You can live with dignity, but you can't die with it. [Semi-closed; complete]
Who: House and Allen Walker (and Simca if she wants to join them).
What: The aftermath of Cross's death.
Where: Cross's house.
When: Following this log.
House sat on the stoop outside Cross's door, elbows resting on his knees, his head in his hands, while the last rays of the sun sank slowly behind the roofs and the tops of the trees beyond. He knew what it was like to lose a patient; this wasn't the first time, of course. And really he didn't even blame himself-it wasn't as if he'd had time to properly diagnose the man and failed. It wasn't as if he hadn't been good enough at what he did.
Death wasn't like that: it wasn't about blame. People died every day and it wasn't anyone's fault. Even when doctors screwed up, nothing was the product of only one action or event alone.
But that didn't mean that he didn't care. It didn't mean that Cross suddenly wasn't the first person House had ever met in Rivelata. One of the only people still around who'd been here as long as he had. Only not anymore.
The problem was that House didn't know why. And he needed to. He needed to because the "why" mattered.
What: The aftermath of Cross's death.
Where: Cross's house.
When: Following this log.
House sat on the stoop outside Cross's door, elbows resting on his knees, his head in his hands, while the last rays of the sun sank slowly behind the roofs and the tops of the trees beyond. He knew what it was like to lose a patient; this wasn't the first time, of course. And really he didn't even blame himself-it wasn't as if he'd had time to properly diagnose the man and failed. It wasn't as if he hadn't been good enough at what he did.
Death wasn't like that: it wasn't about blame. People died every day and it wasn't anyone's fault. Even when doctors screwed up, nothing was the product of only one action or event alone.
But that didn't mean that he didn't care. It didn't mean that Cross suddenly wasn't the first person House had ever met in Rivelata. One of the only people still around who'd been here as long as he had. Only not anymore.
The problem was that House didn't know why. And he needed to. He needed to because the "why" mattered.