Searching

I'm sorry the cliffhanger I left you all on was so mean! Lol. I always end up making it worse than I intend! But anyway here is your 7th chapter I'm thinking the story is about halfway over now I'm aiming for 14 chapters I think. Please keep the reviews and suggestions coming you can never have too many!

Cuddy stared at House, as if in shock, her mouth open and her eyes glazing over.

"Cuddy?" House asked. "Cuddy? CUDDY!" He grabbed her face between his hands and moved her head so that it was facing his. "Cuddy."

Cuddy blinked a couple times and stared at House, her face now white as a sheet. "House you can't…you can't be serious…you…" she blinked a couple times and shook her head as if trying to clear it.

"Cuddy I've had an infarction before I know what it feels like and it's definitely what is going on right now."

Cuddy's face was still white but her eyes re-focused on House. "Okay. Okay. You said that when you had the infarction that your pain was at a 10 right?" House nodded. "Well then," Cuddy continued, "that means that since your pain is only at an 8 we still have some time before its…it's too late" Cuddy's voice shook. She took a deep breath and stood up.

"Yeah well unless they get in here in another couple of hours I'm screwed," House stated blandly.

"Well then we are just going to have to get out of here before that," Cuddy said sharply and put her hands on her hips staring up and around the elevator. "There HAS to be a way…"

"Cuddy there is no way out of here. Will you give it up please!?" House said, exasperated. He put his head back down on the floor and closed his eyes. "They know we are in trouble. Someone will come."

"Since when are you so trusting?" Cuddy asked, sarcastically.

"Since the person heading the party will be Wilson" House answered matter-o-factly.

"Touché" Cuddy muttered under her breath as she kept looking around. Finally she found what she was looking for. She picked House's cane up off of the floor and began pounding it on one of the ceiling tiles.

House sat up bolt right, startled. "What. The. Hell! What are you DOING?!" He glared up at Cuddy who was still banging on the ceiling.

"I'm seeing…if…any of these…tiles…are…loose" Cuddy panted as she continued to bang.

House rolled his eyes. "Now you are just being completely ridiculous."

"Oh please." Cuddy stopped and rubbed her arm across her forehead. "This is exactly something you would do."

House pursed his lips. "Alright fine. It's something I'd why don't you go back to being yourself and be mindful of the NOISE" House emphasized. Cuddy made a face and continued to bang on the ceiling.

House groaned and lay back down. The pain had dulled somewhat and he was trying to take a short nap before it came surging back. He liked to describe it to people as a stomachache in the leg. Of course with that racket…

"Got it!" Cuddy shouted. House suddenly heard a bang and opened his eyes in time to see the ceiling tile a couple feet from his legs come crashing down to the floor followed by what looked like a pound of dust, dirt, and grime.

"Cool just what I need on top of my infarction, asbestos!" House announced.

Cuddy shot him a look. "I thought you were supposed to be in a lot of pain."

"It comes in surges at first. It's bearable at the moment, I was going to try and take a nap until it came back," House said rather honestly.

"Okay." Cuddy took her heels off and began to attempt to climb the railing against the wall.

"Are you out of your mind?!" House cried.

"An hour ago we opened the elevators a crack so that you could pee into the shaft, and now you're telling me I'm crazy? House. You're pain is going to come back and it's going to get worse. No one has even come by the elevator to shout down to us and see if we are okay. I doubt that anyone is coming soon. So either you can sit there and call me crazy or you can use your lapse in pain and give me a boost so I can see up there."

House stared at Cuddy, trying to decide what to do. He knew that she was about to do something really dangerous but he had two options. Let her do it on her own or help her.

House sat up, slowly, mindful of his leg and scooted over directly below the shaft. "I'm not going to be able to stand up. You'll have to stand on my shoulders."

Cuddy nodded and walked over standing directly in front of him. She carefully raised one leg and stepped on his shoulder and she used his arms as a boost onto his other shoulder. She quickly grabbed onto the edge of the ceiling so as not to fall. She swayed for a couple of seconds before gaining her balance.

"What do you see up there?" House called curiously.

Cuddy stood up on her tiptoes and looked into the shaft. It was pitch black. "There isn't any light in here! I can't see a thing!"

House sighed and continued to hold onto her legs as she balanced on his shoulders.

"Oh wait. Okay my eyes are adjusting I can see the pulleys and I can see….damn!"

"What?" House called up through the ceiling.

