Chapter 42

Fifteen minutes later the four arrived at the restaurant, Cuddy breathing a sigh of relief that they were early. They entered the restaurant and were seated almost immediately (one look at House's cane was all it took) and then waited for John and Blythe to arrive.

"Can I get you your drinks sir while you're waiting?" The waiter looked fairly young and intimidated as he awaited House's answer.

"I'll have a Whiskey, Cuddy?"

"I'll have a Gin and tonic, and do you have apple juice?"

"Yes ma'am"

"Apple juice for the kids"

"Right away" The waiter hurried away and House turned toward Cuddy.

"Interesting selection"

"An evening with your parents, you're lucky I didn't order several bottles of Vodka" Cuddy answered. She was nervous, attacking each other was bad when they were in her own home, but this was a public restaurant which made it ten times worse.

"Now that, would have been interesting" House reached over and handed Emily a straw she had been trying to reach for the last ten minutes as the waiter arrived with their drinks.

"Oh, there they are" Cuddy looked over at the door and House sighed loudly. Cuddy glared at him and then turned and smiled at the couple approaching. John had a smile on his face which made her smirk at the pep talk she imagined he had had.

"Hello" Blythe smiled brightly and looked around the table. She couldn't believe she was sitting here, dining with her son and his family everyone all dressed up and clean-cut. She hoped she could talk one of the waiters into getting a picture for her.

"Hi granma!" Emily immediately got excited. Blythe walked around the table and gave her a big hug and then gave Abby a quick kiss on the cheek. John smiled at Emily who then said hi to him and sat down furthest away from House.

"Oh this is nice" Blythe gave everyone another big smile and then sat down herself and grabbed a menu. House wasn't sure if she had meant the restaurant or their little family reunion. He had asked Wilson to page him about his patient as an excuse to leave and Wilson hadn't really given him an answer so he wasn't sure whether he would or not, but he had it on in his pocket just in case. The waiter arrived and they all gave their orders.

"Well, this restaurant could certainly use some renovations, it's so tiny" John looked around the crowded restaurant.

"Not quite, this is a new and fairly large restaurant" House argued.

"Daddy can I have ice cream after?" Emily looked pleadingly at her father. House gave Cuddy a quick look and nodded.

"Sure, why not?" Cuddy smiled and continued her conversation with Blythe about how old the children were getting.

"Yay!" Emily shouted loudly. Several couples turned around and glared at her.

"Emily not so loud honey" Cuddy turned around and scolded her daughter. House didn't say a word, but glared back at the people around them that were still sending dirty looks their way.

"Greg?" House's attention turned to his mother.

"Yes"

"Remember our trip to Athens?"

"Not now mother" Cuddy glanced surprised at House. Usually he spoke with utmost respect when it came to his mother at all times. Right now however his eyes had turned dark and he had a pained expression on his face.

"Oh don't be silly Greg. I was just telling Lisa about our ski trip, and how you met Heather. You remember Heather don't you?" Blythe smiled at her son expecting a blush, but his sad expression worried her.

"Of course I remember her" House could barely control the icy coldness in his voice. He had hoped for a semi-pleasant conversation, instead he got a dose of horrible memories. But then again, his mother wasn't aware of how awful it was. She didn't know what she was currently doing. Had she known, she would never have brought up the subject.

Greg and his parents had just arrived in Athens for a mega ski trip, a little after Greg's sixteenth birthday. Greg wasn't much of a skier but his parents adored it and had been looking forward to the trip since his father's brief military vacation. His father's bout of pneumonia hadn't stopped him from planning this trip and now here they were.

"Look Greg, look how high the mountains go. Isn't it wonderful?" Blythe smiled up at the hills as she walked alongside her son towards the main cabin.

"It's ok" Greg pouted as they trudged through the snow. He wanted to go home, he traveled enough without any extra vacations, especially to go skiing.

"Greg don't contradict you're mother, where's your respect boy? (Cough) This is a fantastic trip and you'd better start appreciating it!" John glared at his son who just looked down ashamed. Once the trio got to the cabin, they had someone give them their maps and equipment and tell them some rules and then send them on their way. One of the rules was that no family shall go alone; there must be a group of at least ten at all times lead by a guide. The House's walked out and joined the first group they saw awaiting more members.

"Hello there. My name's Jason. I'll be your guide for today."

"Hi" John greeted the man.

