Thanks to everyone who has favorited this story or put it or me on alert! I really appreciate it. And look, I answered everyone's review this time! I'm getting better, LOL!

Chapter 7

Julia wondered about her relationship with Greg. She was more and more attracted to him every day. She knew he wanted to sleep with her. Truth be told, she wanted it too. His kisses were amazing and he found – or made – opportunities to kiss her all the time.

But she wasn't sure if she was ready for a sexual relationship just yet.

To take her mind off of that uncomfortable decision, she worked harder for the people on the island that she helped.

Julia was increasingly worried about Mrs. Lassiter. The old woman seemed to be getting weaker and weaker, but she didn't know what to do about her. There was a nurse practitioner on San Paolo, but no doctor and the woman refused to go to the doctor on the larger island.

That was one other item of stress.

Then, one evening, she and House were sitting outside her cabin, watching the moon over the ocean, chatting quietly about unimportant things, when he said something that caught her attention.

"One time, at the hospital, there was this guy—"

"Hospital? Why were you in the hospital?"

"I worked there. I'm a doctor. Or, I was."

"You are? Oh my God, you could help Mrs. Lassiter."

"What's wrong with her?"

"I'm not sure, but she's been getting weaker and weaker."

"How old is she?"

"Ninety-six."

He looked at her. "Weak sort of goes with ninety-six."

"I know, but lately it's been worse. "

"Julia, I'm not licensed to practice medicine here."

"But you could just talk to her. Find out what's going on. Wait, you are a medical doctor, right? And you're not a psychiatrist or something, are you?"

"No psychiatrist. I'm a real doctor. Specialties in infectious diseases and nephrology. Kidneys." He added when he saw her start to ask.

"Okay, good, then you could talk to her. Maybe convince her to go the doctor on one of the bigger islands."

"Julia, I…"

"Please?" she asked plaintively. He couldn't deny her. And he had a feeling that if he said no, he'd never be back in her bed, let alone in anywhere else.

"Okay."

The next day, he reluctantly accompanied Julia to Mrs. Lassiter's house. Julia entered without knocking, calling out, "Hi, Mrs. Lassiter, it's me."

She walked to the back of the one story house, into a bedroom, where an old woman was sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Hello, Julia." She said in a shaky voice. "How are you, dear?"

"Mrs. Lassiter, you shouldn't try to get up until I can help you."

"It's fine, dear." The woman looked at House standing beside Julia. "Who is this young man?"

House smiled, realizing that at the apparent age of this woman, he would be considered young.

"This is my friend, Greg. I told you about him."

"Oh, yes, I remember." She smiled at him, though he could see it was an effort. She was very pale and her skin had a sickly pallor.

"Mrs. Lassiter, Greg is a doctor. I thought maybe you could talk to him."

"Dear, there really isn't anything a doctor can do for me."

"It wouldn't hurt to talk to him."

House saw the apprehension in the old woman and the look in her eyes told him she was uncomfortable talking in front of Julia.

"Julia," he said, "Why don't you go make everyone some tea?'

She stared at him, knowing he didn't drink tea, but he gave her a look and she realized what he was doing.

"Oh, yes, what a good idea. I'll go make some tea. You stay here and chat with Mrs. Lassiter."

When she left the room, Mrs. Lassiter sighed. "She's such a sweet girl. She's been so kind to me. But she just doesn't understand."

House nodded. "How long have you known?"

Her eyes were wary, but then, in a resigned voice, she said, "For some time now. You know what's wrong?"

"I have a pretty good guess. You probably could have done something about it a while ago."

"I know. But what would be the point? Doctor, I'm ninety-six years old. My husband and I came here when I was seventy. We bought this house and lived happily here for the next twenty years. Six years ago he died."

Sadness passed over her face. "There hasn't been a moment since then that I haven't missed him. We never had any children. We were each other's whole life.

"I carried on as best I could, but I'm old, I'm tired and I miss Ronald. What would be the point of fighting the inevitable?"

House considered her words for a moment, then said, "As a doctor, I value life. I usually did anything I could to prolong it. But I also respect a person's right to decide when it should be over. And, at this point, it's too late anyway. There are, however, thing you can do to make it easier."

She nodded. "I know. I'm prepared. But Julia is not. She thinks she needs to save me."

"She wants to save everyone." He told her. "She thinks if she does, it will make up for her daughter."

"Not just her daughter, but yes, you're right. Please, can you do me a favor? When the end comes, can you help her?"

"I'm not really the supportive type."

"I can tell." She said with a smile. "But she just needs someone to hold her and tell her it's not her fault."

"How would it be her fault?"

"It wouldn't. But she'll still think it is."

He nodded. "Okay."

Julia called out from the other room. "Tea is ready. Can you get the door, Greg?"

He went and opened it and Julia came in with a tray. She served tea to everyone and House pretended to sip his as they chatted. When they were finished, she helped get Mrs. Lassiter up and settled in her chair with the TV on and a book beside her as well. Then she brought the tea things to the kitchen, washed up and made some soup for the woman.

During this time, House sat and watched TV with Mrs. Lassiter.

Finally, they left and as they were heading back to the bar, Julia said, "Well?"

He was silent for a few moments, then said, "Julia, she's old and frail. There isn't much we can do for her."

"But there has to be something. If we…"

He shook his head. "No. There's nothing. Everyone has their time. And you have to let them go."

He saw the grief in her eyes and added, "Sometimes it happens before their time. Like your daughter. But sometime it happens as it should. She's ninety-six. She's lived a long and good life, the last quarter of it on a tropical island. She misses her husband. She's ready to go."

A tear started to slide down Julia's cheek.

"Aw, gee." He said. "Come on, no crying."

She wiped her eye quickly. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Look, how about if I work your shift and you go goof off?"

"Goof off?"

"Yeah, go do something you don't normally do: nothing. Don't help any old ladies or young mothers or anything. Just go lie on the beach or something. Just do nothing for a few hours."

"But I have to…"

"You don't have to do anything. Go relax." He kissed her on the mouth, then walked into the bar.

A/N: Yes, I was being deliberately vague about Mrs. Lassiter's condition. Anyone who knows me or has read me before knows that my eyes glaze over when I try to think about the medical stuff (why is my favorite show a medical drama?). Anyway, it doesn't really matter what is wrong with Mrs. L, just that her time is short, okay? If someone wants to come up with an efficient way to kill off an old lady, go for it!