Hello! I hope my American readers have recovered from their Thanksgiving comas. I need everybody who reads this to send out some good vibes for me, so that 1) I can get into the school I applied to, and 2) I can get in some solid writing time in December. Enjoy, and thanks for the great reviews on the last chapter.
The heavy veil of sleep slowly slipped from Thirteen's eyes. It was early and the fall sun had barely risen. As she stretched her waking body, Thirteen couldn't help but notice the absence of warmth between the sheets. Rachel had undoubtedly slipped out for an early run. Thirteen pulled herself from the bed eagerly. Today she rejoined House's team.
She showered and dressed at a leisurely pace, hearing the door open as she finished and pulled on her shoes. Rachel breezed in smelling of morning dew and fresh fallen leaves.
"Good morning," she greeted, giving Thirteen a sweaty, salty kiss.
"Morning."
"Are you ready for your first day back?"
"Yeah. I'm a little excited," Thirteen replied as she trailed Rachel to the shower. "I'm also a little appalled."
"At what?"
"I can't believe you could just leave me in bed and go running."
Rachel rolled her eyes and stepped into the shower, "You were asleep."
"I was naked."
"As far as I can tell, you almost always sleep naked. If I let myself get precious over your nudity, I'll never get anything done."
Thirteen headed off with a laugh. She ventured to the kitchen and filled the counter with ingredients for breakfast. She was still earning Rachel's culinary trust and had begun to call on a few recipes she had truly mastered. She beat eggs, quickly chopped vegetables, and ended up with a perfectly fluffy omelette. She wolfed it down hungrily and resumed her place at the stove. No sooner had she plated the second omelette than Rachel emerged from the bedroom. Rachel wrapped her arms around Thirteen and kissed her.
"Good luck today. I love you," she said. As she pulled away, Rachel left a small, bow-wrapped box on the counter.
"What's this?" Thirteen asked smiling.
"One last little present."
Thirteen opened the box to find a shiny silver key. "To your heart, I presume?" she asked drolly.
Rachel chuckled, "To my office. In case you need a quiet place to have lunch or an escape from House's insanity.
"Thanks," Thirteen smiled and grabbed hold of Rachel's arm. "Come here," she said, leading her to the table.
"You made me breakfast?" Rachel asked as Thirteen slid the plate to her.
"I wanted to repay you for all you've done for me."
"Not that you have to repay me, but how is one omelette equal to a week of nonstop cooking and gifts?"
Thirteen smiled, "Trust me. There are a handful of things I do mind-blowingly well. Making omelettes is the only one I do with clothes on. I've got to go." She placed a quick kiss on Rachel's lips before heading for the door.
After a few moments, Rachel yelled after her with a mouthful, "Best omelette ever!"
The drive to the hospital passed more quickly than Thirteen remembered. She strode through the lobby, stopped quickly in the cafeteria for coffee, then headed for the diagnostics department. In the office she found Taub huddled behind a newspaper.
"Hey," she greeted.
"You're here," Taub said, lowering the paper. "I was beginning to think you'd changed your mind about coming back."
"Just because it's our first day back doesn't mean House will show up before ten. Besides, we're still missing a third."
"Third and fourth," Taub replied. "Chase joined the team."
"Really? Cameron can't be happy about that."
"Cameron went back to Chicago." Taub smirked as Thirteen dropped her jaw in astonishment, "It pays to be early."
"What happened?" Thirteen asked eagerly.
Before Taub could explain, Chase trudged into the office. He poured himself a cup of coffee and silently sat down across from Thirteen. Taub quickly took cover behind his newspaper and Chase busied himself with a book. Thirteen tried to ignore the awkwardness of the moment, but it suddenly magnified as Foreman entered the office. He settled himself at the far end of the table, putting as much distance as possible between himself and Thirteen. Before she could start anxiously twiddling her thumbs, House walked in and Thirteen was surprised to find herself thankful for his abrupt entrance.
"Ready to save some lives?" House asked, his eyebrow raised dramatically. He hurled a file at them and continued his differential. "Thirty-two-year-old courier. Ataxia, anemia, mild cough. CT was clear, tox screen negative."
"What are you so excited about?" Chase asked.
"Why wouldn't I be?" House shrugged. "Got all my starters back, plus a couple of first-class free agents. I feel like Mike Tomlin." He glanced to Foreman briefly, "Probably not as much as you do, but you get the idea."
