(no subject)
Title: The Fragility of Time
Rating: T
Pairing: House/Cameron-Friendship
Genre: Angst, Drama, Hurt/Comfort Comment: Alright guys, this is kind of different and I don’t know if it’s going to be any good. It’s kind of AU and I got a little bit inspired by JMs character in Stirs of Echoes. So Cameron won’t be part of House’s team in this story, he’s still with Stacy who is silently watching him wasting away.
Beta: Angelaalex <3 Thank you so much!
Disclaimer: I do not own House MD or any other character of the show.
Chapter 1
He tried to remember a time without pain.
In kindergarten he was beaten up for the first time - by a girl. Olivia…Maybe he should’ve shared his lunch with her, but in his eyes she was fat enough. He wouldn’t share - ever.
And than there was High School…Some guy broke his arm with his Lacrosse bat while he was a sophomore. Repeatedly turning it over in his mind, in the end he came to the conclusion he did it on purpose. Revenge for the insults, the sarcasm and his baby sister’s broken heart. He cared less.
Or in college when he had to convince his friends that he could drink a bottle of whisky and still be able to drive home. It ended at the hospital - 3 broken ribs, a minor concussion and the loss of his driving license.
Sighing he realized there was never an absence of pain. It was always different, changing from the jabbing pain in his head to the dull one he currently felt in his leg. He would happily break his arm everyday if he could get rid of the dull ache in his leg. Make a wish…
Rolling onto his back he blinked trying to realize exactly where he was. He felt the woman next to him stir, cuddling against his chest. It was odd - he used to love her, at least he thought he could remember loving her a long time ago. Right now he was hardly able to look at her. There had to be some kind of mistake because there was no rational reason why she was still her - why he was still here, angry and disoriented, unable to breathe properly.
He got up - relieved when he heard his pager going off. An excuse. A moan escaped her throat, causing him to look back down while swallowing some of his happy pills. At an age of 44 she was still pretty - in some way. He still got a hard on seeing her naked or smelling her vanilla skin but there was nothing left. She was the hooker he didn’t need to pay for.
“You’re leaving?”, her voice asked, thick with sleep.
He froze halfway up - muscles clenched. Unable to get a clear thought he looked up and met her gaze.
Need to get away from you.
“Yeah, got a page from Cuddy.”
“Alright…Meet me later for lunch?”
No...
“Sure…”
The same question kept crossing his mind. Why was she still here? Why was he letting her stay? Shaking his head he grabbed his clothes and left the room. He only got angry watching her watch him.
Slowly he made his way into the kitchen filling his mug with cold, moldy coffee and just a sip of scotch, swallowing it in an instant. Black dots were dancing in front of his eyes. He’d got used to it. Cirrhosis of the liver he assumed. That’s what alcohol and drug abuse did to you after several years. The pain in his leg was almost bearable when he grabbed his keys and made his way to the hospital - drunk, high, running away.
“House…You actually answered the page? Well that’s new.”
He knew Stacy was jealous of Cuddy even though he couldn’t really understand it. Well she was good to look at but seriously. He would never fuck her. That would be like screwing his sister. But his ‘girlfriend’ did tend to exaggerate things a little bit.
“Page? I’m expecting Paula in my office in 10 minutes.”
“Funny. 23 year old female was brought into the ER a couple of hours ago. Chest pain, vomiting blood, fainting, hypoglycemia.”
House grabbed the case file on his way to his office. When he was walking through the empty hospital hallways it was like he was fading away - maybe that was the reason why he had to announce his presence so loudly all the time. Afraid of getting lost. There had to be someone to notice him, acknowledge his existence. He thought it would be easier this way but god who was he kidding? Dejection.
He leaned heavily on his cane while watching this strange girl in his office. She sat on the ground rolling his tennis ball between her tiny fists. There was an IV stuck into her arm, brown curls pulled back into a messy pony tail and he had a pretty good view at her back. Crimson red panties. He liked it. A smirk crossed his features when he saw the pink fluffy socks on her feet. Hello Kitty? What the hell…?
“Get your little butt out of my office…”, he said in a rough voice making her jump up.
“Sorry…”, she said silently, pressing the ball against her stomach. “I…ugh…”
He frowned, watching her closer. A smile crossed her features when she saw his cane, getting next to him on her knees.
