The Ghosts of the Past

by purpleu

That which haunts us doesn't exist only in our minds. As an image on a screen preys on House's psyche, he learns that some who have touched upon his life are in pain, too. When they come knocking, seeking his help, will he slam the door on them, or will he relent and let in "The Ghosts of the Past."

6. Chapter 6

"Ghosts of the Past"

Chapter Six – "A Creak on the Back Steps"

By: purpleu

"Has everyone managed to pull their hearts out of their throats?" Lydia asked as she came into Cuddy's room after taking Rachel back to her grandmother.

"Out of the mouths of babes," Wilson said shaking his head.

"Just wait," Cameron said. "Our turn to deal with that will come…soon." Her head turned to the door as Chase entered the room.

"Radiology's got an orderly on the way up," he said as he hung up his phone.

"Before she goes anywhere, pull a metabolic panel from the midline; include heart enzymes," House said. "Can't do the venous gases; they'll have to wait for later. I don't think the well's deep enough to get a donation from another site for now." House scowled as he looked at Cuddy. "While she's down there, take her across the hall and get a chest x-ray on her," he said to Chase. "Not only will it check on what you heard in her lungs, we'll see what the story is with that supposed broken rib."

"You don't think it's really broken?" Wilson asked with surprise.

"I don't trust any assessment made by Dr. Demento. For all we know the broken rib could be a just hairline fracture… or nothing at all. We can't be sure he even used an x-ray to confirm any problem. Plus, we don't want to encounter unpleasant surprises," House said glaring at his best friend. "Strange little areas that aren't indicative of the lens needing a good cleaning don't thrill anyone."

"Yeah… I guess that did throw a bit of a jolt into everyone… especially me. At least my last chemo session is next week. I'll be back on my feet for Thanksgiving… and then the wedding," Wilson said with a big smile.

"Chemo?" Cameron said in shock. "What the hell are you talking about?" She looked at Chase. "You never told me anything about Wilson and cancer!"

"He probably found it a little too ironic," House quipped. "You know… oncologist… cancer; physician heal thyself… "

"We discovered it when we did his standard admittance chest x-ray when he was shot," Chase explained. "Only he came into the ER in such bad shape that we had to start treatment right away and leave the x-ray until later. By then we had a twenty-something firefighter as a patient; he was about to lose part of his leg, and his wife was going to be giving birth. House's mom was in bad shape, and we were trying to stabilize things here so he and Lydia could get down to her. And that was when you told me you were engaged and expecting yourself. So… sorry, but some information fell through the cracks." Cameron was shaking her head.

"Wilson, you look… fantastic! I never would have known that you were shot, or had a hip replacement, especially with how well you walk; and certainly not cancer. I'm guessing it's stage one of whatever it is."

"Thymoma. And yes… it was stage one," Wilson said with a sigh. "I had Dr. Condozza go in immediately and take it out. I hadn't even been discharged from the whole business with my hip yet; I was still in ICU. Started chemo right away…and I'm loving the fact that I have the best reasons in the world to hang on and fight back. Annie's going to be stopping by after she finishes her lessons, so you'll get to meet her."

"Lessons? Is she a student or a teacher?"

"Teacher. She plays the cello with the Philadelphia Philharmonic and is an adjunct instructor over at the college. She also gives private lessons," Wilson said. His pride in Annie was obvious from the tone of his voice.

"Philadelphia Philharmonic? Wow… that's really something," Cameron said. She looked around the room. "I'm going to have to stay for lunch just to catch up on everything that's gone on around here. Of course," she said looking at House. "Some things never change."

"Actually, I've changed a lot. Ask Fraulein; the first time she saw me, I was standing naked in a hallway. I'm wearing clothing now," House said, enjoying the confused look on Cameron's face.

"No, the first time I saw you, you were wearing clothing. A very nice suit, in fact." Lydia turned to Cameron. "I was attending a lecture while I was in college. It was given by this amazing doctor named Gregory House; he was talking about the benefits of having a diagnostics department in a hospital. I went up to him afterwards to ask a few questions…and the next thing I know, he's asking me out for a drink."

"She immediately said yes," House quickly added in. "Then out of nowhere a blitzkrieg struck and she disappeared into the night."

"My father was not only overly-protective, but also physically intimidating; he was six-foot-five and bulky. It was the time after that when I saw Greg, he was naked in a hallway."

"I think I'd better stay for both lunch and dinner," Cameron said shaking her head. "There's too much territory to cover." She noticed House was staring at her.

"You really want to make yourself useful?" he asked. He walked over to where Cuddy's chart from the nursing facility lay. "I'm discounting 99.999% of this as 'the nonsensical ravings of a lunatic mind,' as Mel Brooks would put it." Lydia smiled as House quoted their favorite movie, "Young Frankenstein." "Make a list of all ailments Cuddy's suffered… in theory… while at the hellhole; we'll compare them to what we've found and see if there's any past history we should be aware of…or ignore."

"No problem." Cameron seemed genuinely pleased to be asked by House to work with the team again, if only in a small capacity. She walked over to the counter where the chart was and started to flip through the pages.

"I never did get to do the EKG," noted Lydia. "Let me get that done before radiology comes up." She had moved the machine over to the corner while other activities were taking place. Lydia now rolled the console over, and using the bed controller, laid the head of the bed down so the EKG could be done. She very rapidly got all the leads placed on Cuddy's upper arms, lower legs and chest. House came and looked over her shoulder at the set-up.

"Problem?" she asked.

"Nope," he replied. Lydia started to enter the appropriate personal information for Cuddy on the machine. Since she didn't know Cuddy's patient number or date of birth, she checked with the hospital computer for the information from her admittance after the crane collapse. Then with a few swift clicks of the buttons on the console, Lydia had a print-out of the test. She looked over the strip of paper and shook her head.

