4.16 Wilson's Heart

There are two ways to view the scene where Wilson looks at House in the ICU. I agree with the majority opinion that Wilson is angry at House for setting the course of events that ended in Amber's death in motion. However, I think that it can also be seen as there are only two people in the world who really matter to Wilson. Having just come from watching one of them die, he can't leave until he knows the other one is okay. He may not be ready to talk to House, but he waited outside the ICU until he saw that House was conscious and recognized him. Can't it be both? I'm sure Wilson is angry but that doesn't mean he stopped loving House, even if he doesn't want to be around him for a while.

I think the three options are correct, actually. He was angry (though I don't think he was there to show his anger towards House), but mainly he wanted to be sure that House would be fine and to confirm that Amber had died. After he had accomplished his mission, he could go home and cry alone. I've just realized the double-meaning in Amber's last note to Wilson: "Sorry I'm not here. Went to pick up House." She's not with Wilson, but she definitely picked House up off the pristine bus of death and placed him right back in the world. He couldn't save her, but she saved him. There's another, and more dark meaning in that note: Amber is not by Wilson's side anymore because of House :( I think for a very long time this is what Wilson will read in that last message.

I don't want to read 37(!) pages of comments to see if this idea is original, but I came across a point in a fic that made the outcome of the accident much more House's fault than I had previously considered it. That point is that House so thoughtlessly brushed aside Amber's offer of help and staggered out of the bar and on to the bus and on to subsequent events that led to her death. OK, he got drunk and he called his friend for a ride, that's not so bad, but if only he had accepted Amber's offer of a ride, after she came all the way down to the bar, they wouldn't have been involved in the accident. That really is House-like behavior that led to bad consequences. He still couldn't have known there would be an accident of course, but it was more jerk like behavior from House that contributed directly to the ultimate result. If only he could have just said thanks to Amber and gotten into the car, all would have been well.

If only he could have just said thanks to Amber and gotten into the car, all would have been well. Or if Amber had said no to the drink. Or if House hadn't insisted she take a drink. Or if House hadn't forgotten his cane and Amber just drove herself home when she saw him get on the bus. Or if Amber had just grabbed the cane from the bar and gone home when she saw him get on the bus. (Wilson could have given it back to him the next day, and anyway, House has more than one cane. We saw them in his closet in a season 2 epi.) Or if Amber had told House on the phone that Wilson was working and told him to take the bus or a cab. Or if Amber hadn't taken amantadine for her flu. Or if Amber had sat in a different seat on the bus. Or if the garbage truck hadn't run into the bus. (The most significant catalyst, IMO.) I'm not saying it was Amber's fault (it certainly was not!); I'm saying that you really cannot point to any single cause or (person). This was a series of very tragic and unfortunate events. If any one piece had gone just slightly differently, then the outcome likely would have been very different. Amber would probably be alive. Although, again, I think the real blame lies with the driver of the garbage truck. (And anyway, what IF House had gotten into Amber's car? Hindsight is 20/20, and that's the only reason that anyone knows it was a bad idea to get on the bus. It could have gone differently; Amber and House could have gotten into an accident while riding in Amber's car. Then people would be saying, "If only House had refused Amber's offer of a ride and then gotten on the bus, she would be ok." Etc.)

Are you aware that we are reopening a can of worms, aren't you? :wink: I think some fans had already talked about House's refusal to go with Amber as one of the things that caused her death. Personally I disagree. It was her decision to go to the bar and follow him on that bus. If she had accepted that he didn't want her company, everything would be fine - well, except House would still have the accident... he got drunk and he called his friend for a ride, that's not so bad See, that's what I think is really, really bad! He didn't call Wilson for a ride because he was drunk - he could have called a cab, he had money (he gave money to the strip dancer, remember?) or he could have taken the bus, alone - but he got drunk to have an excuse to call Wilson and disturb W/Amber's night. It was this simple, selfish action that put the events in motion. If his motives to do the phone call were pure he wouldn't feel so guilty - the phone call is what he was trying to forget. Which actually doesn't mean that I blame him either way. As NightOwl said, we can't predict every consequence for every action we make, and, ultimately what caused her death was a garbage truck that ran into the bus...

