namaste: (houserents)
[personal profile] namaste
Title: Family, Friends and Other Complications
Chapter Twelve: When They Weren’t Together
Author: Namaste
Rating: Gen, strong House and Wilson friendship, PG
Summary: Blythe begins to know a little more about her son, even though he’s far away.
Sample:
One day Blythe opened a package from Greg. The padded envelope held a CD and a short note.

“This is what I do,” he had written.

Blythe recognized the musician’s name, and put it on the stereo, wondering if she could figure out what Greg was trying to say from the music. It was jazz, featuring a trumpet player whose music came out in a rich tone that filled the room.

She closed her eyes and let the music paint pictures in her mind of smoke-filled clubs and late Saturday nights that crept into early Sunday mornings. She wondered if Greg saw the same things in his mind, but couldn't tell what he was trying to tell her.

It was James who finally gave her the rest of the story, the reason behind the music and the note. James told her about the man everyone else was ready to give up for dead, whose fate had seemed hopeless, how Greg had refused to let him die, and about how Greg had cured him.

And Blythe finally understood her son just a little more.


Find links to previous chapters inside.




Previous chapters are here:
When Blythe Met Wilson
When Greg Got Sick
When Greg Went Home
When Stacy Left
When John and Blythe Moved
When Blythe Didn’t Meet Julie
When Days Were Bad
When Greg Got His Department
When Days Were Good
When John Retired
When Greg Went For A Visit



When They Weren’t Together


On Tuesdays, Blythe volunteered at the library. On Wednesdays, she’d have lunch with her sister. Thursdays she played bridge. Fridays she was part of a regular foursome, taking in nine holes of golf, followed by drinks at the clubhouse as their husbands finished up on the back nine.

And each day, there would be a moment when the conversation eased, and Blythe knew what would come next.

“Did I show you the pictures my daughter sent me?” someone would ask, then dig into her purse for the latest snapshots of her grandchildren. Someone else would follow a moment later, then someone else. Even Sarah couldn’t resist the urge, bragging about how Tommy was doing in Little League.

“You should come to one of his games,” she’d say, and Blythe would just nod and promise that she would.

They’d pass the photos around the table, each woman taking the time to comment on how handsome the boys looked, how cute the toddlers were, how precious the babies seemed to be.

Blythe knew the routine. She didn’t mind it. She told herself that she wasn’t jealous. She’d even told John they should go to one of her grandnephew’s games.

“It’ll be fun,” she’d said. He just grunted in response.

But with each new group, Blythe knew the question would come up.

“And what about you? Do your children live near here?”

“We have one son,” she’d say. “He’s in New Jersey.” Then she’d wait for the second half of the question. “No. No grandchildren.”

“Not yet,” she used to say once when they asked, and she’d smile. But she hadn’t said that for years. Not since before Stacy left. She had never asked Greg about whether they would get married, or whether they planned on having children.

They had seemed happy with the way things were back then -- Greg had seemed happy at least -- so she told herself that she was happy with that. And she remembered how many times her own mother-in-law had asked when they would have another baby, how she hated the question, and dreaded seeing her knowing what was coming -- and how she kept it up until the day John finally pulled her aside, and explained that they couldn’t have any more children.

Despite that, she once nearly found herself asking James if he ever planned to have children, but managed to cut herself off in time, instead turning the question in mid-sentence toward Greg.

“Do you ... do you know where Greg is this afternoon?”

“He’s got his interviews today.” James said. “For the new position. I’m sure he’s mentioned it.”

Blythe was quiet for a moment. “James, how long have you known my son?”

He chuckled. “Right,” he said. “Greg’s hiring another fellow. He received more donations for the department, so he’s expanding it.”

Blythe wondered why Greg hadn’t mentioned that, but decided the reason probably wasn’t important. He probably would just say that he didn’t think she was interested.

But she was. She wanted to know more about what he did, about the lives he saved. Maybe, she thought, she’d understand him more. Maybe it would help her to help John understand his son. She couldn’t quite silence the voice in the back of her head that told her she’d have finally something to brag about at those lunches.

