Life and Limb
The darkened room was quiet, almost silent except for the soft inhale and exhale of the sleeping couple in the double bed. The two dark heads were angled towards each other, almost touching. A soft buzzing sounded from the bedside table, a muted glow feebly shone from a small phone. A soft groan escaped from the mouth of the woman previously lying peaceful on the bed. She slowly reached towards her phone, her head rolling down the strong arm supporting her head, it was quickly pulled out from under her as the tall man next to her rolled away from the conversation about to begin.
Cuddy checked the display out of habit, it was the hospital, of course. She quickly rolled out of bed, phone in hand and crept towards the door before answering the call.
"What…" she croaked, cleared her throat and tried again. "What is it?"
"I'm sorry to wake you Doctor Cuddy but we have an emergency here." The voice at the end of the phone sounded nervous. Cuddy's PA worked 9-6, so the person speaking to her now had obviously drawn the short straw. He briefly hesitated before continuing, "The site of an illegal rave collapsed downtown and we have been overrun by patients. The night staff can't cope with the extra demand and the emergency services have requested Doctors from both local hospitals at the scene."
Cuddy sighed and checked the time on her phone, 2.15, she'd only had three hours of sleep. "OK, I'll be there in 20 minutes. Page all Doctors on-call and call in anyone else you can round up. Oh, and could you alert day care that I'm going to be bringing in my daughter, and warn them to expect other children as well." With that she hung up the phone. Cuddy was pleased that she had the forethought to set up a new day care centre on site at the hospital. It had been a godsend to all of the working parents at the hospital and came into it's own on a night like tonight.
Cuddy slipped back into the silent bedroom and walked towards the bed. "Hey," she whispered to the sleeping man on the bed, he rolled over, obviously already awake and opened his eyes. "There's an emergency at the hospital, we both need to go in." She steeled herself for what was to come.
He blinked and fixed his piercing gaze on her "We don't need to go, you need to go." He maintained eye contact for a few seconds then looked away. "Look, if there's an emergency you really don't want me there. I am the bringer of chaos if you remember. I'll keep the bed warm for you." He pretended to roll over but she put her arm on his shoulder and pulled him back. He flopped onto his back and looked at her again.
"House," she sighed, "Come on, it's late, we're both tired and I still have to get Rachel up. Please, do me a favour and co-operate." House just burrowed deeper into the covers and closed his eyes. She realised that this tact wasn't going to work, she was going to have to give him something else, his guilt over her going to work without him was obviously outweighed by his desire to go back to sleep. "I'll get someone to cover your clinic hours this week." When he didn't open his eyes she battled on, "Fine, this month." It was House's turn to sigh. She knew she had him, but was prepared for a little more banter before he gave up his pretence.
He levelled his gaze at her. The soft moon light shining in through the window created a halo of her hair, reminding House of how lucky he was to be with Cuddy. However, he couldn't let her think that she could just smile and ask nicely to get her own way. "I've only been in bed an hour."
"Three…" she corrected him.
He carried on as if he hadn't heard her. "And my leg hurts, even more if it doesn't get the proper rest, which I can't imagine it would get, walking those long hospital hall ways and treating whining patients…" He glanced at her to see if it was working. It wasn't. "Fine, but you owe me. You can make it up to me tonight." He grinned evilly and circled his arm around her waist, drawing her in for a slow kiss. Cuddy melted into him before remembering that they were short on time. She reluctantly pulled away from his warmth and moved away from the bed, bending and scooping up a pair of his jeans and tossing them onto the bed.
She grabbed some clean clothes and quickly dressed, giving House the time he needed to get his leg moving and to pull on last nights crinkled clothes. Then left to make coffee and gather everything she would need before lastly waking up her sleeping toddler.
By the time she got to the door juggling two travel mugs of coffee and Rachel, grumbling in her arms, House emerged from the bedroom and limped heavily down the hallway to join her. She felt momentarily guilty, seeing him in obvious discomfort, but reasoned that he would be fine once he worked the stiffness out. He walked up to her and pulled the toddler's bulky overnight bag from Cuddy's shoulder, then reached around her and pulled open the door, seeing that her hands were full. She smiled slowly; he really could be sweet when he wanted to be, and when he was away from an audience.