House entered his apartment, limping uncomfortably in the direction of the bedroom as he took out the Vicodin bottle and shook two pills from it, which he promptly swallowed. In his bedroom, he removed his jacket and wrapped it around a chair near the door, then sat down on it and bent over to remove his shoes and socks. He left his cane and shoes near the chair as he limped carefully in the direction of his bathroom.
He removed the rest of his clothes in the bathroom. Before he entered the shower stall, House placed his hands on the rim of the sink and looked into the mirror.
What the hell did she ever see in me?
The last time he had a good look at himself—a really critical look at himself—was over ten years ago. He was getting ready to meet Stacy at some French restaurant near the hospital, and he was psyching himself up to ask her to move in with him. The reflection looking back at him then didn't have the hard, worn look permanently etched on a long face. The crow's feet were barely visible, he had been smooth-shaven, and his hair hadn't been retreating yet.
He also remembered that he had both feet planted on the earth without discomfort.
The face in the mirror glared back at him before it turned to the direction of the shower stall.
Wilson slowly stood up and handed the pregnancy test kit to Cuddy without a word.
A flushed Cuddy took it from him with a soft, "Thanks" before placing it in her shopping bag. It took a lot of effort for her to walk out of the premises and to her car.
Cuddy was already on the highway before her cool façade finally cracked. By the time she maneuvered her car into her driveway, her sides hurt from the hysterical laughter.
This ought to be a good sign, she thought to herself, picking up the kit from the bag as she walked to her front door.
Cameron woke up the next day, stiff and sore from her awkward position on the chair. She stood up and stretched a bit to work the kinks out of her back and limbs. When she turned to Christopher's bed, she saw something green near the baby's right hand.
Upon closer inspection, Cameron grinned. Although highly inappropriate for a four-month-old baby, she decided to let Christopher keep the model Gravedigger monster truck—after she removed the tires.
It is from his father, after all.
But then the grin disappeared from her face as she looked into Christopher's face. After dropping the bomb on House days ago, she knew he had been avoiding her. As she brought Christopher to his appointments with Drs. Cartwright and Landers, Cameron tried not to look for him.
Wilson had told her that House was working on a tricky case the following week. Chase and Foreman corroborated his account and added that House has them running ragged with tests and break-ins at the patient's house and office.
"I'm telling you, the man's finally lost it," Foreman muttered before he took a large bite out of his club sandwich.
Cameron frowned before turning her attention to Chase, who was making weird faces at Christopher in his stroller. The baby barely reacted to Chase's antics—Cameron thought her son was much closer to crying than to laughing.
"Have you guys found my replacement yet?" she asked Foreman. The neurologist shook his head.
"Thought we had a winner yesterday," he said softly, looking around in the cafeteria to make sure a tall, cranky, middle-aged man with a cane wasn't within hearing distance. "Took a look in the man's resume—guy worked in the Mayo Clinic and worked for a while with the CDC. Ten minutes with House, the guy jumped ship."
Cameron groaned. The only thing that took shook her out of it was when she heard Chase's "Oi!"
Trust her little man to get his mommy out of the funk—Chase had leaned in too close to Christopher, playing peek-a-boo with the baby. The second time Chase moved his face into the baby's direction, Christopher suddenly clapped his chubby hands on the man's nose. It surprised Chase so much, he lost his balance and toppled sideways, almost tripping three interns walking to their table.
That was when Christopher laughed.
The elevator opened at the fourth floor at 7:45 PM that night. Its lone passenger walked out, her beautiful olive face etched in annoyance as she made long, purposeful strides in three-inch heels, heading for the office of a certain oncologist.
As she suspected, Wilson was still in his office. Since he finalized his divorce from Julie, she noticed that Wilson had been working overtime. Cuddy speculated that Wilson was avoiding jumping back into the dating pool.
Wise decision, Cuddy thought, pushing aside the memory of their date that tanked before entering his office.
Wilson looked up as Cuddy entered his office. Don't ask her about the kit, don't ask her about the kit…
"Got a moment, Dr. Wilson?" Cuddy asked, closing the door behind her.
"Christopher is doing well," Dr. Cartwright said brightly after looking in on his patient in the ICU that afternoon. "He's going to have to learn to deal with that cast for a while. If he behaves, you can take him home by next week."
"Thank you, Dr. Cartwright," Cameron said gratefully, shaking the surgeon's hand.
When Cartwright's large frame disappeared from her view, Cameron noticed a tall figure move away from a pillar flanking the nurse's station.
