Title: Parasitic

Chapter Seven: Miss You

"Are you coming back to bed?" Allison leaned heavily against the back of the couch, clad only in a pair of warm socks and a large t-shirt. Her eyes were heavy, signs that she'd awoken shortly after he'd climbed out of bed.

"Yeah," Greg leaned back, his arm winding backwards to wrap around the back of her neck. His lips grazed her chin, "I'll just be a bit longer." He said quietly, the mouthpiece of the phone pressed against his shoulder.

"Don't keep me waiting for you." She smiled before shuffling back to the bedroom.

"Wilson, you still there?" Greg asked as he pulled the phone away from his shoulder.

"Yup."

"Okay, my flight is at 9AM on Friday, and I'll be back-"

"Why couldn't we have talked about this at work in the morning?" Wilson grumbled, apparently very annoyed at the fact that Greg had called him at one in the morning.

"Because, I'm guaranteed a deaf wife while she's asleep here, and the hospital staff likes her better than me. They'll rat me out the minute I'm out of earshot." Greg pointed out, "The last thing I need is Allison pissed off at me for getting you to stalk her while I'm gone."

"She didn't sound asleep."

"She sleep walks, now shut up and listen. This is very important." Greg grumbled, "Just call and hang up, just to make sure she's okay."

"Do you want me to put a tracking devise on her too?"

"Already did."

"You didn't!" Wilson gasped.

"No I didn't, you idiot." Greg rolled his eyes, "I'm obsessive, not insane."

"Or both."

"I don't need to stalk my own wife. The sex I give her is too good for her to stray."

"House."

"Wilson, just watch over her. Her family can't be here, and with her nerves and the fact that she still is having trouble with morning sickness; I don't want her getting sick." Greg frowned.

"You're still anxious about everyone knowing, aren't you?" Wilson guessed, figuring that his friend's attention to Allison was mostly due to his need to distract himself from the fact that the entire hospital now knew that Allison was pregnant. Only the OBGYN knew it was with triplets though.

"Just do it." Greg hung up the phone and stood up, feeling a dull ache in his leg. The cold had been bothering his leg lately, and it was damned near impossible trying to hide the telltale increase in his usual limp from her. Ever since he'd built up the strength in his leg, his limp had become nearly unnoticeable to everyone except himself and Allison.

Arriving in his bedroom, Greg found his wife already asleep, curled tightly in a nest of blankets that he knew that he'd have a hell of a time prying from her grip. Finally coaxing some of the covers from her grasp, Greg slid into bed and curled up against Allison's sleeping body. Unconsciously, she snuggled back against him, sighing in her sleep.

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"Good morning, Dr. House." Tina from cardiology smiled warmly as Allison passed by. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." Allison mumbled, feeling her face turn bright red. She was still paranoid about people treating her differently now that they all knew she was pregnant. The non-too-subtle trip to the OBGYN department had made a brushfire of rumors pop up, Wilson, Cuddy and Foreman were being nagged for answers to the staff's suspicions. Chase remained in the dark the whole time, for the members of the hospital figured that he would be the last individual with any useful information concerning the couple.

The most amusing part had been choosing their doctor. Her husband had insisted that Chase was one male co-worker too many that had seen his wife naked, and refused to have anyone but Melissa handling their case.

With a wry smile and a playful nudge, Allison had at least accepted Greg's request with little complaint. Needless to say, Melissa had been utterly shocked to discover the presence of three separate fetuses. However, thanks to the nifty law of patient/doctor confidentiality, the rest of the hospital was left blissfully unaware of the multiple bundles of joy the recently married couple were expecting.

Things were a little less than wonderful for Lisa Cuddy, however, who was being nagged by multitudes of hospital staff saying it was unfair to take Gregory House away from his wife during their first pregnancy.

Lisa had to defend herself continuously, especially when her own receptionist joined the argument.

"Why," Lisa slammed into Wilson's office, "is everyone treating me like the anti-christ!"

