Author's Note: Thanks to all of you for the kind reviews! As always, I own nothing related to House.
Sunday dawned clear and sunny. Sarah lazed in bed until almost 9, thinking over yesterday's events. She shuddered when she thought about going into Greg's apartment and disposing of his pills and alcohol. It had been a stupid, dangerous thing to do. Still, the whole time she'd been in his apartment, she'd never feared that he would harm her; it had seemed far more likely that he'd harm himself.
She thought about the "friend" who'd let him return to his apartment on his own and felt her temper flare. Where was this friend now? He knew Greg was out of rehab; he knew he was returning to an apartment full of pills. Why hadn't he done anything about it? She reminded herself that she didn't have the whole story; she didn't even have a portion of it. Maybe Greg had done something terrible to this man when he was using and the guy was having trouble forgiving him. That only soothed her for a second. She remembered the look on Greg's face when he'd opened his door that afternoon, the way his hand had been shaking when he took the mail from her, and anger coursed through her once more.
Maggie moved on the bed, crawling out from under the covers by Sarah's feet. She moved toward the head of the bed, slipping between Sarah's body and arm. She shoved her chest into Sarah's armpit and rested her chin on her shoulder. She looked at Sarah, tail wagging, and Sarah smiled at her.
"You like our neighbor, huh? I saw you hugging him." Maggie's tail wagged a little faster. There were times when Sarah swore that the dog understood English. "I don't know if we'll see him today or not. I hope we do."
When House had returned to his apartment, he'd gone to his piano bench and sat in the dark. A few minutes later he saw Sarah go past his window on the sidewalk, taking the dog out before going to bed. He waited, watching for her return. He was tired but he wanted to see that she and Maggie were safely back in the building before he went to bed.
He hadn't expected sleep to come easily that night, but he was out almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. He slept late the next morning. It was almost 10am when he woke up. He lay in the bed, thinking about the previous day. The thought of all the pills he'd found made him shudder. He was still stunned by what Sarah had done. She hadn't hesitated when he'd asked for help, she'd disposed of the pills without asking a single question, and then she'd invited him to her apartment, offering him a distraction, food, and company.
The only question she'd asked all night had been about his leg, and her response to that had not been what he'd expected either. Instead of offering the usual pitying platitudes, she'd zeroed in on the puzzle. He remembered presenting the case to a class of medical students. Not one of them had asked about the underlying cause. They'd all done just what the doctors treating him at the time had done: focused on the immediate problem and its solution.
He got out of the bed slowly, wondering if he'd see her again today. Would she want to see him? She'd been calm and collected yesterday but she'd had the night to think about the dangers of befriending a drug addict. He knew the statistics. The odds were that he'd slip and wind up back on the Vicodin. Wilson had been right to distrust him, to worry about him self-destructing.
Thinking about Wilson filled House with trepidation. He had an appointment to meet Dr. Nolan today. The psychiatrist hadn't asked many questions when House had told him about Wilson evicting him, but they'd been on the phone. Today they were meeting face to face and House knew Nolan was going to want to know more about what had led up to Wilson's request and how House was coping with the situation. Do I tell him about finding the pills, House wondered. What would Nolan think of House's neighbor disposing of his stash?
By the time House was bathed and dressed, it was time to leave for his meeting with Nolan. He stepped out into the hallway, hoping to catch sight of Sarah but the hall was empty. His stomach rumbled and he was glad that he was meeting Nolan in a diner. They'd selected a place mid-way between Mayfield and Princeton because driving for too long made House's leg hurt.
The car started right up and House headed out of town. Traffic was light and he arrived at the diner a few minutes early. He wasn't surprised to discover that Nolan was already there, waiting in a back booth. House made his way to the booth and slid into the vinyl seat, feeling himself tense up in anticipation of the coming conversation.
"How are you this morning, House?" Nolan asked.
"Can we skip the small talk?"
"Of course. What would you like to talk about?"
Sarah didn't encounter her neighbor when she took Maggie out for her morning walk. She took her time getting back to her apartment, hoping he'd come out of his, but he didn't. She fed the dog her breakfast, showered and dressed, and decided to go to the store. She'd put her trip on hold yesterday after finding Greg with the pills and there were things she needed.
Once again she lingered in the hallway but her neighbor didn't appear. She was tempted to go knock on his door but she didn't want to be pushy. Maybe he was embarrassed by yesterday's events. Giving him his space seemed like the best plan, however difficult it was for her. She went on to the store.
