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HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.
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CHAPTER 37: Please read and comment.
Less than ten minutes later, Wilson headed down the OB/ Gyn hallway to find House sitting down on the couch outside Dr. Sobol's office. His cane was propped up between his legs and his chin was leaning on it heavily.
House didn't even bother looking up at Wilson once he reached him.
"Where's Cuddy?" Wilson asked.
"Inside," House said, slowly jutting his chin forwards, still focusing on the floor.
"…Why are you out here instead of in there?" he asked, furrowing his brow.
"Sophie's in there," House replied.
"And… you think that Sophie should be comforting Cuddy instead of you?" Wilson asked, becoming even more confused.
"Sophie's been through this. I haven't. How the he11 am I supposed to know what she's feeling?" House muttered.
Wilson felt like he slipped into the twilight zone.
"House… my sister's never had a miscarriage," Wilson said, shaking his head in complete bewilderment.
House raised his eyebrows ever so slightly as he finally turned to face Wilson.
"Well… she seems to THINK she has…" House began.
"… Which means she's either been hallucinating the last two years of her life, or she lied to you, too," he finished.
"What do you mean, 'too?'" Wilson said, his head spinning by this point.
In spite of himself, House chuckled slightly.
"Seems like Sophie's got a LOT to tell you," he said, focusing on the floor again.
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While Wilson was trying to decipher House's cryptic responses, Sophie was still sitting next to Cuddy in her recovery room in Sobol's office.
"How did you feel when it happened to you?" Cuddy asked her.
"Confused," Sophie admitted.
"I pretty much had a new emotion every five seconds. Sadness… anger… relief…" she said with a weak laugh.
"You were relieved?" Cuddy asked, arching her eyebrow.
"I got pregnant by accident, and I was a first year med student. In reality, there was no way I was ready for a baby," Sophie said with a shrug.
"…But part of me was still sad that I didn't get to make that choice on my own. The choice was made FOR me," she added.
Cuddy nodded thoughtfully. "…How'd you get over it?" she asked.
"I didn't. I got past it," Sophie clarified.
"Ok… how'd you do that?" Cuddy asked.
"I threw myself into my work. Spent time with friends and family. Played a lot of poker," Sophie replied.
"Distractions," Cuddy said, understanding her point.
"Yep," she said, nodding in agreement.
"And… it worked. Ranked top of my class that year and I made a lot of bank," Sophie added.
Cuddy let out a half- hearted chuckle. "You think you can help me brush up on my poker skills?" Cuddy said with a weak smile.
Sophie smiled in kind. "Sure," she said.
Cuddy was only able to keep her own smile on her face for a moment longer until another wave of melancholy washed over her.
"… I feel like a failure as a woman," Cuddy confessed, her voice cracking as she spoke.
"I know," Sophie said, placing her hand on top of hers.
"But you're NOT," she stated softly, but firmly.
Cuddy pursed her lips together and began to turn her head away from Sophie, tears welling up in her eyes.
But Sophie squeezed her hand hard, forcing Cuddy to look her way again.
"Did you know that when I first met Robbie, I thought he was dating you?" Sophie asked.
Cuddy paused for a moment before laughing out loud at Sophie's question.
"You DID?!" Cuddy asked.
"You both came for lunch at O 'Sullivans while you were on that medical conference last October," Sophie reminded her.
"…I remember. He made me order that huge burger," she said.
"You were all dressed up in your suit. You looked amazing… and I thought you were his girlfriend… because I thought it was only natural that a hot guy like Robbie would be dating a beautiful and successful looking woman like you," Sophie admitted.
Despite how devastated she was feeling, Cuddy did feel flattered at Sophie's words.
"Do you have any idea how much I look up to you?" Sophie asked her sincerely.
"You run this entire hospital. You're one of three female Deans of Medicine in the country. You're strong, confident and you maintain your and femininity in a man's world," Sophie continued.
"… I wish that was enough to make me feel better," Cuddy mumbled.
"I didn't say it to make you feel better. I said it to remind you that you're ANYTHING but a failure as a woman," Sophie said.
"…Greg thinks we should try again," Cuddy told her after a thoughtful pause.
