Update, Just for Gena
The next day found House once again staring at the front of a high school. Somehow Wilson had found out where he was going, and had given him a hard time about it earlier that morning. House had to grin a little as he remembered the conversation. Wilson certainly could hold his own when it came to smart ass remarks. Today it had been “What, back in High School and still not getting any?” After receiving a glare that could melt steel, Wilson had retreated, leaving House to come up with some excuse to give to Cameron, Foreman, and Chase. He didn’t think they bought it, but he also didn’t really care.
Looking at the school he had to note what a difference a few days could make. When he had entered the building on Saturday it has seemed almost spooky with the loneliness it exuded. Now it was anything but spooky. It was bustling with students hurrying to get to homeroom on time, and House felt even more out of place among all the active bodies. He found the office easily enough, and approached the desk slowly, wanting to prolong the inevitable. He knew that he would have to enter the mass of students filling the halls sooner or later, but if it was all the same he preferred later. A tall read head was standing behind the desk and gave him a small smile as he approached.
“Can I help you?” She asked.
“Um, yeah, I’m Dr. House. I’m here to see…” he pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket and after a quick glance returned it. “…Abby Rodgers.”
“Oh, sure, just fill out this sheet, and grab a visitor’s sticker. Do you know where to go?” The red head asked.
“Is it the same place that the SEE lessons are held?”
“Yep. Do you want someone to escort you?” she asked looking around, presumably for a student aid.
“No, I think I can manage thinks.” With that he took one of the annoyingly red stickers, and placed it on his bag. As he entered the large open area in front of the office he could see that this part of the building was much newer then the part where he had been the other day. He saw one of the SEE signs hanging halfway off the wall, and quickly oriented himself. As he limped down the hall he saw all the strange looks that kids were giving him, but surprisingly they weren’t of pity, and most kids weren’t looking at his limp or cane, but the fact that he was a strange adult entering their domain. He pondered this until he almost ran into a dark haired girl in a power wheelchair.
”Oh, I’m sorry.” He stuttered, and moved aside.
”It’s ok.” She replied. Her speech was slow, and a little hard to understand, and as House made a cursory glance at her hands and her jerky motions he assumed that she suffered from cerebral palsy. She smiled at him and continued on her way.
In the short time that it took him to find the hallway that led by the library he saw two other students in wheelchairs, and another group wildly signing to each other. ‘What is this place? A special education school?’ He thought, but while there were a lot of special students, they were still a minority. He stopped at the large doors leading to the library. He was 30 minutes early, and he hadn’t been in a high school library in many years. ‘It could be interesting.’ He thought. He went to enter the library but was met with a fairly large set of steps. Counting them quickly and coming up with 14, he decided that it wasn’t worth it. He was about to turn away when a short lady with blond hair waved at him.
“There is another door down further, if you don’t want to deal with the stairs,” she said. He was about to politely decline when she hurried up the stairs. “Here, I’ll show you.”
She led the way to a door about halfway down the ramp that he had used the time he was here before. There was a classroom that led to another door, which in turn led into the library. He had to admit, it was a fairly large library, and a huge collection of computers filled the middle area.
“Thanks.” He said after a moment.
“Sure thing, and if you need anything else feel free to ask.” She said with a smile, and House couldn’t help but get the feeling that she was flirting just a little. He turned to the non-fiction section and browsed the science section, pleased to find a large number of advanced texts. ‘At least schools are teaching something good now.’ He thought. He then took a tour of the fiction section, seeing if there was anything good there. ‘Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, The Stranger…’ They were mostly books in the curriculum. Getting a little bored, he took another glance at his watch and decided that 15 minutes wasn’t too early. Finding the door to the hallway he made his way to the classroom. ‘God, I hated high school the first time, this time is no better.’ He thought again as he knocked once before opening the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As House entered the room it was as if he had stepped into another world. A world where sound no longer had a place and hands were dancing through the air. He felt horribly out of place. He glanced around quickly and didn’t see Erin, and he almost jumped as a voice broke the spell of the room.
"Are you Greg House?" The woman who belonged to the voice asked.
