Ok, guys. Your reviews were really nice but since everyone came up with his/her own version of the end it was not really helpful. But very inpiring. ;-) So thank you!

I haven't decided yet because I think they both deserve to win and lose at the same time. I'll figure something out.


House had enjoyed an hour of silence and healthy sleep when he was woken by that damn cell phone again. When he was told about that urgent consult he could imagine that this was Cuddy's way of getting back at him. If it hadn't forced him to go to the hospital after all he would have liked that prank. He abandoned the idea of getting any more sleep this morning and got dressed. Half an hour later House entered the clinic and asked for Cuddy.

"Exam room 2.", the nurse told her. "Oh by the way, since Dr. Wilson is a patient himself today I fear you must fill in for Dr. Fisher anyway."

House rolled his eyes.

"Since when are you in charge here? Just do your job and leave the decisions to people who know this stuff."

He walked over and entered the exam room without knocking. Cuddy was doing a vaginal exam at the moment.

"Oh my God. Get out!", the woman screamed at the sight of House. She felt really uncomfortable.

"Sorry, can't do. I was called in for a consult. Nice move, Cuddy. Finally shows me that my boss is there for me 24/7. I will remember this next time something is up at 3 am."

"Why did you break Wilson's finger?", Cuddy asked him.

"I didn't. It was his own fault."

"Because he touched your piano? I don't break your hand every time you grab my ass!"

House smiled. "Because you love it!"

"Shut up! You can go into exam room 1 right now and treat your poor friend. What was he doing at your place at this time anyway?"

"He did my chores!", House mumbled and left.

Again Cuddy nodded. Somehow this would make sense.


House grabbed Wilson's file and his x-ray and limped into exam room 1.

"Wow, that finger really looks ugly. What happened?"

"Show me the image, House!"

"Hey, I'm the doctor here.", House explained and looked at the x-ray.

"I told you it's broken. You are unbelievable, House!", Wilson yelled after he had checked the image as well.

"It's not my fault.", he defended himself.

"Right. It's never your fault. Sorry, I didn't withdraw fast enough. I just hope I didn't spill any blood over your holy piece of shit!"

"Don't worry. It's not an open fracture.", House assured him receiving another glare.


"Cast or splint?", he asked his buddy now.

"Splint. Of course! You will certainly not plaster my entire hand!"

"Trust issues? You want a particular color?"

"Just do it, House! I have things to do."

House nodded.

"Like cleaning my windows probably!"

Carefully he tended the injured finger and got his prescription pad when he was done.

"Wow, this is odd. Me prescribing pain meds for you. What do you want, doc?"

"I thought you were the doctor!", Wilson mumbled and checked his friend's work.

House ripped out the prescription and handed it over.

"What do you say I buy you some breakfast.", he said while putting his stuff back in his pockets.

Wilson looked surprised.

"What are you up to now?"

"Nothing. I'm hungry."

"Usually when you are hungry I pay for it."

"So what? I brought my wallet accidently today."

Wilson smiled.

"You feel guilty because you know it was your fault!"

House shook his head.

"Certainly not. You touch my baby again, I will do the same thing."

"You can't have breakfast now. You have clinic duty.", Wilson reminded him.

"Hmm, you are right. Damn, seems as if you have to buy your own breakfast. Sorry!", House winked at him.

"Yeah I can see how touched you are. Well, I'll go home now. Getting some sleep. See you later!", Wilson grinned.


House got out and ran into Cuddy.

"You two are good?", she asked watching Wilson walking out.

House glared at him.

"Sure. So back to work. How did you convince Fisher to stay at home?"

She chuckled. "He is sick, House. Not everything is an evil plan. Sometimes I'm just lucky."

"Yeah right. What a coincidence."

He grabbed another file and walked away from her.

"Where is your nice lab coat today, House?", Cuddy asked him. "It was part of the deal."

House closed his eyes for a moment and tried to calm down.

Finally he threw the file back on the desk and limped into his office to grab the damn, itchy piece of clothing.

"Satisfied?", he snapped at Cuddy and went to meet his next patient.


