Life and Limb

by purpleu

As House deals with learning that his leg was deliberately maimed by a doctor seeking revenge for House blowing the whistle on him, he must also deal with his patient, a firefighter with a leg problem that may also cost him his life. Lydia tries to help House handle these problems, but when a crisis occurs to two people close to him, will she even be able to help?

4. Chapter 4

ife and Limb"

Chapter Four – "Tiptoeing Around the Subject"

By: Purpleu

"Hold the elevator, please!" House turned and saw a woman running with an armload of things, trying desperately not to drop them. He stuck his cane out to prevent the doors from closing. He wasn't in the mood to be gallant, but being the only guy with three women in tow, House didn't see how he had a choice. "Thank you, so much. I was about to leave after doing a seven to seven, but two nurses called in sick, so I volunteered to stay. I'm trying to find a place to hide while I do what passes for dinner break." She finally got a look at Lydia and Annie with their blood splattered clothes. "What the hell happened to you two?" The women related to the nurse what happened, and how they were trying to clean up while Wilson was being prepped for surgery.

"Your name's Katherine, isn't it?" Thirteen asked. "You work in N.I.C.U.?"

"Yeah, people usually call me Kat and I do work in the Neo-Natal I.C.U." The two had met a few weeks earlier when House's team dealt with a newborn with a bacterial respiratory ailment. "I heard about Dr. Wilson. News about the shooting has spread through the hospital like wildfire." She looked at Lydia. "You're Dr. Wilson's girlfriend?"

"No, Annie is; I'm Dr. House's girlfriend." Kat looked up at House.

"The parents of that baby with the respiratory infection are very grateful to you and your team," she said glancing at Thirteen. "The mother was told she could never have children, so this baby was a miracle to them. So was what you did."

"It wasn't a miracle," House groused. "It was solid medical reasoning." He eyed Kat up. "Want to do a favor for us on behalf of the bambino and its family?" he asked as the doors opened on the fourth floor.

"Um…Ok. What can I do?" Thirteen, Lydia and Annie looked at House with puzzlement.

"These ladies need to get cleaned up, and we're going to help them. Care to act as bodyguard and not let anyone come into the locker room down here," House said indicating the end of the hall with his cane, "We'll pull you out a comfy chair from our conference room so you can sit and eat your dinner. " Kat shrugged.

"Sure, no problem. It's as good a place as any to hide." Thirteen stepped into the conference room, grabbed a chair, and placed it outside the locker room.

"Are you sure you're going to be OK here?" Lydia asked.

"I'll be fine," Kat said. She stared at Lydia. "Oh, I may be too tired to do this extra shift. I didn't recognize you at all. I was at the presentation you made several months back. You stood out to me, not just because what you were saying is exactly what this place needs, but your accent reminds me of my grandmother. I'm sorry…I'm being a ditz."

"Don't be silly," Lydia said with a smile. "Tell me, are you so short-handed that you do twelve hour doubles often?" Kat rolled her eyes.

"Way too often. And these babies…they're in N.I.C.U. for a reason; we should be at the height of our abilities, not dragging our asses." Lydia nodded.

"I know Dr. Wilson and Dr. Foreman are aware of the situation and are trying to find the money to get you at least some floaters to sub in."

"They came up and interviewed all of us," Kat said as she sat down. She looked at Annie. "Dr. Wilson is a sweetheart."

"Yes…yes he is," Annie replied.

"We better get you two squeaky clean before they start anything in the O.R.," House said, anxious to move things along.

"Thanks for playing guard for us," Thirteen said.

"No problem." Kat replied. "Dr. House? Dr. Wilson...he's going to be OK, isn't he?" House looked away and made eye contact with no one.

"We'll see." He entered the locker room followed by Thirteen, Annie and Lydia.

"What I can find for you in here?" Thirteen wondered as she opened a closet. "Hmmm…pink scrubs, and…there are actually clogs in here wrapped in plastic." She passed the items out to Lydia.

"Have anything in there in a manly blue? Or least something else other than pink," House said, "I think only my shirt has the red badge of courage, so just a top would work."

"You did get some on your pants," Lydia noted. House didn't want to look at it.

"I'll be fine."

"Here," Thirteen said passing out some scrubs to House. They were a drab gray color, which matched House's mood perfectly. "There's a shirt and pants there. Do you want shoes, too? I can color-coordinate you." Thirteen was trying to bust House's chops a little, hoping it would be a distraction; she wasn't having any luck. She handed Annie pink scrubs and clogs while waiting for House to respond.

"I'll clean these after we get washed up," he said indicating his sneakers. He was glad he was still wearing them when he took off after Foreman to the E.R. He had put the dress shoes he had gotten a few months ago in his car and was going to change into them before he got to the restaurant. He looked down at his sneakers, a gray and yellow combo. There wasn't much blood on them, just some splatters, but they stood out as a painful reminder of the events of the evening. "We'll take this side," House said indicating the shower stalls to his right. "You take her over there," he said pointing to the left side of the locker room. House couldn't bring himself to call Annie by her name at the moment. The images of Wilson…covered in blood, coding, stripped down with no dignity, bags of blood and IV fluids being forced into his body…kept running through House's mind. Then he thought of Lydia, with most of her fingers bandaged, the evidence of the mugger's callous disregard for human life literally burned into her forehead. And the question the bastard asked: "Are you ready to die?" House closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he and Lydia placed the scrubs on a bench outside one of the showers. He now knew that he was in deep; losing her to something like this, or an accident, was something House had never considered before. He always thought he'd majorly screw something up, and she'd leave. But if anything ever happened to Lydia, he had no doubt what path he'd wind up stumbling down, and it wouldn't be pretty. How the hell could Annie have even hesitated for a second when the guy demanded her necklace? She put all of their lives at risk; his too if you stretch things out to their logical conclusion. Was that damned locket really worth more than Wilson's life? Or Lydia's? House stopped himself from rehashing things too much as he saw Lydia struggling just to remove her shoes; the dried blood was acting like glue and keeping her foot sealed in. He knew that Annie would have handed the jewelry over in a second if it was put to her in terms of endangering people she cared about; still, it just bothered the hell out of House…

