Author's Note: I am not going into detail about House's rehab, because I have no expertise in that area. So many of you have written wonderful descriptions about such things, that I am humbled and can't begin to do it justice. So forgive me for the lack, let's assume that it was tortuous and he somehow got through it and go on with the story.

Chapter 16

House wouldn't let Kate drive him to the rehab facility. He didn't want to have to say goodbye in public. He arranged to have Wilson pick him up after she left for work. Before leaving, she went to him and held him close.

"I really am going to miss you."

"Same here. Just remember to keep practicing. No sliding on your lessons while I'm gone."

"You try not to torture the staff too much."

"Aw, you won't let me have any fun."

Except for that first time, they didn't usually say 'I love you' to each other. Both were reluctant to use the words (except when shouted in front of other people). Instead, they showed how they felt about each other. Like her inability to destroy his child. Like his deciding to do rehab.

They shared one long, luscious kiss, before she finally went to work. He watched her drive away, thinking about how much he really was going to miss her.

That evening, Kate listlessly tried to practice the last lesson that House had given her, but her heart wasn't in it. Both Wilson and Joanne had called her and tried to get her to go to dinner, but she wasn't in the mood. She had found out that although she would be able to visit him, she had to wait two weeks. He wasn't allowed any visitors until then. In the months that they had been living together, they had never gone more than 24 hours without seeing each other. She couldn't even call him on the phone.

She went to bed, but couldn't sleep. Finally, she moved over to his side of the bed and put her head on his pillow. She could smell him there. Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes and slept at last.

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Wilson was tied up with a difficult case and although he called Kate every day to check on her, he had been unable to visit in the four days since House went into rehab. Even so, it shook him when Joanne called him.

"Jimmy, you will need to go to your emergency room. Kate is coming in."

"What?" he said in alarm, thinking of the baby. "What happened?"

"She fainted. She came to in just a few minutes, but we all insisted she go to the hospital to get checked out and one of the officers just took her in a squad car, so she should be there shortly. I told him to bring her to Princeton-Plainsboro, since I thought you would want to check her out. I am about to get into my car to follow as well."

"Yes, of course. I'll get right down to ER and meet her. Did she hit her head or anything?"

"No, just sort of collapsed. She fell into a chair, luckily, although she did bump her leg and arm on the desk. She'll probably have some nasty bruises there."

Wilson thanked her and hung up so that he could get to ER. All he was thinking about was that House would kill him if something happened to Kate while she was supposed to be under his care.

An hour later, Wilson was looking at the woman who sat in the exam room with irritation in her entire manner.

"I just got a little dizzy. What is the big deal, James?"

"The deal is you're pregnant. And you're severely dehydrated and mal-nourished. How did this happen Kate? You know better than this?"

"Every time I eat something, I vomit! Hell, even when I drink water, I vomit! I'm tired of vomiting, so I stopped eating. All the books say that the morning sickness--or make that all day sickness--is usually only the first trimester and I'm almost past that. So I figured, I'd cut down on the eating until the sickness ends."

Wilson shook his head. "I know House has been giving you piano lessons, I didn't know he was teaching you medicine as well. First of all, the morning sickness can sometimes last until the baby is born. Every woman is different. But under no circumstances should you not eat. The baby needs nutrients. If you don't provide them through food, it's going to take them from your body. That's why you fainted. Second, have you spoken to your OB/GYN about the being nauseous?"

"No." she admitted. "I hate to bother her about every little thing."

"This isn't a little thing. When was the last time you had a meal?"

"I've had some crackers. Oh, and some marinated mushrooms. I like the vinegar."

"What, no pickles?"

"Ugh, I hate pickles."

Just like House, Wilson thought and softly laughed. "Okay, I'm going to call your doctor to see what she's given you and find out what you can take. Then I'm going to give you something to help control being nauseous."

"If I try to swallow pills or even liquid medicine, I'll just throw them up." She protested.

"They're not taken orally."

"Then how…oh. Ew."

