If he hadn't been knocked so off-balance by her unexpected and unsolicited review of his character, he would have noticed when she touched him that her skin was warm. Too warm.

Within 5 minutes of his page Foreman and Taub met him in the parking lot; they'd drawn the short straws to stay at the hospital while their colleagues went home for the night. House had already secured the journal and was rooting through her bags and moving items around when they arrived.

"I see you have the keys," Foreman noted. "That's a nice change of pace. Did you actually ask her permission or steal them from her purse?" The more notable "change of pace" that neither mentioned was that House was still there and seemed to be participating in a part of the process he usually avoided.

House zipped up the bag he had repacked, putting it over his shoulder, and threw Taub the keys. "I expect it returned washed and waxed when you're done," he said with a mocking, fatherly tone. "No joy riding, boys; and don't think I won't know."

House didn't allow himself to analyze his decision to return to her, nor the consideration he'd shown in gathering up her toiletries, MP3 player, reading material and some underwear and pajamas for her so that she'd be more comfortable. He'd even packed her bathing suit in case she had to spend too much more time in the hot tub.

He beat the page by about 30 seconds. The nurse by Kelly's bedside had thrown the blankets against the wall and began covering her exposed skin with compresses. When the nurse saw House, he guiltily and quickly explained. "I came to check her, every 30 minutes like you said. But you were in here with her and I didn't want to interrupt and I assumed you'd take her temperature if she looked like-"

"What IS her temperature?" House interrupted sharply, eyes locked with Kelly's.

"103 peripheral. 104 core."

House was removing her from the monitors once again. "Does this room have a shower?"

"Yes. Yes, sir." The nurse, a young man fairly new to the profession and to Princeton-Plainsboro, knew of House by reputation only. That was enough to make him freeze up, expecting the worst kind of reaction to what would certainly be viewed as his mistake.

"Hey, what's your name?" Kelly asked weakly.

"Brian, ma'am. Brian Hinkley."

House saw the slight cringe at "ma'am", but said nothing.

"It's not your fault, Brian." She smiled as reassuringly as she could. "Dr. House can handle things from here; we've been through this before. But I'd really appreciate it if you could help me get on my feet, and then go and bring me a whole lot of dry towels; you can just leave them on the bed."

Brian shot a look at House who begrudgingly nodded. Relieved, he waited until her feet were on the floor and she seemed steady, and then he was gone to complete his task.

"Are you always this bossy?" House asked, grunting as she nearly lost her footing and set her full weight against him; apparently she wasn't doing as well as her little performance had made her seem.

"The poor man was obviously terrified of you."

Having reached the bathroom, House closed the toilet lid and sat her down on it as he went turned to turn on the shower. "See? Because I am a bastard." He was able to make light of it now, what she'd said before, what he'd replied. When Kelly didn't answer him, he first thought that perhaps he'd won the argument. But when he looked at her he realized she wasn't doing well at all. "Hang in there; it'll just be another second."

This particular shower room was wheelchair accessible, meaning it was wide and had a bench; House imagined whoever had placed her there had planned for this eventuality, though probably expecting Kelly would need to be warmed up, not cooled down.

He crouched painfully beside her to do a quick exam. "Kelly?" It felt strange to him to use her name. He tried to never have to see patients, let alone address them so informally. "You're not sweating. Is that something you've noticed before."

She seemed altered though she managed to shake her head and she slurred, "Maybe? I don't know."

The water seemed to revive her a bit though she stayed quiet, and she was able to sit up on her own under the spray. Once he was sure she'd be alright for a moment, he went back into her room and found the nurse delivering the towels as ordered. "You," he barked.

"Yes, sir?" The man practically stood at attention.

House wondered if he'd been in the military. Which made him think of Mark. Which made him think of Kelly. Which made him do something very out of character for him. Namely, to be somewhat nice. "Thanks for the towels. Would you mind also bringing me another set of scrubs?" He gestured to his shirt, wet from having leaned into the shower to get her settled. "Please?"

Nurse Hinkley's expressed flashed confusion for only a moment. "Um... yeah. Yes. Of course."

"And I'm going to need to take some blood and get a urine sample once she's cooled down. Can you bring a tray?"

"Sure. Right away, Dr. House!"

House shook his head as he returned to the bathroom with the towels. "You okay in there?"

"I'd give my right arm for some conditioner."

That seemed like a good sign. Without answering, he retrieved her backpack from where he'd dropped it by her bed and rooted through her toiletries once again. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash. Pulling back the shower curtain, he delivered them with a small bow and was rewarded with a tired but obviously alert grin. "You're a good man, Charlie Brown."

"I'm a mean bastard, Lucy, and I'll convince you yet," he replied as he removed his shoes and socks to keep them dry for the second time that day. Propping his cane just outside the stall, he entered and sat down beside her, right of the full brunt of the spray. He hid a small grin of his own when she laughed at him.

She leaned into his side, as much a gesture of camaraderie as necessity, and went quiet again, closing her eyes. He let her rest.

"Um, Dr. House?"

Nurse Hinkley had returned. "What?" House reached over to pull back the curtain.

"The tray is by her bed. And I'm, uh, going to leave a thermometer right here on the sink for you. Okay?"

"Thank you, Brian," Kelly called.

The nurse smiled slightly and his voice gained some confidence as he held up the scrubs. "Oh, and I wasn't sure if you were a medium or a large, Dr. House, so I brought both sizes. I'll leave them right here by the towels."

"Fine," he said dismissively. Kelly nudged his side, and he begrudgingly mimicked, "Thank you, Brian." His tone was clearly insincere, but she was appeased. And Nurse Hinkley left for good with a story to tell.