5 minutes later House draw some blood from his patient and handed the vial over to the nurse. "Get this to the lab and fill in the paperwork.", he ordered her.

"Sorry, Dr. House. That's not my job. My boss reminded me of that just this morning."

"Just do it!", he yelled and walked out.

"But you have to sign it!", she reminded him but he didn't care.

Nurse Roberts shrugged. It was not the first time she forged his signature. She had given up on waiting for him to do this stuff long ago.

House met Cuddy at the counter.

"Wow, Dr. Fisher is really sick. I told him to stay at home for the next days. Unfortunately he will miss his class tomorrow. So guess who I found to replace him.", he smiled.

"House, I won't teach tomorrow!", she said.

"Why not? Cuddy, we have to take care of those young fellows. Don't forget: The more you teach them the better doctors they will be. Class starts at 8 am."

"I hate you, House!", she hissed.

"I know.", he grinned and vanished into his office. Both of them were done with the clinic for the day. House was convinced he wouldn't have to show up there for the next two months.


Before he returned home to torture Wilson he checked up on Cuddy's patient. House read the file and exclaimed a short whistle. That was a tough one and it seemed as if the patient wouldn't make it through the next two days.

House leaned back in his chair and starred into space. Cuddy would definitely ask him for help sooner or later. But what if it would be too late? Cuddy would be guilt ridden forever and he had to suffer from her moods. House printed the file and took it with him back home. House's dedication had only selfish motives of course. There was no way he wanted to support Cuddy. No, not at all. It was also in the best interest of the patient if he took a look at this case. House tried to convince himself during his ride home. Didn't work. Of course he wanted to help Cuddy. Not because to show her that he was still unbeatable in his job but because in his opinion she had earned a little success. She had fooled him the entire week but still House was impressed.

He never wanted to do this job again! Not for 2 years off clinic duty. But since he would never admit this to his boss he had to show his newborn respect for her otherwise.

There was just one small catch, if Cuddy didn't show up to ask him for help he couldn't win the bet. So right now he would just think about the case.

He was surprised to find his couch empty when he walked into his apartment. Wilson wasn't there. Maybe he was afraid of House's revenge and found another place to rest. House didn't care actually. He sat down at his piano and started playing. Wilson's unexercised hands hadn't left any permanent damage. But House soon had to find out again that there was a reason he didn't work at home. Maybe he didn't need to see his patients. But test results would be useful. And without Cuddy's computer he had no access to the latest results.


Wilson had not left the hospital at all. With the assurance that House was stuck in the clinic for a while he made it in his friend's department to support the ducklings.

They had ruled out infections and cancer so far.

Foreman and Cameron had checked out his home but they found nothing important. The guy was single, worked hard as a stockbroker and had tons of money.

"Would explain the alcoholism. It's not a good time for stock brokers.", Chase announced.

"The guy doesn't have a single bottle of beer in his fridge.", Foreman told him.

"So what is it then?", Chase asked and knew it was a stupid question.

"How about heavy metal poisoning?", Wilson suggested.

"We just told you he is a broker and you think he is exposed to heavy metals?"

"He's vomiting his liver is damaged and his anemic. Are his teeth yellow? Can he smell? Cadmium would fit."

Foreman chuckled.

"Where would he find Cadmium?"

Wilson shrugged.

"Drugs. You can find anything in there. And Chase pointed it out. It's a bad time for brokers. Maybe too bad to wash the sorrows away with alcohol."

"But we didn't find anything.", Cameron interfered.

"So what? Did you check his car or his office? You don't know the guy just because you run into his place. House takes drugs every now and then. Doesn't mean I could find drugs in his apartment today."

"I'll run the test.", Cameron said and Chase followed her to help.

"Did you change jobs with Cuddy or why are you here?", Foreman asked him.

"I just make sure House gets what he deserves.", the oncologist answered.

"That's not fair. This is a game between House and Cuddy."

"I play my own game with House. And making him lose the bet is part of it."

"Whatever.", Foreman mumbled and got up.

"I'll check the patient's teeth and his sense of smell."


Foreman had left for 2 minutes when Cuddy stepped in.

"What are you doing here?"

"I better keep you out of this since he'll find out if you cheat. Your team is testing for Cadmium poisoning right now."

