House supported most of his weight with his arms and good leg as he took the lead, kissing her neck, trailing to her ear and feeling her squirm at the sensation, and finally meeting her lips.
Kelly felt more inhibited than she had the night before and it didn't take House long to notice. "What's wrong?" he asked between kisses.
"Nothing." She brought a hand to the back of his neck and pulled him closer like she had something to prove.
Knowing that this could go nowhere anyway, knowing he had to keep himself under some semblance of control, he decided to take the time and broach the issue. "No, what is it?" He thwarted her attempts to keep kissing him by moving his head just out of her reach.
"Well, I was just thinking a lot last night... And I was wondering..." She didn't want to ask because she didn't want to know. But she needed to know. "When you joke about sleeping with prostitutes, are you actually joking?"
House groaned in frustration and rolled off of her, now staring at the ceiling.
"So it's true."
"If you're going to preach a sermon or dig out your psych textbooks and try to diagnose me as a sex addict, I'm going to my own room... and possibly my own state. So don't start."
But what he expected --- and what HAD he expected? --- to follow his ultimatum never came. She didn't even turn away, instead rolling TOWARDS him. He turned his head and tried to read her expression but found himself maddeningly illiterate.
"It takes a couple of hours to get to Sacramento. Do you just want to stay here while I visit the shelter?"
His eyes narrowed. "No, I don't." Her voice had been as kind as ever, but he reacted with annoyance and perhaps a little fear that he had finally crossed a line in her mind where grace couldn't follow. "I'm coming with you," he said resolutely.
"You'll have to meet people," she reminded him. "Unless you want to stay in the car. Or maybe you can go to a movie..."
Her voice was a little too hopeful. "Stop it!" He lashed out with more force than he had intended, surprising them both. "I'm the exact same person I was last night when you had your tongue in my mouth, and you weren't complaining then. So for -"
Her tongue was in his mouth again; she didn't want to fight, and knew that if she came right out and said what was on her mind he would either be very hurt or very angry.
The kiss started out fiercely but ended tenderly as he relaxed under her gentle caresses and soft sighs. They broke apart long enough for him to slip under the covers next to her, his hand running over all the exposed flesh he could reach as though laying claim. He put an arm under her head and they lay on their sides facing each other, nose to nose and sharing breath.
"Can I come with you to the shelter? Please?"
And against her better judgement, she agreed.
House fell asleep soon after that, but Kelly's mind remained wide awake though her body was exhausted. She wasn't ready for one reality to meet another, if this "thing" between she and House could even be counted as reality. She feared that keeping him separate from that part of her life was the only thing that kept her fooled into thinking that when he left four days from now he'd have a reason to come back.
She had only just closed her eyes when he kissed her awake and alert again. "It's almost four," he told her quietly. "Should we get ready to go?"
The advantage of her sleepless afternoon meant that she was able to sleep in the car with him driving, keeping their conversation to a minimum. The few times she was jolted awake by the movement of the car or her head dropping to her chest, she found his hand tightly holding hers and gave him a reassuring squeeze, though she herself was sure of nothing.
They went through a drive-thru on the outskirts of the city and ate at a picnic table before she took her place behind the wheel and drove mechanically to what had been her home for seven years... and she sensed in her heart might soon be again. And yet she felt numb.
Until she walked through the door, that is, and was immediately drawn into the embrace of Molly, one of the first girls who had lived at the shelter and who now worked part time there as she finished her degree at the community college. Looking at her now Kelly could barely picture the rebellious, sullen, foul-mouthed teenager she had once been; Molly had become a confident, happy, compassionate young woman who had chosen not to take for granted the blessing of a new start that she had been given.
And yet this wasn't a completely joyful welcome. Molly was relieved to see her for reasons she quickly went on to explain. "It's Jenna. She ran away after school one day and when she came back last night she wouldn't talk to anyone." She motioned for Kelly to follow, and House, who hadn't even been introduced, limped silently along behind. "There was blood on her clothes, but she won't let anyone near her."
When they stopped outside a closed door, Kelly instructed Molly to bring her some supplies. "And can you show my friend where he can wait for me?"
"Let me help," House insisted, more from not wanting to be separated from her than from actually feeling compelled to lend a hand.
