Chapter 21 - For you
"A bad morning?" he asked, sitting down in front of her at the cafeteria table.
"No ..." she replied massaging her temple "Just a busier morning than I expected"
"Problems with the great bosses of the Board?"
"Nothing serious" she replied, shaking her head and taking a forkful of her salad.
She watched House as he took a sip of Coke from her glass making a grimace.
"Tell me why you still keep to take it Light and then you complain about your low blood sugar!" he said looking into her eyes as she hinted a smile
Dr. Ayerman passed close to their table and looked at her.
House looked at him as he walked away from the cafeteria.
"Problems with him?" he asked
"He's an egocentric. A bad surgeon. And I get constant complaints by nurses. Let's say he can't keep his hands off..."
"I know that ..." he said, laughing "A few years ago I blackmailed him and threatened to spill the beans to his wife about his affair with a nurse. I got a liver transplant in return!" he laughed raising an eyebrow
Cuddy glared at him.
"I had to lie to the Transplant Commission to cover you that time!" she said, looking straight into his eyes
"Yeah" he laughs "And you know what, Cuddy? ... I neither slept with you at that time!" He laughed "You always had a weakness for me!" he said with a mischievous look
She smiled and shook her head. And didn't answer. But she kept smiling.
"YOU CAN'T DO IT!" Dr. Ayersman shouted looking at her straight in the eyes.
"Dr. Stuart is a great surgeon and has an excellent CV. I don't care if you are working here longer than him... He's the most qualified for that role. I already have the approval of the Board. He'll be the new Head "she replied calmly
"I earn $ 600,000 a year!"
"I know it. I'm the one who sign your paycheck!" She answered "And that's why I'm going to do better use of the money of my hospital!"
He scowled at her and shook his head, clenching his hands into fists.
"Bitch!" He hissed standing up and throwing the papers in his hand on her desk.
"Watch your language, Dr. Ayersman! I don't tolerate this attitude from my employees!"
"I don't think you ever paid attention to Dr. House's language!" he said with a sharp and, at the same time, mischievous look
She stared at him.
"We're not talking about Dr. House." she replied in a dry and sharp tone.
"What's, Dr. Cuddy? Your tolerance is higher with the ones who get into your pants?!" he hissed looking into her eyes
"AYERMAN!" she yelled, standing up and placing both her hands on the desk, glaring at him "I'm not one of your nurses! Don't you dare talking to me like that!"
"Why?" He answered back unable to control the words coming out from his mouth "How many donors you sleep with to get money for your beloved hospital?"
Cuddy widened her eyes and clenched her lips.
"YOU'RE FIRED!" She hissed. Her tone incredibly firm but sharp didn't allow replies.
"What?"
" YOU . ARE. FIRED!" She repeated articulating slowly those three words
"You can't do it!" he yelled
Oh, sure I can!"she answered, staring at him "You. are. fired! And..."she took a deep breath keeping staring at him "Say just another single word ... and not only I'll make sure of having you kicked out of this hospital, but I'll make sure that you cannot find another job in any other hospital in the East Coast!"
Ayersman slammed his fist on the desk before turning around the desk closer to her.
"Don't you dare!" she intimated
He ignored her and took her by the wrist.
"Get your hands off of me!" she said trying to wriggle out of his hand "Dr. Ayersman!" She continued to hold his gaze, but a flash passed in her gray eyes.
He looked her in the eye, continuing to wring her wrist. He wasn't a large man, but his grip was so strong that he could have break it.
"Get your hands off of me, Ayersman! Or I'll add a charge to your layoff letter!" Her voice was still firm as she tried not to show her fear. She looked calm, but her heart pounded in her chest so hard that she feared he could hear it.
He continued to look at her, but let her go.
Cuddy looked at him for a split second before exiting quickly from her office without looking at him and rubbing her wrist with the other hand.
House saw her as she exited her office. And he didn't miss the look on her face. She was visibly upset. Her lips clenched while she rubbed her wrist.
She walks past him without looking at him but he took her by her arm.
"What happened?" he asked looking at her
"Nothing ..." she said, avoiding his gaze. She didn't want to put on a show nor drawing to herself the nurses' looks.
"Lisa...?"
