Author's Note: I still do not own House, no matter how much I wish I did. It's still bumming me out. You can make me feel better by reviewing this story. Hope you enjoy!

House woke up. For a moment he wasn't sure where he was, and he couldn't figure out why his left shoulder and side hurt so much. Flashes came back to him, a man standing over him, swinging a cane – his cane – at him.

He looked for the clock and saw it was 12:30. He glanced at the visitor's chair but it was empty. He thought he remembered Chase sitting there. Maggie was also gone from his side. He hoped that Chase had gone somewhere to get some sleep. He'd looked exhausted when he'd been here earlier.

House lay in the bed, trying to figure out why he was awake. His pain was no worse than it had been earlier. He couldn't shake the feeling that something had happened.


Thirteen stood by the gurney in one of the ER's curtained areas. They'd moved the gurney into a sitting position and Sarah sat on it, staring at nothing. Lucas had rejoined them in time to see Dr. Beck removing the ceramic shard from Sarah's hand. He'd gone pale but he'd stayed where he was, near the foot of the gurney. Dr. Beck left to get a suture kit and Lucas spoke.

"Sarah, I called the police. They're going to that hotel to get Todd."

"They won't bring him here, will they?"

"Princeton General is closer," Lucas said. "They'll probably take him there unless…"

"I'm sure they'll take him to the closest hospital," Thirteen said quickly.

"Ok," Sarah said. "Ok."

"There's a detective who wants to talk to you," Lucas said. "His name is Graham."

"Ok," Sarah said. She looked over at Thirteen. "You said Greg was hurt. How… how is he?"

"He's going to be fine," Thirteen said. "He has two cracked ribs, a broken collar-bone, and a concussion. He's upstairs, asleep. You can go and see him once you get your stitches."

"Maggie…"

"She's up in our office, with Chase. She's fine. We've snuck her in to see House a few times."

"I want to see her."

"As soon as you've gotten your stitches," Thirteen said. "I'll take you to see Maggie and House." Sarah nodded. Dr. Beck returned, carrying the suture kit.

"Ok, Sarah. I'm going to give you some Lidocaine and then we'll get you stitched up." Thirteen put a hand on Sarah's shoulder.

"I'm going to go let House know that you're safe," she said. "He's been worried. I'll be right back. Ok?"

"I'll stay right here while she's gone," Lucas added though his face had gone pale again when Dr. Beck had opened up the suture kit.

"Ok," Sarah said. Thirteen patted her shoulder for a second and then hurried out. She didn't want to leave Sarah for very long.


"Nurse!" House hit the call button for the second time, adding the yell for good measure. He wanted to sit up but the bed controls weren't working. He was about to yell again when the door to his room slid open and an aggravated nurse strode in.

"What is it, Dr. House?" she demanded.

"Where is Dr. Chase?" he asked.

"I told him he had to take that dog out of here," the nurse said, stepping forward to help House with the bed. The controls behaved perfectly for her.

"That dog's name is Maggie," House snarled once he was sitting up.

"Whatever. You can't have a dog in your room. It's unsanitary."

"Dogs and humans don't share germs," House retorted. "Didn't you learn that in nurse school?"

"Dr. House…" The nurse stopped because the door to the room was opening. House looked around her to see Thirteen coming in. Her face was flushed and she was breathless; House wondered if she'd been running.

"What?" he demanded when she didn't speak immediately.

"Sarah's here," she said. "She's ok. She's safe." House started to swing his legs over the side of the bed, ignoring the sharp pain in his side. He wanted to see Sarah and confirm for himself that she was ok.

"Where's my cane?" he demanded. The nurse put a restraining hand on his good shoulder.

"You can't get up, Dr. House," she said.

"I'll use the iv pole," House muttered, but the nurse pressed against his good shoulder so that he couldn't get enough leverage to get out of the bed.

"House," Thirteen said warningly. "Stop. I'll bring Sarah up here as soon as she's done in the Emergency Room." House froze.

"Why is she in the Emergency Room?" What had the psycho done to her? He felt his heart start to race as a thousand horrid images raced through his mind.

"She cut her hand when she smashed a lamp over the nut-job's head," Thirteen said quickly. "She's getting stitches. She's going to be fine." House breathed a sigh of relief. The pain in his side grew sharper, or perhaps he just became more aware of it. He sagged back into the bed and the nurse moved her hand, lifting his legs back onto the mattress.

