HOUSE Overhauled.
Because I think HOUSE deserved a second chance, but things had to be changed after Season 4.
Takes place at the end of Season 4. This is was not Beta-ed. I know, I have no excuse. Please be kind to me.
Enjoy!
No Copyright Infringement Intended.
She held his hand, and she held on. Wilson saw it, and so did the ducklings, and the rest of the hospital. He had a glimpse of it too, he was confused, but he missed that familiar feeling, so he held tight. He needed her the most at this time. He saw Wilson pass by his room, looked at the both of them, and then left. He closed his eyes. He will deal with Wilson later. For now, he was grateful that he still had her. And then he slept.
Sunlight hit her eyes. She realized that she fell asleep holding his hands. She wondered why their hands were still locked. He must have held on. She thought, a smile forming on her face. He stirred.
"Hey, it's me". Cuddy whispered, hoping he would have enough brain function to recognize her. She squeezed his hands, and was surprised to feel a weak squeeze returned. She saw him open his eyes, she let go of his hands, and helped him up. She took a glass of water from his bedside and let him drink.
"Do you know who you are? Where you are? How you got here?" She asked.
He drank the water, and for what seemed like an eternity, finally answered her. "My name is Gregory House, I'm probably at the private ICU which you, Dr. Cuddy, insisted to put me in after I managed to get my bestfriend's girlfriend killed when I asked her to fetch me and take me home by riding a bus which was accidentally hit, after getting through a deep-brain stimulation, performed on my by Dr. Chase, I crashed, was in a coma for some time, and here I am, good as new" He paused. "I answered all your questions. But you see, the real question here is, why are you here?"
She was dumbfounded. She was glad to hear that he was the same person than he was before. But she couldn't really answered his question. So she spoke the first logical thing that came to mind. "You have no one else. Wilson left you" She said matter-of factly.
He chose to accept her answer, knowing that it's better to settle for lies for now. Explanations had to be made late though, he took a mental note of this. He closed his eyes. He knew he had to rest first. After what he has gone through, his body might not be able to take the stress. He took a deep breath, then he remembered. The pain - or the absence of it. How come he doesn't feel the pain any more? He opened his eyes and tried to find any clues as to why he was not feeling any pain, and yet, he found nothing.
"Cuddy?.." he called.
She knew he was going to ask, and her answer was ready. "Ketamine. We had to try it again. This time, we were sure that your brain will reboot. This time, the chances are higher. I took the call. I found that I was still your medical proxy. I hope it was OK" she admitted. She stood up - preparing to leave.
"Better than not having a leg" he replied with a smirk.
She figured that was his way of thanking her. After gathering her things, she finally headed towards the door.
"I'm leaving for now. I'd be back later though" She declared. "You need to rest, recuperate".
"Hey..", he called after her. She looked back. "Thanks".
She acknowledged his gratitude and then turned around and headed towards the door.
It took all the strength in the world for her to go back to her office. When she finally reached her office, she locked her door, sat down on her sofa, and took a deep breath. No, she was not going to cry. She thought, this wasn't her fault. Although she was already convincing herself that she was partially responsible for this tragedy.
The clues were all there. House was drinking himself into oblivion, and she knew the reason why. He somehow chose to ignore this one detail. Or he probably doesn't remember - yet. She took another deep breath, and just let the silence of her office fill her thoughts.
Oh, what a mess. She closed her eyes, remembering the events three days ago.
"Hungry?" he was waiting for her to finish her work. "I cooked chicken parmigiana last night, thought you'd help me finish it". He smiled. Sometimes when they are both alone, he'd fill the conversation with something casual just to surprise her. Their relationship took a complete turn-around after Wilson finally admit he was with Amber. She bullied him into finding new interns, he humored her by asking her out for dinner. Not out out, just casual dinners at home. At times when Wilson couldn't come with him. He was rather glad he invited her. They were somehow able to renew their once-forgotten friendship.
He would cook, they would watch a movie, talk. Some days they were at her house, discussing some major medical breakthrough, music, anything and everything. In the middle of watching a Japanese classic film, he called out. "If you were in this movie with me, will you kill me?"
"Oh, I probably would, you were the weakest link, physically, but I'd say I would think things through..you'd be a great strategist, that and you probably annoy most of these students to death and kill them one by one" she drank her wine in one big gulp. She was pissed today.
After her meeting with the Board, the hospital budget was finally approved, but not after going through pins and needles of interrogation.