There's a third way to view that last scene. Wilson knows that the one thing House will want to know when he wakes up is whether Amber is alive or dead, whether he risked his life and saved her or if it in fact did no good. With the likelihood of damage/memory loss from House's concussion, skull fracture, the meds, the heart attack and the seizure, Wilson realizes that House may not remember that he figured out the flu pill diagnosis. So, whether he's angry with him or too devastated to feel anything, Wilson gets House's attention and lets him see in his eyes that she is gone. And with that bit of duty done, he heads home. To find the note. :sob: Boffle, I am praying for your interpretation. When House suggested the deep brain stimulation, they didn't have a diagnosis yet. That's very House -- he'll risk his life for a diagnosis. But when Wilson suggested it, House said there was no need. They already had the diagnosis. At that point in time, as far as House was concerned, the only reason to do it was because that was what Wilson wanted. Exactly, Poeia! Everyone keeps talking about Wilson being angry, having the right to be angry, etc., but what about House? I think he has an equally good reason to be angry at Wilson and he hasn't even had time to process the knowledge that Wilson was willing to "throw him under the bus" so to speak for Amber. House only does the DBS because Wilson asks and he is stunned that Wilson asked. Thus, the gasp/snort/laugh like he just got punched in the stomach which took my breath away, too. In re-watching this episode, the following scene is almost as powerful, but much more subtle when House is being prepped for the procedure and his head has been secured, the look he gives to Wilson is almost a silent plea to reconsider and when it is unanswered, House is resigned to dying, if he has to, for Wilson. IMO, Wilson needs to come to terms with that! Particularly, if House is damaged as a result of the DBS

Everyone keeps talking about Wilson being angry, having the right to be angry, etc., but what about House? I think he has an equally good reason to be angry at Wilson and he hasn't even had time to process the knowledge that Wilson was willing to "throw him under the bus" so to speak for Amber. Thank you for saying that. I don't understand that either. While it would be natural for Wilson to be upset with House because Amber died and he lost someone he loved, at some point, one hopes he realizes that House sacraficed his life for Amber and did it for his friend. We still don't know if House suffers any after effect from the shock treatment.

he got drunk and he called his friend for a ride, that's not so bad See, that's what I think is really, really bad! He didn't call Wilson for a ride because he was drunk - he could have called a cab, he had money (he gave money to the strip dancer, remember?) or he could have taken the bus, alone - but he got drunk to have an excuse to call Wilson and disturb W/Amber's night. It was this simple, selfish action that put the events in motion. If his motives to do the phone call were pure he wouldn't feel so guilty - the phone call is what he was trying to forget. I bolded part of your quote because I totally missed that. Did House acknowledge that he called Wilson for this reason or is that just your interpretation? It's been a while since I watched the episode so it's possible House was screwing with W/A time but I don't remember that. I thought that House called Wilson because he was drunk and knew from past experience that Wilson would bail him out. I guess I need to go back and watch again.

he was drunk and knew from past experience that Wilson would bail him out. Exactly. But the reason why he wanted to get drunk at that time of the day, in a bar and not at home, was never answered. During the hypnosis, in HH, when Wilson asks him this he avoids the question with a barb against Wilson and then says to Chase that if he can't lie he wants Wilson (and Amber) out of his subconscious. If the action of to go to a bar, to get drunk and then call Wilson was a simple, ordinary event, without any hidden motive, there would be no need to lie. But the phone call was another test, to know if Wilson would choose to drop everything and come to rescue him, instead of staying home with Amber, hence his guilt. Of course he could have called Wilson, told him he was lonely and wanted his company, but this is House! He doesn't display his weakness so easily. To answer your question, yes, this is my personal interpretation, though I read others with the same POV and, at least until now, I didn't find any other explanation that fits House's behaviour better.

