Chapter Twelve
The following Monday, House made his way towards Wilson's office.
It had been two days since he had spoken to Cuddy at her place. They had spoken once since then and that was mostly House trying to find out what Cuddy remembered the day she gave birth.
House had meant what he had said, he was going to track down their daughter. Not because he had this particular desire to become a father, but because the part of him that couldn't let anything be unfinished wanted him too. He was a man that spent his life solving puzzles, putting the last pieces together. So having a daughter out there meant that he had pieces of his own puzzle missing.
The question that had him stumped right now was – how do you track down a girl who was adopted twenty years ago when there was no record of the adoption?
Which was why he was heading to see Wilson. He hoped his friend could help him with something.
House barged into Wilson's office, not caring that he was with someone.
"I need a consult," House announced loudly.
"Ah," Wilson began startled. "I'm with a patient," he gestured to the man in front of him. "Can it wait?"
House lifted his cane and pointed it to the man sitting opposite Wilson. "Is he dying?"
"Am I?" The man asked, eyes wide as he looked at Wilson.
"Ah, no, no" Wilson replied quickly.
"Then he can wait." Said House. "Meanwhile, this is important."
"House—" Wilson began to protest but House cut him off.
"—It's about the sexual harassment case against you. You really should control yourself around male patients."
Wilson's mouth dropped opened.
"Ah, I have to go." The man announced before almost running past House and out the door.
House closed the door and took a seat in the chair the man had just left. When he looked over at Wilson, he saw that his friend was glaring at him.
"Was that really necessary?" He demanded. "Now he probably won't come back for his follow up appointment."
House shrugged, "You said he wasn't dying. He'll find another doctor. You're not that special, Wilson."
Wilson groaned in annoyance. Not that he shouldn't be used to House pulling stunts like this.
"What did you want, House?"
"Do you know any private investigators?"
"What?" Wilson asked, his brows knitting together in confusion. "I thought you said you needed a consult?"
"I do," House nodded. "I need to consult you on whether or not you know any private investigators."
Wilson thought for a moment and looked at House puzzled.
"Ah, I don't think so." He answered.
"Seriously? None of your ex-wives sent a private investigator after you and one point?" House asked, leaning forward in his chair slightly.
"Well, if they did, it's not like I would have the information."
House sat back in the chair and started twirling his cane. He was deep in thought and was no longer paying any attention to Wilson.
"Why do you want a private investigator?" Wilson asked curiously. "For a case? A patient?"
"I need to find someone…" House stated, still twirling his cane.
"Oh." Wilson sighed. "Who?"
House stopped twirling his cane and turned to look at Wilson.
"My daughter" He replied. "Mine and Cuddy's"
"What!" Wilson shouted. If he hadn't already been sitting down he would have needed too. "But you – I thought you said the baby had died?"
"I did." House nodded. "She didn't", he shook his head.
"Wow…."
"That's all you can say?" House asked, raising one eyebrow. "I just tell you I have a kid out there and all you can say is 'Wow'?"
"Holy mother of god, wow" Wilson stated.
House rolled his eyes.
"How? Didn't Cuddy tell you that the baby died?"
"She did tell me that."
"So…so Cuddy lied?"
"No," House shook his head. "She thought she had died."
"I'm so confused," Wilson said, shaking his head in disbelief. "How did Cuddy think the baby died? How does that happen?"
"Her mother made her think that she had died" House replied, his tone dripping with disgust. "Then she put her up for adoption."
"Oh…Wait, what?"
House sighed loudly and rolled his eyes again.
"Cuddy's mother made her-Cuddy, think that she-the baby, had died. Then she-Cuddy's mother, put her-the baby, up for adoption."
"…Wow…" Wilson sighed again.
They sat in silence for a while. Wilson was processing all this new information.
"When did she find out?" Wilson asked.
House shrugged, "A few days ago. Her mother came and told me first."
"Wow…"
"Are you going to say that all day? Did my news break your vocabulary?"
"I'm sorry, House. But you have a kid out there. You. This is huge!"
"That's what she said." House joked.
Wilson smiled for a moment. Then he frowned. "How's Cuddy?" He asked. "It must have been shocking to find out a child you thought was dead was actually alive."
House shrugged one shoulder and looked down. "She's….upset…"
"Well yeah." Wilson nodded. "So… what are you going to do now?"
"I told you. I'm going to find her."
"Is that what Cuddy wants too?"
"Well duh," House rolled his eyes at Wilson's stupid question. "She is her child."
Wilson nodded. "So, have you two talked? Did she say why she never told you?"
"She was gonna tell me after the baby was born" House replied, looking down. "Then she thought the baby had died, so didn't want to tell me and bring up the memories."
"How are you going to find her?" Wilson asked after a pause. "Do you have a lot of information about her?"
"None," House replied. "Cuddy can only remember the town her mother took her too. Not much else."
"Wo—"
"—Do not say wow again!" House warned, shooting his friend and a stern look.