"Sorry, best we can do. The alternative is that we admit you to the hospital and feed you intravenously."

"You wouldn't do that, would you?"

"I'm already in hot water. House made me promise to take care of you, and he specifically said to make sure you eat. He's gonna kill me when he finds out."

"I don't need anyone to take care of me!"

"Obviously, you do."

She realized he was right. And she knew that House would be angry –at both of them. "Do you have to tell him?"

Wilson shook his head. "He always finds out."

"I just don't want to upset him right now. He's dealing with rehab and it can't be easy."

Wilson sighed and said, "Okay, I won't tell him. But you have to take the medicine as instructed and you have to EAT!"

"Alright, alright, I will. Thanks, James."

She followed his instructions with the medicine and, just to be sure, he stopped by each evening and cooked her a meal, making sure it was healthy and easy to digest. She insisted he share it with her, so he did. It helped her loneliness to have House's best friend to talk to. They laughed over stories about the man they both loved, as they looked forward to the day they would be able to visit him.

"How about if I pick you up tomorrow after work?" he asked her before he left the night before they could visit. "We can stop for a bite on the way to the hospital."

"Okay, we can do that," she said with a smile.

He said goodbye and headed home. On the way, he reflected on the woman he had just left. She really was terrific. It occurred to him that although he dated many women and had been married three times, he never seemed to attract women with that type of strength and character. How did House do it? First there had been Stacy. Despite their problems, she was a beautiful woman who had loved House very much. Then of course, there was Cameron. Even though she only had a crush on House, she was another terrific lady. Not to mention Cuddy. He wasn't sure what exactly was between them, but obviously, she cared more for House than an employer usually did. Considering that House was not your usual employee. Still, a strong woman like her wouldn't put up with someone like him, unless there was some feeling behind it.

Now there was Kate. Another beautiful and strong woman who loved House. If House wasn't his best friend…but he let that thought go. House was his best friend and there were some lines you just never crossed.

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House had known that rehab would be hard, but he hadn't expected what he had to deal with in the first two weeks. He understood why he wasn't allowed visitors during that time. He wouldn't have been able to communicate rationally with them and they would have been upset to see him. Most of the time was a blur to him, all he could remember were days and nights filled with pain and slowly learning how to deal with it. He had to spend time with Dr. Harbison in therapy as well, which was even more painful for him.

Somehow he emerged from those two weeks in one piece, more or less. He hadn't yet lost his craving for Vicodin, but he was learning that he could deal with the pain by taking much less and finding other means. Now he was looking forward to finally having visitors.

He didn't realize that the withdrawal and pain had caused a physical change in him. He had lost weight and there were circles under his eyes. But since his appearance had improved vastly from two days previous, he thought he looked fine. However, when Wilson and Kate entered the room, he could see by the expressions on their faces that he was wrong. Kate's eyes were starting to fill up when she went to him and put her arms around him.

She tried to talk bravely. "How are you feeling?"

"Just peachy. I could probably go out and run a marathon. No, wait, I still can't do that." He stopped when he looked at her face. "I'm okay. I thought I looked okay, at least you should have seen me a few days ago. But judging by you guys, I guess not."

"You look fine." Wilson said.

"Yeah, but you're used to looking at people dying from cancer. Bet I look better than them anyway." He turned to Kate. "Tell me the truth."

She hesitated briefly, then told him. "You look like hell."

"Thanks, I was aiming for that satanic look."

She laughed. "Well, the important thing is how you're feeling."

"Feel like hell. Or at least like I've been to hell. But it's getting better." He looked at her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Everything's good."

House could sense that something wasn't being said, but he held his tongue—for now. Then he asked Wilson some questions about the hospital and got reassurances that his team were handling things just fine while he was gone.

"So you will get out in two weeks?" Kate asked.

"If I'm in here any longer than that, I'm committing murder."

"Good, then I can schedule the ultrasound for after you come home."

"You don't need me to do that."

"No, but I want you. If I have to look at images of our kid swimming around inside me, so do you."

