Everybody Needs Somebody to Love

Cameron couldn't help but realize that ever since Grace's recovery, things had definitely been looking up in her life. There was, of course, the fact that her sister was still coming to visit today. Cameron wasn't exactly sure how she and Charlie would get along, but hopefully they wouldn't drag Grace into the middle of it. And, there was also the fact that she and Greg still seemed to be having issues. Well, maybe she should take Ray up on her advice and try talking to the man. Well, before Cameron could go to House, though, House came to her.

Cameron was busy watching Grace as she played with what she only assumed to be House's PSP when House entered the room with two coffees in hand. She smiled lightly at him, hoping to ease the tension just a little bit. It worked too; House returned the gesture.

"Where's your dad?" asked House.

Without taking her eyes from the screen Grace answered House's question. "He and Ally went to get some coffee at the cafeteria."

"Isn't your mom supposed to be here soon?"

"She's coming later today," replied Grace. "Her plane was delayed."

House nodded. He turned his attention to Cameron. "Can we talk?"

Cameron sighed; partly in relief and partly in anticipation for what was to come of this talk. "Yeah, sure."

Cameron followed House into a waiting room.

&&&&&

House hadn't been much help to Wilson. He still didn't know really what to do about Cuddy being pregnant. He had known for a while that she was trying, and he'd always thought in the back of his mind what he would do if she had ever asked him to be a sperm donor. He knew their first dinner wasn't a date, though he wished it kind of were. And that's when he realized that he would have said yes. He would have donated sperm to Cuddy, if only she had asked him. Why hadn't she asked him? No, she went to House. Why did she go to him first, and then House? Was he easier to talk to? Was he a safer choice? Well, Wilson had a family history of cancer, but not much else. House… well, House had his own problems. That's for sure. Wilson tried to comprehend Cuddy's actions, but then he realized that he would never be able to understand Cuddy fully. After all, she was a woman. Instead, he decided it would be easier to just ask her himself.

When Wilson got to Cuddy's office, she was chatting away with Nurse Brenda. Wilson wasn't sure if he should intrude or not. Right as he began to turn away, though, Cuddy smiled and waved him in. Wilson turned back around and entered her office.

"Hey," he greeted them. "How's it going?"

"Good," said Cuddy with a light-hearted smile. "We're just looking at new applicants."

"Applicants?"

"For my assistant."

Wilson suddenly remembered the empty desk. "Oh… right."

Cuddy chuckled lightly and began shuffling through papers again. "Hey Brenda, could Dr. Wilson and I speak privately for a moment?"

Brenda smiled and nodded before leaving the office. She gave Wilson a wink on the way out as if to say, "I know something you think I don't." Wilson couldn't help but wonder how much Cuddy had told her, though. He'd decided not to talk to Brenda unless absolutely necessary. Knowing him, he'd let something slip that he shouldn't.

Cuddy put her papers down and smiled at Wilson. "So what's up?"

Wilson thought briefly before taking a seat across from Cuddy at her desk.

&&&&&

Ray returned to her post in the research lab and immediately began working, but she could sense something was wrong. She looked over the counter and realized that Whitner was watching her closely. Something was obviously on her mind.

"What's up?" she asked Whitner.

Whitner thought carefully before speaking. "What's with you and Dr. Wilson?"

"What?"

"He came by to see you earlier; I told him you were with Cameron in the cafeteria."

Ray thought carefully before speaking. "We were dating, but we broke up."

"Why?"

Ray smirked. "He wanted one thing, and I wanted another." Well, she wouldn't reveal that the 'one thing' was another woman.

Whitner nodded. "What about House?"

"What about him?"

Whitner eyed the young and pretty molecular psychiatrist. There was something she was hiding. "There's something you aren't telling me about him."

Ray sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"Have you ever dated him?"

Ray laughed. "No."

"But you did know him before you came to PPTH…."

This was almost too fun for Ray to let it end. "Yeah, I knew him."

