We're in New York for ten days, but I have a few minutes so I can post this week's chapter of this story. I hope I can post another chapter some time next week.

Chapter 38.

I managed to avoid Jess for the rest of the morning, although it wasn't easy, since she was working with my team and was related to my patient. I hoped I could prevent a repetition of the night before, even though I could still taste her sweet lips, and couldn't get the image of her out of my head. And I knew that eventually I'd have to talk to her about it. I just hoped she didn't expect to have dinner with me again.

I made sure she wasn't in with Ellie and Christopher when I went to check on the baby that afternoon. The improvement in his ability to focus and respond was pretty remarkable. Ellie was talking to him quietly and he was smiling at her.

"Try singing to him," I suggested.

"I don't sing very well."

"That doesn't matter." How bad could she be?

But then she began to sing "Rockabye Baby" and my ears couldn't take more than a couple of lines of it.

"Maybe I'd better be the one to sing," I said and she stopped. I tried to think of something appropriate, but decided it didn't matter and sang, "Ain't She Sweet."

Christopher began to coo as if he was trying to sing along and Ellie laughed. I could feel laughter welling up inside me too. I was so intent on the baby's response that I didn't hear the door slide open and Jess walk in behind me, but then Ellie looked up at her and grinned.

"He seems to like your singing, House," Jess said.

'Focus on the medicine,' I told myself. "His treatment is working and he's become very responsive to people." I knew I shouldn't, but I suggested, "Why don't you give it a try?"

She walked over to the baby's bed and started by talking to him, but then began to sing. It was an old folktune, made famous by Simon and Garfunkle, "Scarborough Fair." Christopher's attention immediately shifted to her, and so did Ellie's and mine. Her voice was sweet and clear, perfect for the song.

How could something as simple as that obliterate all of my resolve? I felt my lips curve into a smile and I didn't even try to stop them.

Jess turned to Ellie and said, "He's such a little sweetheart, isn't he?"

Ellie was beaming. "Yes he is."

"Maybe we should recommend your voice as an alternative to pink noise," I said, trying lamely to be funny.

Jess looked at me. "Did you really like it?"

"You're surprised?" I asked.

She nodded. "A little. I didn't think it was your kind of song."

"What can I tell you? I've got eclectic taste in music, and you've got a good singing voice."

She stared at me for a full minute and I stared back. "There wasn't anything else I could do today, boss, so I thought I'd check in on Christopher and Ellie."

Hearing her call me 'boss' seemed so odd. "Have they finished with your brother's tests?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't even know. Whatever they find, he'll have to deal with it himself."

"Wiping your hands of your entire family, huh?" I don't know what Ellie made of our strange conversation, but I sensed some strange undercurrents every word Jess said and I couldn't explain them.

"Are they still testing him for diabetes?" she asked.

"Yes," I said. "If he's diabetic or even pre-diabetic, we might want to test Christopher, too. He inherited one condition from his father, and I wouldn't be surprised if he inherited more."

"Oh!"

"Don't worry about it, Ellie," Jess said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "They've made tremendous progress in treating that in recent years."

"How do you know?" I asked. "I thought you professed a complete lack of knowledge about medicine."

"Our mother was diabetic. Didn't Petey include that on his intake forms?"

I shook my head. We couldn't have all missed it if he had. "Maybe he'd forgotten, or didn't know."

"Oh, he knew all right!" she said.

"Yes, even I knew it," Ellie said. "Although, when you told me about his test results, I didn't put two and two together."

"But why would he try to hide it?" Jess asked.

"You'll have to ask him that," I told her. "I've given up trying to figure him out."

"I think I will ask him. But not now. Ellie, you probably haven't left this room for hours. Why don't you come with me to the cafeteria for some food and some coffee?"

"Thanks, Jess. Maybe later." She walked over to the baby. "I want to spend more time with this young man while he's still awake." She lifted him up and held him close. No one was going to budge her until Christopher fell asleep.

"How about you, House?" Jess asked. "I'm buying."

I'm not one to turn down any free food, and I'd realized I couldn't escape whatever was happening between Jess and me, but I hesitated. I was in a place where I couldn't be sure of what might happen, or even what I might do or say. I hated to be so out of control of the situation.

"Go ahead," Ellie urged.

Finally, throwing caution to the wind, I said, "You're on. I hope you realize how much I can eat."

Jess laughed all the way to the elevator. While we waited for it, she turned to me and said, "You're full of contradictions, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're so confident in some areas of your life, like medicine, and haven't a clue in others."

"Are you laughing at me?"

"I'd never do that." She pressed her lips together as she thought. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Two people got off, and I held the door open with my cane as we got on. Finally, she continued. "I like complicated people, ones with many dimensions to their personalities."

I think that was a compliment. The truth was, I found her interesting, too. She wasn't the woman I first thought her to be. But I wasn't going to say anything. It would only encourage her.

The elevator arrived at its destination and we left its confines, walking silently to the cafeteria. I was hungry. That's not unusual. I often use eating as a diversion, a reason to keep my thoughts to myself. But I had a feeling Jess would find a way to get me talking again. I'd just have to come up with topics that didn't get too personal.

The cafeteria was crowded. Chase and Thirteen were sitting at a booth against one of the walls and appeared to be deep in conversation. Taub was at the other end of the room, eating with one of the pretty young nurses. I wondered what they'd make of me and Jess having lunch together, and why it suddenly mattered to me.

"So, I guess you don't want to talk about it," she said, walking toward the food line.

I thought I knew what 'it' was, and she was right. But I knew I wouldn't have a choice and I still didn't know how to play this, or what to say.