Cameron tucked the blanket around Christopher before looking back outside. House was still there. He shifted uneasily, looking down and to the sides before raising his head and locking a piercing blue gaze at her. He made an irritable gesture at Cameron to get out of the room.
Curious, Cameron decided to humor him tonight. Before leaving, she called for a nurse, telling her to contact her if something comes up with Christopher before placing a quick kiss on his soft cheek.
When she went outside, Cameron saw House limping for the elevators.
"House!"
He didn't stop. For a cripple, House moved quite fast. Cameron had to jog in order to catch up to him as he pressed the "down" button.
Taking a deep breath, Cameron looked up at him and wheezed, "You––couldn't––have––come––into––the––room?"
"Can't," House replied lightly, looking up at the numbers as the elevator made its progress to their floor. "It's the Intensive Care Unit—so many fragile sick people in there, I might catch something!"
Cameron snorted. "Its just Christopher and two other kids in there, House."
The elevator opened quietly; House entered it and held it open for Cameron, who followed.
"What do you want, House?" she asked, placing her hands on her waist and raising an eyebrow at him.
The elevator moved down one floor when House suddenly reached out and pressed the Emergency stop button with his cane. Cameron jumped as a warning bell rang out and the elevator ground to a halt.
"House! What are you—"
House cut her off by grabbing her by the waist and kissing her senseless.
Five minutes later, the elevator stopped at the fourth floor. The taller of the two passengers was leading the smaller one out of it, moving quite fast for someone who depended on a cane for greater mobility.
Cameron looked dazed. She hadn't been kissed like that since—since that stormy night more than a year ago. Her body was tingling where those wonderful long fingers touched her, particularly her back and backside.
House looked two parts flustered and two parts bewildered. What the hell did the cafeteria people put into my Reuben?!
He led her to his office, making sure that Cameron came inside first before he entered, locking the door and drawing the blinds.
Cameron looked around in his office. Aside from a Spanish guitar hanging on the left side of the wall, hardly anything had changed since she was last here. She turned around when House sat down on the padded reclining chair in the corner. He gestured for her to sit on a chair nearby.
"Anywhere?" she asked him.
"Knock yourself out." House replied.
Cameron decided to sit behind the desk. "So, what's this all about?"
"Want another one, Cuddy?" Wilson asked his guest. Cuddy nodded, pushing her cup in Wilson's direction. As he filled her cup with the brandy, Wilson mentally asked himself for the fifth time: "How'd I get into this mess?"
The first few minutes of their conversation had been about House and his latest applicant for the vacant post in his department. Wilson heard about the CDC guy running out of the office in a huff; he had just finished looking at his file before he checked the one lying below it.
"Well, how about Dr. Leslie Brunswick?" Wilson asked curiously, shifting his position on the edge of his desk. "Her resume looks impressive."
"She couldn't make it," Cuddy muttered as she paced his office in irritation. "Called my office earlier to tell me that she won't be able to come to the interview because she had a complication with her pregnancy…" Her lower lip wobbled.
No way! But Wilson wanted confirmation.
"What's wrong?" he asked cautiously, standing up.
The next thing he knew, Cuddy was sobbing on his couch. From her incoherent ramblings, he found out that the Dean of Medicine at PPTH was trying to get pregnant by in-vitro fertilization and estrogen injections. The pregnancy kit she bought last night—it really was for her. And it showed her that she had failed to conceive again.
He also found out who was giving her those injections. For some reason, knowing that House was helping Cuddy irked the usually unflappable Dr. Wilson.
Wilson knew that alcohol shouldn't be the ultimate cure for one's problems, but in order to calm down Dr. Lisa Cuddy, he had to resort to his "emergency" stash of brandy he managed to hide successfully from House.
Fast forward to right now: Cuddy was on her sixth swig of brandy. Wilson barely touched his glass—someone had to be sober enough to drive her home. When he took a small sip, he noticed that Cuddy was looking at him strangely…
"You're offering to hire me back at Diagnostics?" Cameron asked him incredulously. She shook her head. "That is not going to work—and no date with you is going to convince me otherwise."
House smirked, "Touché."
He popped two pills into his mouth before standing up, hobbling to his desk and leaning forward, putting his hands on the top of the desk for leverage. He looked threatening, but Cameron didn't flinch. She knows him.
She was about to say something when something flashed in the corner of her eye—a purple something that looked like Cuddy's outfit for today and a striped something.
Kind of abrupt. Sorry about this---will make it better in the next chapter. Promise!