Peanut Butter & Blood [Epilogue]

[kidsnurse]

Title:  Peanut Butter & Blood:  EPILOGUE
Rating:  G
Characters:  House, Wilson
Genre:  Friendship, Unadulterated Fluff
Summary:  House injures himself.  So naturally, this requires a call to Wilson, who--naturally--rushes right over.

A/N: Part One was for silja_b. This epilogue is for blackmare_9—because she insisted on it, and spooked me out by not only knowing I’d already written it, but knowing what I’d written—almost verbatim. I did attempt to explain to her the definition of “one-shot” but then she explained the meaning of “double-barreled.” So… here’s the second shell in this “double-barreled one-shot.” :)  [Oh--and also, thanks go to  blackmare_9for her usual flawless-and-correct first-read, complete with suggestions!]
p.s.  that last line?  that's for namasteyoga.  ;)

EPILOGUE:

 

 

It’s 1:28am when House hears the sound of a key in the lock. “What are you doing here?” he mutters irritably.

 

But Wilson doesn’t even glance his way. He’s headed straight for the kitchen, an intense, unreadable expression on his face. House sighs and leans his head against the back of the couch. And it doesn’t surprise him when Wilson exits the kitchen and heads straight for the bathroom. 

 

In under a minute Wilson is standing in front of him, hands on hips, yelling, “What the hell were you trying to pull?”

 

House opens his eyes and raises his head. “I wasn’t trying to pull anything. I was trying to make a sandwich. That a crime?”

 

“That isn’t what I meant, and you know it.” Wilson’s still shouting, and House winces.

 

“Could you keep it down? I’ve got neighbors, you know.”

 

“Yeah, and I can understand why you wouldn’t wanna clue ‘em in on your utter stupidity.” In one swift move, Wilson’s torn the blanket from House’s legs; his eyes widen at the sight of the left knee. The pressure bandage has soaked through; there’s even a small trickle of drying blood going halfway down House’s lower leg.

 

Wilson drops the two bags he’s carrying onto the coffee table and regards House angrily. “Have I mentioned that you’re an idiot?”

 

“Not in the last thirty seconds, no,” House says wearily.

 

Wilson’s rummaging through one of the bags; he pulls out a suture kit and opens it. As he snaps on the gloves, he mutters, “I can’t believe you’d let it get this bad.”

 

“I didn’t let it do anything,” House responds irritably. “It thought up the blood all on its own.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell me how deep it was?” Wilson kneels by House’s side, removes the soiled dressing and begins to probe the wound. He’s relieved to see that the bleeding’s pretty much stopped, and that House had told the truth about flushing out the glass. And even his diligent probing isn’t causing fresh bleeding—House’ll be okay.

 

“Ouch! That cut is attached to my leg, you know! And—if you’ll recall—you weren’t too interested in details earlier. You couldn’t get out of here fast enough.”

 

Wilson goes silent at that; it’s true—he’d been relieved that House didn’t appear badly hurt, and anxious to try to salvage his date. “I’m sorry,” he says quietly.

 

“What for? Glad that you had your priorities in order.” House looks away and says, “Shouldn’t have called you anyway.”

 

Wilson’s certain he heard wrong. “What?”

 

“I said I shouldn’t have called you in the first place.”

 

House clearly means it; Wilson is stunned, and unsure how to respond. Finally, he says, “So why did you?”

 

House grins mischievously. “It was a test; you passed. Good thing, too, because I’d bet myself you’d show up, and I needed the money.”

 

Wilson doesn’t smile. “This was some twisted test of my friendship? My loyalty?”

 

When House doesn’t respond, Wilson takes a deep breath and lets it go explosively, then stands. He’s so angry he doesn’t trust himself right now.  He tears off his gloves and tosses them at the table.  “Be back.” He clips off the words and heads to the kitchen.

 

As he soaks a sponge and begins to clean the blood-smeared floor, Wilson’s thinking.

