I'm glad people are still reading this story. We may be getting closer to the end, as we get closer to the answers to both the medical and other puzzle House is working on.

Chapter 105.

"Did you hear from Julio again?" I asked Jess that evening as we sat side-by-side on the couch in our living room.

She shook her head, then smiled. "But I did hear from Tina."

"What did she want?"

"She said she and Julio had been talking about why he'd been sent to the States."

"He told her?" I was surprised.

"Yes. And when he started talking about Francesca it made her think of a young woman her brother had been interested in."

I know my eyes must have gone wide. Had Molino heard about Francesca and Ricky? "Did they actually date?"

"Tina didn't think so, but Ricky kept going back to a store to see her. Tina wasn't even sure it was Francesca, since she never saw her." Jess snuggled against me. "Do you think, if it was, word got back to Molino, though?"

"It had to be something like that. But why would the Locarnos have Francesca killed just because Ricky was obsessed with her?"

"I know. It doesn't follow."

"Unless..."

"Unless what?" She pulled back to study my face.

"Unless it was Molino who had her killed for leaving him, and then he thought he could blame the Locarnos for it."

I could almost see her mind sifting through all we knew to see whether my suggestion fit. Slowly she started to bob her head. "That's the first thing that's made sense since all of this started. But why would he send Julio to retaliate against the Locarnos?"

"Molino may have convinced himself that they, or at least Ricky, was the reason Francesca left him, but he used her death as an excuse."

"A lie, you mean. He had to give Julio a reason to go after the Locarnos, so he blamed them for her death."

"Exactly." I knew she'd get it. It was one of the reasons I loved her. "It didn't even matter whether he had her killed or her death was really an accident."

"But how do we prove it?"

"Ah, there's the rub, as they say. We might be able to convince Julio of the truth, but we don't have any evidence of anything Molino's done."

"You also think he's behind our abduction?" She seemed surprised by that. "Oh, my!"

"It follows."

"But again, there's no way to link him..." She stopped suddenly. "We were held at one of his places. Yes, of course. If we can prove that..."

"We have to take Julio and Nina to the shop and see whether they remember the smells and sounds the way you did."

Jess smiled. "We can do that." She snuggled back against me. "You are the best."

I wasn't sure what she meant by that, but assumed she meant my analytical abilities, my mind. I kissed the top of her head.

"So you have a patient now? Does that mean you won't be able to go with us to see Ricky tomorrow?" She sounded disappointed.

"I'll be able to get away for a few hours. We've scheduled tests for the patient that won't need my presence. No one will know I'm gone."

She sighed with relief. "I'm glad. I need you to be there, to get your perspective, ask questions we might not think of."

"Nothing would keep me away." I began to trail kisses down her jawline, one of the loveliest jawlines in creation.

She smiled in response. "Don't you ever tire of doing that?"

"No."

I knew she wouldn't giggle. She wasn't the type. But she did chuckle. "You do know how to treat a girl."

"Woman, and don't you forget it." And one sexy woman at that.

Kisses led to caresses, which in turn led to other things. Piece by piece, we removed each others clothes. Warmed by passion, I didn't feel cold. Before long, bare skin touched bare skin. My heartbeat quickened. I lifted myself up, resting my weight on my left leg, while Jess stretched out with her head on a throw pillow. As I lowered myself, she grinned at me and reached her hands up to the sides of my face. My lips contacted hers, and other pieces and parts touched, too. Our bodies rocked together, the heat and urgency intensifying until we reached the crest. I wished we could have stayed there longer, but eventually, it subsided and our bodies relaxed together.

Not long after, I pushed myself up and began to gather my clothes. "This couch wasn't made for that."

Jess smirked at me. "But that didn't stop you. Maybe we should get something more comfortable in here."

"Maybe. I know my leg's going to have something to say about it later." I rubbed the thigh as it began to throb. "Scratch that, make it now."

"Can I get you anything, do anything?"

I'd swapped my narcotic painkillers for tons of Ibuprofen, and an occasional Neurocet. Having Jess in my life was helping, too, but I still felt twinges. "If I think of something, I'll let you know."

