Chapter 14: Catch Me When I Fall
Cuddy just sat there and pulled herself back together and then slowly reached down and picked up her phone. She jumped as the door opened and Gabrielle came walking in as she closed the door behind her.
"Look, I'll call Darla, Jane and Frank, Janice, Craig, the Randalls and Vicky! But you should call every one else!" Gabrielle sternly stated into the phone. She was stressed out and very tense. "I know that! But I'm doing everything else here!" Gabrielle closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she ran her hand through her hair. "No. That's just morbid. We came buy her a plot out here," Gabrielle stated as calmly as she could. "What do mean what happened to it!?" she was getting worked up again as she started pacing. "She never bought a plot yet! She's thirty eight! Who the hell goes out and buys a burial plot at thirty eight? It's not like she was planning on dying!"
Cuddy sat back in her chair as she watched Gabrielle go back and forth. She had figured out what the phone call was about and what was going on.
"I know I don't have the money for it! Did you think I was saving up for this! You think that one morning I just woke and thought 'hey, what morbid thing can I start saving up for?' I know that you have a lot of money! So why don't you pull the stick out of your ass and chip in a little? Candice and Henry already offered a few thousand! Every one else is giving and donating while you're sitting over there with your nose in the air! Even I'm putting in a few hundred!" Gabrielle said.
Cuddy just watched her and was starting to feel really bad for her. She saw tears of frustration start to roll down the young girl's cheeks. "Gabrielle," Cuddy quietly called. Gabrielle was about to say something but stopped and turned to Cuddy. She handed it over with out any protest. "Hello? Who is this?" Cuddy asked. "I see… I see." Cuddy looked up and motioned for Gabrielle to go sit on the couch. "Right, so why do leave all the planning to a fifteen year old? Doesn't sound a bit unusual?" Cuddy asked. "Yes, this is Lisa Cuddy. I know Gabrielle because she has been staying around the hospital and we have been talking a lot. I might not know her that well but I'm the one who sees what all this is doing to her!" Cuddy said.
Gabrielle sat on the couch and gave Cuddy a slight smile.
"So? Then get out here and do something about it! Standing there complaining isn't going to do anything!" Cuddy said starting to slightly raise her voice. "Alright then!" she yelled and then hung up. Cuddy sighed and looked over at Gabrielle as she stood up. "Don't do this to yourself," she softly stated.
"What would you do if it was your mother? I mean my age shouldn't keep me from doing what I know should be done. We all have to grow up sometime. Some people just a little earlier than others," Gabrielle explained.
"You're fifteen," Cuddy said.
"Right, and my mom was thirty eight. What difference does age make? If that's old enough to die then I must be old enough to plan a funeral," she said. It was silent for a moment. "Why did you look so scared when I walked in?"
Cuddy lowered her head. "Mike Suder called me. He never went to my house last night since he knew that it could be a set up. He's still after me," she stated.
"Oh," Gabrielle said and then reached for her phone which was still in Cuddy's hands.
"No, this isn't your problem. You've got enough," Cuddy announced.
Gabrielle just coldly stared up at her. "What problem? That my mother died? What does it matter if there's no solution? Just sitting here won't solve anything. Your problem has a solution. Your;s can some how be tricked or caught or something, but mine is dead. There is nothing you can do once some one is dead. They're dead, then they're dead. It's all over, they're out of the game and have no more problems to be solved," Gabrielle explained. She stared up into her eyes for a second. She had to tell her something that would completely eat away at her. "Who do you want out of the game more? You, your unborn child and Rachel, that baby over there that hasn't done anything wrong yet? Or Mike Suder?" she asked.
"Look, I'm not going back to that house without your Father, you don't have anything to worry about," she said. Cuddy hated the thought, and knew that Gabrielle knew exactly what to say to people to get what she wanted, but she felt that she had to put that aside for right now.
"Okay," Gabrielle said as she stood up. She was about to head over to the door, but stopped and smiled at Cuddy. "Thank you," she said.
"Sure," Cuddy said and then gave Gabrielle her phone back.
Gabrielle walked over to the door. She reached down to grab the door knob, but stopped. She slowly turned and looked up at Cuddy. "Remember, how I told you that expecting the worst helps you more than expecting the best?" she asked. Gabrielle looked down and shook her head. "It was definitely less pain than I would have had if I were expecting her to get up and walk out of that room, but I forgot to mention, that there's always pain," she said and then left.
Gabrielle walked down the hall and saw House standing at the elevator. He looked down. "You think you should show that tattoo of your's to your dear Aunt Eloise?" House asked.
Gabrielle softly grinned. "All save it for a while and then tell her that I got it on her time," Gabrielle said.
The elevator door opened and they both stepped in. "You hungry?" House asked.
"I could eat," Gabrielle answered.
"Then I guess I'll steal something off of Wilson's plate for you. Tell him that your mommy and that you haven't been able to stop crying for two days. If could shed a tear right now he would give you just about anything," House said.
"Want me to go for his car?" Gabrielle asked as they stepped onto the main floor.
"Sure, why not?" House asked.
Gabrielle just walked right along side him as they went into the cafeteria. As they sat through lunch, she barely talked. All her thoughts were focused on what was going to happen. Where she would end up. She knew that Aunt Eloise had sent her a plane ticket to go back to Toledo. Other then that, she had no idea.
After lunch, House went back to his office to find Cuddy standing there. "My mistress awaits my arrival," he said as he entered through the glass door.
