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  Chrysalis (Parts I & II) 
 by gorblimey2	

 

 Chrysalis

 Housing in Baltimore was difficult to find but Greg House had rented the
two- story house with the idea that he would sublease a room to a student
or resident. A young med student had agreed to rent the room for $250 a
month plus utilities. House had thought it was all in the bag until the
student took a hacksaw to the beautiful Magnolia tree in front of his
organic chemistry professor's house and when the professor came outside,
the med student tried to saw him too. This happened just two weeks before
the fall semester was to start. When the med student called from the
lockdown facility, Greg was pissed and refused to give him back his first
month's rent, mainly because Greg had already blown it on the horses.

 Greg had been kicked out of Johns Hopkins when he was a med student and
it had taken him five years to convince the hospital Trustees to let him
come back to do his infectious disease residency under Dennis G. Maki, MD.
He was warned that it would take very little in the way of complaints for
him to be escorted out the door. House made the Trustees promises that he
knew would be difficult for him to keep.

Residents aren't paid well and House was well known among his friends and
co- workers for making Abraham Lincoln scream from all his pinching. He
drove over to the student housing at Johns Hopkins and put up a notice on
the bulletin board and filled out an availability form at the housing
department itself. He received two responses. One was from a young man who
said he could pay $200 a month but no more. The other came from Jordan
Palmer who said nothing about the rent and simply asked if House smoked
cigarettes because of tobacco allergies. House wrote back that he did not
smoke tobacco in the house and if Jordan sent him the first month's rent
then the room was Jordan's.

House assumed that Jordan was a male but Jordan had been named after
Jordan Baker, the female friend of Tom and Daisy Buchanan, in the Great
Gatsby. Jordan had grown up in Guthrie, Oklahoma and was a celebrity down
there. She had finished high school at 14, her bachelor's at 17 and her
Master's at 19. She was in her second year of her doctoral program in
Neuroengineering at Johns Hopkins when the couple she rented a room from
informed her one week before the semester was to start that their son was
coming back to Baltimore and that she would have to find another place to
live. Jordan's parents, Clarence and Floie Palmer, were unhappy with this
turn of events because it gave Jordan such little time to find a place and
it would make it impossible for them to check the room out before she
rented it.

Jordan was naive. She had lived in the shadows of her parent's authority
for so long that she didn't realize that, at her age, she was sanctioned
by the state of Maryland to make her own decisions. Since she was a child
her parents had decided everything for her. As a result, Jordan had
experienced some difficulties when she came to Baltimore two years ago.
She had a hard time adjusting to the fact that she alone decided where she
went, what she ate, who she met or how she spent her time. She had to
learn how to manage her own affairs without her parents. She was still
learning this difficult lesson. 

 Unfortunately, because of the overbearing nature of her parents, no male
had ever gotten close enough to Jordan for her to go on a real date. In
fact, Jordan had never had a crush on a boy or knew how to function as a
woman in the real world. She did know how to spend hours on research,
study and academics. She had always been the admired child prodigy but she
had been lonely, having few friends in her life.

 Jordan was getting her doctorate in Neuroengineering and had a part time
job in the Biomedical department doing research. She made a whopping $6.30
an hour. She had a scholarship from Johns Hopkins but it did not include
her living expenses, texts or school supplies. She worked with Dr.
Geocadin, doing research in the field of critical care medicine with a
focus in acute neurological diseases. Geocadin's laboratory research
focused on the development of novel neurophysiological-based measures for
the early injury detection and monitoring, as well as protective and
regenerative strategies for acute brain injuries. Jordan worked 20 hours a
week, no less, no more. Between the rent and utilities, Jordan had
budgeted $300, leaving her approximately $50 a week for food, supplies,
texts and anything else that came up. Her parents were dairy farmers and
unable to give her much money because her brother, who was 3 years
younger, was in college at MIT and they were paying for his room and
board. 

 At the end of last year, the couple that Jordan rented from had offered
to store her belongings in their garage until she moved, so Jordan was
trying to figure a way to move her stuff over to her new lodgings. She
packed as much as she could on her back and rode her bicycle the four
miles to the new house.

 The doorbell rang while House was making a peanut butter sandwich in the
kitchen. He had been expecting the new lodger for the last hour. He opened
the door and saw this strange looking woman staring out from under a large
backpack. He looked around to see if the lodger was with her.

 "Dr. House?" He was amazed at her firm voice.

 "Yes?"

 "I'm Jordan Palmer, I'm renting your room."

 He did a double take. At first he wasn't sure what to say. He gave her a
look of exasperation, "Crap. I had expected a male...I'm not sure I can
rent to a girl."

 She was trying not to collapse under the weight of the backpack so she
began to unstrap it before she fell over, "Your ad with the housing
department didn't specify male."

 House thought about it and said,"Yeah, maybe. But that doesn't change the
fact that I like to let my boys air out every once in awhile and it's hard
to do that with a woman running around."

Jordan was starting to panic and her face revealed it, "I don't know what
to say, I really need a place to stay."

House wasn't happy, it wasn't like he was staring at the next Kathy
Ireland. He couldn't really tell between her ball cap, straggly hair,
sweat pants, baggy t-shirt and Nikes whether there was anything worth
keeping. Still, he had already spent her $250 rent money on two tickets
and hotel room in New York to see Pink Floyd's "Momentary Lapse of Reason"
tour. He had asked the hottest nurse in the hospital and she had said yes.
There was no way he was going to let this opportunity to get his paws on
the nurse slip through his fingers.

Greg House stepped to the side and motioned for her to come in. She
hesitated, "Where can I leave my bike?" She asked.

"Take it out back and you can chain it to the porch posts for now. We can
figure out something else later."

He grabbed her back pack and threw it inside the front door while she
walked around back, locked up her bike and then came in the back door. He
handed her a key, "That's the key to the front and back door, you can use
the kitchen and refrigerator as long as you clean up after yourself. The
washer and dryer are in the basement. Your room is this way. They went
through the living room-dining room combination, through the hall and up
the stairs to the landing where there were four doors. Two were bedrooms,
one was to the water closet and the other to the bathroom with the sink
and bathtub. 

 "This is your room." He opened the door and there was a stripped twin
bed, a night stand, and a small desk. On two sides of the room were bay
windows and on the other wall with the door was a closet with drawers
underneath and cupboards on top. It was a pleasant room and Jordan was
pleased. It was also right next to the bathroom and water closet which
meant she didn't have to go far to take her shower.

She turned around to him and said, "It's nice." She wasn't sure what to
make of him. She didn't really respond the same way to men as the girls at
school did. She saw a taller guy, blue eyes, long face, long ears, long
fingers, angular nose, good symmetry to all of his features and he was
thin. His hair was brown but occasionally she caught glints of red. He
didn't smile and he looked bored. The information on the housing list said
he was a doctor who could be contacted at Johns Hopkins Infectious Disease
Department or at home. He must be smart, Johns Hopkins takes only the
best.

 "Any questions?"

 "I don't think so at this point. Probably later. I have to figure out how
to get my stuff over, I've got a few boxes stored in a garage a few miles
away."

House suspected that she was fishing for him to loan her his car or worse,
drive her over to get her stuff. But she was barking up the wrong tree.
House could care less if she managed to move her stuff. Jordan was really
trying to figure a way to get her boxes over, it never occurred to her to
ask Dr. House. He was an authority figure to her, not someone she would
ask for favors. She thought that the Fortnams, the people that rented her
the room last year, might bring the stuff over for her.

She was a little nervous when she met new people and although her voice
was steady, she had a hard time looking someone in the eye, "Dr. House,
may I please use your phone?"

 "Downstairs next to the front door."

 "Thanks." She went down and saw the phone with a very long cord sitting
on a little stand next to the front door. She called the Fortnams and they
agreed to load her stuff and take it over, they wanted the room and were
more than happy to get her stuff out of the way. There were only four
boxes, none of them too heavy, and a few smaller bags of books. Jordan
cycled over to help load the car and then cycled back and waited for them
to drive over after dinner. They helped bring the boxes in and Jordan
hauled them upstairs.

Jordan started to unpack and realized she hadn't eaten all day and was
very hungry. She thought about it for a minute. She had to buy a couple of
text books, probably $100 each if she couldn't borrow them or buy them
used. Even used they would be around $60 each. She had $200 to last for
three weeks until she got her first paycheck for the semester. Still, she
needed to eat so she got on her bike and pedaled over to the store and
found some rice-a-roni on sale and purchased a couple of boxes. She bought
half a chicken to go with it. She could live on two boxes for several
days, at least until she could find out how much the books were going to
cost. She got back to the house, locked up her bike and went into the
kitchen through the back door. 

She went out to the living room and rather meekly asked, "Dr. House, am I
allowed to use your pots and pans, plates and cutlery?"

House looked up from the baseball game, "Are you as dumb as you sound? Of
course, that's what it means for you to have kitchen privileges. Just
clean up after yourself."

Jordan looked at him like a hurt puppy, "Yes, sir." No one, not a single
person in her life, had ever called her dumb. She cut up the chicken in
little piece and browned it with a little salt and pepper. She got a pan
out and started cooking. She had to skip the margarine because she didn't
have any so she used the chicken broth and fat that was left in the
skillet. She took the pot and scooped out exactly half of the finished
product and put it in a bowl. She took the other half and put it in a
bowl, covered it with clear wrap and put it in the refrigerator for the
next day. She ate it in her room as she continued to put things away. When
she was done with the food, she took the dish down and washed up. Greg
House was still sitting on the sofa watching the television.

 It was 9:30 pm when she was finally ready for bed. She came down in her
pajamas and fluffy robe, grabbed a glass of water and went back to bed,
"Good night Dr. House." 

