Lisa Cuddy awoke with a start. At first she wasn't sure what had woken her, but soon enough a grudgingly familiar wave of nausea sent her running to the bathroom for the second time that night. "How long is this going to go on?!" she said to herself in between spurts of vomiting. When she finally found the strength to pull herself upright and wash her hands, Cuddy took a look at herself in the mirror. "Girl, you look like hell!" she declared out loud. And although she had not thought her comment able to be heard outside the bathroom, an urgent wail soon emanated from Rachel's room. "Wonderful!" Cuddy said sarcastically. "Just what I need right now."
As a rule, Cuddy didn't mind these late night stretches awake with Rachel. She and baby Rachel had recently found a moment to bond when Cuddy desperately needed Rachel's cooperation to be quiet, and ever since then Cuddy would talk to Rachel in these wee hours of the morning about everything from work at the hospital to telling Rachel fairy tales and stories. Cuddy still couldn't get over the sense of wonderment she experienced as Rachel looked expectantly yet acceptingly into her eyes while she lulled her back to sleep; it was nice to have someone appreciate you just for being there, and only to expect things that you could successfully provide.
On this particular night, however, Cuddy, in her nauseated state, would have welcomed a full night's sleep in the comfort of her own bed without Rachel's interruption. In spite of this feeling, Cuddy slowly made her way into Rachel's room and picked up her crying daughter. Patting the bottom of her diaper, Cuddy realized that Rachel was most definitely in need of a change and proceeded to replace the soggy mess with a clean diaper. The sight of the diaper's contents did nothing to ease Cuddy's perpetual week-long nausea, and it was all she could do to briefly rock Rachel in the rocking chair until she fell asleep again.
Carefully placing Rachel back in her crib, Cuddy kissed her finger, deposited the kiss on Rachel's cheek, and then crept out of the room as quietly as she could and went back to her own. Cuddy gingerly lay back down in her bed and prayed that this flu she had been fighting would miraculously disappear by morning, or that The Ass would act like a human being for once and not make her life a living hell at Princeton-Plainsboro. Both were long shots, and unfortunately, Cuddy wouldn't be so lucky as to be relieved from the burden of either prospect.