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

Chapter 24

2007
House stood at the butcher block island in his kitchen making a peanut butter sandwich and listening to blues when someone knocked on his door. He licked peanut butter off the edge of his palm and limped to the door. He unlocked it and looked at Wilson standing in the hallway with two suitcases.

"Julie is cheating on me," Wilson sighed. "I was hoping I could stay with you for awhile." House nodded and stepped back to allow Wilson to enter.

Over the next few weeks, House realized he liked having a roommate again despite Wilson's inclination to rise early and spend hours in the bathroom. He played pranks on Wilson just like he did when he lived with Dylan Crandall. Wilson, however, didn't retaliate immediately. When he did, he sawed House's cane nearly in half and caused House to fall. House never felt so proud of Wilson as he did then.

XxXxXxXx

"I hate these things," House complained as he tied his bow tie.

"It's for charity and you are getting a week off clinic duty for attending," Wilson called out from the bathroom. He walked into House's bedroom and pushed his hands away. Then he expertly tied the bow tie.
"Let's go," Wilson told him. "I have a good feeling about tonight. I feel like I might win."

"You suck at poker," House told him.

"How would you know?" Wilson asked as they exited the apartment. "You won't let me join your game." House ignored him and got into Wilson's car.

XxXxXxXx

As they sat at a table with Cuddy playing poker, an emergency room doctor approached her and told her about a patient of hers who just checked in.

"Dr Cuddy, got one of your patients in the ER. Ian Alston, 6-yrs-old?" said Dr. Wells

"Err, oh, I know him, what's the problem?" then she said to House while shoving all her chips to the centre of the table "I'm all in."

"Bloody diarrhea. Hemodynamically stable but he's been developing some co-ordination problems."

"That sounds like gastroenteritis and dehydration. Order fluids and I'll take it on my service. Bet's to you, House."

House listened attentively and then asked. "They scan his head?"

"No, why would they scan-" Dr.Wells got interupted by Cuddy "Don't play games. You gonna call?"

House ignored her and instead asked. "How's the heart rate?"

"Stable."

"I'm sorry. House, it's gastroenteritis. I'm not going anywhere." said Cuddy and then turned to Dr.Wells. "Put the order in, and have someone tell Alan and Sarah that I'll be up when I'm done." Then she turned back to House. "You in or out?"

House paused an then said. "I'm out."

"Oh!" she putted down her cards face up "Stone cold bluff! You might want to spend a little more time paying attention to your cards, and a little less time staring at my breasts."

"They don't match either. I'm going to take some air." he got up and walked away.

XxXxXxXx

He made his way down to the ER and talked to the parents of the patient. He did a cursory exam and then went in search of Kutner. Once he found him, House told him to round up the others and meet him in the Diagnostics conference room. He went up to his office and pulled an old file out of his bottom desk drawer. Taking it into the conference room, he used a marker to divide it the whiteboard in half. On one side he wrote the name Esther and on the other side he wrote Sick Kid. Then he began to list the symptoms.