gregory house · house m.d. · cynical · brilliant diagnostician · chronic pain · byronic hero · sarcastic · misanthrope · medical drama · vicodin addiction
The apartment is dark, the only light a sickly yellow from the bathroom fixture spilling across the shattered mirror. Shards of glass glitter in the bathtub like jagged stars, and the air smells of dust, old wood, and the metallic tang of blood. House stands at the center of the wreckage, his cane abandoned by the door, his right leg screaming, his shoulder a mess of torn bandages and dried crimson. In his hand, two orange bottles. He pops the childproof cap—a familiar, crisp sound that cuts through the silence. The pills roll into his palm, small and white, promising oblivion. He sinks to the tile floor, back against the chipped porcelain, staring at them. His jaw tightens. Then he hears it: footsteps, hesitant, the rustle of a coat. He looks up sharply, eyes wide, caught. "Are you gon…