1985

Greg returned to Baltimore, got a job as a lab tech at the county morgue and moved into another studio apartment. He didn't contact Reilly. He would write to her and see how she felt about him coming back. He sent her a short note and included his new phone number. Two days later she called him and told him to come home. So, he packed again and moved back to the apartment they shared before he was put on academic probation. She hugged him when he came in and helped him unpack. She never spoke about their fight and neither did he.

That summer, Reilly also got a job at the morgue. The two of them fell back into their normal pattern as if nothing happened and he never left. Greg was relieved. He did tell her about Lisa Cuddy and Reilly encouraged him to contact her but he didn't.

"You deserve to be happy," she told as they washed and sterilized instruments in a corner of the morgue.

"I'm fine," he told her.

She shot him a dubious look. He laughed.

"I am," he assured her.

She shook her head and didn't mention it again. It was one of the things he liked most about her. She knew when to leave him alone. He realized he missed that while he was gone.

They arrived home that night to find a large package leaning against the wall beside the front door of their apartment. Reilly looked at the return address and laughed with delight.

"It's from Nana!" she told him. "She sent my dress and veil! Help me get it in!"

He lifted the box while she unlocked the door. Once inside, he put the box on the floor while she got a pair of scissors. Very carefully she slit the tape holding the box closed and then pulled out mounds of packing paper. Greg sat on the couch and watched her pull out a sheer, lace edged silk veil and then a long white gown. Finally, she pulled out an envelope and a pair of white silk slippers.

Reilly opened the envelope and pulled out several pieces of notepaper. She sat on her heels while she read the letter. Then she looked up at Greg.

"She made everything I need," she sighed happily. Carefully, she lifted the dress and held it out. The cap sleeves were encrusted with luminous pearls. More pearls covered the tight fitting, scooped neck bodice. The skirt was full and made of a material Reilly told him was organza. The same lace that edged her veil encircled the bottom of her dress and could be seen under the layers of sheer organza. She carried the gown and veil into her room. When she came back, she reached into the box and pulled out a small, ornately carved wooden chest. Opening it, she pulled out a headpiece made of the same pearls that covered her dress.

"Oh," she sighed. "It's all so beautiful. And Pa made the chest. If I have a daughter she will get all this."

"Let's get the box into your room and order some pizza," he told her as he picked it up and carried it into her room.

She put the chest on her dresser and smiled at him. "I want extra mushrooms, black olives, green peppers and tomatoes on it."

"Blasphemy!"

They laughed and went back out into the living room.

Reilly started her fourth year of medical school and Greg started his third for the second time. They saw each other briefly in the morning and again at night. He knew she was busy with school and trying to plan her wedding. She and Smug were getting married on June 22. She tried to convince Greg to be a groomsman but both he and Doug shot down the idea. Meara came to Baltimore several times to help with the planning. Once Blythe came with her. Greg took his mother out to dinner the night before she left. They didn't discuss John, Greg's probation or anything else that might cause friction or unpleasantness. He learned over the years that his mother hated confrontation and wanted to believe they were a happy, normal family. He knew they weren't and never would be but for her he perpetuated her belief. He didn't lie to her because he couldn't. She was like Reilly in that respect. He could lie to others without compunction but not them. So, he smiled and told her about the doctors he worked with and his job at the morgue. They talked about the wedding. She told him about life at the base. In essence, they talked about everything and nothing just as they always did.

One warm afternoon in late April, Greg met Reilly outside the back entrance to the hospital. She slipped her lab coat off, sat down on a bench and folded it across her lap. He sat down beside her and tilted his face up to the sun.

"Doug's firm is transferring him to Los Angeles in July," she said softly. "My advisor pulled some strings and got me a residency at Cedars Sinai."

Greg blew out a breath. "Well, he did it."

"Greg, don't," she pleaded.

"You're at Johns Hopkins, Reilly. You're supposed to do your residency there. You're taking several steps down for him."

"Cedars is a great hospital."

"It's not Johns Hopkins," he said bitterly. "I knew he'd take you away. I just didn't think it would be across the fucking country."

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "You belong to me, Greg House, and I belong to you. Nothing will change that."

He pulled his hand free and stood up. "Smug already did."

Jumping up, her coat fell on the ground and she grabbed his arm. "We will always belong to each other. Not even Doug can change that."

He looked down at her and shook his head. "Maybe," he sighed. "But you'll also belong to him and he doesn't want to share you." He pulled away from her. "I gotta get back. I'll see you at home later."