Thanks for reading!

I still do not own anyone recognizable

.::12

House stared at the ceiling and tried not to fidget as the blood drained from his arm and into the collection bag. The medical journal he had brought along with the motorcycle magazine that was a gift from his daughter lay discarded on his lap. The truth was that he really couldn't focus on anything right now, knowing that Deidre was currently in surgery getting her bone marrow taken out. How the doctor had talked him into this Leukapheris process during Deidre's procedure, he couldn't quite remember. It had seemed like a good idea at the time - getting something done instead of pacing like a caged lion in the waiting room. But now being cut off from all of the news of her surgery was grating at him and making his nerves wear thin. As the door to the room opened, House lifted his head, expecting to see the Phlebotomist, but was instead relieved to see Wilson entering with a bottle of Orange Juice and a small bag.

"Hey," the oncologist said with a small smile, and House immediately tried to read his friend and see if everything had gone alright with the marrow harvesting.

"How's she doing?" House asked as Wilson dragged a chair over to his side.

"She's in recovery. She woke up for a few minutes and was in a lot of pain, so they gave her some painkillers and those knocked her out again. So I figured I'd come give you an update. Shelly and Blythe are staying with her now" Wilson added, passing over the orange juice to House's free hand. "Not to be cliche, but you really should drink that to boost your glucose levels back up."

House rolled his eyes as he placed the juice container on his chest for lack of a better place. "That's usually why you also get cookies after this type of thing. I don't think this vampire likes me too much, though. I wonder if I'll be getting any cookies at all."

"Wow. A doctor like you not being a good patient?" Wilson feigned shock, and House made a face at him. "Here. I'll open your juice so you can get a leg up on replacing your hydration levels."

House watched as his friend deftly separated the seal from the cap and handed him the small bottle, noting that it was the good orange juice and not just the watered tang that they sold in the vending machine. He usually balked at being waited upon, but House let Wilson fuss for once to make him feel better. The emotional toll of the past month showed on his friend, and if a little hovering would make him feel better House was just going to let him do it.

"Something tells me you have something else to go along with this," he commented as he took a sip, his eyes pointedly looking at the bag by Wilson's feet.

"Well, not me. This is from your mother and Shelly," the oncologist answered as he pulled out a small cookie tin. "And Shelly told me to make sure I told you that she had no hand in the baking process, whatever that means. I don't know if that's a reference that there isn't any arsenic in them or what, but," opening the lid he presented them with a flourish. "Oatmeal chocolate chip."

The comment made House chuckle at the memory of the few times Shelly had ever tried to bake. He found himself suppressing a smile as he reached for a cookie under his friend's assessing look.

"So there is a story in there. I guess I probably don't want to know," Wilson said with a touch of disappointment as he helped himself to his own cookie and closed the tin.

"No, not much to tell. Just Shelly can't bake. The last time she tried making a Yule Log or some such nonsense for Christmastime." The memory of that night was suddenly strong in his mind.

"Well, at least it's authentic," Shelly had proclaimed after laying the charred layers of cake on the counter in his kitchen as he was frantically trying to open all the windows in his apartment to clear the smoke out.

"How's that?" he had questioned, waving the dish towel at the smoke alarm to hopefully silence the shrill beeping.

"Isn't the purpose of a Yule Log to burn it?"

"A Yule Log?" Wilson's question brought him back to the present.

"Yeah it was supposed to be a rolled cake filled with custard and covered in chocolate icing to look like a log. Lets just say we ended up just eating the custard filling and chocolate icing smeared over some Twinkies, instead."

Wilson laughed as he finished his cookie and motioned to the tin again to see if House wanted another, but House shook his head.

"So how did the tech ever get you to agree to Leukapheris?" Wilson enquired, his eyes going over the blood collection system, no doubt checking for leaks or bubbles.

"Well its a double punch. Worth a try. Get stem cells from Diedre's marrow, and the stem cells from my own white blood cells. And then leftover red blood cells I just get re-infused back in during the surgery." He looked over to find his friend looking at him with a strange smile on his face. "What?"

"And not to mention its a stronger option when you take the more conservative approach of a bone marrow transplant instead of a liver donation."

House narrowed his eyes. "What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing. Nothing. It's just... I never thought after I called Shelly that night that it would be like this. You, and Shelly and Diedre. Like a family. The anger, I'll admit I was worried about. Rejection, I was really worried about. But look at you. You care for your daughter. You're working on forgiving her mom."

"I'm working on saving my own ass, Wilson, let's not get carried away. That teenage girl is knocked out downstairs on pain meds because I needed her bone marrow." House delivered with his usual offhand manner, but the words lacked their full sting, and Wilson could tell. He reached over and patted House on his immobilized arm.

"I'm proud of you, House," he simply said softly, and then released his arm and dove into the bag again. "Did you see the article in the new Dirt Rider Magazine about the Monster Jam lineup this year?"

House perked up as Wilson pulled the publication and flipped to the marked page, glad for the change in topic. His friend's words were touching on something House had already been wrestling with for days, and he needed a distraction so he didn't have to think about it now. A debate on the merits of Grave Digger versus Maximum Destruction would be just the thing to pass the time.