"I think we have enough people now. Let's get going" The House's along with two other families followed Jason to the hills. The one family was a woman and her three children who all looked around the age of ten. The other, a man and woman followed by a girl. The girl was about Greg's age, and looked about as happy to be there as he did. Greg watched the girl as she walked and cursed ever few moments. She was very pretty, and he was having a good time watching her almost silently rant.

"Why are you staring at me?" the girl looked at Greg with an annoyed expression. He hadn't noticed he had been staring until she had broken him from his reverie.

"Well, I could stare at these mountains, but they aren't nearly as interesting"

"I absolutely hate skiing. I can't believe my parents made me come here" By now Greg and the girl were falling behind from everyone else.

"Join the club" Greg answered bitterly.

"You don't like to ski?" The girl looked up surprised.

"No I don't, I don't see how people can get a thrill of going down a hill full of snow on two thin slabs of plastic." Greg looked at his parents who were chatting excitedly with the girl's parents.

"I'm Heather" The girl gave him a smile.

"I'm Greg" Greg didn't return it.

"I guess it's just you and me huh?" The girl cast an annoyed look at her parents.

"Looks that way"

…

Blythe and Cuddy watched House who was caught up in the memory. John was playing with Abby making her giggle not in any way trying to be included in the conversation.

"Is he alright?" Cuddy asked, mostly to herself, though Blythe answered her.

"He's fine. Heather was a friend of his. They met on our ski trip and became close. There was an accident while we were in the mountains, some girl got killed, so we had to leave and Greg found it tough saying goodbye. He was upset for months after that." Blythe looked at her son.

"Are your sure you know the whole story?" Cuddy knew that expression on House's face wasn't merely from a sad departure from a new friend.

"Of course" Blythe smiled politely. House remained oblivious.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take" Heather complained for the umpteenth time as they once again trudged up the mountain bottom to the lift.

"Yes we all know" Greg was being irritable himself.

"If you're so annoyed with me quit walking beside me. Go with your parents and leave me alone" Heather glared at Greg.

"No, as much as you are a whining annoying girl, I would actually prefer to listen to you than run up there with those excited fools" Greg grumbled.

"Do you hate being around your parents as much as I hate being around mine?" Heather's eyes filled with understanding.

"More I'm sure" Greg growled.

"I sincerely doubt that" Heather smiled and Greg turned towards her. For the first time since they had left home he let a smile escape him.

"You know, you're actually not bad company. I live on a ranch and get home schooled, so I don't spend time with people my age all that often. Obviously not my decision. I'm sorry if I seem like a real grump, I'm just not an overly-cheery person I guess" Heather looked up again this time a little more shyly.

"Yeah, my dad's in the military, so we move a lot. And I mean A LOT. I guess in my position you learn that making friends is futile since you won't be in the same place for more than a couple months tops anyway. I myself am not an overly-cheery person as you put it, as you can see" Greg hitched his skis higher up onto his shoulder and gave Heather another smile. He really liked this girl.

"Glad to hear that, sounds like we have a lot in common. Now, you don't seem like a goody-two-shoes to me, so I figure you'll go through with my little plan. If you look up ahead, to your right, there's a fork in the path. Now obviously the one direction, the one we've been following over and over again will take us to the top of the mountain. The other way, will take us to a small cave. Now, I am freezing and tired. I figure if we rest for a while, we can just meet up with them again later. What do you say?" Heather looked hopefully at Greg.

"Sure why not?" Greg looked at Heather. He liked this plan a whole lot, he got to rest, spend time with Heather, AND not ski anymore. Yup, he definitely would go ahead with that plan.

So, the teens quickly ran to the left as the group turned to the right heading for the top of the mountain. Nobody noticed them leaving the other way, all too excited with their skiing trips. Greg and Heather didn't have to go far until they found the small cave. Both got in and threw their equipment on the ground and relaxed.

"Whoa, it's much toastier in here" Heather smiled.

"It's not that warm" Greg muttered.

"I was freezing." Heather took off her coat. Greg just watched her every move. He was watching her happily when all of a sudden she started shaking. The tremors shook her body violently as she fell to the ground. Greg hurried to her side but her body was shaking so badly from convulsions he couldn't go too close. He was afraid, her bones were making horrible cracking sounds and he was thinking of all the injuries this seizure was causing. It wasn't until he heard her neck give a horrible crack, and then her body lying limp that he grabbed her. At once he let her go afraid to touch her, afraid to cause her more pain. Greg immediately ran out of the cave and returned to the trail. A new guide was walking by and he began to grab the man as he hurriedly told him what happened. The guide radioed for some help and while running to keep up with Greg who was already almost back at the cave. As the guide checked her out Greg stayed with his back to the cave, completely afraid. Heather's body was not moving and he was afraid for the worst.