Greg didn’t seem to understand why she was curious. He’d sounded frustrated every time she pushed him for more details, but then couldn’t understand the medical jargon. “People come in sick and I cure them,” he finally said one day with a sigh.

That wasn’t the way James put it whenever he brought up one of Greg’s cases. He had sounded amazed when he’d mentioned it in an email, a woman with a cat allergy that everyone else thought was dying.

“He diagnosed her over the phone,” James had written. “I still don’t believe it.”

“It wasn’t complicated,” Greg insisted when she brought it up. “I don’t know why you’d be interested.”

“I’m always interested,” Blythe said.

Every time someone asked, she always said the same thing. “My son’s a doctor. He specializes in infectious diseases and nephrology -- and diagnostics.”

She wanted to be able to say more.

She could tell them that he was very well respected, though she wasn’t certain why.

“Because he has a way of solving cases that no one else can,” James explained one day.

“I understand that,” Blythe said, “but I don’t understand why that is.”

James sighed. “Neither do I,” he said. “He sees things differently. His brain works differently.” He paused for just a moment. He was quieter when he spoke again. “I just know that it’s something I can’t do, or anyone else around here.”

When Blythe asked Greg to explain it again, he was quiet for a moment. “Do you want to know what I do?” he finally asked. “Or do you want to be able to explain to others what I do?”

Blythe wasn’t sure she could explain what she meant, so she just told him to forget about her question.

He didn’t.

One day she opened a package from Greg. The padded envelope held a CD and a short note.

“This is what I do,” he had written.

Blythe recognized the musician’s name, and put it on the stereo, wondering if she could figure out what Greg was trying to say from the music. It was jazz, featuring a trumpet player whose music came out in a rich tone that filled the room.

She closed her eyes and let the music paint pictures in her mind of smoke-filled clubs and late Saturday nights that crept into early Sunday mornings. She wondered if Greg saw the same things in his mind, but couldn't tell what he was trying to tell her.

It was James who finally gave her the rest of the story, the reason behind the music and the note. James told her about the man everyone else was ready to give up for dead, whose fate had seemed hopeless, how Greg had refused to let him die, and about how Greg had cured him.

And Blythe understood her son just a little more.

She searched the magazines at the library and found a few articles about John Henry Giles’ miracle cure. She even found Greg’s name, followed by a statement that he had declined to comment for the story.

A month later, the mail brought a baseball card. Blythe didn’t recognize the pitcher’s name, but John did.

“He got in trouble for drugs,” he said, and handed it back.

Blythe checked the sports pages for his name, finding a short item that he was expected to recover in time for spring training.

When the ticket stub for a political fundraiser showed up in the mail, she didn’t have to search far. She’d already heard about how the man was being treated for “flu-like symptoms” at a New Jersey hospital.

When someone mentioned the politician at a library meeting, Blythe nearly spoke up, but didn’t. “Pride goes before a fall,” her mother had told her time after time when she was a girl. “Don’t break your arm patting yourself on the back.”

When Greg was little, she ignored her mother’s advice and instead she told him to take pride in what he did --even if she couldn’t bring herself to brag on his behalf.

But Greg didn’t seem happy when he answered the phone that weekend. He was quiet.

“You should be proud, honey,” she said.

“I am,” he mumbled, then said he had to get off the phone. He didn’t even bother making up an excuse.

“He’s had a tough week,” James said when Blythe called him on his cell phone. “We all have.”

“What happened? I thought Greg saved the senator.”

“He did,” James said. He was quiet for a moment. “It’s just ... office politics.” She could hear him pacing, then heard him take a deep breath and blow it out. “I’ll stop by and check in on him.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know.” He paused. Blythe heard rustling in the background, and the sound of a door opening. “I want to see him myself anyway. Hell, who knows, maybe he can cheer me up.”


---------------


“What have you been telling my mother?”

House leaned down onto Wilson’s desk, the palm of his left hand placed over the papers that Wilson had been reading.

Wilson glanced up. “Nothing,” he said.

“Of course you have.”