"Yes, I'm here to see, um, Abby," he had to keep himself from stuttering. He hadn't felt this strange since the first day he had walked back into work with his new limp and cane.
"Well Abby is finishing up with some of the 3rd graders, so you can just find a seat and she will be with you in a minute." With that said the woman turned back to the student she had been talking with and once more the room was silent. House made his way over to one of the uncomfortable desks and carefully lowered himself into the seat.
A more careful observation of the room revealed three sections. One was obviously a reading area. Tall book shelves lines three sides and a huge table was lined with soft looking chairs. Six elementary students and a tall, thin, older girl currently occupied this area. The older girl was reading to the young kids, and even though House didn’t understand the signs he found himself watching with rapt attention. The way that the girl signed, it was almost possible to understand what was going on. After another moment she seemed to change. No longer was she the storyteller. She was just another teen chatting with a group of kids. The younger students stood with a loud scraping of chairs. Fingers and hands once again started flying through the air as they lined up to leave. Putting the fist section aside for a moment, House surveyed the second part, and spotted Erin. She was hunched over a keyboard, quickly flicking through a book and typing at breakneck speed. She sat at one of the many computers that lined the wall. House was sitting in the third part of the room, and the only part that looked like a classroom. The girl who had been reading to the elementary kids interrupted his study of the room.
“Are you House?” she asked shortly, and House could hear the slight slur that came from not being able to hear yourself speak.
“Yeah. You must be Abby.” He replied just as shortly. He wasn’t going to give anything to this kid. He looked her over again, and noted the bright blue hearing aids that were almost hidden by black hair. She was very tall, and looming over him, it made House feel very nervous, and that annoyed him. Why should he be scared about anything here? It was just an excuse to get out of clinic duty. That was all. He was NOT going to get emotionally attached. Nope. His thoughts were once again interrupted by Abby.
“Ok, Erin told me about you, and that you need a tutor to learn SEE as quick as possible, so I have only one question before I agree to help you. How hard are you willing to work?” Her voice left no room for questions, and yet House felt the need to ask one.
“I’m sorry?” He was a little put off by her shortness, but realized that it was the same tone he used with clinic patients who didn’t have a clue.
“You want to learn to sign?”
“Yes.”
“Ok, I’m not the type of person to start something I can’t finish, so before I agree to help you I want to know that you aren’t going to back out when things don’t go your way.” She replied.
Looking at the school he had to note what a difference a few days could make. When he had entered the building on Saturday it has seemed almost spooky with the loneliness it exuded. Now it was anything but spooky. It was bustling with students hurrying to get to homeroom on time, and House felt even more out of place among all the active bodies. He found the office easily enough, and approached the desk slowly, wanting to prolong the inevitable. He knew that he would have to enter the mass of students filling the halls sooner or later, but if it was all the same he preferred later. A tall read head was standing behind the desk and gave him a small smile as he approached.
“Can I help you?” She asked.
“Um, yeah, I’m Dr. House. I’m here to see…” he pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket and after a quick glance returned it. “…Abby Rodgers.”
“Oh, sure, just fill out this sheet, and grab a visitor’s sticker. Do you know where to go?” The red head asked.
“Is it the same place that the SEE lessons are held?”
“Yep. Do you want someone to escort you?” she asked looking around, presumably for a student aid.
“No, I think I can manage thinks.” With that he took one of the annoyingly red stickers, and placed it on his bag. As he entered the large open area in front of the office he could see that this part of the building was much newer then the part where he had been the other day. He saw one of the SEE signs hanging halfway off the wall, and quickly oriented himself. As he limped down the hall he saw all the strange looks that kids were giving him, but surprisingly they weren’t of pity, and most kids weren’t looking at his limp or cane, but the fact that he was a strange adult entering their domain. He pondered this until he almost ran into a dark haired girl in a power wheelchair.
”Oh, I’m sorry.” He stuttered, and moved aside.
”It’s ok.” She replied. Her speech was slow, and a little hard to understand, and as House made a cursory glance at her hands and her jerky motions he assumed that she suffered from cerebral palsy. She smiled at him and continued on her way.
