2013
House entered the conference room and stopped when he saw Kutner writing out symptoms on the board.
"We have a patient with CIPA?" he asked as he tossed his backpack into his office. "That's a diagnosis not a symptom."
"She and her mother were involved in a car accident last night," Cameron told him as he moved to the table to pick up a file.
Reilly brought him some coffee and sat down next to him. "They did x-rays, an EEG, and blood work. No breaks from the car accident, no neurological issues but now she's spiked a fever. They got her cooled down but she wants to see her mom and she's apparently strong. She got away from them this morning and fell off the balcony in the lobby. Her leg is broken."
"Her brain doesn't process pain signals," House muttered. Tossing the file on the table, he picked up his cup. He looked at Kutner. "Go biopsy a spinal nerve."
"Wait!" Reilly told Kutner. She leaned in close to House. "Can I talk to you?" she whispered.
"I don't know? Can you?" he asked innocently.
"Office," she ordered as she stood up. "Now." She turned to the team. "Someone take Hannah to see her mom."
She strode past House into his office. He followed more slowly sipping his coffee. When they were in the office and the door closed behind him, she turned to face him.
"You are not grafting that child's spinal nerve into your leg," she informed him. "She could end up paralyzed and you could end up with an infection from the nerve or Host Graft Disease. Ending your pain isn't worth risking your life or hers."
"Is this how things are going to be now?" he asked stonily.
She sat down. "You can't risk the wellbeing of a patient for your own gain. I know your leg hurts. I know the pain is overwhelming." She looked up at him. "I can't risk losing you."
He leaned heavily on his cane and looked down at the floor. "The pain is unbearable sometimes. I don't want to alienate you because of it."
"What about methadone instead of the gabapentin?" she asked. "It's used for chronic pain."
"In patients with terminal cancer. We don't know the effect it will have," he told her as he sank down in his office chair.
"We'd just be replacing one pain med-" she began.
"For a synthetic one. You gonna stay awake to make sure I don't stop breathing while I'm sleeping?" he asked as he rubbed his thumb across his forehead. "The gabapentin and physio help me think. What if the methadone screws with that?"
"You can't biopsy her spinal nerve," Reilly said firmly.
"You don't understand chronic pain," he told her.
"You're right, I don't. But I do know all the things that can go wrong if you try to transplant that nerve into your leg." She shook her head. "It's your leg but you have to get permission from the mom. Informed permission."
"If I inform her, she'll never consent," he sighed in exasperation.
"That's the only way you can do it. You have no medical reason to biopsy a spinal nerve, Greg. If she agrees and her daughter ends up paralyzed-"
"I KNOW!" he shouted. He got up. "I'm staying at my place tonight."
Reilly rolled her eyes. "Seriously? You aren't getting your way so you're going back to your place to pout?"
"Maybe it's better if we just remain friends," he told her.
"No."
He turned to look at her in surprise. "No? I thought relationships were two way streets or some bullshit like that."
"They require give and take. They require compromise," she told him. "You don't get to leave just because you don't get your way. I'm compromising. You can get informed permission to get the nerve. Compromise. I love you. I don't want you to be in pain but I also know how reckless you can be because of it."
She walked over to him and put her hand on his chest. "I also love those mind-blowing orgasms. You are not cheating me out of them just because you aren't getting what you want. No way, man. Not gonna happen. You go to your place, I'll just come stay there."
House began to laugh. "So, I'm just your sex slave?"
She nodded. "Pretty much. Though I like to think of you as my boy toy. My sexy beast." She waggled her eyebrows. "I'm not giving up that hot House lovin'."
He kissed her forehead. "Okay, you win," he smiled.
All traces of humor and teasing vanished from her face. "No. There's no winning here. We can ask Mrs. Morgenthal if she'll give permission for us to biopsy a nerve from Hannah's spine."
He shook his head. "You're right. Too much can go wrong. We should concentrate on figuring out what's wrong with the kid."
"Okay."
He took her hand and they returned to the conference room.
The next day Volakis suggested Hannah might have a tapeworm.
"What makes you think that?" Reilly asked.
Volakis looked down at the file. She muttered something.
"Come on, now, share with the class," House told her as he looked over the symptoms on the board.
"I biopsied a nerve," Volakis said clearly. "Not a spinal one. One a little further out. I took her to see her mother again last night. She started to cry and said her head hurt. CIPA patients can't cry or register pain. It was interesting so I biopsied a nerve. The insulation around the bundles was stripped bare. So, I tested her B12 level. It was practically non-existent. Since they gave her B12 in the ER, tapeworm seemed the most likely cause."
"And you didn't tell us this because…." House asked turning from the board to frown at her.
"You or Reilly have to authorize an MRI and I couldn't reach either of you last night."
"Do the MRI," Reilly told her.
An hour later, House rolled the teenager screaming and fighting into an occupied OR and proceeded to remove a twenty inch tape worm from her stomach. Hannah stopped screaming and lay on the gurney staring up at the ceiling.
One of the nurses snapped a picture of it with her cell phone.
"I could have one of those in me?" another nurse asked in shock.
"Nope," Kutner replied as he held out a basin for the worm. "You'd be in terrible pain." He put the basin on a table. "Want me to close?" he asked House.
House nodded and snapped off his gloves. He looked at Reilly and inclined his head. She walked around the gurney and put her arm around his waist. Cameron handed him his cane and Reilly and House walked out.
"I want to run something past you," he said as they walked down the hallway.
"Okay."
"Why don't you move in with me while your house is up for sale? I could help you pack things up."
She smiled at him. "I would love that," she told him. "And I can hire someone to box everything up. The girls already put everything they aren't taking with them in storage. I can add the rest until we find a new place. Or I could just live with you in your apartment."
