Rating: PG
Chapter One
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
AUTHOR'S NOTE #1: The end of the rough and rocky road has arrived, and I'm not ashamed (well--maybe a wee bit ashamed) to admit that I'm sitting here crying. I hope all of you enjoy this chapter, and find it a satisfying conclusion to our journey together. If you do find it satisfying, that's due, in whole, to blackmare_9 and
misanthropicobs ,and their insistence that I 'get it right.' Mare actually shaped the chapter with her brilliant suggestions, all of which I shamelessly appropriated.
And now, on with the story (and my silly tears):
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: MORALS AND PROVERBS
Figures,
A lot has happened in the past two days. A mere eight hours after the first dose of WCK 771, House’s fever had broken, and from that point on, the improvement in his condition has been slow but steady. His labs are improving, and the forty-eight hour culture results for the WCK 771/dalbavancin combination have shown complete eradication of House’s strain of VRSA.
It’s going to be several more weeks before House’s kidneys will fully resume normal function and he’ll be able to come off dialysis, but they’d expected that.
He’ll still need dialysis when I take him home; that oughtta be a laugh a minute. Doesn’t matter, though—I’ll put up with whatever he dishes out. It’ll be easy; I’ll just remind myself how close we came to permanently redecorating the living room, replacing the piano with a home dialyzer.
Reminded me of a kid who’s just discovered he can set off the smoke detector by burning his toast—I swear House was fighting the vent just to see how high he could make us jump every time it alarmed.
By early afternoon, after the multiple alarms had everyone’s nerves permanently jangled, Chase had decided that it would be safe to try and wean him from the vent. So they’d lightened his sedation, waited a few hours, and begun the routine process.
Of course, House had to make it exciting for us—nothing routine about him,
Chase had decreased the settings on the vent so that it was providing only four breaths per minute, giving House a chance to breathe on his own during the fifteen second intervals between mechanical breaths. Not only hadn’t House attempted to breathe, his heart rate had fallen alarmingly. Chase had returned the vent to its original settings and tried to soothe
“House, I know you can hear me,” he’d said loudly. “Here’s the deal; you get another thirty minutes to shake off the sedation, and then we’re trying this again. You either cooperate, or I’ll personally declare you brain-dead and donate your body for spare parts. Not that you have anything anybody else would want, but it’s the thought that counts.”
Cuddy and Wilson were concerned when House hadn’t regained consciousness after a few hours, but Foreman had pointed out that not only had he been heavily sedated for several days, but the combined effects on his body of the unremitting high fever and the daily dialysis sessions had left him without any reserves; he needed this time to recoup.
And I needed to do some recouping of my own. Guess I just didn’t let myself realize, until he started getting better, how close I came to losing him. I couldn’t let myself realize that; if I had, my only alternative would’ve been to give up on him. And I couldn’t do that… again. Almost killed us both the first time.
So
Glad I finally told him what he means to me, the difference his friendship makes. House may not have heard everything I said; maybe he didn’t hear anything I said—but that’s okay. I’ll have plenty of time to show him. Deeds, not words.
“He’s just gone back to sleep,” Cuddy whispers. “He’s very weak, of course. But we told him pretty much everything that’s happened, and he seemed to understand it all.”
“Did he say anything? Is he angry?”
“He had a few questions,” Chase tells him. “And he did want to know how he’d wound up on the vent. But I’ve gotta say—he seemed more… amused than anything else, when we told him what you’d done.”
“Not at all,” says Cuddy. “We need to get back to work anyway,” she says to Chase and Foreman. “Believe it or not, House isn’t the only patient here; there’s a building full of ‘em. And I’m happy to be able to say that now we can concentrate on a few of the others!”
As soon as they’re gone,
The tiny grin lifting the corner of House’s mouth isn’t
“Easy; that little habit you have of biting your upper lip when you’re bored. It’s a dead giveaway.”
“You study my body language? That’s just… weird.”
“No it’s not; it’s a survival skill, learned at great expense.” To both of us. And I need to be practicing it more often.
“Speaking of ‘survival’,” House says, “word on the street has it that you saved my life.”
“Yeah, well… you know how reliable word on the street is.”
“Oh, I trust my sources. Heard your methods were pretty impressive, too. And just barely legal.”
Now
“Not gonna deny that.” House’s expression is self-mocking, but
“Why don’t you get some sleep for real? You relapse now, I’ll have to go through that whole tedious saving-your-life thing again.”
House shakes his head; he’s not done talking yet. “You familiar with that old Chinese proverb? The life you save, you are responsible for. Or is that a moral? You know I always get that confused.”
House eyes
House’s eyes close, and he smiles too. And he’s got just one more thing to say. He could swear he says “Stop hovering!” But what comes out is, “I’m counting on it”—and that’s okay, too.
A/N#2: Huge thanks to everyone for your support, encouragement, and praise; it’s been one of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve ever had. And here’s a little gift for your loyalty, and to whet your appetites for what’s coming up; I’ve put it under a cut in case there are those who’d prefer to wait until I officially start posting. See you in two to three weeks with that promised sequel!! mjf 06.15.07