"She's alive. But just barely. It looks like the seizure caused several dislocations and she may have some broken bones. The seizure you described sounds to me like a tonic-clonic seizure. We need to get her to a hospital right away." Greg nodded and then looked at her arm.

"Lift up her jacket, on her right arm"

"Why? We have to be careful we don't…"

"It's important, just do it" Greg gestured impatiently at the guide. Footsteps could be heard from a distance. The guide lifted up the sleeve and sighed. On Heather's arm, was a gold bracelet. A medical bracelet. The bracelet stated that Heather McRae, was a patient of Grand Mal epilepsy.

Once the paramedics got to the scene Greg stayed in the background. He watched them put Heather on to a stretcher and attach that stretcher to a sleigh of some sort.

"Drake!" One of the paramedics said.

"Yeah?"

"She's not breathing. No pulse. She's dead." Greg snapped around and stared at the two paramedics looking sadly down at Heather. His heart leaped into his chest and he ran. He ran away, not wanting to cry, but scared to death. He felt as if he was the one who died, he couldn't believe that one minute this girl was talking and laughing with him, and the next she was dead. It just didn't make sense. Greg finally saw his group not much ahead and ran up to catch up with them.

"Greg, where have you been?" Blythe looked at her son with worry.

"What do you mean? I've been following you?" Greg realized she hadn't really noticed his absence. She had just seen him and thought about how she hadn't spoken to him in a bit, that was all.

"Oh, sorry dear. You really have been quiet. Please tell me you're enjoying yourself?" Blythe looked hopefully at her son.

"Yes, it was pretty fun" Greg tried to put some of his usual gruffness into his sentence. He was trying so hard not to cry.

"Good. Well, I've had enough skiing for one day, I suppose we'd better get going. I'll go get you're father, and we'll tell the guide." Blythe walked over to where John and the guide were discussing perfect skiing trails and Greg looked over at Heather's parents. They were smiling and talking excitedly not even aware of their daughter's absence, of her death. Greg said a silent apology to Heather and then followed his parents down the hill to the cabin, where talk of a young girl dying was everywhere though no names were mentioned (Greg felt sick with fear as he walked around the cabin) and then the three of them got in the car and headed for home. Never did his parents find out Heather's fate, or anything about what had happened in the mountains.

House looked up at Cuddy and Blythe who were watching him silently and shook his head a bit. He was dazed and upset at the memory and even his father was giving him a hard look.

"Greg, are you alright? You look ill" Blythe's voice was etched with worry. Cuddy looked frightened.

"I'm going… to the washroom" House got up quickly and limped off as everyone watched confused.

…

House splashed water on his face for the third time. He needed to shake this off, he had promised Cuddy. But he hadn't thought his mother would bring up such a painful memory. It was tough to catch House off-guard, but she had done it and now he was a mess. House took some deep breaths and thought about Cuddy naked. The thought actually seemed to help and soon he was feeling better. House went to turn around when he heard a click. Turning around he saw Cuddy looking worried.

"House, what's wrong?" Cuddy came over and wrapped her arms around him. House held her debating on whether to tell her or not.

"My mother, she has no idea what happened up in those mountains" House didn't look Cuddy in the eye. He got out of her embrace and stood against the wall away from her.

"Yeah I figured that, tell me what happened" Cuddy looked pleadingly at House.

"Heather, she died up there. She was the one who died. One minute we were in the cave, the next she was convulsing. There was nothing I could do, she was injured beyond belief and I believe she broke her neck. She died. I never told my parents." House looked Cuddy in the eye. She knew he wouldn't cry, but his expression had the same affect on her.

"Oh my god" Cuddy couldn't believe what he was telling her. "How old were you?"

"Sixteen" Cuddy gasped.

"She just took me by surprise that's all. I'm fine now." House started to limp out but Cuddy stopped him.

"No, you'll take a minute. No hurry. I'm so sorry for what you went through, how could you not tell your parents about it? Heather's parents never contacted you guys?"

"I didn't share everything with my parents. And Heather's folks hadn't noticed her absence when we left. They probably didn't make the connection" House looked at the door.

