Chapter 12:

House rode the elevator down to the cafeteria; walking in, he went over to the cooler where the drinks were held. Grabbing two waters, he moved down to the deli counter and ordered a Rueben sandwich with no pickles. Once the sandwich was wrapped and in his possession, he headed over to where the pre-made salads were. He looked at the selections: Caesar salad, Caesar salad with chicken, mixed baby field greens, baby spinach, and Orange Mandarin Salad. He finally decided and picked up the container that was labeled 'Mixed baby field greens'.

He set his food on a tray, and then walked up to the counter. A few doctors' and nurses' stared at him as he limped past.

"Two waters and sandwich. That's $4.75, Doctor," said the girl behind the register who smiled at him. House guessed she was in her late 20's, early 30's.

He dug into his jean pocket, and withdrew four $1 bills, and counted out three quarters. He was just about to hand over the money when he stopped, realizing something.

"Hang on," House said, as he looked at the girl, who had the name tag JESS displayed on her shirt. "You didn't charge me for the salad. I mean I'm not complaining or anything…"

"That's right." Jess leaned across the counter, closer to him. "I was at 'The Ferry' restaurant on Friday night."

House said nothing, and just stared at her.

"I assume the salad is for Dr. Cuddy," she said in a low voice.

House still didn't say anything, and just nodded.

"Then she doesn't have to pay," Jess continued, in a voice just above a whisper.

House continued to stare at her for a few more seconds, and then without saying anything more, he grabbed his tray and turned his back on the girl.

He spotted Wilson coming into the cafeteria.

Wilson was just about to go over to the deli counter when he spotted House. He quickly went over to him. "Hey, getting lunch?"

"So, she's up?" he added in a lower voice, noticing the salad and extra water.

"Yea. Not too long ago. Get your lunch so you can help me carry all this up," House said, gesturing towards the food on his tray.

When Wilson left to go get his food, House put the food down on an empty table and discarded the tray.

When Wilson was ready, the two men left the cafeteria and went up one level.

"Cameron told me about your little stunt you pulled earlier today," Wilson said, as the two exited the elevator onto the second floor.

"And I suppose you agree with her," House said, somewhat bitterly, not turning his head.

"No…I'm not saying what you did wasn't wrong. I just think…you need somewhere to draw the line," Wilson told him.

House didn't say anything. They lapsed into silence once more until Wilson spoke again.

"And House, I don't think it was their place to bring up Michigan."

"So I'm not the only one who agrees on that. Good," House finally said, after a few moments of silence.

They had reached Cuddy's room. Through the glass, House could see Brenda sitting by Cuddy's bedside. He couldn't tell if Cuddy's eyes were open or not. He quietly slid the door open and slid in, with Wilson following.

"She fell asleep about thirty seconds ago," Brenda told House. She stood up, offering House her chair, which he didn't take. House dismissed her, and then limped over to the side of the bed so he was by Cuddy's uninjured side. He bent down and tenderly kissed her on the lips.

Cuddy's eyes fluttered open, and she smiled as she spotted him.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Hey. I brought you some food. And look who's here." He stepped aside so that she could look to the edge of the bed.

Cuddy grinned when she saw that House made Wilson carry the food.

"Wow. I didn't know Wilson was made the 'donkey boy'," she said, still grinning.

Wilson laughed as he made his way closer to the bed.

"Hey Lisa, how are you?"

House intervened. "Wow. That was a dumb question to ask," he said sarcastically.

Cuddy shot him a warning look before focusing on Wilson. "I'm feeling better today but that could change within fifteen minutes." She winced as she took a deep breath and put a hand to her left side.

Wilson set the food down.

"I got you a salad," House said to Cuddy, as he adjusted the bed so Cuddy could eat without choking.

Wilson dragged a chair over from the corner of the room, and sat down. House opened Cuddy's salad, got a fork from his pocket, and placed the utensil and the salad on a tray in front of her. Unwrapping his Reuben, he sat down next to the bed, and took a huge bite out of the Rueben.