“It has flames on it…”, she said brightly looking up at the older man - glowing.
“Uh…yeah, pretty cool isn’t it…?” He was taken aback by the childish voice and looked down at her. Pink brooches held back some loose strands and her eyes shined just watching the flames on his cane. She was cute - in some way. Not the nasty one but…he couldn’t place it.
An outsider might have found it odd that he could handle mentally handicapped people way better than the normal ones. Well, after all normal was something everybody had to define for themselves.
Slowly he hobbled to his desk, sat down and started reading the case file. It was strange but she didn’t bother him like most people. Maybe because she wasn’t dumb on purpose. It was somewhat comforting and he couldn’t remember the last time he felt this way - not annoyed by another human being. Perhaps it was her gentle smile or the way she looked - dumb as an 8 year old - at him. Glowing.
She made her way to him, looking closer. “What are you doing?”, she asked not caring to hide her butt.
“Reading a case file - trying to safe a life…”
“Oh, you’re a doctor?”
He looked up, scanning her innocent features. Was she kidding him? Obviously not.
“Well this is a hospital, isn’t it?”
“Um, I guess…Sister Hannah brought me here because my chest hurts and everything is so fuzzy. Than there was a really big woman who stuck an even bigger needle in my arm…”, she showed him her arm and looked quizzically at his leg. “Why are you hobbling? Is your leg hurting?”
“You ask a lot of questions young lady, but…Some evil witch wrenched a part of the muscle out of my thigh.”
“Is it hurting?”
“All the time.”
“Shall I make it better?”
“You can’t”, he said flatly.
“Why not? They always blow on my wounds and it’s getting better”, she declared with wide open eyes, scanning his inconsistent face. “Than they give me candy and the pain is going away…”
Part of him was jealous of her, knowing his own pain would never subside. And here he sat, blaming a retarded woman for his misery.
“Nothing’s helping. Even morphine isn’t working anymore. But I guess you don’t know what this means…”
She looked at him, mesmerized and could hardly handle him being in such agony. Blinking she nodded, grabbing her doll from his desk.
“This is Hannah…”, she says pressing the doll in his face. “Do you want to say ‘Hello’ to her?”
“It’s a doll”, he said matter-of-factly.
She was making a face at him looking up when someone entered the office.
“There are you, young lady. Do you know the whole hospital is looking for you?”
House sat there watching as a nun, an actual real nun, grabbed the wrist of the girl pulling her out of his office. Blinking he shook his head. Was this for real or was this his brain on meth? Creepy. Sinking back into his seat he pulled his legs up on his desk trying to concentrate on the file but falling asleep minutes later.
“I see, you’ve got yourself a new girlfriend…”
House blinked trying to regain consciousness. A sharp pain shot through his thigh making him groan.
“If you don’t have a syringe of morphine in your sexy coat, leave me alone”, he sighed whilst grabbing his Vicodin, swallowing some pills. “And what girlfriend are you talking about?”
Wilson grinned down at him, nodding towards his chest. Looking down at himself he saw ‘Hannah’ cuddled against his chest. Right…This girl was definitely nuts. Hence the Hello Kitty socks.
“At least she’s more active in bed than your wife…”, he groaned.
“Ugh, House…Bad images…bad, bad images…”
“What do you want?”
House got up, limped into the conference room, and poured himself a cup of crappy coffee.
“What are you doing here so early?”
Sighing he turned his gaze towards the fluorescent lights of the city. Cold. Artificial. Gorgeous. Dawn had broken over the busy city but he hadn’t noticed. What he did notice was the lack of scotch in his coffee. It just didn’t taste right and the black dots were getting worse.
“Cuddy paged me. Got a case…”
“Are you running again?”
Their gazes met. House held up his cane. “Got a bum leg, can’t run.”
“How long are you planning to punish Stacy?“
“I’m letting her stay, any more I can’t do. Not anymore.”
“Why don’t you break it off? She’s hurting and you just stand by and watch her suffer.”
“I AM HURTING…” he yelled. “And it’s her fault…”
“House? Sorry to interrupt you, but our patient is crashing…”
He looked up, watching Foreman and Chase hurry down the hallway. When did they show up? And when had things started happening without him realising? Sighing he got up, looked one last time at his used to be best friend before following his ducklings down the hall.
