I cannot recommend 'The Devil You Say' by Kidsnurse more highly.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2971147/1/Written with empathy, wisdom and kindness this beautifully constructed and realised story accurately nails the horror of breakthrough pain. Experience as a health professional is evidenced by the authenticity of medical procedures but you ensure this is never overwhelming and always accessible.
The characterisation is skilful and genuine giving absolute credibility and understanding to the drama. Both humane and magnificent this story goes straight to the heart of the reader.
| QUOTE |
Yeah, you idiot. Of course he looked frustrated. It’d gotten so bad he was actually admitting it to you. Has he ever done that before? House was finally starting to open up to you, just like you’d been begging him to, and you just shut him right back down. Good going. He remembers the MRI; he’d sensed how frightened House was during the procedure—there was so much riding on it. The look in House’s eyes had been too clear for even House to mask; he was frightened, and feeling pitifully vulnerable. So Wilson had leaned into the microphone and played God. And House had laughed in a way that Wilson had never seen, not before or since. Made ya feel good to play God for him, so you just thought your job was done in the compassion department that time. And when you got those films, it was just perfectly all right to tell him casually, walking down a crowded hall, ‘gee, sorry buddy, you’re outta luck—not only are your nerves not regenerating, but your best friend thinks you’re a nutcase too.’
He winces at the memory of his unintended cruelty, and as he watches House sleep it becomes achingly clear; they’ve all been blind, they’ve all let House down—but no one more so than Wilson himself. That’s why he’d given House the morphine, Wilson instantly realizes—House needed it. He needed it medically at this point, to disrupt the awful, vicious signals his brain and his nerve endings were merrily tossing back and forth. And no one had seen it. Except House, of course. And he’s been trying to tell me for a long time. He only had to collapse in front of his entire team. |
'Don't kill the diabetic' ... Oh yes! I thank God for a writer who has enough medical savvy to comprehend the difference between addiction and dependence. A writer who understands that quality of life is essential to longevity and chronic pain can cause death by suicide.
| QUOTE |
| I did not plan to kill myself. But just so we're all straight here, if I ever do decide to go that route, I won't mess it up." He turns his head to Wilson, locks eyes with him; "And I will arrange it so that you are not the one to find me. I may be soulless, but even my cruelty has boundaries. |
Kidsnurse brings understanding to House's closest fiends and colleagues in this story, analysing his pain in superb and elegant prose within a well constructed plot. WOW!
I second that Magdala. It's a great piece. Cheers to Kidsnurse, it's a great story and the technical stuff is brilliant too.