House was walking through the clinic trying to go away without attending to his clinic duty when he saw Cuddy coming towards him; he frowned but could not avoid her, and he got ready to be furiously bellowed forth, but she didn't even look at him while entering her office. He followed her and stood up in front of her.

"What happened?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Why didn't you bawl against me?"

"Why do I have to loose my time?"

"Because you always behave like a virago nagging at me"

"And you're always doing what you want, so this conversation is pointless for both of us."

"Are you angry for what I said some days ago?"

"I'm not angry"

"You are. You aren't even looking at me!"

"Do you think I should be?"

"Of course not, even if truth is a heavy burden to bear."

She stared at him, her deep expressive eyes full of bitter and defeat, and for once House felt guilty for his words.

"Hey, sunshine, calm down, I was joking."

"This is the problem with you, your brutal directness. However, you might have been right. I wouldn't have been a good mother."

"Why are you talking at the past tense?"

"I decided to give up."

House hushed. He was fazed. Did his words take part to this decision? Cuddy was not the kind of woman that easily acquiesce a setback. She was a rock. And since when she got offended for what House said? This was really really weird.

Cuddy chuckled, sitting behind her desk and mockingly rolling her eyes up at the man standing in front of her. She began to clear the clutter on her desk, then she stood up, and as she did so, she twitched slightly, her hand pressing firmly against her abdomen. House noticed, frowned, but didn't say anything, narrowing his eyes at her. Arm snaked tight around those files, she ran her hand through her forehead, and that's when he noticed the droplets of sweat along her hairline.

"Now, please, go away. I'm not really glad to chat with you today."

"Come on, you can't push me away like this. I was your sperm-donor adviser. You need me."

Cuddy closed her eyes for a moment, swallowing to stop tears coming out from her eyes and along her cheeks. She felt miserable.

"You were my friend, better I thought you were, and Wilson was too, but then you two… well, you broke my hope the most violently and brutally you were able to. There's nothing else to say, and now, please, go away."

The very excruciating pain she was experiencing since the day before was constant, but every 30 seconds or so there was a stabbing and throbbing sensation with pain even worse than what she could ever have imagined. Again, she pressed her hand to her abdomen with a sigh and he couldn't shut up any longer. "Something wrong with your stomach?"

"I'm perfectly fine, House. Go out please."

He did as he had been ordered to, and Lisa sat on her black couch, unable to prevent tears any more and hoping that nobody would have entered and seen her like that. Her dignity and her job were the only thing she had… She lost her dream, she discovered she couldn't count on her once-friends, she had no family. She felt desperately alone.

Moreover, she was definitely sick. She hadn't slept for the whole night trying to find a position that could ease the pain a little bit. She wasn't sure whether the couch, the waves of heat and chill passing through her body or the pain in her stomach had kept her awake and it mattered less and less as the minutes of misery slowly passed.

She realized her skin was burning and she decided to go home, even if it was early to leave the hospital.

Half an hour later she was laying on her bed, curled up into a foetal position, still weeping. Feeling cold, she pulled a blanket from the floor and wrapped it around her shoulders, shifting on the bed until her stomach settled back to the constant ache, rather than sharp pain. A wave of nausea struck, bringing with it another cold sweat that drenched Lisa's face, neck and chest. She struggled up from the bed, throwing off the blanket, and stumbling into the hallway and the tiny bathroom, barely making it in time.

"I should look for help." She thought, but decided to come back to bed. She was convicted there was nobody that would have helped her out.

When the worst wave of pain came, she passed out.

AN First of all, thank you very much for reading. I'm not a native speaker so sorry for my mistakes. I'd be glad and honoured to hear any comment from you. Both laudation and criticism will be welcomed. Please review!