A/N: Thanks again for reading :) Any medical mistakes in this chapter are our own.

Chapter Nine Separate Lives

Despite their best efforts, Greg and Amanda eventually lost touch. She heard through friends that Greg graduated at the top of his class at John's Hopkins and completed his residency there. After that, she lost track of him. She graduated from Michigan with top honors and went on to do her residency at The Mayo Clinic and work at a few hospitals. After a few years, she was offered a position as the head of the Internal Medicine Department at Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital.

Amanda loved working at PPTH. She bought a house and spent her downtime with a few close friends. She dated but nothing ever came of it. Now when she thought of Jack, she remembered the happy times they shared. However, she found herself thinking about Greg more often. She realized there was a hole in her heart that only he could fill.

Amanda finished rounds and sat down at her computer to read her email. The current Dean of Medicine was retiring and his replacement was due to start work the following Monday. On Friday, there would be a staff meeting in the auditorium to introduce her. Amanda gasped and leaned forward when she saw the name of the new Dean. Lisa Cuddy.

"Fuck," Amanda sighed. She sat back and rubbed her hand over her forehead. She hadn't seen Lisa since the night Amanda threw her out. She just hoped Lisa matured in the years since then.

A knock sounded on her door. She got up and opened it. Lisa stood before her. She wore a black suit with a high necked white blouse and black pumps. Her hair was twisted in a smooth knot on the back of her head. Amanda noticed a glint of malice in her heavily made up blue eyes.

"May I come in?" she asked with a sheepish smile.

"Yes, of course," Amanda told her as she stepped back.

Lisa walked in and sat down on the couch in front of the window. "I suppose you've heard that I'm the new Dean?" Was there a hint of triumph in her voice?

Amanda sat down on the other end of the couch putting as much space between them as possible. "I did. Congratulations."

"I just wanted to come and let you know how sorry I am for the way I acted at your birthday party," she said. This time Amanda definitely heard insincerity in her voice.

"Thank you."

Amanda shifted on the couch and crossed and uncrossed her legs. She reached up and smoothed her hair before adjusting the sleeves of her navy blue dress. She willed herself to stop fidgeting when she saw Lisa watching her with disdain. Was Lisa here to fire her?

As if she read her mind, Lisa crossed her legs and smirked. "I'm not going to fire you. I just wanted to see you."

"Okay."

Lisa folded her hands and looked around the office. "So, how's House?"

Amanda bit her lip and looked down. So, this was the real reason for Lisa's visit.

"I don't know," she told Lisa. "I haven't seen him in years. We lost touch when he transferred to Hopkins."

Lisa looked at her in surprise. "Really? You two were living together."

"We just lived in the same apartment."

"I heard he got expelled for cheating."

"He did but he got into Hopkins and did very well there. So I heard."

Silence descended on them. Amanda didn't know what else to say to her. They parted on such bad terms and even though Lisa seemed mature there was still something about her that Amanda didn't trust.

"I'm in love with him," Lisa said softly. "I wish I wasn't but I can't help it. I've tried to get over him but I can't."

Amanda sat in stunned silence. Lisa turned and smiled sadly. "I was hoping you knew where to find him." With that, she stood and walked out.

Having Lisa as a boss was as difficult as Amanda thought it would be. She made several changes most of the staff hated like opening a free clinic and requiring the doctors to work there without paying them for their time. She also had her office expanded and redecorated but let half the lab staff go. After a couple years passed, everyone got used to her and things settled into a somewhat smooth rhythm. Amanda still headed up the Internal Medicine department but Lisa cut her budget and she had to lay off half her staff. She didn't complain because the department heads who did were fired.

One sunny spring day. Amanda was doing her time in the clinic when she heard a commotion in the waiting room.

"I need a fucking doctor now, you moron!" a familiar voice raged. "I'm in PAIN!"

"Excuse me," Amanda said to the woman sitting on the exam table. She left Exam Room Two and came face to face with Greg. He looked at her in surprise and then groaned in pain.

"What's wrong?" she asked taking his arm and leading him into Exam Room One. She helped up onto the exam table and he lay back gripping his right thigh.

"I was playing golf when my leg started to hurt." He looked at her with pain filled eyes. "It's bad, AJ."

Amanda went out and called for a nurse. She ordered an MRI and within minutes had Greg in a wheelchair. When they arrived in the MRI room, an orderly helped him get changed into a hospital gown and onto the MRI table. Amanda sat down at the computer and once Greg was in the machine she waited for the images to appear. When they did, she grabbed the phone and scheduled him for immediate surgery. Then she went out and waited as he slid out of the machine.

"You have an infarction in the femoral artery," she told him. "You're going straight to an OR."

She turned to a nurse who hovered nearby. "Get him prepped for surgery and give him ten of morphine for the pain."

Greg reached out and grabbed her hand. "I want you to do the surgery."

Amanda looked down at him. "I shouldn't."

"I don't trust anyone else."

She nodded and went to scrub in.

Lisa stood in the doorway of the recovery room. Amanda sat at Greg's bedside holding his hand. She strode forward.

"Dr. Evans, you still have clinic duty," she said.

Amanda looked up at her in surprise. "I would like to be here when he wakes up."

"You've removed the clot and there are plenty of nurses to monitor him. Get back down to the clinic now," Lisa ordered.

Amanda stood and looked down at Greg. Reaching out, she smoothed his hair.

"Get back to work," Lisa told her with a dangerous edge to her voice.

Amanda knew that tone all too well, so she left.

Once she was gone, Lisa sat down beside Greg's bed and took his hand.