Revising an old chestnut, brought over from Spoiler discussion. No spoilers discussed. The electrical shock experiment served a purpose for House, and he made sure he did everything necessary to survive it. The possibly tainted blood taking was not unnecessary if he wanted Finn to live--the point he made was that they did not have time to complete all the blood cultures before Finn died. He was willing to risk his life to save Finn's and that's why Wilson was mad. He didn't want to House to go that far, even if the tests were inconclusive and the patient dying. And it's this type of lecturing that I think he no longer has any grounds to make, because he asked House to do something even riskier and more likely to cause damage to save Amber. You don't get to jump back and forth over that line when it suits you I have to address this because the last line is absolutely a false premise. Of course you can jump back and forth that’s the point that it is not black & white. But you don't decide just becasue it suits you but because every situation has different circumstances and those specific circumstances determine when a risk is necessary, sometime your only choice, and when it is fool hardy. There are times when taking a risk is a reasonable rational thing to do. No one says House should never take a risk, I’ve never heard Wilson say that. That doesn‘t mean you take a risk every time out; something even House has never advocated he should do. The context of each situation has to be judged separately, how big the risk, the likelihood of achieving something worthwhile vs. achieving very little, the other options available or the lack of options. When looked at in total some situations will support a risk and others will not. With the electrocution. (I reject calling it an experiment. Experiments can be repeated and get the same results, not likely here.) What House wanted to find out, if there was an afterlife, could never be found out simply by stopping his heart. He did not do everything to protect himself. He paged one person who could have been anywhere else in the hospital, the bathroom, on the elevator, in the parking lot and who might not have gotten to him in time. If someone else had been right there with him that mighthave been different. But of course if he had someone else with him they would have stopped him before he stuck the knife in because what he was doing was crazy. Pure and simple. Like stepping out in front of a bus just to see how quickly the driver can stop. In YDW2K there were at least two other things House could have done. Redo the amyloidosis test. House deemed it inconclusive but it wasn't, it came back negative. That didn’t agree with him so he disregarded the result. If he thought it was a false negative redoing the test and getting the same results, which he would have since the test was right, would have reconfirmed. Second, instead of just letting Kutner & 13 check the blood banks for mismarks and contamination how about retyping the patient’s blood. House already had a problem with the lab so why not suspect there had been a lab or clerical error in typing. It would have taken all of 30 minutes. The first would have proved that House was wrong; the second would have given them at least part of the answer of what was actually going on with the patient. Of course than he wouldn’t have had any argument to be given the blood, maybe he wanted that all along. The bottom line is that in YDW2K House was wrong about the diagnosis and the way he chose to confirm it. By taking the blood he wound up with nothing, not even the real cause of the patients problem. Had it not been for Wilson's being upset at House for what he did they never would have had their Blood type conversation which is how House got his epiphany. Chalk up another one for Wilson’s lecturing. But House was right about the DBS. House had been with the patient before the bus accident and actually saw what happened and what was killing her. That info couldn’t be ascertained thru tests and there was no other way for House to be certain he was remembering correctly. To be certain the only option left was to go back and see it and it worked. In Wilson's Heart House was right and got the answer.