**House MD**
Later that day, Cuddy was in her office. She was trying to focus her attention on the budget report that needed to be finished, but she found her mind wandering off all the time. She wondered what her daughter looked like. If she had House's eyes? Or hers? She wondered if she was happy? If she'd had a good life.
She wondered what might have been if she had just had the courage to tell House that she'd been pregnant. Would they have gotten together? Would they have been apart, but raised their daughter together? Would she still be Dean of medicine of a major hospital? Would she have been a good mother? So many what-ifs ran through her mind. She was so distracted that she didn't see her mother coming into the room.
"Lisa," Arlene said as she stood in front of her daughter's desk.
Lisa looked up and frowned when she saw her mother.
"What are you doing here?" Cuddy demanded.
"You haven't answered any of my calls-" Arlene began
"-I wonder why that would be?" Cuddy scoffed.
"I want to talk"
"Well, I don't want to talk to you." Cuddy snapped angrily.
"Let me explain—"
"-How on earth can you justify what you did?" Cuddy demanded.
"It's been so hard to live with this guilt for so long."
It's been hard for you!" Cuddy shouted, stunned.
**House MD**
House was making his way towards Cuddy's office. After speaking with Wilson, he decided to speak with Cuddy about his idea to hire a private investigator. He had no doubt that she would want to find their kid, he just wanted to make sure they kept each other up to date with what was happening.
Has he got closer he saw a woman also walk into Cuddy's office. He only saw the back of her head but he knew who it was. It was Cuddy's mother. He tightened his grip on his cane and followed her into Cuddy's office.
**House MD**
"I'm sorry, Lisa," Arlene told her daughter.
"Oh, could you stop! Please!" Cuddy said as she held her hands up in frustration.
House entered the office and made a show of slamming the door to get Arlene's attention. Both women turned to look at him. He noticed that Cuddy was on the verge of tears again, but this time they were due to anger and not just sadness.
"What do you want?" Arlene asked him.
"Mum-" Cuddy began but House interrupted her.
"I'm here to talk to Cuddy about my daughter!" House snapped back. "You know, the one you gave away" anger dripping from his words.
"Don't make me the only one in the wrong here" Arlene snapped back, turning to face House more. "You were never there for her. I was just trying to protect her."
"I wasn't there because I didn't know that she was pregnant!" House hissed angrily.
"Right," Arlene scoffed. "Because all you were after was one night of fun. And then you left her without so much as a phone call"
"You don't know anything about me! So don't assume you know what happened back then!"
"If you couldn't have been bothered to at least call her—" Arlene began to say angrily.
"Enough!" Cuddy shouted. She stood from her chair and slammed both hands down on her desk. "Mum, stop trying to place the blame onto House! As if anything he did or didn't do could be a reason for what you did!"
"I was just trying to protect you," Arlene said. "He—"
"—He what?" House demanded.
Arlene turned to House once more.
"Mum, stop trying to deflect. You made the choice to lie to me about my baby. Not House." Cuddy said angrily.
"Lisa," Arlene began, she reached out and tried to reach her daughter's hand.
Cuddy pulled her hand away forcefully from her mother's touch. Arlene pulled back, looking a bit hurt.
"I am sorry. If I could go back and change it I would."
"Tell me something?" House asked suddenly. Arlene turned back to him. "If Cuddy hadn't told me about it, would you have ever come clean?"
"Of course-" Arlene replied.
"-No you wouldn't have!" House snapped. "You had nearly twenty years to tell her. You would have just kept this secret until you died!"
"Look, House!" Arlene snapped, pointed a finger angrily towards him. "I may not know you but you sure as hell don't know me. I would have told her."
"No," Cuddy said suddenly.
"What?" Arlene asked confused.
"House is right," Cuddy continued. "You never were going to tell me."
"I-" Arlene began but Cuddy cut her off.
"No don't," Cuddy sighed. "I don't want to hear it."
"I'm still your mother." Arlene protested.
"No!" Cuddy snapped. "A mother is supposed to let their kids make their own choices. Guide them along the way," She shook her head and looked up slightly in disbelief and disgust. "Not take the biggest decisions of their life out of their hands!"
"I did what I thought was the best for you at the time," Arlene sighed.
House scoffed irritably. He'd never met Arlene Cuddy before, but he was starting to see that she was a piece of work.
"No, you just wanted to control what happened."
"That's not – I thought I was doing the right thing by you, Lisa"
"I thought I'd lost my little girl forever." Cuddy sighed, fighting very hard to keep her tears at bay. "Last night, I tried to picture her face. But I can't do that, because I never saw her, Mum. I never got to hold her. I never heard her cry."
"I know-" Arlene began.
"No, you don't know!" Cuddy shouted. "I missed her first steps. I missed her first words, her first day at school. I missed everything because of you!"
"What can I do? Lisa? Just tell me" Arlene begged.
Cuddy rolled her eyes and breathed heavily. She was angry and everything her mother said was making it worse.
"Who was the surgeon?" House asked suddenly.
