You are mine, and I am yours (Gregory House)

Chapter 10

1980
After a late class during their Senior year, they stopped at their favorite Chinese restaurant and picked up dinner. When they arrived home, they sat on the couch and ate while watching television. During a commercial, Greg looked over a Reilly.

"I know what I want to do once I get my medical license," he said.

"Diagnose patients?" Reilly asked and took a bite of an egg roll.

"All doctors do that," Greg said.

"I know what you want," she told him. "You want to diagnose the patients other doctors can't. You want to solve medical puzzles. But there's nothing like that. What would a department like that be called? Diagnostics?"

"That's it exactly!" Greg said with excitement. "Get a bunch of docs with different specialties and figure out why someone is sick and dying. We could talk about the symptoms until we figure it out. We'd have to do a lot of different tests until we get to the diagnosis but all doctors do that."

"It sounds fascinating but there's nothing like it out there."

"Well, someone will start it or I will," he told her. He grabbed a wonton and popped it in his mouth.

"Doug is driving over on Friday night," she told him. "We're going to Boston for dinner so I won't get back until pretty late. So, feel free to herd a few girls through here."

"Why are you marrying him?"

Reilly looked at him in astonishment. "How did we get from you banging a couple girls to my engagement to Doug?"

"Why are you marrying him?" he asked again.

"Because I love him."She said, though rather incredulously.

"Really? Your mom and dad got married three months after they met. My parents were high school sweethearts who got married after they graduated. You got engaged freshman year and you aren't getting married for almost six years. So, I'm asking again. Why are you marrying him?"

Reilly blew out a loud sigh, "You are not going to let this go are you? Jesus, you're like a damn dog with a bone sometimes."

He leaned in close to her and looked into her eyes. "Why are you marrying him?"

"Because he asked me!" Reilly shouted. "Because I was only in two very short relationships before I met him! Because I don't think anyone else will ask me! Because my parents expect me to marry someone and have children!"

She tossed her carton of Lo Mein in his lap and stalked into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Greg picked up her Lo Mein and looked at her door. He put the cartons he held on the couch and went into her room. She sat on the edge of her bed staring out the window. He sat down beside her.

"Don't marry him," he said quietly, with a clear plea in his voice.

"I'm going to," she responded just as softly. "He loves me. He's going to be a successful lawyer and he's so good looking. Plus, he's really nice to me. And he's willing to wait."
"You don't love him."

She shrugged. "I like him. A lot. I'll learn to love him."

"Those are some shitty reasons to marry someone," he scoffed. "And why do you have to get married at all? I'm not going to."

"That's your choice and I respect that. Why can't you respect mine?"

"Because you deserve to be happy," his eyes softened.

"I will be. Now, we'll speak no more of this" She sounded eerily like her mother as she said this. "We need to study."

Greg knew not to push her even though he wanted to so he got up and went back to the living room. He came back in a few minutes later with two large manila envelopes.
Reilly looked up from her notes. Her eyes widened when she saw the envelopes.