TbC
Rating: T
Pairing: House/Cameron-Friendship
Genre: Angst, Drama, Hurt/Comfort Comment: Alright guys, this is kind of different and I don’t know if it’s going to be any good. It’s kind of AU and I got a little bit inspired by JMs character in Stirs of Echoes. So Cameron won’t be part of House’s team in this story, he’s still with Stacy who is silently watching him wasting away.
Beta: Angelaalex <3 Thank you so much!
Disclaimer: I do not own House MD or any other character of the show.
Chapter 1
He tried to remember a time without pain.
In kindergarten he was beaten up for the first time - by a girl. Olivia…Maybe he should’ve shared his lunch with her, but in his eyes she was fat enough. He wouldn’t share - ever.
And than there was High School…Some guy broke his arm with his Lacrosse bat while he was a sophomore. Repeatedly turning it over in his mind, in the end he came to the conclusion he did it on purpose. Revenge for the insults, the sarcasm and his baby sister’s broken heart. He cared less.
Or in college when he had to convince his friends that he could drink a bottle of whisky and still be able to drive home. It ended at the hospital - 3 broken ribs, a minor concussion and the loss of his driving license.
Sighing he realized there was never an absence of pain. It was always different, changing from the jabbing pain in his head to the dull one he currently felt in his leg. He would happily break his arm everyday if he could get rid of the dull ache in his leg. Make a wish…
Rolling onto his back he blinked trying to realize exactly where he was. He felt the woman next to him stir, cuddling against his chest. It was odd - he used to love her, at least he thought he could remember loving her a long time ago. Right now he was hardly able to look at her. There had to be some kind of mistake because there was no rational reason why she was still her - why he was still here, angry and disoriented, unable to breathe properly.
He got up - relieved when he heard his pager going off. An excuse. A moan escaped her throat, causing him to look back down while swallowing some of his happy pills. At an age of 44 she was still pretty - in some way. He still got a hard on seeing her naked or smelling her vanilla skin but there was nothing left. She was the hooker he didn’t need to pay for.
“You’re leaving?”, her voice asked, thick with sleep.
He froze halfway up - muscles clenched. Unable to get a clear thought he looked up and met her gaze.
Need to get away from you.
“Yeah, got a page from Cuddy.”
“Alright…Meet me later for lunch?”
No...
“Sure…”
The same question kept crossing his mind. Why was she still here? Why was he letting her stay? Shaking his head he grabbed his clothes and left the room. He only got angry watching her watch him.
Slowly he made his way into the kitchen filling his mug with cold, moldy coffee and just a sip of scotch, swallowing it in an instant. Black dots were dancing in front of his eyes. He’d got used to it. Cirrhosis of the liver he assumed. That’s what alcohol and drug abuse did to you after several years. The pain in his leg was almost bearable when he grabbed his keys and made his way to the hospital - drunk, high, running away.
“House…You actually answered the page? Well that’s new.”
He knew Stacy was jealous of Cuddy even though he couldn’t really understand it. Well she was good to look at but seriously. He would never fuck her. That would be like screwing his sister. But his ‘girlfriend’ did tend to exaggerate things a little bit.
“Page? I’m expecting Paula in my office in 10 minutes.”
“Funny. 23 year old female was brought into the ER a couple of hours ago. Chest pain, vomiting blood, fainting, hypoglycemia.”
House grabbed the case file on his way to his office. When he was walking through the empty hospital hallways it was like he was fading away - maybe that was the reason why he had to announce his presence so loudly all the time. Afraid of getting lost. There had to be someone to notice him, acknowledge his existence. He thought it would be easier this way but god who was he kidding? Dejection.
He leaned heavily on his cane while watching this strange girl in his office. She sat on the ground rolling his tennis ball between her tiny fists. There was an IV stuck into her arm, brown curls pulled back into a messy pony tail and he had a pretty good view at her back. Crimson red panties. He liked it. A smirk crossed his features when he saw the pink fluffy socks on her feet. Hello Kitty? What the hell…?
“Get your little butt out of my office…”, he said in a rough voice making her jump up.
“Sorry…”, she said silently, pressing the ball against her stomach. “I…ugh…”
He frowned, watching her closer. A smile crossed her features when she saw his cane, getting next to him on her knees.
