Fighting In A Flat
Since I'm on holiday and my mother decided I'll be stuck home the whole summer, I have plenty of time to translate and write. I'll update daily since there are not so many chapters left, maybe I'll write a sequel :)
Chapter 7
Cuddy was abruptly awoken by a crying Rachel. She rose up from the couch, throwing the small blanket off of her body and run towards the bedroom to retrieve her daughter. She smiled at the little girl and took her in the kitchen with her. After making sure she wouldn't get hurt nor fall from the highchair, Cuddy started to get the kid's breakfast ready but her mind was elsewhere.
The previous night she had fallen asleep while finishing a report. No, she recalled finishing that document, putting it into her bag and sitting down the couch next to... House. Cuddy smiled. When did I fell asleep? When did I cover myself with that blanket? She wondered, but her thoughts were immediately stopped by the doorbell.
Running towards the door Cuddy took a glimpse of the clock and immediately knew that she was going to arrive late at work. At least the baby sitter would have helped here with Rachel while she got ready.
"I'm coming!" she said. When she opened the door, there wasn't the baby sitter, but Wilson. Cuddy sighed and let him in, greeting him good morning.
"Good morning, Lisa. Is House here with you?" he asked. Lisa immediately shook her head. Maybe House spent the night here and left before I woke up. Wilson is probably concerned about his friend, she thought.
"Really?" he asked.
"He's not here, Wilson." The Oncologist frowned, sensing that she was keeping something from him.
"But he did spend the night here, didn't he?"
"I think so..." she answered, not sure if that was the truth or not.
"You 'think' so?"
"I don't know..." she repeated with a shrug. Wilson started pacing House' living room, shaking his head.
"Cuddy, where do you think all of this will lead you to? You're with Lucas now, you decided to move in with him and start a family together. Stop playing with House's feelings, please don't act like Stacy did because in the end I'll be the one to help House put his pieces back together."
"Wilson!" she scoffed angrily. Wilson's words were still in her mind. Was she playing with House? Were they deceiving each other with those talks and nights spent together? Cuddy shook her head and looked up at her friend.
"You don't have to worry. There won't be any pieces to put back together. He won't fall apart this time." she said. He has changed, in better and probably she's the one who'll fall to pieces if she kept thinking of him, of a life with him when she was dating another man.
"Are you sure? Because it seems to me you're giving him hope. He's positive you'll leave Lucas and he'll have you back for himself." Wilson almost yelled. So, he thinks he can convince me into leaving Lucas for him. He doesn't need to convince him, I've been in love with him my whole life, she though. Cuddy shook her head one more time, trying to erase those irrational thoughts out of her mind.
"Oh Wilson, stop that! House's always the same. He's curious because I'm living in his apartment, he's just marking his territory. To him it's just a game." she said, not sounding as convinced as she wanted.
"Are you completely sure of this?" he asked.
"Yes." she said but in her head, a voice was yelling at her that she couldn't be so sure about it. "I'm sure, or I wouldn't behave this way." she concluded, trying to convince herself more than her friend. "Sorry, Wilson, but I really need to get ready. It's late!"
In that moment the doorbell rang again, this time Cuddy was sure it was the baby sitter. She opened the door, gestured her to go into the kitchen, and in the meanwhile she bid good-bye to Wilson, closing the door behind his back. The Oncologist stood there in disbelief, but shrugged and made his way towards his car.
She arrived at PPTH late as she had expected. She unlocked her office, left her purse and coat inside and grabbed her white lab coat from the hanger. She was scheduled to do some clinic that morning. With House.
"Hi..." she whispered almost shyly when she met him.
"Good morning Dr Cuddy!" he yelled. All the nursed turned towards him, waiting for a smart-ass comment, but they were soon disappointed. He shut up and grabbed a folder from the pile on the nurses' desk and, after calling a patient, he entered Exam Room 2. Cuddy stared at him speechless before grabbing another folder from the same pile and leading her new patient into another room.
House closed the exam room's door behind his back with his usual brutal manners.
"It's 12:30 and I'm done with this crap." He yelled, earning a death glare from the nurses and patients in the clinic. His stomach growled for the hunger and, after checking his clock, he decided to join Wilson, who was supposed to be in the Cafeteria having lunch by now. Bursting the doors open, he immediately spotted Cuddy's petite figure: she was sitting at her usual table, a folder open and her eyes glued to it, a salad on her left and a glass of iced tea on her right.
"Good morning Sleepyhead. I don't want to be rude- he smirked- but you snore worse than Wilson!" he yelled. Cuddy's head immediately snapped up, sending him one of her infamous death glares.
"I'm not the one who arrived at the hospital at 10!" she commented angrily.
"You snored worse than a sailor and kicked me in the groin while sleeping! I should have taken the day off!" he replied. Cuddy frowned a little, not sure if what House had said was fruit of his imagination or not.
"Yeah, keep those excuses for another time." She said, closing the folder and starting to eat her lunch.
"And by the way, you fell asleep before I did and didn't even get to watch the end of the episode." he said. "And you arrived late too!" he added pointing at her, then trying to steal a slice of tomato from her plate.
