What price?

"You do realise you ought to be in prison right now," Nyx commented.

"Yes, I'm well aware," House accepted.

"Next time you may well end up there," Nyx laboured the point.

"Possibly, but I was ready to go in this time, too, if necessary," House reminded her. "The results were worth the risk."

"Two lives saved," Nyx nodded. "And I'm not including the patient Foreman gave you. That's a third."

"Who is counting," House shrugged.

"Not Foreman, that's for sure," Nyx observed dryly. "You do know that you owe your freedom solely to Wilson's eloquence? Foreman was quite ready to send you back in prison."

"I do know," House accepted. "Foreman had dug a hole for both of us and I did expect to find us both in it. Me in prison him… well, minus a doctor who can bring in revenues."

"You believe you are beneficial to the reputation of the hospital even though you're a convict?" Nyx was surprised.

"I do have a reputation," House pointed out. "A sentence does not mean that I'm any less brilliant, just that I'm … Well, I'm not totally sure what it does say about me to the general public. That I'm less concerned with legality of things? Have issues with authority? Don't react well to being thwarted? Don't know how to deal with anger and frustration? Or all of the above. But even so, they still trust me as a doctor. And that is what translates to bucks for the hospital."

"You think that that is what made Foreman change his mind?" Nyx wondered.

"No way," House scoffed. "He drew the lines and left to his own devices he would have sent me to prison and that would have been that. I'm not sure what Wilson said to him, but somehow he made it seem like a failure to send me in. I do owe Wilson. Foreman had painted himself into a corner and there was no way out for me until Wilson intervened. I am well aware of that."

"But you had no way of knowing that Wilson would or could intervene," Nyx pondered. "And still you did it. And the last time you didn't even try to fool the monitor."

"Yeah, I know," House acknowledged. "But it was somewhat urgent and what price can you put on the life of a child?"

"But the child you took on wasn't alive anymore," Nyx reminded him. "No matter what price you put on his life, it was too late."

"But I didn't really risk my freedom when I worked on his case," House responded. "I only stepped out of line when I tested his little brother. He was alive."

"But might not have inherited the gene," Nyx stated.

"That was a risk I couldn't take," House uttered. "Not when it was much more likely that he had. He has just reached the age when his brother started to suffer the symptoms. There was no time to lose. Besides, the Dad needed his answers soon, too. He was already drinking himself into an early grave."

"He may still do that," Nyx suggested. "Just because he now knows why, doesn't mean that he can just shrug it off and go on with his life."

"Of course he can't just shrug it off," House agreed. "He lost his only kid! And then his wife. But now he knows what happened, he has even helped to make sure it won't happen again. He got closure. And though the pain will never entirely go away, it will become manageable and he can, indeed, get on with his life. Yeah, maybe he will need to join AA as well as anger management but now he has the desire to do that. He can allow himself to feel again."

"You don't know that for sure," Nyx said. "You won't be following his progress."

"True," House nodded. "And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he will blow it after all. But that will be his choice; he isn't a prisoner of his past anymore. And no matter what happens, the little boy will live to be an adult. He, at least, has a future for sure now."

"So when you can, you will save the children, at least," Nyx concluded. "But you don't even like children that much."

"I'm ok with them," House said. "It's mostly their parents that I find irritating."

"Yet it was the parent who caught your attention first," Nyx mused.

"I know real pain when I see it," House replied. "And I could see that he didn't buy the platitudes we were served any better than I did."

"So you decided to do something about it?" Nyx queried.

"Since I was told to attend the sessions, I thought some good ought to come out of it," House shrugged.

"But you risked your freedom," Nyx pointed out. "That would not have been good."

"Maybe not for me," House corrected. "And had I failed, it would not have been good for anyone. Fortunately all's well that ends well."

"All's well that ends well?" Nyx repeated slowly. "Why do I get the feeling that you didn't learn a thing from this? Though Foreman nearly sent you to prison – and as I said only Wilson's eloquence kept you free – you are not going to be any more careful in future."

"I'm still on parole and wearing a monitor," House explained. "I will be as careful as I can. But if you are thinking that I should respect Foreman more – no way. He has shown his cards and used his aces. As long as I keep saving patients he can't send me in now."

"Said he smugly," Nyx commented – and sighed. "You will be in trouble again."

"I'm always in trouble," House stated. "But I can handle all the clinic Foreman thinks he can throw at me."

"Thinks he can throw at you?" Nyx questioned.

"I'll avoid it to the best of my ability, he will hound me to do them and in the end my team will do most of them," House shrugged.

"He knows that you will try to foist your hours on your team," Nyx indicated. "He used to work for you."

"Makes no difference," House claimed. "Cuddy, too, knew my team did my hours. Mostly she let it slide unless she had a specific reason why she wanted me to do my own job. Then she took the time to monitor me herself for a spell, but that never lasted for too long. Foreman, too, will learn that he doesn't have enough hours in a day to run this hospital and stay on top of me all the time. He needs to choose his battles – and he needs to learn what weapons he has and how to use them."

"And the ability to send you in prison is not one of his weapons?" Nyx marvelled.

"Sure it is," House insisted. "He just needs to understand that it's not such a big deterrent. It works for minor stuff, but not for anything truly important."

"Like the life of a child," Nyx concluded.

"Or any life," House corrected. "I know what to expect in prison. I know what things are worth risking it. Foreman doesn't. He thinks anyone would do anything to avoid going in, especially back in. Sure, I would prefer to stay outside, but some things are worth the risk."