This was definitely taking his mind off rehab. The thoughts of seeing ultrasound images of their child was both exciting and frightening.

"We'll talk about it when I get out of here."

"We sure will."

As House looked at her determined face, he realized how much he really had missed her. Through the last two grueling weeks, the thought of her had kept him moving through the program. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms. Then he remembered that they were not alone.

"Wilson, the little boys room is down the hall."

"I don't have to go."

"Yes, you do."

Realization struck and Wilson said, "Oh, right, yes, I do. I'll be back." He left the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

House pulled Kate into his arms. Their kiss was long and full of hunger. She moved him towards the bed, but he stopped her.

"Unfortunately this place doesn't allow conjugal visits and one of the attendants could come in at any time."

"I almost don't care. I'd heard that pregnant women have increased sex drives, but I never realized."

"Oh, man, you make this tough. Now I really can't wait until I get out of here."

They both laughed. House felt good to laugh again, there hadn't been many laughs the last two weeks.

"I want to tell you something." She said. "I made an appointment for therapy. I'm going later this week."

"Are you sure about it?"

"No, I'm nervous as hell. But if you can do this, then I guess I can try."

He held her close to him. Somehow they would both get through this and, God help them, bring a kid into the world.

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Two weeks later, Wilson and Kate brought House home from rehab.

"Cuddy said you can take a few days to get adjusted before coming back to work." Wilson said.

"Don't need to." House replied.

"Greg, don't you think…?" Kate began.

"No, I don't. I have no idea what those three did to Diagnostics since I've been gone, so I need to get back and straighten them out."

Wilson snickered at that. It wasn't like House to be conscientious about work and he didn't think he was being so now. He just needed to get back normalcy in his life as soon as he could. Normalcy that would soon be shattered when the baby arrived.

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House did accompany Kate to the ultrasound. He found himself full of emotion as he watched the monitor that showed his child moving around inside of Kate. He still didn't know if he wanted to be a father, but he couldn't help but feel something at that sight.

He also felt something the next day, when Kate met him at the door with the words:

"They saw something on the ultrasound."

"What did they see?"

"I don't know, I couldn't keep it clear, I was upset when Dr. Akiro told me. But there's something and I need to go and see her about it." Kate was clearly still upset.

"Don't worry. I'll check out what it is and talk to the doctor with you."

That was obviously what she wanted to hear. She relaxed a bit, though she still looked upset. He put his arms around her.

The next day, House pulled up the records from Kate's ultrasound. What they'd found were cysts on the baby's brain that could possibly result in the child being born with Downs Syndrome. Well, he thought, it wasn't good news, but it wasn't the worst either. They could handle that if they had to. An amniocentesis would tell them either way.

Then he noticed something else in Kate's file. Something about an emergency room visit. The date was just after he'd started rehab. As he read the file, he felt the anger build up in him.

He stormed into Wilson's office. "You jerk! I asked you to do one thing for me and you couldn't handle that!"

Wilson looked up in surprise. "What are you talking about?" He asked, although he was pretty sure he knew.

"Don't give me that. What kind of doctor are you? You can't make sure a pregnant woman eats? That shouldn't be that hard!"

Wilson sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry. I was busy with a case. I called her and she told me she was eating. I didn't know until she came to the ER. For what it's worth, from then on I personally made sure she ate."

"It's not worth much. What kind of friend are you?"

Wilson started to get angry himself. "I know you're upset, and I know it was my fault. But you have to know that I would never let anything happen to Kate. She a terrific lady and much better than you deserve."

"You think I don't know that?" House asked, but as he looked at Wilson, he saw something else. "You made sure she ate after the ER incident."

"Yes, personally."

House gave him a wry look. "Should I be worried?"

Wilson instantly knew what he was asking. "No, of course not. We're friends. There are some things you just don't do."

"Well, that's good to know."

"But, House, if you ever hurt her…"

"Is that a threat?"

"No, just a warning."

"So much for 'we're friends'."

Wilson didn't say anything and House returned to his office.

Two days later, Kate had the amniocentesis done.