She sat up, then stood to pull on her panties and slacks. She slipped on her blouse, this time without the bra before sitting back down. I sat beside her, reaching for the remote. We watched a little TV but neither of us was interested in anything that was on. It was time to stretch out in a real bed.

In the morning, I took my time getting up. I could hear Jess in the kitchen, humming a tune. The smell of freshly brewed coffee got me moving, although slowly.

Clad in a silky kimono, she stood at the stove and turned when I shuffled into the kitchen. "Sausage or bacon?" She was already breaking eggs into a bowl.

"Both." I poured myself some of the coffee and sat down at the table. "I'll have to go in for an hour or so this morning, but I'll pick you up by eleven." Our appointment with Ricky was for one, so that would give us time to stop for a quick lunch.

She took out the pork products and started cooking them. "Pick me up at Nina's. I promised to go over there this morning to discuss some logo ideas for menus and business cards we need to have printed."

"That'll save us a stop."

Jess poured the eggs into another skillet and put four pieces of bread into the toaster. The sound of sizzling filled the room. I inhaled the resulting smells and waited impatiently for my breakfast to be done. "So, you think you'll settle on a base of operations today?"

"Depends on the places Ricky shows us. They looked good on paper, but that doesn't guarantee that we'll like one in the flesh." She stirred the eggs and set a paper towel on a plate to drain the bacon.

I finally had a plate of food in front of me and concentrated on that long enough to get some of it shoveled in.

Jess joined me at the table with her own dish. "Maybe after we meet with Ricky we can take Nina to Molino's shop to see whether it rings any bells for her."

"I think that can be arranged, but I'll have to get back to the hospital by about four." My food was gone, all but a small piece of toast. I spread some jam on it and plopped it in my mouth, then drained my coffee cup. "Wanna join me in the shower?"

"You go ahead. I'll clean up here first, but I won't be long." She started gathering the empty plates.

I went to the bathroom to take care of a few other things and was turning on the water when she walked in. She untied the kimono and let it fall, revealing her luscious body. I pulled off my t-shirt and sleep pants and we entered the stall together. Showering together was becoming a morning ritual. I'd learned early on with her that I could enjoy the sensual experience of lathering her body and having her lather mine, then rinsing off, and toweling each other dry. It didn't always have to go as far as mind-blowing sex with Jess, just the sense that we completely trusted each other. There was room in our lives to share all kinds of experiences.

By nine thirty we were both dressed and ready to face whatever the day brought us. I dropped her at her sister's on my way to the hospital, then turned the switched in my head that focused my mind on the immediate medical puzzle.

Before I reached my office, I was accosted by Chase. "The psychologist will examine our patient at two this afternoon. She says she should be able to give us something today, but it'll take her a couple of days to analyze her findings."

"What about the other tests you did yesterday? Anything new show up?"

"We still don't have anything from the genetic testing. Hadley suggested we do an endocrine panel and I gave her the go-ahead." He watched my face.

I nodded. "Anything that'll give us more data to use."

"One more thing. The night nurse claims he had a slight seizure during her shift, but there's no evidence of it."

"Seizure, huh?" That struck a chord with me, but I'd have to think about why. "I'm going to take another look at him. Oh, and I won't be here this afternoon while Hamill's with him, but I'll be back to get her preliminary results."

I headed for Billy's room with Chase trailing behind. There had to be something else for him to do, but I figured he was curious why I needed to see the kid.

Mrs. Collins was feeding her son. Most of the food made it into the boy's mouth, but some dribbled out the sides. She tried to catch it with the spoon so she could shove it back in.

Mr. Collins had been watching the procedure when we walked in, but turned toward us. "Dr. House, do you have any news for us?"

"Not yet. We're still verifying all of the symptoms." I walked to the bed and put a hand in front of Billy's eyes, my own test of his development and ability to focus. He didn't even seem to notice.

A guest reviewer made the following request: do you think you could tell us
more about Greg's background ? Like what his father did to him , and what
happened to his leg , because I am soooooo confused on that

Some of that plays into the next few chapters, so I hope I can help.