Chapter 7
"Wait here." Cuddy pulled up in front of the dry cleaner's.
"I can get it." But before Wilson could even open his door, Cuddy was inside the cleaner's.
He was impressed with her strength. He knew she stayed strong this week, and yet she kept on going without any complaints.
"Thanks. I'll pay you back tomorrow." He said as she got back into the car.
"Don't worry about it."
"Cuddy."
"Wilson, buy me breakfast next week, OK?"
"OK."
He watched her out of the corner of his eye. She looked tired, worn out from the week's events and Wilson felt guilty that he was, in part, responsible. He wondered how long she would be able to hold it together before she had an inevitable melt down. He stared down at his hands, his left one black and blue from the iv, realizing that yesterday was ultimately his own melt down.
Cuddy parked her car in front of his apartment, House's apartment, "Are you going to be OK tonight?" She asked him.
Wilson sighed, leaned his head against the head rest and looked up at the building, "I don't want to go in there. All I think of is House when I'm in that apartment."
"You should pack things up and find a new place, too many memories at that one."
Wilson agreed by nodding his head.
"Why don't you get whatever you need for the night and for tomorrow, and you can sleep in my guest room tonight." Cuddy offered.
Wilson looked over at her and wondered if he should accept the offer. She looked tired and he didn't want to impose. Practically reading her mind, Cuddy looked at him, "It's no trouble Wilson."
"Thanks."
"Do you need any help?"
"No, but you're welcome to come in."
In the apartment, Wilson took a small bag and began filling it with clothes and toiletries. He noticed the coffee table had been cleaned up and the pills were gone.
"Thanks for cleaning up."
"No problem." She replied. "Stacy had the movers pick up the piano this morning. This room seems so much bigger without it."
"Huh, I didn't even notice when I walked in."
Cuddy walked into the bedroom and watched as Wilson packed his bag. "I thought we could pick up some Chinese take-out on the way to my place."
Wilson looked at her a bit sheepishly, "Be my guest but I think a few crackers is about all I can take."
"I'm sure, sorry. I wasn't thinking." She looked at the bed and picked up a pillow, hugging it. "I still can't believe he's gone. This room smells like House."
Wilson sat next to her on the edge of the bed, "I know. I can't sleep in here; I've been sleeping on the couch."
"Do you think he's at peace?"
"I hope so. He looked at peace afterwards."
"I hope that wherever he is, that he's not in any more pain." Cuddy placed the pillow back on the bed.
"Me too."
"I can't get that moment out of my mind. It just glares at me, when I'm awake, in my dreams, every time I see someone walking with a cane. Where did he go? I just don't understand how he could be here one second and gone the next."
Wilson put his arm around her, both with tears in their eyes, "Do you think he knew?"
"Knew what?" She asked.
"That he wasn't alone?"
"He was never alone, he had us. He had his team. He even had Chase and Cameron, even if he'd never admit it."
"Ya, but did he KNOW?"
Cuddy looked up at Wilson, unsure of how to answer. She had wondered the same thing countless times. "Yes, I think he did. I'd like to think he did anyway. He cared you know, he just couldn't say it."
Wilson nodded, unable to speak. He stood, took Cuddy by the hand and said, "Let's go. It's getting late."
Cuddy carried Wilson's things into her house and then met him in the kitchen. She had toast, he had crackers and they ate in silence. Afterwards, she cleaned the kitchen while he unpacked a few things. When he finished, he walked down the hallway to her bedroom and lightly knocked on her door.
"Come in Wilson, it's ok."
He walked into her room and looked around. Fresh lilacs stood on her dresser, mirroring the violet pattern on her comforter. There was a small stack of papers on a chair in the corner, with her briefcase next to it on the floor, and a cat tree next to the window nearest her bed.
"I didn't know you had a cat."
"Whiskers is here somewhere, you're not allergic are you?"
"No, not at all."
Cuddy emerged from her bathroom clad in a robe and large, rather goofy looking pink slippers. Wilson smirked at the slippers.
"What? Don't laugh, they're warm."
"Sorry."
She sat down on the edge of her bed and motioned for him to do the same, "Are you sure you're up to this tomorrow? With as much vicodin you've taken this week, you're likely going to experience a few detox symptoms."
"I'll deal with it. I'm not missing the funeral. I owe House that much."
"You don't owe House anything, he owed you."
"No he didn't, he was there for me just as much as I was for him, just in his sadistical kind of way." He said with a smile.
Cuddy smiled too, looking into Wilson's eyes. Without meaning to, she teared up again. Shaking her head, she turned her face away, too embarrassed to cry in front of Wilson.
"Cuddy, it's OK. There's nothing easy about this." He said as he wrapped his arm around her with, while using his other hand to gently turn her face towards his.
She tipped her chin down and he leaned his forehead, touching hers. They sat there for a few moments in silence. Cuddy looked up into his eyes, "Thank god you're OK."
"I'm fine."
She cupped his face in her hands, "Do you know how angry I am with you? Do you know what you put me through?"
Wilson said nothing. He knew that he had made a horrible mistake.
"Don't you ever do anything like that ever again."
"I won't."
"You better not." She said and without even realizing what she was doing, Cuddy kissed him on the mouth. It was not a peck between friends, but a kiss born out of a week of extreme lows, a week of losing one friend and nearly losing a second, a week of needing someone to hold her and tell her that things would be alright, a week spent wondering if she herself would be fortunate enough to die in the presence of her own friends, or if she would die alone. To her surprise, he kissed back with as much need as she had kissed him. She pulled away momentarily, slightly out of breath, "We shouldn't."
"I know." Wilson held her chin in his hands and kissed her again.
