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Galactica Point - Wed. Late afternoon

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gotcanewillpoke

Very excited about the prospect of starting a biker gang. Pippi rests her head sideways against House's back and looked out as the world zoomed by.

Riding the motorcycle with him was as good as riding with Tommy and Annika on Old Man. Almost as good as standing at the wheel of the Hoppitola with Pappa.

The bike was unreasonably noisy, but there was something strangely compelling about how loud it was.

Given his limited mobility otherwise, Pippi could understand why House got it. It wasn't like dancing the schottische or playing sports, but it was so open and liberating. Long John Silver had his wooden leg, and House had his motorcycle.

Considering that his job was basically helping out people who were in a bad way, it made Pippi happy to know he'd found something that let him rise above the limitations of the bum leg he couldn't give up for whatever reason.

Medical doctors had always intrigued Pippi, she was aware that people occasionally got hurt or sick and that there were people; highly educated, well respected people that could do something about that.

Being who she was, Pippi was able to do lots of things that nobody else could. Though in that same note, being who she was, there were lots of things she had "missed out on". Such as going to doctors. The only other time she'd ever gone to a doctor was purely out of curiosity... And the poor man was completely thrown for a loop by her physiology. She had found the whole thing quite amusing.

When she'd heard the announcement to give blood at the clinic, she'd basically gone there as a lark, specifically to mess with whatever doctor was there. But when he had been unable to take her blood, he didn't become flustered or flummoxed or any other fun to say word that starts with "f" and means "to be confused".

Instead of just throwing up his hands in frustration and despair, he had showed her a very serious concern for her future well being; and practically pleaded with her, in his own way, to let him help her.

That was touching and something altogether new to Pippi, seeing as how she never got hurt or sick. At least, not until she came to Fandom.

Pippi had never been in a situation where she needed to be protected, or rescued, or have her life saved before. To say that she had a special place in her heart for the first people ever to do that, or for the first doctor to actually be her doctor... That would be putting it mildly.

"Let's stop by Jeff, God of Biscuits and get something so we can have a picnic at the Point!" she suggested over the thumping purr of the bike's engine.

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He's more than agreeable to stopping for food. Juggling the bags isn't terribly difficult, and before long, they're at the Point.

Knowing the conversation ahead of them, House is reflecting on how quickly he ame to care for Pippi. She is one of the people he will regret leaving. He's not really looking forward to telling her his plans. Decision, he corrects himself. He doesn't exactly have a plan.

He parks the bike and slides off it, tugging his right leg over and around the seat. Not the most graceful, but he manages it without looking too awkward.

Pippi hops off the bike and carries the delightful baked goods. She walks with House while looking for a good spot to set down with a good view of the ocean.

"Hey Greg? Why did you decide to be a doctor?"

Not having heard the radio last night she has no idea what he's planning to tell her.

House settles on the ground, his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles in front of him. "The quick answer is I wanted to help people. But there's a lot more to it. Medicine is a puzzle, and I like a good challenge. I started out with a specialty in necrology, which is the kidneys. But I was bored. So I switched to infectious diseases. And then diagnostics, which is really more like science, only people are my specialty."

He sighs and scrubs a hand over his face. "I'm betting you didn't listen to the radio last night."

Pippi was munching on a muffin.

"Nooo, I missed it I'm afraid. Did they interview you about being a doctor or something?"

House shook his head. "No." He met her gaze and his expression softened. "I talked to Principal Finn the other day. I've made a difficult decision, Pippi. I'm leaving the school clinic."

"... Are you gonna live in town then? To be closer to the man that helps you with your leg?"

Even Pippi knew she was grasping at straws here. She'd played out this scene enough times to know what was coming next. She'd just never been on the receiving end.

He looked up to the sky for a moment, then back down to meet her gaze. "I'm going to be staying with Professor Chaucer, for a while. I don't know how long. I don't know what I'm going to do, yet."

That was actually a better answer then she'd hoped for. Growing up on a ship, she and her Papa were always on the move. House wasn't saying that he was going away. But that didn't mean it wasn't what he meant.

"I haven't met him." she said, "I'm sure he's very nice." She took another bite of her muffin.

House smiled. Thinking about Geoff always made him smile. "He's a very dear friend. I met him when I wasn't feeling too good, he cheered me up and we've been nearly inseperable ever since."

House nibbled on a muffin as well, eating about the edge ot the top. "I'm sure the new doctor will be good. And there's always Dr Pevensie."

Pippi managed a smile as well. She leaned against house and picked pieces of the top of her muffin and ate them.

"I'm sure the new doctor will be grand." she said, "But they won't be the best because that's you."