"Ataxia and anemia could be viral," Thirteen suggested. "Maybe West Nile?"
"No fever, lymph glands were normal. Anybody seen Wilson?"
"Hyperbilirubinemia?" Taub posed.
"Yeah, like that's a real thing," House scoffed as he limped to his office.
"Meningitis," Chase offered.
"Anemia's a stretch," House called. In the distance Thirteen heard House mumbling a page request.
"What about sickle-cell?" Taub suggested as he handed Thirteen the case file.
"The guy's white," Foreman said, shooting the idea down.
"White's can get it," Taub insisted.
"Come on," House said, returning to the team office. "We get the tennis elbow and all the money. Let them have sickle-cell."
"TTP's a better fit," Foreman said.
"He's right," Thirteen replied as she reviewed the file. The room fell quiet and she became all too aware that the rest of the team was staring at her. "What, you thought I wouldn't agree with him? Ever?"
"Well, you didn't agree with him," House said. "That's why he dumped you. Oh, sorry. It was mutual."
"We're cool, okay?" Foreman protested. "Nobody's angry, nobody's hurt."
Foreman's presumptuousness annoyed Thirteen to no end. There were no longer any hurt feelings, but they definitely were not cool. Thirteen gritted her teeth and held her tongue as House continued his pestering.
"Sounds passionate," he quipped.
Chase cleared his throat and tried to steer the conversation back on track, "TTP makes sense to me."
"Not to me," Taub said. "What if he had a history of–"
"One big, happy family," House cut in. "TTP it is. Confirm with blood smear and ADAMTS13 antibodies."
The team filed from the office. As soon as they were out the door, Chase veered off towards the lounge and Foreman quickly followed. Thirteen and Taub continued on to the patient's room to collect test samples.
When they were finished and secure in the privacy of the pathology lab, Thirteen finally ventured a question. "So, what happened with Chase and Cameron."
"From what I could get out of Foreman, there was a not-so-accidental accident with an African dictator. Foreman and House helped Chase cover it up, but he came clean to Cameron. When he did, she left him."
"Wow. Never boring," Thirteen mumbled. "So, what was it like going back to plastic surgery?"
"It was refreshing. I was home every night at a reasonable hour, there was no maniac interfering in my personal life." Taub let out a loud sigh, "It was boring."
Thirteen laughed, "I guess the grass really is greener."
"How about you?"
"I only recently started looking at job offers. I spent a month in Thailand, and the rest of the time I spent with friends."
"Lucky you. Didn't you think there was something weird about that guy?" Taub said, referring to their patient.
"Not really. In fact, he seemed pretty normal."
"That's my point. Guys with IQs off the chart are usually completely abnormal," Taub insisted.
Thirteen looked at Taub skeptically, "Speaking of House, why'd you come back? You must've taken a major pay cut."
"Life's too short to worry about money."
"Your wife feel the same way?"
"She's happy to cut back on some things. Like sex. Why'd you come back?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Thirteen shrugged. "Like Foreman said, nobody's angry, nobody's hurt. Schistocytes."
"That means TTP."
"Which is what we thought it would be, remember? This is a good thing."
"This is an easy thing and House doesn't take cases that are easy, which means it's not TTP and he wants to see how long it takes us to catch up to him."
With that Thirteen and Taub rushed off to find House. After a few minutes they found him rushing through the halls, searching room to room for someone or something.
As they tried to keep up Taub called after House, "Schistocytes suggest TTP."
"Good," House said distractedly. "Now what?"
"Normally we'd try plasmapheresis, but the patient has an albumin colloid allergy."
"So?" House urged.
"So, that means we have to give him a splenectomy," Taub said.
"Yes, it does," House replied.
House suddenly ducked into the men's room, leaving Taub and, especially, Thirteen hesitating outside the door. As Taub slipped inside, Thirteen glanced down the hall before heading in as well.
Continuing his search, House checked under the stalls. "Wilson?" he called.
"No," a confused voice responded.
"Do you know where he is?"
"Not in here," the voice answered.
Thirteen shot Taub a dubious look as House continued to search the bathroom. "You're sure you want us to take out his spleen?" she asked.
"Is that what a splenectomy is? I thought it was an ice cream treat. Yuck."
