looked to her left, the origin of the sound. The team moved to their right and there sat House at baby Grand piano. Wilson had to come over and help Lydia to her feet; she moved forward not believing what she was seeing, tears streaming down her face. When she neared the piano, House stopped playing and allowed her to sit down.
"My piano…how."
"How do you know it's yours?" House asked.
"My father's cigarette burn. He was trying to show me that I was doing something wrong and he was too lazy to get an ashtray. He leaned it on the edge and it burnt too far down and burnt the wood." Lydia looked at House. "You…you're crazy. Greg, I know what this must have cost to have it shipped and you had it done in a rush. I…"
"The fact that you learned to play piano, on this piano, is a part of your history. It's also a part of our history; if you hadn't been playing for Annie that day or any day, who knows if we would have met. This," he said looking at the piano, "is a part of us; there is no way you were going to leave it behind." Lydia sobbed as she fell into House's arms; between the rocker and the piano she was completely overwhelmed and stayed in one position crying for several minutes.
"We're going to get going," Wilson said touching Lydia on her shoulder.
"But…wait, your dinner," she said.
"Mike has a bunch of stuff waiting for us; he was in on this," Chase said.
"And your dinner is waiting on the table, compliments of Mike," Thirteen said. Lydia shook her head.
"I can't thank you all enough, "she said standing up and hugging each one of them.
"It was our pleasure," Foreman said. They all grabbed their belongings and quickly exited so that House and Lydia could be alone. She stood turning back and forth, looking between the rocker and the piano.
"Welcome home," House said coming up behind her. Lydia turned around, threw her arms around him and kissed him over and over again.
"What you did, was make this my home by being a part of it and caring enough to make me happy. It's a feeling I never want to end," she said.
"Then that makes two of us," House said. He wrapped his arms around her, gave Lydia a kiss, then looked at her curiously.
"Are you really hungry?" he asked.
"Nope."
"Good; let's go check out your new bed." She smiled, took him by the hand and led him down the hall to her bedroom. House glanced back at the living room as he turned the corner to the room.
That's one small step for House, he thought; one giant leap for Greg.