Love & Puzzles

I woke up in my dark bedroom. No pain. Cuddy was beside me, sleeping. I watched for a few minutes. She would be up any moment now. That was her biological schedule. Soon, she slowly opened her eyes, and smiled at my sight.

'Mornin', beautiful' I said, smiling back.

'Good morning, employee. What a nice day to command you around.'

'You'd wish. You know you can't command me.'

'I wouldn't say so…' she said, her smile widening. 'Now bring me some coffee.'

'Yes, ma'am.' I said, while jumping out of bed and saluting her military-style. I couldn't hold the serious face for more than 10 seconds. A smile grew on my face. God, I loved his woman.

I made some coffee and told her to come to the table. She was wearing one of my shirts.

'You know, I need to wear that at work.' I said.

'I know… and I don't care. You've got more in your closet.' she replied.

I handed her a cup of coffee.

'You sure it isn't poisoned?' she asked, pretending to look carefully at the black liquid.

I put on a thinking face.

'Pretty sure. IF the terrorist didn't slip by Sleeping Beauty over there.' I pointed to our dog that was lying asleep on the floor.

We both smiled and closed in for a kiss. Our lips touched and…

*

I woke up in my dark bedroom. Goddamn dreams. I kept getting them. I didn't know why, because I was contempt at the moment. Except for the pain. I want it to stop, but it doesn't. I'd give everything I have to make it go away. I'd give everything I have, and borrow something of Wilson's to add to the pile to have her. I erased that thought from my mind. I couldn't afford any distraction. I had to solve the next puzzle; save the next patient. That was what kept me going. I couldn't afford failure. I opened my closet and threw the dirty clothes out of my way. The only thing I had was a golf outfit and a suit. So I went to work.

*

The bike was great this morning. It had rained the previous night, so the roads were wet. I took a longer, more abandoned road. I didn't need Cuddy. I had my piano, my guitars, my bike, and my diagnostics. I didn't need anything else. I was right.

*

I arrived at the hospital. I tried to avoid Cuddy, but there she was, right in front of me. I tried to turn around, but it was too late.

'Late, as usual. Hey, at least you're consis… What, in the name of God, are you wearing?' she said, seeing my golf outfit.

'You know I'm not religious.' I tried to get away, but she blocked me.

'Christ, I'm not in the mood…'

'Hey! What did I just say? Anyway, since you're so interested, I'll tell you. I drank too much and woke up dressed like this outside the Blue Heron bar in Rocky Hill. I didn't want to disappoint my dying patients and came right to the hospital.'

'Ha, ha. Get changed. You have a new case.' she finally let me go.

I stopped by Wilson's office.

'Good morning, my friend' I greeted him. He didn't say anything, but looked at me. He waited for my explanation.

'What? Oh, this.' I said, waving my hand in a way that said "it's no big deal". 'I was in the mood for a late night golf match. When I got out of the house, I realized it wasn't so "late night" as "early morning". I lost the track of time and came here directly, without changing.'

'Aha. Now, THAT makes sense.' Wilson said.

'Glad to help, as always.' I smiled.

'Good morning, House.' Wilson smiled, turning to his charts.

'Oh, I see. You have kittens and little 9 year old girls to save. I'll let you to it, then.' I said, limping out of his office.

When I got into the office, everyone stopped what they were doing and examined me. Even Foreman lifted his eyes from his magazine.

'Why's everybody staring at me this morning? Do I have something on my nose?'

'You're wearing a… golf outfit… And you have a golf club instead of your usual flaming cane' said Kutner.

'For some obscure reason that I'm sure you're gonna present to us', said Foreman, turning another page in his magazine.

I looked down, pretending to be surprised.

'Oh! How strange. Wonder what happened?'

'Can we get to our case? We have a dying woman…'

This time it was Taub, of course.

'Not yet. Let me think…'

'Dressing for the ladies, perhaps?' Thirteen asked.

'A-ha! Now I remember. Cuddy was at my house last night with a group of her evil and ugly friends from the local secret witch club while I was sleeping. I woke up while they were trying to put some spell on me. In fact, if I think harder, they were just playing bingo. They left me barely alive. Either from a poison or from utter boredom. That's what happened. But don't tell Cuddy that I recognized her, or she will kill all of us. Shh!' I whispered the last part.

'Can we go on, please?'

Taub again.

'You don't know how to have fun. Is that why you have trouble with your wife?' I said.

'I'll say this over and over again: I'm not having trouble with my wife. NOW, can we go on?'

'No need to be aggressive. What do we have?'