“It has flames on it…”, she said brightly looking up at the older man - glowing.
“Uh…yeah, pretty cool isn’t it…?” He was taken aback by the childish voice and looked down at her. Pink brooches held back some loose strands and her eyes shined just watching the flames on his cane. She was cute - in some way. Not the nasty one but…he couldn’t place it.
An outsider might have found it odd that he could handle mentally handicapped people way better than the normal ones. Well, after all normal was something everybody had to define for themselves.
Slowly he hobbled to his desk, sat down and started reading the case file. It was strange but she didn’t bother him like most people. Maybe because she wasn’t dumb on purpose. It was somewhat comforting and he couldn’t remember the last time he felt this way - not annoyed by another human being. Perhaps it was her gentle smile or the way she looked - dumb as an 8 year old - at him. Glowing.
She made her way to him, looking closer. “What are you doing?”, she asked not caring to hide her butt.
“Reading a case file - trying to safe a life…”
“Oh, you’re a doctor?”
He looked up, scanning her innocent features. Was she kidding him? Obviously not.
“Well this is a hospital, isn’t it?”
“Um, I guess…Sister Hannah brought me here because my chest hurts and everything is so fuzzy. Than there was a really big woman who stuck an even bigger needle in my arm…”, she showed him her arm and looked quizzically at his leg. “Why are you hobbling? Is your leg hurting?”
“You ask a lot of questions young lady, but…Some evil witch wrenched a part of the muscle out of my thigh.”
“Is it hurting?”
“All the time.”
“Shall I make it better?”
“You can’t”, he said flatly.
“Why not? They always blow on my wounds and it’s getting better”, she declared with wide open eyes, scanning his inconsistent face. “Than they give me candy and the pain is going away…”
Part of him was jealous of her, knowing his own pain would never subside. And here he sat, blaming a retarded woman for his misery.
“Nothing’s helping. Even morphine isn’t working anymore. But I guess you don’t know what this means…”
She looked at him, mesmerized and could hardly handle him being in such agony. Blinking she nodded, grabbing her doll from his desk.
“This is Hannah…”, she says pressing the doll in his face. “Do you want to say ‘Hello’ to her?”
“It’s a doll”, he said matter-of-factly.
She was making a face at him looking up when someone entered the office.
“There are you, young lady. Do you know the whole hospital is looking for you?”
House sat there watching as a nun, an actual real nun, grabbed the wrist of the girl pulling her out of his office. Blinking he shook his head. Was this for real or was this his brain on meth? Creepy. Sinking back into his seat he pulled his legs up on his desk trying to concentrate on the file but falling asleep minutes later.
“I see, you’ve got yourself a new girlfriend…”
House blinked trying to regain consciousness. A sharp pain shot through his thigh making him groan.
“If you don’t have a syringe of morphine in your sexy coat, leave me alone”, he sighed whilst grabbing his Vicodin, swallowing some pills. “And what girlfriend are you talking about?”
Wilson grinned down at him, nodding towards his chest. Looking down at himself he saw ‘Hannah’ cuddled against his chest. Right…This girl was definitely nuts. Hence the Hello Kitty socks.
“At least she’s more active in bed than your wife…”, he groaned.
“Ugh, House…Bad images…bad, bad images…”
“What do you want?”
House got up, limped into the conference room, and poured himself a cup of crappy coffee.
“What are you doing here so early?”
Sighing he turned his gaze towards the fluorescent lights of the city. Cold. Artificial. Gorgeous. Dawn had broken over the busy city but he hadn’t noticed. What he did notice was the lack of scotch in his coffee. It just didn’t taste right and the black dots were getting worse.
“Cuddy paged me. Got a case…”
“Are you running again?”
Their gazes met. House held up his cane. “Got a bum leg, can’t run.”
“How long are you planning to punish Stacy?“
“I’m letting her stay, any more I can’t do. Not anymore.”
“Why don’t you break it off? She’s hurting and you just stand by and watch her suffer.”
“I AM HURTING…” he yelled. “And it’s her fault…”
“House? Sorry to interrupt you, but our patient is crashing…”
He looked up, watching Foreman and Chase hurry down the hallway. When did they show up? And when had things started happening without him realising? Sighing he got up, looked one last time at his used to be best friend before following his ducklings down the hall.
TbC