House M.D. and D.A.D

The Bleeding

Ruth Wright House had the day off from the hospital psych-ward, something they had been giving her more of, the closer she reached her due date. Greg House saw to that. Ruth House was six months pregnant and taking glee at her days off, she had been feeling ill. Not a cold or a flu, House always put her to bed with a cup of tea and some neonatal vitamins.

Even in the afternoon! She still had a home to clean, still had a four year old to take care of! House kept the home somewhat tidy, but always made sure their daughter had her homework done, a story read to her and fed, all before eight o'clock, her bedtime. Even Cuddi had to admit, Greg was a great dad. But on some days, when House couldn't leave the hospital, they just had to trust that Annie knew what stop was hers on the school bus route.

Annie Pierce House knew exactly what stop was hers. The fifth stop once they passed daddy's 'spital, her way of saying hospital. After all, she was the daughter of Gregory House MD and Ruth House MD, the stock she came from was not dumb stock, pass by on your good looks stock. But on days where Annie was stuck taking the bus, instead of daddy standing there, listing on his cane, Ruth took full advantage of the few hours alone she had.

Her daughter went to school from 8 in the morning to noon. Not a long time to tidy up the home, but enough time. And like most of Ruth's days off, when she saw that yellow bus pull up outside, she put the vacuum cleaner away and crawled into bed and turned the TV on. She heard the door open, then close then a thunk by the door, the noise of a four year old dropping their backpack. "Mommy! I'm home!"

Annie saw her mommy laying in bed, not looking well, she skipped into the bathroom and got the fever stick, or as an adult would say, thermometer. The little girl slipped it between Ruth's lips, ten seconds later, she flicked it out and tried to read it. How did daddy make it seem so easy? "Annie, can you get me some blankets?" She nodded and skipped out of the bedroom.

Annie came back with a ton of blankets and tucked her mommy into bed, kissing her mommy on the forehead, which was actually very hot. Just as daddy did. "Go watch TV," smirked Ruth. Annie did as told.

Ten minutes into a cartoon, she heard something fall. Annie turned to see it was someone, her mother. Annie's heart began to beat a little faster. Ruth looked to be in pain, blood stained her pajama pants. Her daughter ran and called Chase. "Chase? Mommy's bleeding...I'm scared..." whimpered Annie.

"Is she still sick, sweetie?"

"Yeah...she's bleeding bad."

"Do you want me to get daddy?" asked Chase. Cuddi shook her head. House was busy with a patient, not actually meeting with the patient, but he was busy. "Daddy's busy, sweetie."

Chase was amazed at how calm Annie House was being on the telephone, her mother was in the other room, bleeding, which to a four year old could mean death. And too Annie, she figured her mother was laying on her deathbed. "Can mommy talk to you, dear?"

"A little bit," said Annie. Annie swallowed hard, trying to fight down a sick feeling. "She's bleeding bad."

"Where is she bleeding from?"

"She's bleeding from between her legs."

"How far along is your mommy?"

"Six months."

"And she's bleeding between her legs?" asked Chase tossing his fair hair back. This was sounding more and more like a miscarriage. He wasn't going to be the one to tell House. "Cameron and Foreman are there, can you let them in, please?"

Annie did as she was told.

***

Chase stepped into House's office. "You got a really smart daughter there, Greg," he smiled. House looked at Chase, confused. Chase was really Aussie-fried stupid. "She called 911 today. Ruth was bleeding."

"What!?"

"Foreman and Cameron got her here because of Annie," said Chase, knowing full well that a wave of anger was sweeping over House. "I just wanted to let you know that Ruth is okay."

House's eyes were still ballooned. "What happened!?"

"It's a boy."