Dark Paradise - House M.D.

Part 22- Trash Magic

House stirred in his bed that same night; he thought about what had happened back in his office, and the sheer audacity Emily Reeves had to aggravate a man like himself. 

His mind kept replaying the ordeal: 

---"I usually like to get to know someone before I exchange saliva with them," House denounced, pulling out of Emily's kiss as fast as he could, "get the hell out of my office!" 

Emily gently pushed House downwards, back into his chair before attempting to straddle him as she begun to lift one leg up and to the side,

"You'll get to know me plenty, just let me on here," Emily urged, trying to climb on top of his thighs, "stop overthinking it." 

"If anything, you're under thinking it!" House spat back with his arms guarding his body, "you may be used to having your way with men, but clearly you're not aware––I'm not that easy." 

Emily rolled her eyes, and backed off just slightly before saying, "You're really taking that marriage thing literally." 

House suddenly became still when he began to realize something all too familiar:

"That marriage thing." Emily's words swirled around inside his ears.

He forced himself to make eye contact with her so he could make himself crystal clear: 

"Well when you put it like that, maybe I married the wrong person... after all." House stated, referring to the mystery note that had been placed in this Vicodin bottle, "A subtle girl like you? No––writing that note certainly seems beyond you." ---

House got out of bed to make his way to the kitchen where he poured himself a glass of bourbon. In the lo-ball glass, he tossed a single ice cube in and slammed it before slumping down on the couch. 

In the corner of his eye, he saw Madelyn coming down the stairs: 

"Hey," she said with a raspiness in her voice, "what are you doing down here all alone in the dark?" House shook his head and gave her a sympathetic look and shrugged. Madelyn tried her best to give him a warm smile in return, despite a nervous feeling inside that there was something he wasn't telling her, "The baby was pushing on my bladder again, so I'm wide awake now. Can I join you?" 

House, of course, nodded and Madelyn plopped down on the couch beside her husband. She grabbed a blanket to lightly wrap around them both as she was only in a sleeveless, satin chemise, and he didn't even have a shirt on. 

"I need to talk to you about something...." House mumbled, finding it hard to make eye contact with her. 

"Alright..." Madelyn wondered, not feeling good about whatever was to come. 

"I wasn't really sure when or what to tell you, but I think it's best that I just lay it all out." 

"You're scaring me, Greg." 

House took Madelyn's hand in his, kissing it lovingly.

"Your coworker on Westbourne's team visited me in my office earlier tonight... Emily Reeves. She was in a really strange way, and she came onto me." 

"What?" Madelyn's voice cracked, breaking out of its slumber, "She made advances on you?"

"She kissed me, and she tried to straddle me." 

Madelyn's eyes began to well up with tears, and they flowed over and onto her cheeks. Silently, she tried to wipe them away, but with what began as a couple droplets soon turned into a rapid stream. As badly as she wanted to stand up and run out of the house, she was frozen and her body practically shriveled up as she began to curl up into a ball, hugging herself from the knees. Still on the couch, House reached over to embrace her and while he firmly believed she would reject him, Madelyn clutched his arms.