Pact For Love
House and Cuddy are married and have 2 children. Shocking news leaves them to debate their futures, and their children's. They are elderly now, and their children are grown up, but does it mean that they feel better about leaving them behind?
This is not for everyone, but this is an issue that comes up frequently in my Ethics class. So I'm warning you now, you might find this fic very sad and/or quite disturbing. And I apologise for that, but it's an issue that needs to be addressed.
Chapter 12
The elegant horses with their smooth black tails gently trotted down the street, pulling a carriage.
Behind them followed a simple black limo, in it sat the family, sobbing on each other's shoulders, the children not understanding what was going on.
The horse, carriages and limos arrived at the church, and the crowd assembled in the pews as mourners.
Wilson, Foreman, Chase, Noah, George, Cuddy's brother Lee, House's cousin Taylor and House's close friend Elijah remained behind.
They were the 8, the 8 to carry the coffins.
Lee, Foreman, Chase and Noah carried Lisa's coffin.
Following them was Elijah, Wilson, George and Taylor carrying House's casket.
The others looked on as the coffins were carried down the aisle, Lionel Richie's Goodbye playing softly in the background, setting the pace for their stilted steps.
I wanted you
for life
You and me
In the wind
I never thought there
come a time
That our story would end
It's hard to understand
But I guess I'll have to try
It's not easy
To say
goodbye.
For all the joy we shared
All that time we had to
spend
Now if I had one wish
I'd want forever back again
To
look into your eyes
And hold you when you cry
It's not easy
To say goodbye
I can remember all those great times we had
There were so many memories, some good some bad
Yes and
through it all
Those memories will last
Forever
There's
peace in where you are
May be all I need to know
And if I
listen to my heart
I'll hear your laughter once more
And so I
got to say
I'm just glad you came my way
It's not easy to say
Goodbye
Goodbye
The coffins were placed side by side, then covered with the most beautiful flowers.
The picture of Greg and Lisa stood proud, a happy picture of the 2 of them together, happy and healthy.
The priest began to speak.
'Welcome everybody to this celebration of life, the life of Gregory and Lisa House.'
God our Father, we thank you that you have made each of
us in your own image, and given us gifts and talents with which to
serve you.
We thank you for Greg and Lisa, the years we shared
with them, the good we saw in them,
the love we received from them.
Now give us strength and
courage to leave them in your care, confident in your promise of
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen, replied the crowd.
'I now invite Noah House, Lisa and Greg's firstborn child, to say a few words about his parents.'
Noah made his way up to the stage in his black suit.
'My parents were the best parents a guy could've wished for. To the outside, we were a dysfunctional group, but if you looked deeper, we were a close knit family. We always looked out for each other, and through every trauma life has handed us, we've always come out fighting. My mother and father killed themselves, there is no denying it, but the reasons for why they did touched us all. My father could not imagine life without my mother, and here he was, faced with losing her. And so he made a choice for love. A choice to join her. What love he must have for her to give up his life to be with her. That, my friends, is the truest, rawest form of love. I found a poem in a book I read, that seemed like it fit everything together. So I'm going to read it to you now.'
Gone
yet not forgotten,
Although we are apart,
Your spirits live
within me,
Forever in my heart.
No farewell words were
spoken,
No time to say goodbye,
You were gone before we knew
it,
And only God knows why.
Pain comes in waves,
But now we all are together,
The company seems to save,
My mood of stormy weather.
So when we go home tonight,
And think of what was,
Think of their passion and their might,
Not losing the will to fight, because
Every second counts in life.
He made his way back to his seat, hugging Gaby gently.
'Please rise for the first hymn, Amazing Grace.'
Amazing Grace,
how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was
lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my
fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I
first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already
come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will
lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope
secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life
endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life
shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and
peace.
When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as
the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when
we've first begun
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like
me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
'James Wilson, Greg and Lisa's closest friend will now speak,' announced the priest.
Wilson slowly walked up to the podium.
'I met Greg in a particularly funny situation, many, many years ago. It was a convention, and I was very drunk, and it took a while of me sitting around being drunk for me to get arrested. In my drunken state, I was in a bit of a rage, throwing a fit etc. Then I picked up the bottle of beer I had been drinking and threw it past the officers head, and it smashed the window. That pretty much did it, and so I was thrown in the cells. I sobered up, and sat there being bored, when they come in and tell me I can go. I asked them why, because nothing had happened. They told me that this skinny guy bailed me out, so I went to find him. And there I found Greg. I wanted to know why, he told me that he found me interesting. I bought him a drink, and we went from there. And I continued to pay for his drinks, and his food, until the day he died. I'll always remember House for his brilliant mind, and the love that he had for his family. I've never seen him so happy as he was with Lisa, and he was overjoyed when they brought their children into the world. Lisa was a caring, earth mother who lived for her children. She had no idea about the way she'd have to leave them because of a disease. In their funeral plans, they said that they wanted this poem read out, and so the task has fallen to me. So here it is.'
Do
not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I
am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn
rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift
uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft
stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I
am not there, I did not die.
He returned to his seat, between Gaby and Noah.
'Gabrielle will come and say a few words about her parents now, as the youngest child of Lisa and Greg.'
Gaby got up and shuffled towards the podium.
'I'm gonna be a bit different, and start with the poem. My friend Abbey found this poem, and gave it to me. I read it, thinking about what was happening. And so here it is.'
They say memories are golden well maybe that is true.
I never wanted memories, I only wanted you.
A million times I needed you, a million times I cried.
If love alone could have saved you, you never would have died.
In life we loved you dearly, In death we love you still.
In our hearts you hold a place no one could ever fill.
If tears could build a stairway and heartache make a lane,
We'd walk the path to heaven and bring you back again.
Our family chain is broken, and nothing seems the same.
But as God calls us one by one, the chain will link again.
'My parents gave me some of the greatest memories you could've ever imagined. They truly were golden. For as long as I could remember, they'd always made time for me and Noah, always spending time with us and creating memories for us all to remember. No matter how good these memories are, they do not replace the people who created them. The love shared between Mom and Dad, the love shared between all of us, if it could keep people alive, you'd both still be here right now, and this ceremony would be obsolete. The love between my parents was so strong that they'd rather die than be apart. No one can replace them in our hearts and minds, even though they're not here. If we could, we'd make our way up to heaven and bring them both back, as the poem said on a stairway of the tears we have cried for them. 2 important figures are missing from our family, and it feels like it will never be normal again. But one by one, we'll join them in heaven, and be a family again.'
She sat down and hugged Wilson through her tears.
'Please rise to sing the hymn, 'In Heavenly Love Abiding'.'
In heavenly
love abiding, no change my heart shall fear.
And safe in such
confiding, for nothing changes here.
The storm may roar without
me, my heart may low be laid,
But God is round about me, and can I
be dismayed?
Wherever He may guide me, no want shall turn me
back.
My Shepherd is beside me, and nothing can I lack.
His
wisdom ever waking, His sight is never dim.
He knows the way He's
taking, and I will walk with Him
Green pastures are before me,
which yet I have not seen.
Bright skies will soon be over me,
where darkest clouds have been.
My hope I cannot measure, my path
to life is free.
My Savior has my treasure, and He will walk with
me.
'And now to him
who is able to keep us from falling,
and lift us from the dark
valley of despair
to the bright mountain of hope,
from the
midnight of desperation
to the daybreak of joy;
to him be power
and authority, for ever and ever. Amen.'