"Greg?" House was so lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize that Lydia had called his name. "Are you alright?"

"No, but I guess I have no choice. What's up?"

"We're going to need towels," Lydia said, finally getting her shoes off. House nodded and went back to the closet; he met Thirteen who was looking for the same thing.

"How's Annie's back?" he forced himself to ask. Thirteen shook her head.

"Really scratched up. She must had slid down against the bricks. She has a scrape that's about eight inches wide, from her shoulder blades to the small of her back. It shredded the back of her blouse to bits and she's bleeding." She looked at House as he reached up to the top shelf and pulled down a stack of towels. "You were standing right next to her when she was talking to Wilson; didn't you notice?"

"I'm sorry, I was focused on the guy whose blood we're all wearing. Somehow, the wound that could be taken care of with first aid cream escaped my attention." He handed Thirteen two towels and took the rest with him over to Lydia. House practically threw the towels onto the bench, making Lydia jump.

"I'm going to text Taub and tell him to bring up a couple of cold packs for your hands and head," said House. "I'll also tell him to grab some ibuprofen, too."

"Thank you." Lydia knew better than to keep asking House if he was OK; he wasn't. There were a lot of people who were going to be affected by these events. Most especially Wilson, of course, but she knew that House, Annie and herself were going to be feeling the repercussions of things deeply. Lydia looked over at House and saw that he was holding one of the plastic bags that the hospital clogs came in; she could see the wheels turning.

"I'll be right back," he said as he rose from the bench. "The tadpole nurse…what's her name?"

"Kat, why?" House didn't answer, but went over to the door of the locker room. House opened it, stuck his head out and saw Kat sitting to his left.

"Kat, do you have a couple of pairs of gloves on you? I'm trying to keep the nice German lady's bandages dry." Kat reached into her pocket and pulled out a few pairs of gloves.

"Do you need scissors?" she asked reaching into her other pocket.

"I'll find something to do with them," House said taking the offered tool. "Thanks," he said as he was halfway back into the locker room. "OK, waterproofing materials at the ready." Lydia looked at the items House placed on the bench.

"Greg, the gloves won't fit over my bandages," Lydia said.

"They're not supposed to. Come on, let's get you naked, and I'll show you my game plan." House reached up under Lydia's skirt to take her panty hose off, but was greeted by a surprise. The black hose he saw, were in fact, stockings connected to a garter belt. House looked at Lydia and pushed her skirt all the way up.

"Well, Marianne and Tom were watching the kids overnight…and I know how you like surprises," Lydia said with a smile. House, despite all that was going on, also smiled. He couldn't help but wonder over and over again how she had everything he needed, and knew when he needed it the most.

"It would have been a very nice surprise," he said moving his eyebrows up and down in a lecherous manner. "How about I take a rain check and promise to help you pick out a new pair?" he said looking at the ripped and bloodied stockings. "Besides, not that I ever give a damn about what's appropriate in a given time and place, but with the company over there," House said indicating Annie and Thirteen, "any activity we engage in would be overheard. Especially since you're so loud."

"Me?" Lydia said indignantly. House gave her a knowing look.

"Who's the one who set off the Clapper in that hotel room we stayed in a few weeks ago?"

"First of all," Lydia said, "I don't understand why a hotel that nice had a Clapper in the room to start with. And secondly, I may have set it off the first time…you made it look like a strobe light." House looked away and actually chuckled at the memory.

"Can I help it if you're talented?" he asked. Lydia shook her head as House unbuttoned her blouse and unhooked her bra with one hand, a trick he had done many times before.

"One of these days I'm going to find a way not to let you talk your way out of something," she said.

"Let me know when it happens," House said unzipping her skirt. "OK, can you handle taking off your….OMG…thong? You really were planning for a fun evening," House said, once again surprised at Lydia's choice in clothing. "Get covered up. I want to be able to concentrate on prepping the waterproofing set-up." House picked up one of the pairs of gloves, and proceeded to cut off all the fingers. He then cut a slit in the remaining latex between the finger holes, and folded it down into a wide band. House looked it over; satisfied with the result, he did the same to the other gloves. Lydia, meanwhile had removed her underwear and wrapped a towel around herself. "OK, all we need now is the cold packs…"

"Dr. House?" House headed to the door of the locker area. He saw Kat sticking her head in. "There's a Dr. Taub here to see you."

"Thanks," House said as he stepped into the hall. Taub held out the cold packs and a small bag with some pills in it. "Thought you were scrubbing in?"

"I am," Taub replied. "But to avoid any problem with Rayner, I thought I should wait until the others actually entered the O.R."

"Good idea. Vipers don't have eyes in the back of their heads," House sniped. "How's our patient?"