He slipped his arm around her to give her a warm hug. "And that? Means a lot. Thank you. I knew you were special the first time is saw you," he grinned, and the happiness showed in his eyes.

Pippi dropped her muffin and hugged House back.

"You're leaving." she said simply.

"I'm..." He looked at her and knew he couldn't lie or pretend with her. "Pippi, I don't know. I really don't. All I know, right now, I'm walking a very thin line and I'm afraid I'm going to wake up one morning on the wrong side of sanity. I've got a lot going on right now, and it's all tangled up inside me and I can't keep going on like I am because this place, this town, is doing weird things to my head."

Pippi's muffin had rolled away and the sea gulls were making off with it just at that moment.

With one arm still around House, she reached up and broke a bit off of the muffin he was holding.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"That's part of the problem. I can't. I mean, I havne't figured out how. A lot of it is tied to Dr Wilson. And my leg. I've been addicted to pain killers, and I recently gave up my pills. I don't need them anymore, but I still want them, and I dont want to want them. It got so bad last weekend I made Dr Wilson take the Vicodin out of the school clinic, because I knew I couldn't trust myself not to get into the lock up. I already did, and Dr Wilson told me in not so gentle terms that I was a selfish bastard, and he's right."

They're bad for him, and he wants them, but he shouldn't. Like his leg. Which is the cause of the whole situation with the medicine.

Pippi's new-found tact doesn't let her say that out loud. she nibbles her stolen piece of muffin.

"My Papa's first mate Fredolf had an uncle. Who was as skilled a sailor as any captain could wish for. One day, when Fredolf was young, there was a terrible storm. And Fredolf's uncle was up in the rigging. The winds were whipping, and the sails were billowing, and the boat was rocking.

Fredolf's uncle lost his footing because of the rain. And his leg got caught up in the rigging. Well, he was falling one way, and the ship was rocking the other, and *squick*. Bye bye leg. So of course Fredolf's Uncle gets hisself a wooden leg like ya do. And it doesn't slow him down one bit.

But everytime he went ashore all the 'land lubbers' would be so amazed with him. And he never liked dealing with people who weren't connected to the sea in some way. Because when he looked at himself, he saw a man. But when the lubbers looked at him. They just saw a leg."

She looked up at him.

"We all see a man. It is entirely possible that the man is a selfish bastard. Though I don't think that's entirely true... But I see a man and I don't know that the man doesn't just see a leg."

He listened to her story, and he smiled softly. He nodded and ruffled her hair.

"You want to know why I left my hospital? My ex girlfriend came back. She asked me to figure out what was wrong with her husband, because he'd been bounced from doctor to doctor to doctor and no one could find anything. They said he was fine, but she knew he wasn't. So she came to me, and when he was dying, she told me she never thought wouldn't be able to help him. I did, I diagnosed him, and when he refused the treatment that would confirm, she forced me to betray him. it wan't quite the same, but it was very similar to how she betrayed me. She was my medical proxy, because my parents were out of the country. I gave her rights to make medical decisions for me, and she authorised the debridment surgery I didn't want.

"I could have made it. I could have had my leg whole, without pain. But she made that decision, and this is what I have to live with. It's a struggle every day. And sometimes I think I should have let them take my leg. But it's my leg. It's part of me. And I need to figure out how to take control of my life back."

Pippi was unfamiliar with the idea of giving somebody else the right to make any kind of decisions for you, much less important ones.

Based on her previous conversation with House, and with Hawkeye; Pippi is fairly sure there is a very real possibility that if his ex-girlfriend hadn't authorized the surgery, he'd be dead.

She's so afraid he'll leave for good. But she doesn't want to try and make him stay even if he doesn't want to. Because that would be counter to what he wants.

Stupid social editors. She stole more muffin, even though there was a box of them sitting right next to her.

"I kinda thought we'd have a more fun conversation..." she said, "Like a, 'What kind of ice cream do you like?'"

"Chocolate. Anything chocolate. Especially if it has chunks of chocolate too. I like Rocky Road." He reached up to hook a bit of stray hair behind her ear.

"What do you like?" he asked with a curious smile.

"Lets see... What ice cream do I like?" Pippi mused.

"Yes."

"We could go in to town and get ice cream, if you want. If you're not full from the muffins." She might have noticed he didn't eat much. Hard to miss when he didn't object at all to her stealing bits of his muffin.

"Nah." she said looking out into the ocean.

"I'm okay with hanging out here for a little while longer."

"Yeah. Me too." He leaned back and braced his weight on his arms. "I've never been out here before. It's nice. Peaceful."

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Galactica Point - Wed. Late afternoon

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