"So, you do really think he has TTP?" Taub asked. "You're not just testing us?"
"Yeah," House scoffed. "Like I have time for games."
"So, why did you really take this case?" Taub ventured.
"Isn't it obvious?" House asked. "I'm fishing for a dinner invite."
Thirteen shared a confused look with Taub before a flush sent her rushing from the bathroom.
"A dinner invite?" Taub questioned as they headed back to the office. "Is he serious?"
"Of course he is. He's trying to get on Cuddy's good side, so he's taking whatever she gives him. The real question is why now?"
"And the answer would be?"
"Who cares? We can have Chase remove his spleen, spend a few hours in the clinic, then head home to get an early jump on the holiday."
While Taub went to brief Chase, Thirteen prepped the patient for surgery. After she passed him off to the surgical staff, she went to the clinic to spend the rest of the afternoon wiping noses.
The clinic's usual level of anxiety was magnified by the stress of the impending holiday. Everyone seemed to have put off their most pressing medical concerns until their families were descending upon them. Thirteen spent hours running pregnancy tests and STD panels, while another crop of patients found more bizarre ways to fill her time. When she grew tired of swabbing crotches, Thirteen gathered her things and headed home.
As she finally arrived home and approached her door, Thirteen found Rachel struggling to open the door with her arms full of grocery bags.
"Need a hand?" Thirteen asked. She relieved Rachel of a few bags and unlocked the door.
"You're home awfully early," Rachel said. She followed Thirteen to the kitchen where they began to put away the groceries. "Easy day?"
"Yeah. Tested the patient for TTP, removed his spleen, and spent some time in the clinic."
"Great. You'll actually have time to spend with me on Thursday."
"That's the plan. Although, judging from all this food, we should plan to spend most of it swollen and bloated on the couch."
"Evan is a bit of an ambitious cook. This is his grocery list in all its glory." They quickly finished putting the food away and Rachel sighed in accomplishment.
"I hate that I'll have to work part of the day. I love watching you cook for me," Thirteen said with a coy smile.
Rachel's mouth pulled into a lopsided smirk as she retrieved Thirteen's key from where she'd set it down. "You'll be here to enjoy the fruits of my labor. That's what counts. Oh," Rachel groaned wistfully, looking at the key in her hand. "I'm going to have to give this up in a few days."
"Why?"
"You do realize I have to go home soon? The deal was I'd stay until my suspension was up."
"Nope. You're moving in," Thirteen replied. "You're going to stay here forever."
Rachel's smile dropped and she stepped away from Thirteen a little. "Remy, I'm not –"
"I was kidding, Rachel. I know it's way too soon for us to be living together."
Rachel nodded and sighed in relief, "I'm glad you feel that way. But at the same time, I don't want you to think I'm not open to things like that. If things keep going the way they have been, then someday I will be ready to live with you. For now, though, a lot has happened with us. I'm in love with you, you've become a big part of my life very quickly, and it's all very intense. We're about to spend a major holiday together for fuck's sake."
Thirteen smirked, "You're freaking out about Thanksgiving aren't you?"
"No."
"Yes."
"I'm not," Rachel insisted. She rolled her eyes as Thirteen continued nodding her head. "A little. Okay, a lot. I am completely freaking out over a stupid little holiday. I feel so fucking neurotic." Rachel stopped babbling as a broad smile crossed Thirteen's face. She went to Rachel and pulled her into a hug. "Not to be ungrateful, but why are you hugging me?"
"You told me," Thirteen said simply. "You were scared about something in our relationship and instead of running or pushing me away, you told me."
"Personal growth is a turn on. Got it," Rachel replied.
"Now if only you could stop ruining special moments with sarcasm," Thirteen laughed. "Hold on to the key. I want you visiting often."
Rachel smiled brightly and her cheeks began to burn. As if to banish the sensation with a contrary feeling, she wriggled away from Thirteen and grumbled, "I saw your shrink today."
"And?" Thirteen asked.
"She had me on the couch for two hours."
"Oh no, you're special," Thirteen joked. "When are the white coats coming to take you in?"
"Funny," Rachel said drolly.
"What'd you talk about?"
"The incident at work, the issues with my father. You."
"Me? What did you say about me?"
"Not much," Rachel said shrugging. "Just that I had finally found someone as equally insane and equally neurotic as myself."
