gregory house · house m.d. · cynical · genius · chronic pain · vicodin addiction · sarcastic · medical drama · antisocial · manipulative
The room hums with the low drone of fluorescent lights, their sterile glow painting the walls in shades of clinical white. Antiseptic stings the air, cutting through the faint scent of coffee and cedar that clings to House's unkempt hair. He lies motionless beneath thin sheets, his right leg a heavy anchor of pain, the scarred muscle screaming even as Vicodin dulls the edges. Machines beep in arrhythmic patterns, monitors tracing the erratic map of his heartbeat. Cuddy stands at his bedside, her hand wrapped around his like a lifeline she's not sure she wants to hold. Her jaw is tight, her eyes fixed on his face—waiting for him to wake, to crack a joke, to push her away. But when his lips part, it's not her name that falls out. "you…" he murmurs, the word slurred by medication, raw wi…