Disclaimer : I dont own anything except the storyline.
(Hi All - just a few quick notes! Firstly, I am a Huddy. Always have been, always will be. This is most definitely a Huddy story. Secondly, I know next to nothing about medicine, despite knowing exactly what to treat various different illnesses with from watching way too much House. Therefore, this story will contain next to nothing about the medicine itself. And thirdly, this is set in a House world that is essentially season 5 after Cuddy has Rachel, but the whole shenanigan with her hating House for bringing her back to work etc etc doesnt exist. So therefore the desk etc hasnt happened. I may work the desk into the story, I'm not sure yet - I have a rough idea where this is going, but any feedback and suggestions are much appreciated. So anyway, enjoy the first chapter!)
All was quiet on this particular street in Princeton. People had returned home from dining out, kids had returned home from evenings with friends, and the houses were sleeping. The house of Lisa Cuddy was no exception – Rachel was sleeping soundly in her room, and Cuddy herself was in a deep sleep after a more stressful than usual day at her hospital. She murmured slightly in her sleep and shifted deeper into the pillows.
Across town in Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, Gregory House was awake, albeit reluctantly. He and his team were deep into a DDX on their current patient, all of them short-tempered, thanks to the unexpected late hour. The debate went on over which procedures could save their patient, or lead to a diagnosis, or end up killing them.
A simultaneous page about the patient seizing again to the whole team had them running out of the office, and left House staring at the whiteboard where he had listed their options. Selecting the most dangerous route, he turned and limped towards his inner office. He was cranky and frustrated, and wanted to sleep, and found it most unfair that their esteemed leader got to sleep when they were scurrying around after an endlessly annoying patient. He sat down behind his desk and propped his legs up on top of it before reaching for the phone with a smirk on his face.
"House!" Cuddy spied him sneaking past her office and out of the clinic, and she sprang up and after him.
"Ah, what a pleasure to see you both," House said, nodding towards Cuddy's chest. She rolled her eyes at him, and pulled him out of the way of the clinic doors.
"Why are you leaving? God knows how many hours you owe me in here over the past years, let alone today." House pouted like a child, and tilted his head.
"Well, I was watching your office earlier on, and saw Cameron drop in a file before leaving this dump with the Aussie, and as Cameron is now head of the monkey-shop you call an ER upstairs, she has minions of her own to do the paperwork. Soooo, this must have either been a file containing details of where to meet her later tonight for a secret love tryst, or a patient with symptoms so baffling the geniuses in the ER just could not possibly work it out, so much so that Cameron needs a devilishly handsome diagnostician to swoop in and save the day. I figured that your control-freak ways would prevent you from giving me the case before I had completed my clinic hours, so in answer to your question, I am leaving the clinic for the triple purpose of not doing clinic hours, to get you to chase me down and ask me that very question, so that I could dazzle you with my answer, and to get a vaugely interesting case, and all whilst looking at the stackof files you have there and deciding that THIS is the one I want." House yanked a file out of the several ones Cuddy was holding and opened it in triumph.
"How did you know that was the one intended for you?" Cuddy questioned. She wasnt suprised by his other deductions, but wanted to know how he had gotten the right file before he vanished off upstairs.
"Cuddy. You are predictable. You wouldnt have the file too close to the top, as you figure that is too close to the twins to have my hand when I pick out the file, and having it on the bottom is closest to me, which you think I will go for first, cos I'm lazy. You have, or had, five files in your arms. The top three off limits for the boob reason, and the bottom one..blah blah blah. Hence it had to be the fourth. I know you far too well for you to mess with me, Lisa Cuddy!" House waggled his eyebrows at her before turning and making his way out of the clinic, managing to push past seven people in about five steps.
Cuddy shook her head at House's insane logic, but turned back towards her office with a half-smile on her face over the fact he was right.
On the way to see Wilson over his budget report, Cuddy passed House's office in time to see him throw a pen at Kutner. She paused in the hallway, sighed, and went into the differential room.
"How's the patient doing?" She enquired, only to have House's apparent frustration turn and flow directly at her.
"How's the PATIENT? Doing just fine. So fine in fact that his symptoms dont add up - we have been here for hours running test after test for anything remotely likely, and we have nothing new to go on. The patient is exactly the same amount of sick he was when you handed him over to me this morning, which incidentally is just the right amount to earn such special, special attention from us, so I think it's your duty to either come over here and do the one thing you would ever be good for and relieve some stress, or get out and leave the real doctors to do the job you pay them for." House turned angrily away from her to study the whiteboard, and Cuddy turned towards the group, who gave her sympathetic looks. Cuddy, used to this from House, merely shook her head at him and gave the team a good luck smile before leaving the room and continuing onto Wilson's office.
House looked up from his laptop as Wilson came into his office. After seeing Cuddy heading Wilson's way after leaving his office an hour earlier clutching budget reports, and noticing the nearly empty coffee cup in his hand and the abscence of change in his pocket, he surmised Cuddy had been to see Wilson and told him about what he had said. And Wilson being the gentleman he is, he went and bought them both coffee to catch up on girl-time.
