Chapter 15

Down In the Valley

When they got home Molly greeted them and, after she changed, Teagan fed Molly. She hung her dress in the closet and took one long last look at it, allowed herself to remember feeling like Cinderella, and then closed the closet door. She put the earrings away and wrapped the purse to put back in its box. The ball was over and she was packing up her memories.

House gave her his dirty shirt and she grabbed the rest of the dirty clothes to take up to the lodge to wash at the little laundromat. She drove up, put the clothes in the wash and drove back to find House chopping up the rest of the log. He was sweating just a little. Teagan watched and after he was done with the chore, she gave him some water and then impulsively she grabbed him to hug him. She wanted to smell him, to smell his warm, sweaty body. He smelled just like a man.

He wiped his forehead with the back of his hands, "I haven't done manual labor in years. I'm starting to get calluses in places that never had calluses before...my heels, my hands, my penis..."

She snorted a sweet little laugh, "Cute."

They went up to the porch and sat down to rock in the Shaker Rockers. Holding hands, they rocked for the better part of an hour talking about his career in medicine and the fact that Cuddy took a chance on him when no one else would.

"I knew I liked her when I met her. She's strong but she has a weakness for you. You hit a chord in her and she feels almost indebted to you. You've done more for the hospital's reputation that she's willing to admit to your face. You've also been intimate with her and she feels that connection too."

House flinched with surprise, but then remembered he was dealing with a psychic, "Maybe. But I owe her big time, for several things and yes, we once had a fling."

"Yeah, I know." She had seen the whole trial scene with Detective Tritter when she touched his piano and felt his surprise and gratitude when Cuddy took the stand. She had lied for him and it had kept him out of jail. She had also had visions of them in bed together.

After a few more minutes, House turned to her and gave her a wicked grin. "Hey, don't you need to make some pies or jam or crochet a sampler or something?"

"Great way to change the subject. I need to go tomorrow to pick blackberries just northeast of here. If I don't get them, the birds and animals will get all of them. So I may not be here when you get up in the morning."

"Northeast?"

"About a mile northeast through the woods, across a stream just past a meadow. Why?"

"I've never picked blackberries..."

"I'd offer to get you up at 6:00 am with me and take you, but you'd moan so much it wouldn't be worth it."

He reached over to her rocker, grabbed her nose between his middle and fourth finger and pinched it. Then he pulled her towards him and gave her knuckle noogies on her head.

"Owww! Gregory House, stop that. Next you'll be dipping my pigtails in the ink."

Getting up, he stretched and then went inside to the bathroom. While he was taking a leak he worried about her. He knew she would find it hard to get through the winter and here he was eating up her winter food supplies and keeping her from making a living.

The next morning Teagan grabbed her backpack, water and burlap sacks and started on her trek to the blackberry patch. The blackberries were plump and ripe on the vine, some of which had been stripped by the ravens. She was just standing up to stretch her back when she saw Molly take off into the woods across the meadow. Within a minute Molly accompanied House, complete with baseball cap and sunglasses, into the opening. House crossed the meadow to where she was.

She felt tingly just watching his long body cross the grassy meadow on the path she had made over the years. He looked sexy and confident as he made his way over to her. When he was almost y her side she gave him an explosive smile, a smile full of all the happiness she felt having him near, "Good morning, I see you found it."

"I followed your directions and I saw a few footprints that just happened to be a size 5½!"

"I just have to fill the rest of the bag and we can go." She motioned down to the burlap bags.

House started picking blackberries, putting two in his mouth and one in the bag, two in his mouth, one in the bag, two in his mouth, one in the bag...

Teagan laughed heartily. "I need these blackberries to go into the bag, not your stomach! You'll get sick if you eat too many."

"Man, it's been a long time since I've eaten berries in the wild. I forgot how great they taste."

"Let me see." She went over to him, reached around his neck and pulled him down to give him a deep kiss with her little tongue darting suggestively into his mouth. "Yeah, you're right, pretty sweet. Actually, they're starting to get so ripe that they'll go bad in a week. I need to get out here and pick more tomorrow."

Pulling her back into him, House slid his hand down and felt her breasts, cupping and rubbing them through the fabric. Teagan could feel him getting excited. Grabbing her small hand in his, House took her out to the meadow, took off his shirt and laid her down on it in a soft grassy patch out in the open. He stood over her as he took off his pants. Teagan pulled her t-shirt over her head. The chill of the morning made her nipples plump up. House's eyes drooped slightly at the sight of them. They made love as Molly kept a peaceful watch several feet away, guarding them from any danger. It was so sweet that Teagan did everything she could do to keep from crying. House saw her chin scrunch up and he was sure she was going to start tearing up, but she managed to keep herself in check. There were no tears just a deep heartache in both of them as they both melted into each other's body and felt the highs of their orgasms. They were silent for several minutes after it was over, lying tangled and naked in the grass.