"I don't see any problems," she said. "Her heart may be the one strong thing in her favor." House came back behind Lydia again and reviewed the results.

"Nothing jumping out here. Anything scrawled in the chart about her ticker?" House asked Cameron.

"The notes barely look like a standard chart, so it's hard to interpret; but I don't see any mention of it. Then again, she has a notation of a disappearing/re-appearing heart murmur." Cameron threw her hands up. "This book is a disaster!" she exclaimed.

"There was no heart murmur when I listened to her chest," Chase said. He put his stethoscope into place and examined Cuddy again. "No… nothing," he said after a minute.

"Heart murmurs can come and go, but I'm beginning to wonder if Stein really is a doctor," Foreman said. "Let's face it… he was pretty vague about the situation last night on the phone until we started asking questions."

"And he's been hiding in the lounge except for when Thomas escorted him to the men's room," Wilson said.

"He was doing a lot of mumbling about things relating to Dr. Cuddy when we took our walk," Thomas said. "I don't know what any of it meant, but he certainly feels guilty about what's happened."

"He's not the only one," House said under his breath. Lydia shot him a look as she turned to Thomas.

"I hate to ask you this, but do you think you can handle keeping Stein and Arlene occupied for a while? The more screw-ups we find, the more… pissed we're going to get. I think since all the papers we needed are signed, it would be easier if we didn't have to answer any questions from anyone right now."

"Especially from Cuddy Junior," said House.

"Stein will be leaving shortly," Reverend Bell said. "His wife and another couple are meeting him here. They have a fiftieth anniversary party to go to."

"Thank God there'll be someone else who can drive," Wilson said. "The thought of him behind the wheel…is more than a little disquieting."

"I agree; I would want someone to tell me to stop driving if I became dangerous to myself or others on the road," Bell said. "Speaking of driving, I was going to go with Tom and the children outside and watch them kick the ball around. I'm pretty sure I can get Arlene to join us; but when we go for a bite to eat, I don't think with the car seats, we'll all fit in one car, even the van. I don't know how Tom wants to arrange things, but if I wound up driving the children, are you OK with that?"

"As long as they're in their car seats, I have no problem with it. If Tom needs help moving things around, he can text me." Thomas drove a small SUV, and Lydia had been with him when he drove to the stores down in Virginia. She saw for herself he was a safe driver, so there was no doubt in her mind about letting the kids go with him. "Let me just go talk to him for a minute."

"I think we could all use a breather from in here," Foreman said. "I know you still want to consider whether to subject Cuddy to dialysis or not, but her time in radiology and then in the OR with Wound Care will give us a chance to think things over."

"Some of us will get a breather," Chase noted since he was going to be the one to place the central line.

"You scrub in with him," House said to Thirteen. "And while everyone is still here, solve a mystery for me…why wasn't she sent out of here with a central line in place?" House's team and Wilson looked at each other.

"She only needed the one line when she left," Foreman said. "There was no indication she was going to fall into the state she's in now. Also, we were a little distracted by another patient," he said looking at House accusingly.

"What's the matter? Can't walk and save lives at the same time? I may have to reconsider your membership in the 'House's Favorite Doctors Club.'"

"As Co-Dean of Medicine, I don't have to worry about any 'membership,'" noted Foreman allowing his ego to flare.

"When it comes to the direct care of a patient, you're a doctor, not an administrator; therefore, you still work for me," reminded House, wanting to take him down a few pegs.

"Everyone just… take it easy," Wilson said standing between the two men. "I think it goes without saying that all of our nerves are pretty rattled at the moment. We had no idea we'd be seeing Cuddy in this sort of condition. I think a break away from this room would be a good thing for everyone right now." House and Foreman continued to stare at each other; finally, Taub spoke up.

"Do you want to talk to Wound Care when they come up to assess the wound?" he asked House.

"Yeah, and to Grimes, too. Scrub in with him when he's ready to go into the OR," House said to Taub. "I trust him, but I want a representative from the team in there." Taub nodded in agreement.

"I'll scrub in with you, too," Foreman said. House rolled his eyes, but said nothing. Seeing that things were calming down, Lydia decided to go check with Tom about taking the kids outside.

"Be right back," she said turning for the door. She didn't have to go far, for as she stepped out into the hallway, Tom came walking over with all of the kids in tow. "Oh… I was just on my way over to talk to you."

"Beat you to it," Tom said giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I introduced myself to Arlene and spoke with her about having Rachel join in on a little fun, maybe some basic soccer training, too. I understand this fall is the first time she's playing, so any tips will be helpful."

"Would you mind if I came out and watched for a little bit? I might see if Arlene would like to come and relax for a while, too," Thomas asked as he came to stand next to Lydia.

"Sure; but… uh… what about the older gentleman in there?" Thomas started to laugh.

"That's Dr. Stein," Wilson informed him.

"Tom, lad, that 'older gentleman' is two years younger than me," Bell said.

"Well, first of all he looks about ten years older than you; secondly, you act far younger than your years." Reverend Bell smiled and glanced over his shoulder at House.

"Having a good woman in your life will do that to you," he responded. "We'll have to see what the future brings for me now."

"Hello, Tom." As he looked into the room to his left, Tom's mouth fell open when he saw Cameron standing there.

"What the… What the hell are you doing here?" he said in amazement.

"I came into town a few days early for the ER management conference," she replied. "Found myself walking into a bit of a problem." Tom looked over at the bed for the first time.

"Kids, stay out here a minute," Lydia said to the children as Tom walked to the bed. She was still concerned over how her children would react and now, Tom's two, also. Any negative response to Cuddy's appearance would probably impact badly on Rachel.

"Oh dear God!" Tom said quietly "I wouldn't have known it was her! I take it things are as bad as Dr. Stein said?"