 He said nothing but nodded his head. He couldn't believe her outfit. Long
sleeve pajamas and a fluffy robe and slippers. She was thin, maybe too
thin, long light reddish hair that seemed scraggly and unkept. Her face
was petite with freckles and blue eyes. Definitely not his style.

 House walked into the kitchen and looked in the refrigerator and saw a
bowl of flavored rice. He opened up the clear wrap, grabbed a fork, ate
two large forks full, covered it and put it away in the refrigerator.
House looked around for something else and realized he had some Coco Puffs
in the pantry. He got a bowl and went back to watch television. 

 The next day, Jordan got up, dressed and cycled into town over to Campus
Books Inc. and paid $132 for her two text books, one for Human Anatomy and
the other for Principles of Immunology. She was also taking Mathematical
Methods of Engineering II, but she already had the text. 

 She had $65 to last three weeks until she got paid, or a little over $20
a week. It was going to be a breeze, she had lived on less. She arrived
home opened the refrigerator and looked in the bowl of rice-a-roni only to
see that half of it was eaten. She ate the rest but was still hungry. She
grabbed some water and went upstairs to start reading. After an hour she
went back down and made the second box, setting aside a large bowl of
rice-a -roni in the refrigerator. 

 All week long Jordan would make food and find portions of it gone. Since
she was living on one meal a day for the next three weeks, that one meal
was important to her. She knew it had to be Dr. House, but she didn't want
to give him an excuse to ask her to leave so she kept her mouth shut. She
started leaving earlier in the morning to pedal down to the St. Vincent De
Paul homeless center where she asked for a piece of fruit. She offered to
help out but the nun just smiled and shoed her away. She kept saying,
"Sweetie, you're too skinny, you need to eat." Jordan was kept afloat by
the kindness of strangers. After her doctorate was over, she vowed that
she would donate a dozen crates of fruit to the homeless center.

 Her courses and her thesis were kicking her butt. In order to obtain her
doctorate she had to conduct original research and describe it in a
dissertation. She was trying to develop electrocorticographic (ECoG)
spectral analysis as a method for mapping brain function, in order to
minimize functional deficits during brain surgery for epilepsy. These
methods could also being applied to electroencephalographic (EEG)
recordings in normal subjects so that they may be used to noninvasively
study the brain mechanisms of human language and other higher cognitive
functions. It was especially difficult because in 1990 computers were in
their infancy.

 She was spending late nights in the lab with other doctoral candidates.
It was a little nerve-wracking for Jordan because they were all males,
mostly nerds, but male nerds, and spending that amount of time with mostly
single males made her feel inadequate as a woman and nervous. She knew
that there was something wrong with her and her ability to relate to
others but she didn't know what she was suppose to do about it. The men
seemed to ignore her as if she was just a blip in the lab. Sometimes they
would ask questions about her research or her job, but it was typically
polite conversation meant to make her feel more comfortable or to
encourage her to give them help on their projects. More than anything
Jordan wanted to be able to relate to people.

 She made it to her paycheck and, on the same day she was paid, her
parents had sent her a much needed $75 to help her out. On October 1st,
she put the $250 in an envelope and left it on the dining table and went
to school. Greg came downstairs in his shorts and saw the envelope and
it's contents and shook his head, "Cool." There was a note in the
envelope, "How much do I owe you for utilities?" House figured $50 would
do, so he just wrote $50 on the note and then went on with his business. 

 Saturday night, Greg House's only friend at Hopkins, Doug Madison,
stopped by to watch a video with House. Doug was collapsed on the couch
when he saw the new lodger enter and immediately make way for the upstairs
without saying a word, not even hello. 

 "Is she always that unsocial?" Doug was short, blonde and a brilliant
surgical resident. He liked House because Doug liked people with
personalities, even strange personalities. 

 House shrugged his shoulders, "I could care less, she pays on time,
hibernates in her room from dusk to dawn, and if we're in the same room at
the same time, which is rare, she keeps her eyes glued to the floor in
deference to my superiority. She doesn't pee on the floor next to the
toilet, hasn't brought in any drunk sailors or anyone for that matter, and
she's afraid of her shadow. More important, when I eat her food she keeps
her mouth shut. The perfect tenant." Still, Greg thought that she was
really weird. Greg House had always circled the outer rings of the social
world. Jordan Palmer seemed to have her own orbit off of her own
satellite. She didn't watch television, play music or do anything that
sounded or looked like she had a life. 

 Jordan realized that there was a rhythm to Dr. House's time at the
hospital and that he had certain days on and certain days off. Fridays
meant that he stayed at the hospital overnight. One Friday evening she
bought 20 yoghurts for $3.00 along with other groceries, went home, took a
shower, got dressed in her yellow cotton bikini panties and little thermal
top and went down to get a strawberry-banana, fruit on the bottom,
yoghurt. She grabbed it and a spoon and walked out of the kitchen and
straight into Greg House. 

 He looked down at her with her wet hair combed back, her pert breasts
sticking prominently in front and the little cotton panties covering her
hips and smiled slyly. She gave out a short squeal and looked incredibly
awkward and downright frightened. She was frozen in place.

 He bent down slightly so that he was level with her face. "I'm a doctor,
I've seen just about everything. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you
have breasts and a rather nice butt, unless, of course, you want someone
to know." She threw here arms up around her breasts. "Now, now...you
should be proud of those C cups...they're rather pleasant to look at."

 Jordan ran as fast as she could up the stairs and into her room. Greg was
laughing to himself as he put down his keys and jacket. When she wasn't
wearing her sweats and loose t-shirts she had a great little body. House
grabbed a yoghurt and sat down to eat. *** House had never really given
much thought to his new tenant. He knew she was quiet and that she liked
poetry because he had seen a book of it in her hand one day. Other than
that, he knew nothing about her. He started to wonder about her and why
she hid such a sweet body under such ugly clothes. 

 Jordan tried to stay in her room for the rest of the evening wondering
why he was home since it was Friday night. She didn't like Gregory House.
He had called her dumb and he had talked about her breasts, two things no
one had ever mentioned to her. How did he know she had C cups? She took
her top off and stared at the full length mirror attached behind the door.
Her breasts were very round and high with pink nipples that sometimes
weren't prominent unless they had been stimulated by clothing or the cold.
She had never really looked at her breasts before, they had always just
been something she put into a bra and washed in the shower. She shook her
head and put her top back on along with a robe. She was still hungry and
wanted a glass of water so she grabbed the empty yoghurt container, dirty
spoon and tried to sneak down the stairs. She would have made it except
the last tread squeaked under her weight and he looked up from the couch.

 He looked right at her and she looked back at him. She diverted her eyes
down and ran into the kitchen. In the trash were three yoghurt containers.
He had been eating her food again. It was killing her budget and pretty
soon she was going to have to beg the nun for a full meals. She grabbed
another yoghurt and started up to her room but he was standing in the hall
smiling wickedly at her.

 He motioned over and said very sternly, "Sit down over there at the table
and eat."

 "I have homework to do."

 "It's a Friday night, you have all weekend to study." He looked at her
like she had no choice and so she quietly went over to sit at the table.

 She looked deep into the yoghurt carton as if it had tea leaves that she
was reading, "Dr. House, why are you home tonight?"

 He smiled, "Oh, you've figured out that I usually have the Friday night
rotation. Well, I switched with someone so that they'll take my rotation
next weekend when I go to New York. Don't look so happy, I know you like
to run around nude so next weekend you'll have the entire house to
yourself."

 She became animated, "I don't run around in the nude!!!:"

 He started to raise his voice, "Oh for God's sake, I was teasing you." He
paused when he saw that this upset her, "You don't get yelled at much, do
you?"

 "No." She looked up and he could see she was nervous and scared.

 "You don't like being alone with a man do you?" He waited for an answer
but none came. "What are you studying?"

 "Neuroengineeering."

 House's head snapped back in surprised. He had expected that she was a
budding Emily Dickinson, studying English Literature and Poetry.
"Neuroengineering? Why?"

 I scored high in engineering aptitude so my parents felt it would
challenge and interest me."

 He shook his head, "Wait, you let your parents choose your career?"

 She looked surprised that he was surprised, "They were right, I do have
gift for it."

 "How old are you?" He suspected she was a freshman because she looked
young. He guessed 18 or 19.

 "21."

 "What year are you in?"

 "I'll have my doctorate next year." She could tell that she had just
stunned him into silence. His mouth formed a perfect "O" and his eyes were
frozen in large circles. 

 "Jesus H. Christ. A doctorate in Neuroscience by 22? What planet did you
say you were born on?"

 "I'm from Oklahoma."

 "I thought toothless cowboys came from Oklahoma, not neuroengineers." She
continued eating her yoghurt and he kept watching her. She was an anomaly
and Greg House hated anomalies.

 "Why do you stay in your room?"

 It was her turn to shrug her shoulders. There were so many answers to
that question. She had work to do, she didn't have money to go anywhere,
she had no one to go with, she felt safe, she liked to read...she could
given him a list, but the truth was that she never got invited anywhere.
As far as the other students and co-workers were concerned, Jordan was a
tiny blip on the radar of life, nothing more. The thought of asking her
anywhere would be done out of pity, nothing more.

 When he didn't get any answers to that question he asked her, "Why don't
you go out with your friends, or bring them over?"

 It was met with more silence. He didn't give up, "Why don't you have
friends?"

 She stopped eating her yoghurt, "Dr. House, are we done? I have
homework."

 "No... why don't you have any friends?"

 She finally let loose and looked straight at him. Her voice was strong,
"Because I'm different. I've always been different. Haven't you noticed
how weird I am? Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go back into my cave."
She jumped up. Went into the kitchen and threw the yoghurt container away
and ran upstairs.

 He was still sitting at the table thinking when she ran past him to go
upstairs. He found it odd that he had met someone with fewer friends than
he had. He wasn't sure it was possible. She was 21 and terrified of life.
She was going to be shocked when she left the soft, safe world of
academia.

