2005

One night, they were all working late. Their patient was a thirty-nine year old woman who was twenty-eight weeks pregnant. They were trying to determine why she collapsed.

House stared at the list of symptoms on the whiteboard. Cameron was with Wilson while he did an x-ray of the patient.

"Excuse me," a woman said. House turned to look at her. She was in her mid-fifties and tiny with a cloud of silver curls. Two girls who could only be Reilly's daughters stood in front of her. They both had auburn hair, green eyes and freckles. He pointed at Reilly.

"Mrs. Calloway, I'm so sorry. I lost track of the time," Reilly said as she stood up.

"I have to get home, Doctor McGrath," Mrs. Calloway told her. "You aren't answering your phone."

"Again, I'm so sorry. Leave the girls with me and thank you," Reilly told her.

Mrs. Calloway nodded and left. Sarah and Jennifer stood looking at their mother.

"Go home," House said. "All of you."

"Are you staying?" Reilly asked.

He shrugged.

Cameron walked in. House took one look at her face and sighed. "What did Wilson find?" he asked.

"She has small cell lung cancer," Cameron told them solemnly. "It's inoperable."

"Schedule her for a C-section first thing," he said and turned back to the whiteboard. "There's gotta be a clinical trial for small cell lung cancer starting soon. God knows we run enough trials around this place. Where is Wilson?"

"He's telling the patient," Cameron told him. "She's not going to agree to a C-section. Her husband practically had to force her to get the x-ray. She keeps saying she doesn't want to lose this baby."

"This baby," he whispered. "Reilly!"

"I'm still here so there's no need to shout," she told him. "Allison, will you keep an eye on Sarah while Jenny and I go with Doctor House to talk to Naomi?"

"Mom," Sarah whined. "I'm almost fourteen not three."

Reilly leveled a look at her. Sarah sighed loudly and flopped down in a chair.

House grabbed his cane and started off toward Naomi's room. Reilly and Jenny had to practically run to keep up with him.

Naomi and her husband were talking when they walked in.

Reilly put her hand on House's chest to stop him from entering the room.

"I'm going to talk to her but you have to promise to abide by whatever decision she makes," she told him softly.

"No" he told her. "She's lying to us."

"So what? Ultimately, it's her body and her choice." She led Jenny into the room and smiled at Naomi and her husband, Sean.

"I'm not having the C-section, Doctor McGrath," Naomi told her firmly.

"That's your choice but I'd like to share something with you," Reilly told her. "When I was twenty-six weeks pregnant with Jenny here, I was involved in a car accident that left me in a coma. My ex-husband let the doctors perform a C-section. It was basically me or her. She weighed about a pound when she was born. She's almost twelve now. She's smart, healthy and completely within the norms for a child her age. I just wanted you to know. I think you should have all the facts."

"Do you really think our son would survive?" Sean asked.

"The odds are in his favor but this is Naomi's decision," she told him. She looked at Naomi. "We will abide by whatever you decide."

"How long was she in the hospital?" Naomi asked.

"About six months."

"Would I be able to see him and hold him?"

"You'd be able to see him and hold his hand until he's out of the incubator."

"Doctor Wilson said my survival rate isn't that great," Naomi told her.

"I've found each patient is different. You'd have to undergo the treatment and see how you do," Reilly replied.

Naomi looked at Sean. "I'll do it."

Sean began to cry and laid his head on her chest. Reilly and Jenny quietly left the room.

House grinned at her as they began to walk away. "That story was fantastic! And taking the kid in really sold it."

Reilly released a long, slow breath. She stared at a spot on the wall in front of them. "Jenny, would you please go back to the office and wait with your sister?"

Jenny looked from her mother to House and nodded. Once she was gone, Reilly grabbed House by his shirt and drug him down the hall to the stairwell.

"Cripple!" he protested.

Once they were in the stairwell, she turned on him. "I did not make that story up to get her to do what you want. That really happened. Doug did that so Jenny would survive. He didn't care about my survival. I kept flatlining. I wanted her to see that her son could survive since Jenny did. If she decided she didn't want the C-section and treatment, we would respect her decision. I would never lie to a patient and I can't even begin to describe how much it hurts me that you think I would. I am appalled by how much you've changed, Greg. I know your leg hurts and you're unhappy but you're so different."

"I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't! You never wrote to me or called me or returned my calls! Even now, you don't talk to me about anything but the patients. You have to stop punishing me for getting married and leaving." She walked past him and pulled open the door to the stairwell. He leaned back against the wall and looked down at his cane. He didn't know how long he stood there until Cameron came to find him.

"Reilly said you were here," she told him. "Naomi is having her C-section in two hours and will start her chemo and radiation later tomorrow."

"Do you want to have dinner with me?" he asked looking up at her.

She blinked several times. "Sure."

"Next Friday night? I'll make reservations for Cafe Spilletto."

She smiled and her eyes lit up. "That sounds wonderful." She turned and started to open the door. "Why are you asking me? You said you didn't like me."

"Everybody lies," he told her.