 

Damn him! I’ll bet he’s out there getting a real laugh out of this. Got his own private Step’n Fetchit.

 

Wilson scrubs harder at the blood; it’s been a long time since House has made him feel this angry, this put-upon. The determined scrubbing is therapeutic; finally he begins to calm down.

 

Wait a second. This is House—the man who once broke his own hand so he wouldn’t have to admit how bad he was feeling. The man who didn’t come to me about his pain until it was so unbearable he was ready to resort to theft to get his meds. Who catheterized himself rather than ask for my help.

 

Wilson stands thoughtfully as he remembers why he’d come back here—he’d realized that House had let him go too easily. Hadn’t reminded Wilson that the NSAIDs with which he supplemented his Vicodin could cause clotting problems. Hadn’t mentioned how deep the laceration was. Hadn’t pointed out that—with his left leg injured—his mobility was further impaired.

 

It hadn’t taken Wilson long, after he’d left, to think of all these things himself. What hadn’t occurred to him, until now, was that House had intentionally refrained from mentioning any of it. Nor had House suggested a trip to the kitchen, or the bathroom. Then Wilson would’ve known—and he’d never have returned to his date.

 

I’m the idiot. Let myself get distracted by his antics. I asked the wrong questions, fell for his non-answers. And what test was I passing? He knew I’d show up. Maybe… maybe he wanted to see if I’d put myself first? Wilson smiles and shakes his head; House never fails to surprise him.

 

Wilson reenters the living room and stands again in front of House. “Next time, just tell me, okay? I don’t enjoy puzzles as much as you do.” He smiles tentatively as he reaches for a fresh pair of gloves and prepares to suture the wound.

 

“More fun letting you figure it out on your own,” House grins. “Although I was starting to worry you’d made it to second base—in which case I’d have bled to death.”

 

They both laugh as Wilson carefully injects lidocaine around the wound and begins to suture it.

 

When Wilson’s finished, he asks, “That beer-and-porn invitation still open?”

 

“Always,” says House. “But you’ll have to get the beer.”

 

“Not a problem.” Wilson picks up the second bag and heads toward the kitchen.

 

“Hope that’s more beer,” House says, indicating the bag.

 

Wilson grins. “Nope. Just… an insurance policy, for my next evening out.” He reaches into the bag and pulls out a new container of peanut butter—in a plastic jar. 

Comments

[blackmare-9.livejournal.com]

*grins hugely*

I love your double-barreled one-shot.

And you do SO deserve the coffee, and now that you mention it? What a great idea.

Also: Congratulations on your first introduction to that slightly-freaky but wonderful phenomenon we know as the Mexican Radio.

I think that what I love best here is not so much that Wilson thought about it, got worried and came back -- but that House let on that it was a test and then tested him again by seeing if Wilson would figure out what it was House was testing for in the first place.

And I love that it takes Wilson a while to get it, and that when he does he is willing to instantly forgive all the rest. It's so like him.

[shutterbug12.livejournal.com]

Aw, the end is sweet. Wilson, ever thoughtful, despite his irritation. :)

[xgraciela.livejournal.com]

The end was lovely! So Wilson-like =) And I like the way he slowly realized, what House really wanted from him.

Yay for 'double-barreled' posts! : D

[xbittersweet89x.livejournal.com]

Aww, that was sweet. :)

[med-anomaly.livejournal.com]

*wonderfully contented sigh* This definitely made me smile. Many thanks to you (and mare) for this. It took Wilson long enough, but he got it. It was fun watching him go through the process, and his little gift was just perfect. Nicely done. :)

[lab38.livejournal.com]

That was simply amazing! Complemented the first part *perfectly*!

Loved how well Wilson can 'read' House, even if it takes some time and thought for him to figure it all out. And I love the patience he exhibits in trying just that... - I also find it amazing how authentically you portray Wilson through all these emotions. You really have a great touch with him...

