A/N: Hi everyone, Well final chapter here we are! And when you get to the bottom of the page, keep going, because there's a sneaky little epilogue too.

Thank you so much to everyone for your lovely and encouraging comments and reviews. I was so excited to get 100 reviews and now we're over 200! And have a truly global audience! All you people who've had the story on alert but are yet to leave a review, this is your time to shine!

I'm so thrilled that Jen has struck a chord with so many people. Jen is a little bit me and a little bit of lots of women I know. I hope you like how her story ties up.

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Sarah took a long time to tell Jen what had happened to her. In fact, she went into so much detail about who was where and who said what when, that Jen actually began to get a little bored. She had no memory whatsoever of anything between leaving home and waking up in the hospital. Even the memories of talking to Greg when she'd first woken up were fuzzy, although she knew it had happened, remembered that she'd been confused and upset and he'd stayed with her. Her memory really only kicked in properly from the time she'd opened her eyes and seen Sarah and Greg fighting.

It felt like a story about something that had happened to someone else. She had to keep reminding herself that it was her, that the woman who'd been drugged and stabbed and almost raped was her, Jennifer Edwards. And it had been Nick! The geek! How could it have been him? That bit made her feel a little sick. But Sarah had been sure to tell her that she'd still been wearing her all her clothes and her underwear when she'd run over to her in the alley, that there was no way his geeky penis had been anywhere near her. Still, he'd probably kissed her and that was enough to make her stomach turn.

Sarah had been very clear about Greg's role in everything – including how he'd got that black eye. She clearly felt that Jen wouldn't have been stabbed if Greg had stopped Nick earlier. But Jen wasn't so sure. She hadn't even realised he'd been at the bar. She wondered what would have happened if she had. And if he had interrupted? Even in her drugged state, Jen wondered if she would have insisted on going off with Nick just to spite him.

Her surgeon visited – a very good looking doctor that Sarah had immediately begun flirting with – interrupting Sarah's story just at the point where she'd had to give her statement to the police. Jen was relieved.

Dr Chase was polite to Sarah but seemed oblivious to her flirting. That was unusual. Jen didn't hold anything against her sister for trying – flirting was like breathing for Sarah and Dr Chase was extremely good looking.

But he seemed far more interested in her. He was very professional, checked both her wounds carefully – without exposing her the way Greg had – asked her serious questions and gave her a comprehensive overview of her surgery and what she could expect in her recovery. It was nothing specific, but he just seemed curious.

Then Jen realised. The fundraiser. He'd probably been there and heard her referred to as Mrs House. She was a patient at Greg's hospital. After the fuss at the fundraiser, no doubt there'd be a stream of curious people popping in to see her. To stare at the curiosity that was the woman who was paired up with the cantankerous Greg House. Well, who used to be, anyway.

In the early afternoon, Jen made Sarah go home. She was feeling tired and could see that Sarah was clearly exhausted as well. Jen was also tired of Sarah's continuous apologies. She'd said the word "sorry" a hundred times already and had bought a stack of magazines Jen wasn't interested in and a heap of chocolate Jen didn't feel up to eating.


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Wilson had slept for most of the morning and sat on the couch feeling guilty for most of the afternoon. In the end Amber yelled at him and shoved him out the door, telling him to go hang out with his partner in crime who would, in her words, "put up with this bullshit".

Wilson couldn't help thinking that Jen's condition was really his fault. Last night, House had been too drunk to know his ass from his elbow. Besides he was in love and feeling rejected by Jen, so outside of anything to do with medicine, he hadn't thinking clearly for the past couple of weeks. It was Wilson who was the responsible one. Yeah, he'd had a few drinks, but he should have been more alert, should have gone to check that Jen was okay instead of being caught up in disapproving of House's voyeurism.

But instead of following Amber's instructions and going to see House he went to the hospital and found Jen's room. She was alone and asleep and Wilson almost left, but he decided to hang around for a while. At least then he could go visit House afterwards and give him an update on her.

She woke up only a few minutes later, just as he was reading an important article about Brad and Angelina in a magazine from a pile next to her bed.

"Hi," she said, her voice sleepy and a little croaky.

"Hi. How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I think." She blinked and stretched, wincing a little as her body responded to the movement. "What's the time?"

Wilson checked his watch. "Just after six."

"It's night time. Is it still Saturday?"

Wilson looked at her, concerned that she might be disoriented.

"I'm okay," she said in response to his frown. "I just don't know how long I was asleep. And it's dark, so I guess it's six pm, and I also guess you wouldn't be here if it was six am."

She gave him a weak smile.

"Yes, it's Saturday. Jen, I'm so sorry..." he began.

She held up her bandaged hand to stop him and the sight of the gauze made Wilson feel even guiltier.

"No, don't," she said. "I've heard that word enough today. I really don't want to hear it again, especially from someone who really had nothing to do with this at all."

"But Jen, I was there, I should have..."

"Should have, could have, would have, none of it makes any difference," she said breezily.

He nodded, not sure if she was really as blasé about it all as she sounded.

She gave him a serious look. "James, can I ask you a medical question?"

"Sure."

