Ok. We've all read them. The tragic fics where a regular member of the team gets sick and the others must diagnose him/her. Admit it. You so have. Well...I've written a Huddy one. I really really hope you like this one. I worked hard to get it exactly the way I want it and to keep everyone in character at the same time, so please enjoy, The Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Disclaimer: I don't own House.

Chapter One:

"House! When I say no, I mean no!"

"No, you don't." House stumped after Cuddy, angry annoyance written all over his face as his brain worked furiously to try and figure out how he could get Cuddy to let him do what he wanted. "Cuddy, I need to do this procedure. If not, this guy's gonna die! Do you want his blood on your hands?"

Cuddy whirled around. "On my hands? You're the one who pumped him full of unregulated drugs! You think his blood will be on my hands? Oh, no, that procedure is still untested, House. There is no way I will let you do it!"

House growled. By now, the arguing pair was attracting a small audience of interested viewers. It was a long running bet among the hospital staff as to how long it would take before House gave Cuddy a heart attack…or they got married.

"You just don't care, do you? Why are you a doctor if you don't care whether your patients live or die? My god, woman, you're such an uncaring bitch!" House shouted, going straight for the jugular.

Everything froze. The audience looked from Cuddy's pale face to House, who seemed to suddenly sense he'd gone too far. He raised an eyebrow.

Cuddy's breath left her in a rush. "All right, House. Fine." She murmured quietly. Cuddy spun on her heel and walked quickly the other way down the hall. She couldn't let House see how much his words had hurt her. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction.

The anger had evaporated from House's face, replaced instead by puzzlement. Did he just win that argument? That wasn't right…the way it went was Cuddy said no, they fought, and he did it anyway. He had lost his temper and said the words to hurt. He'd known they were going to sting, known exactly what buttons to press. Maybe cutting straight to the heart of her guilt was the wrong move. The unfamiliar feeling of guilt surged through his chest and tightened around his heart. House sighed grumpily and stumped off after her.

Cuddy was currently talking to a nurse that had ambushed her as she turned the corner. "So, you need me to sign this?"

"Yes please, Dr. Cuddy."

Cuddy signed her name and glanced up to see House coming around the corner, clearly on a mission. There was no way she could face him right now. Cuddy turned and bolted the other way. House stopped, looking after her.

"Fine." He grouched. He turned the other way, popped a Vicodin and stalked down to his office.

Cuddy's day went relatively well. After avoiding House, she went to get a chicken sandwich for lunch and was sitting in her office eating it when there was a knock on her door. She put down her sandwich and called, "Come in!" She knew it wasn't House. House didn't knock.

It was a nurse. "Um, excuse me, Dr. Cuddy, but I need to go get more bandages for clinic. But the ones I need are in the storage room in the basement and I don't know where it is and no one else will take me. Could you…?"

Cuddy wiped her mouth. "Sure." She got up and led the nurse, whose name was Melanie, down the hall and to the elevator. They arrived at the bottom floor and Cuddy led Melanie to a room at the back of the hallway. It was a dark cramped little hall, and an even darker room. Cuddy moved to the back wall where the large reserves of bandages were kept.

"What kind did you say you needed?" Cuddy reached up to the very top shelf.

"Uh, just some white gauze bandages, but the kind without the sticky stuff."

"Ok…Ahh!"

Melanie jumped. "Oh my god, what?"

Cuddy swept a black spider off her shoulder. "Blasted spiders." She threw the wad of bandages to Melanie. "Here you go."

"Thank you, Dr. Cuddy."

The two rode the elevator upstairs and parted company. After a moment, Cuddy decided to go back to her office and see if she could finish some of the paperwork before the end of the day. She was sitting in her office, doing just that, when there was another knock on her door. It was Foreman.

"Hey, Dr. Cuddy, I just wanted to ask…Dr. Cuddy? Hey, you look really flushed. Are you ok?"

Cuddy coughed for a long moment before answering. "Yeah, I'm ok." She scratched her neck. She stood up, as if to prove she was ok. It was the wrong decision. She took a few wobbly steps and the world swam. Cuddy put her hand to her head. "M-Maybe not." She said weakly. And with that she pitched forward and the world went black.

Foreman watched Cuddy push herself to her feet with growing concern. She certainly didn't look fine. Cuddy stumbled forward gripping the edge of her desk. "M-Maybe not." She said weakly. Her eyes rolled into her head and Cuddy crumpled to the ground.

Foreman flung himself forward, catching Cuddy before she hit the floor. "Holy…Nurse! Hey!" He called out the door. "I need someone in here, stat!"

A couple minutes later, Dr. Cuddy was loaded onto a stretcher and being rushed down the hallway.

Chink. The pop clattered from the vending machine. Wilson sighed. "House, that's another dollar you owe me." House balanced himself on his good leg and cracked open the Dr. Pepper.

"Lucky for me, you're my friend and don't expect me to ever pay you back." He took a gulp of pop. Suddenly, a stretcher came rolling around the corner and a huge group of nurses, along with Foreman rushed past.

Wilson's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "Hey, House…didn't that patient kind of look like Cuddy?"

House frowned. "There's no way." The two took off down the hall, House traveling as fast as his leg could carry him.

Thanks for reading!

Love

Allie