In YDW2K there were at least two other things House could have done. Redo the amyloidosis test. House deemed it inconclusive but it wasn't, it came back negative. That didn’t agree with him so he disregarded the result. If he thought it was a false negative redoing the test and getting the same results, which he would have since the test was right, would have reconfirmed. Second, instead of just letting Kutner & 13 check the blood banks for mismarks and contamination how about retyping the patient’s blood. House already had a problem with the lab so why not suspect there had been a lab or clerical error in typing. It would have taken all of 30 minutes. The first would have proved that House was wrong; the second would have given them at least part of the answer of what was actually going on with the patient. Of course than he wouldn’t have had any argument to be given the blood, maybe he wanted that all along. I think this is looking at the case in retrospect, not in real time as House had to. The amyloidosis test came back inconclusive and the patient is dying. House had not yet had his epiphany that Finn's blood type might be the issue, and deciding he must have deliberately avoided that issue because he wanted to take tainted blood does not seem to me to be well supported in the episode. House gets his epiphanies when the dots connect and no one was thinking the patient's blood type was a problem. House took the tainted blood because he believed the blood was fine and the sooner it was proven, the sooner he could follow up his own theory, and time was of the essence. It's a risk for the patient, and that's what Wilson was upset about. He didn't think House should put his life at risk, whether tests were inconclusive or not and whether Finn's time was running out or not. And that's the tune he changed when Amber was the patient. Had it not been for Wilson's being upset at House for what he did they never would have had their Blood type conversation which is how House got his epiphany. Chalk up another one for Wilson’s lecturing. Since that was not Wilson's intention when he delivered his lecture, I don't think he gets credit for the save :D . His intention was to discourage House from taking dangerous risks for patients. But House was right about the DBS. House had been with the patient before the bus accident and actually saw what happened and what was killing her. That info couldn’t be ascertained thru tests and there was no other way for House to be certain he was remembering correctly. To be certain the only option left was to go back and see it and it worked. In Wilson's Heart House was right and got the answer. The dynamic here was different. House was not pushing for the DBS while Wilson lectured him on taking a dangerous risk. House was pointing out the dangerous risk while saying he didn't feel the need to do the DBS and Wilson pushed for the DBS whatever the risk to House. He is no longer trying to discourage House from taking a dangerous risk to save a patient, he is encouraging him to, because he has a connection to the patient. There is a line Wilson is jumping back and forth on, and his determining factor is his own connection to the patient and what he thinks he cannot stand to lose.

jair Your posts make feel so incredibly sad for House. It means next time nobody will express any worry for his safety. If Wilson no longer has the right to lecture/nag/freak out, it's going to prove to House how little he's worth. Those lectures are the way Wilson expresses his love and concern for House. God, I shiver to think of Wilson sitting alone in his office after hearing about House's newest "scientific experiment" forcing himself to remained sited, forbiding himself to go to House because he does not have the right to hover. It totally would break my heart, if this scenario happened.

jair Your posts make feel so incredibly sad for House. It means next time nobody will express any worry for his safety. If Wilson no longer has the right to lecture/nag/freak out, it's going to prove to House how little he's worth. Those lectures are the way Wilson expresses his love and concern for House. God, I shiver to think of Wilson sitting alone in his office after hearing about House's newest "scientific experiment" forcing himself to remained sited, forbiding himself to go to House because he does not have the right to hover. It totally would break my heart, if this scenario happened. I have to say it wouldn't break mine, and I love these two men's relationship, honestly :D . I don't think Wilson's lecturing is what binds these men together. And I suspect House would have appreciated Wilson deciding he didn't want House to risk his life when House asked if he realised the potential cost--it made me sad for House when Wilson said yes. I don't think Wilson not lecturing House means he can't go to him if he wants to, or that he can't draw lines if he feels the need to that. But lecturing someone constantly about something you have asked him to do for you--it wouldn't make me sad at all for Wilson to catch that irony and realise he can't go there anymore. I much prefer Wilson when he approaches House the way he did in Insensitive--giving his opinion but not lecturing and then giving House the space to make his own decision.

Except House does not give time for that. I don't think Wilson could have known he was to supposed to tell House "Is my opinion putting a knife in a socket is a bad idea" or "Would you please considered not nearly killing yourself" and after House went and did it anyway to just shrug it off and go "Oh well, geniouses would be geniouses, want a beer?" Well, agree to disagree time again.

Except House does not give time for that. I don't think Wilson could have known he was to supposed to tell House "Is my opinion putting a knife in a socket is a bad idea" or "Would you please considered not nearly killing yourself" and after House went and did it anyway to just shrug it off and go "Oh well, geniouses would be geniouses, want a beer?" Well, agree to disagree time again. Of course we can agree to disagree :D . I think Wilson is known for lecturing in many different situations--he didn't save himself for the electrocution. The tainted blood situation is a better example of one where he might want to rethink his lecture. And as I said, I don't think not lecturing means no contact or only flippant contact. It doesn't even mean he can't express an opinion. The Insensitive situation was not a lecture and it was effective.

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