Helloooo!
Finally an update, hope I didn't take too long.. Thank you all for reading my story and for all your reviews and comments!
Just so you know, this story ignores the two last episodes of season 4, so Wilson and Amber are together... After this chapter it will become a liiiittle angsty.. Ok, not a little, a lot (:p) but things will return to normal again ;) Oh, and sorry for the mini cliffhanger in this chapter, I promise I'll update soon :p
Ok, on with the story now.. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own House MD...
Chapter 10: Things change
Sunday went by in a blur since they slept most of the day to recover from the previous night's events. The patient was out of the coma and responding well to treatment as Cuddy informed them the next day around noon.
Monday morning came a lot faster than any of them would have liked. Of course House kept changing hiding places in order to stay as far away from Cuddy as possible when they reached the hospital while Cameron was working at the busy ER.
During lunch time she made her way to his office but he was nowhere to be found. She entered and sat behind his desk.
Her eyes fell on the stack of his mail and she couldn't suppress the small smile from reaching her lips.
She took one envelope in her hands and opened it snorting when she saw that it was another request for a speech.
"Old habits die hard, huh?" his voice came from the door, catching her attention.
"What can I say? I must be a masochist or something…" she said sarcastically and got up from his chair.
"Are you here to feed me?" he asked as he moved in the room to place his arms around her waist.
"Sort of… How is the patient doing?"
"Kutner said that he is doing well." He replied nonchalantly.
"You haven't even passed outside his room, have you?" she asked him in amusement.
"Nope… His room is not near any of my hiding places." He said matter-of-factly and she laughed.
"You are unbelievable! Come on; let's go to my office, Cuddy we'll probably come here to get you soon." She said and laced her fingers with his in order to drag him out of his office.
So now he was sitting on the couch in her office, TV switched on to General Hospital and a sandwich in his hand while she sat next to him and ate her lunch in silence.
"Don't you have patients to look?" he asked her suddenly making her turn and look at him.
"Nope, I have a meeting with Cuddy in about half an hour." She said looking back at the TV but he turned to look at her very intrigued by what she had said.
"Why does Cuddy want to see you?" he asked curiosity evident in his voice.
"I don't know, she didn't tell me…" she replied never taking her eyes off the TV.
He had heard something through the hospital's grapevine but he thought it was just a rumor. But, judging by this meeting he was starting to believe what he had heard.
He didn't say anything though; he just turned his attention back to the TV. He was going to find out eventually.
"Got to go…" announced Cameron some minutes later and she exited the office leaving House there alone.
But he didn't stay there for long. He grabbed his cane and made his way to Wilson's office.
He opened the door without knocking and entered the office.
"What have you heard…" he started but stopped abruptly when he saw his best friend on the couch making out like teenagers with Amber.
He brought his hand up and covered his eyes.
"I think that you just traumatized me for life!" he exclaimed making the couple roll their eyes at his childish behavior in annoyance.
"Do you ever knock?" asked Amber and got up from the couch.
"That's a lame question." House said, his hand still covering his eyes.
"You can look now. And stop acting like a five year old!" Wilson said making House scoff.
"Why did you come here anyway?" he asked House who had moved inside the room and was now sitting in the chair behind Wilson's desk.
"O, yeah, what have you heard about Cooper?"
"The head of the Immunology Department?" asked Wilson who had moved in order to sit in one of the chairs that were in front of the desk.
"Yeap…"
"You heard the rumor about the sexual harassment too? I thought that one of the nurses started that one because he hadn't agreed to go out with her." He said thoughtfully.
"I thought so too but Cuddy wanted to talk to Allison today…" House replied.
"Just because she had a meeting with Cuddy doesn't mean that the rumor is true." Clarified Wilson.
"Maybe House is right…" said Amber making the two men turn to look at her.
"You agree with me?" asked House incredulously and she glared.
"As far as I know he was in a relationship with one of the doctors from the hospital I work at. Turned out pretty badly though…" she said with a shrug.
"How badly?" House asked curiously.
"Major fight that took place at the hospital… She accused him of cheating on her and hitting on his patients." She replied.
"Maybe the rumor is true after all…" mumbled House skeptically.
"Even if it is true Cuddy is going to bring in the best lawyers in order to protect the hospital and you know that. She'll do everything for the hospital's good even if it means that she has to cover up Cooper's actions." Wilson said seriously.
"Yes, but it doesn't mean that she won't fire him after clearing his name." House replied and made his way to the door.
"I'll let you two kiddies play. I'm going to find out what Cuddy wants from Allison. Bye-bye!" he said and slammed the door behind him leaving them alone again.
"He is up to something, isn't he?" asked Amber looking at Wilson.
He sighed and went to sit next to her on the couch again.
"Yeah…" he muttered rubbing his hand over his face.
"Wanna grab some lunch?" she asked, changing the subject. He couldn't do anything else but nod and follow her to the cafeteria.
Meanwhile House was outside of Cuddy's office. He was really tempted to storm in there but he knew that Cameron was not going to like that so he stayed outside.
He was waiting for at least ten minutes when he felt a hard poke against his ribs.
"Ouch! Are you crazy?" he asked, clearly annoyed, and turned to look around only to see Cuddy looking back at him.
"What are you doing here?" she asked inquisitively.
