Pact For Love

House and Cuddy are married and have 2 children. Shocking news leaves them to debate their futures, and their children's. They are elderly now, and their children are grown up, but does it mean that they feel better about leaving them behind?

This is not for everyone, but this is an issue that comes up frequently in my Ethics class. So I'm warning you now, you might find this fic very sad and/or quite disturbing. And I apologise for that, but it's an issue that needs to be addressed.

Chapter 3

Cuddy POV

It was just under a week after Greg and I had visited the kids, grandkids and in-laws.

And it was a Tuesday.

Time for my doctor's appointment.

It couldn't have come sooner; I'd been steadily growing weaker as the days passed.

Nervously, I waited in the clinical smelling waiting room until my name was called.

Lisa House.

There it was; my name.

No time like now, I decided.

I made my way into the exam room, where Chase was waiting for me.

He was on the phone with Cameron, talking about the imminent arrival of their 3rd grandchild.

He and Cameron had 2 kids as well, Erica Roberta Chase and Nathan Alistair Chase.

Erica was married to Kieran Calgary, an Irish architect, and was nearly full term with her first child. She was 21 years old and had just finished a psychology degree at college.

Nathan was married to Tylah, a fashion designer and was 24. He had twins called Catriona Mae Chase, and Cameron Finlay Chase. He was at medical school, looking to be an intensivist, like his father.

He looked up at me and gave me a signal that he'd be right with me.

I smiled at him and waited for him to finish talking to Cameron.

He put the phone down.

'Sorry about that Lisa, Ally's on edge, you know what she's like. She's camped out at Erica's, annoying everyone.'

I laughed genuinely, for the first time in days.

'So what's the problem?' he asked gently.

'Umm, dull ache in my abdomen, kind of about here,' I said, showing him on my body. 'It gets worse after I eat. And weight loss, none of my clothes fit anymore. The other thing is I swear that my skin is turning yellow. It's a subtle change, but I notice a little bit more every day. And I keep shivering, even if it's hot. I accidently left the heating on, and was complaining to Greg to turn it on,' I replied, realising the severity and variety of symptoms.

'Hmmm, I see. Did you not want to bring Greg with you?'

'His cousin came over yesterday, and so Greg's catching up with him. I told him it was ok. So, any idea what's wrong with me?' I reply, deflecting.

'I think you know what's wrong,' he answered in response to my question. 'You were a doctor for almost 30 years, surely you must know.'

'I don't want to know I have a death sentence on my shoulders!' I almost cry out.

'It's not a death sentence Lisa, at least it doesn't have to be. If we've caught it early...'

'You know that's never the case. So then what? I go through debilitating chemotherapy and lose my quality of life!! I leave my children and grandchildren and husband to watch me suffer?' I exclaim. 'Either way, I lose, and so do they!'

'Just let us do a MRI before we get our hopes up, or down in this case,' he said evenly.

'Fine,' I retort bitterly.

'I'm going to step outside. If you change into this gown, we'll get you down to Radiology as a priority.'

He leaves the room and I'm left here alone. I start to get unchanged; even the feel of the clothes sliding over my skin was enough to make me recoil in pain.

Chase POV

I'm standing outside the exam room waiting for Lisa to get changed.

And I just can't believe it.

She always seemed so tough and strong, but now she seems to have lost some of her spirit.

I take out my cell and dial Wilson.

'Wilson? It's Chase. Can you get down to radiology STAT? Lisa's going to have an MRI.'

When he asked why, I began to explain to him her symptoms, and my theory on what was causing them.

'I agree, it's definitely possible and probable,' answered Wilson. 'I'll see you down there.'

Sorry for the cliffie, although I'm sure you've already figured out to some extent what's wrong with Lisa. Proper information is in the next chapter. I'm not a Doctor, so I have no clue what I am talking about medically...I googled it, probably like a few of you did when you saw the symptoms and did the math. Please review...the buttons just there -----