"Which one?" House gave Taub a look.

"The only one I really give a crap about."

"Stable. Rayner blabbed that it appears a hip replacement was needed. Of course Wilson got upset. When Rayner walked away to scrub, Chase, Foreman and I told him that we didn't know that for sure yet." House nodded.

"Has he asked where I am?"

"Well, he asked us if you were taking care of Annie; we told him what you and Thirteen were doing and he seemed happy about it," Taub said. He studied House's face. "House, he's going to be OK; we won't let anything go wrong." House wouldn't look at Taub.

"That promise only works if the planets are aligned, the moon is in the seventh house, and nobody screws up," he replied. Taub ignored House.

"There's six pills in there; I thought that would be enough under the circumstances. Will that last Lydia until you can prescribe more?" House shrugged.

"She's got second degree burns; the nerve receptors are on overtime. Thirteen tells me the songbird's back is a study in pain with how scraped up it is." House looked at the pills. "These are six-hundred milligrams, fast-release. It'll hold them until tomorrow when I can switch them over to a regulated dose of eight-hundred milligrams for the next day or two." Taub nodded.

"I've got to go scrub in. See you later." Taub hurried off down the hall. House's mind was trying to decide which of the ongoing crises he should deal with, when he realized Kat was talking to him.

"What?"

"I said Dr. Taub seems like a nice guy," Kat said as she peeled an orange.

"I see he's already started to lay the groundwork with you," replied House.

"Excuse me?" Kat didn't catch on to what House was trying to say.

"Never mind." He re-entered the locker room and went over to Lydia. "Hold your hands out to me, palms together," he said as he squeezed one of the cold packs to activate it. Lydia did as House requested; he gave her the cold pack to hold, then put one of the plastic bags that held the clogs, over her hands. House slipped one of the bands he made from the gloves over it and moved it down to her wrists. "It may be a little tight, but I don't think any water will get in." House saw she was flinching.

"The cold feels good and hurts at the same time," Lydia said. "The band is tight, but not uncomfortable."

"Good, because I don't think you'll say the same thing about the one I'm going to put on your head. I think it would be better to wait until you're finished in the shower to use a pack for your noggin. If Foreman was true to his word, there's food in the waiting room. I had Taub bring prescription strength ibuprofen; you can take one after you eat something." House took another latex band, left it very wide and placed it on Lydia like a headband. He moved it up so it rested on her bandage and pushed her hair up above the edge of the altered latex glove.

"Owl! That does hurt!" Lydia proclaimed. "But I can deal with it while we get washed up." House noticed there was no soap in the stall. He returned to the closet, and found a small bottle of body wash. It would have to double as shampoo, too; fashionable hair care be damned.

"Got soap," he said as he took off his shirt. He undid his belt and dropped his pants and underwear down in one swift movement. He removed his sneakers and socks; he was now ready for the shower, too. House felt Lydia's eyes on him as he walked into the stall and turned on the water. After he adjusted it, he motioned for Lydia to come in and join him. "I think this should be a comfortable temperature." Lydia stepped in and smiled as the water flowed over her. For the moment, it felt like she was cleansing away the trauma of the evening. What felt even better was House's hands on her; he wasn't being cute or playing around. House was far too anxious to make sure they got to the observation room before things got started. To Lydia, it was a comfort she needed right now, a reassurance that everything would be OK. She had closed her eyes, and became aware that House had stopped rubbing the soap on her; he had turned her around to face him. She looked at him questioningly. Lydia didn't know if it was the water, or tears that were making House's eyes glisten. She reached up with her hands still in the bag, and slipped her arms over his head so she could give House a hug. He put his arms around her, and just stood there for a minute, holding her.

"Greg, I'm alright," Lydia said. She moved back slightly so she could see House's face. "I might wind up having a few scars from the burns, but I think they are second-degree, so hopefully not. And even if I do scar, those will fade with time. So will the memory of this night, believe it or not. James will always have the reminder by virtue of his operation scars and the artificial hip…but that will become a part of him, and life will go on. I'm not saying you shouldn't be worried about him; you just have so many things on your plate right now…I…I'm scared that you'll you lose it and do something foolish."

"I've already said and thought some evil things; acting them out would be a natural conclusion," House noted. "If you see me take even one drink, take the car keys away from me; 'cause if I have one, I'm not going to stop there." That's not what I'm worried about, Lydia thought to herself; it's a bad habit of a different kind that's not that far in your past. Once an addict, always an addict…she held no delusions about that fact. What she was starting to wonder, is what her reaction would be if Greg chose Vicodin over coming and talking to her. She tried to ignore the thought as House tilted her head back to rub some soap into her hair and rinse it out.

"I think all the soap's out," House said. Lydia nodded and pushed the curtain aside that covered the entrance to the stall as House turned the water off; she sat down on the towel she had left on the bench. House came out right behind her and spread a towel out for himself. He grabbed another one and began to rapidly rub his body to dry it off. He wanted to get ready and then help Lydia.

"Hon, could you just take the headband off, please? It's starting to bother me." House reached over wrapped a towel around her head so the wet hair wouldn't touch her bandage. He then took the scissors and carefully cut the headband.

"Doesn't look like I gave you a haircut," he said. "No red hairs flying through the air." Lydia smiled.

"I don't think I'd care at this point if you did," she said as House cut the band away from her wrist and removed the plastic bag. "You'd mind more than me."

