Cuddy grew-up near a river
Cuddy grew-up near a river. Okay, it wasn't really a river more like a creek.
In summer, the creek was good for cooling-off on a hot summer day and fishing. Nothing worth keeping was ever caught. She and her brother use to beg their mother to cook-up what they caught. She would laugh at them saying "their minnows! The only person who would eat them is the cat." The tire swing above the creek was from their dad's old pick-up truck. Later, when she was in doctor school, Cuddy would learn that jumping from that height into the shallow water could have paralysised them.
In the fall, school took up the time—and hot weather—to swim in the creek. But sometimes an Indian summer and a light workload would allow Cuddy to take a dip. The changing leaves around her would float down into the water and surround her.
In winter, the creek would freeze and Cuddy would skate. Not very far considering the creek was about three feet across but it was something. Once she and her brother even put in hockey goals. Cuddy was always a tomboy and hockey suited her better than figure skating.
In spring, an overanxious Cuddy would jump into the freezing water. She liked the way it would numb her body. Her mother would shout from the house's kitchen to get out and get dressed before she got sick. The purple flowers near the creek were crushed before they bloomed by Cuddy's racing feet.
When Cuddy looked for a house years later, the real-estate agent showed her a house with a creek in the back. When Cuddy said she'd take the agent was confused. He questioned, "but it doesn't have any of the other features you wanted?" But for Cuddy the creek was good enough.
The first time house was in Cuddy's house during the daytime, he asked about the creek.
"You never told me you had waterfront property."
"You never asked. And it's a creek, House, not a lake."
"Still, better than nothing; can we go swimming?"
"It's barely March, House. The water is probably freezing."
"Does that mean no skinny dipping?"
"There are neighbors."
"Lisa…"
"Greg…"
But Cuddy remembered her numbing spring dips and agreed. After, when she and House came in to dry off, they started a fire to warm up. Cuddy curled up next to him on the couch. She imagined spending all the seasons with the creek—and him. She had caught more than a minnows this time.