Title:Be Still My Heart
Rating: T
Disclaimer: No infringement intended. At the same time I think this could be considered an AU I tried to remain faithful to the scenarios and characters, so I'd like to know what you all think. By the way, this story is a translation of the original one I wrote in Portuguese, so I beg your pardon if some expression or word looks weird along the way. And of course, I want to say how deeply thankful I am to my beta A for taking her time to do this!
Summary: House's found himself in the middle of a big problem and asks for Cuddy's help, but will Cuddy eventually turn out to be his big solution? OC included. Huddy all the way.
Prologue
"Just one more minute, Mrs. Sansom," a low voice begged. "She promised me she'd come."
The young teacher left a heavy sigh of compassion as she felt a weight inside her chest.
"It's over four pm, Riley. She's not coming, dear."
Mrs. Sansom wrapped one of her arms around her own belly, which wasn't showing yet, swearing to herself that she would never let down her own child the way she saw Riley being hurt so often. She kneeled down to the boy's height and looked into his intensely blue eyes. She forced herself not to grasp his hand, nodded and came up with another excuse:
"I'm pretty sure she tried." Riley's eyes showed his disbelief and Mrs. Sansom went on with the same speech that he heard every single day: "Your mom has two jobs, Riley. She tries. But not everything goes the way we plan sometimes, does it?"
"Yeah, doesn't make any difference." The boy shrugged, grabbing his coat and looking away. "I just don't get why a person makes a promise when she already knows she won't keep it. She's a liar and nothing will ever change that."
Getting up abruptly, Riley took the backpack that was almost half of his size and walked away, visibly hurt. Mrs. Sansom watched the boy leaving from a distance. Around him, mothers and fathers celebrated the results of the annual parent's festival with their children - where science projects were presented, theater plays were performed and games occurred during the day. She watched Riley with his unmistakable silver blond hair standing out in the crowd, leaving behind the most creative science stand she had ever seen a boy his age come up with, without any sound of regret.
Mrs. Sansom had memories of a time when Riley wasn't her student yet. She had never seen a child with such a deep shadow of hurt in his eyes. The other teachers talked about him as a reserved and lonely child most of the time, but with such a mysterious and intimidating look that it was hard to figure out what was going on with him. Other children never took their chances into making him a victim of their bullying because he exhaled an air of power around him that made him a challenge for everyone else around him, whether it was for his explosive personality or the geniality he worked to hard to hide. Doesn't make any difference, were the words he'd say more often.
***
Doesn't make any difference, Riley told himself.
Then, the image of his mother appeared in his mind. His mother going out with his stepfather on a Saturday night, the mother who was always too busy to talk to him, the mother who came home at night and didn't have the least interest in asking him how his day had been, or if everything was alright.
And for the first time in his life, Riley heard himself saying "It does make a difference. But I won't let it happen anymore."
And from that day on, Riley was never the same again.
Two Years Later,
Cuddy was sitting at her desk when a clearly irritated nurse excused herself politely and walked in.
"Dr. Cuddy, we're having a little problem in the clinic." Without giving Cuddy the chance to reply, she went on, "There's a hysterical mother who insists on talking to Dr. House, but he refused to see her, which is perfectly understandable given the fact her son doesn't even seem to be sick. The woman almost attacked me and when I went to Dr. House asking what I should do. He told me to come straight to you. Normally, I'd go to security, but there's a boy, he seems to be 9 or 10 and looks very fragile, so…"
"You don't have to say anything else." Cuddy stood up. It wasn't rare having people coming from the four corners of the country and even overseas after imprecise or not very satisfactory diagnoses, guided by the excellent professional reputation of the doctor they were talking about… If only they knew him as a person, Cuddy was sure they'd think twice before bothering to show up in Princeton "I'll go down there introduce myself and see what's going on. Who knows maybe the boy does have a real problem and House will take interest on the case."
If Cuddy had known what kind of interest House would have on that case, she wouldn't have said those words.
***
"Where is your mother?" Riley heard the nurse asking.
He shrugged.
"Where is your medical history?"
Riley unzipped his backpack and took the folder with all his documents that his mother had put there. Those women had no idea, but Riley had travelled inside a bus from very far away to be there. And he knew the moment his mother had said she'd go out for a coffee that he'd never see her again. And weird as that might have sounded, he felt nothing when he thought about it.
Cuddy looked closely to the boy in front of her for the first time. Leaving the papers aside, she felt her jaw dropping and her heart pounding inside her chest.
With a distant expression on his face and keeping his nose up, the boy had an angled face that one day would become very handsome and masculine. The intense blue eyes gazed her with a look of boredom and his contracted lips showed how upset he was at the moment.
"Listen, lady…"
"Dr. Cuddy!" The nurse corrected him with a harsh tone.
"Whatever," He went on, "I came here because my mother forced me - to see this Dr. House guy. If he doesn't want to, fine, it's his problem, not mine!"
Turning around, he took one step to walk away, but Cuddy stopped him by grabbing his arm.
"Wait…"
Riley turned around again, looking into her eyes and Cuddy felt paralyzed for a few seconds with the intensity of his stare.
"Come with me, Riley. If Dr. House refuses to come to you, I'll take you to him".
Following Cuddy through the hall that led to the elevators, Riley wrapped his bag around his shoulder and put on the cap that covered his straight, long hair.
Cuddy was petrified, but she didn't let it show. She never thought she would be so shocked as she did when she read the information contained in that folder. Risking a glance over him, Cuddy noticed for the first time some things the intimidating attitude would hide. Those documents said Riley was eleven years old, but he was small and slim. His little face had an angelical look, but the cold and hard eyes stole all the innocence that could be credited to him.
He kept following the doctor impatiently and waited outside when she entered a room that had glass walls.
"House!" She knocked the table, waking him up.
Avoiding a curse, House stared at her, still a little groggy.
"What do you want now?" He said sharply. "I've told you that violence only works in bed with me."
The lack of reaction from Cuddy warned him and he became more serious.
"What's up this time?"
"There's someone waiting outside to see you."
House bent his head to the side and saw the profile of a blond skinny young boy, with a baseball hat and a huge sweater, staring the hall in front of him.
"Alright, alright…" House sighed, giving in and assuming that was one of those ridiculous cases that Cuddy set for him. "Call Kutner and Taub and they can take the boy to…"
"You don't even want to know what's wrong with him?"
"No." He replied without giving her room to reply. He knew that no matter how simple it might be, she would insist on bothering him until he took the case.
He didn't yet know how right he was.
"There's nothing wrong with him." She said, simply.
That was the last thing House was expecting to hear.
"You gotta be kidding!" He replied, irritated "How come you wake me up to see a brat that is perfectly fine? What do you think I look like, Super Nanny?"
"Riley." She corrected him. "His name is Riley." Cuddy said firmly and hesitated for a few seconds, unsure of the impact her next words would cause "Riley House."