"Not a good idea," Molly said immediately. "She doesn't do so well with men."
"I'm a doctor," he countered. "If she's hurt I can assess her."
"It doesn't matter." This time it was Kelly who turned him down. "It's a sensitive situation. You can wait out here if you want, and I'll see if she'll let you take a look. But don't hold your breath."
Kelly entered the room, leaving the door ajar. House wasn't sure if that was a policy of the shelter or if it was done for his benefit, but regardless he was able to listen in.
"Jenna..."
"Miss Kelly?"
House could hear choked sobs and a string of reassuring words followed by a broken recitation of the facts. And suddenly --- how had it not occurred to him before? --- he understood her reluctance to bring him there.
Molly brushed past him with a large plastic container presumably filled with first-aid supplies, dropping it inside the door and leaving again without addressing him. Then he heard Kelly speaking again.
"Jenna? I have a friend here with me who's a doctor. Can I bring him in to check you over?" The girl must have shook her head because Kelly kept trying to convince her, apparently to no avail. Finally the stand-off ended when Kelly said, "Honey, you know why I need his help. Please."
The next thing he knew, House was being ushered into a large cheery room with two sets of bunk beds and a well-equipped study area. His eyes lingered on every detail much longer than necessary to delay the inevitable. "I'm Dr. House," he told the girl, who looked to be about 16.
He used the waterless cleanser Kelly offered to sterilize his hands and accepted her help in putting on the latex gloves. But when he turned to start the exam she stopped him.
"Double glove, Greg," she murmured quietly.
HIV positive. That explained a lot.
The girl couldn't stop shaking and would not let go of Kelly's hand as House examined the bruising on her abdomen and debrided the scrapes on her back that looked like she'd been drug across the ground. The finger marks on her arm confirmed that theory.
"Has your social worker been here, honey?" Kelly asked the girl, trying to draw her attention away from the pain she was obviously feeling.
"Yeah. She wanted to take me..." The tears returned.
"Okay, I'll give her a call when we're finished here and get it all sorted out. Don't worry."
"I'm... uh -" House stuttered. "I think I'm done. I'm not licensed to write prescriptions in this state, but you need to get her an antibiotic just to be safe."
15 minutes later Kelly was on the phone with social services and House was right there with her, perching on a tall stool at the kitchen island and holding her back against him, his chin on her shoulder. It was a needy gesture on his part but it told her that he understood and was in some way sorry.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for him. The girls arrived home from their trip to the mall, and all but two (who had come to the shelter since Kelly left) surrounded Kelly with greetings and questions. House was introduced but largely ignored, which suited him just fine.
Like Sarah Beth and Randy, all of these girls were in a special summer school program helping them to catch up to their peers. Taking charge with ease, Kelly sent them all to their rooms to work on their homework, quickly squelching rumblings about it being Friday night with a stern but loving look and a promise that she would say goodbye to each of them before she left. She pulled aside the girls sharing a room with Jenna and made it clear how they were to behave towards her.
And then Kelly and the older couple who had taken her place disappeared into the office for a meeting, leaving House alone with his unsettling thoughts.
She returned apologetic. "Sorry that took so long. I took some extra time with Jenna to tell her what I'd worked out with social services."
"It's fine. Let's go." He walked silently beside her, pausing when he reached the car. "Will he be charged? Her pimp?"
"I doubt they'll get Jenna to testify. Even though he was clear with her when she got HIV that she shouldn't come back, obviously she's still hoping he'll change his mind. She wants to keep a door open into that world in case her new leaf doesn't quite turn, I think."
She reached for the driver's side door but he blocked her. "Are they all hookers?" he asked bluntly.
"Nope, not all." Kelly was encouraged by his questioning. "But the majority have prostituted themselves at some point to get by. And a few because they became addicted to the lifestyle or the vices it supported." She put her arms around him then, burying her face into his chest for a moment before asking, "Now you understand?"
He nodded. "I'll drive."
While when he thought of his experiences with paid sex he pictured faceless, consenting adults, she pictured these little girls who turned tricks to survive and who got beat up and run out by their pimps when they tested positive and became a liability. He couldn't say that he felt remorse for his actions, but he felt remorse for how it affected her. And he did understand.