Title: While snow is melting
Author: scholastik
Rating: PG 13 (I suck at ratings)
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine ... Of Course.
Pairing: mild House/Cuddy

Summary: How could a Thanksgiving day in the clinic bring some sense to our two favorite doctors?

Spoilers: This is set between episode 508 and 509. There's no mention of anythinh about 509. This is supposed to be Thanksgiving and I know it's on Thursday I just changed the timeline a bit ...

Warning: There has been no real beta (some help from my friends from the sweetsauce forum). So mistakes are mine ... And I'm sure there're plenty of them 'cause I'm not a native-speaker.

Snow had come early this year making Princeton streets match the colours of her heart. Dull and liveless. Cuddy could recall a time she had loved snow. Like almost every kid she had been this little girl jumping up and down in the house waiting to go outside throwing balls and building snowmen. Later she had loved being in the university library waiting for the winter break while watching snow falling. Now, however snow made her feel empty. It had started two years ago after the IVF fiasco when she had wanted to give up on everything concerning maternity. Even adoption. Looking back, she felt like she should have. It was too hard feeling Hanukkah coming, thinking of all her happy childhood memories and being left alone with no one to share this winter spirit. She knew her story was a cliché "workholic forty-something woman dying to start a family". Knowing it didn't ease the feeling. It was even harder to pretend everything was fine.

She raised her head from the papers she was looking at. Snow was still falling on the ground and the parking lot she could see from her office windows was completely white. She was almost finished organising the winter shifts. It hadn't been easy. Doctors became very touchy approaching the end of the year willing to spend time with their families. Jews and Christians wanted to be home for Hannukah and Christmas. This year Muslims have asked for the Eid and New Year which was in the middle of December. On top of it Atheists and Agnostics didn't want to be used as the useful substitution working force. Dealing with these sensibilities was an art Cuddy has learnt to master over the years. Thanksgiving was by far the most complicated one because everyone wanted the day-off. Two years ago she had decided to give the planning only two days before the vacation., thus avoiding recriminations because it was too late to change anything. It was a mean system but it was also the only one which worked. It should worked again this year.

She would work in the clinic with Wilson and she had put House in the ER under Cameron's orders much too the diagnostician's dismay. She had bet that Chase would volunteer in the ER knowing that his former boss would work with his girlfriend. She smiled, she would have a bonus surgeon. I would certainly be useful considering the number of victims Turkeys made each year ...

Yes, everything seemed to be fine, the email she would send the following morning was ready. She could go home.

She knew something was up as soon as she entered the clinic. The waiting room was crowded. This was not surprising considering snow was melting, sidewalks were wet and homeless people had joined the usual sick people. Thanksgiving patients were always more needy, expecting some attention, feeling like doctors could provide the love they were missing from their actual family. That's why she had chosen Wilson to work with her. She knew he would feel emapthy and be himself trying to ease their pain but he would also remember taht a full room was waiting for him. Speaking of him, he should have been there, examining patients. Deciding to deal wit the urgent matter first she started treating patients not wanting to lose anymore time. She hoped Wilson would arrive soon and the situation be handled on its own.

One hour and five patients later she heard a sound she wasn't supposed to hear on thy particular day. She knew it too well. She stormed out of the exam room and found House quietly taking a chart as if it was the most normal thing he had ever known.

"What are you doing here ?" She said sharply. "You're supposed to be in the ER today."

"Can't work under Cameron's orders. This is weeeeiiiird you know with me being her former boss, her being in love with me." He gave her one of the wicked smile she was used too. "Wilson was kind enough to take my place. So I'm here for you in this wonderful public vacation day."

The only sure thing in the world being that House would never volunteer to work in the clinic especially for Thanksgiving day. Cuddy could only assume he had an ulterior motive but she wasn't sure she wanted to know what it was. She simply note that she would have to have a serious discussion with Wilson explaining him that he should stop playing matchmaker it was pointless and annoying then she glanced at House sighed and said.

"Fine, but if you're here you're gonna help me, not watching tv or do the usual crap you're doing instead of actually treating patients. Understood?"

"Yes boss, though it'll be easier if you give each female patient one of your low-cut top"

"Cut the crap, House, we have a waiting room completely full, go do your job." She didn't even try to advise him to be kind, she knew it would be totally pointless he would, as usual, do what he thought was right which didn't mean it would be easy to handle afterwards. She let out another sigh before taking another chart and leading the patient in the exam room. This was going to be a long day.

Pregnant woman, this was perfect. After her too many failed attempts she didn't find treating pregnant women comforting anymore. Anyway it was her job, and this young girl needed her help, she obviously couldn't ask her House to take her.

