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Cuddy jumped as her door opened, seemingly of its own accord. She blinked in surprise when she realized House had just entered her office, his head gliding towards her.
He was in a wheelchair.
She jumped up to come around the desk and circle him. "House, oh my God. What happened? Why the chair?"
House grimaced. "I'm fine, Cuddy, calm down," he assured her. When she continued to frantically examine him, he pushed her into one of the chairs in her office, gently.
"Cuddy. I'm fine. Calm down," he commanded her forcefully, his blue eyes catching and holding her gray ones.
Cuddy stilled herself, but he could still see the anxiety in her eyes. "Nothing's wrong, okay? I figured today would be an okay day to start the week on the chair."
No, he hadn't, and Cuddy knew it. She knew how defensive House got when he felt he was weak, and not being able to walk defiantly constituted as such in his mind. Her eyes softened.
She knew the past few days had been hard on him, but she didn't realize just how hard. The day to day issues of his leg slipped her mind so much, and suddenly, Yung's words echoed in her thoughts.
"Dr. House has to think out every movement, every step, every day. Is getting up to answer the phone worth the pain afterwards? It being his right leg, is driving worth it?"
"It's hurting more from the last few days, isn't it?" she questioned him gently.
He stared at her, face blank, for a long moment. Then, he looked away, rubbing the back of his neck in an unconscious motion.
She took his silence as a 'yes', and gently fingered his stubbly chin to where he was facing her. "I'm sorry. Yung sent the prescriptions, and you can start taking them. We don't need to go to lunch."
He frowned. "No, we're going. And my leg is just tired. It'll be back to normal soon, probably by tomorrow."
He took the prescriptions out of her hand, looking them over. His expression was unreadable, and she waited tensely for his reaction.
Finally, he nodded slowly. "I'll get these today, and start them in the morning. Before that, though, we're going out. And I'm driving."
"Do you really think that's such a good-"
"Yes, I do, and it's fine. I can drive with my left, I have before."
"That's not really safe."
House frowned at her. "Cuddy, I'm used to it. We'll be perfectly fine."
Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Are we going to be drinking?"
"A bit of wine."
"Then I'm driving back."
"Fair enough."
House smiled, rolling towards the door and beckoning Cuddy to walk with him. "Come on. Let's go before the three stooges see me in the wheelchair."
Cuddy rolled her eyes, but followed him to the car. House got more than a few stares as he rolled past, and Cuddy cringed in sympathy for him. It was no small wonder that he was so against the wheelchair; he got enough odd looks with the cane. It wasn't so far out of her mind to grasp why he didn't want to be rolling around all the time.
The looks from her staff reminded her that she would have to inform the board of their engagement. Her mind, even as it was overjoyed to now be engaged to House, was racing to come up with ways to explain to the board just how she was going to remain fair as a boss to her husband.
She smiled at the thought. Husband. Her and House. Married.
House got to her car first, and Cuddy marveled at the way he maneuvered himself into the car. In a practiced, almost easy motion, he gripped the roof and door and levied himself inside, landing on the seat with a small thump. The only that betrayed his discomfort was the slight wince as he moved his leg into place.
Cuddy folded the chair in half and slid it in the back seat, on the opposite side of Rachel's car chair. House had already started the car by the time she got in.
"Wait, when did you take my keys?" she asked suddenly, realizing she'd never handed them to him.
He grinned devilishly. "I snuck them when we were making out. I figured you wouldn't let me drive otherwise."
Cuddy was slightly marveled by his pick-pocketing skills, but she just frowned disapprovingly. "Don't steal my things."
He did a fake pout as he pulled out of the parking lot. "You're no fun, Cuddles."
Cuddy flipped on the radio when they reached a stoplight, smiling slightly as House allowed her to choose the station. He was normally quite particular about what he listened to, but she could almost see him choosing to let her pick this time around.
"House, are you actually trying to be nice to me?" Cuddy asked coyly, smirking at his slightly stricken face.
"Well, I figured I should probably start now, considering I'm gonna be stuck with you for the rest of my life. Why make it worse?"
His words were mean, but his face was openly happy and joking, his eyes alight. Cuddy smiled and selected a rock station she knew he liked- the fact that he was even trying was enough to reward him. They pulled out as the light turned green.
No sooner had she pressed the button on the radio than she heard a loud screech.
She and House looked to the right simultaneously, as if in slow motion. A huge truck was weaving erratically on the road, much to fast, running their red light and heading straight towards them.
There was no where they could go, and no time to pull totally out of the way. There were cars in front of and behind them, blocking them in.
She hardly had time to scream, but everything seemed to slow and last forever. House made a split second decision and wrenched the wheel; doing a nearly one eighty turn out of no where. By doing so, he changed Cuddy's position to the one farthest away from the oncoming truck, but placed himself directly in the way.
Then the oncoming vehicle slammed into House's side, bringing with it an earth shattering crash that sounded like it'd come straight from the depths of hell.
There was a mass of screeching and screaming and crashing and bone shaking crunches and the world was spinning and the seatbelt was cutting into her and oh God her heart was pounding and we're going to die we'regoingtodiewe'regoingtodie and then-
Nothing.
I know, I'm evil. Please don't hate me too much. If you have emotional whiplash, take a quick nap. I'll probably have this updated by the time you wake up.
