Title: My Brother's Keeper
Author: shutterbug_12
Pairing: Gen: House, Cuddy, Wilson.
Rating: R
Length: 24 814 words.
Spoilers: None.
Summary: An on-the-job incident forces House to experience his life beyond the visible spectrum; Cuddy and Wilson struggle to guide him through a darkness that neither of them can see and preserve the world that House remembers.
Excerpt:

Cuddy shouted at a wide-eyed nurse. "I need a bottle of Alcaine and four--" Her order broke off with a hiss as House stumbled and forced her to brace herself against the wall. "--four liters of saline in exam room one, and page Dr. Wilson. Tell him it’s an emergency."

With the strength worthy of a linebacker, she muscled House towards the door and threw it open. Inside, a patient sat on the exam table waiting to be seen.

"Out!" she demanded, maneuvering House to the counter to bend him over the sink.

The patient stared dumbly at her.

"Now!"

Cuddy ignored the patient’s disgruntled murmurs as he scuttled from the room and, with near-superhuman speed, stripped House of his stinking, saturated jacket, turned on the tap, and pulled on a pair of gloves. As she guided his face towards the water, she drew measured breaths, mentally reviewing procedure, the medical mechanics.

"Okay, House," she said, adopting a tone of cool professionalism to cover the panic racing up her throat, flooding her mouth. She forced a swallow. "I need you to open your eyes as wide as possible."

A pained grunt slipped between his lips as his eyelids blinked open. The first vibrant, fury-red flash of sclera shocked her. The blue clarity of his irises, however, pulled a tiny sigh of relief from her mouth as she laid a hand on the back of his head to urge him into the water.

House flinched at the water's contact and shut his eyes. "Fuck. It hurts."

A pang of sympathy rippled through her. "I know, but you have to keep them open."

"I can’t. It hurts."

"Then hold them open. We need to flush your eyes and restore the proper pH balance to prevent any permanent--"

"Let’s pour industrial chemicals into your eyes and see if you can keep them open! We'll have a staring contest!"

shutterbug_12's My Brother's Keeper is an incredibly intense experience. When House loses his sight in an accident, the result is a reevaluation of his entire life, especially his relationship with Cuddy and Wilson--the only two people he might trust enough to help him. All three grow and change as House first despairs, and then begins the long road to an uncertain recovery. Throughout the story, shutterbug_12 uses detailed, precise description to draw the reader in to a sightless world. A particularly intimate moment is when House remembers Stacy in an attempt to forget everything going on around him...and only partly succeeds. My Brother's Keeper is a wonderful example of a hurt/comfort story; the hurt is the catalyst to show each character in sharp perspective without any over-the-top gratuitous torture, and the comfort grows naturally out of the characters' relationships, providing a very satisfactory denouement.


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