Chapter 8

Kate found it hard to believe that everything had happened so quickly. Before she could barely speak, Cameron made a list of everything she needed from her apartment and with key in hand, went with Chase to get them for her. In the next moment, it seemed, she was being released from the hospital and in House's car, heading to his apartment.

True to his word, he had installed a hospital bed in the spare room. He had said there were boxes there, but he had obviously had them removed somewhere. Her clothes and personal items were set up in the room. Someone had put her clothes in a small dresser that looked suspiciously new. There was a mirror above it, and her brush, comb, deodorant, etc., were all placed there. When she saw all the things, she turned to House, with thanks in her eyes.

"Don't look at me," he said gruffly. "Cameron probably set everything up. Come on, time to eat. And since I have to feed you for awhile, don't keep me waiting. You're eating first."

She knew he wouldn't admit it even if he had done it, so she just said, "I don't have to, you can eat first."

"Right. And watch you sit there drooling while I eat. No thanks."

As he fed her, he told her what the schedule would be for her care. "I'll get you up in the morning, feed you breakfast, etc. before I go to work. A nurse will come by late morning, take care of anything you need, change bandages and so on and she'll feed you lunch. Another one will come by late afternoon to do the same, except for giving you dinner instead of lunch."

"Why aren't I eating with you?"

"Because we usually both can't eat at the same time. Also, I'm never quite sure what time I'll get home. If I have a case, I might be late. I don't want to have to worry that you're here starving to death or something. Better this way."

"How uncharacteristically thoughtful of you."

"I'm also hungry when I get home. If I have to feed you first, it's that much longer before I get to eat. I don't like to wait."

"Well, when you put it that way…" Kate smiled, knowing that he would never admit he was being kind.

"I'll get you to bed at night. Try not to wake me once I'm asleep."

Kate walked to the window, keeping her face turned from him. "I'll try to compose myself." She said quietly.

House figured he went a step too far. "Don't worry about it. Whatever you need, you call me. I'll hear you."

Kate looked at him quickly. "You won't be able to hear me from your room. There's a long hallway between us."

He pointed his cane towards something on the little table next to the bed. "A monitor. Just keep it turned on and I'll hear you."

She turned away from him again. "Looks like you have everything worked out."

"Yep. Well, you get yourself settled in and come on and eat when you're done." He left her alone. Kate looked out the window again and sighed.

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One week later.

"She's not sleeping." House told Wilson. "At least not at night."

"How do you know that for sure? Do you stay awake all night?"

"No, but she's not taking her pain medication at night. I noticed her slipping one out of her mouth. But the nurse told me she's taking it during the day. She doesn't want to be sleepy at night. Plus the pain is probably keeping her awake. So she's sleeping or at least napping during the day to stay awake all night."

"How can she not sleep all night, every night?"

"I don't know. But I realized yesterday that she's turning off the monitor after I leave her at night. So I can't hear what's going on in her room. And when I checked, she pretended to be asleep."

"You're sure she was pretending?"

House gave him a withering look. "I think I've been a doctor long enough to know when someone is faking sleep. But if all else fails, I just have to look in her eyes. I can tell there that she's not sleeping."

"That makes no sense." Wilson said.

'I know that makes no sense!" House shouted. "That's why I'm telling you about it."

Wilson just stared at him for a moment. Finally he said, "House, you have to talk to her. Ask her what's up. Why won't she sleep? Why did she never stay with you before? There has to be a reason and only she knows what it is. Ask her."

House sighed. "She's not going to tell me. She's obviously been hiding whatever it is from me for a reason. And remember, everybody lies."

Wilson looked at him strangely. "You really believe that this woman you care about would just lie to you?"

"She has been lying to me by not telling me." He hesitated. "And who says I care about her?"

"You almost never left her side when she was in the hospital, you took her into your home, you're taking care of her, you're worried about her. Your actions speak for themselves."

House just glared at him and started walking away.

Wilson shook his head and called after him. "There's nothing wrong with being in love with her."

House stopped, turned his head to look at him, then continued walking. But the look that he gave his friend held anger and pain.

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That evening, after House had eaten his dinner, he joined Kate in the living room where she was watching TV.

"Mind if I turn this off?" He asked.

"Go ahead. I'm so tired of watching it anyway."

He switched it off and moved to the piano. He sat down and started to play softly. She smiled.

"You've never played for me before. I'm honored. But what's the occasion?"

"Do I need an occasion to play?"

"No, but music is important to you and as I said, you haven't played for me yet."

"What makes you think it's important to me?"

"The first time I came here, I saw everything was pretty haphazard. Pretty much as it is now. Magazines and newspapers tossed on tables. Clothes just piled on the coat rack. A thin layer of dust everywhere. Even your books are almost thrown into the bookcase. But there was nothing messy or haphazard about the piano. No dust, not a thing thrown on it."