"Greg!" Cuddy scolded him, as she watched him put almost half the sandwich in his mouth at once "you're going to choke if you keep scarfing down your food like that!"

House finished chewing. "Is the invalid suggesting that I take smaller bites?"

"The invalid suggests you stop calling her the invalid," Cuddy said, failing to hide the grin that was starting to form on her face.

House grinned broadly. "Or what?" he asked, mischievously.

Cuddy grinned and pointed her fork at him. "Or you will be doing double clinic duty."

Wilson chuckled. "Well, I can certainly see who wears the pants in this relationship."

House stared in Cuddy's direction as he said, "That's the administrator side of her kicking in."

Wilson looked at him and grinned. "So you're saying, you wear the pants?"

House scowled and went back to eating his sandwich, without speaking.

Just then, Wilson's pager went off. He unclipped it and looked down at it. "Crap. I have to go. A patient just came in."

Cuddy waved her hand. "Go. Don't worry about it."

"Sorry," Wilson said, standing up.

"Don't worry about it, Wilson," Cuddy repeated.

Wilson said his goodbye's and, after promising to return later, made his exit.

After Wilson had gone, House looked over at Cuddy, his eyes moving down to the tray in front of her. He noticed she had barely touched her lunch. "You didn't eat much," he remarked.

Cuddy looked down at her salad. "I'm not that hungry." Her voice sounded far away.

House took her hand and rubbed it affectionately. "Lisa," he began in a soft tone, "you need to eat."

When she didn't say anything, he continued. "You're body needs nutrients." He paused for a brief second. "You're not eating for one anymore," he whispered.

Moving the tray out of the way, he brought his hand up so that it rested on Cuddy's abdomen. Cuddy followed his gaze and rested her hand on top of his.

"I know," she said quietly. She watched as House gently worked his fingers up her thigh, moving beneath her gown. She felt his fingers make contact with her bare skin; felt his fingers gently caressing her bare abdomen to get as close as he could to her child,their child, growing inside of her. She closed her eyes, shivering at the contact.

House bent forward and touched his lips to hers. She reached up with her hand and caressed his jaw line, felt her fingers make contact with his stubble; she ran her fingers over the growth of hair on his chin.

"I love you, Greg," she whispered.

"Open your eyes."

Cuddy opened her eyes. House's gaze locked onto hers. He brought his hand up from her stomach, and cupped her cheek.

"I love you so much, Lisa," he whispered. He kissed her on the lips once more, and then pulled back.

"I need to tell you something," House said. "I don't think you're going to like it…"

Cuddy saw fear in his eyes. "What is it, Greg?" she asked him softly.

Suddenly, House stood up. "I'll be back in a minute. I promise," he said, letting go of her hand.

Cuddy looked at him bewildered, and was going to say something, but he had his back turned and was closing he sliding door that separated the room from the corridor.

House limped up to the ICU circulation desk. He looked around for a newspaper but then remembered that Cameron saying that all the papers had been removed from the Intensive Care Unit.

Dammit! He cursed under his breath.

"Can I help you, House?" a nurse, who had just appeared behind the desk, asked.

"Yea. I'm looking for the newspaper."

"We were asked not to give any out on this floor."

"I know but…" House lowered his voice. "She needs to know."

The nurse's expression softened. "Of course," she said softly. "There's one under—here." She reached over on the other side of the computer on the desk, grabbed a stray newspaper that was poking out from underneath a manila folder, and handed the paper to him. He took the front page, and then handed the rest of the paper back to the nurse. He carefully folded the thin page and put it the back pocket of his jeans.

"No one goes in Dr. Cuddy's room for the next forty five minutes with the exception of myself, Dr. Cameron, Dr. Foreman, or Brenda Lewis. Is that understood?"

The nurse nodded. "Yes, Doctor."

Sorry for the cliffhanger...