"Did you go to college with him?"

"I went to the same college as him." Well, maybe not at the same time. And of course, she didn't get kicked out like he had.

"So you would know Dr. Cuddy before you came here too, then?" Whitner thought she was hitting it close. "Is that how you got your job here? The same way as House?"

Now that was almost insulting. "No, I had never met Cuddy before coming here."

With that, Ray began working again as if to indicate that their conversation was over. Whitner accepted this… for now. She definitely was curious about the Grant-House relationship though.

&&&&&

As soon as House and Cameron were seated in the waiting room, House handed her one of the cups of coffee that he had. Cameron accepted it gratefully.

"So what did you want to talk about?" she asked.

House always hated starting these conversations. "I'm sorry for how I acted last night."

Cameron nodded. Honestly, she felt worse about the whole situation. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry that I blamed you for Grace's illness. And I'm sorry I practically ignored you. And I'm sorry that I yelled at you. And… most of all, I'm sorry I stayed on that case."

House looked at Cameron curiously.

"You just kept me on the case because you didn't want to hurt my feelings, but I should have taken more initiative and realized that I should have been the one holding Grace's hand, not the one trying to treat her. I'm sorry I blamed you for that, and I won't let it happen again, okay?"

Well, this came as a shocker to House. He didn't have much of a response, so he just nodded. Cameron smiled in return.

"Are we okay?" she asked.

House nodded slightly as he used his cane to stand up. "Yeah."

Cameron informed House that she would be gone the rest of the afternoon since she had to pick up Angela at the airport. House was upset that he would have to do his own clinic hours, but he decided he would live. And with that, the two went their separate ways for the afternoon.

&&&&&

As soon as Chase saw House limping down the halls, he pulled the new ICU nurse from New Orleans, Katie, under the counter of the Nurse's Station so that House would not see them. Chase wanted to talk to Katie, and he didn't want House interrupting them. And he knew that if House saw them, he would.

"Why are we under the counter?" whispered Katie with a giggle.

"House is walking down the hall."

"You're hiding from House?"

"I want to talk to you, and House is bound to interrupt if he sees us."

Katie chuckled at her boyfriend. "Well, as long as we're down her, why don't we talk?"

Chase smiled and peered above the counter quickly. It appeared that House was walking down the halls and towards the elevators. Maybe he was actually on his way to do his own clinic hours today! Relieved, Chase pulled Katie back into their original standing position.

Katie smiled. "So what did you want to tell me?"

"Well," started Chase with a smile. "I haven't cleared it with House yet, but…." At this moment, Chase pulled two envelopes out of the pocket of his lab coat.

"What are these?" asked Katie with a curious glance. She had a feeling of what might be inside them, but she was eager to confirm. She opened one envelope to find a round-trip ticket to Australia in it. She let out a large squeal before hugging Chase.

"I take it you like my surprise?"

Katie nodded. "Australia? Does this mean I get to meet the family?"

Chase chuckled. "Well, my little sister has been calling me trying to get me to come to her 18th birthday party. I kept telling her that I was too busy with you and work, but she finally talked me into coming. I thought you might like to see Australia."

Katie grinned. "I'd love to come!" She hugged Chase again before pulling back to look at her ticket; she had to make sure it was still there. Yup, it was reality. She was going to take a trip to Australia! "I can't believe I'm going to Australia!"

Chase chuckled at his girlfriend's eagerness to meet the family. He wasn't quite as eager himself, but he always did have a soft-spot for his little sister, Carly. Sure, she was only his half-sister, but she was a lot better than his step-sister. That was for sure.

&&&&&

Cameron waited outside the gate for her sister to arrive. As soon as she saw Angela Carter, though, she immediately ran up to her and gave her a quick hug. Cameron took her bag from her so Angi would only have to worry about her suitcase.

"It's so good to see you," said Cameron quickly.