"I fell asleep right before the episode ended. Have you even thought that I actually work the whole day no stop? I'm tired at night!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I'm the one who saves lives here!"
"Oh right, I almost forgot you are the Super Man of the hospital, pardon me…" she said with a irritated laugh.
"I could make a T-shirt with that logo…" House said sounding interested.
"And by the way, I arrived late because of your little friend!" she commented harshly.
House gasped in shock. "Little Greg was a good boy. He didn't do what you're accusing him of!" he said, grabbing his crotch under the table. Even if he did want to do something… someone, he thought. Cuddy tried to suppress a small smile, shocked and truly amused by his joke.
"House!" she scolded him playfully.
"Oh, you meant Wilson?" he asked with a grin.
"Yes, your best friend." She replied, still laughing at his previous joke, recalling a very shy Wilson ringing House's doorbell and thinking Cuddy and him slept together.
"Why are you laughing?" he asked.
Cuddy shook her head and stared at him with a smile. "Everybody wonders why you and Wilson are friends and I've come to the conclusion that both of you are the male version of Gossip Girl. That's why you two get along so great." She said without being able to hide a smile.
"Thank you for these pearls of wisdom, Dr Cuddy. What did Wilson do this time?" he asked sounding annoyed.
"He came by this morning and he was sure you and I had sex last night. When I told him we didn't he started blathering something about you thinking there might me a remote possibility you could get into my pants." She explained.
"Oh, Wilson, Wilson, Wilson, will he ever learn how to keep his mouth shut?" he said, staring at the ceiling.
"Keep his mouth shut about what?" Cuddy repeated.
"Wilson tends to talk a lot and most of the times he ends up saying way too much. He's always had this gossiping personality, he would have been a perfect woman." He commented with a smug smile.
"But you like his for this, don't you?" Cuddy commented with a laugh.
"Other than being so freaking handsome, his female part has always intrigued me. I get hot when I think of him." He said. Cuddy grimaced in horror.
"If you weren't with Stacy when you presented him to me, I would have thought you two were an item!" she joked.
"Well, I don't think you know the whole story. We met at a conference where I had to bail him out of jail." He said smiling. Cuddy's jaw dropped, her eyes widened in disbelief.
"You would have never bail anyone out of jail…" she said.
"Oh yeah, keep commenting on my behavior but not on our manipulative teddy bear being in prison..." he said, rolling his eyes.
"I've already said this before. There's nothing to be surprised. Wilson is your friend, he must have done something to catch your interest and of course he's probably a complete weirdo when he's not working." She said, smiling back at him.
"So, if I think of you as a friend this would mean calling you a freak too?" he asked.
"I was a freak back in college as you remember" she laughed but then thought about the first part of his statement. "Wait, you don't think of me as a friend?"
"That depends. When I came back from Mayfield it seemed to me that you scratched my name down from your list of friends." He confesses almost shyly.
"Really? Do you seriously think I ended our friendship? You were the one who wouldn't talk to me, House!" she said, anger starting to rise.
"I'm not the one who walked away at that conference." He said, almost yelling. When he realized people were staring at him, he lowered his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't meant to snap like that…"
"Please, don't start talking about my love and sex life. I'm tired of you nosing around when I'm trying to move on…" she confessed.
"Cuddy, please…think! We're both stupid, we have screwed up plenty of chances. I admit it, I was the one who screwed things up the most, but what bothers me is that you haven't realized that if we are where we are right now it's partly your fault too." he confessed.
"I know. But you're the one who was a complete imbecile." She said locking her eyes with his.
"Do you still think I'm some sort of a child?" he asked.
"You are a child, House." She replied coldly.
"See? You're doing this again. Cuddy, I've changed. Why can't you believe it!" he repeated.
"What if I ask you to stop with these games?" she asked still looking through his eyes, where a wave of different emotions was clearly visible.
"I'd stop right now." was his reply. All Cuddy could do was closing her eyes to stop the tears from falling.
During their confrontation a nurse had slowly approached the table where the two doctors were seated, a folder in her hands, a small terrified smile on her face.
"Dr Cuddy, there's a patient in Exam Room 5 asking for you." She said, trying not to sound scared, knowing that her boss might be extremely angry in that moment. But when Cuddy looked at her, the poor nurse didn't see anger, but sadness.
"I'll be right there." She answered, standing up. After buttoning her jacket she walked away from the table, holding the now empty plate and glass. After a couple steps, she stopped abruptly and turned to look at House with a small smile.
"Are you coming over tonight?" she asked shyly. House wasn't expecting her question, but immediately nodded.
"Of course Honey bun! You'll find me naked on our silky sheets." He yelled.
"HOUSE!" she scolded him, this time more amused than angry, before walking away with a smile on her lips.
Staring at her boss and at the misanthropic jerk, known as Dr House, the nurse started to walk away but the Diagnostician stopped her with his voice.
"I only use silky sheets with her because she's special, you'll have to be happy using the janitor closet on the second floor because the one of the first floor is already taken by Chase and Cameron. Wait, she dumped him so it's free now."
The nurse smiled knowing too well that he was joking and walked away leaving him to his thoughts.
Read and review, please! **
