"House may be an ass but he is still the best God damn doctor in this hospital!" Lisa Cuddy said with as much venom as she could muster. Edward Vogler, who was looming overhead, was not intimidated by her in the least.

"Then find another doctor" he snapped as he slammed his hand down onto her fist. Cuddy's eyes narrowed and her upper lip curled in true disdain.

"I'm not going to find another doctor just because…"

"Just because what?" Vogler sneered. "Just because I decided to donate $100 million to your hospital? Tell me, Dr. Cuddy, is Dr. House really worth $100 million to you? Because, if he is, let me know and I'll withdraw my offer immediately." Cuddy remained silent. "Tell you what" Vogler added. "I'll give you 24 hours to think things over. Here's where you can reach me once you've made your decision" Vogler said, handing Cuddy his card. "I hope you make the right decision" he said, before leaving Cuddy in a stunned silence…

Stephanie Cuddy could immediately tell her mom was in a fowl mood the second she walked through the door. "Hey, mom!" Stephanie signed.

"Hi," Cuddy said, or at least that's what Stephanie got from reading her lips. Stephanie noticed that her mom's posture was slouched, which it only was when something was really bothering her. Stephanie got up and grabbed Cuddy's arm. Cuddy looked over at her.

"I got my report card" Stephanie told her. "I got straight A's again!" Cuddy didn't even acknowledge that Stephanie had signed anything. "Mom? Did you see what I just signed?" Stephanie said, getting up and walking over to her mom.

"Yeah. That's great" she said before turning to look at Stephanie. "Did you eat?" Stephanie shook her head. Cuddy took a twenty from her purse and handed it to Stephanie. "Why don't you order some take out?" Cuddy said, walking down the hall, towards her room.

"But mom the TTY isn't working and…" Stephanie gave up when she saw that Cuddy had gone into her room and shut the door without having looked back once. Stephanie didn't know what was going on, but she knew it was bad since she never remembered seeing her mom this upset about something.

After Stephanie had made herself a sandwich, she walked past her mom's room and noticed that the light was out. This worried Stephanie greatly as it was only 7:30pm and Cuddy never went to bed until 9pm, at the earliest. Unsure of what else to do, Stephanie went into her room and txted the one person whom she thought might be able to shed some light onto what was going on; Allison Cameron…

Stephanie had been at Princeton Plainsboro a lot for the past few years. She had been experiencing severe dizzy spells and a slow but steady decline in her hearing. Dr. House had been assigned to her case, but Cameron was the one that spent the most time with Stephanie. In fact, she was the one who taught Stephanie how to sign and told Cuddy about a free adult ed course that was offered at the local community center. Over time, Stephanie and Cameron had developed a friendship.

After months of extensive testing it was determined that she had severe Meniere's Disease and had permanently lost 80% of the hearing in her right ear and 60% in her left. Hearing Aids helped somewhat, but it was still very difficult for Stephanie to understand speech. Stephanie remembered hugging Cameron and crying on her shoulder when she found out about her diagnosis and Cameron didn't judge her or think that she was weak. If anything, Cameron had turned into a big sister sort of figure and was very protective and supportive of Stephanie. Even House quickly realized that he could only go so far with his teasing before having to face the wrath of Allison Cameron, which he had never knew existed…

STEPH: Hey Cameron.

CAMERON: Oh, hi! What's going on?

STEPH: Do you know if there is anything weird going on at the hospital? Because my mom came home in a really crappy mood tonight. She barely said two words to me and now she's locked herself in her room. She's usually not like this and I just want to make sure that she's okay.

It was a couple of minutes before Stephanie received a response.

CAMERON: I know there's been a lot tension at the hospital regarding House and a potential donor. This donor keeps trying to get rid of House, which your mom doesn't want to do, but he's donating a very large sum of money" Cameoron explained. "Your mom is in a tough spot right now, but I'm sure she'll be fine. Just give her time."

STEPH: Ok! I just wish there was something I could do to help. L

CAMERON: There is. Stay out of trouble. Keep doing well in school and don't argue with your mom about anything. If she tells you to do something, do it, even if you don't want to. Got it?

"STEPH: I guess. But I still feel so helpless. Like I'm just being lazy and inconsiderate by sitting around and doing nothing when I know she's in a lot of pain.

CAMERON: You're not doing nothing! Your mom is really lucky to have a daughter who cares enough to check up on her. Believe me, no matter how bad your mom's day is, you always manage to brighten things up! J

STEPH: Thanks!

CAMERON: Do you need me to come over?

STEPH: No, I'll be fine. Thanks for talking with me, though.

CAMERON: Anytime! :D You have a goodnight, Steph. And call me if you need anything, ok?"

STEPH: Ok, bye!

CAMERON: Bye!

After putting her phone away, Stephanie laid down on her bed and began to mentally go over everything that happened before dozing off to sleep…

Stephanie was sitting on the couch watching TV when Cuddy came home in tears. "Mom! What's wrong?"

"Nothing that you need to worry about." Cuddy rushed up the stairs and turned towards her room. Stephanie grabbed Cuddy by the arm, demanding her attention. There was no way in hell she was going through this two nights in a row.

"Does it have to do with that donor guy not wanting House at the hospital?" Cuddy's jaw dropped open.

"How'd you know about that?" she asked once she had recovered from her initial shock.

"Cameron told me" Stephanie explained. Cuddy sighed in frustration. She would deal with Cameron later, but right now she wanted nothing more than to be left alone.

"It's nothing, really" Cuddy told her as she started to walk away.

"It's not nothing if you're crying about it!" Stephanie's hands were moving in rapid succession, matching her internal frustration.

"I already told you that this has nothing to do with you!" Cuddy angrily told her, causing Stephanie to take a step back. "So just stay out of it and mind your own business!"

"Fine! I will!" Stephanie said, turning away so Cuddy couldn't see her tears. She went into the living room and turned the TV back on.

A few minutes later, after Cuddy had calmed down, she went back into the hallway and saw her daughter curled up in a ball on the couch just staring emptily into space. Cuddy turned off the TV, walked over and sat down on the other end of the couch.

"Hey," Cuddy tentatively greeted her. "I'm so sorry about before, sweetie! I didn't mean to snap at you like that!" Stephanie looked up this time but didn't respond. "I'm just so upset that I had to fire my best doctor today for the sake of office politics. Regardless, I still had no right to take my anger out on you." Stephanie nodded. "Just out of curiosity, though, how did all of this come up when talking to Cameron last night?" Stephanie sat up and looked Cuddy straight in the eye.

"I was worried about you because you seemed really upset when you came home last night. So I texted Cameron in order to see if something happened at work that I could help you out with. She told me that I would be helping by just giving you time to deal with everything on your own and she also told me stay out of trouble. Doesn't seem like that would be all that helpful, does it?" Stephanie let out a chuckle.

"No, Cameron's right. That is a huge help! But, just so you know, I'm fine. There's no need to worry about me."

"So House really got fired?"

"Laid-off" Cuddy corrected. "He's still getting severance pay and full-benefits for six months."

"You know what I meant" Stephanie chided.

"Yes, I do" Cuddy responded. "So, I never got to congratulate you on your fantastic report card".