In other words: Thanks so much for deciding to post this!! (and thanks you, blackmare_9, for *convincing* her!!) :) This addition to the first part really managed to reflect the whole complexity of the HW-relationship, and it was also incredibly sweet... :) Fantastic job!!

[genagirl.livejournal.com]

You always seem to make House as annoying as he is but also so vulnerable. We don't see as much of that on the show as we did. And Wilson - he always passes the test in the end.

[sy-dedalus.livejournal.com]

Plastic jar. Delightful. Here's to House: may he never stop playing games.

(And thanks for the timing. This broke up the misery of my very minor yet tenacious rhinovirus for a while. Yay!)

[sydneylover150.livejournal.com]

Evil, I love it, but its still evil. But very Housian thing to do, so I guess I'll forgive you the evilness once more. :<) Great job!

[phinnia.livejournal.com]

YAY. I'm glad that Wilson came back, because I am a fan of fluff. :-) And I like the way you showed Wilson's thought processes slowly unfolding, going from angry to sorry and back to the normal equilibrium. There's a nice progression there.

[chaoskir.livejournal.com]

So in german I would say: Das rundet die Story ab!
In your language I just can tell you that this epilouge made your story completly and gives it the right Wilson-Feeling. Arrgh, your fics are touching me every time. They are moving and your description of these wonderful friendship are also wonderful and great. Thank you that you do exist and thank you, that you are being this awesome author. I bow for you and your talent and enjoyed your stories.

[angelcat2865.livejournal.com]

As always I love your take on House and Wilson - Wish we saw more this on the show again.

[kitkat-dream.livejournal.com]

Just to let you know that your stories make the day of a certain girl on the other side of the world fifty times better. In your own unique way, you have become something of a Wilson for all your readers wherever we are in the world. And hopefully, all your readers have become, in a tiny tiny way, your Wilson.

[dragonwrangler.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is so Wilson and it fits part one very well! I mean, I can see Wilson going back to his date, making sure there were no hard feeling and that she had a good time, and then right after leaving her going to get everything he might need to make sure House was taken care of (including the plastic jar of peanut butter, lol.) It fits House very well too. Considering how out of it House probably was in the first part-- going by the "glazed and glassy look"-- calling Wilson had probably been an instinctive reaction which he then tried to fix when Wilson actually showed up. Of course, he can't just admit he made a mistake (and screwed up Wilson's life once again) and leave it at that-- that would leave him too open-- and so what does he do, he pisses Wilson off with "the test" comment. It's a good thing that Wilson has learn to interpret House's secret language and getting a chance to see him doing that in this epilogue was definitely a treat- thanks for sharing (and thank you to blackmare_9 for getting into your head and explaining the meaning of "double-barreled" lol)

[daisylily.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, that's the right ending XD

That's a great epilogue, and so very them.

Thank you

[emoni.livejournal.com]

I've always thought that fanfic were quite horrendous. Poorly written by some teenager that couldn't really spell. Then I found your stories!
Now I'm absolutely spellbound by your writing. I've read everything you've written, and every day I check in to see if there is something new. Thank you so much for letting me read your wonderful stories!

Still... you are one shining star at un utterly dark sky. I wish there were more like you out there!

[angelfirenze.livejournal.com]

I loved this. I'm a little confused about exactly what House was trying to accomplish, though. I think I have the general idea, but it feels like something's missing in the bigger picture. Yay.

[filthy-diamonds.livejournal.com]

read the first part and this, and I adore it!
Excellent read :)

[alemyrddin.livejournal.com]

*adds her own contented sigh*

I loved Wilson coming back because he knew something was off, but didn't know exactly what, and then putting together all the pieces. And the plastic jar? Adorable.
:)

[hansolo5.livejournal.com]

Oh, I so loved it ! Sometimes fluff is needed on this Earth !
I just love and love House when he's so ... housian !
And I must thank Nightmare 9 ...why did'nt you want us to share this??? :-)