HI EVERYONE!

THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR WONDERFUL POSTS!! I RESPONDED TO ALL OF THEM.

HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :-)


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CHAPTER 36: Please read and comment.

Chase and Sophie headed as fast as they could down the hallway of the OB/ Gyn wing to see House slowly exiting Dr. Sobol's office with a dazed expression on his face.

"House!" Chase called out.

House slowly looked up to see Chase and Sophie coming towards him, his hand still on the door handle as he closed the door behind him.

He felt like he was dreaming.

He slowly made his way over to the charge nurse's station in the middle of the hallway.

"House, what happened?" Chase demanded anxiously upon reaching him .

House gazed at him with blank eyes.

"I have to call the OR," House said.

"What happened?" Sophie asked evenly.

House turned his head a little too slowly towards Sophie, noticing that her tone was decidedly calmer than Chase's.

"… I… have to schedule a D & C," he replied.

Chase felt his heart sink into his stomach at House's words.

"She miscarried," Chase said, barely above a whisper.

But Sophie remained completely stoic and silent.

"Oh god. House, I'm so sorry—" Chase continued apologetically.

"Why? Did YOU do it?" House snapped at him.

Chase flinched at House's outburst, pulling back ever so slightly.

Sophie merely rubbed her neck and looked at the linoleum tile beneath her feet.

House stuck his tongue between his lips and limped over to the charge nurse's desk, Chase and Sophie following him close behind.

But as he reached over to pick up the phone, Sophie immediately put her hand over his.

"Don't call the OR," she ordered him.

House looked down at her hand and then back up at her.

"Get your hand off me," he said gruffly, ready to shake it off.

"Dr. Sobol can do a D & C in his office. There's no reason why she has to be wheeled down on a bed to the OR so everyone can stare at her and gossip. She can recover in there, too," Sophie insisted, her voice authoritative.

Chase was genuinely surprised at Sophie's assertiveness with House.

But his eyes almost popped out of his head when House nodded in agreement.

"Go back inside with her," Sophie told him a bit more gently.

House gazed into Sophie's eyes, his own cerulean eyes full of despair and uncertainty.

House then finally took his hand off the phone and went back inside, leaving Chase and Sophie in the hallway.

Sophie sank down on a nearby couch, crossing her legs and folding her arms tightly across her chest. Chase slowly sat down next to her.

They didn't say anything to each other for a few moments.

Sophie stared at some random space on Sobol's office door, while Chase looked down at the floor, his lips pressed together, having no idea what to say to her.

"…You gonna stay here?" he finally asked in a soft voice.

She nodded, saying nothing, still staring at the office door.

"She… might not want to see anyone after the procedure," Chase said gently.

"If she doesn't want to see anyone, then I won't go in," she replied simply.

Chase nodded a bit, growing quiet once again.

"You want me to stay with you?" he offered, turning towards her, hoping that she would at least look in his general direction.

"I don't care what you do," she said without any emotion at all, refusing to turn her head towards him.

"… Sophie, please—" he pleaded, feeling his heart ache.

"If you want to stay for Cuddy, then stay. But DON'T stay for me," she stated flatly, snapping her head around towards him, her eyes blazing.

Chase flinched again, feeling as if she'd slapped him.

"…I'll come back to the house later to pack a few things," she mumbled, turning away from him once more.

Chase felt his bottom lip began to quiver uncontrollably, aware that she had said "the house" instead of "home."

He bit his lip hard in an effort to control his emotions.

But when she returned her focus back to the door, Chase got up and limped away from her down the hallway, wiping a stray tear brusquely out of his eye as he did so.

She turned to watch him leave, a hollow, empty feeling spreading throughout her chest.

But she didn't cry.


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Around two hours after Sobol had performed the D & C, Cuddy was still in Sobol's office, having been transferred to another bed.

She was still in a hospital gown, sitting half- way up on the bed, half- listening to Sobol telling her about what to expect of her recovery.

House was sitting on a stool next to her, his chin leaning on his cane, just as silent as she was.

"You can return to work and any other normal activities in a few days. You might even feel good enough to return to non- strenuous activity in 24 hours…" he began.

Cuddy wasn't even looking in his direction.

She was looking absentmindedly out the side window.

It was a beautiful day outside. There was a large maple tree in view, a slight breeze causing the leaves to sway on it's branches.

She'd never really noticed how all the leaves seemed to sway in the same direction all together until that moment.

As if the wind was guiding them in a dance and that every leaf knew all the steps.

"…You might have painful cramping, but it shouldn't last for longer than 24 hours. If you have light cramping and bleeding, that's normal, and it could last up to two weeks. You can take ibuprofen for the pain—" Sobol continued.

"How long until we can try again?" House asked suddenly, his chin still leaning on his cane.

Sobol paused for a moment, slightly surprised by House's question.

He glanced at Cuddy to see her response.

But there was none.

She kept her gaze on the window, losing herself in nature's choreography.

"… You… shouldn't have sex for at least two weeks. Maybe longer if the bleeding continues past that. We'll have to do an ovulation test to confirm—" Sobol began carefully.

"We're not trying again," Cuddy suddenly said, her voice sounding very far away, not turning away from the window.