"Funny," Thirteen quipped. "What did she say?"
"That I am a high-stress individual with a high-stress life and a seriously fucked up past, but that I'm well-equipped to handle it all."
Thirteen smiled and wrapped her arms around Rachel's neck. "Glad to hear it," she said with a kiss. "We can work together again."
Rachel nodded, "After Thanksgiving it's you and me against the world."
The next day Thirteen was called back to the hospital early. Their patient had suffered a stroke and House gathered the team to discuss new theories. As self-involved as it made her feel, Thirteen couldn't help but worry about her holiday plans. This case was shaping up to be a typical, time consuming mystery after all.
Ideas were being tossed back and forth while House was preoccupied with the phone, dialing number after number and barely focusing on the team. Frustrated by his lack of attention, Thirteen took a deep breath a focused herself on the differential.
"CNS vasculitis. Explains ataxia and anemia, maybe the stroke," Taub said.
"CT would have picked up something," Foreman countered.
"Could be DIC," Thirteen suggested. She rolled her eyes as House ignored her for what sounded like another wrong number. "You going to ask?" she said to Taub.
"I'm sure he's got a perfectly logical explanation," he replied.
"It can't be DIC. No hemorrhaging," House said. "And I'm calling all twelve Julia Cuddy's within a hundred mile radius."
"See," Taub said. "Completely reasonable. Acquired pancytopenia?"
"WBC's normal," Chase said.
"Hey Julia! You're Lisa's sister right?" House greeted the next Cuddy on the line. "You sure? Because you are number twelve."
"Maybe she got married and changed her name," Thirteen suggested in an effort to move things along.
"Otis Campbell," Foreman muttered.
"She probably kept her first name," House cracked.
"The mnemonic for toxins," he clarified. "O for organophosphates, T for tricyclics, I for insulin–"
"Or as I remember it, Moist Place," House interjected. "That's place spelled with two Ls and a silent B."
"Except the tox screen was negative," Thirteen added.
"Standard tox screen," Chase pointed out. "Unstandard toxins don't show up on it."
"Well, you two do an unstandard tox screen," House said, pointing to Thirteen and Foreman, then Taub and Chase. "You two search his home. Otis Campbell's got to be hiding somewhere."
Thirteen rose silently and headed for the lab as Foreman followed. She quickly gathered the samples they needed while Foreman set up the necessary instruments. As they began running their tests, she was very careful to stay focused only on the task before her. Unfortunately, Foreman had no such agenda.
"How've you been?" he asked.
"Good," she said shortly.
"I was a little surprised when House told me you took the job. I thought for sure you'd tell him to go to hell."
"Mmm," Thirteen mumbled.
"Did you enjoy the rest of your time off?"
Thirteen nodded, "Hung with friends."
Foreman paused before he ventured his next question, "Are you going to give me anything more than a three word answer today?"
"Probably not," Thirteen said, shaking her head.
"I'm just trying to have a conversation with you. Be friendly."
"But that's just it. I don't particularly want to talk to you. We're not friends, Foreman. We never were. You can't just act like I took a long vacation. You fired me. House giving me my job back doesn't change that," Thirteen blurted in a huff. "You were so concerned with our history getting in the way of work, but now you're the one making things personal."
"I'm sorry," Foreman said quietly.
"Let's just finish the tests. In silence." Thirteen shook her head in frustration, "I knew you'd be like this. You always have to control everything. To make it fit into this little box so you can manage it."
"What happened to working quietly and not letting things get personal?"
"I was lying," Thirteen snapped, throwing her arms up.
"Just like when we were dating. You never opened up to me, never let things get personal."
"And you're so easy to talk to. You could barely let me into your apartment, much less your life."
"Give me a break, you never wanted to be with me," Foreman sneered. "You just wanted someone to make you feel better about your life. As soon as you had Rachel to confide in, you weren't interested in me."
"Don't drag her into this. You can't even admit that the failure of our relationship had anything to do with you. It must have been someone else's fault."
"You could have at least found someone less screwed up to spend time with," Foreman muttered under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Cuddy suspended her. She had some kind of depressive episode and messed up a patient's meds."
"You are such an arrogant bastard. You have no idea what you're talking about," Thirteen growled. "Why don't you just check in with Chase and Taub. I would much rather finish this myself."
Foreman sighed and shrugged his shoulders, "Fine."