"The psycho?" he asked.

"Last time Sarah saw him he was lying on the floor of her hotel room. Lucas called the police. They should have him by now. I've got to get back. I just wanted to let you know that she is safe now." House nodded.

"Thank you," he said. Now that his spurt of adrenaline was gone, he felt exhausted. Thirteen nodded in acknowledgment and left. The nurse drew the blanket up around him.

"You need to rest," she admonished. "I'm going to put the bed back down now."

"No," House said. "Not yet." He didn't want to go back to sleep until he'd seen Sarah.


The Lidocaine spray had stung when it was applied, but it left Sarah's hand numb. She looked away as Dr. Beck stitched closed the gash. Lucas Douglass was still standing near the foot of the gurney. He also looked away from the stitching, his face pale. His eyes wandered around the curtained area, finally coming to meet hers.

"Doing ok?" he asked her.

"How does Greg know you?" she asked.

"He hired me, about a year ago, to follow his friend, Wilson." Sarah stared at him and he swallowed before continuing. "See, House was in this bus accident with Wilson's girlfriend and she died. Wilson told House that they weren't friends anymore, resigned from his position here, said he was leaving. House hired me to keep track of what he was doing." The curtain moved aside and Dr. Hadley entered, glaring daggers at Lucas.

"Shouldn't you get home to Cuddy?" she asked.

"Uh, sure, yeah. Ok." Lucas gave Sarah an awkward smile. "I'm glad you're ok. He had to be really worried, to ask me for help." He backed away, finally turning at the curtain and stumbling through it. Dr. Hadley gave an exasperated sigh before turning back to Sarah.

"Stitches are all done. I'm going to bandage this, mostly to cushion it. The bleeding's stopped," said Dr. Beck.

"I'll take care of that," Dr. Hadley said quickly, moving to take the gauze from the red-head. The other doctor nodded and left. Dr. Hadley started winding the gauze around Sarah's hand, covering the stitched gash.

"Does Greg know I'm here?" Sarah asked. She felt like she was coming out of a fog. Her mind was starting to work again.

"I just talked to him. He was all set to get out of bed and come down here to see for himself." Dr. Hadley gave Sarah a quick smile before returning her concentration to the gauze.

"I…I don't know…" Sarah stopped talking as the curtain was pulled back. A man in a bad suit stood there, notebook in hand. Dr. Hadley looked up.

"Detective Graham," she said, "we were almost finished."

"I have a few questions for Ms. Kelly that can't wait," the man said, pulling the curtain closed behind him.


Sarah had just started to respond to the news that House had wanted to come see her for himself when the curtain surrounding the gurney was pulled back and Detective Graham came in. Thirteen glanced at him in annoyance.

"Detective Graham, we were almost finished," she told him. She wanted to take Sarah to House right away. She was certain that he wasn't going to go back to sleep until he'd seen her for himself and he needed the rest.

"I have a few questions for Ms. Kelly that can't' wait," he replied, pulling the curtain shut behind him.

"Ok," Sarah said.

"I need to know what happened this evening when Todd Jeffries came to your hotel room," the detective said.

"I… I opened the door without looking. It was stupid," Sarah said, and Thirteen could see tears in her eyes. "I… there was another man there looking for me and I thought it would be him. It was so stupid." A few tears spilled down her cheeks.

"What happened after you opened the door?" Graham asked. Thirteen found a box of tissues on a cart near the gurney and offered one to Sarah. Sarah crumpled it in her left hand.

"He… he put his hand over my mouth and grabbed my arm and pushed me inside. I… It was like I was watching myself. I couldn't think. We backed across the room until we reached the bed. He told me he'd followed someone from my apartment to the hotel. He said it was time I stopped playing hard to get. I think he was going to kiss me." Sarah shuddered and Thirteen put a hand on her shoulder. "I… I just snapped. I couldn't stand the thought of him touching me. I hit him."

"Where did you hit him?"

"I punched him, in the stomach I think, and I stomped on his foot and hit him in the nose."

"Then what?"

"He let go of me but he was between me and the door and I just wanted to get away. I grabbed a lamp, off the bedside table, and I hit him with it and he fell down and I ran." Sarah took a shaky breath, more tears sliding down her cheeks. "Please tell me he didn't get away."

"No, he didn't get away," Graham said. "Todd Jeffries is dead."