Chapter 7

Kate felt like a heavy weight was on her chest. Her mouth was dry. She tried to find her voice, but couldn't. Her whole body seemed to be in pain. Then she realized that someone was holding her hand. The other person's palm was large and warm. It felt good, the only part of her that felt good. Slowly she opened her eyes. And saw Greg House's bright blue ones looking straight at her. Well, maybe not really bright, they seemed a little bloodshot, as if he hadn't gotten any sleep in a while, but still a brilliant blue and a wonderfully welcome sight.

"Well," House said, "You finally decided to wake from your little nap."

She tried again to speak, but her mouth still felt dry and thick.

"Don't try to talk yet." He saw the questions in her eyes. "You've been out for almost two days. But you're gonna be okay. They got the bullet out." Eventually, he thought, remembering the frustrating operation. "You're still on pain med, so you're going to be groggy for a few days."

She continued to look at him. He knew he couldn't lie to her. She needed to know the extent of her injuries.

He sighed. "You will be okay. But not right away. You were shot twice and after that shoulder and arm heal, you're going to need physical therapy to gain back strength. That's 3 to 5 weeks with it immobile and another 6 at least in therapy."

She didn't look happy. He knew his next words weren't going to change that. "When you fell off the fire escape, you broke your wrist and three fingers. They will be in casts for 4 to 6 weeks as well."

That wasn't the worst and he could tell she saw it in his eyes. She wordlessly asked him to continue. "Okay, because of the casts and bandages, you have function of your right hand, however, at the moment it's immobilized in order to keep your shoulder that way. So you really can't do anything with your right arm. And on the left, you have your thumb and forefinger uninjured. But the good news is you should still be able to dance."

He could see the joke fell flat. "You need to rest. Now that you're back in the real world, I need to go. I'll be back," he said as she started to look anxious. "God, woman, you can't have my body all the time."

She tried to smile at that. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead and left the room.

It was only once he was outside that he let the worry and relief both show on his face. He leaned a little harder on his cane as he limped to the nurse's station. Sleeping in a chair next to her bed for the last two nights did nothing to help his leg. He reached in his pocket for his Vicodin. As he slid two pills into his mouth, he told the nurse that Kate was awake and to get her some ice chips.

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Three days later.

House was approaching Kate's room, when he saw a tall man sitting beside her bed, touching her uninjured shoulder. He quickened his pace and entered the room with a scowl on his face. Kate looked up at him and hid a smile when she saw the scowl.

"Greg, this is Paul Rogers, my lieutenant at the precinct. Paul, this is Dr. Greg House." Kate said.

Paul smiled broadly. "Thank you, doctor, for taking care of our Kate. We wouldn't want to lose her. She's very important to the department."

"Then maybe you shouldn't send her out on her own against dangerous guys with guns."

"Greg." Kate warned. "Paul was just letting me know that my job is waiting when my injuries are healed."

"When will that be, doctor? It would be nice to know when we can expect our Kate back."

House looked at the man standing there. He was at least five years younger than House, tall and well-built. He didn't seem to have any physical problems. He was as fit as Kate was, or as she normally was. He answered in a surly voice, "It'll be months before she's healed and able to go back to work. She's got a long way to go."

Kate's face dropped. Paul stammered, "Of course, of course. I know you can't rush anything like this. We all just want her to get better."

"Well, she'll get better quicker if you leave so that I can change her bandages."

Paul looked a little confused, then said, "Sure, I need to get back to work anyway. Kate, you take care and I'll be back to see you soon." Then he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek before leaving the room.

Once he was gone, House and Kate glared at each other.

"How could you be so rude to him? That's my boss. You may not care what your boss thinks of you, but I care about mine." She said.

"Yea, I can see how much you care about him. Do you play kissy face with all your colleagues or just those who can get you promotions?"

She stared at him in shock. "That was totally uncalled for. You are essentially calling me a whore and I don't like it."

"Are you going to deny there's something between you."

"Yes, I mean, no." she flustered. "I mean, there used to be, a long time ago. Almost

four years ago now. We dated for a time. But there was no spark. And now that he's my boss, he's off limits. I don't do that."

House was silent for a moment. "No spark, huh?" Kate shook her head. "How about with us? Any sparks?"

"What do you think?"

He didn't answer, just lowered himself into the chair. "I didn't mean to act like an ass in front of your boss."

"I know, it just comes naturally to you."

He hid a smile, then sighed. "Kate, you'll be ready to be released in a few days."