"Unless you got a buzz cut, I wouldn't mind," House said looking over his boxers to make sure no blood soaked through to them.

"I thought you liked a woman to wear her hair in a longer style." Lydia put her head down. "I actually started growing mine out before I moved back here; but I haven't had long hair in ages, and I found it to be too much of a pain."

"Are you trying to tell me you were growing your hair because you thought I'd like it more? Like you more?" Lydia knew it sounded foolish now, but that was her reason.

"When you described Stacy and Cuddy to me as we were talking back at Mayfield, you made a point of mentioning that they had longer, dark hair. I wasn't about to change my color, because this is what nature gave me…but I thought I could at least grow it out for you." House rolled his eyes as he pulled up his boxers.

"First of all, Stacy's hair came just a little above her shoulders. Second," he said as he put on the scrub bottoms, "I like hair I can run my fingers through; yours fits the bill perfectly. And third," he put the shirt on that matched the pants. "I fell in love with you not because of hair color or length; I don't have a Rapunzel obsession." House knelt down and helped Lydia put her legs into the pink pants. "I fell in love with you because of the three B's: Beauty, inward and outward, Brains and a Body to die for. My problem is, I'm still trying to figure out what you see in me." Lydia was going to tease House like she always did, but now wasn't the time for that. She stood up so House could pull the pants up to her waist.

"I love you because you're Greg…and you're House. Put them together and you have one hell of a man." House squirmed uncomfortably; sometimes even compliments from Lydia were difficult to accept. He saw the way she was looking down at him; he got up from the floor and stood face to face with her.

"Let's hope I can keep it together enough to prove you right," he said with a sigh. "Taub just mentioned the patient from the clinic, which I hadn't given a second thought to his situation. Then there's my mother...and I don't care how hot you look in that get up, I'm still concerned about you, too."

"Greg, I told you, I'm fine," Lydia said.

"Yeah, I know. Maybe it's knowing what you're wearing under those scrubs," House said as he started to walk away.

"I'm…I'm not wearing anything under these scrubs." House stopped and turned toward Lydia.

"Yeah, I know," House said with a sexier tone to his voice than the first time he said that phrase a minute ago. "I'm going to clean these up." He held up his sneakers and headed to the common sink area between the two shower areas. As he turned on the water, he heard Thirteen and Annie talking; House realized there was no shower running at the moment. "How are things going over there?" he asked without really caring.

"Good, Annie's almost dressed. I'm going to need to do something about her back, House," Thirteen said pointedly. He turned off the water at the sink.

"Are you dressed enough to avoid embarrassment? I couldn't give a crap; I've seen it all before. Not yours, of course." He heard a little laugh come from the shower area and recognized it as Annie's. It was better than her crying.

"You can come over," Annie said. House rounded the corner and saw Annie fully dressed in the scrubs, her semi-wet hair hanging down around her shoulders. Even wet, it was a mass of curls,

"Still haven't figured out how to tame the savage beast?" House asked brushing the hair away from her back with his hand.

"I'm not going to do what they did to me in Mayfield. They were going to cut it short because they didn't want to deal with it," she said looking at House and Thirteen. "But Lydia wouldn't let them. As a compromise, every couple of months, they straightened it. God, my hair was like straw after all that. I stopped that immediately after we got out to Arizona."

"Why didn't they just put it up in a ponytail or clip it back?" Thirteen asked.

"It still had to be brushed," Annie pointed out.

"OK, the lesson from Vidal Sassoon is over," House announced, beginning to get annoyed. "Let's see your back." Annie turned, and while her back was facing House, Thirteen picked up the scrub shirt. Even House was taken back at how badly Annie's back had been hurt. "I take it these were not your standard little red school house bricks."

"No, these were the beige, architectural type; they had points that jutted out as well as hollows in between." House gestured to Thirteen to put Annie's shirt down.

"When we get set up in the waiting area, Thirteen can go and get some things to bandage that up," House said. "I just have to clean my footwear and we're ready." Quickly scrubbing the last of the blood from his sneakers, House dried them off with the hand dryer and put them on his feet. He returned to the side where he and Lydia had set up camp; she had packed up his clothes in one bag and hers in another.

"I didn't know what you wanted to do with these," she said pointing to the bags on the bench. "I…I think I'm just going to throw mine away. I don't think I could ever wear these or look at them again without thinking about tonight," Lydia said sadly. House was going to argue the idea with her, but he didn't want to waste the time. House wanted to try and get to the operating theater before they knocked Wilson out…if he was even still conscious.

"We can put the bags in my office along with my backpack," said House. "Think it over and see if that's really what you want to do." He picked up the wet towels and put them in a hamper by the door. Annie and Thirteen met him there. "Be back in a sec with Fraulein." House came back to Lydia, picked up the bags of clothing and headed toward the door.

"Greg?" House turned around. "You're forgetting this." He saw Lydia holding out his cane to him.

"I guess my gray matter is turning blue from all the thought processes choking it up," he said walking over to Lydia. He raised his head up and made eye contact. "Go ahead, say it."

"You forgot it because you don't really need it at the moment; you're thinking about everything but your leg." Lydia replied. He twirled the cane between his fingers.

"Let's go," House said looking away from Lydia.

"Ready?" Thirteen asked.

"Yes, we just have to drop those in Greg's office," Lydia said pointing at the plastic bags House carried. As Thirteen reached for the door, it suddenly opened.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Kat said. "A security guard just came by and asked me to give these to you." Kat had a bag marked "Patient's Belongings" and a burgundy blazer. She held them out to Lydia.