“No, I haven’t.” Wilson yanked at the papers and they came loose as House lifted his hand. “I haven’t spoken to your mother for a couple of weeks.” He put them in a file, then swiveled his chair to the left to put them in a drawer. He paused with one hand on the handle, then turned to the right. He’d moved some of his files when he set up his office again after Vogler left. House had insisted that as long as he was making changes, he should rearrange his office.

“It’s boring in here,” House had said. “You need to spice up your life.”

“I’ve had enough spice lately,” Wilson had said, and put the fishing trophy back at its usual spot. He could still see the faint ring where it had sat for years, a darker spot surrounded by lighter wood where afternoon sun had lightened it.

“That’s stress, not spice,” House had said, and moved the trophy. “Never confuse the two.”

Now Wilson opened the bottom drawer on the right, and dropped the file into its place. “What’s wrong with your mother?”

House took a few steps away from the desk to look out the window. “She wants to come for a visit.”

“And that would be ... bad?”

“Sure,” House said. “If she comes, she’ll bring my father.”

Wilson leaned back in his chair. “You’ll have to see him sooner or later,” he said. “He’s your father.”

“I vote for later.”

House hadn’t even wanted to talk about his argument with John, what he’d said and what his father had said that night. After making a few veiled references to John’s choices in punishments, he’d refused to discuss anything about his father at all -- as if he could somehow wish the man out of his life by ignoring his existence.

It had nearly been a year since that night, and this was the first time House had mentioned him to Wilson.

“Have you spoken to him at all?”

House stepped back from the window and sat in the middle of Wilson’s couch. “Of course,” he said.

“And when I say talking, I’m referring to something more than asking him to put your mother on the line when he answers the phone.”

“Then I’d have to say ‘no,’” House said. He spun his cane between his thumb and index finger and watched as the handle rotated clockwise, then counter clockwise.

Wilson watched the motion for a moment, trying to figure out if he could find some way of assessing House’s mood by the speed of the cane’s movement -- if he could come up with some kind of turmoil-to-twirl ratio.

“When does she want to come up?” Wilson asked.

“She hasn’t set a date. I thought she’d been conspiring with you.”

“She hasn’t.”

“But she will.”

“But she hasn’t.”

“She will.”

Wilson sighed and shrugged. “Maybe.”

The cane stopped moving. House leaned back against the cushions and looked up at the ceiling. “And you’ll tell her everything. Like always.”

“Do you want me to not talk to your mother?”

House looked like he was going to say yes, then shook his head.

“Look, she calls and I talk to her, but usually all she asks about is you,” Wilson said. “And she’s your mother. If she wants to know something she’s going to figure it out.”

House looked over at him. “You tell your mother everything?”

Wilson sighed. “Of course not.”

“Like how you spent two nights on my couch last month?”

“That wasn’t important,” Wilson said. “I tell her the important things.”

“Such as?”

“Such as ...” Wilson wondered how the conversation had turned against him, and why House was avoiding his mother. “Have you told your mother that Stacy’s back?”

House stared up at the ceiling again.

“You haven’t, have you?”

“It’s not important.”

“Even you don’t believe that.”

“It’s coincidence, not fate or whatever else you may want to call it,” House said. “She’s only here because of her husband. Why would my mother care?”

Wilson didn’t say anything and House finally glanced at him. He leaned forward again, the cane beginning its motion once more.

“She’ll make a thing about it,” House said. “She’ll want to come up and see Stacy for herself, and make sure I’m not pining for her.”

“So you don’t want her to know,” Wilson said. “But if she finds out on her own, she’s going to be even more worried about why you didn’t tell her.”

“And she’ll come for a visit,” House said, “with him.”

Wilson sighed and leaned forward. He placed his elbows on his desk. “So the question is, how do you let your Mom know about Stacy without have her freak out to the point she decides to book a flight?”

House nodded. He tapped his cane on the floor, then looked up at Wilson. “I nominate you to tell her,” he said. “Got any ideas?”

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 03:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] joe-pike-junior.livejournal.com
A beautiful segue from the time before canon that we can only speculate about, to canon. You've got a good handle on time in this. Especially enjoyed the House/Wilson dialogue this time around.

