Okay, I know this has taken forever, but here's my excuse...it's the last chapter. I have had SO much fun writing this story. I originally had planned to take this a lot further (see the author's note at the end) but in the end, it kind of wrote itself in a different direction. Personally, I like it. I think there are going to be a couple of one-shots later about different things that happen, but I'm not sure yet. Enjoy!
Chase was in the hospital for two days (Emily never leaving his side) before driving all the nurses crazy and finally being released. Cuddy signed his release because House had agreed to stay with him for a few days. She joked that it was a double bonus, Chase got to go home and she got House out of her hospital for a while.
Physically, both Chase and Emily were doing fine. Chase's leg was in a cast and he was on crutches and Emily was not hurt at all. However, it seemed that Emily's day with Lauren had really traumatized her. She spoke only when her Daddy or House spoke to her. She never initiated conversation and she wouldn't reply to anyone other than those two.
Privately, House wondered why Emily spoke to him at all. It would seem to him that Chase would be the only she talked to. When he mentioned that to Chase, Chase just smiled and laughed a little. "House, you saved her. You were the first person she saw who she trusted after Lauren took her. You made sure her daddy was alive. In her eyes, you're her hero."
That really shocked House. He had never been anyone's hero. Well, he did save people's lives, but that didn't count. He didn't know them and he never saw them again after he sent them on their way. It took him nearly the whole two days to realize that the feeling he was feeling was pride.
When they left the hospital, a nurse pushed the wheelchair with Chase and Emily (in Chase's lap) and House followed behind. Wilson had come to pick them up and drive them back to Chase's place. He also had dinner cooking for them because he knew they all needed real food and House would never cook, even in this parallel universe where he was playing nurse to Chase.
Wilson had asked Chase what Emily's favorite meal was and he told him meatloaf. The ride home was silent. Emily refused to sit in her own seat, demanding to be in her daddy's lap. No one argued. Chase was happy to be home and expected that Emily would be, too, but she seemed pretty indifferent. It didn't seem to matter to her as long as Chase was holding her or holding her hand.
While they ate, Wilson tried to make conversation, but Emily wouldn't speak at all. Halfway through the meal she fell asleep at the table. The three men exchanged a glance and without a word, Wilson got up, picked up the sleeping girl and carried her to her bedroom. Chase hopped after him, awkward on the crutches. Wilson put her on the bed and Chase gently tucked her in, kissing her forehead tenderly, and then tried to leave quietly.
When he left her room, he saw that House had moved to the couch and Wilson was cleaning up the dishes. "You don't have to do that." Chase protested. Wilson grinned at him from the kitchen.
"And you're planning on carrying dishes how? If you haven't noticed, you need both hands to get around." He joked. Chase ducked his head, blushed, and grinned. "And if I leave them, they'll never get done. I guarantee you that House won't do it."
"Thanks." Chase said, trying to lower himself gracefully to the couch, but failing and falling. House laughed at him and Chase glared back at him.
"You remind me of me when I first got out of the hospital after the infarction." House said and the words immediately sent a quiet through the room. House shook the amber bottle of pills. "Want a vicoden? Start growing a beard and I can have my very own mini-me." That caused the tension to break a little.
Chase reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out his own bottle of pills. "No, got my own, thanks." he said. House reached across the couch and grabbed the pills, reading the label.
"Tylenol 3?" he scoffed. "They didn't even give you the good stuff." Chase snatched it back.
"It's all I need. I have a very high tolerance for pain." he said. By that time, Wilson had made it back into the livingroom and sat in the recliner. There was a small comfortable silence until Chase spoke up. "She's not talking." he said, very quietly. Both House and Wilson stayed quiet. "I don't know what to do with her. Do I take her to a psychologist? Do I just let it go and hope she starts talking?" He turned suddenly angry. "I hate that Lauren broke her!"
"Lauren didn't break her." Wilson said. "She's just...scared. I'd give her some time. If she doesn't start talking again in a week, then I'd take her to a psychologist."
"I wouldn't take her at all. She'll get over it." House piped in. Chase sighed, rubbing his hand over his face.
"Three days ago, she was a happy, healthy little girl. Her whole life has changed now. Lauren's been arrested and I'm pressing charges. Sean says she thinks that Emily will have to testify to a judge." Chase hesitated. "I'm afraid to hear what she has to say. I haven't asked her what happened yet." he admitted.
House and Wilson exchanged a glance. "Could you ask Sean to ask her?" WIlson suggested.
"No, I'm going to have to ask her. I'm going to have know, but I don't want to. I don't want to know what that horrible woman did to traumatize my daughter like this." Chase sighed.
Both House and Wilson were silent for a moment. Then House spoke up. "You know, she might not have actually done anything to her. It might just be the fact that she was separated from you, Maddie, everyone she knows. Then she saw you shot in front of her eyes."
"Been sneaking in psych rotations when no one was looking?" Chase scoffed, but he thought about what House had said. He might be right, Lauren might not have done anything to her. "Do you really think Lauren didn't harm her?"
"I don't know. I don' t think you can know, until you talk to her." Wilson said. He noticed Chase stifling a yawn and told the other two that it was getting late and that he was going to head home. Chase thanked him again and he left House and Chase alone.