"Oh, it's only been a few weeks, and I missed you already, Al." Angi grinned. "So, I got a call from Ally."

Cameron frowned at the simple mention of the name.

Angi frowned slightly too, but she didn't want to think about that right now. "She said that House knew what was wrong with her?" Angi seemed on edge.

Cameron's frown turned into a smile as she nodded. "Yeah, she's on the treatment right now. She's feeling much better."

Angi sighed. "Oh, that's so good to hear. I can't wait to see her. It's been hell being away from her."

Cameron completely understood. "My car's in the garage. We can drop your bags off at my place first if you want. And then we can go to the hospital."

"That sounds great," replied Angi.

The two walked off towards Cameron's car in the parking garage.

&&&&&

As House walked up to the Nurse's Station in the Clinic, he noticed Wilson inside Cuddy's office. They were apparently deep in conversation. House was just relieved that he didn't have to deal with Wilson's problems anymore. It looked like he and Cuddy were working things out.

"Dr. House signs in at 2:36," he said to Brenda, his eyes still on Cuddy's door. "Make sure you write that down."

Brenda looked at the clock on the wall. "It's 2:31."

"Close enough."

"You're trying to get out of five minutes of clinic duty?"

"Does that surprise you?"

Brenda rolled her eyes as she wrote down 2:30 as House's sign-in time. She handed him a clip board. "Exam Room 2."

House took the clip board, but he couldn't help but wonder something. "What are they talking about?" If anyone knew, it would be the gossipy Nurse Brenda.

Brenda couldn't help herself. She grinned. "I think they're getting back together."

House looked at her coyly. He had to pretend he didn't know anything. "When were they… together?"

Brenda smirked. "So Dr. Wilson didn't tell you?"

House assumed that Brenda didn't know about Cuddy's pregnancy yet, or she'd be spilling her guts about that too. Instead of responding to the nurse, he just limped off to Exam Room 2.

&&&&&

Grace was still completely absorbed in the racing game that Greg had let her play on his PSP when she heard the door open. She assumed it was just her father and Ally returning from the cafeteria, but to her surprise, it wasn't.

"Grace, sweetie!" Angi ran over to her daughter and gave her a quick kiss on the head and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Oh, Sweetheart, I'm so glad you're okay."

Grace turned off the PSP and looked up at her mother. "I told you I would be, remember?"

Angi laughed lightly and nodded. "Yeah, I do, but you didn't have to scare me like that."

Grace smirked. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself."

Angi chuckled. She released her daughter from the hug and pulled back to get a good look at her. She looked good. She was definitely getting healthier. When she turned back to look at her sister, though, she saw Charlie and Ally walking their way. They turned around immediately, though, upon seeing Angi's glance.

"When are you going to tell her?" whispered Cameron.

"Not now," said Angi with a tear.

"Tell me what?" asked Grace.

Angela took one last look at her daughter before leaving the room to go talk to Charlie.

&&&&&

Wilson and Cuddy spent nearly an hour that afternoon talking about… everything. Wilson had apologized for cheating on her with Ray. Cuddy seemed to understand. She even accepted his apology, though she also told him that it would take her a long time to ever regain her trust. This didn't surprise him. Cuddy confessed that she had originally wanted him to be her sperm donor, but she didn't know how to ask him. She always hoped that there would be something more between them, and she didn't want this to come between them. Wilson was relieved to find out that that was why she had asked House before him. At that moment, Wilson realized that he was definitely ready for whatever was to come between them. He was ready to be with Cuddy (and only Cuddy), and he was ready for this child.

"Thank you so much," said Cuddy as a tear of joy slid down her cheek. She pulled Wilson into a loving embrace.

Wilson returned the hug. "No, thank you… Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for letting me be there for you. Just… thank you so much."

Cuddy chuckled. She loved when he was speechless. When she released Wilson from the hug, she smiled at him once more before concluding the conversation. "Now, go do your clinic duty."