Departures
"So she left you," Nyx sighed as she sat down next to House.
"So she did," House kept on throwing little stones into the river running through Death's garden.
"And just when she was about to learn your ways," Nyx mourned mockingly.
"She was never destined to learn my ways," House shrugged. "She just needed to learn about the real world."
"What real world?" Nyx asked. "The Real World According to House or just the real, real world?"
"It doesn't matter which one," House denied. "The lesson is still the same: nothing will ever be easy again. Many things will be simple, but nothing will be easy again."
"That is not what many people believe," Nyx pointed out. "Most people want easy and simple choices. In fact, that seems to be the main goal of life for most these days."
"Life is simple and fairly easy," House agreed. "If you're a sociopath. For everyone else the simple solution is usually the hard one and the easy solution makes for a lot of obstacles you need to clear."
"You mean that since the parents chose the easy solution of giving in to their daughter," Nyx pondered. "That created obstacles that Masters needed to clear to get to the simple – and right – solution of amputation."
"Something like that," House nodded.
"So you are ok with her decisions?" Nyx frowned.
"Why wouldn't I be?" House wondered. "It was just a damn arm. It's not like she did anything I haven't done myself. More or less."
"I find it hard to believe that you approve of amputation," Nyx stated.
"Because I chose differently?" House suggested. "My situation was different. Sometimes amputation really is the only choice. It's not an easy choice, it's not a nice choice, but when there are no other options then there are no other options. No doctor suggest amputation lightly."
"Cuddy suggested it to you," Nyx reminded him. "But you refused to listen. Why? If she was sure that was your only option."
"But it wasn't my only option," House stated. "It was the best option she had to offer, and I can't be sure I wouldn't be better off now had I taken it. Unfortunately, the same is true of the choice I did make, but was tricked out of."
"Isn't that a reason for you to disapprove of Masters' actions?" Nyx wanted to know. "She tricked your patient's parents into approving an operation your patient, herself, had refused. Wasn't that exactly what was done to you? With the best of intentions, of course, in both your cases, but still against your wishes."
"I have never really bought that 'do unto others' thing, you know," House declared. "Also amputation really was the only viable choice my patient had this time. I had another option that I was sure was as good as amputation. I wasn't refusing treatment, I wasn't risking anything that I couldn't risk – delay wasn't going to make anything any worse."
"Anything you couldn't risk?" Nyx repeated. "Delay wasn't going to make things any worse? You nearly died! You risked your life. That was the reason Stacy and Cuddy went behind your back. They wanted to make sure you lived. Surely that makes their choice good?"
"If you think Stacy and Cuddy were right, then you must think Masters was right, too," House mused. "Therefore you must also be ok with her actions. So why are you trying to talk me into disapproving of them?"
"I'm not trying to talk to talk you into anything," Nyx huffed. "I just want to understand why you are all of a sudden cool with doctors tricking patients into having limbs amputated."
"I'm not cool with it," House sighed. "Nor is Masters. But it had to be done. Had there been more time then I'm sure she would have found a way to convince the parents to be parents, but the sail by date was approaching and she couldn't, in good conscience, let her patient leave to sail the world alone and out of the reach of good care."
"She couldn't force her into treatment 'with good conscience' either," Nyx pointed out.
"Good for her," House said.
"What?" Nyx stared at him. "You think it's a good thing that she can't just shrug it off as 'what's done is done'. You?"
"She is true to herself," House maintained. "She can't do my kind of medicine, but now she does know what she can live with and what not. Now she knows how to choose what kind of medicine she can practice. She will be good at it be it surgery or research."
"Or if she chooses to leave medicine and just get yet another doctorate," Nyx proposed.
"No," House disagreed. "She will stick with medicine, I'm sure of it."
"And you?" Nyx asked. "Are you ok with losing your youngest chick? Now that she is all grown up and left the nest."
"I'm fine," House shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be? Thirteen is back, so the chick quota is ok and Cuddy can't ride me to hire anyone new. Just give me a new case and I'm going to forget her by the end of next week."
"That soon?" Nyx doubted.
"Or sooner," House insisted. "As you said, she grew up and flew from the nest. End of story."
"And you won't keep an eye on her and pull a string or too in her favour should she need it?" Nyx smiled.
"I don't think she needs any looking after now," House shook his head.
"Like you didn't look after Thirteen?" Nyx asked.
"Masters isn't inflicted with anything incurable, unless you can call her trust in human beings as an infliction, of course," House explained. "She'll be fine."
"But you'll check every now and then anyway," Nyx concluded.
"Maybe," House wasn't going to admit anything outright. "But I don't think she'll land in prison or anything."
"I have to agree with you on that," Nyx agreed. After a pause she asked: "Do you think she'll be ok?"
"She lost her arm," House replied – knowing instinctively that Nyx wasn't talking about Masters anymore.
"The cancer was so high up in her arm," Nyx sighed. "It will be difficult to fit a prosthetic."
"Chase did what he could," House stated. "He did manage to save her shoulder. They do amazing things with prosthetic arms these days. And even with only one arm, she'll still be sailing again sooner than she now believes."
"Not alone, she won't," Nyx doubted.
"She has the will," House asserted. "She will find a way. It's just a matter of determination and training. That is if the sailing really was as important to her as she claimed. If it was the record, then she'll never sail again."
"So you think that if sailing really was her true thing," Nyx pondered. "Then she will go on with it, no matter what obstacles she needs to overcome."
"I got kicked out of two medical schools and I still became a doctor," House stated. "Medical puzzles are my true thing. Granted, being kicked out of school isn't the same as losing a limb, and even losing a limb would not have caused similar difficulties for me as it does for her, but if you have the fire, then nothing will completely extinguish it. And she has the example of other handicapped sailors all over the world."
"If nothing would have changed your essence," Nyx asked. "Then why were you so adamant about not having your leg amputated?"
"It was my leg," House shrugged. "Nothing else, really. It is a natural reaction, you know. It isn't the difficulties about life without a limb that initially freak people out over amputation. It is just the real, physical, visible loss of part of you. Just the loss. I truly believed that I still had other options open to me, so I fought against the amputation. Had I known what I know now, I'm not sure what I would have chosen."
"Knowing you," Nyx smiled ruefully. "You would have chosen exactly the same as you did – except you would have taken the medical proxy away from Stacy."
"Yeah, I do tend to prefer being right to being even alive," House agreed. "Which is why other people are better off when I'm alone."
"I disagree," Nyx said simply. "You have the same right to happiness as everyone else."
"And who exactly really has the right to be happy?" House asked. "What do people do to merit such a reward?"
"Nothing, I suppose," Nyx had to admit. "But sometimes it happens anyway, and why not enjoy it for as long as it lasts?"
"And damn the consequences?" House queried.
"And damn the consequences." Nyx confirmed.