Chapter 9: Not So Surprising
House awoke the next morning. He smiled as he looked over and saw the woman laying next to him in bed. Her black curls scattered, her lips in a slight smiled as she slept. He sat up and looked around. It was t hen that he realized that they were both going to be late for work. He really didn't care if he was late, but he knew that she would. "Cuddy!" he called out to wake her up.
The sheets stirred and she smiled as she looked up at him. "Good morning," she said, her voice was so calm and serene, he hated to have to tell her to rush home and get ready for work.
"Cuddy, I would love for you stay, you don't know how much I would love that, but so that you don't kill me later, you have an hour to get ready for work," he said. He wanted to avoid making her mad right now and the only way to do that was to show her that he cared enough to send her off to work.
Cuddy's eyes widened as she scrambled out of the sheets and stood up. She didn't know why at first, but House playfully whistled at her. "I love it how you show your willingness to repeat last night," he remarked. "But aren't you cold?"
"What?" she asked as she turned back. Then, to her horror, she realized that she wasn't wearing any clothes what so ever.
"You've got a better taste in fashion than I've ever given you credit for," he said as he sat back and smugly smiled.
Cuddy rushed around, "I can't find my fucking clothes!" she exclaimed. She then poked her head up. "What did you do with them?" she angrily asked.
House shrugged. "I didn't do anything with you. The last time I touched them was when I pulled them off of you," he said. House then reach over and grabbed one of his T-shirts. "Here," he said as he threw it to her. "You can wear this until you find your own."
Cuddy caught it and slipped it on. "Thanks," she said and then continued to rush around the room.
House carefully removed himself from the sheets. He was wearing shorts, he had no idea how that happened, but it did. He got up and limped over to her and grabbed her shoulders. "I'll give you a pair of shorts and you can drive back to your house and get ready for work. Then later you can come back and look. You're not going to find anything when you're like this."
Cuddy turned to him and tried to calm herself down. "Thank you," she said. House went and grabbed a pair of his shorts and she slipped them on. She wasn't about to tell him, but she kind of liked it. Cuddy went to leave the room, but stopped dead in her tracks. "We rode back together didn't we," it was meant to be a question, but it came out more as a reminder to herself.
"Looking at where we're at, I guess it was mine," House said. He found his pants and dug through the pocket. He pulled out the keys and threw them over to Cuddy. "I'll take the motorcycle, and I'll get my car later," he said.
She gratefully thanked him and then was on her way. House sat there on the edge of his bed and stared for a small while. It had been a while since had had fun on a date like that. He wasn't about to go tell Gabrielle that he liked, but he did enjoy it. Then snapped out of his thoughts. "Gabrielle," he said and then headed over to the room he gave her. She wasn't there. "She stayed the night at Cuddy's" he reminded himself and then went to go get ready for work.
Gabrielle sat on the couch with Rachel as she fed her her bottle. The theme song to Green Acres could be heard. "See Rachel, this is the show I got that from. It's pretty good if you ever have a half hour to yourself and it's on," she said.
The door suddenly opened Causing Gabrielle to look over. "Oh, that's gorgeous," she sarcastically teased upon Cuddy's entrance. She was wearing House's clothes which were big and baggy on her, her hair was messed, and she was wearing high heels. "You know those heels really add a touch of class to your attire there."
Cuddy sighed. "I'm sorry about leaving you here all night. My usual babysitter should be here in a few minutes," Cuddy said. With that she hurried down the hall to her bedroom.
Gabrielle smiled down at Rachel. "See that? That means that your Mommy had really good time last night."
"It's not that big of a house Gabrielle!" Cuddy yelled from her room.
Gabrielle laughed. She got up and started to carry Rachel down to the nursery. She cradled the baby with one arm and held the bottle with the other. Cuddy walked from her room over to the bathroom. "Gabrielle, you shouldn't be holding her like that with a broken arm," Cuddy warned.
"Oh, she's just a little baby. Besides, why did you have me baby sit if you didn't think it was a good idea?" Gabrielle asked as she readjusted her arm to grab her bag with her drawing pad in it.
"There are ways to hold a baby with out putting stress on that arm," Cuddy said. Stood in front of the bathroom mirror as she applied her make up and fixed her hair. There was a knock at the door. "Could you please get that?"
Gabrielle set the bottle down and walked over to the door. "Hello, Cuddy's rushing to get ready in the bathroom. She started her day a little off this morning," Gabrielle greeted.
"That's… nice," she said and then walked in.
Cuddy rushed out to the where they were in front of the door. She took Rachel from Gabrielle and cradled her for a moment. "Bye Bye Rachel. Sorry Mommy wasn't home last night. I'll spend all of tonight with you okay?" she kissed her forehead. She then handed her to the baby sitter and turned to Gabrielle. "Come on, I'll give you a ride to the hospital."