"I can see the second floor. It's only a couple feet above our head. We were so close!" She made a frustrated sound and brought her fist down on the roof of the elevator sending a dull dinging sound through the elevator.

There was a pause before House could feel Cuddy's legs pulling further up away from him. He grabbed onto them tighter. "No! You are not climbing into that shaft!"

"House! We are so close! If I can just grab onto those robes and climb up to the opening I can bang on the doors and…"

"No!" House tugged at Cuddy's legs. She squealed and lost her balance falling straight down into House's lap. She landed inches from his face, facing him, with her legs splayed diagonally around his body.

House's face was set in a line. "I'm going to be in a lot of pain very soon. I need you."

Cuddy seemed to have lost her breath and was trapped in House's eyes just staring. She could feel her heart beating very, very fast and willed it to slow down unsuccessfully.

"I thought you didn't want me to baby you" she said almost breathlessly.

"I didn't say I needed you to baby me. I need you to be my doctor."

Cuddy nodded and gulped. House put his hand to her heart. "And calm down please. You only fell a couple feet."

Cuddy, getting a hold of herself quickly, stumbled out of House's lap and stood up, adjusting her shirt and picking a wedgie that she had gotten in the fall. "Ok, so…what do we do now?"

"I don't know," House said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.

"And you didn't have to touch my chest," she grumbled as she wiped dirt off of her shirt.

"Oh come on Cuddy you liked it," House rolled his eyes.

"No I…" Cuddy put her hands on her hips, obviously flustered.

House smiled. "You're lucky this is happening to me or I might have spilled to Lucas about you giving me a lap dance."

"You….you…" Cuddy pointed her finger at House and glared but ended up throwing her hands in the air. "It was an accident! Why does that kind of stuff always happen to me?"

"Fate. We are meant to be," House responded sarcastically. And although his voice was mocking, Cuddy thought she heard a little truth in there too.

MD

Wilson threw open a door into an operating room and saw a mechanic working on a machine. "Excuse me. May I speak to you for a minute Bill?"

The man looked over at Wilson and nodded before walking over. "Yes what can I do for you Dr. Wilson?"

"Look I know that whatever you are doing is extremely important but I really need your help."

"Well what is it?"

"Dr. Cuddy and Dr. House are trapped in one of the elevators. For some reason it is not properly attached to the generator and when the power went out their elevator didn't start working like the other one."

Bill stared at Wilson for a couple seconds. "Did you just say that our Dean of Medicine is stuck in an elevator…with House?!"

Wilson nodded and put his head in his hands and Bill started laughing hysterically. Wilson picked his head up and looked at Bill, shocked. "What are you laughing at?"

"I'm just getting this mental image of her beating him with his cane…" he started laughing again and couldn't seem to get a breath.

"Listen Bill this is serious. We lost contact when House's phone died and from what Cuddy said he's hurt really bad."

Bill immediately stopped laughing. "Is it life threatening?"

"I don't know but can whatever you're doing wait?"

Bill glanced over his shoulder. "I don't know man. If that machine malfunctions when I'm gone…that patient could die. I don't think it'd be such a good idea."

Chase entered the room empty handed. "I couldn't find anyone that felt they could leave their post. They all seem to think that Cuddy is the only person that can tell them otherwise."

"She's trapped in a damn elevator! She can't tell anyone to do a damn thing!" Wilson shouted. He stopped and sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But I think I'm going to lose it in a second. If something is really the matter…"

"Look Dr. Wilson I'm sorry," Bill looked upset. "But I don't think that what I'm doing can wait any longer." He shook his head. "I'm really sorry." He turned around and went back into the room and Wilson kicked the door, hard, on his way out.

"Look Wilson I'm sorry but I don't know what else we can do," Chase crossed his arms and leaned against the door. "I went around the building twice over trying to find people and they all seem too busy to be able to do anything."

"Well then we are going to have to go talk to them ourselves!" Wilson said, excited.

"What?"

But Wilson had already taken off down the hall at a quick pace and went right up to the elevator. He stuck his ear to the door and listened. He pounded on the door and stopped, putting his ear back. He pounded on the door again and waited but he heard nothing in return.

"I think we should give up for now," Chase said. "I don't think…"

"Wait!" Wilson put his hand up and put his ear to the door. He heard a banging sound and turned to Chase wide eyed. "That was them that had to be them!"

"Well what do we do?!" Chase asked. "We can't get the doors open!"