"What?" Arlene asked, looking back at House.
"The surgeon, the one who delivered the baby." House continued. "Who was it?"
"I—"
"Do you remember?" House asked. "Or is that bit of information not important enough to remember? Like your first grandchild was?"
"Of course I remember!" Arlene snapped. "You don't think I don't remember everything about that day?"
"Write it down," Cuddy said quietly.
"What?" Arlene asked.
Cuddy looked at her mother. Her hands clenched into tight fists as she spoke softly. "Everything you know, write it down. I want all the information you have on what happened to my daughter."
Arlene nodded. She looked around Cuddy's desk for something to write on. She grabbed a paper and a pen and wrote some things down. When she was done, she held the paper out to Cuddy.
From behind her, House limped over to stand beside her. He reached out and snatched the paper out of her hand. Arlene turned and glared at him as he put it in his pocket.
"Now get out," Cuddy told her mother.
"Lisa—" Arlene began.
"No," Cuddy sighed, shaking her head. "We're done. I'm done." She paused and swallowed. "Now I want you to leave. I want you out of my hospital and out of my life"
"I'm still your mother—"
"Yes," Cuddy nodded, her hands still clenched tight. "But I will never, ever forgive you for this."
Arlene looked at her daughter for a long moment, trying to work out how serious she was. Then she sighed defeated and walked out.
After she left, Cuddy let out a long, shaking sigh. House turned back to her. She was pale, her body rigid and stiff with tension. Then he looked down at her hands which were still clenched into fists. Her knuckles white.
"Relax" He sighed, but there was no bite in his words. Just concern.
Cuddy met his eyes and after a moment, she relaxed her hands. She winced ever so slightly but House being House picked up on it. He made his way around her desk until he was standing in front of her.
"Let me see." He said softly as he reached out and took both her wrists in his hands.
He turned her palms upwards and inspected her hands. She had clenched her hands so tightly that there were deep red indents in her hands where her fingernails had been. She hadn't broken the skin but if her mother had stayed any longer, she probably would have.
"You'll be fine," House told her as he gently let go of her wrists.
"Thanks," Cuddy nodded. "If you weren't here… I don't know what I would have done to her."
House let out a short amused breath, "I thought it was you who was stopping me from doing anything?"
Cuddy smiled briefly before sitting back down in her chair. House turned and leaned against the edge of her desk.
"What does the paper say?" She asked after a short pause between them.
House reached into his pocket and pulled out the paper that Arlene had written on. He read it over. It had The name of the surgeon and a phone number.
"Dr David Handler," He replied. "And I'm guessing the surgery's contact number."
Cuddy nodded in thought, "Yeah, Handler rings a bell. What are you going to do?"
House shrugged and placed the paper back in his pocket.
"Thought I'd look into a private eye or something. If I can't get anywhere with this Handler guy myself."
"Will you let me know? If you find anything?"
"You know I will."
Cuddy smiled softly at him. She knew she was very lucky that he didn't hate her and still wanted to talk to her. To include her in all this.
House pushed himself to stand straight and made his way towards her office door. When he was a few feet away he remembered something and turned back to her. Standing in the middle of her office, with both hands on top of his cane.
"I, ah, I told Wilson." He admitted sheepishly.
"Oh," Cuddy sighed and looked down. "What did he say?"
"Wow."
"No seriously?"
"Seriously. He just kept saying wow." House smirked. "I think I broke him."
Cuddy looked back up at him and couldn't help but smile slightly.
"He'll probably come here and hug you later or something," House added. "Once he's recovered from his shock"
"I'll be on the lookout then," Cuddy smiled.
House nodded then turned and left.
**House MD**
Max had been in the clinic, talking to a few of the nurses when she saw an older lady exit Cuddy's office. The lady looked upset. When Max had asked the nurses if any of them knew who she was, they had all said no.
Max decided to go to Cuddy's office and see what was happening. By the time she got there, House was walking out. Max waited a moment until she was sure he had gone before she walked in.
"Hey?" Max said when she was in the room. "Um, everything ok?"
"Oh, Yes, Max" Cuddy sighed.
"Are you sure?" Max asked. "You look…upset…"
"I'm fine," Cuddy said with a nod. "Just…A lot on my plate. That's all."
"Well, do you wanna go get a coffee and talk about it?" Max asked, offering Cuddy a genuine smile. "I've been told I'm a really good listener. And I give awesome advice."
Cuddy smiled for a moment before shaking her head. "Thanks, Max. But, um, it's kind of personal."
"Yeah," Max shrugged. "Kay, well…I'd better get back to work…"
As she turned to leave Cuddy called out and stopped her.
"Hey, Max, um, a coffee actually does sound great. So does a talk, but not about me. Could we talk about anything else? I think I could use the distraction"
Max grinned, "Distraction I can do."
Cuddy stood from her desk and made her way to Max and the door. Cuddy needed to relax a bit before she went insane with her thoughts, and Max had a way of relaxing her.
To Be Continued….
