House was clearly tense as soon as her hands went to his leg. Which he knew was more psychological than due to the pain, so he just took a breath and kept looking up at the ceiling.

"I've never been one for compromise," he said, which he knew was not a good answer, but it was the one he had. "Someone else made the decision for me, in the end, when I was in a coma. I was... on Vicodin - it's an opiate - at home. It kept me able to function. Here... here, it's been miserable. I've been through this more than once because when I can find drugs, I take them. Every time it seems like it'll be worth this, just for some amount of relief."