"Worse, and now we're questioning if he is a doctor," Foreman informed him.

"What's this 'we?'" House asked. "You're the one who's expressed any concern about his professional licensing; I just questioned his mental status when I called him a moron and an idiot."

"You called him an idiot to his face?" Tom asked.

"Not any more than I may have done on the phone last night. But I was thinking it," said House. Tom shook his head.

"So what of the stuff that Stein was saying was the truth?" Wilson and Foreman brought Tom up-to-date with Cuddy's status and some of the problems and discrepancies they had found.

"Obviously we can't cure anything," Chase said. "But we can put her in much better shape than she's in right now."

"In her current state, I don't think she'd make it to the end of the week," Tom said sadly. "But I know you all can turn that around for her; seems like pretty basic medicine involved."

"Except figuring out how to keep her blood pressure up while we remove the excess fluid through either dialysis or diuretics," Thirteen said. "Her heart should be able to take dialysis for a short period of time, but with the loss of fluid, comes the dropping blood pressure, most likely."

"But if you don't get the fluid out, you're going to stress out her kidneys," Tom observed.

"Right, and Fraulein already discovered that Cuddy has fluid in the peritoneal cavity," said House.

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't," Foreman noted.

"Look, other than keeping the kids busy, is there anything I can do? Any help that you guys need?"

"Getting them out for some air and keeping their minds off of in here is the most important thing at this point," said Lydia. She told Tom what Rachel came in and said earlier.

"Wow… like you didn't have a hard enough time dealing with this. Well, I… " There was the sound of giggles and laughter from the hall. Lydia went out and saw that Thomas was down on one knee, showing a magic trick to the children using a quarter. "I'm glad he wants to come out with us; he's great with the kids. He'll be a big help."

"Don't forget; you may have Mama Cuddy tagging along, too," House said. "At least the old guy is being whisked away by his live-in nurse."

"No, his wife's picking him up," Lydia said. House shrugged.

"In his case, it's a matter of semantics."

"Let me get the kids going and see how long it'll be until Stein gets picked up," Tom said. He stepped out to the hall. "So, kids, Reverend Bell… ready for the big outdoors?"

"Yeah!" the children shouted in unison.

"Shhh! Your have to use your indoor voices. People are trying to get well in here," Bell said to them.

"Yeah… any signs of life ruins the healing process," House said coming to the door.

"No it doesn't… does it?" Ben asked.

"No, but you're the only one who knows that," House said bending down to the child and whispering. "You get to keep the others in line till you get outside." Ben smiled.

"Gotcha!" he whispered back to House. "Come on, guys; let's tiptoe to the elevators," Ben said to the others. They followed him quietly, waving as they left.

"I think the Reverend and I have it from here," Tom said. "Will you be around later?" he asked Cameron.

"Yes, I'll be here through this evening," she replied.

"Great; I'll see you later, then."

"Her and her little-one-to-be," Wilson said.

"What?" Tom exclaimed.

"I'm engaged and the baby's due in May… around the same time as Wilson's fiancée." Tom looked down the hall; he saw that Arlene and Stein had stepped out of the lounge.

"I've got to run, but you have to fill me in later," he said giving Cameron a quick hug. "Be back!" He headed off down the hall, doing a double take as he passed Bell on the way.

"Took your keys, dear," he said to Lydia. "But there would be no one in there with your pocketbook since we're leaving, so I brought it to you."

"Thank you, Thomas," she said taking the bag. "Enjoy watching the children play."

"I will; see you all later."

"Where the hell is that guy from radiology?" Chase said looking at his watch. "In two minutes, Thirteen and I will just roll the bed down there, so we can get this going. She needs the chest x-ray, the central line and a picture of her wound to see if it's osteomyelitis or not. That's going to take up a lot of time since positioning her is an issue."

"There's not enough space down there for the bed; she's going to have to be filmed on the stretcher," Thirteen said. "And we'll need help moving her over."

"Hello?" a voice from the doorway said. It was the orderly from radiology. "Sorry for the delay. The lady I was taking back to her room had an epileptic seizure as I was taking her out of department. Had to wait until she was treated." The orderly looked over to Cuddy's bed as he brought the stretcher in. "This…this Dr. Cuddy, the lady that used run the hospital?"

"What's left of her," House said.

"Boy, you're not kidding," replied the orderly. He pulled the stretcher alongside the bed and dropped the side rails on both pieces of equipment. "So who's going down with her?"

"We are," Thirteen said indicating herself and Chase.

"OK; I can take her from this side if you guys can handle that side." The orderly was a big enough fellow to have probably been able to move her by himself; the three of them did it with ease.

"I'll call Wound Care when she's done so they can meet us back up here and do the assessment," Chase said as he grabbed Cuddy's chart.

"With any sort of luck, Grimes will be here by then, and we can continue to push forward on the healing process," House said as he handed Thirteen the IV antibiotics to be hung on the pole attached to the stretcher.

"I'll call up here to let you know what the x-rays show," she said. House nodded as they started to wheel Cuddy out of the room.

"I'm going to hit the lounge and see what's left to eat," Taub said. "Anyone joining me?"

"I think we all are," Wilson said. "I know I could use a seat."

"It's a bit after eleven now. It may seem a little early, but if we're going to have food delivered for lunch, we should start figuring out from where and what we're getting," Lydia said. "I put a few menus from local places in my bag; we can pass them around and see what way we're leaning."

"That sounds good," Cameron replied as she picked up Cuddy's wreck of a chart from the "nursing" facility. "Is Cherry Valley Deli still around?"

"I don't think that place will ever go out of business," Foreman said as he headed out of the room along with Cameron and Taub, and entered the lounge. "Their food is just too damn good."