In the short time that it took him to find the hallway that led by the library he saw two other students in wheelchairs, and another group wildly signing to each other. ‘What is this place? A special education school?’ He thought, but while there were a lot of special students, they were still a minority. He stopped at the large doors leading to the library. He was 30 minutes early, and he hadn’t been in a high school library in many years. ‘It could be interesting.’ He thought. He went to enter the library but was met with a fairly large set of steps. Counting them quickly and coming up with 14, he decided that it wasn’t worth it. He was about to turn away when a short lady with blond hair waved at him.
“There is another door down further, if you don’t want to deal with the stairs,” she said. He was about to politely decline when she hurried up the stairs. “Here, I’ll show you.”
She led the way to a door about halfway down the ramp that he had used the time he was here before. There was a classroom that led to another door, which in turn led into the library. He had to admit, it was a fairly large library, and a huge collection of computers filled the middle area.
“Thanks.” He said after a moment.
“Sure thing, and if you need anything else feel free to ask.” She said with a smile, and House couldn’t help but get the feeling that she was flirting just a little. He turned to the non-fiction section and browsed the science section, pleased to find a large number of advanced texts. ‘At least schools are teaching something good now.’ He thought. He then took a tour of the fiction section, seeing if there was anything good there. ‘Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, The Stranger…’ They were mostly books in the curriculum. Getting a little bored, he took another glance at his watch and decided that 15 minutes wasn’t too early. Finding the door to the hallway he made his way to the classroom. ‘God, I hated high school the first time, this time is no better.’ He thought again as he knocked once before opening the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As House entered the room it was as if he had stepped into another world. A world where sound no longer had a place and hands were dancing through the air. He felt horribly out of place. He glanced around quickly and didn’t see Erin, and he almost jumped as a voice broke the spell of the room.
"Are you Greg House?" The woman who belonged to the voice asked.
"Yes, I'm here to see, um, Abby," he had to keep himself from stuttering. He hadn't felt this strange since the first day he had walked back into work with his new limp and cane.
"Well Abby is finishing up with some of the 3rd graders, so you can just find a seat and she will be with you in a minute." With that said the woman turned back to the student she had been talking with and once more the room was silent. House made his way over to one of the uncomfortable desks and carefully lowered himself into the seat.
A more careful observation of the room revealed three sections. One was obviously a reading area. Tall book shelves lines three sides and a huge table was lined with soft looking chairs. Six elementary students and a tall, thin, older girl currently occupied this area. The older girl was reading to the young kids, and even though House didn’t understand the signs he found himself watching with rapt attention. The way that the girl signed, it was almost possible to understand what was going on. After another moment she seemed to change. No longer was she the storyteller. She was just another teen chatting with a group of kids. The younger students stood with a loud scraping of chairs. Fingers and hands once again started flying through the air as they lined up to leave. Putting the fist section aside for a moment, House surveyed the second part, and spotted Erin. She was hunched over a keyboard, quickly flicking through a book and typing at breakneck speed. She sat at one of the many computers that lined the wall. House was sitting in the third part of the room, and the only part that looked like a classroom. The girl who had been reading to the elementary kids interrupted his study of the room.
“Are you House?” she asked shortly, and House could hear the slight slur that came from not being able to hear yourself speak.
“Yeah. You must be Abby.” He replied just as shortly. He wasn’t going to give anything to this kid. He looked her over again, and noted the bright blue hearing aids that were almost hidden by black hair. She was very tall, and looming over him, it made House feel very nervous, and that annoyed him. Why should he be scared about anything here? It was just an excuse to get out of clinic duty. That was all. He was NOT going to get emotionally attached. Nope. His thoughts were once again interrupted by Abby.
“Ok, Erin told me about you, and that you need a tutor to learn SEE as quick as possible, so I have only one question before I agree to help you. How hard are you willing to work?” Her voice left no room for questions, and yet House felt the need to ask one.
“I’m sorry?” He was a little put off by her shortness, but realized that it was the same tone he used with clinic patients who didn’t have a clue.
“You want to learn to sign?”
“Yes.”
“Ok, I’m not the type of person to start something I can’t finish, so before I agree to help you I want to know that you aren’t going to back out when things don’t go your way.” She replied.