"I agree with him," Sophie said without missing a beat.
Cuddy let out a heavy breath. "… I don't know—" she began wearily.
"Lisa, you can still have children and I know you still want to," Sophie interrupted her.
"Look, I know I'm not as good a poker player as you are, but one thing I do know is that you can't lose what you don't put in the middle," Cuddy said flatly.
"True…" Sophie began, trying her best to hold back a smile.
"…But you can't win much either," she added.
Upon hearing this, Cuddy raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah, I saw 'Rounders,' too," Sophie said, now grinning.
Cuddy and Sophie stared at each other for only a moment before they both started laughing out loud.
As she laughed, Sophie placed her left hand on her chest.
And when she did, Cuddy stopped laughing.
"Where's your engagement ring?" Cuddy suddenly asked her, noticing Sophie's empty ring finger.
At this, Sophie immediately looked down at her hand.
"… I…" she stammered.
But before she could say anything, Wilson entered the room.
"Hey," he said gently, with a sweet smile on of his face.
"Hi," Cuddy replied, matching his smile, a feeling of warmth spreading through her at his presence.
Wilson crossed the room, sat down on the bed and pulled her close for a hug. As she hugged him back, the tears threatened to escape again.
They held each other for a moment. Cuddy buried her face against his shirt, while Wilson gently rubbed her back.
"I'm so sorry," Wilson said sincerely.
Cuddy nodded backed up a bit, wiping her eyes and the bottom of her nose with her fingertips.
"You know, your sister's an incredible young woman," Cuddy said.
Wilson nodded with a smile, knowing that despite what Cuddy was going through, that he needed to talk to Sophie..
"You don't mind if I borrow this incredible young woman for a little while, do you?" he asked in a charming fashion.
"No, not at all," Cuddy said.
Wilson then kissed the top of Cuddy's forehead and he and Sophie left the room.
When they exited Sobol's office, they saw that House was still sitting outside on the same couch.
"House…" Sophie said, causing him to look up.
"…Maybe you should go in there with her," she suggested tentatively.
House gazed at the door to Sobol's office, feeling an overwhelming sensation of dread consume him.
But he didn't get up off the couch.
"…Let's take a walk," Wilson said to Sophie.
Sophie glanced at House, expecting him to stand up and go into Sobol's office.
But when he remained sitting, Wilson jut his chin down the direction of the hallway at her, letting her know to leave House alone.
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Almost ten minutes later, Sophie had told Wilson the entire story about how she'd gotten pregnant accidentally during med school, how she'd had a miscarriage and how her procedure had left her infertile.
Wilson listened in silence, completely stunned.
"…How come you never told me about this?" he finally asked.
"I remember when we were younger, mom and dad were furious when they found out I was playing cards pro…" she began.
"They were ready to lock me up until I was forty, and you defended me. You were even proud of me that I had such skills," she reminded him.
Wilson nodded, smiling a bit at the memory.
"And I remember how proud of me you were when I got into med school…" she continued.
"…I just… didn't want you to be disappointed in me," she mumbled with a shrug.
"You had a miscarriage. Why would I be disappointed in you?" he asked her.
"When I was younger, you were the one who taught me about sex. You drilled into me how important it was to use protection… and the one time I didn't…." she said, trailing off, regret and shame rising inside her.
But she shrugged it off.
"I made mom and dad swear not to tell you," she said.
Wilson nodded in understanding, placing his hand on top of hers on her lap.
As she felt the warmth of her brother's hand on hers, she frowned, her lower lip starting to quiver.
"…You think Debbie would mind if I stayed with you guys for a little while?" Sophie asked in a small voice before she started to sob.
At that moment, Wilson realized that Sophie had no idea that he and Debbie had called off their engagement.
But as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight while she cried, he decided that now wasn't the right time to tell her.
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Later that day, Wilson accompanied House and Cuddy back to their home.
Even though she was feeling achy, exhausted and miserable, Cuddy refused any help as she entered the foyer.
"I'm going to change and lie down," she said, heading for the bedroom.
"…You want some help?" House offered gruffly.
"No," she said, the tiredness evident in her voice, shaking her head.