"That's mine…and here's my cell phone," Lydia said reaching into the pocket of the blazer. She opened the bag. "And here's my pocketbook." She pulled it out and placed the strap on her shoulder. Lydia looked in the bag; House saw her expression change as she saw the contents. "James' shoes and socks," she said quietly.

"We'll put them in my office, too." House said.

"Thank you so much for helping out," Lydia said to Kat. "It looks like you're not finished." Kat was still munching on her orange.

"Can I sit in your conference room to finish this?" Kat asked House. "I won't leave a mess behind." House made a face.

"You'd better make sure the place is sparkling clean. Foreman likes to do random white glove tests, ironic as it may seem."

"I…I promise; the place will…"

"Kat, pay no attention to the man behind the cane. He's busting your chops," Lydia said.

"Oh…OK," Kat replied hesitantly.

"Thanks again," Thirteen said as the group walked away. When they got to the office, House peeled off to the right and put the bags under his desk so they wouldn't be seen from the hall. He rejoined the ladies.

"Make a left at the end of the hall, and then a quick right. The elevators there will take us closest to the observation room for Wilson," said House.

"Wait; where are your clothes?" Lydia asked Annie.

"I threw them out. There was too much blood on them….and I don't ever want to see them again," Annie said, her voice cracking. Oh, great…now she's going to start crying again, House thought. I really don't want to hear it. Let's see what I can do to turn off the water works.

"You probably threw them out so you could torture Wilson by taking him clothes shopping, the most dreaded sub-division of going to the mall," House said. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Annie was smiling. Whew…dodged that one.

"Actually, James doesn't mind shopping. I'm really lucky that way," said Annie wistfully. Maybe that didn't work as well as I hoped; let's try this again.

"Yeah, it's one of his more annoying traits that women find so attractive," House said. When there was no response, House managed to sneak a look at Annie. Well, at least she's not crying; guess I can claim this as success. They arrived at the elevators; House pushed the call button.

"Do you think I'll be able to talk to James before things start?" Annie asked. The elevator doors opened and the four got in.

"From the observation room only. He's probably in the O.R. already; hopefully still awake." House said as the elevator arrived by the waiting area. The doors opened to reveal Tom and Slick waiting for them. Lydia and Annie rushed forward to embrace their friends.

"Thank God, you two are OK," Tom said looking them both over. He looked at Lydia's bandaged fingers and head, then at Annie. "You didn't get hurt?"

"Her back needs some attention," House said. "Got scraped up when the guy pushed her against the wall and went for her necklace."

"You hadn't gotten there yet," Slick said to House as he gave Lydia a hug.

"Greg was still here," said Lydia. "He's the one who oversaw James's treatment." House slowly shook his head.

"It was a typical trauma situation; my team helped. Which is a good thing they did, or I would have fired their asses."

"Come on, let's get you two sitting down and throw some food into you. People from the local deli just brought this stuff in," Tom said as he led them into the waiting room. Sure enough, there was a spread in front of them: sandwiches, wraps, bags of chips, fruit and containers of yogurt. All of this plus pound cake slices, cookies and a large urn of coffee. There was even a large plastic tub set up with ice, bottles of water and iced tea, and cans of soda. "Looks like someone thinks you're going to be here for the long haul," noted Tom. "They brought in plates, napkins, knives and forks, cups…and every kind of condiment."

"The operation will probably take a couple of hours, two to three. We'll take what's left over from here to the recovery waiting area; that's where you'll be able to see your fingernails grow," House said. He looked over and saw that Lydia and Annie were just staring at the food. "Trying to figure out where to start?" Both women shook their heads.

"I'm imagining what James would say if he saw all of this," Annie said, a smile spreading over her face.

"Me, too," Lydia said. "Probably, 'Whose budget is all of this coming out of?'" Annie and Lydia said together. Both started laughing, joined quickly by Tom and Slick. House managed to let himself smile.

"And then he'd hate himself for letting the business side of him talk rather than the overtly caring side," noted House.

"Very true," Annie said.

"Hey, guys?" Thirteen had gone into the observation room while the others talked. "Wilson's still awake, but they're going to put him under and begin in about five, ten minutes." Everyone hurried into the observation area, Tom and Slick included. Annie got to the window first; she gasped and buried her head into Lydia's shoulder. The view was no different than anyone else in the room had seen before: a patient, stripped down and readied for surgery, with a variety of leads, tubes and monitors everywhere. The fact that this time it was Wilson, startled all of them; it devastated Annie.

"Can…can I talk to him?" she asked. House moved over to the intercom that connected to the operating room and pushed the button to talk.

"Hey, Dancing Queen; you awake down there?" Wilson slowly opened his eyes. They hadn't intubated him yet and had switched him off the oxygen mask to just the nose delivery system; they'd change that back when the time got closer to start. House saw his vitals were slightly improved from before, a good sign.

"House?"

"What other voice around here comes with built-in sneer and sarcasm levels? Of course it's me."

"Annie?" She smiled when she heard Wilson ask for her.

"Sure toss me aside for some woman. I always knew you'd do that someday…again." Wilson was trying to laugh, but couldn't quite manage it.

"Why not? You've…done the…same…thing to …me…now."

"You're still a few ahead of me," House said. Annie was waiting impatiently by his side. "Here…before the songbird beats me up to get to the intercom." House stepped aside.