 He went to New York and for the first time in over a year, Jordan watched
television. She tried not to watch television because growing up they
never had one on the farm so when she did watch it she couldn't stop. She
sat on the couch eating yoghurts and watching some of the strangest shows.
There was one called 21 Jumpstreet that had this actor who even she could
tell was incredibly good looking. When she did recognize a good looking
guy it was hard for her to sort her feelings both physically and
emotionally. Physically she knew that sex was a powerful drive and she
spent a lot of her free time doing activities that would keep her from
thinking about it. Occasionally she had wanted to touch herself but she
was afraid that if she did, she might like it too much and that would just
lead to wanting things she couldn't have. Kind of like marijuana leading
to heroin. So Jordan kept her hands where they belonged, on a book.

 It was two days before Christmas, Jordan didn't have money to go home and
she was surprised to see that Dr. House took no steps to celebrate
Christmas either. It was the end of the term and she was riding her bike
home when the tire popped and the bike threw her to the pavement. She was
scruffed up but ok. She wasn't sure how it had happened but not only was
the tire ruined but her rim was bent. She walked the bike the two miles to
the bike shop and they shook their heads. 

 "It's going to be about $50 to bend the frame back and replace the
wheel."

 Jordan went white. She had to really watch her money this month because
the research lab shut down the last week of December for the holidays and
it meant she was short a week of wages. She was just going to make it, but
now she was going to be short. She needed to call her parents but she knew
that they were going to have trouble helping her around the Christmas
holidays because they had paid for her brother to come home and help
around the farm.

 Jordan walked the four miles to the house. It had turned cold and she had
forgotten her gloves. Her fingers were freezing. She walked in and saw Dr.
House with his friend, Doug (he had introduced himself in the kitchen one
day.) 

 Doug called out to her, "Hi Jordan, come in and watch some tv with us."
House grimaced at Doug and shook his head "no" to indicate he didn't want
her to watch tv with them.

 "Thank you, but I have to call my folks."

 Her parents said they could send her an extra $100 the first week of
January but not before then. She thanked them, wished everyone a Merry
Christmas and then went up to her room. She took some of the money she had
and paid off the bike shop. She rode home and went up to bed. She started
to cry, she wished she could be home with her family for Christmas. This
was the third Christmas in a row she would spend by herself and it was
always the loneliest day of the year. 

 House worked an extra rotation for Christmas because it meant double-time
on the next pay check. He got off work, drove home through the quiet
streets and found the house dark. He had brought home a turkey meal from
the hospital. The hospital always cooked up a nice meal for the employees
that worked the holiday. He was eating when he heard a thud up in her
room. He listened for a minute, heard nothing more and then went back to
eating. 

 She was achy all over and her ear hurt but she really needed some water.
She bundled up and went slowly down the stairs, hanging onto the rail all
the way. She saw him eating something at the table. She managed a small
smile, "Merry Christmas Dr. House, I left something for you on the coffee
table." As she walked by he saw that her left ear was visibly red. He
continued to eat his meal, thought about asking her if she was ok, but
decided she would say something if she wanted his help.

 She walked back through with a glass of water and ascended slowly up the
steps again, the left ear still very red. He put the paper plate in the
trash, drank down the beer and went over to the television. Sitting on the
table was a wrapped present. He could tell from the feel of the bundle
that it was a scarf. He opened it and realized that it wasn't just a scarf
but a homemade one. She must have made it herself. It was nice, electric
blue with black stripes at the ends. He felt like crap. He didn't get her
anything. 

 He could give her a consult for Christmas. Find out what was going on
with her ear and that slow achy movement she had going up the stairs. He
grabbed his bag and went upstairs. He didn't knock on the door, it was his
house, he just entered. 

 The room was dark and so he turned on a light, she tried to lift her head
off the pillow to look up but she got it up an inch and it fell back down.
She wanted to tell him to get out, but she was just too weak to really
care. He came over to the bed and sat down on the edge.

 He felt her forehead and she definitely had a fever. He took out the
thermometer and stuck it in her mouth unceremoniously. He took out his
scope and looked in the ear. It was very inflamed, probably strep. He took
out some ibuprofen. As he waited for the thermometer to work, he looked
over and saw the thread for his scarf and the crochet needle. He smiled
and then reached over and read the thermometer, 102 F. 

 "You probably have a strep infection. I'm going to give you a
prescription for ampicillin. Take these Motrin to bring down the fever and
take some of the pain away. I'll get you a heating pad and you can lay
your ear on it to help with the pain. Get the ampicillin tomorrow and take
all of it, the whole course, even if you feel better." He put away his
stuff in his medical bag, got up and looked back down at her. She was
staring up at him with glassy, feverish eyes and looking like a sick puppy
dog, "Merry Christmas, thanks for the scarf."

 He turned around to leave and saw above her desk a drawing on an 81/2 by
14 inch piece of paper. It was pretty simplistic...just an amateur drawing
of a Christmas tree with ornaments, a star and presents under the tree. He
looked at it and then the stack of text books all around and realized it
was the only decoration in the room besides one photo of her and what was
obviously her family. He turned out the light and left.

 House went back down to the living room and picked up the scarf. Except
for the shirt and sweater his mother had sent him, this was the only gift
he had gotten. The fact that she had taken time out to make it for him
made him wonder even more about her. He knew one thing, that drawing of
the tree meant one thing, she was lonely. He thought to himself, "Welcome
to my world."

 The day after Christmas, Jordan grabbed her purse and pulled out her
wallet. She set aside the $300 for the rent and utilities and had $8.84
left. She took the $8.84 and went downstairs, put on her coat and gloves
and walked out the kitchen door to her bike. She could hardly move but she
knew she needed to get the medicine. She pedaled over to the local
Walgreens and asked the pharmacist, "Can you tell me how much it is going
to be to fill this prescription?

 "Do you have a pharmacy card or health insurance?

 "No."

 He looked it up and said, "$19.33." She must have looked like he hit her
because he quickly said,"If you sign up for the pharmacy card, it's only
$17.22."

 She thought a minute, if she could buy half now and half when her
parent's money arrived next week, maybe she could get by. "How much will
$8.84 buy?"

 "I'm sorry, but it's the drug store's policy to only sell antibiotics in
their full prescription because you need to take the full course. I'm
afraid it's the same policy in all the pharmacies."

 Jordan sat down on one of the chairs for customers who were waiting for
their prescriptions to be filled. The pharmacist came around the counter
and gave her back her prescription. "I'm sorry." He said it and patted her
on the back.

 Jordan pedaled slowly home and crept upstairs. She put the prescription
down on her night table and then went into the bathroom to rummage through
House's medicine cabinet for anything to take away the pain. She found
some oxycontin and took it. She went in, took a drink of water and climbed
in bed.

 On December 30th, House had the day off and was looking forward to
sleeping in and later on watching some videos with Doug. It was too cold
outside to do anything else. Around eleven in the morning there was a
knock on the door. He went to answer it and there was a guy in his early
thirties standing outside doing the little dance you do to stay warm when
you're freezing your butt off.

 "Yeah?"

 "Excuse me, is this where Jordan Palmer lives?"

 "Why?"

 "I'm Dr. Geocadin, Jordan's boss. Jordan promised to come in right after
Christmas and calibrate our machines before the end of the year for some
extra money. She hasn't shown up and that's not like her. She's never
missed a day or been late in two years."

 House opened the door and let the guy in. "She's been sick but she should
be better soon. Let me get her for you."

 "Thanks."

 House went upstairs and opened the door. The smell was bad, it was a
sickroom smell. He opened the dark drapes and looked down at her in the
bed. He saw his prescription sitting on her nightstand and was pissed. If
she was going to be an idiot and not get the medicine then he should just
let her lay there and suffer. He nudged her to wake her up but she didn't
budge. Her ear and face on her left side were bright red...there was an
empty bottle of Oxycontin on the table. He felt her head and she was on
fire. He pulled back her pajama top off of her shoulder and saw red
streaks radiating down from her ear to her shoulders and down her chest.
She also had a pink rash.

 "CRAP, CRAP!"

 He ran downstairs, "I've got to get her to the hospital right away. He
put on his jacket, grabbed his keys and then ran upstairs, wrapped her in
the blankets and started down the stairs with her in his arms. 

 Dr. Geocadin took one look at Jordan flopped over in House's arms like
she was dead and said "Oh my God. Come on, we can get her in my car."

 House ran her out to Geocadin's car and sat holding her in the back seat.
She was incredibly thin. House was talking more to himself than to
Geocadin, "I wrote her a scrip for antibiotics and she didn't fill it."

 "She probably didn't have the money. She lives hand to mouth.
Occasionally my wife and I will invite her for dinner or I'll take her
some leftover food. She lives off of her twenty hours of work that I give
her. She probably makes $500 a month, maybe a little more, but not much."
He paused and looked at House in the rear view mirror, "She's brilliant
though. The University is already planning on offering her a position when
she gets her doctorate. If she goes out into the commercial world she'll
be making more than most surgeons."

 House did the math. He was taking $300 of her $500 each month when in
fact, her share of the utilities was probably more like $30 than $50. He
also realized he probably ate $10 a week of her groceries and there had
never been any indication that she had eaten any of his food. No wonder
she was so thin, he was eating her out of house and home. CRAP, CRAP.

 They got to the hospital and House started barking orders at the interns
and emergency docs. Her fever was 106.5 so he ordered that they get her
undressed and place her in an ice bath to bring the fever down while they
strapped her up to intravenous antibiotics. House had already noticed a
faint pink rash and redness around her joints which was bad news. 

 Her admitting doctor came into the bath area. "House, who is she?"

 "My tenant, she rents a room from me."

 "Christ, why didn't you get her some treatment."

 "I gave her a scrip for ampicillin but she didn't fill it. I've been
working lots of shifts...hell, she's a big girl."

