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It was the middle of the night and House was wide awake.
He felt a twinge of pain in his thigh and knew it was what woke him. If he had been home, he would get up, walk around for a while, maybe watch TV. Or more likely pop some pills and turn back around. This night he did neither.
For a moment, he just listened to the snoring of his fellows, disturbing the otherwise quiet hotel room. He tried to match the sounds to the people making them. A deep throat snore—Foreman. A quite, muffled breathing—Cameron. And open mouthed breathing—Chase.
It was calming. A symphony of peace. The complete opposite energy that usually existed in the office. It was hard to imagine them with their mouths shut and their minds off.
He was almost jealous of them.
His eyes opened to the softly illuminated room. The moon was dousing everything into a white light. It was romantic in a way that shouldn’t include his employees. He sat up in his bed, slowly and quietly making it through the space.
The bed right next to his was occupied by Cameron. She had fallen asleep on her belly, her head facing the right. He couldn’t see her face through a curtain of hair that had fallen out of the pony tail.
He leaned down close, feeling the exhale of air on his skin. Carefully, he collected the strands with one hand, swiping it away from her face. The next breath was deeper than the others, for a moment he was afraid she might be waking up, but she simply settled again. Breathing lighter than before.
With a quick look around he located the elastic now carelessly lying in bed. He put the choking hazard on the bedside table.
He wondered why he was doing this. She didn’t need him–not strong-headed, smart Cameron, but it was nice to do something nice. But she would never know.
Then he thought, what the hell and straighten out the bunched up covers, lying them across her evenly. And of course he never started something without finishing it, so he tucked her in as well.
He drew back, admiring his work, watching the rise and fall of the heap of blankets.
Next to her was Foreman who had managed to slither to the other side of bed in his sleep. His feet were resting on his pillows and his head was touching the mattress. This could not be comfortable. House’s neck was becoming stiff just looking at it.
With considered precision, he removed the pillow and brought it around to his head. He lifted it carefully, impressed that the snoring wasn’t disturbed once during the ordeal.
Afterwards, he gave him the same treatment, rearranging the blankets that had fallen unto the floor, so they were covering him again. It looked a million times more comfortable. Defiantly better for his neck.
He watched him breath.
Of course, Foreman would sleep on his back—the healthiest position, and the most uncomfortable. After not seeing him stir for a minute, he moved on to his last fellow. He had to look down on the floor to find him.
The room only had three real beds. A simple booking error the receptionist had apologized for profusely. Unfortunately, they couldn’t be given another room or bed, so they were given a mattress to put on the floor. They would not be receiving a good yelp review after this was over.
Upon entering the room, House had naturally claimed the biggest bed. It wasn’t even up for discussion, then the arguing started. His three adults acting like children. How amusing.
It all really depended on who would team up with whom. Sometimes, Cameron and Chase stuck together as they knew each other the longest. Chase and Foreman would draw a reluctant alliance against the only women—it never lasted long.
This trip favored a different trend however: Cameron and Foreman against Chase.
This didn’t escape Chase who tried to drag him into the argument, he was so clearly losing. “But I already sat in the middle the whole drive here. That’s not fair. House!”
He scolded his expression to something more neutral, unwilling to admit how much he enjoyed this. “I don’t care. You’re old enough to decide on your own.”
Betrayal was written all over his face.
Foreman had looked smug, while Cameron remained more diplomatic. With a nice smile, she had promised he didn’t have to sit in the middle on the drive back. “But Chase, you are the youngest. Your back can take a night—“
“Two nights.”
“Two nights on the floor. We—“ she gestured to herself and Foreman, “aren’t so lucky.”
None of them were over 32, so House didn’t know who she was calling old. Even if the argument wasn’t that convincing, Cameron had touched Chases arm and asked with a pretty please.
Chase gave in.
He felt bad for the kid now. Somebody had to sleep on the floor of course, but the backseat debate was purely manufactured by House. Children sit in the back, despite the empty shotgun seat.
Chase had managed to roll away from the makeshift bed and actually slept on the floor. The fact that it at least had a carpet was a small comfort.
He shivered in his sleep as the blanket hadn’t made it on his decent. But he didn’t wake up, just lying on the ground, curled around himself like a dog. A little sigh escaped his mouth, sounding closer to a whine. Tiny and pathetic.
It really made a pitiful sight.
He bend down, ignoring the protest from his knees and gently rolled him back onto the mattress. The operation went smoothly without waking him up.
The moment Chase settled back onto the bed, he curled up again, hugging the pillow close to his chest. His tremoring body was covered with the blanket. Of course, he also tugged it around him.
Mindful not to jostle him, he made sure the blankets were tight enough. Hopefully, it would stop Chase from falling again. Before he could draw back, the sounds of breathing stopped, replaced by dry lips smacking against each other.
“House?” Chase rasped out, looking at him. Green eyes reflecting moonlight, crusted with sleep.
He shushed him, “Go back to sleep.”
He stared at him for another moment. Then, “okay.”
Chase went down again. He doubted he would remember this in the morning. He waited a little longer at his side, making sure he was actually off in dream land again, before going back to bed.
The activity soothed his leg, tired him out just enough that he knew sleep would come easy.
But before he went back under covers, he watched over them again one last time. They were all peacefully asleep, his three little ducklings.