"Hi, babe. Are you hanging in there?" she asked. Wilson nodded slightly.

"As…best I…can."

"Everyone's here," Annie said trying not to cry. "Greg and Lydia, of course. And Thirteen. But Tom and Slick are here, too."

"The whole… gang," Wilson answered weakly.

"Yes. Your parents should be here soon." There was no response. "James?" House saw that the anesthesiologist was beginning to administer medicine to Wilson's IV.

"They're starting to knock him out," House said quickly.

"Sweetie, I'll see you when all of this is over. I'll be waiting." Annie started to cry. "I love you."

"Love…you…" House saw that they were about to place the intubation line.

"Come on; you don't want to see this," House said as he put his hands on Annie's shoulders and turned her gently toward Lydia. He turned back to look down on the operating room; Chase and Foreman were on each side of the table. Nurses were fluttering around. Rayner had not yet moved into position. House went to reach for the intercom button; he realized that was foolish. Wilson wouldn't be able to hear him anyway. Despite all logic and reason, House once again reached for the button.

"Later, Wilson." Whether Wilson heard it or not, House didn't know…or care. At least, it was said.

"Let's get something to eat," Lydia said leading Annie into the hallway, and then the waiting room. "We can take the ibuprofen Greg got for us after we get something into our stomachs. Then maybe Thirteen can put something on your back to help it feel better." Annie nodded.

"Come on Medusa," Tom said teasing Annie about her hair. "There are only so many rainbow cookies on the tray that was brought in. You'd better go stake your claim now." He got Annie to smile as he led her to a seat. Lydia let Tom handle Annie while she went back to House, who remained in the observation room.

"I know you're going to want to stay here," Lydia said to House. "What can I bring you?" House shook his head.

"Just some coffee."

"Greg, you have to eat something."

"No, I don't" he said. "The human body can survive for three weeks without food. You might get a little light headed and wind up rivaling Valerie Bertinelli as weight loss queen, but you'll survive."

"House, I don't mean to butt in," Slick said. "But under the circumstances, I'd think you'd want to keep your wits about you." Slick gestured down to the operating room. House sighed.

"To keep Slippery here from busting my balls, I'll take the coffee and a few of the cookies," House said looking at Lydia. "You know the type I like." She nodded.

"The more chocolate sprinkles the better," she replied. "Can I get you anything?" Lydia asked Slick.

"Yeah, thanks. Coffee, black….and some kind of turkey sandwich. You need any help?"

"No, thanks…just hang out here," she said glancing over her shoulder at House.

"Fraulein?" Lydia hesitated by the door to the room. "I'll take whatever they have that passes for roast beef." Lydia smiled, left the room, and headed to the food spread. Slick wandered over to where House was standing.

"So I guess you're the designated babysitter for now," House said.

"As long as it doesn't involve changing diapers, I'm fine with it," Slick replied. "I just wish the whole damn building and fifty feet in any direction wasn't a non-smoking area."

"When I don't feel the need to keep watch here, I'll join you in one, if you can spare it." Slick looked at House in surprise.

"Yeah, sure, no problem. I just thought you said you stopped smoking years ago."

"I was basically a social smoker, nothing heavy. Then at Mayfield, I started again, more on than off. Lydia said it reminded her of her then husband, so I stopped. Never did start again, but now seems as good a time as any."

"Dr. House?" It was Rayner.

"Present and accounted for," replied House.

"Is there any history of heart disease in Dr. Wilson's family?" The question surprised House; Rayner hadn't even begun to work on Wilson. He quickly realized that Rayner was trying to make a choice on which approach to take to repair the artery.

"His father just had two stents put in this past November," offered House. Rayner considered House's words.

"I'm going to take a saphenous vein from his left leg. He's a relatively young man; if there's a history of heart disease, he may want to have certain options available to him later on."

"Sounds good. You're going to pull the vein arthroscopically." House was making a statement, not asking a question.

"Of course; that way Dr. Wilson will have a small scar that will fade in a year or two." Rayner may be a dick when it came to bedside manner, but he knew what he was doing. House rolled his eyes as he could hear Lydia making the comparison between him and Rayner like she did down in the E.R.

"House, we were so concerned with the vascular issues that we hadn't decided on an orthopedic surgeon," Chase said. "I hope you don't mind, but I called Mike Ellis." House was pleased with Chase's selection; Ellis was the same doctor he himself would have chosen.

"Ellis is good at what he does; very good," noted House. "Did he tell you to check and see if Wilson has a nickel allergy? It's becoming an issue more and more these days."

"He ordered it when I spoke to him. He should be here within the hour," Chase replied.

"Are we ready?" Rayner asked. Everyone answered in the affirmative. "Scalpel." House felt the hairs stand up on his arms. This is ridiculous I'm being an idiot. There are damn good doctors down there with Wilson. I don't need to be down there. I don't need to be; I want to be…

"Is this the first time you're watching Wilson be operated on?" Slick asked. "Cause, you saw me when Scotty was on the table."

"You were a pretty cool customer, actually," House said, remembering back to when he and Slick first met. "And I've seen Wilson operated on before." House related to Slick the story of Wilson donating part of his liver to his "friend," who later turned to be a scum bag who had left his wife for a much younger woman.

"Wilson, believing in true love and other fairy tales, thought the guy would go back to his wife, once there was a part of him in this guy."