Teagan grabbed her levis, t-shirt and panties, dressing quickly, all the time thinking that the blackberry patch would never be the same again. After they filled the last bag they headed back to the cabin with the bags and Molly. House insisted that they go to Groveland, claiming that he wanted to buy some food to make her dinner.

"Greg, don't joke. I've never once picked up that you wanted to cook."

"Then maybe you don't know everything about me." He gave her a look so sweet and gentle, she had to look away.

They took the truck and drove into town. In the grocery store everyone made a point of greeting Teagan. She introduced Greg to them as they wandered through the store. Pushing the shopping basket, House was going up and down the aisles. It was a medium sized grocery store but it had a fairly good selection of goods. He started in the dry goods grabbing large packages of toilet paper. When Teagan looked at him sideways he barked, "Yours isn't soft enough," He continued, throwing paper towels, dish soap, a new pan scrubber, organic toilet cleaner and laundry soap into the cart.

"What are you doing?" Suspicious of his shopping spree, she tried to open the gate.

He knew she would try to read him so he thought to himself, "Get out of my head and respect my privacy."

A look of frustration and embarrassment flashed through her face and he knew she had heard him. She said out loud, "You don't have to be snippy."

Throwing a huge bag of the best dog food underneath the cart, House added some dog treats to the basket because he liked Molly, she was cool. Teagan watched as cans of food started to fly off the shelf and into the basket. When she saw him put canned spinach in the basket she shook her head.

"I only eat fresh spinach, the canned stuff is crap."

He put the spinach back and grabbed tomato paste and sauce along with spaghetti sauce and pasta. The little cart was starting to fill up quickly. He bought oil, flour, sugar, rice, corn meal and just about every staple there was. When he couldn't fill another inch of the basket, he grabbed a gallon of milk, a six pack of beer, a loaf of bread and cold cuts.

"Greg, I can't let you do this. You're my guest."

He stared straight into her eyes and put a hand on her freckled cheek, "Every time you open something up or feed me anything from your kitchen, I feel like I'm taking food out of your mouth. I won't feel that way now."

"But you only have a few days left! We'd need months to eat or go through all of this."

"I don't expect to eat any of it. It's to help you through the winter."

It only came to $398.00 and House thought he should go back and fill up another cart, but he knew that Teagan was having a hard time taking what little they had bought from him without feeling like a charity case.

As they drove home he had to ask, "Why don't you have any money? I can't figure what you blew your money on...you had to have made some when you worked with the FBI."

"My parents were ill for years. I paid off their hospital bills which ran into the hundreds of thousands. If I didn't pay the bills, they didn't get the treatment they needed. My Mom died in 1997 and my Dad died one week before 9/11. When he died he left me a life insurance policy worth $150,000. I used most of it to buy my house and the twenty acres it sits on, so at least I own it outright. I used the rest to buy the truck and furniture and then I moved to the mountains. But I was wiped out financially by their illnesses. And, like I told you, everyone around Aspen Valley is screwed up in the head but, just like you, they all think they're perfect and don't need help. Not much work for a behavioral psychologist in a town of 93. It isn't easy, but I get by and each year that I'm here I feel better and stronger. I live fairly simply. The only luxury I let myself have is my Mustang. It and the stereo in it! But then she's my baby and deserves a good stereo!"

"You deserve her." House wanted to do more for her, but knew she wouldn't accept it. He felt helpless. He dropped thousands of dollars each month gambling or on hookers and he knew that just one month of his mad money would keep her warm all through the winter. This was madness. He had the money, didn't really need the money and she wouldn't take it. But, maybe he was wrong, "Teagan, the hospital gave me $3,000 in traveling expenses. Since you provided the ride, let me give it to you."

"No. You paid for half the gas, half the rooms, half the food. I would have had to pay for all the gas so that really helped. I know what you're trying to do. Thank you but the food was enough. If you give me any more I'll feel like a hooker."