"I'm going to take care of you," she whispered. "And now we can finally be together."

Amanda was seething as she returned to the clinic. It seemed Lisa hadn't changed after all. So much for hoping. She was still as obsessed with Greg as she was years ago. And, Amanda hated to admit, she felt something powerful when they looked at each other in the clinic. It was as if no time had passed between them at all. Isn't that what it was supposed to be like with good friends? She hoped he felt the same way. The fact he still called her AJ and only trusted her to do his surgery spoke volumes.

A smile crossed her face when she thought of that. Lisa must've been livid when she found out who did the surgery. It was entirely unethical but really, she was the only one qualified to do such a difficult operation. And it was a success. If he'd waited another day he might've lost his leg. The muscles were already dying because of the clot. She was able to stop that from happening. He would be fine once the leg healed. She just hoped he wouldn't leave town too soon and wondered why he was even in Jersey.

When she finished her clinic hours, she had time to check on Greg, but discovered he'd been moved to a private room upstairs, and Lisa was listed as his attending. "Son of a bitch!" she hissed. The nurse nodded in understanding. She was young, with long, straight platinum blonde hair woven into two braids.

"Dr. Cuddy knows Dr. House?"

"You could say that, yeah. But so do I. We were friends in med school years ago." She glanced into his room. "Has he woken up yet?"

"Briefly." The nurse's lips formed a straight, narrow line. "He called me incompetent and told me to hop back on the Swiss Miss truck where I belong."

Amanda held back a laugh. "His bedside manner always left something to be desired. Feel free to snipe back at him. He'd probably like it."

She slid the door open to Greg's room and went over to his bedside. His vitals were good and he appeared to be sleeping. Until he spoke.

"Why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer."

"You're less threatening when you're asleep," she said and took a seat next to the bed.

"How did it go? The surgery, I mean."

"Excellent. I'm very pleased. Your leg will be fine. You look like you keep in pretty good shape. That helped. It could've been a lot worse."

He nodded, still looking intently at her, and it stirred something deep within her. Something she hadn't experienced in years. She forgot what it felt like.

"So what brought you to Jersey?"
"My friend and I were here for the Stones concert."

"Do you want me to call this friend and tell her you're okay?"

"She's a he, and yeah, that would be great. Got a pen?"

She handed him a pen and her scrip pad and he wrote down a number. "His name is James Wilson."

Amanda blinked. "Not James Wilson the Oncologist?"
"You know him?"
"Not personally, but I know of him. He's amazing. I'm surprised Lisa hasn't snapped him up for her hospital."

"She just might. I hear she usually gets what she wants. I wouldn't be surprised if she offered me a job here."

"Aren't you already working somewhere?"

He shook his head and gave her a crooked grin. "Not anymore. I'm a free agent. For now anyway."

"It seems some things don't change," she said with a smirk as she got up. "If you're not getting kicked out of med schools, you're getting kicked out of hospitals."

"He probably couldn't even get a job at a blood bank," Lisa said from the doorway. "However, he's the best damn doctor I know."

"You flatter me," Greg said and batted his lashes at her.

"That was my intention. I have an opening for a new department in Diagnostics. I've been keeping tabs on you. I know potential when I see it and I think you'd be an asset to the reputation of this hospital. You've made a name for yourself, regardless of your bedside manner and record. You get results. That's all that matters. I'm here to offer you a position as department head if you want it."

"It's a very generous offer," he said. His head was spinning with the possibilities.

"Yeah, and think hard about it," Amanda told him. "Read the fine print."

"Don't you have lab results to be checking or...something?" Lisa reminded her.

"I'm on my lunch break," Amanda replied, defiantly. "But, I do have an important call to make. I'll be back in a few minutes, Greg."

When Amanda was gone, Lisa took her seat and placed a contract in front of him.

"Is this for real?" he asked her.

"Yes. I want PPTH to be the best. You can help with that. Having you here will bring the donors, thus allowing us to make improvements to equipment and other things that need to be done."

"So I'm the lure to bring in the big fish?"

She smiled. "I wouldn't put it that brutally but sure. Let's go with that."

"It's a lot to think about."

"There's no rush. Take your time. How long have you been out of work?"

"Not long. A month."

"But you're already getting restless. I can see it."

"You don't know me. You haven't seen me in years. Why the job offer out of the blue?"

"You're the best. I want the best for this hospital. I can give you what most hospitals won't; full autonomy. It's a win-win for both of us. You get a job, your own department and I get your reputation which will mean something to this hospital."

"I'll think about it," he said and shoved the contract and table aside. "Now I need a nap. You can go. Jimmy will be here soon."

Lisa nodded and left just as Amanda returned, carrying two cups of coffee for her and Greg. Both women ignored each other as they passed.

"Coffee?' she asked as she set a cup down next to Greg's bed.

"You're an angel," he said as he took the cup and sipped from it.

"James is on his way."

"Cool."

Amanda pointed to the contract. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Probably. Should I be considering this?"

"Probably not, but it depends on you. How bad do you need to work, and how much shit are you willing to put up with?"

Greg studied her. She wasn't smiling.

"That bad, huh?"

Amanda shrugged. "There's crap at any place you work at. There just seems to be more of it here. And I've worked in a few hospitals before I came to this one. It was fine, and then Lisa took over." Then she sighed. "Look, I'm not saying you shouldn't do this, but read the contract very closely. Some things are non-negotiable."

Her pager went off and she checked it. "I have to run. I'll be back later. Want me to bring us some dinner?"

"Like a date? Here at the hospital? You always were a hopeless romantic."

Amanda smiled at him. "Hopeful. Later!"