Chapter 4: Observations

House and Elisabeth headed into the kitchen after returning home while everyone else either went upstairs or out into the living room.

Elisabeth immediately held her hand out, motioning for House to give her the money.

House sighed as he grabbed his wallet out of his pocket. "You just got lucky this time," he remarked as he pulled out the money.

Elisabeth snatched the bills out of his hand and thanked him before stuffing the money into her pocket and leaving.

"Anytime," he responded and then put the wallet back into his pocket. Watching her, he could tell that she had been walking a little slower lately. Like she was more tired. It worried him a little, but he didn't want to say anything.

If anything at all, he wanted to pretend. To allow himself to believe she would be able to grow up like the rest, to live a decent life. The denial was the only thing that had kept him going since she was five.

House and Cuddy sat in the office of the respiratory specialist that they had been taking Elisabeth to. Both of them knew that this was going to be bad news. That was the only reason anyone was ever called into a private office to talk.

Sitting in the chairs before the empty desk as they waited for him to return with the results, Cuddy reached over and grabbed his hand. A simple little motion, but it meant everything to him. It told him how scared she truly was, the fact that she was tightly holding on and wouldn't let go.

"Good afternoon," Dr. Hesseman greeted as he closed the door behind him and carried the file over to his desk.

"Morning doctor," Cuddy returned the greeting for the both of them.

The man opened the file and looked over a few things before removing his glasses and looking up at the two. "The build up is not too bad for now. Have her in for a lavage every six months and she'll be fine," he announced. "However, after a while, those six month periods will turn into five, then four, three, two, one and eventually," he trailed off.

House just stared forward. He knew what was going to happen, he was a doctor, he could see it. This though, was the first time that someone had actually told him. The first time that all of his thoughts were confirmed by someone else.

He could tell Cuddy was ready to cry, and that seemed to make things worse. As hard as he tried to block it all out, it was still there and it was still going to happen.

"How long until then?" Cuddy questioned. Her voice was hoarse from the strain of keeping herself from crying.

"Well, she was getting better for a while, but then started going backwards," he stated more to himself. "My guess is that she'll live to be about ten. Once it gets down to every two months, she'll start declining quickly," he explained.

House just looked down and sighed. Nothing he could do would ever help her. Never.

O o o o o o o o

Elisabeth went up the stairs to go to her room, but stopped at the top of the staircase. She was lightheaded and had to catch her breath. This wasn't something brand new to her, but it had only been a few weeks since her last appointment to get her lungs cleaned out.

Cautiously, she walked to her bed room and went in and sat down on the bed. She had to tell one of her parents, but she couldn't. She couldn't let them know. It wasn't like either one of them could actually do anything anyways.

Now she knew why she was put on the list to get a new lung. That was the only solution left.

O o o o o o o o o

Rachel nervously walked down the stairs from her room to the hallway and stepped into the doorway to her parent's room. "Mom?" she called.

Cuddy, who was putting some of her jewelry away, looked up to her and closed the box. "Yes?" she asked, sensing that she had something that she wanted to discuss.

Rachel sheepishly looked to her while she started to play with her hair. "Can I talk to you?" she requested.

Cuddy smiled to her. "Sure," she replied and then went and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Come here," she stated.

Rachel went and sat down by her. "I um" she started and then took a moment to gather her thoughts. Looking straight into her mother's face, she finally said what she needed to say. "I like this boy and I really want to hang out with him," she blurted out.

Cuddy suppressed her urge to laugh. She could tell that she thought she was going to get in trouble. "What's his name?" she questioned.

Rachel relaxed a little and smiled. "Gerald," she answered. "Gerald Berielli."

Cuddy just nodded. She had known it from the day that Rachel had begun dressing up just to step outside. She could see her smile to him every time he was outside. There was no news there. "Do you think he likes you?" she questioned, although, she was pretty sure that he did.

Rachel sat there and thought about it for a moment. Yes, he did. He was the one who came up to her and asked her about Friday night. They were going out to a movie. Gabrielle was going to be the one to come and get her and take her out to get ready. They were going to stop and get dinner and then she was going to do her make up and hair and then she would take her to meet with him at the theater. But she couldn't tell her mom that. "Maybe," she answered.

Cuddy noted the hesitance and nodded with a smirk. She knew. It wasn't a huge secret. Besides, she had seen them outside talking before, and then the phone calls. They had probably already hung out before. She knew that House already hated him. "Listen, I don't think you two would be hanging out if he didn't like you," Cuddy stated.

Rachel's eyes widened. She was completely caught off guard. "What?" she asked.

Cuddy laughed. "You really didn't think that I knew?" she questioned.

"What did Gabi tell you?" she implored, trying to find out just how much she knew.

"Gabi knew about this before I did?" Cuddy asked. She then folded her arms and thought for a moment. It didn't surprise her that Gabrielle knew, most girls would tell their sisters everything before they told their mom something. But the fact that she brought her up so quickly made her wonder. "Is that why she's coming over here on Friday?" she asked.

Rachel knew that it was too late to try and lie again. There was no use. "Yes," she sighed out in defeat. "She's helping me get ready and then taking us to the movies," she confessed.

Cuddy just nodded. She was disappointed in the fact that she had lied to her, but at least she did come to talk to her before she actually did anything. "All right, how about this, you can go out with him," she started. Rachel's eyes lightened up as she excitedly looked up to her. "If!" Cuddy emphasized. "If, you tell me exactly where you're going, when you're going, and you're back here by nine. Later if you have either Gabrielle or I with you," she explained.

"What if daddy takes us?" she questioned.

Cuddy just laughed. "Seven thirty."

"I don't even think we would last that long," Rachel replied. She then got up and started heading for the door. "Thank you mommy," she said right before she left.

"Sure," Cuddy responded. Going back to her dresser, she sighed. "And before you know it, she'll be asking for a cell phone, car, and no curfew," she quietly stated to herself.