House adjusted the water temperature downward, making both of them start. "Feeling any better?"

"Mostly just tired. But cooler." He watched as she picked up the shampoo but struggled to open it. She was obviously exhausted, but from what he could tell it was more of a natural fatigue brought on by the hour than just a sign of illness. A temperature that high should point to infection, and he wasn't ruling it out, but he had a feeling the answer wasn't going to be that obvious.

She handed the bottle to him. "Help me, will you?"

He flipped the cap open and poured some on his hand. "If you concede that I am in fact a bastard and stop trying to make me be polite to nurses." The hour was affecting him, too, making him a little punchy.

She turned her head to shoot him a look. "I can't agree to that."

"Fine. Then I can't agree to helping you wash your hair." And he applied the shampoo to his own instead. "This stuff smells ridiculously girly."

"Sorry I didn't pack His-and-Hers; I'll try to be more considerate next time." She reached across him for the bottle, and after blocking her for just a moment he relented.

He repeated the procedure with conditioner, then passed her the body wash and stepped outside the curtain, putting down a towel to catch the water dripping from his clothes and hair. "Go ahead and get undressed; just let me know when you're ready to get out." The nurse had left the door open, which had been the right thing for him to do, but House now closed it to afford her some privacy.

When she called to him a few minutes later, he passed another towel through the curtain and kept his eyes on hers when she emerged. "Hold still," he instructed, sticking the thermometer in her ear. At the beep he checked the readout. "Good enough. I'm going to finish up in there myself." He handed her the thermometer and gave her a nudge out of his way, reaching for the handle to adjust the water temperature back up.

"What am I supposed to wear?"

"Check your backpack," he instructed as he closed the curtain behind him. He kicked aside her discarded scrubs and added his own to the pile.

"You decent?" he called when he was done and had turned off the water.

"Yep."

"Well, I'm not, so I'll need you to hand me a towel."

There was no reply, so he peeked his face out to see her standing a foot away, dressed in pajamas and her hair combed back, a towel in her hand and an expectant look on her face. "You need me to hand you a towel WHAT?"

"NOW." He wasn't going to play...though even in that he WAS playing.

"PLEASE," she corrected unnecessarily. But she handed it to him anyway and returned to the sink to brush her teeth.

House stalled, hoping she would finish and leave so he could come out and get dressed. But when he heard the hair dryer come to life he weighed the pros and cons, then tied the towel around his waist and avoided looking at her while he grabbed the correct sized shirt and slipped it on, self-conscious. Pants were trickier with his bad leg, so he opted to wait.

Her short hair didn't take long to dry, and without turning it off she passed the dryer and her hairbrush to him. He never usually dried his hair, but he had hopes Nurse Hinkley wouldn't spread all the details of the night around the hospital and he didn't need to give people a reason to question him when he left Kelly's room.

He switched it off as she seemed to finish her bedtime routine, but they didn't move to leave. It was an unlikely stand off, her in terry shorts and tank top, he in a towel, neither remotely threatening.

"I have to pee," she stated.

"I'm not wearing pants," he countered.

"I REALLY have to pee."

"Well, that's great because I need to get a urine sample, but I'm still not wearing pants. Why don't you go and get the specimen bottle off the tray out there, and by the time you're back I can get out of your way."

Apparently she really DID have to pee because she chose not to waste any more time arguing. She did as he suggested and joined him back in the room a few minutes later, climbing onto the bed and placing the bottle in his gloved hands. "Gross."

"Ah, but it gets grosser." He held up the rectal thermometer with an exaggerated leer. "I need to get a core reading."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." And she may just have blushed, though House couldn't be sure in the dim lighting.

He shrugged, not remotely apologetic, and pulled the privacy curtain.

Embarrassed but tired and resigned, she laid on her side, knees up, facing away from him. She left him to pull down her shorts and underwear as she inquired, "I thought rectums weren't your thing."

"I'm fairly indifferent about them, actually," he clarified. "It's the PARASITES that compel me to beg young attractive women to let me give them physicals."

"So if I had been an old ugly man this would have all gone down very differently." She sighed in relief when it was over and adjusted her clothes.

"Oh, undoubtedly." He dealt with the thermometer (98.2 degrees) and then removed his gloves, making use of the waterless cleanser the nurse had included on the tray. He then snapped on a second pair of gloves and prepared to collect blood. "One last thing, and then I'll be out of your hair for the night."

It had actually been quite some time since House had done anything so mundane as taking blood. And he could certainly never recall taking this much time and care to do it. "Just a little pinch..." He took five vials, then made her lay back and get settled. "I'm going to go now; I'll be sending one of my team members up to get you back on the monitors and to spend the night in here with you. They'll need to check your temperature every half hour or so to watch for changes."

She groaned. "Can't everyone just leave me alone so I can sleep?"

He knew he'd have no trouble convincing her. "Well, the alternative is to insert a monitoring device into your bladder or up your - "

"Okay, okay, you win."

"Yes, I do." He paused. "Do you need anything?"

She thought for a moment. "I guess not. Just..."

"What?"

"Will you be here? If something happens?"

She looked so young and fragile in that moment. "I'm probably just going to crash in my office." That hadn't been his intention, but he'd later convince himself it was only a practical decision. Then he remembered. "I got your journal from the car. Do you still want...?"

She looked conflicted for just a moment. "Yeah, you can take it."

He retrieved it and tucked it under his arm before beginning to maneuver the tray toward the door. "Try not to spontaneously combust before I can fix you," he told her seriously.

"Say 'please' and maybe I'll consider it."

He rolled his eyes, and her laughter followed him from the room.