"Thank you," Gabrielle said and then followed her out the door. "This is Daddy's car," she mentioned as she opened the door to get in.
"I know," Cuddy said as she started the engine. "Mine is still over at the restaurant."
The drive down her street was silent. Gabrielle just sat there waiting for Cuddy to yell at her for last night, although how could she be mad if she had a good time? At least, you would think that she had a good time if she was gone all night. Cuddy just kept waiting for Gabrielle to ask. To make some sort of inappropriate comment as to what had happened last night.
Gabrielle gave in and spoke first. "So, are you still completely mad about last night or are you big enough of a person to admit that it wasn't all that bad?" Gabrielle asked.
Cuddy sighed. "That was wrong to do," Cuddy said. "I told you that I wasn't interested and yet you went ahead and set us both up without either of us knowing."
"Oh come on, you stayed the night at his house. How bad could it have been?" Gabrielle asked.
Cuddy sighed. "You're right, I did have a good time, just don't set people up like that anymore."
Gabrielle just sighed. The way that Cuddy was talking to her reminded her of how her own Mother acted. She was very used to getting yelled at or talked to sternly. It was like a hobby of hers to meddle and fix things. It was an instinct to her. If she thought any two people belonged together, she set them up. If anyone, even an enemy was in real trouble, she would help them. Yes, some people would get mad at her but she still felt that she did something good. A lot of times she also got yelled at for her mouth. She was sarcastic and rude, and very stubborn, but she felt that those were great qualities. She would much rather be stubborn than unsure of herself.
"What? You can't be giving up," Cuddy said.
Gabrielle looked up at her. "Oh, I'm just tired. I figured that you weren't coming home after about midnight."
Cuddy just rolled her eyes.
Once Cuddy and Gabrielle arrived at the hospital, Cuddy remembered that she was going to be having a meeting her office, and since she knew that House wasn't there yet, she decided to take her over to Wilson's office.
Cuddy knocked on the door to his office. "He's really very nice," Cuddy said.
"I never said he wasn't," Gabrielle said.
Cuddy heard Wilson's response and opened the door. "Hey Wilson, I've got a job for you," she said as she entered the room with Gabrielle.
Wilson looked up. "What is…" he trailed off after he saw Gabrielle walk into the room. He questionably looked up at Cuddy. "Who is this?" he asked.
Gabrielle turned and looked at Cuddy. "You're about to leave me with a guy that doesn't even know who I am? I better go child services," she said.
"I know him," Cuddy said.
"And technically you know a drug addict. Now would you?…" she tilted her head and scrunched her brow, "oh yeah, you did."
Cuddy rolled her eyes and then left the room. Gabrielle sighed as she looked around. The first thing that caught her eye was the Vertigo poster. "Vertigo," she said. "Loved both the movie and the song." She looked over and just saw him staring at her. "I guess I should introduce myself," she said and then extended her hand. "Gabrielle Zbin, actually, if I would have taken my Father's name, it would be Gabrielle House," she said.
"What?" Wilson asked in shock.
"It's not that hard to explain. About fifteen years ago Dr. House here knocks up my Mother and then find out about me a few days ago when Mother got in a wreck. Any questions?" she asked.
"So he's got a daughter," Wilson said. "I'm…"
"Dr. Wilson, I know. It says it on your door and Cuddy mentioned it a few times," she said.
"Right," Wilson said.
Gabrielle laughed as she sat down. "My Father's only friend right? His very bestest friend?" she asked.
"You can say that," he said.
"It's not hard to tell. You seemed a little hurt that you weren't one of the first to hear," she said.
"What makes you say that?" he asked still trying to figure out if this was real or if it was some kind of joke. He knew that House liked to play with his head, and certainly he would go to great extents, but would he go this far? Why not?
Gabrielle sighed and smugly smiled. "Well, when I introduced myself, you looked shocked, but you also looked offended because you knew that other people knew about me before you did. That could either mean that you just hate being the last to know or that you were close to House and thought that you deserved to know first."
He was a little convinced now, but he wanted to try her. See how much she really was like House. That would prove if she was his daughter or not. "Don't be offended, but do you believe in God?" he asked.
"I believe in one God, Father all mighty creator of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only son of God, entirely begotten of the Father. God from God, light from light, true God to true God. Why would that question offend me? It's what I believe," she said.
That certainly slimmed the chances there. "What do you think about happiness?" he asked.
Gabrielle could see where he was going with this. She wanted to completely throw him off, but she told the truth anyways. "Happiness doesn't exist. It is simply a state of mind that we allow ourselves to be convinced that we feel." She sighed and looked towards the window. "Every one like fools go out and do a bunch of pointless things to achieve this happiness when all they have to do is go home and tell themselves that they are happy."
Wilson was now convinced. Only his daughter would say something like that. "Are you ever happy?" he asked with concern.