Wilson groaned, "Lisa," he coaxed, "they're only acting this way because Greg's been noticeably less irritable since he and Allison got together, and they want to keep the hospital running peacefully."

"Uh huh."

"Not too mention, it's more for Ally's sake than his." Wilson pointed out, "Everyone likes Ally!" He laughed, "And they don't want her by herself."

"I hate my job."

"No you don't."

"I know, but sometimes, I really hate my job."

"Me too." Wilson nodded.

Laughing, Lisa shook her head, "So, what are you doing tonight?"

"You mean besides bugging Allison's phone and putting a GPS locator on her?" Wilson saw Lisa's look and quickly explained, "Greg's got me secretly babysitting her while he's gone."

"Oh." Lisa smiled nervously, "He's not pissed off at me is he?"

Shaking his head, Wilson scoffed, "Please, you've done worse things to him than dragging him away on a lecture."

"While his wife is pregnant?" She supplied.

"She's in her first trimester. It's not like he'll risk missing the birth."

"No, but first trimester is when some of the worst complications happen." Lisa rung her hands nervously. She was guilt tripping herself and she knew it, but, alas, she couldn't resist. After all, if anything happened to Allison while Greg was away; Lisa would never be able to forgive herself!

"Stop worrying so much." Wilson gave Lisa a nudge, slowly circling an arm around her shoulder. He took her hand and said quietly, "She'll be fine, and you'll realize how silly you were being."

Smiling, Lisa looked at him and wondered what was truly stopping her from just caving in and letting him take her out again. Their date the previous weekend had been perfect, but he had told her that he wouldn't ask her out again until she felt more secure. Indeed, Lisa had spent a good amount of time stammering over phone calls from the hospital, too nervous to let on that she was on a date. She had also, ducked behind a pillar in the art gallery when she thought she saw an employee coming in. Lisa understood why Wilson wouldn't ask her out again until she straightened out her priorities, but it was still exasperating trying to decide how she wanted to proceed with her life.

"Just a little more time." She sighed.

"Huh?"

"Nothing." Lisa smiled at Wilson, "Nothing at all."

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"I'll call you when we get to the hotel." Greg kissed Allison's lips, "Take care of yourself, and if you don't feel well enough to go in, just call off." He pleaded, something no one ever got to hear him do except Allison, and on very very rare occasions, Lisa.

"What is this "call off" you speak of?" Allison teased her husband, letting playful, light kisses caress his face.

"Be good." He gave her butt a quick swat before kneeling down, "And be good to mommy, you three." Greg said sternly to her belly, "No more morning sickness while I'm gone." He kissed her stomach a few times before using the end table by the front door to help him rise back up.

"Love you." Allison kissed him one more time, "Don't make Lisa pull out all of her hair."

"Where's the fun in that?" He teased, "Love you."

Kane gave little yip as Greg grabbed his suitcase, "And what do you want?" He asked the dog suspiciously. She yipped again, and Greg gave in, giving her a brisk scratch around the ears before grabbing his stuff and walking out the door. "Bye, love you."

"Love you too." Allison called after her husband as he walked down the hallway. With a sigh, she closed the door and leaned against the wall beside the door. She released an annoyed groan, running her hand over her belly. "Miss you." She pouted to herself, already wishing it had been a week.

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"Hey, Ally."

"Hi, Wilson." Allison shuffled down the corridor towards her office.

"You look terrible." He frowned, "Are you feeling okay?" He asked carefully.

"No!" She went into her office and slammed the door behind her. Allison immediately felt guilty, but it had been her first morning coming to work without her husband. As if that weren't enough, her back was aching, her breasts were killing her, and she'd only managed to keep her breakfast down for a half hour. Morning sickness had been a crap shoot lately. Either she was fine all day, or she went the whole day without keeping down a single meal. Deciding that this wasn't going to work for two more months, Allison left her office and went to the OBGYN floor.