He shook his head. "We need someplace new. A fresh start."
"Then I'll make some calls," she told him. "I'll sell the piano and the furniture."
House stopped. "You don't have to sell your things."
"The furniture is from the house in California all of which Smug chose and he bought me the piano once I found out he had an affair. After one of our many fights, he sold the piano Mom and Dad gave me to teach me a lesson."
"I'm gonna kill that fucking asshole," House growled.
"He's not worth the effort," she told him. "I can play your piano."
Leaning forward, he kissed her gently. "Our piano."
She smiled. "Our piano."
"So, how soon can you move in?" he asked as they began walking again.
"I can go pack up all my clothes right now and move in today."
"Well, go," he told her. "Clear out any space you need."
She kissed him and raced down the hallway.
House sat on the couch watching television while Reilly cooked dinner. They'd been living together for a month. She managed to make all their clothes fit in his armoire and dressers. While doing that, she did all their laundry and arranged all his clothes so they wouldn't be wrinkled. They worked together to keep the apartment clean along with other chores. House found he didn't mind them since Reilly was always there with him. She cooked nearly every night and all the take out menus were stuffed in a drawer in the kitchen. He changed channels and the smell of pizza wafted into the living room. He sniffed appreciatively and settled more comfortably on the couch. Reilly walked out of the kitchen and sat down beside him. He looped an arm around her neck and pulled her in for a deep kiss. Her hand slipped beneath his t-shirt and he moaned softly when her nails lightly grazed his nipple. His own hand had just closed over her left breast when the doorbell rang. She broke away and smiled at him. Jumping up, she circled the couch and opened the door. Wilson and Volakis smiled at her.
"Come in," she told them. Just as she was about to close the door behind them, Kutner and Cameron opened the street door. Reilly opened the door farther and waved them in. House tilted his head back and looked at Kutner.
"You bring it?" he asked.
Kutner held up a game and extra controller. House snapped his fingers and pointed at the television. Kutner sprang forward. Reilly turned to Wilson.
"There are two pizzas in the oven," she told him. "Take them out when the oven timer rings and let them sit for five minutes before you slice them. I also made my mom's Guinness Cheese spread with Irish Soda bread. There's plenty of beer, too."
"Got it," Wilson nodded.
Reilly grabbed her purse, leaned over the couch and kissed House. "Thank you for inviting Larry," she whispered in his ear. She stood up.
"Let's go," Volakis said with her hand on the door knob.
The nightclub was loud and crowded. Reilly, Cameron and Volakis danced and laughed. When the song ended they went back to the bar. Cameron and Volakis ordered more tequila and Reilly ordered another club soda.
"Why don't you and Wilson get married?" Cameron shouted drunkenly at Volakis.
"Because he wants it too much!" Volakis shouted back before downing her drink and then slamming her glass down on the bartop. "And I don't want him to cheat on me! I already have to share him with House!" She looked past Cameron at Reilly. "When are you and House getting married?"
"Yeah!" Cameron whooped holding up her empty glass. "He is so in love with you!"
California Gurls began to blast from the speakers and Reilly put her glass down. "Dance!" she shouted. She whirled out onto the dance floor. Cameron and Volakis followed and all talk of marriage ended.
House was sprawled on the couch watching TV when Reilly came in. He looked over at her and smirked. "You've got paint all over you."
"It glows in the dark," she told him as she kicked her shoes off. "They were doing body painting."
"Your whole body?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.
"No not my whole body. Amber did the whole body thing. And her paint is edible. James is going to have fun."
"Is yours edible?" he leered as he sat up.
"No," she told him. "But you can help me wash it off." She stripped her top off and tossed it at him. He got up and followed her to the bathroom. He unhooked her bra as she slid out of her jeans. While he undressed, she turned on the water and put the plug in the tub drain. Once the tub was filled with steamy water, she turned the faceuts off.
"No smelly stuff," he whispered as he wrapped his arms around her.
She laughed softly and turned to face him. Leaning in, she kissed him. Her tongue slid into his mouth and tangled with his.
"You taste like limes," he whispered against her lips.
"The girls did tequila shots," she murmured as she trailed kisses along his jaw. "They put the salt on my neck and then sucked the lime out of my mouth."
House moaned as he licked her neck. "Jesus that is hot."
"How was your night?" she asked as she pulled away and helped him into the tub. She got in and settled between his legs. Leaning back against him, she sighed.
"I beat Kutner and Wilson at Halo," he told her as he grabbed a washcloth and rubbed soap over. Lifting her right arm, he began to wash the paint off it. "And there's no food or beer left. Kutner is okay. I invited him to join my poker game."
"The one James has been begging you to join?"
He rinsed her arm before starting on the left one. "Yep. Wilson pouted."
"You should let him play," she sighed. "Amber wants Allison and me to join the yoga class she goes to on your poker nights. He'll be all alone."
"I thought you liked going bowling with him," House commented as he wiped the paint off her face. "Where's that expensive stuff you wash your face with?"
"In the medicine cabinet," she replied with a yawn. "We do like bowling with him but we'd rather go to yoga class."
"Fine," he grumbled. "He can come."
Reilly leaned her head back against his neck. "He'll be so happy," she yawned again. House picked up her hands and began to play with her long fingers.
"I found a couple houses that might work for us," he told her.
She turned her head slightly. "Let's live here. We could redo the floors, repaint, buy new furniture, maybe even gut the bathroom," she said. "Most of this stuff is left from when you and Stacy lived here anyway. We could make it brighter and more...us."
"I like the not moving part," he said. "And this place could stand some updates." He yawned loudly. "Let's go to bed and discuss all this later."
"Good idea," she sighed. "Dancing is exhausting."