Thirteen breathed a sigh of relief as Foreman huffed through the door. She spent the rest of the evening in the lab alone, running tests for every unusual toxin she could think of.
When she arrived home that night Thirteen slammed the door harshly behind her and let out a loud, frustrated groan. Rachel quickly rushed to see what was the matter.
"Are you okay? What's wrong?"
"Foreman," Thirteen scoffed. "He's such an asshole."
"You're just finding that out?"
"What was I doing with him?"
"Biding time until you met me?" Rachel asked smiling slyly. She nuzzled her forehead against Thirteen's and gave her a peck on the cheek. "What happened?"
"He was being so arrogant. He thinks that because I got my job back everything is okay between us."
"You're still angry with him? I thought you let that go."
Thirteen shook her head, "It'll be a while before I'm not angry with him anymore."
"So, you're going to let him make you miserable?" Rachel asked.
"And what do you suggest?"
"I suggest you leave it on the field."
"Really? A sports metaphor?" Thirteen scoffed.
"Shut up, please. Your job is stressful enough, there's no reason for you to bring all that shit home."
Thirteen shrugged slightly, "I'll be glad when your suspension is over and I can come rant to you like a crazy person."
"Don't let them make you a crazy person," Rachel said with a kiss. "Just do what you have to do and get out of there. Tomorrow we'll have a nice dinner with Evan, and after that I'll be back to work."
Thirteen smiled and hugged Rachel, "Thank you for just listening to me and talking this out. I'm really glad you're not a micromanaging control freak."
"Anything for you," Rachel said with a smirk.
The next morning found Thirteen in the lab again. She ran tests on her own for hours before anyone came to check on her. It was early in the afternoon when Foreman slowly slinked into the lab. He seemed to be feeling a bit cautious after his last encounter with Thirteen's temper.
"How's it looking?" he asked.
"So far everything's clean," Thirteen said.
"Can I help?"
"I'm almost done. We can give House the results in a few minutes."
Before he could push his luck, Foreman turned and went back to the office. A few minutes later, the computer beeped and began printing the test results. As Thirteen had feared, they were clear, giving the team no leads on what was ailing the patient. No sooner had Thirteen reviewed the results than her pager beeped. She rushed back to the office where the team stood waiting.
"The tox screen was negative for everything. He's clean," she told them.
"It'd be nice if our boss could join us so we can finish this diagnosis," Taub said. "Where the hell is House?"
"Speak of him and he shall appear," House boomed as he entered the room. House went to his desk and pulled out a pair of ties before looking himself over in the mirror. "What have you got for me?"
"The unstandard tox screen was as clean as the standard one," Foreman reported.
"But we found vodka stashed at his place," Taub told him.
The news didn't seem to register with House as he continued to model ties for himself. The afternoon was wearing on and Thirteen started to become anxious over how slowly things were going. She began to twiddle her thumbs nervously while she waited on House. "What with the ties?" she finally asked.
"Makes me look adorably non-threatening. Party or party hearty?" House asked, holding up the ties, the latter of which was covered in turkeys. The team simply rolled their eyes at him.
"Liver failure would explain all the symptoms," Chase said. House continued gesturing towards his ties, pressing for an answer. "Party," Chase replied, giving in.
"So, the guy's a brainiac and his secret drug of choice is booze? That's kind of pedestrian, don't you think?"
"Talk to him," Taub said. "He's a pedestrian guy."
"With pedestrian alcoholism," Foreman added. "The liver biopsy can wait until after Thanksgiving."
"Yes," House said. "Assuming the biopsy's going to tell us exactly what we expect it to tell us, it can wait until after New Year's. On the other hand, Taub and Thirteen can do the liver biopsy today."
Thirteen put her hands on her hips, ready to protest, but she had no words for how annoyed she was.
"Why us?" Taub asked in her place.
"Juniority," House answered. "Welcome back."
"What do you want us to do?" Chase asked.
"Same as me. Have a happy Thanksgiving."
House breezed happily from the room with a smirk on his face. Thirteen glared at Chase for a moment before he graced her with an annoying smile of his own. After a while she half-heartedly returned the gesture. Chase and Foreman quickly left as Thirteen and Taub headed for the patient's room.
Together, Taub and Thirteen prepared the patient for the biopsy. Thirteen rolled her eyes and tried to hide her annoyance as the patient argued with his wife. They hastily gathered a piece of his liver and left the couple to their disagreement.
