Sorry it took longer than I thought to finish this chapter, but here it is.

Chapter 61.

I frowned at Jess' words. "Ellie really thinks your description of your boyfriend sounds like me?"

"Well, even though I was circumspect, I was also pretty accurate. Don't worry, though," she hastened to add. "I warded her off by taking that as an insult to my 'boyfriend'. I told her, 'thank God he's nothing like that irritating man!'."

"And she bought it?"

"For now."

"Chase wasn't there, was he? Because he has his own suspicions, and if the two of them compare notes..." I left it to Jess' imagination.

"I know, but that can't be helped. Of course they'll talk. We just have to hope that they'll be so caught up in their feelings for each other to bring either of us up." She glanced behind her, but there still weren't any prying eyes to see us. "So, what's the story on the condo Bonnie found for you?"

I told her all about the place, and the murder. "The death in the house is a good excuse to turn the place down, but it's also intriguing."

"Leave it to you to find another distraction in the midst of everything else that's going on," she said with a grin.

I shrugged. "There was already one fewer, since we may have diagnosed our patient."

Jess laughed. "It's the juggling you really enjoy, isn't it? Having several puzzles to solve at once isn't even enough, it's the fact that your mind can work on them all at the same time that gives you pleasure, especially since most people wouldn't be able to do that."

"What can I tell you? I'm that good." I had to smile.

"Well, I'd better go. See you later." She flashed her own smile at me, then left to go back to her work.

I was glad she'd been able to fend off Ellie's train of thought, but I wasn't sure how much longer we'd be able to keep up our charade. Move-in day, AKA 'the unveiling', wouldn't be for a week or more. Meanwhile, we might have to step up our game. It was just a matter of how. What else would convince everyone that we didn't care for each other? The thought of fighting with Jess, even if it was just a ruse, disturbed me somehow. It was becoming more and more difficult to level my snark her way, to imagine that I disliked her or even act as if I didn't.

Why was I so pleased that she found it admirable that I could handle so many different things at once? I knew it wasn't as easy as it once was. Just as gratifying, though, especially when I was successful at all of them. That was the key, wasn't it? Getting the answers, the right answers to each and every puzzle.

"Dr. House."

I looked up to see Ellie in the doorway, carrying Christopher. They were alone, no parents, no Chase.

"What can I do for you?" I asked her.

"I wanted to thank you again for all you've done for Chris. If it wasn't for you, if you hadn't hunted me down and convinced me to get treatment for him, he wouldn't be as well as he is now." She looked at her little boy and smiled as he reached for her nose.

Chris' case was the kind of success I was thinking about, not so much that the kid was doing better, but that I was able to solve the puzzle of his ailment.

"Jess says the study is going pretty well, so maybe, in the future, kids like Chris can get treatment sooner, or maybe even never have the problems he did." She took his small fingers in her own and brought them to her lips.

"Is that what you think the study's about?" I'd certainly never thought about it that way. For me, the interesting thing was the genetics involved. There was so much we didn't know about the relation between a person's genetic code and how it manifests.

"Why, yes. What else?"

I shrugged. "Fame as the team that figured this out. Knowledge that no one had before. There are all kinds of reasons to do it, not all of them altruistic."

"Well, whatever the reason, I think you should continue to use Christopher as a test subject." She smiled at her son, and he smiled back. The baby was gurgling as if he was trying to join the conversation.

I stared at Ellie, thinking about what she'd said. We'd already used the kid's test data, his genetic analysis, even his initial response to the treatment. What more could we get out of him? Then it dawned on me. Ellie wanted an excuse to stay in Princeton a little longer to further her relationship with Chase. "You know that, even if you go home with your parents, Chase will visit you."

"It's not that. I mean I wouldn't mind sticking around and seeing more of him." She blushed a little, but it was clear that there was something else keeping her in town.

I cringed inwardly when I finally realized her motivation. She wanted Jess to introduce her to the secret (or rather nonexistent) boyfriend. But I wasn't supposed to know about Ellie's curiosity about him. And I certainly didn't want Ellie prying. "I'm not sure that you want to subject your kid to any more poking and prodding, especially now that he's doing so well. But if there's any way he can help, we'll let you know." It was a dismissal, but she didn't leave. "What now?" I asked as sternly as I could muster.

"Dr. House, what happened between you and Jess? I mean, you seemed to like each other, and now you act as if you can't stand to be in the same room."

I noticed that she didn't say we couldn't, just that we acted that way. "I find her irritating."

"How so?"

She wouldn't let it go. I felt myself squirm as I tried to think of a reply. "She's...she always wants things to be straight-forward. Things aren't always that clear cut."

Ellie shook her head slightly and her brow furrowed, then cleared. "You're jealous?"

"What?" How did she get from finding Jess irritating to my being jealous? "Why should I be?"

"She has a boyfriend. Someone she likes better than you." Ellie giggled. "And you can't stand that because you like her."

"Do not! She's...she's boring!" My highest insult.

Ellie shook her head and finally walked toward the elevator, but she was still giggling, and so was the baby. Bad enough that Ellie thought Jess' 'boyfriend' sounded like me, now she was convinced that I was pining for her.

"Why would I care if she has a boyfriend?" I shouted after her.

At that moment, Foreman arrived from the opposite direction. "Who has a boyfriend?"

I couldn't tell him why I was protesting what Ellie said without telling him what she said, so I deflected. "Ellie's sister."

"Is she back in town?"

"Not that I know of. Ellie has some strange ideas sometimes. So what did you find?"

"All the tests indicate we were right. Estelle's responding well to the treatment. I guess we can all get back to the study."

"Good," I said. "Ellie wanted us to consider including Christopher as a test subject."

"But in a way we already have."

"That's what I told her, but I wonder if there are any changes that his treatment have produced besides the obvious."

"House, you and I both know that his genetics haven't changed."

"No. But what else has?"

He stared at me, not in a challenging way, and then began to smile and nod.