Off I am

I'm at Canada now.
Far away at some hidden cottage amidst lakes and snowy mountains.
Here it is:

Doesn't it look cosy?
Well...it is actually...but I'm alone.

But I should start at the beginning.
I went mad when I read Jim wasn't even in the country and hobbled as fast as I could to Cuddy, yelling at her how she could dare lying to me and telling her I was off now.
She just stared at me and nodded a few times. I didn't wait to get her approval and limped back into my office where I phoned Ruth.
"Greg! Darling! How nice! How are you?", she said and I could almost hear her beaming smile.
I cleared my throat. "Um...not very well, to tell the truth..." And I started to tell her in brief what happened.
"Oh my God", she said voiceless. "My poor little boy..."
Taking a deep breath I asked her if it could be true her poor little boy was abused in his childhood, beaten up severely.
She started to sob and answered in the affirmative. "It was his uncle...Oh God...it was dire...He never forgot about this...Neither did we...It must have come back to his mind because of his fight with Dr. Chase."
Just because of me, I thought and swallowed.
"I don't want to leave him alone there, Ruth. So please, if you know where he might be, tell me."
She hesitated. "I'm almost sure he's in his father's fishing hut...He always hid there as a child..."
She told me how to get there. "Greg...I'm glad he found you", she said as we said goodbye. "And please visit us afterwards."
"That depends on him", I anserwed. "Maybe he just wants to go home."
"You're right", she sighed. "Good luck. I love you."

I looked at the phone for a while when Foreman knocked at my door. "Come in!", I said. "Ah, Foreman...Could you please take Cameron and Chase in here?"
He nodded and three minutes later they all stood in my office looking at me expectantly. I told them what happened in a nutshell and that I now was off fetch some things to go to the airport.
Chase offered to drive me there and I gratefully accepted.

We didn't speak a word on the way to my appartment and I just dropped out for a few minutes to get some things. On our way to the airport Chase began to talk.
"I'm incredibly sorry...I didn't want that...."
"Well", I shrugged. "You couldn't expect that."
He concentrated on traffic and gnawed his lower lip. "I wish I could recover losses..."
I grinned grimly. "Just don't start to amass me again..."
He sighed. "House, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."
"And I don't want to know", I snapped and he fell silent.

It seemed to take ages, but finally we arrived at the airport. I thanked Chase and dropped out of the car. "That was a good start to wipe the slate clean", I told him and made my way to the terminals.
Thankfully I didn't have to wait long and I tried to get some sleep during the flight. This failed of course and I thought about some cases at hospital to distract me.

I almost ran out of the plane when we landed and headed for the car rental agency when I heard someone behind me. "Buon giorno, Dottore House!"
I turned and looked into Joey Arnello's smiling face.
"Uh....Mr. Arnello...what are you doing here?"
He grinned. "Ah...just handling any sort of business...and you?"
I told him where I wanted to go and he put his arm around my shoulder. "I'd be honoured to get you there. No need to rent a car."
"Really? But..."
"No but", he smiled. "Just this way, please."
He guided me to an already waiting limousine and the ride to the cottage was rather comfortable. I was offered Scotch which I thankfully downed.
The closer we approached the more snowy it became. I was glad I had coat and scarf and watched the twirling snowflakes and a landscape that looked as if covered with cotton candy.
An hour later I got out of the car and thanked Mr. Arnello who just waved with a smile.

The cottage was dark, but the SUV behind it told me James was here.
Unfortunately he wasn't in the cottage. Maybe he was for a stroll around the lakes.
It was snowing heavily and I had troubles to limp through the snow and approach the door. Ruth told me there was another key under a big stone next to the door - thank God it still was there.
I opened the door and entered a rather cosy cottage. My heart caused me a dragging pain when I saw his bag in the small hallway and I took my coat off.
Cosy it was - but cold. I lit a fire in the fireplace, percolated coffee and sat there for a while staring into the flames and warming my hands at the mug.
My thoughts circled and it felt hearttearing to know how lost Jim must feel. My poor beloved darling...
I rubbed my forehead and popped two pills, booted up his laptop and now am writing this...
I think I'll put on my jammies now and curl up in bed. I'm awfully tired and he's still not here. I'm sure he's out for a long walk to arrange his ideas and it would be stupid to go out and search him as I'm not street-smart here.

God, I'm longing for him. I'm silly enough to hug his shirt 'cause it smells of him. Think I'll take it to bed with me.