"What's this I hear about you not believing in true love?" Lydia asked, looking at House as she entered the operating theater.

"I believe in it; but only with you," House said glancing down to see where things stood. "I just was saying that Cupid down there, has shot himself in the foot too many times."

"Dr. House?" House realized that Rayner was speaking to him again.

"Yeah, what can I do you for?" he asked as he took the coffee from Lydia. She handed the other coffee to Slick, then reached into one of the pockets on the scrubs, and pulled out the turkey sandwich he requested, wrapped in a napkin.

"I assume that the police want the bullets that we're removing from Dr. Wilson as evidence," Rayner said.

"Well, you know what happens when you assume…" began House. Rayner shot a quick glance up at House.

"I will be far better able to concentrate on doing the right thing for Dr. Wilson, if I don't have to deal with smart-assed remarks." House knew damned well that Rayner would do the best work possible; his reputation meant everything to him.

"What's the matter? Missed the 'How to Talk and Resect an Artery at the Same Time' class?" Both Chase and Foreman realized what House was doing: he was deflecting with sarcasm and humor so as to better help him deal with the situation. They understood him all too well; Rayner was another story. It was time to get House under control before there really was a problem.

"We'll bag and tag the bullets once they come out," Foreman said to Rayner. "If he has no need for them, I'm sure he'll know best how to dispose of them."

"House have you eaten anything yet?" Chase asked. House made a face as he pushed the intercom button.

"I thank you for your love and concern, Little Wombat, but I have Fraulein here to keep me on the straight and narrow," House said. Lydia came behind House and reached for the intercom.

"He's having a sandwich, some cookies and coffee," she said. "He'll be fine."

"See, I've got the little woman; why should you care?"

"House, Wilson needs plasma," Foreman said. "Our supply here is out; they're calling over to the county…"

"Call the blood lab," House said as he took a bite of the sandwich Lydia offered. "Tell them I'll be there in twenty minutes, or as soon as I can get two of these into me," House said holding up his sandwich.

"Suction!" Rayner said urgently.

"I'll have the nurse make the call," Foreman said.

"Greg, don't rush so much. You'll be of no use to James if you start throwing up," Lydia admonished.

"I heard a news story the other day that blood banks were calling for donations, that there was a shortage going on. I just never considered it a personal issue," House said as he took another bite.

"Greg, do you want something a little more sugary to drink, like a soda?" Lydia offered.

"Nah, Wilson's all sweetness and light as it is; he doesn't need any more," House said drinking his coffee.

"Maybe she meant it would counteract your natural personality," Slick said, trying not to laugh. "We don't want to see Wilson get any of that." House was looking down as they were preparing to start the procedure to remove the donor vein.

"Now is not the time to bust my chops," House began. "However, I can assure you my retribution will be terrible and swift…once I have time to dispense it." House looked at Lydia. "Why do I have the feeling that you haven't had anything to eat yet? That you've been too busy playing hostess with the mostest?"

"I'll tell you what, I'll escort this lovely lady back in to the nosh room, make her get some food onto a plate, then bring her and said plate back in here along with a chair," Slick offered.

"Works for me," House said as looked down into the operating room again.

"Be right back," Lydia said as she gave House a quick kiss. House paid no attention as she and Slick left the room; he was too busy watching Wilson's vitals. They didn't look wonderful, but they were normal for someone getting sliced up at the moment.

"How's it going?" House turned and saw Tom entering the room.

"Well enough for now. I'm waiting to see how long he's going to be a patient of yours," House said putting a cookie in his mouth.

"They're going to be working on the femoral artery for a while. Rayner said that he thought the top of the femur was shattered?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, Superman used his x-ray vision and saw all the bad stuff contained in Jimmy Olsen's leg," replied House. Tom started to laugh.

"Oh, lordy…if Wilson ever did want an acting career, casting him as Jimmy Olsen would be perfect!"

"It'd be the definition of typecasting," House said. He saw movement by the door; Lydia came in carrying a plate, and a can of soda in her pocket. Behind her was Thirteen carrying a chair.

"You know, Slick, you and Thirteen have to stop spending so much time together. You're beginning to look like each other."

"Very funny," Thirteen said as she set the chair down near House. Lydia sat down and placed her soda on the counter in front of her. "I just got a call from the lab about our patient; our other patient." Lydia looked quickly up at Thirteen, then at House. He caught the look and knew something was up.

"OK, let me guess; our patient isn't human…so is he animal, vegetable or mineral?" House asked.

"They don't know. The results on the culture of his wound are inconclusive for any known bacteria,fugngi, virus or parasites," Thirteen said. "They're going to rerun the tests."

"Have they tried checking for any unknown bacteria,fungi, virus or parasites?" House asked as he began to pace. It was clear to Lydia, Thirteen and Tom, that House was not happy. "Let this be a lesson as to why I make my team do our own lab work," he said, directing the comment to Lydia. "It's not the grown-up version of a time out. It's so we can get correct results and figure out what's wrong with the patient."

"House I do have the results from the metabolic panel; his white cell count is 32,000. They ran the tests twice to confirm." House had stopped pacing when Thirteen read off the number.

"That would be consistent with all the symptoms he's shown so far," Lydia said. "The high fever, the rapid heart rate, the seizure…"

"Leaving us with the question of what is turning him into a giant pus globule?" House glanced down at Wilson; his vitals were still good, and House could tell from the conversation that things were going well. "Any idea how his temps have been running?"