She looked up at him briefly meeting his gaze.
"What the hell...?" he exclaimed taking her wrist
She wriggled out of his grab quickly without looking at him, and walked quickly down the hallway. The sound of her heels echoed in the hallway. But that quick look was enough for House...
He threw open the door of Cuddy's office. Ayerman was still standing next to her desk.
"I didn't touch her..." he said, raising his hands and backing away when he saw him coming toward him. He had a limp but he was taller than him!
Those words echoed in House's minds as an admission of guilt and he didn't give him time to speak again. He hit him with a strong punch in the face making him stagger and fall to the ground. His nose bled profusely. Ayersman touched his nose and his swollen lip.
"You bastard ... y-you b-broke my nose" he stammered
"DON'T YOU DARE to touch her again! Or I swear, Ayersman, next time you won't manage just with a broken nose!" He said walking out of the door and leaving him on the floor.
Cuddy sat in the women's bathroom. Eyes fixed on a point in front of her.
It had never happened that someone laid a hand on her. In fifteen years at Plainsboro, Dr. Ayerman wasn't the first to call her "a whore" ... but he was the first to lay a hand on
her.
"Lisa..."
She looked up meeting House's eyes and bit her lip.
" Are you okay?" he asked taking her arm to look at her wrist
"It's nothing, Greg ..." she whispered "It's just a bruise..." she said, however hearing her own voice cracking ...
House brushed her skin with his fingers. He could clearly see the marks of that bastard's fingers on her wrist. Shades of purple and violet.
"Does it hurt?" he asked moving her wrist
She didn't answer and shrugged, shaking her head without looking at him in the eye.
He looked at her and pulled her in his arms, holding her tightly. He knew that it was not her wrist to ache. He knew that her pride was hurt more than her wrist. As Dean of Medicine she had often to deal with men like Ayersman but she had always been respected.
"I don't know what got into him..." she said without breaking away from his hug "I never liked him... but he never was a violent man."
House didn't talk and continued to stroke her back.
"I was afraid ..." she whispered without looking up at him "It never happened ..." she said "In many years... not even with you ... neither when you were not my boyfriend ... I argued with you more that with anyone else in my life, but never ... never ... I was never afraid that you could lay your hands on me ... "
"Because... I could never have laid hands on you, Cuddy ..." he said kissing her hair "But now... my hands are making up for lost time ..." he said laughing, trying to break the tension
She laughed hugging him closer before raising her head to look at him. He kissed her forehead and then her lips, cupping her face and stroking it with his thumb.
"What happened to your hand?" She asked noticing the blood on his knuckles
"My fist had a chance encounter with Ayersman's nose" he replied smiling slightly as she widened her eyes
"W-what?"
"Don't worry. He won't press charge!" he said looking into her eyes again "You should press charge on him!"
She didn't answer and continued to look at him.
She kissed him lightly on the lips savoring the touch of his lips on hers.
"Let's go home." She whispered.
He watched her as he exited the bathroom. She sat on the bed with her back against the pillow. One hand resting on her abdomen and a book in the other one, but she wasn't reading. Her eyes were fixed on that page, but her mind was elsewhere.
He laid down next to her taking her book from her hand and putting an arm around her shoulders. She looked at him with the hint of a smile and rested her head on him.
"Are you still thinking about that idiot?"
She didn't answer but intertwined the fingers of her hand with those of his, moving closer to him and resting her head on his chest as he stroked her arm.
"Thank you" she said after a minute of silence
"For what?" he asked, kissing her hair
"I always dreamed about a knight fighting for me" she laughed kissing his chest
He smiled and kissed her hair again
"At your service, milady!" He replied laughing "...but... I never heard about a prince charming with a limp in fairy tales!" he laughed again
She lifted her head to look into his eyes
"Honestly ..." she said, brushing his lips with hers "it's the last thing I see when I look at you ..."
She didn't look away as he opened his lips allowing her tongue to touch his. She savored that kiss, closing her eyes for a moment, but then opening them to look at him again. She met the blue of his eyes and smiled "... it's the last thing I see" she repeated on his lips "... and I love you to death."
...thank you to everyone who spent a moment to leave a review...I really love them! And thank you to you all!