He narrowed his eyes and looked from the closed office door to Cuddy.
"No, the right question is what are you doing here? You are supposed to be in there." He said pointing at her office.
"And you are supposed to be in the clinic but yet here you." She said with a stern look on her face.
"Where is Allison? I thought she was in there with you." he said impatiently.
"She was, but now she is back at the ER doing her job. Something you never do…"
"Oh, please! Then what was I doing here on Saturday night? We left at 8 o'clock in the morning for crying out loud!" he shouted making a few heads turn their way.
Cuddy tried really hard to control her temper something really hard to do.
"Why don't you go and find Cameron? I can't deal with you right now…" she said in defeat and turned to go to her office without waiting for his answer.
House smirked smugly and started making his way to the ER to find Cameron and of course to find out what they had discussed with Cuddy.
He found her stitching a guy's arm and went to stand right behind her.
"I know you are here, this trick isn't going to work again." She said calmly without turning back to look at him.
"Damn… I must find a new one then." He said casually and sat on the bed looking at the young man suspiciously.
"What did you do?" he asked him, pointing at his arm.
"I was using a saw to cut an old tree and…"
"You are an idiot!" he exclaimed without waiting to listen to the whole story.
"But I didn't tell you…" started the patient but he was interrupted again.
"No need to. Maybe if you tell me the whole story I'll think that you are a bigger idiot!" House said and looked at Cameron who just rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"What did Cuddy tell you?" he asked ignoring the patient.
"We'll talk about this later." She said giving him a small smile and he nodded.
"My office. When you finish your sift." He said and turned to look at the patient again.
"Don't get any ideas…" he said and placed a kiss on Cameron's forehead making a few nurses stare after him in disbelief.
"Back to work people!" said Cameron and they all continued with what they were doing previously.
The patient still looked at her in disbelief.
"It's none of your business." She said sternly and he looked at his arm immediately making a small smirk appear on her lips.
Thirty minutes later she was in House's office expecting to find him there but he wasn't sitting behind his desk.
She was ready to turn and leave when she heard something hitting the glass door that led to the balcony.
She walked out of the office and to the balcony and found House sitting in one of the chairs that were out there.
"Care to join me?" he asked and patted the chair next to him.
She smiled and moved in order to sit next to him.
"Sooo?" he asked impatiently not caring to hide his curiosity.
She took and deep breath and exhaled slowly.
"She wants me to head the Immunology Department…" she said and turned to look at him.
He was staring intently at her but he didn't say anything.
"Please say something." She pleaded.
"The rumors about Cooper are true then? About the sexual harassment..." he asked and she frowned, expecting him to say something else.
"I'm afraid so… It was a patient. She sued and now Cuddy is trying to find a way to cover this up. She has every lawyer of this hospital working on the case. After everything is settled he is out of here…"
"What did you say to her?" he asked watching her expression carefully.
"About Cooper?" she asked in confusion.
"I don't give a damn about him. About the job…"
"That I'll have to think about it." She said and he looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"What?"
"You will think about it? You can't stay at the ER forever Allison, you know that. And this is what you have been waiting for. She was going to give you the job eventually even if this thing hadn't happened." He said in a serious tone.
"You think?"
"No… I know." He said and extended his hand to her.
She put her smaller hand in his and he pulled her to him, making her sit on his good leg.
"I'm only going to say this once so better store it in your memory." He said looking deeply into her eyes "You have become a great doctor and I am sure that you will be an even better one as time passes by. But you have to take this opportunity. Got it?"
She smiled and pressed a small kiss on his lips.
"Got it…" she replied and rested her head on his shoulder while he held her close to his body.
They stayed there for several minutes till a door sliding open got their attention and they looked at the next balcony only to see Wilson and Amber coming out of his office in a lip lock.
"What's the matter with you two today?" shouted House making them jump.
"House!" exclaimed Wilson in irritation and then noticed that he wasn't alone.
"Allison!" he said again in the same high pitched tone.
"Hello to you too." She said with a smirk that matched House's.
"So, are you going to tell us what's going on today and your faces are attached all the time?" he asked again, raising his eyebrows for effect.
"Why do you want to know?" asked Amber glaring at him.
"No reason…" he said innocently.
"I'm going back inside." she said and left the balcony while Wilson remained there looking at his friend.
"It's kind of an anniversary…" replied Wilson, running his fingers through his hair.
House was ready to say something again but Wilson's raised hand stopped him.
"I don't need to hear anything about my ex wives. I'm going back in." he said and followed Amber inside the room.
"He is no fun…" mumbled House and buried his head in the crook of her neck.
"Is your shift over?" he asked, the question almost muffled because of his position.
"Yeah… I think I'm going to go home, I didn't sleep really well and I feel a little tired." She said and he nodded.
"But first, you are going to Cuddy to tell her that you'll take the offer." He said seriously and she sighed.
"I'll go…" she said and disentangled herself from his embrace.
"I'll be home in an hour or so…" he said and she nodded. She placed a kiss on his lips and went to inform Cuddy that she would take the job.
He stayed in his office for at least half an hour before he decided that he could leave half an hour earlier.
He had worked on Saturday so no harm done; he thought and started packing his stuff.
He was ready to leave when he heard a voice that made him stop dead in his tracks.
"Hello Greg…"