"Yes we can!" Wilson said, determined. "If we can pry the door open just a little bit…"

"We can't pry an elevator door open! Those things weigh…I don't know how many pounds!" Chase said, exasperated.

"Well we've got to try!" Wilson turned around and saw House's team coming down the hall staring at them strangely. "And we've got help."

MD

"It was Wilson House it had to be Wilson!" Cuddy was literally jumping up and down. "If they can get that door open…"

"Wilson, Taub, Chase, Thirteen, and Foreman combined are still weaker than me and you," House said. "They are all a bunch of weenies."

"Oh come on! They are trying something!" Cuddy was hopeful and continued to try and peer into the hole she had created in the ceiling which was still dripping dirt every couple of minutes.

"I am not lifting you up there again I don't trust you," House grumbled watching her attempting to look into the ceiling.

"Fine. Then we will just continue to sit here and do nothing," Cuddy said and plopped herself down on the floor opposite House. She sneezed.

""Don't expect me to bless you that dirt is your own damn fault," House grumbled again.

"You know what? You're being annoying. So unless you have something to contribute just shut your trap," Cuddy snapped back. "Now take your stupid nap. I'm going to try and take a nap too."

Cuddy laid her head back against the wall and shut her eyes. She kept them shut for what seemed like hours and then cracked an eye open to see if House was asleep. He was still sitting up against the wall but his eyes were shut and his mouth was open. He was asleep.

Cuddy sighed and opened her eyes all the way. She crossed her arms and watched House sleeping, feeling such a mix and tangle of emotions that it disoriented her completely. Starting to feel slightly dizzy she closed her eyes and held her head in her hands, leaning over.

Suddenly she heard moaning. Cuddy whipped her head up and looked across the elevator to House who was still asleep. She frowned and crawled over and sat next to him. "House," she whispered. "House!" She whispered more urgently.

His eyes fluttered slightly but he remained asleep. He cried out and Cuddy took his shoulders and shook them. "House, House!" He opened his eyes and looked over at her, scared.

"Were you dreaming or something?" She asked him concerned.

House shook his head and looked at her pathetically. "My leg," he managed to get out before closing his eyes tight and biting down hard on his lip. It drew blood.

"Don't do that!" Cuddy shrieked. "You're going to make yourself bleed!" She grabbed his jacket and wiped his lip off.

He yelled again and banged his hand against the wall.

"No! Sssshhh! Hold my hand!" She said and grabbed onto his hand. House's eyes shot open and he looked over at Cuddy, his eyes full of terror.

"What? What's the matter?" She asked, gripping his hand. House's nostrils flared and he looked like he might start crying but recovered. The pain came again and he squeezed her hand tightly and tried to massage his leg with the other but it did no good. He had started to sweat again.

"I think you need to lie down," Cuddy said.

"No!" House squeaked out. "I feel better…sitting up." He let out a breath and squeezed her hand tightly again.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," Cuddy said sadly and mopped his forehead again. "It's gonna be alright. We are going to get you out of here, I promise."

House looked over at her, ready to say something nasty but she looked sincere and he decided against it. She looked so sympathetic, so guilty…

House wet his lips and tried to open his mouth and say something but nothing came out. He tried again but Cuddy put a finger to his lips. "Save your strength."

House shook his head and opened his mouth before shutting it again. Cuddy looked at him strangely. He was trying to tell her something.

"Wait until the pain passes," Cuddy said softly. "Or until it subsides for the time at least. Is your pain at an 8 still? Or a 9?"

House shook his head vigorously.

"A 10?! It's already at a 10?!"

House shook his head again and made eight fingers followed by a 5.

Cuddy stared. "85…8.5???" House nodded again and Cuddy put a hand to her heart. "You scared the hell outta me for a second."

House and Cuddy sat there for another couple minutes before House's pain finally died down again. But he still had a tight grip on her hand.

"Cuddy…I may… die this time," House whispered his voice raspy.

"No. You won't," Cuddy stated her voice steady but her eyes filling. "You made it through one infarction you can make it through another."

House shook his head. "Maybe. But maybe not."

Cuddy's lip quivered but she said nothing.

"There's something I need to tell you," House said and he looked down. "It involves Mayfield."

"Is it important House?" Cuddy asked.

"Yeah. It is. I need to tell you...I need to tell you about Lydia."

I'm really going to try and update tomorrow night so don't worry! ; )