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Chapter 9.

It was a good thing I'd taken the car because the skies opened up as I drove back to Princeton. I never minded riding the bike in a light rain, but this was a deluge, producing a layer of water on the blacktop of the road. I was happy to have the weight of the car under me.

My wipers worked diligently to keep up with the precipitation. There was little traffic, but still, I slowed down, and breathed a sigh of relief when I finally pulled up to the curb not far from the front door to my building. All thoughts of bringing the samples to the hospital before going home were scrapped. Instead, I carried my bag containing the samples into my apartment and tossed them into the refrigerator for the time being. Morning would be soon enough to submit them to analysis.

The message light was flashing on my answering machine, but I ignored it as I went directly to the bathroom for a towel to dry off my face and hair. I'd gotten drenched in the short distance from the car to the house. I was dripping puddles on the floor and decided to strip off my clothes entirely.

It wasn't until I'd pulled on some dry sweats and grabbed a beer that I listened to my messages. There were two, the first another one from Nina Giordano, wondering why I hadn't called her back. "I talked to Jerry Fields and a few of my brother's other friends. No one's heard from him in months. If you find him, please call. Jess and I are starting to worry." I wondered if that meant I should forget about following up with Jerry about properties in Philly, except it was possible he'd tell me something he'd kept from Petey's sister.

The other call was from my boss, demanding to know where I kept disappearing to. It really was none of her business, but I needed to ensure that I could get away again to continue to treat Christopher. Much as I would have rather speak to Nina, I called Cuddy instead.

"I was called in to consult on a patient in Dorsey," I told her. I didn't even have to stretch the truth much for that one.

"Have you transferred the patient to PPTH?" she demanded.

"That's impossible," I said, but didn't explain further. "I'll have to treat him where he is for now."

"House, what are you trying to pull?" she demanded, always suspicious of my motives. That's one of the reasons our relationship couldn't last.

"I'm not trying to pull anything. I'm trying to diagnose a patient, who'll have to remain in Dorsey, which means I'll have to examine him there."

"You'll have to give me a little more than that," she said. "Your team didn't know anything about any patient."

"That's because I haven't told them. Yet." I decided it might not be a bad idea to include my team in this, or at least some of them. I just had to decide who would be the most help, and not go running to Cuddy. "I brought back some samples and after I get them analyzed in the morning, I'll take Chase back there with me, so don't be surprised if I'm not at the hospital tomorrow afternoon." Chase used to be such a tattle-tale, but now I think I can trust him to keep his Aussie mouth shut. Not so the others.

"I still would prefer that you find a way to bring your patient in," she replied, not ready to let go.

"It's not gonna happen," I told her, and hung up.

I knew I didn't have to call Nina back, but I wanted to. She'd find out soon enough that Ellie and Christopher were back in Dorsey, but I didn't think it was my place to tell her. Instead, I still had some questions about her family, especially after what Ellie told me about the accident that killed Mrs. Giordano.

"I didn't expect you to call back so fast," Nina said. "Did you find Petey?"

"No," I replied. "Listen I know it's probably still difficult to talk about, but can you tell me anything more about your mother's death?"

"Um, what do you want to know? We told you we were in the car and Petey was driving," she said.

"Did he hit another car? A tree?"

"Oh, he didn't hit anything. A truck plowed into us."

That confirmed what Ellie said. "So how can your father blame Petey?" I asked.

"I think he was convinced that an experienced driver would have been able to avoid the accident," Nina explained.

"There had to be something else that would make him doubt Petey's driving ability," I reasoned.

"Honestly, things between them were fine until the accident. I know Dad was mourning Mom and lashing out about losing her. Petey just happened to be a handy whipping boy, but once Dad started, Petey also became the one he took out all his frustration on."

"Did Petey feel at all guilty?" Everything she told me begged for more questions.

"I think he did, in retrospect. I never thought about it at the time. Remember, I'd just lost my mother, and she and I had been very close," Nina confided.

"Well, I'll let you know if I locate Petey," I told her. I hesitated, then dropped my bombshell. "By the way, Ellie and the baby are staying at her parents place. I'll be out to check on Christopher again tomorrow, but first I have to run some tests on samples I got today."

There was silence at the other end of the line for so long I had to prompt, "Nina? Did you hear what I said?"

"Yes. Thanks for telling me. I was just trying to decide whether to offer Ellie any help," she finally said. "I can't speak for Jess, of course."

"I guess I'll leave that up to you. I'm sure it'll be common knowledge pretty soon, but you can decide whether you want to tell your father."

I heard what sounded like a laugh. "Yes, I'm not sure what he'll do when he finds out." She sighed. "Well, I suppose I'll be seeing you again the next time you're in town."

"Probably," I said, hoping it happened and yet not sure where it would lead. "Thanks for checking with Petey's friends."

"It was the least I could do. My brother's been a little wild lately, but he's still my brother and I worry about him. Goodbye, Greg."

"Goodbye." I stared at the phone after the call ended. This was all becoming more complex than it started out to be, and I had no idea where it would end.