Sarah wound up getting an early lunch while she was out, making her trip take longer than she'd originally planned. It was almost 1pm when she returned to her apartment. Once she'd greeted Maggie and put her purchases away, her thoughts returned to her neighbor. She took the dog out, hoping the whole time that they might meet up in the hall. When she returned from the park, she put Maggie into the apartment and went to Greg's door. She took a deep breath and knocked. There was no answer and she could hear no sounds coming from the apartment. Feeling disappointed, she went back to her own apartment.
House had just finished telling Nolan about finding the pills and how Sarah had disposed of them. He stopped talking, waiting for Nolan to react. The psychiatrist was still for a moment, taking in all that he had been told.
"What did you do?" Nolan asked finally.
"She invited me to her apartment," House said. "I went."
"And she didn't ask you any questions?"
"She asked about my leg. I told her about the infarction." House shook his head. "She… she asked what caused the blood clot. No one has ever asked me that before. I presented the case to a class of med students and not one of them asked that."
"You like that she asked."
"The infarction is boring. The underlying cause – that's the puzzle."
Sarah spent the afternoon at her desk. She wanted to be a writer and she had her current manuscript pulled up on her laptop, but she was having a hard time concentrating on her story. Her male protagonist kept going quiet and brooding on her, and his eyes were now a deep blue when she knew they'd been brown at the start of the story.
"This is ridiculous," she said, and Maggie lifted up her head to stare over the couch's arm at her. "I can't seem to focus. Do you want to go for a walk? Maybe some fresh air will clear my head."
When Sarah returned from her walk, there were two people waiting in the hallway outside her apartment door. She was startled to recognize two friends from her college days.
"Val? Tony? What are you doing here?" Laughing, Sarah rushed forward to hug her friends. They were all talking over one another, the dog joining in with barks, as Sarah unlocked the door and they went into her apartment.
House's appointment with Nolan had gone long. The psychiatrist hadn't asked many questions, letting House talk. When he did ask a question, it was designed to keep the conversation moving. House was still in control of what was being discussed.
"House," Nolan said when there was finally a pause, "do you realize you've been here talking to me for almost three hours?" House was startled.
"Am I keeping you from something more interesting back at the looney bin?"
"No," Nolan smiled. "I thought I might be keeping you from your neighbor."
"I doubt she wants to see me again," House said.
"There's only one way to find out, House. Go and see her."
Val and Tony took Sarah out for dinner. They were part of a traveling theater company, in town for a performance at the university the next night. They spent the first part of the meal catching up, exchanging updates about people they'd all known in college.
They were almost done with their meals before they ran out of friends in common to gossip about.
"So," Tony said, pushing away his plate. "What have you been up to, Sarah? Do you like the new job?"
"The job's alright. I get along with the faculty. There are a few who think that I must be a lower form of life since I don't have a PhD but most of them are alright."
"What about friends?" Val asked. "Have you met anyone?"
"There are some nice people at work. We get lunch together sometimes, even went to a movie a few weeks ago." Val's face fell.
"She means have you have you met anyone that you want to date," Tony clarified, laughing at Val.
"No, I haven't met anyone like that," Sarah said, chuckling. "I did… have something interesting happen Friday night. I met a new neighbor."
"Is he cute?" Val asked eagerly, leaning forward in her seat.
"Cute? No, that's not the word I'd use. He's too… mature for that."
"But attractive?"
"Definitely," Sarah replied.
"So, tell us what happened? How'd you meet him?" Val's grin was almost ear-to-ear. Sarah explained about encountering Greg on the sidewalk when Maggie had made her escape, then meeting him again in the laundry room. When she came to the part about inviting him in to her apartment, she saw Tony frown. His frown grew more pronounced when she mentioned leaving him in the apartment when she went to get her laundry.
"What?" she demanded, unable to stand his glare any longer.
"You just met the man and you left him alone in your apartment."
"He wasn't alone. Maggie was there."
"You know what I mean, Sarah. He could've robbed you, or attacked you."
"Tony," Val protested.
"I would have thought that you, of all people, would've been more careful," Tony said. Sarah felt all her earlier excitement fade. She was glad that she hadn't told her friends about disposing of Greg's stash of pills. She could imagine Tony's reaction to that!
When House returned to Baker Street, he had one thought in mind. He wanted to see Sarah. He'd spent the drive trying to think of what he could do to thank her for her help. Maybe he could buy her dinner, assuming she was willing to put up his company.
The street was crowded once more and he wound up parking half-way down the block. He made his way toward 221, walking as fast as he could. He wanted to see her before he lost his nerve.
He was a few yards from the front steps when the door to the building open. Three people came out, laughing and talking together. House came to a stop. The man in the group put an arm around one of the women, guiding her toward a car. The woman turned to look up at him, smiling. It was Sarah.