"You noticed all that?"

"When I investigate a murder, I need to get to know the victim. Whenever I go to a victim's house, I try to find what was most important to them. That's what a person will fight for, that's what they'll die for."

House continued to play softly. "Yea, that's how you do it. Find out what they care about and then find out what they're hiding."

Kate didn't say anything more. House kept playing and Kate just sat back and listened. The music was so lovely and she was relaxed. When he stopped, he walked over to the sofa and sat beside her. He pulled her close to him and gently kissed her, being careful of her injuries. She kissed him back, wishing she could put her arms around him.

"Kate, what is it you're hiding from me?"

She sat up. "Nothing. What makes you think I'm hiding something?"

"Just a feeling."

"Feelings aren't exactly your strongest assets."

'No, but instinct when it comes to a patient is."

"I didn't realize I was your patient."

"For the moment." Finally, he sighed and got shakily to his feet, then helped her up, saying, "Time for you to go to bed."

He helped her through her nightly routines, including handing her the pain med. He held a glass of water. He had filled the glass in the bathroom while she was in her room. She didn't see him add a fine powder to the water and stir it. He pretended to turn away when she took the medication, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw her remove the pill.

"Drink the whole glass of water, it helps the pill work."

"Sure." She said and drained the glass that he held to her lips. Then he helped get in bed. He kissed her lightly on the cheek, then turned off the light and left the room.

He went to the living room and turned off the light, then walked to his bedroom. But he didn't get into bed. He sat in the chair, in the dark and in silence for 45 minutes. Then, he rose quietly and made his way back to her room. He could hear her deep breathing. He turned on the light. She didn't stir. He crossed to the little table and turned on the monitor. Then he turned out the light, left the room and went to bed.

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He was awakened some hours later by a woman's voice. It was loud and agitated. He lay there for a moment, listening.

"No, no, don't do that, don't, please, don't." The voice was Kate's, but sounded younger, almost like a child's. "I couldn't, I can't, please, oh, please."

House pulled himself out of bed and ran to her room as quickly as he could. She was close to hysterical, but she was still asleep. He went to her and gently shook her until her eyes opened.

She looked dazedly around and saw him there. "What happened?"

"You were having a nightmare."

"I was asleep?" She sounded incredulous.

"That's usually when bad dreams happen. When you're awake, they're called hallucinations. Much worse too."

"No, oh, no. How did I…" She seemed to finally register that he was there and stopped. "What was I saying?"

"Telling someone to stop, couldn't make out too much. What was the dream about?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, right. I always scream and get hysterical over nothing. Well, sometimes I do, but that's just me. Come on, Kate, tell me what you're having nightmares about."

"I'm not having nightmares."

"Right." He looked at her with a stern expression.

"Alright, I had one bad dream. What makes you think I'm having nightmares?"

"Because this wasn't the first time. If it was, you would have told me what it was about. Since you didn't, I know it's happened before. You're used to denying it. Also, you've gone to a lot of trouble not to sleep around me."

"No, I haven't. I…"

"You've avoided taking your medication at night so that you won't sleep. And in case you do, you've been turning off the monitor."

She looked at the monitor on the table and saw the little green light was on. "What did you give me?"

"Just a mild sedative. Worked pretty quickly and let you sleep. I figured either whatever you're afraid would happen, either would happen and we'd deal with it or wouldn't happen, and you'd get a night's sleep. So since it's happened, let's deal with it."

"There's nothing to deal with, it's my problem."

He sat on the bed next to her. "Kate, I'm not a psychologist, far from it. But I'm your friend, I think, so I can at least listen to whatever's bothering you. Wilson is always telling me that friends do that type of stuff."

"Believe me, you don't want to hear it."

"Probably not, but tell me anyway."

"I said, it's my problem. I will deal with it."

"Yes, I can see how you deal with it. Been working real well for you so far."

"You won't be my friend anymore if I tell you."

"Give it a shot and we'll see."

Kate looked down at her injured wrist, then looked at him and said, "Give me some time to think about this."

He nodded. "Okay. Fair enough. But no avoiding your pain med. And get some sleep at night. You'll never heal otherwise."

"Okay."

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The next evening, while he was eating, she sat beside him.

"You're right about the nightmares. I've been having them for a long time. Since I was a kid."

"Didn't your parents do anything about them?"

"I never knew my father and my mother…died when I was eleven. Foster parents usually don't give a crap. Or else they think you're nuts and ship you back to the state home."

House just looked at her and waited for her to continue.

"You really want to hear my stupid life story?"

"Yes."

"Okay, here goes."

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Author's note: Sorry for the cliff hanger. I need to work out the telling of her story and how I want this to progress. It won't be long, I promise. But I wanted to get this part done and posted.