"But what if? You know House, just what if? What if it's incurable, what if you can't figure it out? What if she dies? Just what if?"

Cuddy was bordering on near hysterics.

"Cuddy, she's been in the hospital for 24 hours. Barely 24 hours."

"I should have listened to her, damn it, I should have listened! But she's always going on about what's wrong with her that I don't even know what to take seriously anymore. I thought this was her hypochondria too, but it's not! Damn it! Why didn't I listen to her?"

She was pacing circles around her living room in front of him; it was going to make him dizzy if she didn't stop soon.

"Are you listening to me? She's been in the hospital for a DAY Cuddy. Give the tests a chance to rule things out and narrow it down before you start panicing. I've got the team running everything they can think of. There is no need to worry, ok? We'll figure out what's wrong."

"But you can't promise that House."

He sighed, "Come here."

She walked to stand before him, seated on the sofa. Her eyes darting around the room, she brought her arms almost defensively around herself. Exposed. He reached out, took her hand. "I promise to do my best to figure out what's wrong with her, ok?" He said it calmly, gently. A part of him just wanted to snap her out of it, but another part of him realized that it wouldn't be the best thing to do right now. She was scared, skittish, terrified of losing another family member. He knew she was a daddy's girl, had known since their college days. He remembered her avoiding her mother's phone calls, but eagerly spending Christmas break with her father in the tropics, exploring jungles, befriending baby chimps out in the wilderness. She told him it had been an excuse to learn about other cultures, and she loved traveling anyways. He knew better though, had anyone else but her father asked her on that trip she would have refused. She would have spent Christmas break holed up in a room somewhere vigorously studying for the Spring semester ahead.

He pulled on her hand gently and she stepped forward slightly before turning to sit on the sofa beside him.

"She's my mom, House. I was never her dream daughter. I was my dad's girl when he was alive and even now, my sister is more involved with my mom than I am. She's still my mother though. I can't let anything happen to her." Her voice wobbled a bit.

"Damn it," House whispered. "Cuddy, I'm not good at this." He said a little louder, but nonetheless he pulled her closer to him. "We'll figure it out, ok? We'll figure it out." He said gently.

"Ok." She shakily whispered, a tear forming in the corner of her eye. His thumb brushed it away and he leaned back on the sofa, pulling her to lean against his chest. Slowly he felt her breath begin to even out.

xxxxxx

His arm was locked around her. The other was smoothing her hair. For someone who claimed not to know how to comfort people, he was doing an excellent job of it. She smiled to herself briefly. Sighing, she took a deep breath, relaxing as she let it go, sinking into House's chest. Her mind had been frantic, but now it was tired, and she was getting sleepy fast, especially with the way he kept stroking her hair. She felt his lips press on the top of her head softly and gave another small smile. Her arms, which were still folded close around her, relaxed and she wrapped one arm around him, the other coming to rest on the middle of his chest, toying with a button.

"Thank you." She whispered.