In the lab, Thirteen was all business. She had no intention of missing out on her holiday with Rachel. She quickly prepared slides from the samples she and Taub had collected and began examining them. After some time, Thirteen became very aware of Taub watching her closely as he helped with the tests.
"Why do you keep staring at me?"
"Just observing," Taub said. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Thirteen said. "Why?"
"You just seem off. You sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, Taub. Can we do this so we can get out of here?"
"Are you on drugs again?" Taub asked.
"Excuse me?" Thirteen snapped shooting Taub an indignant look.
"You're awfully calm. You don't seem upset about any of this."
"I'm trying to get these tests done so I can get out of here and enjoy my Thanksgiving."
Taub shook his head and kept pushing, "It's more than that. You've put up with House and Foreman all week. No sarcasm, no snide comebacks. You're either stoned or you're having really good sex. So which is it?"
"It's not drugs," Thirteen admitted.
Taub watched as Thirteen rolled her eyes and tried to hide the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Really?"
Thirteen shook her head and scoffed in amusement, "I can't believe you think I've been on drugs all week. I have never come to work on drugs."
"It's within your wheelhouse," Taub said shrugging. "So, would your new playmate happen to be a certain doe-eyed department head?"
"Wilson's not my type," Thirteen said. She laughed to herself as Taub shot her a look. "Yes, Rachel and I are together. Satisfied?"
Taub smiled, "How long's that been going on?"
"Not long," Thirteen mumbled. "We're just getting started. This is going to take a while. I'm going to grab us some lunch." Thirteen rushed from the lab before Taub could say anything. She hurried to the cafeteria, dialing Rachel's number on the way.
"Hello?" Rachel answered on the other end.
"Hey, it's me. How's everything?"
"Great. Evan's here, the turkey's almost done, we're just waiting for you."
"About that," Thirteen said.
"You're going to be late?"
"Yeah, I'm going to be late."
"Okay," Rachel sighed. "We'll keep dinner warm for you. Hurry home, alright?"
"I will." Thirteen quickly grabbed two sandwiches and returned to the lab. "Tuna salad," she announced to Taub. "Closest thing they had to turkey."
"Thanks, but I'm hoping I can still get out here and catch the tail end of dinner with my wife," Taub said. He was intently reviewing the results on the monitor.
"Anything?"
"No cirrhosis, no scarring, no infection."
"Blood panel?"
"Elevated albumin, 7.2"
"That's it?" Thirteen asked through a mouthful of her sandwich.
"Everything else is fine," Taub said.
"So, it was a waste of time."
"Unless it's not his liver that's elevating his albumin, it's his kidneys."
"Renal failure," Thirteen said thoughtfully. "Explains the anemia. If he developed hyperkalemia that would explain the ataxia. But the stroke–"
"Ischemic encephalopathy."
"Nice," Thirteen chimed. "Except now we have to stay and test his kidneys."
Thirteen handed Taub his sandwich and he looked at it with disgust. "I'm going to call my wife, let her know I won't be home for dinner."
"Would you mind standing on the other side of the room?" Thirteen asked. Taub quickly shot her a confused look. "I'd rather not be near you when she opens fire over the phone."
"And Rachel won't be upset when you call her?"
"She will be, but we haven't been dating long enough to have the kind of negative history you two have."
Back at Thirteen's apartment, Rachel was busy with the Thanksgiving preparations. She was elbow-bow deep in the oven when Evan called her.
"Rach, your phone is ringing."
"Can you get it?" Rachel asked. She staggered a bit as she took the turkey from the oven.
"It's Remy," Evan said handing her the phone.
"You talk to her," Rachel said, lowering her voice. "I need to shower, I reek."
"She's on the phone. She can't smell you." Evan shoved the phone into Rachel's hands and quickly tucked his own behind his back.
"Hey, Rem," Rachel finally said. "What's up?"
"I'm going to miss dinner," Thirteen said sadly.
"No. What happened? I thought you were just running late?"
"I know. I'm sorry. Taub and I have to stay and run some more tests. I'm so sorry, I know this sucks."
"Yeah, it does. But I understand."
"Save me some food?" Thirteen asked.
"Sure," Rachel laughed. "I'll see you in the morning."
