House entered the cafeteria, finding Wilson sitting at a table. He walked over, joining joined the table and the oncologist looked up at him, sensing House eyeing his pudding cup.
"Are you going to eat that?"
"Have at it." James sighed and House took the pudding cup and a spoon from his tray.
"What are you doing here anyway?"
"Well, my friend is always kind enough to buy me lunch every day, I can't just start ignoring him that would be rude." He ate a spoonful of pudding, "Where else would I be?"
"You didn't hear? Y/N lost a patient then she disappeared. I tried calling her dozens of messages -"
House walked away and James shrugged off his peculiar behaviour, assuming he was going to find you. House knew you didn't want to be found by Cuddy, or Wilson, but if you wanted to be found by him he knew where to go.
He entered the bar and looked around, approaching the bar top where you received another drink, finishing it in one sip.
"I'm supposed to be the drunk in this relationship." He said, sitting beside you.
"What are you doing here?" You sighed, ordering another drink.
"I heard what happened. I'm sorry."
"I'm over it." You lied, sipping your drink.
"Yeah. Clearly, it has no effect on you whatsoever." He said sarcastically.
"If you're here to gloat, you can leave." You told him. "I'm fine."
House sighed, looking at you incredulously. It was two in the afternoon and you were downing drinks as if you had been in the desert for six months without water.
He looked at the bartender, asking for the bill while you were occupied finishing your drink. He took the keys the bartender had taken from you and you stared at him in annoyance when he led you out the door.
"I'm not ready to leave yet."
"Oh, I think you are." He took you to your car and you huffed when he opened the door for you. "Do I need to tie you up?" He asked a humored smirk on his lips.
You rolled your eyes, getting inside and he closed the door, walking to the driver's side and getting behind the wheel. He would return for his bike later as he drove you to his apartment.
He helped you inside, his arm around your waist as you stumbled inside. "I told you I'm fine!"
"Sure you are." He led you to the bedroom and you laid on the bed, sighing as you got under the duvet.
"Okay, I'll just lay down for a little while." You murmured as House took off your shoes.
"You do that." He smiled softly, despite his concern for your wellbeing. Losing a patient was hard but when you lost a kid during surgery it always hit you harder.
House left a glass of water and two aspirin on the bedside table before sitting on the sofa, waiting for you to wake up.
It was nearing six o'clock when you woke up and House lifted his eyes from the television, observing you as you walked into the living room.
Wordlessly, you sat beside him and House turned the television off, turning around to face you more.
"How's the hangover?"
"Hurts like hell." You spoke softly.
House nodded, "Drinking at one in the afternoon as if prohibition was making a comeback will do that to a person." He decided to drop his usual sass, seeing the alcohol had worn off and you were on the verge of tears. "Are you okay?"
You shook your head and looked away, feeling a tear fall down your cheek. "It was supposed to be a simple surgery." You told him. "I could do it with my arm closed, but before we could repair the shattered bone, he crashed."
House sighed, glancing away, trying to find words that would comfort you. But he couldn't find any so he settled for the facts. "An autopsy was done on your patient and I had Cuddy tell me the results. He had a leaky heart valve. Even if you had found the bleed you wouldn't have been able to stop him from bleeding out."
You covered your mouth and rushed to the bathroom and House followed, hearing you coughing. He sighed when he found you were sick in the toilet, moving closer to hold your hair back, leaning against the sink to support his leg.
After you were done you washed your face, and brushed your teeth, sitting on the toilet lid as you processed the information.
"Feel better?" He asked, referring to your sickness.
You nodded, closing your eyes as you rest your head on his stomach. House placed a hand on your back, looking down at you with a smile that didn't quite meet his eyes due to how worried he was.
"How about we make a deal? I can be the only destructive one in the relationship, what do you say?"
You smiled, laughing softly as you stood up, wrapping your arms around his neck as he returned the embrace. You bury your head in his shoulder, closing your eyes as you breathed in his comforting scent.
"Deal."