 "Doesn't look big to me. She looks emaciated. Hasn't she been eating?"

 House was feeling guilty and when he felt guilty he went on the defense,
"Hey, I just rent a room to her, I'm not her Dad. Look, I diagnosed her,
gave her a prescription and did my part."

 "She was living under your roof, didn't you follow up?"

 "Are we going to argue about this or treat her? She's got rheumatic fever
and we need to get her on prednisone."

 The ER doc looked at her,"How can you tell?"

 "The rash and her joints are inflamed."

 "So they are. I'll start her on prednisone. You need to go fill out some
paperwork on her."

 House could fill out her name, address and phone number but he knew
nothing else about her. Dr. Geocadin gave him some information on her work
and student information. House was filling the documents out in the
waiting room on a clipboard.

 "This will put her back quite a bit."

 "What do you mean?"

 "She's obsessive about paying bills, I mean obsessive. She sold her boom
box and music when she got hit with a bill for lab fees. When she gets the
bill for the hospital, she's going to want to pay it off. She'll have to
quit school and go to work."

 "She's not an idiot. If she just lets the hospital chase her for six
months, she'll get her doctorate, make a lot of money and pay it off
quicker."

 "I'd like to see you convince her of that. She's an odd duck. Her parents
are incredibly strange and have emphasized responsibility. They tend to
favor their son who is smart but he's not a genius like Jordan. They pour
what little money they have into him and the farm. From the time she was
little she's worked in some way. She worked in their dairy or did her
schoolwork. Play wasn't something they put much stock in when she was
growing up. She never had a childhood."

 "How do you know this?"

 "My wife and I had her to dinner and gave her several glasses of wine.
She had never been drunk and I doubt she's been drunk since. When you get
to know her she's really very sweet. My wife is very fond of her and once
offered to do kind of a make over. You know, cut her hair, put on makeup,
give her some clothes, but she was too shy." He was quiet for a moment
until House finished the documents, "What's going on with her?"

 "She's got rheumatic fever and her fever is too high. They're getting it
down by putting her in ice baths. I've got to get back there. Can you turn
these in to the charge nurse at front?"

 "Sure."

 House went into the bath area and saw that they were getting ready to
pull her out. One of the nurses looked at House, "Her fever's down to 104.

 He shook his head yes and watched as they held her up to dry her off. He
was trying to think of her as a patient but he couldn't help but admire
her breasts and petite body with the strawberry blonde patch of pubic
hair. The ribs and pubic bones were too prominent, but if she gained some
weight she'd be gorgeous. House knew Jordan would be chagrined if she knew
a man was looking at her sexually. He chuckled to himself and then walked
out. There was nothing more he could do. He wondered if he should try and
call her parents? He had their number on a phone bill at home. Nah, what
could they do for her?

 House went home, went into her room and packed a bag, threw it in his
backpack and went to sleep. When he got into the hospital he had almost
forgot that she was still a patient...what was it about her that made
everyone forget she was even there? He went in and saw her watching
television. She saw him and looked down, embarrassed. 

 "How are you feeling?" 

 She started twitching and had trouble trying to pick up the remote
control which indicated to him some brain involvement. "I'm having trouble
with motor skills."

 "There's some inflamation of your brain, it will go away. You're going to
have to be on antibiotics, a low dose, for the next year to make sure it
doesn't come back." He picked up her chart at the end of the bed and read
through it. "Well your fever was down to 101 this morning, that's good.
You look better. I brought you a change of clothes. Of course I found the
selection overwhelming, blue sweat pants, grey sweat pants, red with white
stripes sweat pants or one pair of levis that look like they'd be three
sizes too big on you." He walked over and took his stethoscope and
listened to her heart. There was a palpitation and he was pretty sure that
her heart was inflamed. "Your symptoms should all go away. You might have
some damage to your heart valves, but we won't know that for awhile." He
looked into her eyes, "Why didn't you fill the scrip?"

 She looked down, away from his eyes.

 "Was it money?"

 She looked back up and shook her head yes. "I do have the money for the
rent and utilities, it's in an envelope in my nightstand drawer. You can
get it out."

 "Wait, you had $300 but you wouldn't spend it on antibiotics? Are you a
F#cking moron?"

 She started crying, "Why do you always call me names? I'm not stupid.
That money was yours, not mine. How would I pay you if I bought the
antibiotics with that money?"

 He continued to yell even though the tears were running down her cheeks,
"You are a moron. How would you pay me if you were dead? You could have
died. You have your priorities screwed up. If you don't have good health,
you can't make money to pay your debts. It's simple fucking logic."

 "I had obligations."

 "Yeah and I have a headache." He shook his head in disgust and left.

 The following day she only had a fever of 100 F and was deemed safe to be
sent home to keep her costs down. House managed to scrounge up two months
worth of antibiotics and prednisone in samples from the drug companies and
gave them to her as she was leaving the hospital. It didn't occur to him
until she had been gone fifteen minutes that she was probably walking
home. He ran back inside and told the charge nurse he had to run home
quickly, he had left something on the stove. He got in his car and took
off. He didn't see her at first and then he realized that she was probably
taking short cuts rather than the traffic route. He took a couple of side
streets and saw her sitting down on a low wall.

 "Jordan. Come on, get in."

 She looked up, smiled and climbed in. "Thanks."

 "You have got to learn to stop being a martyr. Why didn't you just ask
for a ride home?"

 "I knew you were working. Dr. House, I know you don't like me, so I don't
expect you to do anything for me. Besides, I've got to learn how to take
care of myself. So far, I've made a mess of it. I've got to find an extra
job, something to help pay the hospital bills, do you know anything that
starts about 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.?

 "It's not that I don't like you, I just find you to be an illogical
moron. Look, I eat a lot of crap and I spend a lot of money on fast food
mostly because I can't stand to cook and clean. What if I cut your rent to
$150 and that includes utilities in exchange for you cooking dinner for me
and cleaning the house. I'll give you the money each week to buy
groceries. You do know how to cook don't you?"

 She looked at him strangely. She knew he wasn't fond of her but he was
being really nice. "I know how to cook. I know how to do a lot of
things...I don't want you to feel like you have to do this for me."

 "Don't worry, you'll soon realize that I look after myself. This just
seems to be a solution to two problems. Don't worry right now about your
hospital bills, I've arranged for you not to be billed until after you
graduate."

 "REALLY?" She smiled broadly.

 "Really." But House had lied. He had simply changed the address for the
billing to go to him in Infectious Diseases. He had informed accounting
that she would make payments of $150 a month for a year while she was in
school but that she would increase the payments when she got a job. He
told them that they could accept that or she'd file bankruptcy. They took
what they could get. House used the $150 that she gave him each month for
rent and made the payment. If anyone had asked him why he did this, he
would have been unable to give them a reason except that he felt guilty
and he really could use someone to clean and cook for him and he knew he'd
pay at least $300 a month for someone to come in and do it for him.

 She was doing better the following week and so House gave her $50 for the
week's groceries. She walked with her backpack down to the store and
carried the four bags of groceries home, balancing them and then sitting
them down because they were too heavy. She wasn't sure what he would like
so she started with something that most people enjoyed, Chicken and
Dumplings and green beans. 

 He got home around 6:00 p.m. and saw that she was excited and worried
whether he would like it. Her voice was slightly elevated and nervous,
"When would you like to eat?"

 He was tired and her perkiness was difficult to tolerate but he looked at
the clock, "Give me an hour to get cleaned up, ok?"

 She nodded and smiled. She set the table with a table cloth she must have
bought with the grocery money. She put candles on the table, set a place
setting and silverware. An hour later he came down and laughed when he saw
the table setting. She came out with a couple of pots. He sat down and she
began to ladle out the chicken and dumplings. She was all smiles. He
watched her put the green beans carefully next to the dumplings and then
she disappeared into the kitchen and came out with a beer. She poured it
into a glass and then sat the rest of the bottle down next to it. She
turned to go and he grabbed her hand.

 "Whoa, wait up, where's your plate?"

 "My plate?"

 "The deal was that you cook dinner and you'd eat with me." He knew that
eating with him hadn't really been part of the deal but he wanted her to
eat and keep up her strength."

 She looked confused. "You want me to eat with you?"

 He wanted to say, "Not really, I just want you to eat. If you want to do
it in the kitchen, your room, outside, that would be preferable, but I
want you to eat." But he held back and simply nodded, yes. "Go get a plate
and bring it out here."

 Jordan hadn't planned on eating with him and now she was nervous. She
fixed a small plate of food, grabbed a glass of water and took it out to
the table. They ate in silence which was fine with House. He didn't want
to talk about the weather or politics, so he said nothing. He had to
admit, he liked the food. House had only eaten chicken and dumplings once
before and loved them. He didn't tell her that he liked them but he ate
them up so quickly, she could tell. "Would you like some more?" He was
rubbing his tongue on the inside of his teeth to dislodge a piece of
chicken and so when she asked he just handed her his plate. She came back
with another full plate. 

 "Dr. House, is there anything you don't like to eat?"

 "Butter beans, wax beans, liver...those are the main ones."

 "You should be easy to cook for then. Tomorrow night is beef bourguignon
over noodles. Does that sound good?"

 He didn't bother looking up at her, "Sounds fine."

 This went on for a couple of months. They started having conversations
about fairly safe things like music, travel, dairy farming and school. He
learned that she did like music, she just didn't own a stereo. She hadn't
traveled much until she went to college and then she had been asked to
join an academic quiz panel that traveled all over the United States.
Usually they holed up in their hotel rooms practicing but occasionally the
local sponsors would organize a tour for the students and she would get to
see things like the St. Louis Arch or the Statue of Liberty. He told her
about his life as a military brat. They both had something in common,
their parents were very strict and their expectations were high.