"She's not coming?" Evan asked.
"Nope. She has to run tests for House," Rachel sighed. "Let's eat."
In the morning, Rachel woke early and started to prepare herself for work. When she sauntered into the living room she found Evan stretched across the couch. She tapped him lightly on the shoulders to bring him around. "Wake up, Evan." She kept pushing as he roused slowly and began to yawn. "Stop drooling in my girlfriend's couch."
"It's a one bedroom loft," Evan yawned. "Where else am I supposed to drool?"
"Why don't you hop in the shower while I make the frittata."
A wide smile crossed Evan's face, "The Thanksgiving leftover frittata?"
"Is there any other?" Rachel asked.
She smiled to herself as her brother hurried off to wash up. She began chopping up leftovers and assembling them in a deep skillet before covering the mixture in eggs. She slid it into the oven and, with a heavy pout, started making coffee. Thirteen hadn't made it home at all last night. They were having no luck at spending time together on special occasions.
Before long, Evan returned from the shower and joined Rachel for breakfast. They both ate quickly, in a hurry to begin their busy days. Once they had eaten, Rachel drove Evan to the train station. When they arrived, Evan gave Rachel a hurried hug and rushed from the car. "Give Remy a hug for me. Tell her I said hello."
Rachel nodded, "Have a safe trip." She waited a moment, watching Evan board the train, before she pulled off.
When she reached the hospital, Rachel stopped at Cuddy's office. She waited patiently in the clinic, hiding amongst the activity until Cuddy left. When the coast was clear, she simply slipped the letter from Thirteen's psychiatrist under her door and left.
Rachel made her way to her own office. As she reached the door, she heard the shrill beeping of a pager coming from inside. She unlocked the door only to find Thirteen sprawled across her desk asleep.
Rachel pulled the pager from Thirteen's pocket and turned it off. She paused for a moment, hating to wake her, then gently nudged Thirteen. "Remy," she called softly. "Rem? Wake up, babe." It only took a few more shakes for Thirteen to bolt straight up in the chair. She looked around, confused and startled in her half-woken stupor. Rachel couldn't help but find her adorable. "Usually people don't fall comatose until after they've had Thanksgiving dinner."
"You woke me up to tease me?" Thirteen asked, glaring at Rachel.
"Sorry, your pager was going off. Taub must be looking for you."
"Fuck," Thirteen groaned. "I need go."
Thirteen jumped from the desk only for Rachel to push her back down. "No you don't. Just relax a minute. Did you get any real sleep at all?"
"A few hours," Thirteen said before taking a deep yawn and stretching her stiff body.
"Here," Rachel said, unpacking a tote she had prepared for Thirteen . She laid out a mug of coffee and a dish that contained a slice of the infamous frittata. "Can't have you running on no sleep and hospital food."
"What is this?"
"You are about to experience a Galvin tradition. I give you the Day After Thanksgiving Frittata."
Thirteen narrowed her eyes at Rachel, "Are you moving in on my omelette territory?"
"No, no, this is a frittata," Rachel said cheekily. "Seriously, Evan and I do this every year. Whatever leftovers look good in the morning get thrown in with the eggs."
Thirteen tore into her breakfast hungrily. "This is incredible," she said through a mouthful.
Rachel smiled and sat down across from her desk. She watched as Thirteen wolfed down her food as if it might be her last meal. She didn't speak again until she had drained the coffee Rachel brought her.
"How was dinner?" Thirteen asked.
"Good, but it was pretty boring without you. Evan sends his love."
Thirteen let out a short laugh, "I jinxed us."
"Yeah, you did. We don't seem to be able to spend time together in any sort of formal, planned fashion."
"I guess we could do worse than furtive dates in your office," Thirteen shrugged. "But I promise I'll make it up to you in a very too-spontaneous-to-go-wrong kind of way."
Rachel laughed at Thirteen's choice of words, "Sounds great."
Thirteen's pager began to go off again, making the couple groan in unison. They pulled themselves to their feet and wrapped their arms around each other. "Thanks for breakfast," Thirteen said.
"You're welcome.
Thirteen pulled back a bit and gazed into Rachel's eyes, "I love you."
Rachel smiled at her sweetly for a moment. "It's about time," she replied.
"Excuse me?"
"I've been waiting for you to say that for over a week."