They spent the last few days hiking in Yosemite and, although House was tired every night, he could feel his leg getting stronger. But after an excruciatingly long hike that he had chosen, he was in real pain. They had spent longer hiking than they should have and he was paying for it. House didn't want to take too many pain killers. It was his last night and he didn't want to feel fuzzy. After dinner she massaged his leg and applied heat compresses. He wanted to make love to her one last time, but the pain was too much. He eventually took an extra Vicodin and finally fell asleep. She climbed into bed next to him, crying softly, knowing he was going in the morning and everything that they had dreaded about their few days together would be coming true.

xxxxx

She opened the gate to see how much pain he was in. Even with the Vicodin he was still in considerable pain and having a hard time sleeping. Getting up, Teagan grabbed a towel from the bathroom and put it down on her pillow. She reached down, placing a hand on his thigh, pushing hard with her mind. She knew she couldn't heal him, she'd stroke out if she tried to do that, but she could take some of the pain away. After raising the gate, she sent all of her psi to his leg. The flow of pain into her was scary, intense and almost too much to take. She started to cry from the intensity of the pain. Tears and blood flowed onto the towel soaking through the into the pillow. Her body started convulsing and she knew she had to shut the gate, but she thought that maybe she could take just a little more.

House was dreaming of her and then he felt a storm inside of him, a flow of energy that he couldn't control. The pain he was feeling was swirling through him. The dream was so real; his pain was flowing out of his body with the current he felt. He opened his eyes and saw her face in the light of the oil lamp, she was having a convulsion with blood coming from her nose, her mouth, her ears and her eyes. Her hand was gripping his thigh. He pulled on the hand and released her, but she continued to convulse for a few more seconds before finally stopping.

House sat up, "Teagan, Teagan..." He slapped her lightly across the face. She didn't open her eyes. He grabbed her wrist, placing his fingers over her veins to take her pulse. It was flying. He knew her blood pressure must be dangerously high and she was probably stroking. Putting an extra pillow under her head to reduce the pressure on her brain, he waited a few seconds. She was unresponsive, but breathing so he placed her on her left side with her chin extended to assist in keeping her airway open and to allow vomit and secretions to drain from her mouth. Then he jumped up and turned on the ceiling light.

He started to dress to get her to a hospital, but realized the nearest hospital or doctor was probably in Yosemite Valley, an hour away. He needed a helicopter. He needed to get to the lodge because his cell phone didn't receive service in the mountain until they entered Groveland. He finally remembered that there was a phone in the lodge he could use.

He had just put on his shirt when she sat up and looked at him. The first thing out of her mouth was, "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"Fuck!" He was relieved, angry, worried, so many feelings he couldn't sort through them. "What did you do? What were you doing? Look! You're covered in blood. I wake up and you're having convulsions. What the fuck were you doing? You silly, stupid cow, what were you doing?"

She looked around and saw that everything in the bed was drenched with blood.

I didn't realize that I had bled that much. It didn't seem like it at the time. I was just concentrating on pulling the pain out of his body. I don't remember much until I woke up. He was furious. It kind of scared me. I thought he was going to hit something, maybe me, but he didn't. He sat down as I started to clean up the bed. I took the towel and threw it in the garbage pail, the same with the pillow case. The pillow was worthless so I bagged it too. I continued to strip the bed and clean myself up while he calmed down. He grabbed my arm and stopped me just as I was about to go take a shower. I could see he was walking around with less of a limp, but he hadn't noticed, not yet. He was too upset to realize that he had less pain in the leg. I opened the gate could feel he was confused, scared, worried, and oh was he angry at me.

House grabbed Teagan's arm as she started to go to the bathroom to take a shower. "Ok, I'm calmer; tell me what you were doing."

"I really need a shower, but if you must know, I was trying to pull some of the pain out of your muscle. I was sending your blood to the area to give the muscle more oxygen. I was just trying to help."

It dawned on him that the pain was considerably less, that he hadn't felt this good since the Ketamine had worn off.

"You can heal people?"

"Yes and no. It depends on what it is. I can direct blood, chemicals or control internal organic problems, but I can't make you grow new muscle or a blind person see...it's kind of like psychic first aid. I should have told you, but you already had a lot to absorb and well, you can see what a mess I make when I try to do it."

"Promise me that you'll never do that again, never, ever. You were close to dying and I couldn't deal with you dying just to take my pain away or anyone else's. It's too dangerous for you. Promise?" He watched as she had a hard time coming to terms with a promise like that.

"I promise that I will only use it in emergencies. I won't give you the promise you're asking for, so you better accept this one."

He shook his head at her in disappointment, noting the caked blood all over her head and clothes. "You look like Carrie at the prom."

"I feel like Carrie at the prom. Can I go take a shower?" He let go of her arm and went into the bedroom. Having changed out the entire bed including the bedspread, House laid down and looked up at the ceiling, thinking about her and her talents. When she was done, she came back in with her wet hair combed back, looking innocent and clean.