"Their variety and quality is what's kept them around for almost sixty years," Wilson said as he followed behind the group. Lydia stepped into the hall, and turned toward the lounge, when she realized House was standing in the corridor, watching Cuddy get wheeled away.

"Hon, why don't you come and sit down?" she asked as she put her hand on his shoulder. "You know they'll take good care of her. You're doing everything you can right now."

"Problem isn't what I'm doing now; it's what I should have done back then. If Cuddy was receiving proper care, she wouldn't have one and half feet in the grave." Lydia shook her head as she looked at House.

"Greg, you have to stop torturing yourself. You couldn't have helped Arlene choose a better place for her daughter… you were in a medical coma still fighting for your own life when the choice was made."

"Neither of us would have to be fighting for anything if I hadn't been a jerk!" House yelled, his voice becoming more intense. "I was too busy trying to prove to Cuddy that I was right, to pay attention to the right thing to do!" Lydia bit her bottom lip, trying to decide if she should say what was on her mind.

"You were doing the right thing; you were trying to save Hannah's leg, not just her life. You were also trying to prove to Cuddy that you're a better man than her fiancé, Lucas," she said cautiously. "And you were and are." House made a face of disgust as he looked at her. "While I was looking over Arlene's paperwork, I overheard her saying to Thomas how disappointed she was that Lucas had abandoned Lisa and Rachel." House looked a bit taken back.

"I was wondering where the private dick was," referring to Lucas' profession of private investigator. "What's his excuse?" Lydia shrugged.

"I'm not sure. He came by the first few days after the accident, then less and less frequently. After about two weeks, the visits stopped; not even a phone call. He never has been to the nursing facility." House looked down the hallway where the sound of the elevator leading to radiology rang out its arrival. He was going to follow the stretcher down, but then thought better of the idea. "He never showed up for Cuddy; he walked away from the woman he supposedly loved. You're here for her now… as a colleague, a friend." Lydia put her hand on House's arm. "No one has to tell me who the better man is, Greg. It was her loss that she never could see you for who you are," Lydia said. "But it's definitely been my gain." House looked back at his girlfriend and managed the slightest of smiles. Uncharacteristically, he reached out, put his arm around Lydia's waist, and pulled her in for a kiss. House was amused by the surprised look on her face.

"Don't expect that kind of behavior out of me all the time around here," he warned. "I noticed the hall was empty and thought I'd go in for a quickie." Lydia laughed as House took a step back from her and went off to the lounge; he never could be serious with her out in public for too long. In private, of course, was another matter.

Following House into the lounge, Lydia was amazed at how little of the food was remaining. The coffee thermoses were empty, the three gallons of iced tea were gone, all the water bottles had been taken, and there was only two bagels and a few Munchkins left. All the rest had been consumed.

"I have to remember I'm feeding growing children and grown men," she said after packing up what was left and bringing it to the table where everyone had settled in. "I feel bad I didn't estimate it well enough."

"Lydia… you're a sweetheart for bringing the food in with you in the first place; no one expected that," Wilson said.

"I did," said House.

"You would," Cameron replied. She turned to Lydia. "Pregnancy has made me into an eating machine, I'm afraid. Would you mind if we started to look over the menus for lunch?"

"Of course not," Lydia said reaching into her bag. "Oh, Hon… I realized we both misspoke earlier; the medical conference wasn't the first lace we met." Lydia laid out menus for four different dining spots on the table. "We actually met when I was a baby and Greg was a little boy." Cameron took off her reading glasses and placed her head in her hands.

"Even when you're explaining things, I'm getting more and more confused," she said. Lydia laughed, then told Cameron the story of her grandparents' bakery, and how her mother used to bring her into the shop in her arms.

"Greg would come in with his mother… "

"And there was this cranky little baby there bawling her eyes out; drove me crazy," House said making a face.

"I still have been known to cry, but I no longer drive him crazy," Lydia noted.

"Yes, you do; but only in the most wonderful of ways." So, we're back to busting poor Cameron's chops, Lydia thought. At least she seems to be enjoying it.

"I remember those gingerbread cookies," Cameron said. "You brought a huge box of them in around Christmas time one year, kept them in your office, and refused to share them with any of us."

"I was going to share them; but then you decided to mock me by hanging canes up all over the conference room."

"They were candy canes! I wasn't… "

"Cameron," Foreman said. "Don't give him any more ammo."

"Yeah, I've got enough already," House said. He stretched his legs out, and placed them on the empty chair opposite him. Cameron was mad at herself for allowing House to bait her like that, but then she saw him wince and grab for his leg.

"Are you ever going to find out if you can do something for your leg?" she asked.

"I did this past Thursday; reconstruction begins in May," he replied. Her eyes slowly widened as it became obvious that House wasn't kidding. Foreman explained what the ultrasound found and detailed the work that was going to be needed for House to have a chance at gaining improvement on his leg. It was Wilson who related the sad fact that it was a deliberate act.

"Those… bastards were going around… hurting and killing people with their incompetence and they chose to take it out on you?" Cameron asked House, furious at what she was learning.

"I didn't have the fan club then that I do now," he said looking at Lydia. "It helps when you change leadership." Cameron looked at Lydia.

"You know the whole recovery process is going to be a long, tough road," she cautioned.

"Greg laid the whole thing out in front of me; it will be hard, and some things may not be very pleasant, but in the end he'll finally be able to get some relief from this misery he's been in for years."

"I think he's gotten some relief already," Cameron commented as she smiled at Lydia. She saw the menu for Cherry Valley deli on the table in front of her and started to read through it. "Oh my…they have fried pickles as an appetizer! I vote for Cherry Valley for lunch," she said. "And I want to get a large order of them."

"You better make that two large orders of them." Wilson turned in his chair; he smiled as Annie walked toward the table.

"Hey, didn't expect to see you for another hour," he said as he stood to greet her.