Cheers,
AE.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 03:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thanks. The timing thing was hard to work around since I wanted to get the story into the timeline that we know, but still show something new. I must have made three attempts before this one finally fell into place.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 03:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] babykid528.livejournal.com
Awesome! I LOVE the "turmoil-to-twirl ratio" bit especially much! THIS is the House&Wilson scenes that made the show so great in the beginning and these are the scenes I long for each episode! :-)

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 09:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thanks. I didn't know how well it would work in this chapter to just cover Wilson's POV with a single scene, so I'm glad you like that.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 03:50 am (UTC)
ext_25882: (Default)
From: [identity profile] nightdog-barks.livejournal.com
I've been following this series and loving every installment. This was especially wonderful -- the little sequence about House sending his mother examples of "what he does" was just exquisite.

Wilson watched the motion for a moment, trying to figure out if he could find some way of assessing House’s mood by the speed of the cane’s movement -- if he could come up with some kind of turmoil-to-twirl ratio.

Gorgeous, gorgeous line.

I'm so glad you posted this tonight -- I was actually lurking in your LJ earlier today, hoping to catch a glimpse of a new chapter. This story is so beautifully written, so lovely and honest and true. It makes me happy.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 09:44 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thank you. I was debating waiting until Thursday, but it was ready so I decided to go for it. The "turmoil-to-twirl" ratio was something I was wondering about myself, so I opted to have Wilson "voice" it as well.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 04:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] poeia.livejournal.com
Perfect last line. Made me grin.

Loved House sending his mother a CD of John Henry playing and saying "this is what I do." The way House's mind works, he probably expects everyone to be able to make that connection.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 09:46 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thanks. Sometimes I get to a line and think I should do more, but then figure it sums up the situation without an "ending scene." There have been a few chapters here where I wrote more, then just deleted multiple paragraphs to go back to that line.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 04:26 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sandssavvy.livejournal.com
I like how House's mom is slowly understanding him more.

Wilson and House's moments are of course my favorites.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 09:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thank you. The problem in this chapter was to have them linked without actually being in the same room. The little gifts and notes and calls gave me a way to do that.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 04:45 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] stephantom.livejournal.com
This one was really great (as was the last one... which I don't think I ever got around to commenting on, though I meant to - it was fantastic (I sometimes put off reviewing things that I think deserve really good reviews..)). The scene with House and Wilson was great - I could really hear their voices here. It was also really cool to see time pass from Blythe's perspective and to notice which episodes were happening meanwhile. Is it going to go to "Daddy's Boy" next? Stacy was conveniently away for that visit - maybe they'll end up hiding the whole thing from Blythe? Well, I look forward to seeing how you take things.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 09:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Yep. Daddy's Boy is the next chapter, from Blythe and Wilson's perspective. I'm still working out some of the logistics there. I think they would have told her about Stacy, by the way. They just would have downplayed it, since I think of Wilson as ultimately on House's side in any situation with his parents.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 06:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] angelfirenze.livejournal.com
I agree with [livejournal.com profile] joe_pike_junior. It's awesome to finally get to canon. I can't wait to see what the reactions are going to be concerning the Houserents' visit and Cameron's subsequent all-consuming obsession with finding out as much about them as possible without bothering to cover her tracks while doing so.

Stalker. *winces in remembrance* I love that episode and hope you'll give Wilson a chance to do something about what happened the year before. They only showed John leaving. Oooh...um...care for an idea? Or were you already heading toward explaining what else John could have been doing after going to the head...?

Yeah, I'm horrible. Please update this one soon.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 09:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thanks. I haven't fully decided on everything that's going to go down in the next chapter (yes, it's "Daddy's Boy") but I don't know if Wilson would ever directly confront John. It just doesn't seem his style. But they will meet.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 07:13 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] merlynnod.livejournal.com
I love this. All of this. Especially the "this is what I do" CD...and the tidbits that followed after...so wonderfully, perfectly House. :)

I really enjoy your take on Blythe House, it just builds on what we briefly saw of her in the series and the few remarks House has made about her. The construction and filling-out of her character is lovely, as is her relationship with Wilson. :)