"No," she answered grimly. "Emotions are overrated," she mocked. After she saw his face of utter shock, she laughed.
"Nice to meet you, I'm doctor Wilson and I work with your Father," he said.
House saw the group walk out of Cuddy's office and decided to walk in. She stood at her desk and gathered files as he threw the door open and stepped in. She jumped and looked up. "House?" she asked as she smiled.
"Hey there," he said kind of starting to act shy.
"Did you need something?" she asked.
"I was going to ask you," he stopped as he stared down towards the ground.
"Yes?" she asked as she watched him for a minute. She was growing more and more curious as to why he had came in. At first she thought it was to get her to sign for something crazy, like usual. Then, she thought maybe he wanted to talk about their date. Now she had no idea.
House looked up and seemed to be throwing the idea around in his head as he leaned on his cane. He was going to ask her out again, but didn't know how to. "Would you like to do that again sometime? You know last night?" he asked.
She thought about it for a minute. Yes! She wanted to scream it. "Sure, when?" she asked. This was all beginning to feel all to natural. Then again, if she screwed anything up, that would mean that they wouldn't go out, and that she would have to keep her date with Mike, which was something that she didn't want.
Her quickness to answer took him by surprise. "That sure of it huh? I must have been a hell of a lot better of a performer than I thought," he said.
"Right, anyways, call me when you know when," she said and then smiled at him.
"Alright," he said. They both stood there in a silence as they smiled at each other. It wasn't a long time, but it sure felt like it. He turned and left while she stood there trying to regulate her breathing. There was something about him that didn't seem normal right there. He seemed a little nervous, which meant he really wanted that date.
"I wish I would have started dating you before that creep Mike." She had a lot more feelings for him then she ever would for Mike. Besides, as crazy as House was, she would trust him more than she would trust Mike.
Gabrielle had been told that her Mother had woken up and wanted to go see her. She stood right outside of her room as she took a breath. As she had told Cuddy the first night, she was expecting the worst, and with that, she wanted to be prepared. Once she did gain the courage to see her, Gabrielle turned and walked into the room. She stopped halfway to Maria's bed. She looked the same as she had when she first saw her. "Mom?" she choked out.
Maria looked over and tried her hardest to smile, even though it hurt. "Hey Gabi," she weakly greeted.
Gabrielle's eyes lit up. "You remember who I am. I didn't think that you would remember anything," she said approaching the bed.
"I remember everything," Maria said. She looked at her daughter and saw her cast, "Sorry about your arm."
"Mom! It's only my arm. It'll heal. It's you I'm worried about," she said. Gabrielle stood at the side of her bed as she held onto the bed rail.
Maria closed her eyes for a minute and then looked over at her daughter. "Where have you been staying?" she asked.
Gabrielle lowered her face. She knew exactly how she felt about her Father. That was why she was hoping that she would never ask. "Actually, Mom, I'm staying with Greg House. You remember him, right?" she asked.
Maria stared at her for a second. "I don't want you near him," she said as sternly as she could.
"But Mother, he's my Dad," she argued.
Maria sighed and closed her eyes again. "What the hell kind of Dad leaves us? He was never a Father to you," Maria said.
Gabrielle wanted everything to argue, to yell, to defend House, but this could be her last time seeing her and she did not want to spend it fighting, but she did want to say something. "Before you judge him, it's been a while since YOU pushed him away. When he found out about me he offered me a place and hasn't done anything wrong to me yet. I love him," she emotionlessly stated. It was the only way that she could say it without getting angry and yelling.
"Just give him time dear," Maria said.
The room was silent as they both sat there. "Mother? I love you," Gabrielle said.
Maria looked up. "I love you too," she said.
Gabrielle gave her a soft smile and left the room. She then walked out. It was all too weird for her, too frightening for her to be in the same with Maria. Once out in the hallway, she saw a doctor and approached him. "Excuse me? Sir?" she asked.
The young blonde looked back. "Yes?" he asked. He was the same guy that she had seen with the lady she met in Cuddy's office.
"The lady over in room three forty four?" she asked to see if he knew who she was, and he nodded. "Since she woke up, what are her odds of living?"
He looked down with pity as he saw the hopefulness in the young girl's eyes. "I'm sorry, not much. We figure she has about two weeks or so to live. There was just too much damage done. If we tried to save her we would kill her in the process. The most we can do is to see what she does on her own. If she can make it past a few weeks and starts showing signs of recovery, she could make it," he said.
Gabrielle felt her heart drop. "Thank you," she said and then slowly walked down the hall. She had no idea of how to take all of this. She knew that he was trying to give her some false help, and was a bit grateful, but in the end, she wished that they would all just tell it straight. Maria Zbin, her mother, was going to die.
I guess you can predict that there will be more huddy in the story from now on. I would like to dedicate this for my grandma who is very ill right now, I hope everything turns out okay with her.