"How's Cuddy?" Wilson didnt look suprised House knew they had been talking.
"She's fine. She knows you, House, and isn't going to be insulted by your comments when under stress that easily, but still. You should ease up on her sometimes."
"Now why would I do that? Seeing the she-devil shrieking in my face is the best part of my day, she tends to get close enough I can see easier down her top." Wilson sighed, and put his coffee cup in House's bin.
"If you ever want to stand a chance with her, just try it. Try just not saying something mean or degrading, you'd be suprised at what the small gestures can do. And don't bother saying anything to me now, as it will just be a pointless deflection!" Wilson exited House's office with that sentence, leaving House with his mouth half open to yell something after him, but deciding it wasn't worth the effort. As he looked back down at his laptop, Wilson's words echoed somewhat annoyingly in the back of his mind, decidedly settling in the back of the ever-busy brain of Gregory House.
As Cuddy packed up her bag, she considered House's comments towards her earlier in the day. She supposed she should really be offended by his degrading remarks, yet she wasn't. Similar to what House had said even earlier on that day in the clinic, she knew him far too well for him to mess with her that easily, to House's displeasure. She knew he lashed out when under stress, having seen him through the infarction, and countless tough cases that had taken a toll upon him. She knew that their relationship would continue exactly the same no matter what he threw at her, but at that split second in time, she felt a pang of regret at the fact they would never change.
She locked the office door behind her, and made her way through to the front desk.
"Can you update me on House's current case please?" She asked of the nurse there. The nurse in question obediently tapped into the computer for a couple of seconds, and informed Cuddy that Foreman had updated the system with a new batch of tests all headed down a new route thirty minutes previously. Cuddy thanked the nurse, and headed out of the doors, pleased that House had seemingly made a breakthrough. She just hoped him and the team wouldn't encounter too many problems that night.
Cuddy jolted awake at the harsh noise. She lifted her head and looked around blearily to locate where the phone was, and stretched her hand out of the covers to pick it up. She snuggled back down into the covers before hitting the talk button and giving the person on the other end a bleary hello, assuming it was important because of the late hour.
"Evening Cuddles. What are you wearing?" Cuddy let out a half sigh, half groan at hearing House's voice, and sat up a little bit in bed, as she wanted to see him coming if he was in her house in the middle of the night, something he was prone to doing.
"Do you know what time it is House? I'm assuming this isn't overly urgent and could wait until morning, yet you decided to call anyway?"
"You have such a low opinion of me, Cuddy. I just thought I'd ring and check how you were sleeping.."
"House."
"Mistress?"
Cuddy sighed as she sat back in her pillows and listened to House reel off a number of things he wanted to do to the patient. Her medical mind kicked in on automatic over the still sleepy other parts, and she argued with him over a safer alternative that he no doubt knew was the better route to take, yet still decided to bug her over an infinitely more dangerous option.
"House, no! That's the end of it. Do the safer test, and if the patient worsens we can discuss it in the morning. Your idea is crazily dangerous considering the patients history of heart problems, and you will just set off another heart attack with what you want to do. I'll speak to you in the morning."
"But Mom, that's no fun! This case sounded so interesting this morning, but he hasn't really gotten worse!"
"DO IT, House. I'll speak to you in the morning, and so help me if you cause any havoc in the rest of the night I will chain you to a clinic exam room for a week.
"Mmm, bondage. You truly are –"
"Goodnight House." Cuddy said with a tone in her voice that even House recognised as one not to mess with.
"Night Cuddy." They both hung up simultaneously, and both of them set their phones back in the holder, neither of them noticing the small smile on their respective faces. Cuddy glanced at the baby monitor to check it was still on, and House glanced at the clock to check the time, before calculating how long it would take Cuddy to get back to sleep, and mentally setting an alarm for five minutes after that time to pick up the phone again. After all, if he couldn't sleep, then Cuddy shouldn't either, he thought with a smirk.
Cuddy walked into her office a little later than normal the next morning after allowing herself an extra twenty minutes in bed. House had called her a total of nine times in the night, having a different risky treatment or procedure she would need to authorise on his mind every time, and somehow seeming to know when she had finally drifted off so he could call again and wake her up with various witty comments.
She hung up her coat and scarf on autopilot, and rounded the desk to unpack her bag, and switch on her computer to check her emails. Her hand paused halfway towards the on switch, as her less awake than normal mind finally noticed the steaming hot mug of coffee on her desk. She sat down, looking at the mug incredulously. She shook her head in disbelief as a tiny smile briefly appeared on her face, before being pushed down underneath an administrative mask as her secretary came in with some paperwork she needed Cuddy's sign-off on. Cuddy leant over to take the papers from her, and then turned on her computer, but not before taking a sip of much needed coffee from a signature red mug.