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  Part 2 ~ The Reminiscing 
 by mysterrious  

 PRAYER FOR A MIRACLE PART 2 ~ The Reminiscing

Cameron couldn't forget the moment she knew that something was wrong with
him. She had been sitting at the table with the rest of the team and
concentrating hard on the test results in front of her. The case seemed to
be a very complex one which was something that she was, of course, used
to. There was nothing that seemed different in House's voice except maybe
a tad more urgency than usual. He was writing on the board all the
symptoms while he spoke.

"A forty something year old male with what seems to be a neuromuscular
degeneration. The patient presented with weakness in both legs which has
since progressed to his hands and arms. No familiar history that would
indicate a genetic mutation....." he trailed off, deep in thought, his
right hand clasping the marker stopped in mid air. He continued,

"Fever this morning of 99.6, headache, one instance of vomiting. Nothing
too dramatic I know. Idea's?"

His voice commanded attention and they all looked up.

"And no one better utter the word Lupus!" he said, rolling his eyes at the
thought.

"Duchenes Muscular Dystrophy sounds plausible." Foreman said, "although
his sed rate isn't too high."

"Could be a simple black widow spider bite" Chase added.

"No to both" he said to them.

House turned back to the board and seemed to stare into space. Cameron
studied him. His right hand was trembling slightly as he wrote more
symptoms on the board.

"Malaise, stiff neck..." he trailed off yet again, rubbing his right hand
with his left.

Cameron watched the marker he was holding drop to the floor. She stole a
glance over at Dr. Wilson who just happened to walk into the room at that
moment.

"House..." he said, "can I have a moment?"

"Can't it wait we are actually working here. Don't you have someone sick
to bother instead?" he didn't even look at him as he spoke.

"This is really important House besides," Wilson looked around the table
"you have tormented these poor souls enough for now."

House sighed and placed the now recovered marker back on the desk.

"OK but let's make this quick. Dying people you know."

House walked toward Wilson. As much as he tried to hide it from them he
couldn't disguise the fact that each step was causing him pain. He seemed
to shuffle a bit, at least she thought he did. It was always hard to tell
with him. Did he have a bit too much to drink last night? Did he run out
of Vicodin? Maybe he didn't get enough sleep last night? These thoughts
rumbled through her woman's heart even as her doctor's training was
telling her different. She rose from her chair and peered out the door
just in time to see him stumble and nearly fall. Only a sudden move on
Wilson's part kept him upright. Cameron turned back toward Foreman and
Chase who were lost in their notes.

"So what room is this patient in anyway?" Chase asked. Cameron whispered
under her breath, `he was in this one.'

House sat in the chair in Wilson's office with his shirt off.

"Your lungs don't sound too good House and your pressures up" he said as
he took off his stethoscope, "I'm ordering a chest x-ray, a ct scan stat
and..."

House cut him off sharply, "I know damn well what I need and don't need
and what I don't need right now is a bunch of useless tests."

Wilson stood back and let him rant. He knew better than to interrupt him
when he went off like this. But there was an element of fear in his voice
that he never heard before.

"House you know you can't keep this hidden from your team or Cuddy for
that matter forever. You are going to have to take a bit of a proactive
role in figuring out what the hell is going on with your health."

"Which is why I have my team working on the problem even as we speak."

House seemed to soften a bit as he started to put his shirt back on.

"and if you hadn't interrupted us we might have actually made some
progress by now."

House began to stand up to leave but found his legs didn't want to
cooperate. He fell back into the chair.

"Ok that's it I am admitting you as a patient," Wilson was adamant, "you
can barely walk House and you can't hide it anymore."

House tried again to stand and found his balance. He looked at him and
Wilson knew that his stubborn friend wasn't ready to admit defeat just
yet.

"Send the bill to Chase, he just got a raise" he said as he limped out of
the room.

One thing House missed the most was riding his motorcycle. He knew it
wouldn't be a good thing to do and yet one little part of him really
didn't give a damn. He didn't care if he hurt himself he just didn't want
to risk hurting anyone else. He let himself into his apartment and grabbed
for a double dose of Vicodin. He found he needed more and more of it now
that his body was betraying him at every turn. And he was dead tired all
the time; just getting up to go to the hospital was becoming more and more
of a chore. He knew there were patients that needed him and that his team
needed his help....but hell he needed THEIR help now more than ever. He
could see the concern on Cameron's face today. She didn't know he was
looking at her as he stole a few precious glances her way. So many
regrets, he could barely count the number of times he had wanted to tell
her the truth about how he felt about her. Damn stubbornness he chided
himself. But to be truthful it was really fear that held him back. Fear of
rejection, fear of looking like a fool. And this from a man who prided
himself on his bravery in the face of insurmountable odds. He didn't feel
very brave now. In fact he was terrified. He had some tests run at a
different hospital, the same ones that Wilson had demanded he have so he
knew that the answer to what was slowly and painfully stealing his life
away wasn't to be found on any CT scan or any other type of scan for that
matter. No one seemed to know what was wrong, least of all him. Granted he
really couldn't be very objective at the moment. What he did know for
certainty was that he wasn't getting any better and would only get worse.

Cameron had just gotten out of the shower when she heard a knock at the
door. She threw on her robe and walked to it, peering through the peep
hole to see who it was. She was surprised to see House standing there,
leaning against the door jam. She opened it to let him in but he just
stood there, looking at her. Something in his eyes scared her. She tried
to put a finger on just what it was then realized that he hadn't made a
move to enter her home. He stood suspended there held upright by the wall
and stared into her eyes. She always shook inside whenever he caught her
eye. The strength of him, his intensity and the deep well of passion that
just smoldered underneath the surface shone through those azure blue eyes
of his and took her breath away every time. This time however there was
something new, an added dimension had been added to the multi-faceted
prism that was Dr. Gregory House. And she wasn't quite sure that she liked
it. He pushed himself with effort off of the wall and reached a hand out
to her. Instinctively she grabbed it and, putting an arm around his waist
she helped him inside His arm came around her and he held her around the
shoulders for support. How long had she waited to be this close to him she
couldn't tell. She could feel the tension in him and could tell that he
was not happy to have her helping him this way. The last thing he wanted
anyone to see was his weakness. But he had no choice, he couldn't do it
without her. Together they maneuvered him over to her couch and she helped
him sit down. He threw his cane to the floor and leaned back. Once again
he raised his eyes to meet hers and she understood what that other element
in his gaze was. It was resignation. Cameron waited for him to speak, to
break the spell he had put over her.

"I'm think I am dying" he said, so simply that he could have been ordering
a drink.

"From what? How do you know that you are terminal? There must be some
treatment we could try.." she trailed off when he put his finger to her
lips.

"I am running out of time."

CONTINUED...  
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Legal Disclaimer: The authors published here make no claims on the
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
of NBC/Universal, David Shore and undoubtedly other individuals of whom I
am only peripherally aware. The fan fiction authors published here receive
no monetary benefit from their work and intend no copyright infringement
nor slight to the actual owners. We love the characters and we love the
show, otherwise we wouldn't be here.