"Lori cancelled her lesson. Turns out she has pink eye and didn't want to expose me to it," Annie said giving Wilson a kiss. "I told her I appreciated it." She looked at Cameron. "So, I take it you're the one sharing a due date with me?"

"Dr. Allison Cameron, this is my fiancée, Annie Harris."

"Hi, Annie, nice to meet you," Cameron said. "I don't know if we have the exact due date, but we're close enough, I suppose. Wilson said you're due the middle of May."

"Yup, May 18th. My niece's birthday."

"I'm due May 17th," Cameron said.

"Oh…Annie's birthday," said Lydia. Annie smiled at her, then looked at House. "How are you? And don't tell me 'fine' because I can tell you're not 'fine.' Is it how Dr. Cuddy's doing, your leg, or both?"

"All of the above," House replied as he grabbed for his leg again.

"I think I already know the answer," Lydia said. "But did you take your meds this morning?" she asked her boyfriend. House made a face.

"I was too busy trying to get as much sleep as possible before we had to leave," he said. House held his hand out toward Lydia, palm facing upward. She reached into her bag, took his medicine out, and passed her half-empty water bottle over to him. As he swallowed the pills, he noticed that Annie was sitting down very gingerly, with her hand on her back. "Junior still giving your back grief?" Annie let out a sigh and nodded.

"If it hurts this much now, I don't want to think about what's going to happen when I actually start to gain weight."

"Has your doctor talked to you about back labor?" Cameron asked.

"No, but Lydia's told me all the gory details. And she's a real trooper about things," replied Annie, adjusting her position one more time. Wilson, who was sitting next to her, reached over and started to rub her back.

"Songbird, you're going to be as much of a trooper as your friend. If it hurts too much, just tell the sperm bank you want his deposit back," recommended House. "Then close the account."

"It's not going to happen again," Annie said sadly. "It's going to be a miracle that I'll carry this child to term. But there are other ways." House tilted his head to the side and gave Annie and Wilson a puzzled look.

"You're not thinking about doubling the torture you're taking on."

"We both grew up with siblings… however difficult our relationships with them were," Wilson said. "Plus, I'm sure you and Lydia can't deny that being an only child wasn't too much fun. We were considering adopting when this little one is about two or three."

"I think I would have been better with it if we didn't move around so much," Lydia said. "It wasn't until my dad was assigned to DC and I met Annie that I felt a sense of belonging."

"You dad was in the military?" inquired Cameron as she looked at the Chinese food menu Lydia had brought with her.

"No, he was with the diplomatic corps. He wasn't an ambassador; he worked on the support staff. Eventually he received a permanent assignment in the US; I became a citizen when I was eighteen."

"My dad worked for the state department, so there were a lot of functions and parties for the children of employees and the children of members of the diplomatic corps were always invited; that's where we met," Annie said smiling at her friend.

"Mmm… we met as teen-agers and it made all the difference in the world for me," explained Lydia.

"I met Wilson when I was in my thirties; didn't make a bit of difference," House said pulling down the newsboy cap he was wearing over his eyes.

"Thanks," Wilson said. "You've made quite an impact on my life numerous times…not all of them positive." House ignored the chuckles from the group as he squirmed down into his seat.

"Are you OK?" Lydia asked. "Do you want a pillow?"

"No; just taking inventory of the inside of my eyelids." He reached into his pocket and laid his phone on the table. "Answer it in case I don't hear it when Thirteen calls."

"Sure," Lydia said. Cameron looked over toward the end of the table where House and Lydia were. She saw the concerned look Lydia gave her boyfriend, but then let him rest without further fussing. Cameron admired Lydia for knowing how to handle House; unlike her own failed attempt at a relationship with him, Lydia got it just right.

"So I was going to suggest we go with Cherry Valley. We had pizza and other Italian food last night, and Otto's and New Luck kitchen would be a bunch of individual orders which would get complicated," Lydia pointed out. "I was going to see if Tom and the kids wanted to eat with us. So a cold cut platter with other sandwich makings and salads, plus a few hot appetizers, and I think we can satisfy everyone's appetite."

"You know, if you really wanted to, you could easily open your own party planning business," Foreman said. "You always put together a great food spread."

"I think it comes from watching my parents host parties for years; I remember…" House started to doze off as the conversation continued about food selections, babies, and other things that didn't interest him; but he remained restless, changing positions constantly. He finally gave up on the idea of relaxing, and decided to walk around a bit. Despite knowing better, House found himself drawn to Cuddy's room. He took a few steps inside before he raised his eyes up to look at the bed; expecting to find it empty, he was startled to see Cuddy there. As he cursed Chase and Thirteen out for not calling up to him as he instructed them to do, he wondered how they managed to get the x-rays and the central line done so quickly. He moved over to the bed; Cuddy continued to stare straight ahead as she was doomed to do. He looked up at the monitor to check her readings; he was surprised to see that they were all flat-lined. House made a note to himself to call Chase and Thirteen out on the carpet for not setting Cuddy back up properly. He leaned his cane against the bedrail and started to follow the wires from the machine back down to Cuddy; they were still attached to her. House was trying to figure out where the problem was, when he jumped and let out a yell as he felt a hand on his. It was Cuddy's. She slowly turned her head to him, and as their eyes made contact, he could see she was no longer staring vacantly; her eyes bore into him.

"House… help me," she whispered, tightening the grip on his hand. "Help me." House tried to back away, but she wouldn't let go. "Help me," she said again.

"I'm trying… I'm… " He tried once again to pull back, but it was no use. "Cuddy, let go! Let go!"

"Greg… Greg!" House looked around. He was in the lounge. Foreman, Taub, Cameron, Wilson, and Annie were all staring at him; Lydia was crouched down by his chair. "Thirteen's calling. Do you want it on speaker?" House nodded and swallowed hard before talking.