 Jordan didn't cook on Fridays or Sundays because House had overnight
rotations those days. House started taking the leftovers to work the next
day for lunch. Doug had started coming down from surgery just to get a
taste of the food. "Man the girl can cook. Invite me over. I want a meal
not just these dribbles you've been letting me sample."

 House told Jordan that Doug was coming over for dinner on Saturday. At
first Jordan panicked. Cooking for Dr. House was easy, he didn't really
expect much in the way of food or companionship but Doug was different.
Doug was coming over more often and he would corner her in the kitchen or
in the living room and try to start a conversation. The easy way he
laughed and said kind things to her made her nervous because she liked it.
She avoided going downstairs when he was around because he made her feel
strange all over. When he left she had to read a book to keep herself from
exploring with her fingers to find out why she was having these strange
physical reactions to just the sound of his voice. 

 She decided to make her phoney beef Wellington. She cheated on the crust
by buying ready made philo dough and using it to make the crust. She also
made sherry trifle for desert. While she was busy cooking, Doug came out
to the kitchen to say hello to her and to get some more beer. 

 "Wow Jordan, this smells great. Where did you learn to cook like this?"

 "At home. I did most of the cooking while Mom helped Dad milk the cows in
the late afternoons. I used to love to experiment with food. Now, would
you like a taste?" She held up a spoonful of the Wellington filling and
pursed her lips to blow on it to cool it. House walked into the kitchen as
she fed Doug the spoonful. House was a little miffed that she never
offered him tastes when he would come into the kitchen. 

 Doug smiled broadly, "Oh my God, will you marry me?" Jordan blushed
brightly and the two men laughed at her. 

 House handed Doug a beer from the refrigerator. "I think we need some
wine tonight. He went down to the basement and grabbed a nice 1984
Cabernet Savignon. They all sat down to eat. House poured the wine and
Jordan dished the food out. 

 After a few tastes, Doug looked at Jordan and said with great sincerity,
"Jordan, this is really delicious. This meal is phenomenal. I don't know
if you know, but House brings me in left overs and I love them. So I
begged him to invite me over tonight." Jordan smiled sweetly and Doug
thought she looked pretty in an awkward, disheveled way. 

 They started talking about their childhoods. Doug talked about the
mischief he got into when he was a boy scout. He had his friends put
itching powder in the scout master's sleeping bag and Doug was eventually
kicked out for doing it. They were laughing at all the trouble House got
into with his childhood friends who seemed to follow him anywhere. Jordan
told them funny tales about the farm and how some of the cows refused to
come in until after the other cows had been milked and even then they
would only enter on certain sides of the milking barn. The one thing Doug
and House both noted was that none of Jordan's stories were about having
friends. 

 Half an hour after dinner, Jordan brought out the Sherry Trifle and once
again Doug praised it over and over. Jordan looked at House to see if he
liked it. He smiled in appreciation and Jordan was glad he liked it. 

 As he ate the trifle Doug would occasionally start laughing a little.
When both House and Jordan asked him why he was laughing, he refused to
say anything but then after they hassled him, he relented, "The first time
I had Sherry Trifle was the night that I first had sex. I was 17 and there
was a British family that had just moved into the neighborhood. My mom
made them dinner and they brought desert, sherry trifle. After dinner
their 18 year old daughter asked to see my record collection. That wasn't
the only thing she wanted to see. God, I fell in love with her right away.
We actually dated for a month...a month of sexual bliss I might
add...until a 20 year old poet came on the scene. But now I think of
Sherry Trifle and sex in the same sentence."

 "My first time was one of those frantic awkward encounters in the back of
my parent's station wagon. It didn't last long...or I should say, I didn't
last long. We were both 16 and I'm just lucky I didn't get her pregnant
because her next boyfriend did."

 Jordan was looking a little worried as they turned to look at her. Rather
than discuss the fact that there had been no first time, she simply said,
"Would anyone like some more?"

 Doug patted his stomach and shook his head no, so did House. She cleared
the table and started loading the dishwasher. Doug went into the kitchen
to help. He grabbed a rag and cleaned down the counters. House sat on the
couch drinking the rest of the Cabernet and listening to music. All night
long House watched Doug flirt with Jordan. Doug was a year younger than
House and was considered good looking by most of the nurses, even if he
was short. When they were done, Jordan and Doug came out and joined House
in the living room.

 "Let's play cards." Doug suggested to the two of them.

 "I love to play cards." Jordan's family frequently played cards during
the winter months. "What do you want to play?"

 "What do you know?" Doug asked.

 "Pinochle, Spades, Hearts, Poker, Rummy..."

 House looked at them and suggested Poker. Jordan quickly stated that she
had no money to bet. "Let's play with chips and whoever wins gets to ask
the others to do something for them...like cook a meal, wash their car,
wash their clothes..."

 Doug and Jordan looked at each other and nodded yes. The game began at
7:30 p.m. and was to be over at 9:30 p.m. House was flabbergasted, Jordan
was winning decisively. Doug and House were so far behind that neither of
them caught up and at 9:30 p.m. Jordan's stack was easily double what the
other two had. 

 Doug stretched his arms out wide and smiled warmly at Jordan, "Well,
Jordan, I am your slave...what do you want from me?"

 She thought about it for a minute. "What about a movie of my choice?"

 He looked at her for a minute and then shook his head, "That's great. I
shouldn't admit this but I feel like I just won. When would you like to go
and to what movie?"

 "I don't know but what about next weekend?"

 "Great. Now what do you want House to do? Cook a meal for you? Take you
dancing?"

 "I have to think first. I'll let him know later."

 When Doug finally left he reminded Jordan of the movie and said he would
call her around Thursday to make a decision. When she closed the door,
Jordan went back into the living room and drank the rest of her fourth
glass of wine.

 House was finishing the second bottle that he and Doug had opened. He
looked over at her, "Doug has a crush on you."

 "What?" She gave him a look that said she did not believe him, "I don't
believe that for one minute, he's a surgeon, he could have any girl he
wants. What would he want with me? I don't dress right or wear makeup...
I'm pretty hopeless. I haven't got a clue how to act around men."

 "You could have fooled me tonight."

 "But that was because of you, I'm used to you now. You bark, but you
don't bite. And Doug is so nice, it's easy to get to know him. When I'm
around someone new I get nervous. But I think the wine made it easier for
me to relax. Normally I can't even look at a single guy without freaking
out."

 "I know, you avoided talking about sex every time it came up. You've
never had sex, have you?"

 She looked down and blushed. It was hard for her to look him in the eye
but she finally lifted her head, "I've never kissed a guy or held hands
for that matter." She kept looking away from him and then she finally
looked at him in the eye, "I was wondering if you could teach me how to
kiss as the favor from the game tonight?"

 He burst out laughing, "You want me to teach you how to kiss? What makes
you think I know how?"

 "I've heard the women at night in your bedroom. They sound like they are
either in terrible pain or incredible ecstasy. They all talk to a deity
when they're in there. I hear a lot of discussions with God and Jesus. You
seem to get closer to God too when you're with them."

 He had to laugh, she could be very funny. "I hate to disappoint you, but
those cries aren't because I'm kissing them, at least not on the lips.
Kissing is overrated. Licking, sucking, touching...that's where the action
is. Would you like me to teach you that?"

 "Ha, ha. Look, I don't even know how to go to first base on a date. I
just want to know how to kiss back when or if I get kissed. Or at least
kiss without looking like I have never done it before."

 "Do you know how lame you sound?"

 She took another drink of courage, "I wouldn't be asking you if I was
anywhere close to being sober."

 He thought about it. She wasn't very appealing sitting there with her
hair straggly and wild, her old, baggy clothes. The idea of kissing her
was not high on his list. "Is there any way you could control that hair
and make yourself more presentable? It's hard to kiss someone when they
look like a bad day in a cheap hair salon."

 "I could put it up and put on my skirt. Would that help?"

 "Well go see what you can do, and here, take this." He handed her another
glass of wine, "You're going to need it." He took another drink and
thought the same about himself.

 About fifteen minutes later she came down and it was a good thing that
she came when she did because he was almost asleep on the couch. She had
slipped on a denim skirt that hit her calves. Her reddish hair was combed
back, her eyes had on mascara and she had brushed her teeth and put on
cologne. She had on a tank top with a bra that wasn't padded because he
could see the outline of her nipples. House thought she looked pretty good
for a 21 year old virgin.

 He patted the seat next to him. She came over and sat down. He got up and
turned on some Jefferson Starship, "Miracles." He turned down some of the
lights and turned off the television. 

 "You start out with a normal kiss." He turned to her and she had her eyes
closed tight and lips even tighter. "Wait, you call that normal? You look
like an anal retentive nun who just sucked on a lemon." 

 She opened her eyes and said, well I kiss my parents and my brother this
way. Why?"

 He almost started laughing but realized if he did it would only make this
last longer than it should,"Ok, don't close your lips so tight, open them
a little make them softer and then turn your face to me." She did and then
she started to giggle. "What's funny?"

 "It's not funny, I'm just nervous. Okay, let's try again." She turned her
face to him with her lips softer and more appealing, He leaned in, kissed
her gently and then let his tongue move slightly forward, past his lips
and then resting at the entrance of her lips. 

 She could feel his tongue resting just slightly on her lips and realized
she needed to let him part her lips so she had to relax. She forced
herself to relax and let his tongue come inside. She could feel his tongue
touch her tongue softly and then it started to explore her tongue with
more effort. She answered it with the same force. House was pleased with
her progress, her use of her tongue was just enough to get him aroused
without making him choke. He pulled back and looked down into her face and
smiled.

 House sat up straight, "You're a good student, that's what we call french
kissing."

 "Is that all there is?" She sounded disappointed.

 He laughed, "What did you expect, nirvana?"

 "In the books it's like everyone goes out of control and it's hard for
them to stop...you know they want to have sex after french kissing. That
was ok but I didn't feel any physiological response that wanted me to have
sex with you."

