Author's Note: So I thought I would post this chapter now. This is a continuation of my story "Wishes and Realities" from Cuddy's POV. R & R! Enjoy :-)

Disclaimer: Nope

Its cold in Princeton. For about three weeks now the temperatures have been hovering just below freezing. It's the type of cold that takes your breath away and makes the quick dash from the front door to the car unbearable. When I was in college I remember the cold temperatures and the thick blanket of snow. Winters in New Jersey are different than winters in Michigan. Here, we're lucky if by the end of January we still have snow. Most of the time the freezing rain washes it away before anyone has a chance to enjoy it. I take a deep breath and open the door to make the quick walk from my car to the main entrance of the hospital.

I stop at the information center to pick up my messages and I see House's new fellow. Her name is Remy or Wren or something like that. House calls her Thirteen for reason's that give me a headache to remember. She's cute. She's a competent doctor. And it's horrible to admit I can't stand to be around her for too long. Even though she never knew Cameron and she will never know how much I knew Cameron, looking at her makes me miss Cameron all the same. She's been here for about a month. It took House four and a half weeks to finally hire someone else. "Good morning, Dr. Cuddy." Remy says to me.

"Morning, Dr. Hadley." I say before meeting her eyes with a brief smile walking toward my office. I hear footsteps behind me and I sigh because that means that she has more to talk to me about. At this time of morning she could only want to talk to me about something House has done or something he refuses to do to do something else…if that makes sense. I don't want to deal with either of those choices right now. "What did House do now?" I ask as I enter my office and turn around to face her. She seems stunned that I knew she was behind me. She's new, she'll learn.

"Oh, um." She is thrown off for a second. "Actually House isn't here yet." She admits. "I just. This might sound stupid, but do you want to get a drink?"

She's coming on to me? It's eight in the morning and she is asking me out? My throat goes dry and I feel like I need to find something to do with my hands because they are starting to shake. It's been almost exactly two months since she left. I just realized that now. We broke up on Wednesday she was gone by Monday. When I had thought out this whole plan of breaking up with her, I never factored into the equation the possibility that she would leave. I haven't tried to call her, mainly because I know she won't pick up. House said something about her applying for a job at Penn. I wonder if she is still living in the same apartment. Dr. Hadley coughing lightly alerts me to the fact that I have probably been zoning out for a good ten seconds. "I can't," I apologize feebly.

"Oh..." She says. "That's fine."

"Its not you. Its just that I just got out of a relationship because my work life was too crazy and..." I find myself explaining to her for no reason. "I'm flattered. But I can't." I found that I have gotten good at lying. Don't expect me to be here when you decide you want this.

"No really." She says holding up her hand to stop me. "Its fine. You don't have to explain it to me." She gives me a sweet smirk and I hope that she actually gets it. "I'll see you later I'm sure." Then she is gone. I put my things down with a sigh and start to file through the million things that have piled up on my desk.

House has no case. So, of course, it becomes my job to find one for him. He informed me of this yesterday when I found him sleeping in the clinic for the third time this week. So, aside from trying to find a doctor for the senior attending position in Trauma and trying to get a few more donations for the new Maternity ward, I am blessed with the task of going through referral requests. There are some days where I really regret hiring House. It is because of this that I pick up a case file that was sent to me yesterday for consideration.

The patient is a twelve-week-old baby who was born seven weeks early due to the mother being severely injured in a car accident. The baby girl was given a tracheostomy for the first few weeks she was in the NICU due to the fact that her lungs were still undeveloped. They were able to remove the tube but she had suffered complications with her lungs including flaring of the chest cavity and frequent chest infections. Still enduring unexplained complications, her attending has referred her to us. I take a deep breath and close the file. Putting on my suit jacket, I head out of my office towards the Diagnostics Department.

I find Chase, Foreman and Thirteen in the conference room. House, as I suspected is in his office with the TV on. I drop the files off on the table for the team and walk into House's office. "Turn off the TV." I command futilely. "You have a patient."

"No, I don't." He says without looking at me as if he is a disobedient four year-old.

I know that this is going nowhere, so I yank the cord and stand in front of the now blank screen. "Female that presents with a flared chest cavity, a narrowed larynx and frequent chest infections."

"She's a smoker with COPD." He states with a roll of his eyes. "You know, I liked you a lot better when you were screwing Cameron."

The mention of Cameron stings a little. I know that's what he intended, so I steel myself and continue. "She's ten weeks old." I say and I know that he's interested now. I try not to give him a self-satisfied smile as I walk out off the room into the hallway. Its horrible to think this, but as I hit the elevator button I can't help but be relieved at the fact that this case will keep him busy for a while.

When I get back to my office, I see that my assistant has sifted through the pile of resumes for the Trauma job. I go through a few applicants when I come across Cameron's file. She's applying for the Trauma job. I am stuck between calling her and giving her the job and throwing the file in the trash. By four 'o'clock, the files for Trauma are still on my desk. House has already been in my office twice, once for a chest MRI and then for a lung biopsy. Yet, the last thing that I want to think about is the fact that Cameron wants to come back. This is when wine starts to sound like a good idea.

I give the files to my assistant on my way out of the office about half an hour after I decide to give Cameron the job. I feel bad for him sometimes because it has become a pattern for me to drop an urgent task on his desk on my way out the door. But, I need a new attending in the E.R. and I don't want to call Cameron myself. I'll buy him a really nice Christmas present, I think to myself while I walk out the doors to the hospital. When I get to my car and start to pull out of the parking lot I start to wonder if she misses me, too.