Without looking at her, he said, "I'm not the only one who changed. When I came back I thought things would be different with us." He turned to her and saw the hurt look on her face and he continued, "But then…I got smart and realized it could never happen. I was stupid for even thinking it."

She tried to take his hand. "House, I didn't know-"

"No! Don't. Just...don't." He pulled away from her. "Now that you've finally got what you always wanted, your life should be perfect. So why don't you go home to your happy family and leave me the hell alone." He turned away from her, not wanting her to see his eyes, which were slightly wet. She got up slowly and walked towards his door. She knew she should leave but she wanted him to open up to her.

"House—" she said as she turned around to face him one more time.

"Get out! I don't need you!" He yelled, catching her off guard. Then, painfully, he maneuvered his leg onto the bed and laid down on his side, his back to her.

Cuddy was taken aback by his reaction and she held back the tears that threatened to fall. She wished she could do something to take away his pain, both the physical and the emotional. She wanted him to know she really did care about him. She reached out to touch his shoulder but stopped herself. Maybe he's right, she thought. Maybe things can never go back to the way they were. With a sigh of resignation and sadness, she pulled her hand back, turned around and walked out of his bedroom, down the hallway and out the front door, locking it behind her.

The next morning around nine-thirty, Wilson entered Cuddy's office.

"Hey," she said, looking up from her work.

"Cuddy." Wilson threw his briefcase in one of the chairs in front of her desk and sat in the other.

"What can I do for you?" She asked.

"Just checking on you, seeing how things are going."

"And to see how things went when I saw House last night," she said, looking up at him.

"Yeah."

"He looked awful, Wilson, his leg was badly bruised too. He said it happened when he fell down drunk."

"Do you believe him?"

"Why wouldn't I? He's been drinking more than usual lately."

"Why do you suppose that is?"

"I have no idea."

"Don't you?" He asked in an accusing manner. "Cuddy, ever since came back from Mayfield, he's just wanted you to see that he's changed. He's in pain but he's managing it. For the first time in years, he's clear-headed and he knows what he wants but you ignored him."

"I had to move on. You knew that might happen."

"But with Lucas? Seriously? He's not even in your league!" He had raised his voice without realizing it.

She glared at him angrily. "You do not get to come into my office and proceed to criticize how I live my life when you've been divorced three times!"

Wilson put his hands up defensively. "Easy, Cuddy. I'm just saying that you could do better than Lucas."

"Really? They weren't exactly beating down my door. Why do you care so much about who I go out with anyway?"

"Because I'm your friend."

"I appreciate you wanting the best for me but…I've actually found a guy I can count on here, someone who I trust, who I know will be there for me and Rachel."

"House wants to be happy, he just doesn't know how because it's been so damn long. He wanted to be the friend I need, the guy you need and most of all, he didn't want to be miserable anymore. Finally he got the courage to tell you how he felt and you broke his heart."

"I broke his heart? What about me? What about when toyed with me for years and then when I made a move he pushed me away?" She asked him defiantly.

"That was old House. Now…I know he'll still be old House but he's changed in subtle ways. He deserved a chance."

"Didn't I deserve one too? Lucas is a great guy."

Wilson ran his fingers through his hair in angst. "I'm sure he's great with Rachel, reading her stories and having tea parties with her. I'm sure he cooks delicious vegetarian meals and keeps your bed warm at night but-"

Cuddy laughed at him. "You're still trying to convince me I made the wrong choice."

Wilson decided to get to the point. "How well do you know him?"

"What kind of question is that? I know him well enough. What's your point?" She asked, annoyed and anxious for him to quit badgering her about her relationship with Lucas.

Wilson leaned over to open his briefcase. "I came here with an ulterior motive." He placed a videotape on her desk.

"What's this?" She asked cautiously.

"Something you need to see," he said as he stood up. He grabbed his briefcase and turned to walk out of her office. He turned to look at her. "You and House are like family to me and I love both of you and I don't like either of you hurt. You wonder why I keep defending House? It's because I see him every single day, I've lived with him and I see how he hurts. He tries to hide it but it's not always possible. It kills me to see him in so much pain, and I'm not just talking about his leg either. He deserves better." Finally, he turned and walked out the door, not looking back.