 House roared with laughter at how blunt she was, "I'm sorry I
disappointed you."

 She blushed and started shaking her head no. "I didn't mean it was you,
I'm sure that you french kiss well. And thanks for showing me, but it
doesn't make sense to me. Does kissing really make you want to have sex?"

 Now it was his turn to be embarrassed. "Yes, it can be very arousing."

 "It's probably me. I'm afraid that I'm, uh...what do they call
them...frozen?"

 "Frigid. Look making out isn't just about the french kissing. There's
some body movements that go into it."

 She was still thinking about her response, "Do you think I'm frigid?"

 "How would I know?"

 "Well did I kiss you right?"

 He smiled and put his head back. "Yes." He signed out of frustration,
"Isn't there someone else who can show you, a guy at work that you like?"

 She laughed and put her head back on the couch too. "I did it wrong,
didn't I? I knew I'd be bad at this. I'm pretty hopeless when it comes to
men. I didn't go to any dances or the prom, no one asked me. My parents
said that the boys didn't know what they were missing. But I knew they
weren't missing much. I couldn't even look them in the eye let alone hold
their hand or kiss them. Thanks Dr. House, you've been very kind, I think
I'll go to bed now." She stood up and started to walk past him to the
stairs and he reached out and grabbed her hand.

 She hesitated and looked down at him. He looked from her to the couch and
then pulled her down softly into his lap and arms. He kissed her with the
same amount of tongue only this time he pulled her in and pressed his body
next to hers. Then he brought his hand up and slipped it slowly under her
top and then just rested it on the warm, smooth skin of her stomach. She
shuddered as he moved his hand up closer to her breast. She didn't know
what to do except she knew she didn't want him to stop. 

 After some more kissing he brought his hand up to her breast and felt the
soft round shape under the bra. They continued to french kiss and then
they gave each other little kisses on their ears and neck. He wanted to be
soft and gentle but he really wanted her and was having trouble
controlling himself. He wanted to cup and squeeze her breasts. He wanted
the damn bra off.

 She could feel something getting bigger, moving, pressing on her leg. She
reached down and softly touched the bulge next her leg. He caught his
breath and let out a quick sound of pleasure. She realized that as he was
giving her pleasure by touching her breasts, she could give him pleasure
too, by touching him. She wasn't sure if she would do it right. She
touched him again, softly, and once again he stopped what he was doing
briefly to concentrate on the pleasure she was giving him.

 The touching and the round shape of her breasts, made him feel more
excited than he had felt in years. He'd been touched and groped and
stroked, but this tentative touching, knowing she was a virgin and the
feel of her under the clothing made the sensations more furtive and
exciting, like when he was 16 and just becoming aware of the feel of a
woman. It was a huge turn on. When she would feel him through his trousers
the sensation would make him stop and hold his breath.

 He knew that he was going to have to get control of himself, he wanted to
take her right there, on the couch. If he wasn't careful, the wine would
let him. He started to pull back gently, to let her know that he was
backing off. She grabbed his back and held him closer, "No, don't, don't
stop now. Please." She reached down and unzipped his fly and slipped her
hand inside to feel him. She touched him and gingerly stroked him until he
could no longer breath normally. 

 He looked down at her and said, "Are you sure?"

 She answered him with a kiss and with her hand, "Am I doing this right?"

 He chuckled, "God, yes. You're driving me insane."

 "Show me what to do. I want you to enjoy this." She whispered it into his
ears as she continued to rub her body against his and touch him with her
fingers.

 Just her breath in his ear made him feel like he was going to explode,
"I'm enjoying it, but I'm not going to last long like this."

 She reached around and unsnapped her bra, he slipped his hand underneath
it and felt the smooth skin of her breasts and the rougher tips of her
nipples. He was trying hard to think of something else, anything else so
that he wouldn't come. She took his hand and guided it under her skirt and
to her panties. She kissed his ear and nibbled on the lobe, "You'll have
to shift your weight to get them off.

 He lifted up to get the weight off of her so he could pull the panties
down to her knees. She pulled her left leg up and out of the leg of the
panties. Then he undid his belt and the button on his pants. He slipped
them and his boxers down. He picked up her left leg and pushed it over to
the left for easier penetration. He guided himself inside of her and once
again she reached around the back and grabbed his shirt tightly as he
tried to thrust inside of her. But she was so tight that it was hard work
and he knew that this couldn't be comfortable for her. 

 "It's painful the first time, you know that right?" he said softly and
with some trepidation.

 "Yes, just keep going. I'll be ok." He heard her take in deep breaths
from the pain as he continued. The sensation for him was overpowering. She
was so tight and her body so soft and sensual. He raised up and pulled up
her blouse to look at the now exposed breasts. He took one look and then
he exploded, "Oh...yes, yes..God, yes, yes." Just like when he was 16 he
went blind from the power of the climax. He started laughing and then he
collapsed on top of her. He was too heavy so she tried to pull out from
under him and onto her side. He shifted so that they were on their sides
looking at each other.

 He couldn't do or say anything for a few minutes. He finally looked at
her, "I don't believe I'm going to ask a woman this after having sex, but
are you alright?"

 She looked in his eyes and said, "I think so. I need to go pee though, I
feel moist."

 The doctor in him took over, "You're probably experiencing a little
bleeding from the tearing of the hymen." He realized how lame he sounded
and so he stopped talking and just tried to smile. 

 She smiled back as she got up and sat on the side of the couch and looked
down at him. "Thank you. I really mean it. It was everything they say it
is except for the orgasm part."

 He got defensive, "Orgasms happen later...when you don't tear, when
things heal."

 "Or maybe I'm frigid and I'll never have one."

 "You'll have one, just give it time." 

 "Will you give me one?"

 His eyes went wide and he looked at her like she was insane. "You know,
let's deal with what just happened here first, ok? We can talk about
orgasms later."

 She nodded yes and then pulled her panties all the way off and went
upstairs. She went up to the bathroom and cleaned up. She was having
trouble walking properly, it was still hurting. House wasn't sure what he
was suppose to do now. Did he sleep with her in his bed or did they go to
their respective rooms? The enormity of what just happened finally hit
him. He had just popped the cherry of his tenant, what was he thinking?
Well, he wasn't doing the thinking, his other head was. 

 He stood up and pulled himself together and sat back down. He heard her
yell down, "Dr. House, I'm going to bed, I'm tired. I'll see you tomorrow.
Thanks again, Good night."

 He looked around like he wasn't sure he had heard it right. He went up
stairs, saw that her door was closed so he took a shower. He went into his
bedroom, got in bed, thought about what had happened, shook his head and
fell asleep.

 She woke up Sunday morning and felt below. It was a little painful but it
would be ok. She decided to make some breakfast for Dr. House. She cooked
eggs benedict with fresh hollandaise and scrapple. She made him coffee the
way he liked it. She took the tray up and put it down on the floor and
knocked, then opened the door, she picked up the tray and walked in. Greg
looked up and rubbed his eyes. 

 "I have to go to the library but I wanted to bring you this."

 She gave him the tray as he sat up. He looked at the tray and started
eating. "Thanks." He took a bite and was in heaven, she was a damn good
cook. He looked up, "Are we good?" 

 "Better than good.... Are you ok Dr. House?"

 He rolled his eyes. "Can you please call me Greg, I just made it into
your diary, I don't want anyone to think I insisted you call me Dr. House
while I popped your cherry."

 "Popped my cherry?"

 "Deflowered you? Took your virginity"

 "Oh.. " she thought about it for a second, "Well, I have to go."

 House looked at the alarm clock and decided he could have another ten
minutes before he had to get up and get going. He had rotation today. His
entire day was occupied with thinking about what had happened. One minute
he would be chastising himself for doing something so stupid, the next he
would be thinking about her breasts, her touch or the feel of her body
under his. He was torturing himself either way. He was happy when he was
called in to diagnose a young child who he discovered had a strange staph
infection that wasn't responding to the normal antibiotics. He tried a new
one on the market, Vancomycin, and the kid started to improve.

 Jordan had thought about the sex too. It was a new experience in her
life. For once, something interesting had happened and she liked it. On
Monday night when she made them dinner she sat down and smiled
mischievously at him. He was eating and looking at her with her with
curiosity. "Ok, what is it?"

 "Have you thought about what I asked?"

 "Asked?" He knew what she was asking but he wanted to hear it from her.

 "Will you give me an orgasm?""

 He continued to chew and look at her, he wished she'd buy some new
clothes and work on that unruly hair, sometimes it was hard to imagine
that she had that body underneath those clothes.

 "I'm 31, ten years older than you. You need to find a guy closer to your
age. Why are you asking me to do this?"

 "I don't have any feelings for you." She saw the deflated look on his
face, "Oh, don't get me wrong, I like you, but I don't worry whether
you'll love me or not. I know that I would never fall in love with you. I
want you to enjoy yourself because then I'll learn what it takes to
pleasure a man, but I don't need you to love me. I appreciate the fact
that you're blunt and approach sex like a science lesson. I also find you
attractive enough that kissing you is pleasurable. Am I making any sense?"

 Now, he was amused. She was making sense even if he wasn't sure he liked
what he was hearing. He had no intention of falling in love either, but
she hadn't done much for his ego by saying she had no feelings and knew
she wouldn't develop them. For the first time in his life, he felt like a
piece of meat, something he was pretty sure many of his dates had felt
like. But she was offering free, unfettered sex. If he turned that down he
was crazy.

 "You make perfect sense. You need a little time to heal. It probably
won't hurt as much the next time but it's going to be a little while
before you have an orgasm from intercourse. But there are many other ways
we could get you up on that horse."

 "I was hoping to have an orgasm by Friday."

 He knocked over the salt, picked it up and shook his head like he hadn't
heard right. "Friday? You have a schedule? Why the hurry?"