"I don't remember. I don't remember anything. Is that normal?"

"You mean from last night?"

"Yeah. I know when Sarah was drugged, she had a blank space in her memory and it's never come back. I just want to know if that's what's happened to me, or if it's something else, if I've..." She trailed off.

"Blocked it out?" Wilson guessed.

"Yes." She sighed heavily.

"Let me check." He got up and looked at her chart. "Well, it's hard to know definitively but your tox screen says you had a significant amount of GHB in your system. That interferes with short-term memory. It's entirely likely that your memory will never come back."

She looked relieved, but then frowned again.

"How's Greg?" she asked him.

"I don't know. I was planning on going over to see him after I saw you."

"Oh." She paused and looked as if she was trying to work out how to say something. "But...how is he?"

Her emphasis let him know exactly what she was asking.

Wilson sat down, feeling a heavy weight of responsibility on his shoulders. He knew exactly how miserable House had been for the past few weeks. Of course, he hadn't told Wilson why, but Wilson had noticed the changes that indicated Jen was no longer around – fewer phone calls, messier clothes, more moochy House hanging around his office being irritating. Wilson had a feeling that what he said next might well determine his friend's future happiness.

"What exactly happened between you guys anyway?" he asked, hoping to get more information.

"He didn't tell you?" Jen asked. Then she gave a sad laugh and answered her own question. "Of course he didn't tell you."

She lay still for a while, staring up at the ceiling. Then began talking softly, almost as if she was talking to herself.

"I feel guilty about that last fight we had. Some of the problems we had were his fault. But I was just as much to blame. I was too easy, too much of a pushover. But I was so grateful for him, for what he did, for the way he made me feel. I'd never had anyone, been with anyone who…" she broke off and bit her lip, turning her face away but not before Wilson could see the blush rising on her cheeks. He could figure out what she meant. The way House talked about sex, Wilson was never sure if it was real or bravado. He guessed he knew the answer now.

After a moment she turned back to stare at the ceiling and continued talking. "So then I tried to assert myself, get my power again, but what I thought was taking a step back, I think he saw as a step away. I don't know why I didn't see that at the time. He's..." She sighed and then turned to Wilson and gave him a very sad look. "He's much more fragile than most people think, isn't he?"

"Uh-huh." Wilson had to hand it to Jen – she had House's number. "He's probably somewhere now beating himself up about what happened to you."

"Oh no, Wilson don't let him do that. It's no one's fault really. Except that awful Nick. And probably my own – I should never have accepted drinks from a stranger."

"Jen, you weren't to know," Wilson immediately jumped in to reassure her, he hadn't meant to make her blame herself.

"No, I suppose..." she sounded uncertain.

Wilson patted her arm and she turned to look at him directly.

"You know…" She took a deep breath. "I actually think everything that has happened in the past couple of months is a blessing. Meeting Greg was wonderful – he helped me more than he'll ever know. My life needed to be kick-started and if there's one thing Greg knows how to do it's give something a kick..."

She chuckled good-naturedly and Wilson had to join in. Then she sobered.

"But James, I need to take that start and keep going. If this experience has taught me anything it's that I have to make my own life and stop waiting for someone to give it to me. I could have died last night – and I..." Her eyes filled with tears and she stopped speaking for a moment to compose herself. "...My life so far has always been about what other people think about me. Whether they like me enough, whether they think I'm good enough.

"Greg is important to me, I care about him, I think I probably even love him, but right now..? I need to work out for myself that I like me and that I'm good enough."

She swallowed hard. "It's too much to ask him to love me enough for both of us. It's too much pressure to put on someone else."

She paused and looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you all this."

Wilson took a deep breath. "You're telling me so that I can look after House when you tell him it's over," he guessed.

She looked at him at first slightly surprised, but Wilson wasn't sure if she was surprised by his comment or by the fact that he was right. She nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

"Jen, I don't know if my opinion means anything, but you are really good for him. I guess he's just not any good for you." Wilson sighed. He wondered if House was good for anyone.

"No!" Jen objected. "It's not that at all." She struggled to sit up a little and Wilson was about to get concerned about her moving too much when she gave up and fell back in the bed with a sigh. She took a couple of deep breaths and then looked at him with a piercing gaze. "You have to make sure he understand this bit, Wilson. He's very good for me. I'm the one who's not good for me. I need to go fix that. Once that happens, maybe Greg and I…maybe we can…" She sniffed. "Make sure he understands, won't you?" she pleaded.

Wilson nodded. He felt a stab of pity for House, but even through the veil of tears that had begun to cloud Jen's eyes he could see a determination and commitment to her decision.

He got up to leave.

"Take care of yourself Jen, won't you?" he said gently. He felt a mix of pity and admiration for her. And felt ridiculously sad for House. He knew this would be hard for him.

"Thanks, James. Tell him I'm fine. And tell him I'm sorry that Sarah hit him. And that after I've finished with guilt-tripping her, she will be too."

Wilson smiled at that. "Will do." He got to the door and turned back. "Good luck Jen. I hope you find what you're looking for. And I hope our paths cross again."

She smiled. "Thanks. I have a feeling they will."