"I'm so sorry" Cuddy held House once again but briefly and then backed up. They would continue this later.

"You're alright now? Any other things I should no about?" Cuddy looked apprehensively at House.

"I'm fine. And no, my mother took out the big guns right away. Let's go" House unlocked the door and strolled out ignoring an angry man who had been waiting to pee. Seeing Cuddy the guy rolled his eyes and ran in.

John and Blythe looked up as the two arrived. The food had been brought but they were waiting to eat. Abby was happily munching on her chicken pieces and stuffing her face with mashed potatoes once in a while and Emily looked angry her plate with uncut chicken untouched. Cuddy sat down and smiled around the table assuring them everything was well and House returned his face once again to its unemotional state.

"Wow, this food looks really good" Cuddy smiled and began to eat her seafood linguini. The rest followed suit each mentioning how much their food was good. Emily didn't eat.

"Problem Emily?" House looked over at Emily sitting beside him holding the glare he only wished he could share.

"Cut my food daddy please?" Emily looked over at her father. John fidgeted a bit.

"Sure, quit looking so angry" House began to cut her chicken and Emily gave a triumphant grin over to John. John looked sadly at her.

"Ok daddy. Love you Daddy." Emily smiled and House could tell his father was getting uncomfortable for whatever reason. Good for him.

"Me too. Now eat" House looked at Emily who was know happily munching on her carrots just like her sister. He knew something was going on between her and her grandfather. Emily was an unusually affectionate kid in House's opinion, because he just didn't get how she could be so affectionate towards him when he had such a difficult time being that way towards her. However, judging by the depressed air his father was displaying something serious had happened. Cuddy and Blythe were now in a discussion over Christmas and were not paying attention. House decided that his cheese capelletti had waited long enough and he began to eat. The dish was delicious.

…

Everyone at the table except for the two little girls drank considerably; trying to ruin the awkward silence everyone knew was surely going to come. Unfortunately, they were going to wish it was silent very soon. All were eating dessert when it started.

"Daddy, can I have more?" Emily gave House her most angelic smile.

"Do you know how expensive this stuff is? You should be thankful you got that" House muttered.

"More!" Emily was about to throw one of her famous tantrums.

"I said no Emily" Cuddy looked over and shared a scared look with House. Blythe and John watched House each with a different look. Blythe had a surprised and yet proud look on her face, John was getting annoyed and fast.

"Let the child have more" John butted in.

"You going to pay for it? Or for her therapy when she gets everything she wants and becomes a spoiled brat?" House didn't want his father butting in when he was reprimanding his child. He didn't need it.

"She's just a child Greg. Don't be cheap" John argued.

"Wow, you didn't see it the same way when it was me. In fact, this little fit she's throwing would have earned me some red marks and pain wouldn't it Sir?" House turned towards his daughter.

"Emily you've had enough" Emily began to get angry and Cuddy cut in.

"Emily, if you throw a tantrum in this nice restaurant, Santa Clause is not coming this year" At this, Emily began to pout but didn't kick and shout. House and Cuddy breathed a sigh of relief. John was still seething.

"Yeah, because threatening the child is the key." House had had enough.

"You know what? We do NOT need your help raising our children. That's why you're just meeting them now. You are a fine one to talk about threatening because hell knows I still have scars from threats you went through with. So stop trying to raise my kid, and start treating yours with a little respect. Because I'm not a child anymore, and your going to have to stop treating me like one, or get the hell out. Take your pick." People were staring now, and House was breathing hard. Cuddy and Blythe both looked sadly at them. John looked horrified, and looking around he spat;

"You will never be an adult Greg. And you're children will suffer for it" John got up and so did House. He was about to swing, his father saw it in his eyes and took a hurried step back.

"You know what? Unlike you, hitting family members isn't really my thing." House backed up, hoping that that comment would hit home. It did. Everyone in the restaurant gasped and John walked out furious. Blythe began to cry, and gave Abby and Emily a quick kiss before looking at her son and following her husband. Cuddy looked embarrassed.

"Can we get a check over here?" House yelled at the room in general.

"Right here sir" The young man came back looking more harried than ever.

"Let me see that." House looked at the check, took out about twenty over the tab, and limped out. Emily was smiling, an evil smile that looked frighteningly like her fathers when he was feeling mischievous, Abby just looked confused and buried her head in her mothers shoulder as Cuddy walked out looking like she was about to faint of shame.