"He's a broker, Wilson. Why would he be exposed…"

Wilson cut her off. "Talk to your team. It makes sense. I'm going home."

"Do you think I should ask House for help?", Cuddy asked him and made him stop on his way to the door.

He turned around. "Not yet. Wait for the result."

"It could be a waste of time. He doesn't know this case he has to start from the beginning. He can't just show up and tell us the answer."

"Believe me, Cuddy. He knows the case. Don't worry.", Wilson ensured her and left.


When Wilson arrived at half past one he was surprised to find the apartment empty. He had expected to find House in his bed and was a little bit disappointed that he couldn't wake him up in a special way. On the other hand he took the opportunity to take a nap himself. And since House's bed was way more comfortable than the lumpy couch he stayed right there.

House had left half an hour earlier and went back to the hospital to check out the newest developments in the patient's file. When he read about the ordered test for Cd-poisoning he was surprised. He had come up with the same idea and wondered how fast his team made this diagnosis as well. Maybe Cuddy wouldn't need his help at all. Damn!

He digested this idea together with the burger and fries he had gotten himself while sitting on his bike in the sun. It was a nice day with bright sunshine. Back at home Wilson would wait for him and annoy the hell out of him so House had no intention to return there too soon. Instead he took his bike for a ride through the countryside. He hadn't done this for quite some time and enjoyed it very much.

When he returned to the hospital it was already getting dark. He checked in on the patient again and was frustrated when he saw the negative result for the Cd-test. The patient's heart had stopped again in the meantime and was barely working now.

Suddenly House saw his cell phone lying on the desk. He must have forgotten it when he had left few hours earlier. He had received a call from Cuddy an hour ago.


He switched off the computer and went up in his department. Cuddy was sitting behind the desk breeding over some books. She looked up when she heard him enter.

"Where have you been? I tried to call you."

"Forgot my cell phone. Sorry."

House took a seat.

"So, no Cadmium.", he mumbled and rested his head on the handle of his cane.

"No. It was a good try though.", Cuddy whispered.

"Good tries aren't worth anything in this job, Cuddy. It's a good try when you ask a donor for half a million dollars and he writes a check for 250.000."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Don't make this personal, House."

"I'm not. If I was personal right now I would be here to enjoy your defeat."

"So why are you here?", she wondered.

He shrugged.

"To diagnose a patient. What else?"

"I didn't ask you for help, House!"

"So why did you call me right after you got the negative test result?"

She didn't answer and starred at the books in front of her.

"Come on, Cuddy. We can't do this anymore. We have to diagnose him or he's dead tomorrow. Where is my team?"

"In the lab. Testing.", she told him. "So you want to go back in your old job?"

"If you make me lose because I try to save a life here, well fine, do it. I don't care. Maybe I'm more reasonable than you think. Right now I'm even more reasonable than you. Now page my team."

He went over in the conference room and went through the file again. While he waited for his team he wiped the board clean and wrote down all the symptoms again. He needed his own writing on the board. His employees showed up 5 minutes later and they started their usual routine. Cuddy joined them as well. They were flipping ideas for hours coming up with more and more devious ideas.

Every now and then one of them would leave to check up on the patient or to do another test but finally they had no diagnosis.


Day 7 – Monday

At half past six in the morning Foreman and Cameron left to go home and get a few hours of sleep while Chase agreed to monitor the patient. Cuddy wanted to stay as well but House convinced her to go home as well.

"You are tired and you can't think. Go home and sleep!", he told her and she nodded.

Finally House and Chase were alone in the office.

Chase pored both of them another cup of coffee.

"So how's the bet going?", Chase asked his boss.

"I don't know if the bet is still on.", House admitted.

"Why? Did you break the rules?"

"Don't think so." House rubbed the back of his head. "Don't care actually."

He got up and looked for his cane. He had hung it on the white board hours ago. Chase walked over and handed it to the older doctor. Without another word House left and Chase watched him thoughtfully limping to the elevators. Maybe House had learned something already.


So last day for House and Cuddy. While I figure out the end I'd still appreaciate your reviews. Thanks! :-)