"The I.C.U. just sent a report; half an hour ago he was 103.4, the rest of his vitals were stable," Thirteen said. House closed his eyes and dropped his head down; he reached up and rubbed his eyes. He was not in the right place to be trying to diagnose this guy right now. He couldn't even order his team out to check on the guy's workplace and home. Lydia won't leave here right now. Chase, Taub and Foreman, even, were in the O.R. with Wilson. Thirteen couldn't possibly handle two fire houses, and the guy's home by herself. House knew a different tactic was called for.

"Increase the acetaminophen to 750 milligrams every four hours. If that plus 1000 milligrams of Levaquin doesn't knock down the fever to below 102, increase acetaminophen to 1000 milligrams." Thirteen looked around to Tom and Lydia.

"House, those are awfully high numbers you're dosing him with; are you sure…"

"He also has an awfully high number of white cells roaming around his body. Until someone can do their job right to isolate the cause, we have to do what we can to make sure he doesn't lose his leg or his life!" Thirteen nodded and walked out of the room. Tom started to make a move for the door.

"I'm going to get another cup," he said indicating his coffee. "Anyone want anything?" House didn't respond; Lydia shook her head and mouthed the words "No, thank you." She rose from her chair and walked over to House.

"Once Annie has James' parents here tomorrow, and he's in a room in I.C.U., I could take some time to go over to the young man's home and see what I can find. Of course, I'd feel better about it if someone from the team went with me," Lydia suggested. House thought for a moment.

"Yeah, anything would be better than just sitting around here. But you're definitely going over with a team member; you wouldn't be able to handle it by yourself." Lydia looked away and tried not to take House's comment as an insult. "Your phone can handle Skype, can't it?"

"Yes. I've only used it a few times, but it works beautifully."

"Good. I'm going to the blood lab to play vampire victim. Wilson needs plasma, and they're going to get it from me…"

"Can you…" Lydia interrupted.

"Yes, I can donate plasma to anyone; being AB positive, I'm a universal plasma donor. I'll call you on Skype once I'm set up over there, then you can hold you phone up to the window so I can see and hear what's going on." Lydia was a little taken back. She wanted to stay near Annie, but didn't want Annie coming into the room to see or hear what was happening.

"Alright. When James' parents get here, they can keep an eye on Annie and I can do this," she said. House nodded and took his phone out. He looked at it curiously.

"Damn!" he said as he pushed some buttons on the phone.

"What's the matter?"

"Missed some calls about an hour and a half ago. Among them was my mother's cardiologist."

"But…I spoke to Reverend Bell just before everything happened at the restaurant. What happened?" Lydia asked. She was afraid; this was the last thing House needed right now.

"How the hell do I know what happened? I'm still trying to figure out if I even care if she lives or dies," House said pacing rapidly back and forth. He took off further down the hallway away from everyone.

"What happened?" Thirteen asked. She came out of the waiting room along with Tom and Slick.

"I don't know yet; but it can't be anything good. It's about Greg's mother."

"Oh, great," said Slick. "There'll be no dealing with him now." Suddenly, Lydia's phone began to ring...

"Hello? Yes, Smitty. Oh, wonderful." Lydia pulled the phone away. "James' parents are here."

"I'll go down and get them," Thirteen said. She hurried for the staircase rather than waiting for the elevator.

"Smitty? Dr. Hadley is coming down to take charge of Dr. Wilson's parents. Yes. Yes, I will, Smitty. Thank you." Lydia ended the call. "He's such a nice gentleman," Lydia said as she put the phone back in her pocket. "Annie?" Lydia said when she got to the doorway of the waiting room. "James' parents are here."

"I feel so bad for them; they must be so upset," Annie said as she came out to the hall. "I know James is very worried about his dad's heart."

"You'll take care of them, just like you promised," Lydia said putting her arm around Annie's shoulders. She turned and saw House walking toward them.

"Remember those two arteries that were just a little bit clogged a couple of months ago and could be dealt with by using medicine instead of Roto-Rooter and stents?" House asked Lydia. "Well it seems someone made the wrong call. She went into arrhythmia a little while ago; they had to paddle her to bring her back to a normal sinus rhythm. They did an echocardiogram…her Ejection Fraction is thirty-two."

"That's bad?" Annie asked. House gave her a sarcastic smile.

"How are they going to handle it?" Tom asked.

"Well, if she didn't have a stroke in the last forty-eight hours, they'd do a catheterization on her, and see where the plumbing's clogged. As it is, she still has the shunt in to relieve the pressure in her head; they haven't been able to control the bleed yet. They were going to take another look when this happened." Lydia reached up and put her hand on House's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, hon." House nodded. The ding of the bell signaling the arriving elevator could be heard. The doors opened and Wilson's parents and Thirteen stepped out. House hadn't seen them in a while, but other than looking a bit worse for the wear upon hearing their son was shot, they appeared to be OK, even the father.

"Hi, Mr. Wilson," Annie said as she stepped forward to hug him. Wilson's dad simply raised one hand and patted her on the back, which was the last thing she needed. House noticed he gave Annie a funny look as she went to hug Wilson's mother. "Mrs. Wilson, are you OK?" Annie asked. She could tell something was wrong by the cool reception they were giving her. They're probably both still in shock, Annie thought to herself. Mrs. Wilson's face had turned beet red, tears welling up in her eyes.

"How…how can you just…stand there and…and…embrace us like that…when this is all your fault!"

"

L