The first awareness was of something warm and wet on his face. He grumbled and swatted his arms pushing at Triumph's chest. The doberman responded by pawwing at
his chest. He sighed and rolled over. "Go back to sleep, girl. My head hurts." After a few minutes, he gave up. Sitting up proved to be difficult, and Triumph sat back on her haunches watching him. He grumbled at her, she just sat and stared.
"Where's my cane, girl?" He asked her, looking around the room. He had no memory of...well, anything. Scotch.
He'd had damn good Scotch at the bar with...well, he couldn't remember the guy's name just now. "How did I...Shit." He rubbed his face with both hands. He was still fully clothed. Flash of a pill, more Scotch...and the bar rushing up to meet his head. Vague feeling of being carried, deposited in the bed.
"Good thing you're well trained." House muttered at the dog. He could trust her to come back to him if he called her, because without his cane, there was no way he was going to keep up. He coudln't always keep up, even with the cane.
Triumph bounded down the stairs and sat at the bottom, looking up at him. He struggled with each step, between his head and his leg, progress was slow. "I'm not going with you," he told Triumph, "so make it fast. We'll play later. Daddy needs to find his cane." He let the dog outside, and stood against the door watching and waiting for her to come back. He took her to their usual spot near the fire and told her to sit while he went to the bar to look for his cane.