"Oh, that's good. I hate being in the hospital and I really want to go home."

"You can't go home." House said. "You can't take care of yourself."

"Of course I can, I have good experience taking care of myself."

"Not in this condition you don't."

"That's ridiculous. Of course, I know I'll be a little slower, I'll need to be careful, I got that."

House picked up the TV remote and threw it on her bed. "Turn on the TV. Watch something."

She looked at him, perplexed. Then she tried to reach the remote. She finally was able to push it with her left thumb and forefinger towards her right hand. She kept pushing it slowly until she had it in the right position, then she reached out with the fingers of her right hand and tried to push the button. She winced as pain shot up her arm. So she moved it towards the left hand. With the thumb and forefinger, she tried to hold and reach the buttons, but it kept slipping and she couldn't grasp it. Finally she flicked it away.

"So I won't watch TV. No great loss."

"That's not the only thing you won't be doing. Like to eat?"

"Of course."

He nodded. "How do plan on cooking it?"

"I'll get frozen things that I can put in the microwave."

House pulled a pen out of his pocket. "Pretend this is a fork. Show me how you eat."

He put the pen into her right hand. She tried to lift the pen to her mouth, but her arm was pinned to her chest. She couldn't reach her mouth and her arm started to hurt again with the effort of trying to maneuver it around. She moved the pen to her left hand, but couldn't do much with only the thumb and forefinger.

She dropped the pen and said, "I'll go on a liquid diet and eat through a straw."

"Mmm, sounds yummy. Well, I'd watch how much of that liquid you have. Because there's another basic bodily function that's going to suffer. Ever try to go to the bathroom without using your hands?"

Kate opened her mouth to answer him, then closed it again as that scene played out in her head.

"You know, it's a good thing I won't be visiting you. Between the bathroom thing and also, not being able to bathe yourself, it's gonna get pretty ripe in that apartment."

"What do you mean you won't visit?"

"Three flights up, no elevator, remember?" He said, patting his right thigh as he did.

Suddenly Kate looked so forlorn he thought she was going to cry. Since this was a woman who didn't cry easily, he realized she was ready to face the facts.

"Okay, here's your choices: You can go to an extended care facility, basically another hospital, but one that takes care of you while you recuperate."

She started shaking her head. "No, please, I hate hospitals. I'll go nuts if I have to spend that much time in one."

"Okay, next choice: You get home health care. More expensive, but you stay in your apartment and nurses come to you to take care of all your needs."

She paused, then said, "No nurse is going to want to come there. It's a crappy neighborhood and, like you said, three flights up, no elevator." She sighed heavily. "I don't know what to do."

House tapped his cane a few times on the floor while Kate pondered the situation. They sat like that for some minutes. Finally, he said, "I've got one more option for you. You stay with me."

Kate looked at him, wonderment on her face. "Stay with you?"

"I know the thought of actually sleeping at my place, not going home, is probably like facing the fires of hell, but it makes sense."

"I don't…I can't…" She looked totally confused.

"You would still need a nurse doing the day while I was working, but at night I would be there. And I'm at least as qualified as a nurse. I could get a hospital bed brought in."

She stared at him. "I wouldn't be sleeping with you?"

"No way. You find cripples a turn on, but not me! Yuck." When she continued to stare at him, he sighed. "You're not going to be able to turn over for a while. Laying in one position all night will kill your back. At least with a hospital bed, you can move it up and down and sleep some at night."

She concentrated for a minute. "Where would you put the bed?"

"There's a spare room. There's nothing in it at the moment, just some boxes I never bothered to unpack. We'll set you up in there."

She thought about it for another minute or two. "Alright, that will work. I don't want to put you out and I don't intend for you to be bathing me or wiping my…anyway, get the nurse to do those things. Whatever my health care doesn't cover, I'll find a way to pay for."

"Good." He said, getting up. "I'll send Cameron in here. Give her your key and a list of what you need from your apartment. She and Chase can go there and get your stuff and we can see how soon you'll be released."

With those words, he left her room. Kate lay back against her pillows, wondering why in the world she just agreed to move in with House. How would she ever be able to…well, she would find a way. She really had no other choice. And despite everything, she liked the idea of living with him, even under the circumstances.

House liked the idea too, although it scared him to death. He hadn't shared his space with a woman since Stacey. Yea, he thought, and look how that turned out. Still, Kate needed him and it was a strange feeling to have someone he cared about actually need him. Maybe it would be okay.