"Hi, Allison." Melissa stammered upon seeing her new patient, "How are you holding up?"

"Morning sickness is evil." Allison frowned and Melissa smiled comfortingly. "I'm really not keeping much down."

"Increased symptoms can sometimes accompany..." Melissa trailed off, realizing that she shouldn't be talking about her newest patient's symptoms out in the open. "Come on to my office." Allison followed Melissa, "As I was saying," Melissa began again, in the safety of her office, "increased symptoms can sometimes accompany a multiple pregnancy."

"I know." Allison groaned, "I'm already sick of this though. I'm not gonna make it!"

Melissa laughed, "You'll make it." She assured.

"Uh huh." Flopping her head against the back of the chair she'd plopped into, Allison seemed even more skeptical, "Is..."

"Is?"

"Is there... Do you know if Greg's acting any differently than most expecting fathers?"

"House acts differently than most men all together, whether they'll be fathers or not." Melissa pointed out. "I'm not going to lie though. He's changed a lot in the last year." The OBGYN frowned slightly, "Not just the limp or anything. His attitude's changed a lot too."

Allison frowned now too, "He's not the same person, but then again, neither am I."

"No, you two seemed to have blended into one another. Kind of scary really." Melissa shook her head, "I don't know, but the idea of House being a father is one my mind can't even comprehend." She admitted, "Something about visualizing him doing that "ga ga" talk just doesn't seem natural."

Allison laughed, but just shook her head, not saying anything either way.

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"Would you stop giving me the death glare?" Cuddy growled at her agitated companion.

"I'm not glaring." Greg defended himself, "I'm merely staring at you trying to make you feel guilty. If you consider this a glare, then I have succeeded."

With a groan, Lisa flung her head back against her seat, "You're impossible."

"Why won't you go out with Wilson again?" He changed the subject.

Caught off guard, Lisa's mouth opened, shut and then opened once more. "I-..." She thought for a moment, "Right now, everything is kind of crazy. One of my best doctors is pregnant, my best doctor is the father, and right now doesn't seem like the best time to start dating another one of my best doctors."

"How many of your doctors can be the "best"?" Greg leered.

"You know what I mean." Lisa glared, "Everyone is the best at their own thing. In Allison's case, it's dealing with you."

"You have yet to manipulate my wife against me, and you know it." Greg smirked with amusement, "If anything, I've gotten her to work her charms against you for my benefit."

"And I got you on this trip how?" Lisa asked innocently.

"That," Greg pointed a finger at her, "is entirely different."

"How so?"

"Leverage." He said simply, putting his earbuds in to listen to his ipod.

Rolling her eyes, Lisa chose not to try anymore.

--------------------------

"I'm going home." Allison leaned heavily against the doorframe of Wilson's office.

"Are you okay?"

Shaking her head, Allison put her hand to her stomach, "I really don't feel good, and no amount of napping on my husband's vacant couch will cure me."

"Do you want me to drive you home?" He offered.

"No, I won't have a car to get to work on Monday if you drive me home today." She pointed out, "If Greg calls my office, have him call me at home, okay?"

Wilson nodded.

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"Hey, Allison's not in her office, and she's not picking up her cell phone." Greg told Wilson as he flung his suitcase onto his hotel room bed.

"She wasn't feeling good, and she cut out around one this afternoon."

"Is she all right?" He asked, trying to push away the nervous sound in his voice.

"She's fine, just her usual after lunch sickness wouldn't go away, so she went home."

"Okay." Greg hung up the phone and quickly dialed their apartment. The phone rang four times, and he heard the machine click on, but Allison got to the phone before the recorded message could play, "Hey."

"Hey yourself." Allison sounded groggy.

"You okay?" Greg asked carefully, "Do you need anything? I'll call Foreman or Wilson and force them to be your beckon call boys while I'm gone."

With a weak laugh, Allison assured him, "I'm fine. I swear, I'm fine. Just kinda tired."