She just wanted to relax tonight.
"Good answer. I like how you think highly of me" he replied, "I'd probably let you live, until we're the only ones left, and then I'd kill you. You'd be a great asset. Because you know, you have a great asset" he winked.
"Really? You wink at me? Is that you making a pass at me? You let me down Gregory House" she challenged him. The wine was getting to her. She poured herself some more, and then drank all the contents of her glass. One for courage she thought. She was tired of their games and figured she'd finally make a move. She turned herself around, and faced him.
"It was just a wink Cuddy, your hormones are just at their peak today, give it a rest" he bickered. "If I were to make a pass at you, I would do this" he pulled her close and kissed her. His lips found hers and be began to savor the sweetness of her mouth.
She pressed her body on him and held him close. She hasn't felt this comfort for years now, and she held on. She could feel her body giving in to him.
But he finally decided to end the kiss. "Are you... are you sure about this?" he stuttered.
"I don't know" she replied. She was still holding on to him.
He tried to decipher the look on her face, was it disappointment? Regret? But he saw nothing. Only then he saw a glimmer in her eyes. Hope.
"I don't know, but I like it...shall we continue?" she then kissed him, hungrier this time, her body, finally giving in to the temptation that is Gregory House.
Their lovemaking took the entire evening. "You taste like sweetsauce Gregory House" she declared. They were spooning, but both of them are awake. Both thinking of the ramifications of the evening. She was making circles around the palm of his hands. He was holding her tight. Letting her know she was safe with him, and also convincing himself of the reality of the situation.
"You taste sweeter Lisa Cuddy" he replied. "You know it's all going to be fast forward now" he said matter-of-factly.
"I knew the moment I accepted your invitation that something like this was going to happen" she turned around and looked at him. She traced the lines on his face, the bridge of his nose. His blue eyes were bluest even in the middle of the night, she could see him, looking at her.
He tucked the hair that fell off her face. "I'm glad you accepted then. It was about damn time" he found himself smiling at her once again. "You are a strange person Dr. Cuddy. Somehow, I find myself smiling just thinking about you".
She realized that he paid her a compliment, and she reciprocated by hugging him closer and kissing his forehead. "You are one strange person Dr. House. Keep it up and you'll earn more than just a smile".
And then she pulled away. "This thing...whatever this is though, it's still in the works... I think it's best we nurture it first don't you think?" she was actually a bit scared when the reality of it all finally hit her. She was finally sleeping with him. She looked at him in the eye, hoping to find some answers.
"I'm all for nurture. Let's just take this one limp at a time, OK?" he held her back. Rubbing her back until both of them finally went to sleep.
It was three in the morning. Someone was knocking at her door. And she knew there was only one person dumb crazy enough to wake her in the
middle of the night. She opened the door. The man with the cane immediately let himself in.
"You're on timeout" she said, without even looking at him. She went straight to he room.
"What do you mean, I'm on timeout?" he limped across the room and followed her.
"You're making me crazy House. One minute you're the sweetest guy in the world, and the next your the biggest asshole in my hospital".
"You know we could have easily lost that accreditation!? Why are you tormenting me? Why can't you just be considerate for once in your life?"
She was tired, and she just wanted the day to be over. Start a new one, recover after the accreditation. She lay down on her bed and closed her eyes.
"I thoughts you wanted this" pointing at them both "act to continue. I was only playing my part" He sat at her bed.
"Hey." he touched her leg. "Do you want me to stop?" he asked.
She sat up. "I don't know House. I'm so confused. Maybe you should go home for now. Just let things play out" she surrendered. Thoughts about how their relationship could do some potential damage to her hospital clouded her.
He understood. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and exhaled. "Well, maybe I should" he stood up, and limped back out.
She heard defeat in his voice. She wanted to call for him to go back and just hug her, but she was just so stubborn to do so. Her doors closed, and she finally heard the sound of his car whirring away.
She was tired, a single tear fell over her eye. She'll deal with this tomorrow.
But tomorrow never came. She avoided him. It has been a three days since he last saw her. He took it as a sign of her giving up. After all, she loved her hospital more than anything in the world. And their relationship, whatever it was, was just something casual. They never found the time to discuss where that is going.
But he wondered why he cared so much. Why she mattered so much to him. He couldn't get himself to admit that he was finally able to move on past Stacy. But the girl he chose loved something else. And so he drank himself into oblivion. And then Amber happened.
TBC.