He got up, removed his pants again and got back into bed. She climbed in on the other side. Reaching over, he pulled her to him. Speechless, he was worried about her. He kept shaking his head at her in disbelief. Kissing her forehead, House wrapped his arm around her to hold her closer to him. She could smell him, hear his heartbeat, feel his worry and it gave her comfort.

"You are one weird chick. I don't know what attracts me to you...every logical instinct tells me to run."

"Well, after tomorrow it won't be a problem will it? You will leave and soon you'll be back in Princeton, back to normal."

"Teagan, nothing's ever going to be normal after meeting you. I look at my world and realize you've blown holes in so many assumptions I've had. I don't know how to put what I thought I knew to be true back together. I understand why Bob and your ex-boyfriend warned me. I'm confused about this world. I don't understand how you do what you do. It's still hocus pocus to me."

"One very bright scientist at Princeton told me that I was one of the few people that could tune into the continuum, that it is all quantum mechanics. Your thoughts, your pain, your blood are just chemicals and to do whatever they do they rely on electrical charges. I think I just know how to manipulate those electrical charges better than anyone else."

"Ahhg. That doesn't help me. I still don't know how to leave you."

"You get in your car and start the engine. We'll both survive. It will hurt, but we'll both do what we have to do. You'll go back to saving lives and I'll try to heal mine. Just take some comfort that in an alternate universe somewhere we manage to work it out and stay together. I like to think of Greg and Teagan in Universe 1,249 living happily ever after. Of course, you know if Quantum Mechanics is right, there are millions of universes where we never even meet."

House sighed and looked into her eyes. She was unique, beautiful and one of the kindest humans he had ever met. He closed his eyes and minutes later they were both asleep.

When they woke they made love for the last time. Afterwards, she mad him breakfast and some sandwiches for the drive to San Francisco while House packed the styrofoam cooler with water and cokes and put it in the passenger side. He needed gas so he told her he would get ice when he got the gas. It was time for him to go, but he had a hard time actually getting into the car. He reached down and gave Molly a scratch behind the ears and then turned to Teagan.

"I wish I was in universe 1,249 right now and not this one. Please think about coming to Princeton. I'd take care of you." He kissed her on the mouth and then held her.

She whispered into his ear. "If you ever get lonely for Molly, you're welcomed back. We loved having you. Drive safe and please be happy, find someone to lovel. You really do deserve it." She refused to let him see her cry, making sure that whatever she was feeling stayed inside until she saw the last of the dust from his car as it pulled out of her drive.

She looked down at Molly, "Well babe, just you and me again. That one was hard to let go of huh?" Turning towards her cabin, she made her way inside and started the stove so that she could make more jam and have a good cry.

Later, when she took in the newest batch of jam, she discovered that House had stopped in and bought every jar of blackberry jam in the lodge,paying a premium of $540, all the cash he had on hand, for the lot of it. When the young daughter of the owner rang it up she looked at him like he was crazy.

He told her, "In New Jersey I can make a fortune off of these jars. Make sure Teagan gets the money." She nodded and he left.

House drove to San Francisco trying to concentrate on what he would say on the subjects he had been asked to address but he kept wondering if the gate was open. When he arrived at the Francis Drake he checked in, put his luggage in his room and then went down to register for the seminar. He noticed that Lisa Cuddy had not picked up her name badge. Too bad, it would have been good to have her to talk to just to take his mind off of "things."

Around 11:00 pm he went up to his room and climbed into bed, unable to resist. Teagan, are you there? Are you there? Teagan? Teagan? He tried yelling his thoughts out.

I'm here! You don't have to yell. You're giving me a headache. Did you get there safely?

Yes, I'm at the Francis Drake.

Wow, the Ahwahnee and now the Francis Drake...you know how to live. She teased him.

Will we be able to do this when I get to Princeton?

It depends. If you do it every day it should be no problem. But if you don't keep it up it fades...becomes harder to connect each time until I would have to push to find you and connect.

So, if I talk to you each night we'll keep the line open?

You don't want to do that Greg.

What do you mean?

We both need to move on and live our lives. You need to find someone in Princeton and I need to find...oh I just need to try and get on with life. We can't keep pricking open the wound each night. It's unfair to both of us.

I could feel his pain when I told him that we shouldn't talk to each other each night. He knew I was right, but he wasn't ready to let go. He could be such an adolescent, still believing that he could make it all work out. But I could feel the adult in him starting to understand and taking the painful steps to curb the desire to have a connection. He knew we would never move forward if we did this on a regular basis.

He responded, You're right. I know you're right. I'm sorry, I won't do it again. I didn't tell you when I left, but I'm really going to miss you.

Her heart clenched tight. Me too, me too. Bye, Greg.

Bye, Teagan.

She closed the gate and put a lock on it.