 "Because if Doug and I have sex after the movies, I want to know what to
do and how to handle an orgasm."

 House stopped in his tracks. She was using him as a springboard to sex
with Doug, "I take it that you do see yourself falling in love with Doug?"

 "He's good looking, he's a doctor, he's intelligent, he makes me laugh
and he's nice to me. There's potential, isn't there?" 

 "Did you ever think that he might not appreciate me having sex with you
if he does like you?"

 "I would think he would appreciate that I had some experience."

 "You think like a scientist. Men are sensitive about sex. I wouldn't tell
him that you're first time was with me, it might be too awkward, you'll
scare him off."

 He saw her thinking it over, "Ok, I won't tell him but I still don't
understand why he would be so sensitive. Can we start tonight?"

 House thought about it. How likely was it that Doug would have feelings
for Jordan, not very likely. He had lots of girls and enjoyed rotating
them through his bed. He'd probably never know about this. "You need
another day to heal, we'll talk about it tomorrow. But you need to do
something with your hair and think about buying some new clothes."

 At dinner on Tuesday night they talked about Jordan's thesis. House was
uneasy, Jordan seemed so intelligent and knew so much more about neurology
than he did. After talking to her he realized she only needed a year of
coursework to get her medical degree, if she wanted one. He decided that
Doug might just fall for her. Doug liked unusual, intelligent and
accomplished women. Jordan was certainly unusual, intelligent and, in her
own limited way, highly accomplished. He wondered if it would work between
them.

 She cleared the table and cleaned the kitchen. She went upstairs, took a
shower, brushed her teeth and actually blow-dried her hair and put on some
mascara. She walked downstairs in her bath robe. House was watching a
Clint Eastwood movie when he saw her standing by the easy chair. When the
commercial came on he looked over at her. Her hair was pretty, not wild or
unkept, her eyes looked bigger and she was actually quite attractive. She
undid the robe and opened it to reveal a very naked and beautiful body
underneath.

 "Jesus H. Christ Jordan. What are you doing?" 

 "I want to have sex, can we do it in your bed?" she continued to stand
there with the robe open. House kept trying to look at her eyes but
couldn't take his eyes off of the breasts and pubic hair. He grimaced. He
knew this was wrong, so wrong, but he jumped up and walked over to her,
stuck his right arm inside the robe and felt her bottom and with his left
hand he fondled her breast. He leaned down and licked the nipple on the
right one. 

 She was matter of fact, "Can we do it in your bed so it's more
comfortable?"

 He didn't want her to talk, he just wanted to touch her, "Yes, yes,
yes..." He looked up at her eyes and led her up the stairs to his room. 

 Jordan made a mental note to change his bedding when she wanted to have
sex with him. She asked him, "Do men like to have sex in the dark or in
the light?"

 "The light. We want to see your body and your face. It's sexually
stimulating."

 "Should I do anything when I get into the bed...like spread my legs or
sit up or...you know anything that makes me look sexy?"

 "First, it's a real turn on to undress a woman, but if you're already
naked, just lie there and let him look at you. Your body is already a big
turn on."

 House stepped out of his trousers and took off his boxers. She looked
down at it and up at him, "Wow, it sure gets bigger, doesn't it? Can I
ask, is yours bigger or smaller than normal?"

 "Now that's a turn off...I know I'm your science experiment, but a guy is
sensitive about the size of his penis. But, since you asked, mine is
normal, maybe a touch longer."

 "Can I touch it?"

 He started laughing as he climbed into bed, "The whole idea of this is
for you to touch it."

 She began to play with him, grabbing and stroking his balls and the
shaft. "Is that how you do it?"

 He swallowed and opened his eyes. His voices was raspy, "Yeah, yeah,
that's how to do it. Alternate the pressure and pace."

 After a few minutes, he moved away from her hand and pulled her body into
the middle of the bed. He slipped down between her legs and began to
delicately lick and then suck and then open the folds protecting the
clitoris with his tongue. He felt her flinch with pleasure when he reached
the clitoris and he smiled, she was going to enjoy this. 

 Jordan was a little uncomfortable with the idea of a man's head being
between her legs, but when he started with his tongue, she didn't care.
With every dance of the tongue she felt a tiny tingling sensation until
the sensations began to cascade. She wanted to thrust or bring him inside
her, but it felt too good to pause. There was a pressure, sensations
building from where he was licking and they started to move out of her
groin and up her chest until all she could feel were the muscles inside of
her contracting and releasing as the sexual sensations overpowered her.
She wanted to grab his head but she didn't want to hurt him. 

 "Oh yes, this must be it, oh God...Oh Greg, Greg...it's ...oh
Greg......"She had her hand on his head and then she pulled her hand away
along with her entire body. She couldn't take the continued sensations, it
was uncomfortable now. As she backed up she could still feel the muscles
inside contracting, releasing, contracting as the sensations decreased and
then all she felt was a pleasant after-glow. He moved up and on top of
her. As he did he entered her. He filled her completely and it was easier
this time, it felt like there was more lubrication. It still wasn't
comfortable but after the pleasure she had just had, it was easy to
tolerate. He began thrusting quickly and forcefully until he stopped in
mid-thrust and made a face like he was in pain. He was moaning ever so
slightly. She wondered what would happen if she contracted her muscles
while he was coming. She clamped down and his eyes flew open. He looked at
her with his mouth wide open. She didn't know if she had helped or
hindered the process. He started thrusting again, "Yes, oh Fuck...oh God."
He stopped thrusting, relaxed and then pulled out of her. She felt some
wetness as he pulled out and soon found out what the books meant about the
wet spot." He rolled over and stared at the ceiling. He couldn't talk, he
could still feel it. Eventually he composed himself.

 "You are on the pill right?"

 "Why ask me now? Don't I have millions of your sperm swimming inside me
now, trying to find the promise land?"

 "Hopefully, they're doing the breast stroke as we speak. That's why I
ask. I should have asked the other night."

 "I'm not on birth control. But the last day of my period was Thursday of
last week. We should be ok for now."

 He shook his head and said, If you're going to do this as a hobby, you
need to make sure the guy uses a condom to prevent AIDs and pregnancy. To
be on the safe side, you should use a back-up birth control. 

 She rolled her eyes, "Yes, Dr. House. I figured if you had AIDS I'd see
pills and other hints of it when I was cleaning."

 "Trust no one."

 "When I contracted my muscle your eyes flew open. Did I do something
wrong?"

 "I was just surprised, that was kind of advanced for your level of
expertise. You're a natural at this, a real overachiever. It felt great
but you have to use it with caution. Don't do it too much or it won't get
the same response. I take it that when you used my name and God's in the
same sentence it wasn't because you got us mixed up in your prayers."

 "The only prayer I had was that it wouldn't stop." Jordan turned to the
side of the bed, grabbed the robe and turned to him, "Thanks Greg, I've
got a few chapters to read. I'll change your sheets in the morning if
that's ok?" 

 She didn't wait for an answer, but he thought as he watched her get up
and go back to her room that this shy, shrinking violet was becoming a
blossoming rose with sharp thorns.

 Jordan went to her room and was all smiles. That had gone better than she
thought. She now knew that a man found it hard to resist a naked body,
liked to have their genitals rubbed and could give you an orgasm with just
their tongue. As for orgasms, she wanted more, lots more. She was hoping
that Doug would give her one on Saturday. She decided Greg was right, she
needed to get protection and she also needed to buy some condoms just in
case he didn't have any.

 House went to work the next day and discovered it was going to be slow.
This wasn't good, it gave him too much time to think about the night
before. He knew this wasn't going to end well. It felt too good and she
was perfect in bed...she had sex and then she got up and left. What more
could a guy want without paying for it? He wasn't into cuddling or trying
to make sweet talk just because you managed to do the universal prime
directive. If he thought too long about her he started to get aroused. He
had to find something to keep his mind busy. House had a certification in
nephrology and so he went to the nephrology ward to see if he might be
needed. There were no interesting cases. He wondered where Doug was so he
wandered up to surgery.

 He finally located Doug in the surgeon's lounge watching some tv and
drinking a coke. He had just finished patching up a motorcycle victim.
"What's on?"

 "A Patch of Blue. You know, Sidney Portier?" Doug took a drink of coke.

 "Have you gone gay on me?" House sat and watched the blind girl running
around in the rain and was frustrated with the premise.

 "When does Jordan get home? I need to call her about the movie tomorrow."

 "Hey man, she's nine years younger than you...are you sure you want to
encourage her? She's probably got a crush on you."

 Doug shook his head and laughed, "Just because you can't get anywhere
with her, doesn't mean I won't. Look, she's pretty, she can cook, she's
intelligent, in two years she'll make more money than I do, she smells
nice and she's a virgin."

 House squirmed a little and looked away, "How do you know she's a
virgin?"

 "Didn't you see how she skirted the discussion on our first sexual
encounters? I'm betting she's a virgin."

 "Why, why not just find someone who knows what to do? Virgins tend to be
all thumbs."

 "There's something about her. Maybe I can be her first?"

 "So, you're going to make a move on Saturday?"

 "If she'll let me." Doug didn't ask House's opinion. If House had one,
he'd share it.

 Thursday night, House was reading a book at the dinner table when he felt
her hand on his left knee and then it traveled up the inner part of his
pant seam. She found her target and rubbed him just a little in circular
motions. His stomach tightened and the sensations were delicious.

 He removed her hand, "This isn't good...this is going to end badly. We
need to stop now."

 She looked at him with a strange grin, "You don't really want to stop. I
wouldn't have made it all the way up your leg if you really believed that
we should stop. Do you have feelings for me?"

 He answered quickly and firmly, "No."

 She relaxed, "Then what are you worried about?"

 "You're 21 and a naive 21 at that."

 "I'm trying to solve that problem." she got up angrily and bussed the
table. 