"House, I need to talk to you," she said. There was a nervousness in her eyes that sent him a signal. The only thing that he didn't know was how nervous and worried she actually was.
"You already told me about the baby," he said as he limped over to his desk.
"That's not it. It's about me and Rachel," she started. She hesitated while she watched House go through a couple different files on his desk. "We're both in danger."
House slowly lifted his head. "What?" he asked. House just stared at her, almost like she was in trouble.
Cuddy bit her lip as she thought about what to tell him. She hated telling him that she was having problems, but she had to now. "I dated him. We never got that close though, well, I backed away from him, but he tried to get closer to me. Long story short, he's after me and he wants to take Rachel." Every muscle in her body tensed as she told him what was going on. She was waiting for it, she was waiting for him to ask her how stupid she was, to ask what the hell she thought that she was doing. His questioning wouldn't have bothered her so much if it was just about her, but she knew t hat he was going to poking at her as a mother, and now that she was going to be the mother of his child, that was the last thing that she wanted him doubting.
House raised his eyebrows and stared at her for a minute. He had to take a minute to comprehend what she was saying. "Well, the latest mister right happens to be a murderer huh? What's next? I mean, after you go so far the only way to go is down, or up in your case," he said. House then walked around his desk and stood before her.
Cuddy just looked up at him. She knew that he was probably thinking a lot worse then what he was saying, but she felt lucky to not know what it was. Her eyes started to water. She kept wanting to say something to him, but didn't know what to say.
"How long?" he asked. His voice now sounded ominous for some reason. His blue eyes were now piercing through her.
"A week. I tried to brake up with him right before Gabrielle set me up with you. We never slept together or anything, so I didn't think that it was going to be that hard. We barely even kissed," Cuddy said. She looked down to avoid his eyes. "At first at he seemed," she was cut off.
"Excuses don't help anything," he stated. He looked her over. "Did he hurt you?" he asked. There was more concern in his voice then he had thought there would be.
Cuddy was about to say no, but caught herself. Right now lying wouldn't help anything. "Yes," she said and then rolled up her sleeve.
House examined it and then looked up into her eyes. "You're staying with me," he said.
"Thank you," she said.
That night, Gabrielle stepped out of the shower. She walked over to the mirror and looked at her hair. The pink was gone. It was blonde again. She still had hair that covered her left eye, so she took the scissors and cut herself bangs. She blew dry her hair and then just stared at herself in the mirror. "This is what you're going to have to get used to," she said to herself. She did look good, it was just that she liked the color in her hair, the longer bangs over the eye. She even did different things with her hair while she was in school. She would randomly curl it, wave it, crimp it, get it cut in layers. Her aunt wouldn't allow that at all. Aunt Eloise wanted her to have hair that was all the same length, straight, and down to her shoulders. "I can't even mess around with my bangs after this," she said and then stepped out into the hallway.
Gabrielle stepped out and smiled. Cuddy and House were sitting on the couch together as Cuddy cradled Rachel in her arms. That right there was what she wanted to be a part of, not some boot camp for beauty that her Aunt was going to put her through.
"Exit Pink, enter Blondie," House remarked as he looked over at her.
Gabrielle just laughed. "You didn't think that I was about to go to my mother's funeral with pink hair did you?" she asked. Gabrielle walked over. She was wearing a big T-shirt and sweat pants. She would probably have to get rid of them once she got over to her Aunt's house. She sat down next to House and held her hand up. "And look at this," she said.
House over dramatically gasped and looked over at Cuddy. "My God, the black color just faded from the girl's nails," he said and then gave her her hand back.
Gabrielle looked down. "You know, we might have had our problems, but Maria was a good mom. She may have been hard to please, but that was only because she expected me to be great. She helped me with my problems. We would bake cakes and play dress up together. She would invite my friends over when ever I felt like having a tea party or anything like that," Gabrielle said. "She might have been at work a lot, but what ever free time she had, she spent it with me."
House looked over. "Don't dwell on the past," he said.
"After I get back Hawaii, it's all I'll have left," she said. There was a long pause. "The main point of being human is to live how we choose, yet every one has the idea that they'll be happy if they can be in charge and run some one else's life. It's rather sickening if you ask me."
"She can't be that bad," Cuddy said.
"Just wait, you'll see. I wouldn't bring Rachel or baby number two to come see her, she might want to enlist them in her very own Hitler's school of the perfect human race," Gabrielle said.
Gabrielle just sat there for a second. She saw the look on Cuddy's face is it slowly fell. There was realization in her eyes. "One would you guess you know the feeling. You're mother didn't die, but you had to go stay with a mean old Aunt didn't you?" Gabrielle asked.
Cuddy looked back up and softly chuckled. "Yeah, my sister and I used to call her the wicked witch of the west. One night we put her fingers into warm water while she slept." Cuddy looked over at Gabrielle. "she didn't act so superior the next day."
House looked over. "I couldn't see you doing that," he smirked.
"Test me," she dared.
"You test me. You've already seen what I can do," House said as he grinned at her.
"Don't forget that I'm still your boss," Cuddy said.
Gabrielle just laughed and rolled her eyes. "Hawkeye and Hotlips go at it again," she remarked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Cuddy asked.
"You two fight in public, but once you two are alone it's straight to bed," Gabrielle said.
House looked over at Cuddy and suggestively smiled. "Maybe we should listen to the wise one," he said.
"Right, just let me get up and leave here," Gabrielle said and then stood up and left the room with a smile on her face.
Thank you to those who have reviewed. I would also like to thank those who have shown their support with my recent loss. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review.