"House, I want you to take my bed. It'll be easier for me to get off the couch anyways." Chase told him. House nodded, took the hint, and left Chase alone in his livingroom. Chase tried to settle down on the couch, but he couldn't sleep so he got up and headed into his daughter's room. He tried to be quiet, but the crutches he was relying on didn't allow that. He hopped into Emily's room and saw that Emily hadn't moved from where Wilson had placed her. He hopped next to her bed and eased himself down next to her.
Her eyes opened when the bed dipped. "Shh, baby, it's just me. Go back to sleep, sweetheart."
Content that it was just her daddy, she snuggled next to him and closed her eyes. "Don't leave, Daddy." she mumbled, sleepily.
"I won't." he assured her. Within seconds, she was asleep again. Holding his daughter, Chase fell asleep, too. The next morning, he woke with terrible pain in his leg. He wondered vaguely if this was how House felt every morning, but quickly pushed that thought aside. He tried to shift his daughter without waking her, but she woke anyways. She blinked sleepily at him and smiled.
"Hi daddy." she said. He leaned forward and kissed her.
"Hi baby. Can you do daddy a favor?" he asked. She nodded. "Go to the bathroom and get daddy a cup of water." She nodded again and jumped up to obey him. She was back in a minute and he had already fished out his bottle of pills. He took two and then patted her bed and she climbed back in next to him. "How are you Em?" he asked.
"Fine Daddy." she said, snuggling into his side.
"Emily, I need to ask you some questions about when you were with your mommy. I need you to promise me that you'll tell me the truth, okay?" he said. He felt Emily stiffen at the mention of her mom, but she agreed. She trusted her daddy. "Did your mommy hurt you at all?" he asked her.
Emily drew a shuddering breath. "Yes." she said. Chase felt his heart sink, but kept his voice even, so as not to scare his daughter.
"What did she do?" he asked, gently.
"She hit me in the face." She said, burying her face into Chase's side. Chase put his hand on her chin and lifter her face so he could look in her eyes.
"Emily, I'm very proud of you for telling me the truth. You are a very brave girl and I love you so, so much!" he said. Finally, he saw her smile and he felt relief wash through him
"She said that you didn't love me anymore. She said that no one loved me. She said I'd never see you again." Emily confessed. Chase held her tightly.
"I'm so sorry Emily. You know that I love you more than anything in the whole world, right? And your Uncle House and Uncle Wilson love you, and Aunt Lisa loves you. Maddie and Miss Patty both love you, too. I don't know why your mommy did what she did, but I will never let anything like that happen ever again." She hugged him.
"I love you, too Daddy." She moved off the bed and to the small table that held her coloring books, paper, and crayons. "Is Uncle House still here?" she asked. Chase hefted himself off the bed and hopped to the door.
"Yes, he's going to stay for a couple of days to help Daddy." he said, thinking to himself how weird that was.
"Good." she said, pulling out a plain piece of paper and some crayons. Chase felt relieved that she was becoming herself again. He hopped out to the livingroom and saw House sitting on the couch.
"How much did you hear?" Chase asked, not irritated, just curious.
"All of it. It could have been worse. I think she's going to be fine." House said. Chase smiled and nodded. It really could have been a lot worse. Fifteen minutes later, Emily came out with a hand made thank you card and shyly handed it to House. Flabbergasted, House accepted the card and even hugged little Emily. Later, when Chase told WIlson, House insisted that Chase was on drugs and didn't know what he was talking about.
Chase was off work for the next three weeks. He couldn't really perform surgery on crutches. He spent the time with his daughter, enjoying every minute with her. House stayed for a couple of days, before leaving them alone. House had never really had a family, but neither had Chase. They kind of became family to each other, Chase dragging him over for dinners, birthdays and holidays. House never admitted it out loud, but he loved Emily more than he ever thought he could love someone. He also cared for Chase, but wouldn't admit that either.
Before Chase came back to work, House offered him his old place on the diagnostics team, but Chase declined. He had come to realize that House was right and that he needed to grow as a doctor. The year that Emily turned seven, Chase was offered a position as a senior attending surgeon and his hours changed radically. He was able to chose the hours he wanted to work and took himself off emergency on-call. He let Maddie go as a nanny, mostly because Emily no longer required a full time nanny. She was in school all day and he was home by the time she done. However, she was still his most frequent baby-sitter and they kept in close touch.
Some days Chase had trouble believing that he was so lucky. He had a beautiful, vibrant daughter, a wonderful career, and good friends. Wilson once told him that he had gotten all his bad luck out in the first half of his life and so it was right that everything was going smoothly now. When Emily was nine, Chase got married. Her name was Kimberly and he met her through Cuddy, of all people. Emily loved her and she loved Emily.
If someone had asked Chase how he thought his life would go, this would have never been the answer. But he wouldn't trade it for the world.
I know this is the second author's note, but as it's the last chapter, I feel like I can do that lol! First of all, thank you SOOOOOOOOO much, especially all of you who've stuck with me from the beginning. I have two new stories in the works...one is a sequel to Fragmented Pieces and one is a new one. Plus I have a couple of ideas for one-shots based on this story. I really want to write the wedding scene and maybe a few others. Emily has been so much fun for me and I have loved every minute of writing this story. My original intention was to really traumatize her from the Lauren debacle, but when I wrote it, it didn't seem right. I re-worked it four times, and then finally, decided to try what you see here. I hope that you guys like it as much as I do and as always, please, please review! Thanks again! I'll see you soon!