"What's the story?" he asked.

"She's got a minimal amount of fluid in the lower right lobe like Chase said," began Thirteen. "There is no cracked rib, not even a hairline fracture, so I don't know where Stein got that from."

"The wound?"

"No osteomyelitis," she reported. "Chase is scrubbing in for the central line now; I'm going to get ready, too. We'll call when we're ready to come back up."

"Thanks," House said quietly. Trying to shake off what he saw in his dream, he looked at Taub. "Any word on Grimes?"

"Nothing yet. He should be here fairly soon, though," Taub said checking the time. "After Grimes is done, we just have to figure out what to do about the blood pressure/fluid retention issue. Chase pulled heart enzymes when he took labs on Cuddy, right?"

"Yeah. Since the EKG was normal, we'll have to wait and see what levels come back with all of the chemistries," House said staring at the table.

"Diuretics and dialysis each have their pluses and minuses," Foreman noted.

"And if we guess wrong, we'll be plus or minus Cuddy. Be back," he said to Lydia as he stood up. He was several feet away from the table, when he realized he had company; Wilson was walking a few steps off his left shoulder. "I don't need any help; and if I did, it'd be Fraulein and not you," House said glancing behind him.

"I'm well aware of that," Wilson replied. "I need to use the men's room." House made a scoffing noise of disbelieve and the two walked the rest of the way in silence. Once inside the restroom, House leaned his cane against the wall, took off his cap, and placed it on the counter. He began to run water in one of the sinks, then splashed it on his face. "So what happened before?"

"Nothing; my phone startled me," said House as he reached for some paper towels.

"Somehow I think yelling out 'Cuddy, let go!' is a little more than getting startled by your phone." Wilson looked at his friend as he leaned his hands on the counter. "You weren't asleep very long… but I take it you had a dream."

"More like a nightmare." House related the details of what seemed all too real.

"I know you didn't want to take on helping Cuddy for a myriad of reasons," Wilson said. "Probably the biggest of which is it's a hard slap in the face to realize that you two never really…had a proper end to things." House gave Wilson a puzzled look.

"Well at least you didn't throw that trite little word 'closure' in there. Or is that what this all really means?"

"It means after spending the night together in college, you took off without a word; for a very good reason, I grant you. Then, all the…flirting and cat and mouse games you two played, plus the death of Kutner and John House, ends up with you being dependent on Vicodin, and having a nervous breakdown. By the time you got out of Mayfield, Cuddy's with Lucas. And at Nolan's urging, that jerk… you try to pursue Cuddy, to break up her relationship with the guy…and she then gets engaged to Lucas to get you to back off." Wilson wished he could take back his words as soon as he saw the look on his friend's face.

"Who told you she got engaged to get me to back off?" Wilson dropped his head down.

"Cuddy did," he said. House leaned back against the sink and looked at Wilson in shock. "Lucas had proposed, and she was going to say no, but…she thought about all the stunts you had pulled around that time and thought it was the best way to get you to stop,"

"Why didn't she just tell me to stop?" House asked making a face. "I'm sure it wasn't because she was afraid of hurting my feelings."

"How many times did she tell you to do or not do things and you didn't listen?"

"That was about medicine, not personal matters."

"I… I don't know," Wilson said shaking his head. "Look…as much as you two lusted after each other for years, you never did have a normal, everyday relationship…or even a normal, casual conversation with her. As soon as the talk became even…the slightest bit friendly, up came the shields and you two ran away scared. Like I told you when you got out of Mayfield… none of us knew Cuddy. Not on the big things like social and political points of view, right on down to something as simple as what was her favorite color." Wilson came over and stood near House. "Stop mourning for something that never was meant to be. You never realize how heavy the weight of something you've been carrying around for a long time really is, until you let it go of it." House nodded, then turned to Wilson.

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience. What yoke have you thrown off recently?"

"I told you Julie got re-married earlier this year, and my alimony payments to her ended." Wilson took a deep breath. "Got a phone call from my lawyer Thursday afternoon; it seems both Sam and Bonnie are getting re-married, too… both next month. My alimony payments to all of my exes end on December fifth… the day before I marry Annie. I know it sounds like I'm talking only about money, but it's more than that. Every time I had to… write out one of those damn checks I was beating myself up. I kept rehashing in my head what I did wrong and if this happened to me not once, but three times, there must be something wrong with me." Wilson started pacing around. "Even after things started to come together with Annie, I was sure that things were… going to implode, and when they did, it was going to be my fault… again. Then Annie sat down with me and pointed out that I was in a different place in my life than I had been in years past because not only did I learn from my mistakes… I learned the fault in them wasn't all mine and I finally accepted that. Making it work is a shared responsibility. And when I finally shook off that… guilt I walked around with, I felt free to enjoy the best thing that ever happened to me; that beautiful, incredible lady I'm marrying in a few weeks and the prospect of a family." Wilson looked at his friend. "You've got to do the same thing, House. And when you do, you're going to kick yourself in the ass for letting it weigh down your heart and mind." Despite his mood, House had to smile at the way Wilson talked about Annie; he had done it many times about Lydia when talking to Wilson on guys' nights out. House also understood the point Wilson was trying to make; it was time to stop letting the anger, hurt, and pain of the past, impede on his happy and loving relationship with Lydia. Wilson was wrong about one thing, however; this was about money, too. House knew that his friend felt badly about having to dish out money to his ex-wives while he and Annie were trying to shop around for a house to begin their life and family together. Now, that was no longer going to be a burden. This wasn't good news, it was great news.

"So, you finally get to cut the last of your old balls and chains before you put on the new one. Congratulations." Wilson knew better, and ignored the sarcastic nature of House's comment.

"I was going to tell everyone Friday at the party, but then the phone call came in about Cuddy," Wilson said. "I figured it could wait." House was staring off in the distance, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by Wilson. "Now what's on your mind?"