Cuddy stood there stunned, taking in Wilson's words. She looked down at the videotape on her desk and wondered what was on it. She almost put it in a drawer to watch later but curiosity got the best of her. She walked over to the television and slipped the well worn tape into the VCR. She took a seat on the small couch and pressed the play button on the remote.

She recognized the background, it was the cafeteria, and there were only a few people there. Before her eyes she saw House and Wilson walking towards the tables, House had a tray in his hand. Suddenly out of nowhere a man stuck his leg out and House went flying and landed very hard on the concrete tiled floor. She sucked in her breath as she watched him go down. Oh God, that's how he hurt his leg. Why would someone do such a thing? She continued to watch as House turned to the man sitting at the table where he'd tripped. At the same time, the man turned around that's when she saw it and her jaw dropped.

Lucas.

She rewound the scene and watched it again. Yes, it was definitely Lucas and it was definitely intentional. She watched House react defensively with his cane but all the three did was talk for a moment and then Lucas smiled and sauntered away.

She watched House and Wilson after the exchange with Lucas. House nearly collapsed and Wilson helped him to a nearby table where he helped him place his leg on the chair across from him. House grimaced, obviously in a great deal of pain. A nurse passed by and Wilson grabbed her arm and whispered something to her, she shook her head and left in a hurry. Meanwhile Wilson sat next House, talking to him. She could see them arguing and House shaking his head adamantly, then he finally shook his head up and down. A few minutes later the same nurse returned with a syringe and a wheelchair. Wilson injected House and then the nurse helped Wilson load House into a wheelchair and out the rarely used side exit.

Cuddy leaned back in her seat, teary-eyed, and stunned. How could Lucas do something so mean? She knew Lucas and House had, at one time, been friendly acquaintances and indulged in harmless pranks but this was no prank, this was something else, it was malicious, it was vile. It made her want to throw up. She ran to her bathroom and emptied the contents of her stomach in the toilet. As she brushed her teeth and rinsed her mouth, she thought about House and how he'd provoked patients and their family members in the past but she couldn't imagine what he'd done to provoke this.

Son of a bitch, she thought. The condo. She recalled how Lucas kept going on about the damn condo and she'd asked him if he'd been the one to play pranks on them. Though he denied it, she was pretty sure he had something to do with it. She'd told him to back off then she remembered they'd had that conversation would have taken place after he'd tripped House in the cafeteria. Of course he'd already backed off, because apparently with that last move he'd gotten his point across. When they'd discussed it, he knew what he'd done and yet he said nothing. How could he think I wouldn't find out? She wondered to herself. That's when it hit her that Lucas must have had something on them which kept them from telling her what happened.

Her shock turned to anger. She disagreed with Lucas's pranks in the condo but the last one…hurting a man physically…this she couldn't let go. This was no prank, this was intentional and no matter what House did, this was unacceptable. She finished cleaning up and walked into her office but suddenly stopped in her tracks. Oh my God, she thought. I did the same thing. She leaned against the wall nauseous again thinking of how nearly a year earlier she'd set the trip wire in House's office. Though it didn't show on the outside, she knew she'd hurt him. She'd been so angry at him for keeping her from spending time at home with Rachel but later she admitted to herself that she'd actually really wanted to go back to work. It turned her stomach that she was criticizing Lucas for hurting him and she'd done it too.

She got up from her chair and walked over to one of the bookshelves in her office. She surveyed the books until she came to one that was old and dusty. She pulled it out and ran her fingers over the cover. It was the very first biology book that she'd purchased at the University bookstore her freshman year. That's when she met the lanky, athletic, know-it-all behind the counter, the one who had already become a legend at the school, and would immediately change her life forever. She flipped the pages till she found what she was looking for. The flower and the picture were still there, safely tucked between the sheets of wax paper. It was a picture of two smiling young college students at the homecoming hay ride. A few tears fell as she ran her finger over the picture, remembering how happy they were back then. It didn't seem fair that they'd gone from young, carefree and happy to pain, misery and anger. For the first time in nearly twenty years, she closed the book without putting the picture back.

She dried her tears and went back over to her desk. She sat down and picked up the phone and asked her assistant to cancel her schedule for the rest of the day. After a few more phone calls, she packed up her things, placed the picture in her pocket, turned out the lights and walked determinedly out the door. She was on a mission to make things right, if there was still a chance she could.