Two days later

House cringed as he opened his eyes to a blinding white light. Throwing his arm over his eyes he groaned.

"So is that what the light looks like? Am I dead?"

"That all depends on whether I look like an angel to you," came the soft female voice from next to him.

"Shelly?" House turned towards the sound of the voice, but his eyes still hadn't adjusted fully so he couldn't quite make her out clearly at first.

"In the flesh," she replied as she got up from the chair and moved closer to the bed. "How are you feeling?" she asked softly, and quickly smoothed back the hair on his head. "Can I get you anything?"

"I feel fine. Throat is dry though, so water would be good."

Shelly busied herself with the plastic water pitcher and House took a moment to try and figure out what was going on. Waking up from his transfusion and seeing Shelly was leaving him a little raw emotionally, for some reason. House forced the feelings aside as he accepted the cup she was offering him.

"I know it says no cell phones down here in recovery, but do you think I could get away with a text message to Dee? She really insisted on knowing the minute you woke up."

House nodded. "Yeah, you'll be fine. Just do it quick, because I think I see a nurse coming."

Shelly turned away to conceal her phone, and sure enough, a nurse pulled back the curtain wider and stepped in.

"Dr. House. You're awake! And how is our patient doing?" the nurse clucked cheerily as she went over the chart.

"How about we skip the preliminary chit chat so I don't have to repeat myself when the doctor comes in to ask the same questions," House grumbled as the nurse started checking his vitals and the incision.

He saw both the expression on Shelly's face and the expression of the nurse cloud over a bit at his biting reply and sighed loudly. "Really, I feel fine. Throat is killing me, the incision stings a little, but overall I'm fine," he said resignedly.

"Good, glad to hear it," the nurse said, then stepped to the side as Dr. Hooker appeared and grabbed up the chart.

"Dr. House. Not going to insult you with the long version, so I'll just say that everything went textbook during the transfusion. Anything I need to know about with how you're feeling?"

"Nope."

"I didn't think so. Well, everything looks good to me. Observation for 24 hours, then release, and we need you back in to do bloodwork starting in one week. For now I think we can just get you back to your room." Dr. Hooker replaced the chart and patted the nurse on the shoulder as he walked out of the recovery area.

Shelly stepped up to the side of House's bed, and he felt her cold hand lay on his upper arm and give him a squeeze. "So he's headed back up to his room? Can he have visitors?"

House saw the way the nurse looked at the gesture before smiling warmly at Shelly and felt uncomfortable.

"Yes, he's allowed to have visitors, but I would really only limit it to two for now, and only family."

"Well his daughter is anxious to see him," Shelly replied, and House caught the swift look of surprise before the nurse turned away to busy herself with the chart.

"That should be fine. I'll just go round up some orderlies to get you back to a room," the nurse replied, and shooting one more glance in House's direction she slipped out and replaced the curtain.

House grimaced and Shelly immediately realized something was wrong.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything, should I?"

"Nah, don't worry about it. She had that look going on the minute you put your hand on me. Besides, it beats gracing the gossip circuit just for being an idiot and frying my liver." He gave Shelly a weak smile. "So how did you get stuck with being my Florence Nightengale?"

Shelly smirked at his comment and drew the chair closer to his bed before sitting down again. "Well, obviously Dee wanted to do it, but Blythe didn't think she should be sitting so long since she's still in pain on the one side. So she talked Dee into making you lunch with her. Wilson had a board meeting that Cuddy was at as well, and since I'm still on FMLA for Dee, not really needed in the kitchen when the two of them are cooking, I figured I'd come sit with Sleeping Beauty until he woke up. Or maybe you're more like the Beast."

"Deidre really wanted to wait through my surgery?" House asked, amazed that she wouldn't have been bored for four hours.

"I think it also has something to do with Luke, the orderly, too. But I'm not getting an answer one way or the other on that one," Shelly admitted with a little shrug.

"What? Who's Luke? You let her date already?"

Shelly's eyebrows shot up as she watched House's heart monitor start to get lively.

"Greg! Calm down! She's 16! Yes she's been on a date before, but definitely not with a 20 year old. Luke is an orderly here that Dee developed a crush on. She even somehow got a hold of his work schedule, whether by direct interrogation or some other means, I'm not sure."

House tried to calm himself at her explanation, but the surge of protectiveness that rose up was a little overwhelming, especially since he'd hardly ever felt like that over someone before. His sour mood went a little farther south when he noticed Shelly was trying not to laugh at him.

"What are you laughing at? I know what I was like at 20," House grumbled.

"It's just so sweet, that's all," Shelly said, finally managing to control herself. "You got all Poppa bear over one mention of a boy hanging around Dee."

Finally House smiled a little too and relaxed a notch. "Sure, go ahead and laugh. You'll be the one who has to console her when she finds out I'm not letting her date until she's 25."

"25! She'll go nuts if you tell her that!"

But House was saved from answering from the tall male orderly who came in and drew back the curtain. "Doctor House. Ready to head on back to your room?"

"Absolutely. Your name isn't Luke is it?"

"No, sir. I'm Zack."

"Nice to meet you Zack. Let's get out of here."

~tbc