In the exam room she immediatly notice that the future mom seemed worried. From what Cuddy could see the due date wasn't that far away and the girl was dressed with very cheap second-hand clothes. Maybe she was having seconds thoughts about the pregnancy. It happened a lot at this stage.

Cuddy put a smile on her face and asked gently :

"Lena that's right ?" The girl nodded. "What seems to be the problem Lena ?"

The girl shifted uncomfortably on the exam table then murmured really quicky:

"I fell on the ice this morning. I just wanna make sure everything is ok. My hand is really hurting and the baby ..."

Her wrist was indeed yellow and black and Cuddy couldn't help but be worried when she asked :

"Early this morning ?"

"Maybe five hours ago ..."

"Five hours ago! Why didn't you go the ER right away? They could have take care of you"

Lena looked ashamed and embarassed she answered even lower than the first time she had oppened her mouth.

"A friend of mine ... I was afraid they would report on my condition ... I thought a free clinic..."

"What condition? What friend?" Cuddy didn't really understand what was going on but unfortunately all she get was an apologetic smile. Discretion was one of the rule of the clinic and she wasn't about to break it to satisfy her curiosity... "Ok we're gonna need to make an ultrasound and a x-ray for your wrist. I'm gonna be back with an ultrasound kit in a while don't move".

Once outside the exam room, Cuddy noticed that House seemed to do a very good job, he was definitely not the same. She would have to figure it out another day. Thinking of House she realised she should have refer the patient to the ER but it was already too late she would do the exam... Going back in the exam room with what she need she make Lena lie down on the table and began the ultrasound and quicly discovered that Lena's daughter was no longer alive. Holding back her own tears she tried to explain to the young girl what had happened ...

Fifteen minutes later she was forced to let her alone, needing to go back to the waiting room. The only thing she could do was admitting the homeless girl at least for the night. She hated the helpless feeling he had in situations like that ... On her way to the waiting room she met House who seemed to be about to give her one of his snarky comment stopping right when he saw her face. She must have teary eyes she thought, that was only reason he wouldn't say anything. She could understand, given the way it had ended the last time he had seen her crying. She replaced the chart on counter, she didn't care if he figured out what had messed her up like that.

She went on examining patients for a while... Looking at running nose, bedsores, giving comforting words to lost mothers, smiling to homeless people who once she finished examine them go back in the cold. She would never had imagined that her job seemed so pointless on Thanksgiving day ... In the beginning of the afternoon, she had just finished treating a particulary bad cas of bronchitis when she was violently approached by a very angry patient.

"I thought there was no priorities in this free clinic, that we were examined following the order we went in!"

Cuddy looked at him quite surprised, he was right and in that case she could only give the truth.

"That's the case, the emergencies are supposed go to the ER, that's why we've decided that there would be no priorities."

The patient answered furiously. "Oh! So you can not explain to me why the other doctor had chosen to examine a young pretty thing before us, ten minutes after she had entered the waiting room." As he finished his sentence Cuddy heard the approval of the entire room.

"I'm gonna go see what happened there, I'll be back soon"

With that, Cuddy left for the exam room 2, half expecting to find House with a hooker, maybe that was the reason he had seemed so weird this day.

"House" she began. "If you wanted to set priorities in the order you treat patients, you should have stayed in the ER and even here I don't think Cameron uses prettyness as a criteria for ... " She stopped half-way through her sentence seeing who was House's patient "Becca ..."

They all stayed speechless for a moment before Becca began:

"She wasn't feeling well this morning and I live ..."

House cut her shortly:

"Yeah, yeah we know why you had to come here, baby is gonna be fine, it's a cold." Then he looked at Cuddy "Go cure the morons in the waiting room, I'm handling this situation very well". The sarcastic tone he had employed contrasts with the concern Cuddy could swear she had seen in his eyes ... but she didn't discuss what he told her to do.

Back in the waiting room she decided to take care of the annoying jerk who had been aggressive before. She couldn't help but notice that there were two more pregnant women in the waiting room. The afternoon would be even longer than the morning had been. She longed for the time she could go home be alone and mourn for her missing child in the safeness of the her house.

It was only when she closed the door of the clinic late in the evening that she realised she hadn't examined any pregnant women during the afternoon. It couldn't have been just chance given the number she had seen in the waiting room. She went on the counter to check the files of the patients House had examined during the day. They were a total mess except for the ones concerning pregnant women which she found well organised where they were supposed to be as if he hadn't want her to see them at all.

Exiting the building, Cuddy felt a little lighter. While looking at the filthy half-melted snow she thought that maybe ice melting wasn't that bad ...