"Okay, you get to bed then, and don't be afraid to call off on Monday if you're still not up to it." Greg made her promise.

"All right, baby." He could hear her yawn, "Love you."

"Love you too." Greg responded before he heard the line disconnect.

Hanging up the phone, Greg began to pace his room. He hated being so far away from her when he knew that she was already miserable. He hated that she was all alone, no one but her dog to keep her company. It wasn't fair.

--KNOCK KNOCK--

"Who's there?" Greg called.

"Lisa." Cuddy called from behind the door.

"Lisa who?" He flung the door open.

"Lisa's gonna kick your ass if you're not ready for dinner in the next ten minutes. I'm starving!" Cuddy growled.

"That's a very long last name."

"Shut up and put your shoes on."

"Is it a compound surname?" He asked, goading her further.

"Get. Your. God. Damn. SHOES!" Lisa screeched, and apparently he'd been getting a lot of nasty talking to, because he seemed to deflate rather quickly. "What's wrong with you?" She asked as he went to slide his shoes back on.

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"So?"

"What's wrong?" Lisa demanded. "You never stop an argument that easily."

"Nothing's wrong." He insisted, grabbing his hotel room key and closing the door behind them.

"Aw, is Ally domesticating you?" Lisa teased, but at his sour look she quickly quieted. Thinking for a moment she realized what was probably happening, "I know it must be hard for you two right now."

"Jimmy's my psychiatrist, Cuddy." He leered at his boss, "When Ally stops showing me her tits, then I'll come to you for help." That earned him a hard smack over the back.

"Ass."

"She's just sensitive right now." Greg gave her as little information as possible, just to get her to leave the subject alone, "We're fine."

"You? Dealing with sensitivity?" Lisa joked, gasping for air, "Hell hath frozen over!"

"Shut it."

--------------------------------

"Dr. James Wilson."

"Hey, Jimmy, it's Ally." Allison mumbled into the phone's receiver.

"Hey! Did Greg get ahold of you the other night?" He asked.

"Yeah..." Allison curled onto her side in bed, "I'm not coming in today." She said softly.

"Do you need someone to come over? I haven't heard from you all weekend! I can send-"

"No, no... I just couldn't sleep very well this weekend, and now I'm just really tired." She assured, squeezing her eyes shut as another wave of nausea hit her. "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Al-"

Allison hung up the phone, effectively cutting him off, "Why can't you three behave and let me eat something?" She begged, rubbing her stomach, trying to soothe away the twisting.

Burying her face into the pillow, Allison tried to snuff out the smells around her. She could smell the pasta sauce from the spaghetti she'd made the night before and then not eaten. She could smell the overwhelming scent of her body wash still perfuming the air heavily from her earlier shower. She could smell the musky dog smell that rolled off of Kane in waves. Everything around the woman seemed to influence her stomach to spin around like it had been thrown into a washing machine. God spare her when she reached the rinse cycle.

"Please, babies." Allison squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to cry, but feeling so helpless that she couldn't prevent the choked sob, "I'm starving, so you guys must be too!"

Staring at the carpeted floor as her hand lay limply on its surface, Allison ran her fingertips over the coarse fabric. Her fingertip traced back and forth, drawing little unrecognizable symbols into the carpet as it darkened when drawn away from the preset striations.

"Maybe just some water." She dragged herself from bed and stood up, making her way to the bathroom for something to drink. As she took each step, her vision seemed to narrow, and her pulse went frantic.

Halfway across the carpeted floor, Allison swayed, recognizing the symptoms of dehydration. Turning to reach once more for the phone, Allison sat back down on the bed as she went to dial. Before she could enter the entire number, her vision faded and she slumped backwards on the bed in a full faint.

TBC

A/N- Heya, guys! Thanks for waiting! Please review! And I'll try and get chapters out a bit quicker! Only 6 more weeks of SCHOOL!!! And then I'm all yours! LoL- Andi