I skimmed this when I got home last night, which I don't normally like doing because good stories should be savored, but it's hard to wait until morning for a new mer_duff fic; and it actually sort of worked, because the speed-reading enhanced the effect of Wilson's racing thoughts. You've done a marvelous job of capturing his panic and exhaustion, his need for sleep and comfort and his frustration with being unable to rest, and sustained that for the whole piece, just as you caught and held that sense of panic in the piece where he was choking. And to chime in with what a lot of other people have been saying, it's not that I only liked the story because I could identify with Wilson's state of mind, but that sympathy did boost my enjoyment of it. If "enjoyment" is quite the right word for reading about someone on the edge of a nervous breakdown.
The hurt/comfort part of me is delighted to think that Wilson might become overwhelmed once in a while by his responsibilities and that House might take care of him, especially now that Wilson doesn't have a wife to go home to. It's too bad House had to resort to sleeping pills instead of calming him down by talking to him – although words alone, no matter how uncharacteristically gentle, probably wouldn't have done any good, considering how far gone Wilson was.
I like the hints you've sprinkled throughout at the deeper feelings they have for each other, such as House not-admitting his love for Wilson and Wilson's disappointment when the pillow doesn't smell like House. It softens the blow of the second two lines of the epigraph, which can be read to imply that Wilson craves House's comfort and acceptance but receives neither. Also smiled at the moments of little-boy!Wilson: that he "padded" into the room like a kid in footy pajamas, whined to House, watched TV and curled up under the blanket. In addition to being adorable, it sets the stage for the backstory about his mother and brother.
Love, love, love the falling imagery at the end, Wilson desperate and helpless and afraid but finally allowing himself to let go because he trusts House to catch/protect him.
He could feel sleep tugging at him, but he knew if he let go, he would start to fall and never hit ground. […]
"Nothing will happen if you sleep. I promise you."
House never made promises he didn't intend to keep. Wilson breathed in deeply and let the air out slowly. He relaxed. He fell.
It resonates so beautifully with the end of nightdog_barks's "Escape Velocity" (http://nightdog-writes.livejournal.com/9584.html) (warning for spoilers?):
Wilson looks down again. House is still there, arms spread wide. "Come on," he yells. "I've got you!" […] Wilson throws out his own arms, launching himself as far up and out as he possibly can. […] He can only trust that House will catch him.
*happy sigh* Are you two in cahoots now with this Wilson-verse, with Mrs. Wilson taking sleeping pills and Tommy Linder and such?
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Obscenely long comment
The hurt/comfort part of me is delighted to think that Wilson might become overwhelmed once in a while by his responsibilities and that House might take care of him, especially now that Wilson doesn't have a wife to go home to. It's too bad House had to resort to sleeping pills instead of calming him down by talking to him – although words alone, no matter how uncharacteristically gentle, probably wouldn't have done any good, considering how far gone Wilson was.
I like the hints you've sprinkled throughout at the deeper feelings they have for each other, such as House not-admitting his love for Wilson and Wilson's disappointment when the pillow doesn't smell like House. It softens the blow of the second two lines of the epigraph, which can be read to imply that Wilson craves House's comfort and acceptance but receives neither. Also smiled at the moments of little-boy!Wilson: that he "padded" into the room like a kid in footy pajamas, whined to House, watched TV and curled up under the blanket. In addition to being adorable, it sets the stage for the backstory about his mother and brother.
Love, love, love the falling imagery at the end, Wilson desperate and helpless and afraid but finally allowing himself to let go because he trusts House to catch/protect him. It resonates so beautifully with the end of