"I'm sorry my emotional revelation inconvenienced you." Thirteen rolled her eyes to the ceiling and dropped out of their hug.
"Falling in love is something you recognize from a vantage point. Generally, people only say they're falling in love when they're holding back. Falling in love and being in love are basically the same."
"You're really sucking the romance out of this moment."
Rachel smiled sheepishly, "I love you, too."
"Tonight is your last night at my place, right?"
"Yes."
Thirteen nodded, "Maybe I'll stop by and spend some time with you."
"Maybe?"
"We seem to have our best moments when there are no expectations."
"In that case, I'm going to plan on not seeing you at all tonight. We'll see what happens."
"Sounds good," Thirteen said. She kissed Rachel briefly and went to rejoin the team.
It was late when Thirteen arrived home. Her apartment was dark as she trudged sleepily through the door. Apparently, she and Rachel couldn't enjoy any spontaneous time together either. Without turning any lights on, she walked through the living room and towards the bedroom. She only managed to get a few feet before she crashed into something and fell to her feet.
"Fuck!" Thirteen cried. Before she knew it, the lights were on and Rachel was by her side. Thirteen glared in frustration as she caught a glimpse of what had tripped her up. Her couch had been moved into the center of the walkway. "What the hell? Why would you move my couch?"
"Sorry," Rachel apologized as she pulled Thirteen from the floor. "I figured you'd turn the lights on. I was trying to make room."
"Room for what?"
Rachel smiled and gestured to the center of the living room. A large blanket laid spread out with plates, silverware, and a chilled bottle of wine atop it. "I unplanned for us to have a mini Thanksgiving."
"Unplanned?"
"Planning without expectations," Rachel said with a smile. "Are you hungry?"
"Starving. Give me a minute to change and I'm all yours." Thirteen planted an appreciative kiss on Rachel's lips and ran off to her bedroom.
Rachel hurried to gather together their dinner and arrange it just so on the blanket. She filled two glasses with wine and tried to temper her excitement with a casual pose by her picnic spot. Thirteen returned shortly dressed in a ratty t-shirt and pajama bottoms. It only took a moment for Rachel to lose her composure as she burst into a fit of giggles at the sight of Thirteen's attire.
"What's so funny? Does Mini Thanksgiving have a dress code?"
"No," Rachel said, pulling herself together. "It's just not what I expected. You look very cute."
Thirteen smiled and joined Rachel on the blanket. They ate quietly for a while, simply enjoying their time together. Rachel chewed thoughtfully as a question turned over in her mind. "If we had a wishbone, what would you wish for?"
"I don't believe in wishes."
"Seriously?"
Thirteen shrugged her shoulders, "Wishing never works. You say a few words, send them out to the universe, and sit around hoping for it to come true. If you want something, just go out and make it happen."
"Wow. Someone never got a pony," Rachel joked. She smiled as she received a laugh from Thirteen. "I would have to disagree. I think wishing makes you work harder to make things happen. A wish actualizes what you want. It puts it into words and makes it a reality. Once it's real, you're an idiot if you don't go out and work for it."
"Interesting," Thirteen said. "In that case, I would wish for us to have moments like this all the time."
"We can. Although, judging by the past week, I think there will be a lot of misses," Rachel slid closer to Thirteen and wound their fingers together. "But, I see many more occasions like this in our future. I have a key to your place, I'll get you a key to mine, we'll make it work."
Thirteen smiled and kissed Rachel deeply. She pulled back and ran her hand over Rachel's cheek. "I really love you," Thirteen said, nervously biting her lip as she spoke.
"I love you, too," Rachel replied.
Thirteen shook her head and tried to organize her thoughts. These feelings were altogether new to her and her voice trembled as she began to speak. "No, I mean, I've never felt this way about anyone. Ever. You understand me. You get how I'm feeling without me having to say a word. You see things from angles I can't. You just sort of pick up where I leave off. I love you so much."
Rachel broke into a beaming smile and Thirteen returned it. "I feel very privileged to be the person you open up to," Rachel said. "It makes me even more motivated to make your wish come true."
Rachel pulled Thirteen into a marathon of a kiss. When they finally broke apart, Thirteen leaned her head against Rachel's, looking fondly into her eyes. Her heart was racing, she felt nervous and uncertain, but for the first time in longer than she could remember, Thirteen wasn't afraid. She wasn't alone.