Promise - a House-story
Title: Promise
Author: Hibernia1
Rating/Genre/Characters/Warning/et cetera: PG-13? House & Wilson established relationship/Old-Age-Verse; no spoilers of any kind; 776 words. I've been told it's very sad
Summary: House wants Wilson to promise him something
Beta: more or less un-beta’d. If you see a typo or other mistake, please feel free to point it out (or hit me over the head with it, whatever you feel is best)
Disclaimer: House MD belongs to David Shore, Heel and Toe Films and Bad Hat Harry Productions and probably some other people as well - all of those people are NOT named Hibernia
Yes, still more Old-Age-Verse. And there's more to come.
LOTS of thanks & hugs to my dear friend and wonderful First Reader (and very talented writer)
hilsonlover for lots of helpful suggestions & encouragement! She always knows exactly how to make my stories better.
Promise
“House? What would you like for dinner?”
“Not hungry.”
Wilson sighed and sat down on the couch next to House.
“What’s wrong?”
“Pain’s bad.”
“What if I let you choose what you want to eat? Your pick. Anything. Brownies with French fries, steak with pudding, you name it.”
House didn’t smile at the feeble joke. He just shook his head. “I won’t be able to keep anything down.”
“How about some chicken soup?”
“I said I’m not hungry.”
“Okay.”
“You can eat, though.”
“Yeah. I’ll make something later. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
House looked straight at him. “Actually, yeah. I need you to promise me something.”
Alarm bells started ringing in Wilson’s head.
“What’s that?” he asked warily.
House moved slightly and winced. “My back and my leg are killing me,” he said, “and everything else hurts, too.”
“I know. I think we have to adjust your morphine intake again.”
“I would like to continue to be able to take a crap every now and then,” House muttered.
“We’ll adjust the laxatives as well. You’ll be fine.”
“Right.”
“So, I’ll call the doctor for a new prescription tomorrow, okay? Tonight before going to sleep you’ll just take two pills instead of one. You’ll feel much better. Okay?”
“Sure,” House said, but the tone of his voice told Wilson he was just humoring him.
“I’ll be in the kitchen,” Wilson announced, but House was having a very good day mental-wise and didn’t fall for his distraction tactic.
“I haven’t told you what I want you to promise me yet,” he said accusingly.
“I’m not sure I want to know,” Wilson confessed, immediately feeling guilty.
House grinned. “Well, at least you’re honest about it.”
He was quiet for a long time.
“When it gets to the point that I don’t remember your name anymore, I want you to end it,” he then said, looking at the ceiling.
Wilson gasped. “House, I…”
“Because when it comes to that, all I’ll have left is pain,” House elaborated.
Wilson couldn’t make a sound. All of a sudden, there was a huge lump in his throat and he felt his eyes welling up with tears. He struggled to keep his composure, but failed.
“So that’s what I need you to promise me,” House continued, “no one will suspect you, not with the amounts of morphine I’m taking, so you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
When Wilson didn’t answer, House looked at him.
“Oh, Jimmy… Don’t cry. You know it makes sense. You know I’m right.”
Wilson shook his head helplessly.
“What do you mean, ‘no’? You know it’s only a matter of time before I won’t know who you are anymore. It can take months, or even years, but you know it’s coming.”
Instead of answering, Wilson got up and rushed out of the room, leaving a bewildered House.
He ran straight into the bathroom where he collapsed on the big hamper. He hid his face in his hands and tried to take deep breaths. House had never before given even a hint of having a clear understanding of what his future looked like and because of that, his simple statement had shocked Wilson immensely - even more so because House was absolutely right.
He hadn’t been in there for more than a few minutes when he heard the sound of House approaching. He sighed deeply to compose himself.
House appeared in the doorway of the bathroom looking worried.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” Wilson answered.
“Are you okay?” House inquired.
“Yeah. Here, sit on the toilet.”
House gingerly lowered himself onto the toilet seat and handed Wilson his crutches.
“House, I…” Wilson started, but House stopped him.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Forget I mentioned it.”
“No. No, I was just… taken by surprise,” Wilson said. He walked up to House and hugged him tightly.
“When it comes to that, I will make sure to end your misery,” he whispered into House’s ear, “I promise.”
House rubbed his head against Wilson’s chest.
“Thanks.”
“But I want you to promise me something as well,” Wilson continued. He felt House tense up.
“What?” he asked.
“I want you to promise me that you’ll do everything in your power to postpone that moment for as long as possible. Commit to the Cognitive Training Program. Take a nap in the afternoon. Take B12. Eat healthily without fussing. Stop smoking altogether. Keep your appointments with Bets. You know, stuff like that.”
House nodded. “I can do that.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise. You’ll have to remind me from time to time, though.”
Wilson hugged House even tighter. “Don’t worry, I will.”
Thanks for reading!