Chapter 33.

I didn't stop to question the elation I felt, seeing that Jess hadn't gone back to Dorsey after all.

"What do you mean you're not finished here?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "I wasn't just here for Ellie, or even Christopher," she said. "Honestly, helping you, and your team, too, of course, has been the best experience I've had in a long time!"

"Aw, shucks, Ma'am," I said, feigning humbleness.

She laughed, a deep, honest laugh. "See, there's nothing to laugh about in Dorsey. It's...boring...stifling."

"And it's such a barrel of laughs here," I said.

"It can be. But at least it's never boring. House, I don't want to go home, I want to see if I can find a job here."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "That came out of left field."

"Maybe," she said. "But it seems pretty logical to me."

I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I wasn't even sure I wanted to think about it, but knew I had to. Did I want her to stay? Hell, yes. But should I encourage her?

"I thought you'd gone," Chase told her, entering my office with a form, officially notifying me that Petey was now under the care of Finnegan.

"Can't get rid of me that fast," she told him. "Actually, I was just telling House I've decided to stick around Princeton."

Chase looked at me, I think to gauge my reaction. I kept my face neutral, which was pretty easy to do because there was so much I had to rearrange in my mind.

"I'm going to send my father a long letter, resigning as his accountant and financial advisor," Jess went on. Then she smiled. "If he wants to come after me, he'll have to come here, won't he?"

"Doesn't mean he'll try to see Petey or the baby," I pointed out.

"No." She shrugged. "His loss. I mean not being involved in Christopher's life. I'm not counting on the treatment changing Petey that much."

"You're probably right about that," I agreed.

"I think I'll leave the two of you alone," Chase said, and I suddenly realized that Jess and I were staring at each other, as if he wasn't present.

That was awkward and I knew I had to do something to back off. But Jess beat me to the punch by saying, "Of course, he might send Nina," and looking at Chase.

Chase nodded. "Have you spoken to her since you've been here?"

"Once, just before we left for Florida. I didn't tell her we were going, but I did let her know that your team was working on Chris," she replied.

"Do you think she might have offered to come here if she knew you were leaving?" Chase asked. He was a male after all, and had found Nina as attractive as I had. At first.

"Frankly? I don't think so." Jess shook her head. "Or maybe she would have surprised me. I honestly don't know."

"I'd stick to Ellie if I was you," I told him.

"Weren't you the one who reminded me that she was still married?" Chase asked me.

Jess began to laugh. "Men!"

"Huh?" Chase and I said simultaneously.

"None of you ever think about what we want," she said. "Well, I've got news for you both. None of us are that easy." And with that she left.

I debated about calling after her, but that wasn't my style. Besides, I didn't think it would do any good."

"Blew it again, huh, House?" Chase asked.

I stared at him. "I didn't blow it alone."

He nodded, and then he, too, left. I replayed the entire conversation in my head and then smiled, hoping Jess felt she had to say what she did to stick up for the other women. I don't think any man would ever presume anything with her.

I hadn't asked Chase about how the sound generator was working for Christopher. It might be too soon to tell, but I thought I'd check it out in person, so I headed for his room.

His mother and Aunt Jackie were gone. I think it may have been the first time Ellie left the room in days. I hoped she was off getting some rest or a meal or something.

The only one watching him was Jess. I was a little surprised to find her there.

"He's a little sweetheart," she said, smiling at him.

I thought at first he was asleep, but when I got closer, I could see his eyes were open and he was looking at Jess.

"I thought you were going to avoid this room while Jackie was here," I said.

"I waited until they left."

I nodded and took out my penlight, shining it in the Christopher's eyes. He blinked but then looked right at me. Definitely more alert than he'd been for a while. There was a read-out on the sound generator, and I checked it. He'd had three treatments with it for ten minutes each time. It seemed to be working.

"Talk to him," I instructed Jess.

"Me? OK. Hi, Christopher. I'm your Aunt Jess. Do you remember me?" she said, not in the singsong kind of voice people use with babies and toddlers, but in a normal conversational voice.

He made a sound, perhaps in response. It wasn't a word, of course. He wasn't saying, "Yes, of course I do," but it was a response all the same.

I smiled. "It's too soon to tell, but the treatment might be helping him. It'll have to continue, though, even after he goes home."

"I wonder if Ellie's thought that far ahead," Jess mused. "She's so caught up in what's happening now, I doubt she's considered what she'll do once Chris is released."

"She's got a job and her parents back in Dorsey," I said.

"So do I, or at least I think I still have a job and I definitely have a father and sister," she said, looking from the baby to me. "But that's not enough for me anymore."

"You've definitely decided to stay? You could go anywhere, for that matter," I told her.

"But I don't want to go anywhere."

"If Ellie and the baby leave, what do you have here?" I asked.

She stared at me. "For a genius you really are dumb."

I couldn't believe what I thought she might mean. "I guess you'll have to spell it out for me," I said, hoping against hope.

"Men!" she said, taking a step closer. "OK. I like you. In fact, I like you very much. I even think I may be falling in love with you. For a woman, that's sometimes enough to sway her decisions."

"Women!" I said, matching her tone. But inside I had the strangest feeling I'd ever felt. She couldn't mean what she'd just said. She wasn't like most women, acting on their emotions without consideration of anything else.

"Of course, if you don't want me to stay, I'll understand."

"What? No!" I didn't know what to say. "Stay. Be my guest!" I thought about that a split second. "I don't mean literally." Then I reconsidered. "OK, maybe I do."

Jess laughed. "You are really too much, Dr. House!"