 He sighed, "Sex without strings with a pretty 21 year old brainiac has to
be a recipe for disaster. I just wish I knew what I was cooking."

 It was already getting really weird. She came back out from the kitchen.
She leaned on the table and looked him straight in the eyes. Hers were
blue too and against the red in her hair they looked bluer, "Just one more
time. There's something I want to try. Please? Then I won't bother you
again, you can go back to screwing nurses."

 Technically, Doug and Jordan hadn't gone out yet so he could always claim
they got together before they started dating. He had to snap out of it. He
was thinking with the other head again. He looked at her and she seemed to
see his hesitance because she took off her top and popped her bra off as
fast as she could. She knew he was a sucker for her breasts. "Just one
more time."

 House put his hand on his forehead and dragged it down his face. He
jumped up and started for the living room but she ran and got in front of
him. "Jordan, get out of my way and get dressed. I can't do this. I won't
do this."

 "You don't have to worry, I'm not looking for anything but sex. Just sex.
You can handle that can't you? Is that it? Are you having problems getting
it up?"

 He was starting to get pissed off. He grabbed her and tried to get her
out of his way but she started to struggle with him. He could see her
breasts bouncing and the physical touching aroused him. He stopped
wrestling her and simply whipped her around, threw her over the arm of the
couch, pulled down her panties, unzipped his pants and entered her from
behind. She was shocked and worried. This wasn't the desired effect and he
was being rough with her. She was pinned and couldn't get away. 

 He grabbed her hair and leaned down. He reached around, grabbed her
breasts and continued to thrust as hard as he could. He was bent over her
and pushing her into the arm of the chair with each thrust, he came as he
yelled in her ear a sound so primal that it scared her. He collapsed on
her and it took him a minute before he pulled out and zipped up his pants.

 He said hoarsely, "is that what you wanted?"

 She was stunned, "No." She thought about it, "But I think I liked it. It
was exciting and different. Did you like it?"

 "Jesus Jordan, I just pinned you down and screwed you from behind."

 "But I wanted you to screw me." She was quiet and then she took his hand
in hers, "It wasn't like you raped me. Greg, come on, let's go upstairs."

 "No, this ends right here. Right now."

 She came up to him and held him. He could feel her bare breasts through
his shirt. "I'm really sorry, I didn't think you'd mind. I thought that if
you didn't have feelings, then sex would just be sex. I knew women had
trouble separating emotions from physiological needs. I didn't know men
did too."

 "I just feel like a sex toy." He couldn't believe he just said that and
sounded suspiciously like one of the many women who had complained to him.

 "You aren't a toy. You've been my mentor, you've given me something no
man has ever given me. You're the first man to treat me like a woman. I
mean physically treat me like a woman instead of a child or a rock to step
on or over."

 He felt really awkward. Her breasts felt so good just resting on him. He
wanted so bad to put his arm around her. She reached up, pulled his head
down and kissed him just like he had taught her. "God, you are persistent
aren't you?"

 "You said there were lots of ways to have an orgasm. I just want to know
what they are. I keep thinking of the other night and I want to feel like
that again. I know I sound depraved, but I've never felt anything as
incredible as that. And you were responsible for it. Please, come on
upstairs."

 She grabbed his hand and led him up the stairs and into the bathroom.
They cleaned up and she turned to him and kissed him while she undid the
button on her denim skirt. It dropped and she stood there in her little
cotton panties. He found the cotton panties endearing, a mark of her farm
days and sensible upbringing. He wondered what her parents would think if
they knew their little girl was seducing her landlord?

 She dropped to her knees on the fluffy mat and started to lick him and
play with him. Her tongue went up, down and behind and then back to the
shaft. She engulfed his sac in her mouth and remembered from the magazine
article that she was to treat him like an ice cream cone. She thought of a
chocolate ice cream cone except she kept a rhythm with all of her
movements. He started to move with her until it was too much and he held
her head still while he moved. She felt the wetness in her mouth and
wondered if she was suppose to swallow or spit it out? She swallowed. He
began to relax and breath again. 

 "I don't even want to know where you learned that."

 "Was it ok? Did I do it right?" She sounded like an Olympic gymnast who
wanted to know if she had scored a 10.

 He just looked at her, tired spent and a little sad. He had created a
monster. "It was perfect. Now let's go into my bedroom and I'll treat you
to an orgasm." He kissed and stroked her and then reached down and within
minutes she was screaming and panting. He had to smile, she really got
into it. 

 When she was done, she looked at him and said, "I could do that by
myself, couldn't I?"

 "You've never masturbated?"

 "I was afraid to, you know, slippery slope, ah too hard to explain...I
can't believe I've wasted all these years worrying about that."

 He laughed at her. She was like a sponge, soaking up everything around
her. She hugged him and he let her. "You don't know how happy you've made
me Greg. I feel like I've been dead for so long and now I'm wide awake and
anxious to see and experience everything. I know this sounds silly to you
but you don't know what it means to me. I can't thank you enough."

 They fell asleep in each other's arms and when House woke up at midnight
to take a leak he looked down at her in the soft lamplight. He liked the
feel of her and the smell of her. She felt warm against his thigh and
side. He wanted to kiss her face and stroke her body. Maybe he'd wake her
when he got back and show her how gentle and sweet sex can be in the
middle of the night. He pulled his arm out from under her and went in to
take a leak. When he got back to his bedroom she was gone. He felt her
side of the bed and it was still warm. He rolled over to her side and fell
asleep.

 Saturday was exciting for Jordan, she went shopping for clothes, the
first time in three years. She only had $30 saved but that could buy a lot
at the thrift store. She looked through dresses and found two for $7.00
each. They were in pretty good shape, one needed some stitching and the
other had a small stain that didn't show much. They both showed a little
cleavage, not too much and they were washable, she couldn't afford dry
cleaning. She found a pair of dark brown trousers and a peasant blouse
that went over it. She bought a nice black skirt that had a little flounce
to it, not much. She also talked the lady at the front in letting her have
a sweater marked $3.00 for $2.00. She found a pair of used black dress
shoes to go with her dresses and skirt. She spent the entire $30.00 but
maybe now House would stop moaning at her. Her next stop was the beauty
college. She could get her hair cut and styled for $8.00. They cut it five
inches to her shoulders, getting off the split ends and styling it with a
side part and some volume. She looked sophisticated and pretty.

 When she got home she washed and dried the dresses and picked the one
that emphasized her waist. It was a simple wrap dress in a deep scarlet
red with a black belt. She cleaned the shoes inside and out and then
showered, put on her makeup, nylons, dress and the gold earrings she had
been given by her parents when she graduated from high school. She looked
in the mirror and sat back. Doug had suggested they have dinner first at
Stuart Anderson's Black Angus. She heard Greg get home and rummage through
the kitchen. She had cooked him a stew which was on the stove. At 6:00
p.m. the doorbell rang. A minute later she heard Greg yell upstairs,
"Jordan, it's Doug."

 House turned back to Doug, "You're pretty spiffy for a movie. It's not
the prom you know."

 "I'm taking her to dinner first. Do you think I'm overdressed?" He asked
House while smoothing his shirt.

 House nodded, "I don't know, she doesn't have a big wardrobe. She might
feel underdressed."

 They were standing in the living room when they saw her come down the
stairs. First her legs and then her body and then her hair. She looked
lovely, her hair was behind her ears but just hovering on her shoulders.
Her makeup was subtle but made her eyes look huge. And the dress hugged
her curves and made her look like a Victoria Secret model. House didn't
realize what beautiful legs she had, thin and curvy. House swallowed hard,
Doug was going to have trouble tonight trying to keep his hands off of
her. 

 Jordan had achieved the results she wanted, they were both blown away.
They looked like deer in headlights. She walked up to House who gave her a
sly smile. "Your dinner is on the stove. There's some french bread to go
with the stew. She turned and bent over slightly to pick up her purse. She
knew that they were both watching. House saw her sweet bottom outlined by
the clinging dress and he remembered the other night. He started to feel
aroused. He adjusted his pants leg and quickly walked towards the kitchen.
On the way he said, "You two behave and don't forget an overcoat."

 Jordan didn't get the double entendre but Doug did. He helped Jordan on
with the winter parka that was now out of place over her dress and shoes.
Doug was thrown for a loop. He had expected to pick up this rather awkward
shy girl and instead he was leaving with a butterfly escaping from her
cocoon. 

 House waited until 1:00 a.m. and then went to bed. Around 5:00 a.m. she
came home and threw herself on the sofa. He wanted to go down but debated
it and finally decided not to go downstairs. He finally heard her come up
the stairs. The footsteps came up to his door and stopped. He tried to
will her to open the door but she didn't. He jumped up wearing just his
boxer and opened the door. Jordan jumped back in shock. He looked at her
sideways inviting her to tell him why she was outside his door. She just
stood there obviously about to tell him something.

 *** "Don't all men give women an orgasm?"

 "I'm not following you, what do you mean?"

 "He didn't even try, I don't understand, why wouldn't he even try to give
me an orgasm?"

 "I'm still not following you, although all this talk of orgasms does have
my interest. You mean, he didn't do anything that caused you to have an
orgasm?" 

 "Yes, we had sex, but no, he didn't give me one. That's not fair is it?"

 "Jordan, I shouldn't be talking to you about this. Despite the fact that
I find us quite amusing and fair game when I see Doug on Monday, that's
between you and Doug."

 "But Doug wouldn't talk about it...I need someone who will be honest and
blunt and that's you. Why would he ignore my needs?"

 "Because you're annoying?" House gave her a silly smile, she looked at
him with disdain. He sighed, "Some men think women have orgasms by simple
intercourse. They're a little na 
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ownership of Dr. Gregory House and the other fictional residents of
Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Like the television show House
(and quite possibly Dr. Wilson's pocket protector), they are the property
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