Lovely stuff. :)

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 09:56 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thank you. I kept trying to find ways of having House give his mother some "cryptic"" messages, but wasn't sure how to do it until I thought of the potential of the CD, the baseball card, etc.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 01:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] roga.livejournal.com
My feedback to this series is getting kind of repetitive, so I'll just say I loved this part, and am looking forward to reading more scenes that we recognize from the show - Daddy's Boy, No Reason, etc :-)

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 06:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Well any feedback is good, so I'm happy. Thanks. I still haven't decided just how far to take it. My original intent was to deal with fallout from "Merry Little Christmas" and end it there, though that may be a little bleak, so we'll see. Maybe Blythe's own version of the "Words & Deeds" apology?

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 08:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] roga.livejournal.com
Mmm, Words and Deeds sounds like a better plan. And I'd love to see the shooting and the ketamine - perhaps John seeing how hard House worked at physio once he knew there'd be results. And, you know, you could always add chapters if relevant canon inspires.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 09:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
I'd planned on the shooting and ketamine era, but hadn't considered John's reaction specifically post-ketamine. Hmmm. I'll have to think about that, since there's defnitely potential.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 06:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] frakkingrackles.livejournal.com
I've been enjoying this series and it's interesting to see you weave your story with canon. The CD and such was very clever. House would try to explain himself in an odd way. I'm looking forward to the next part.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 09:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thanks. I'd written a couple of pages worth of stuff before I realized I was repeating themes from an earlier chapter -- then the CD idea hit. Sometmes it helps to let ideas fester for a few days, rather than committing to them right away.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 07:12 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Came over here from a TWOP rec. What a somber, intelligent, and unusual take on this fantastic show. It is great that you are now delving into the niches between the canon episodes. The Blythe character is original and sympathetic with just enough tartness to make her truly House's mother.

Will we ever learn how much Blythe knows about any back story on House's long friendship with Cuddy?

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 09:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thanks. I hope it hasn't been too somber, though. I like to toss in some humor to keep it from moving into overt angst.

I actually plan to put Cuddy and Blythe together a little more in a future chapter. It won't be a big part, but they'll have some interaction.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 08:04 pm (UTC)
ext_25649: House sucking a lollipop while staring at Wilson (Default)
From: [identity profile] daisylily.livejournal.com
Oh, I so love this series. The way you've interwoven your story with canon here is very clever; it works beautifully.

*is happy*

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-08 10:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thank you. I'm glad people are enjoying it.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-14 01:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com
The side benefit of being behind in my reading is I get to see how wonderfully the latest ones work together. And I love how you've linked all those canon events so seamlessly.

Wilson wriggling out of House's line of inquiry about what he tells his own mother is just great, and a nice reminder that people sometimes are more open with those who aren't their family.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-14 01:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
I'm glad you're finding the time. I'm behind on my reading these days myself, which is ... an odd concept, but then I want to keep hitting on this series while it still all fits together.

people sometimes are more open with those who aren't their family.
Speaking of which ... I've decided to include something with Blythe finding out that Wilson is bunking on House's couch, and am thinking she'll catch on even before he tells his own family.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-19 01:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hibernia1.livejournal.com
I truly love this series, I read and re-read the different parts, thanks so much!

(no subject)

Date: 2007-03-19 06:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
You're welcome. I'm glad people are enjoying it.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-07-20 08:54 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mystcphoenxcafe.livejournal.com
Greetings!

"“That’s stress, not spice,” House had said, and moved the trophy. “Never confuse the two.”" Good advice! :p

Loved the way House shows his mom what he does... give people back their lives. Such a shame he couldn't do that for himself, although as Giles pointed out, medicine is his life, and he's still able to practice it, so, maybe he did, tho' not as perfectly as he would have preferred.

I originally saw the jazz as more literally symbolizing what he does... i.e., weaving bits of seemingly unrelated data into a coherent whole. Then with the other bits, saw that you were showing lives saved and returned by his skill and intuition. Eitehr way, it works and works well. I also like the way he shows her in a way that's not easily shared - how very Houseian.

Again, well done!!!
-Katrina