"If I had been willing to open up more with Cuddy, maybe there could have been a little fun between us. Maybe she actually could have been a distraction." Wilson was about to challenge House's thinking, when his friend spoke again. "But then I wouldn't have gone to Mayfield and we wouldn't know Fraulein and Songbird." Wilson smiled.

"It may not seem like it at the time, but sometimes things do work out the right way," he said. House grabbed his cap and his cane.

"Come on; hurry up and pee so we can get back down to the lounge and put our requests in for lunch."

"I don't have to go; I just said I did so I could follow you down here and we could talk." House gave Wilson a look. He went over to the first sink and turned both faucets on full blast; House did the same thing with each of the four sinks in the restroom. "House, what are…"

"Have to pee yet?"

"No… no, I… oh, damn!" Wilson hurried over to a urinal and relived himself. "That wasn't very nice!" he said as he rinsed his hands and turned off all the water.

"It was very nice of me," House said. "I did you a big favor. You told me that it's bothering you lately when you cross your legs; now you won't have to." He reached for the door handle, and yanked it open. The two stepped out into the hallway and began to make their way back to the lounge. "By the way, thanks for checking on me."

"No problem," Wilson replied. "Oh, and just so you know… two weeks after the crane collapse, while you and Cuddy were still in comas, Arlene tells me Lucas came to her and told her he couldn't be expected to hang around and wait for Cuddy since there was really no hope. Then he asked Arlene to return the engagement ring he gave Cuddy." House shook his head.

"No great loss. It probably came from one of those machines with a giant claw that you use to reach down and snag a prize. Although, I don't think he's that talented. Bet it cost him three month's salary in quarters for sure."

"I like the ring Annie and I picked out together; a simple round one carat in the middle and two small emerald baguettes on the sides. Which reminds me, I have to go into my uncle's place and pick up the wedding bands soon. They came in last week."

"Don't recall you using your uncle for the hardware on your other forays down the aisle."

"I didn't. None of my relatives liked any of my ex-wives; all of them adore Annie," Wilson noted.

"They have good taste," House said as they returned to the lounge.

"About time," Foreman said. "Lydia wanted to run the food list past you before she placed the order."

"I'm sorry, my psychic powers had no reception in the men's room; I'll have to check the toilet paper for my messages," snarked House. "So what am I chowing down on?"

"We are going to go with the sandwich makings and things from Cherry Valley," Lydia said. "I texted Tom; he, Thomas, Arlene, and the kids are all on board with the idea. I'm going to call it in now; by the time they make everything up and deliver it, it should be about one o'clock."

"Sounds perfect to me," Annie said. Lydia took her phone and stepped away to order the food. House saw Cameron taking a water bottle and some saltines out of her bag.

"Suffering from pregnancy upchucks?" he asked her.

"Only in the late morning or early afternoon. I can get up, have some juice, some food, some coffee… no problem. Then about eleven-thirty…"

"My doctor told me to eat a series of smaller meals so the stomach doesn't get empty," Annie said. She pulled out a small bottle of apple juice and crackers with peanut butter on them. "This is what works for me."

"Really? Because… " Here we go with the mother hen talk again, House thought. He didn't mind listening to Annie talk about things; it let him keep an eye on her condition and the developments in her pregnancy. She had a good doctor, a specialist in high-risk pregnancies, and of course, Wilson's a doctor. But it was important to House to make sure everything went well; this baby was too special to Wilson. Still, he didn't want to hear the usual gibber-jabber that pregnant women engaged in; he got up, and went over to the window where he had a clear view of the grassy area Tom and the kids were playing soccer on. Two chairs had been set up, and Reverend Bell and Arlene were sitting in them, pointing and gesturing toward the children as they played. Tom ran with the kids, from one end of the grass to the other, stumbling a bit only occasionally. When he first started to help House with PT to ease things up with his leg, House asked him how a guy with two artificial legs could run around so easily. Tom told him it wasn't easy, but it was what he wanted more than anything else; to feel like a normal guy, living his life with his loved ones. House looked away from scene below him; maybe… just maybe, he should take a lesson from Tom as well as Wilson.

"Hi." House turned to his right and saw Lydia had come to stand beside him. "Are you OK?" He looked away from her and down onto the field again.

"I might as well not waste my time and yours and tell you I'm fine; because I'm not. One, you know me better than that; and two, yelling things out loud in desperation won't fool anyone." He told Lydia the dream he had. "The symbolism of it is painfully apparent, so I'm not even going to try and put a different spin on it."

"Actually what the dream indicates is the opposite of what's happening; you're holding on to Cuddy, she's not holding on to you…she can't. The letting go is up to you." House nodded.

"Yeah, I know. Wilson gave me some advice that I think I'm going to listen to for once. He also told me a few things I didn't know that are rapidly changing my attitude toward the situation. And yeah…I know, I'm the guy opposed to change." House turned to face Lydia. "Cuddy got engaged to Lucas so I'd stop trying to break them up and interfere in their relationship. She told Wilson herself." Lydia's eyes opened wide.

"I hate to say it, but with the lack of honest and open communication you two had over the years, it doesn't surprise me that she resorted to that. Of course, I'm not in a position to talk about anyone becoming engaged to someone they're not in love with."

"Your ultimate goal of rescuing Songbird from her steel cage was a lot nobler than Cuddy's reasons were," House said. "Lucas is no prize himself. Do you know why he hasn't been around to see his fiancée? Because he told Mama Cuddy there was no point in hanging around since she would never get better. Then he asked for the ring back."

"Oh… oh no! Oh please don't tell me he was that cruel!" Lydia exclaimed quietly. "That's awful!"