House snapped his head around to face her, shocked.

He then turned his attention to Sobol, shooting him a pointed look, his eyes begging the other doctor to help him out and tell Cuddy that she was being ridiculous.

"…I'll make your follow up appointment. You'll be discharged in a few hours," was all that Sobol said before leaving the room.

For a few minutes, neither House nor Cuddy said anything.

Cuddy was still gazing out the window.

House turned on the stool to face the bed and leaned closer to her.

"You're just upset right now. Once you're better, we can start trying—" he began.

Cuddy cut him off by lowering the bed and lying on her side, facing away from him, curling up her legs as close to a fetal position as she could do at the moment.

"The fact that you lost the pregnancy is a GOOD thing. It means your body knew what it had to do and it means that you CAN STILL GET PREGNANT," House said insistently.

"Can't you just let me be sad instead of giving me the reality of the situation?" Cuddy asked, her voice quavering.

House drew in a breath and let it out.

"You want to grieve," he stated.

"And you think that's STUPID, because I was only at seven weeks and it couldn't have survived outside the womb anyway—" she spat out in disgust.

"I didn't say that," he interrupted softly.

Cuddy let out a curt laugh, refusing to turn to face him.

"I just… don't want you to be upset," he said, his voice gruff once more.

At this, Cuddy slowly turned around to face him, lying on her other side.

"You want to fix it," Cuddy said.

"… Yes," he admitted.

"Well you CAN'T," she stated bluntly.

House felt a horrible chill surge through him. His leg throbbed more insistently.

She turned to lie on her back, gazing out the window once more.

"Can you just… leave me alone for a while?" she asked in a meek voice.

He paused, his eyes trailing over her.

He then nodded and left the room.


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When House exited Cuddy's room, he found Sophie sitting on the couch in front of Dr. Sobol's office, her elbows leaning on both her knees her head in her hands.

The sound of House closing the door behind him caused her to look up.

"How's she doing?" Sophie asked House.

"She's devastated," he replied, taking a seat next to her on the couch.

Sophie nodded in reply, returning her gaze to the floor.

"I… told her we could try again—" House began.

"She doesn't want to hear that," Sophie interrupted in a raspy voice.

"Is that what the doctor told you after your miscarriage?" House asked.

Sophie turned to look at him, the surprise evident on her face that he was able to deduce that she had a miscarriage.

"You wouldn't have stuck around unless you'd been there," House told her, reading her mind.

Sophie exhaled, leaning back against the couch.

"It was different for me. I didn't even know I was pregnant. I wasn't even trying. It was an accident," she said.

House nodded.

"Where's Chase?" he asked.

"He went—" Sophie began, suddenly stopping herself.

She was about to say "he went home."

But then she realized that their home wasn't going to be HER home anymore.

"He left," she corrected herself.

House glanced at her left hand and noticed that her engagement ring was missing.

"Looks like you left, too," he commented.

She didn't answer him.

"What happened?" House asked.

Sophie stared at him, remaining silent.

She then got up from the couch and went into Cuddy's room, leaving House sitting on the bench by himself.


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Cuddy was lying on her side when Sophie came in, still staring out the window.

Sophie sat down next to her bed and gave her a melancholy smile, holding out her hand.

Cuddy slowly placed her hand in hers.

"It's ok to cry," Sophie told her, her voice full of love and understanding, squeezing Cuddy's hand back.

And for the first time that day, Cuddy burst into tears.

Sophie immediately climbed onto the bed and held her tight, while Cuddy's body was wracked with her sobs.

House looked through the window and watched Sophie comforting Cuddy, feeling completely helpless and useless as the woman he loved cried her eyes out to his best friend's sister.

After a few moments, he limped down the hallway and took out his cell phone, pressing the speed dial for one of his contacts.

"Dr. Milton," Cate said on the other end after two rings.

"It's House," House said.

"House. To what do I owe the pleasure of a weekend phone call?" Cate said teasingly.

"I'm canceling my sessions," he stated flatly.

At this, Cate laughed out loud.

"Found something else to do on Monday mornings at 8:30? Calisthenics, perhaps?" she quipped.

"Cuddy lost the baby," he said, his voice still devoid of any emotion.

Cate's breath caught in her throat, immediately feeling regret at what she had just said.

"Oh god…I'm… I'm so sorry—" she began.

"The only reason why I was going to you for therapy was to be a better father," House stated bluntly.

"Now that I'm never GOING to be a father, there's no reason for me to be paying three- hundred a session to hear you ask me how I feel about things," he added in the same tone.

"… H- House—" Cate stammered, clearly thrown by House's statement.

He hung up before she could get a word in edgewise.

He held the phone to his lips for a moment.

He then opened it up and pressed another speed dial from his contacts list.

"What's up?" Wilson asked, after picking up on the other end.

"Cuddy lost the baby," House said, his voice cracking at the end of his sentence.

There was silence on the other end for a moment.

"…Where are you?" Wilson finally asked gravely.

"The hospital. She's recovering from a D & C in Sobol's office," House replied, trying to get control of his voice without having much luck.

"I'll be there in ten minutes," Wilson told him before hanging up.

TBC…