"I'm beginning to think those two deserved each other; also that Wilson is right. Shaking off the idea that I screwed something up or missed out on something with her… it's stopping me from enjoying what I have now." House glanced down at the soccer game, then looked back at Lydia. "And what we can work on for the future. I'd much rather have that." Lydia wore an ear to ear smile.

"You mean you'd rather be happy than miserable?" she asked.

"Shhh! You'll ruin my hard-earned reputation," House whispered.

"Fine," Lydia said. "Your secret is safe with me. Maybe we can discuss it further over a glass of wine tonight."

"After the kids go to bed," he added. House's phone began to play "Down Under" by Men at Work; it was Chase.

"Speak to me, oh king of the marsupials," House said as he answered the phone. Lydia could see he was clearly in a much better mood.

"Um… we got the central line in." Chase said, not sure what to make of House's greeting. "Wound Care came down to see how things were going and to let us know Grimes will be a little delayed; his car died on him."

"As long as the patient doesn't die, he'll be fine," House replied. "Have Wound Care play follow the leader back up to Cuddy's room. They can look her over there."

"OK, be right up."

"Chase and Thirteen will be up shortly with Wound Care in tow," House announced to the group. "Grimes is delayed due to mechanical difficulties. We'll let his minions give us the initial assessment and go from there."

"From the EKG, it would seem her heart's in good shape," Lydia said. "But a true evaluation can't be made until we see the labs."

"Check the hospital's computer and see if their lab has posted any results. We can always run our own from the additional tubes Chase pulled from Cuddy," said House.

"You really have to stop running double labs," Foreman said. "It's costly and a waste of time."

"No, because if we get the results I'm looking for from the hospital's lab services, they get charged with the cost. If we do the initial run, diagnostic services gets to foot the bill and I can't have that. Found out the cost of the big screen television I want to install in the conference room is way more expensive than I thought it would be," House replied. Foreman didn't see the point of arguing, so he let it drop.

"I think we're going to need one more table to lay the food out on," Lydia said. "After all, sandwich makings take up more space than Munchkins." She started to walk to the far end of the room where the breakfast food had been earlier.

"Let me give you a hand," Wilson said standing up. He helped Lydia bring over two square tables that when put with the two she used earlier, made for an ample display.

"I don't know what you said to Greg before," Lydia whispered. "But I thank you so much for it." Wilson shrugged.

"I said the truth, nothing fancy," he said smiling. "Glad it worked."

"Hey… we're back," Thirteen said as she poked her head into the lounge. Wilson and the team stood up to join Thirteen and Chase in Cuddy's room. Cameron joined them, but Annie stayed behind. As they entered the ICU room, they saw Cuddy was already back in her bed. House glanced at the monitor just to make sure things were running properly. Finally, a man and a woman stepped forward to greet them.

"Hi, my name is Dan, this is Pauline. We're PA's who work with Dr. Grimes." House was glad to see it was members of Grimes' team rather than PA's from another doctor's team who came around; it meant they, like Grimes, were the best. "Dr. Chase and Dr. Hadley have been filling us in on Dr. Cuddy's situation and the poor care she's received. Are the bags of antibiotic the result of any kind of culture report?" Dan asked.

"The cultures taken at the Happy Acre Rest Home are unreliable," House said. "The bags are a result of the usual suspects; staph and strep, possibly MRSA. Didn't throw any Doxycycline in there since I didn't know if Dr. Cuddy was planning on going tanning anytime soon."

"No, don't want to do that," Pauline said. "We had a patient who went out in the sun two weeks after she finished taking the Doxy; gave herself a secondary skin infection from scratching." She shook her head as she reached for gloves. "Let's see what we've got." Dan and Taub had both donned gloves and helped moved Cuddy onto her side, Don removed the bandage, and began to examine the wound.

"It's not the worse sacral wound I've ever seen," he said. "But there clearly is necrotic tissue and slough in there."

"The thing is, we were led to believe it was half that size," Foreman said.

"You said there's no evidence of osteomyelitis?" Pauline asked.

"Nope, all clear," Chase said.

"Good. OK, let's move her back," Dan said. "You said you did a culture on the wound here when you examined it earlier."

"Sent it down about an hour ago," Taub confirmed.

"Well, for now, the two antibiotics are the best way to go; if the culture proves she needs anything more, we can add it on. How long were you planning on keeping her at PPTH?"

"Depends on the progress she makes," House said. "She'll have to be followed for the wound no matter where she goes after this."

"Definitely. There are several nursing homes in the region that our department covers as far as wound care issues," Pauline said. "We can pass the list on to Dr. Cuddy's health care proxy and see if any of them work for the family."

"That would be wonderful," Lydia said. "Hopefully something can be worked out." Dan looked at the low BP number on the monitor.

"That may be something of an issue when Dr. Grimes goes to work on her," he said. "We'll only be able to give her a local; sedation would be too much of a risk."

"The problem is being addressed," House said tersely.

"Great. We'll contact you as soon as Dr. Grimes gets here. Nice to meet you all," Pauline said. "And I know she can't talk, but tell Dr. Cuddy to think happy thoughts; maybe that'll bring her blood pressure up." The two PA's left House, Wilson and the team standing there.

"Happy thoughts?" Cameron said incredulously.

"I don't even say that to my cancer patients," noted Wilson. As the rest of them engaged in chatter, House stared at Cuddy and walked over to the end of the bed; Lydia passed behind him to straighten out Cuddy's pillows. She turned to him, and saw THAT look… the look he always got when he solved a problem. Their eyes met, and suddenly Lydia was sure she knew what he was thinking. House took his thumb and forefinger, placed them in the corners of his mouth and let loose with a loud whistle.

"What the…?" Chase asked.

"Figured out how to safely raise her blood pressure," House said.

"How?" Foreman asked.

"We're going to talk to her… non-stop, 24/7."