"You want some chamomile tea?" Wilson asked.
House popped his eyebrows up at Wilson.
"Thank you, that'd be nice," she admitted.
Wilson nodded and headed into the kitchen while Cuddy trudged off to the bedroom.
House remained motionless in the hallway, watching the two of them go off in separate directions before eventually joining Wilson in the kitchen.
"You're making tea," House stated as Wilson began to fill up the teakettle that Cuddy kept on the stove.
"She wants some," Wilson said.
"She didn't KNOW she wanted some until you offered," House pointed out, taking a seat at his kitchen table.
"Fine. I'm making tea because it's a good excuse for me to stick around in case you feel like doing that talking thing," Wilson said in exasperation.
House watched Wilson turn the stove on to boil the water and open the cabinet above his head to take out an olive green mug.
"So what happened between Sophie and Chase?" House asked. "They broke up. She's staying with me. Where does Cuddy keep the tea bags?" Wilson asked, looking through Cuddy's other cabinets.
"He broke up with her because she had a miscarriage?" House asked with a grimace.
"SHE broke it off with HIM," Wilson clarified, finally finding a box of chamomile tea in one of the cabinets.
House kept his perplexed expression on his face.
"If you really want to know the rest, ask them," Wilson stated.
"So… does that mean both Wilson weddings are off?" House asked.
Wilson paused and exhaled deeply, having forgotten about his current situation with Debbie during all of this.
"…Yeah, I guess so," Wilson replied.
"So basically, everything sucks," House muttered, staring down at the table top.
"Pretty much," Wilson agreed, nodding his head slowly.
The two men stayed quiet for a moment as Wilson placed a tea bag in the empty mug, waiting for the water to heat up.
"I told Lisa we should try again," House mumbled softly, keeping his eyes on the table.
"You really think that's what she wanted to hear?" Wilson asked, rather surprised at his friend's admission.
"It's what she NEEDED to hear," House replied.
"Maybe in a few months from now. Not the same day she lost the baby," Wilson argued.
House was in no mood to argue at the moment. Instead, he remained silent for a little while longer.
"I cancelled my therapy sessions," he finally said.
Wilson turned his head sharply at House, his eyebrows popping up.
"Figure I could get in touch with my feelings on my own," House added with sarcasm, deflecting his own feelings with expertise.
"Masturbation isn't therapy," Wilson muttered.
"Tell that to six billion people on this planet," House volleyed.
"You weren't only going to therapy because Lisa was pregnant. You have deeper issues," Wilson stated.
"And they're going to STAY deep," House told him with an angry edge to his voice.
"Why?" Wilson demanded.
"Because the only way that Cuddy is going to get over this is if I forget about my own issues and focus on hers!!" he blurted out, abruptly getting out of the chair and knocking it over behind him in the process.
Wilson froze.
"You… you're SERIOUS?" he asked in shock.
"… Isn't that what you do when you love someone?" House asked, his tone becoming gruff once more.
Wilson felt as if he was waking from a dream.
"The water's boiling," House pointed out, jutting his chin at the teakettle.
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Later that night, Wilson padded barefoot towards his front door, wearing pajama pants and a white t- shirt to the sound of persistent knocking.
"House, go home to Cuddy," Wilson declared from the other side of the door before opening it.
But upon opening the door, Wilson was genuinely surprised to see Chase standing on the other side with an incredibly forlorn expression on his face.
"Can I talk to Sophie?" Chase asked.
Wilson hesitated, glancing at the floor uncomfortably.
"I don't know if she's in the mood to talk right now…" Wilson said.
"Let him in," Sophie said, standing a few feet behind her brother.
Wilson turned around to see Sophie behind him, wearing a pair of soft cotton blue pajama pants and a heather grey t- shirt, her hair pulled back in a ponytail.
Her arms were folded across her chest as she stared at Chase with a serene expression.
He immediately noticed that she was still wearing the Tiffany key pendant that he had given to her as a gift when she'd moved in with him.
His heart leaped in his chest, taking it as a hopeful sign.
At this, Wilson backed up to let Chase in. He limped through the entrance to Wilson's apartment, feeling anxious and awkward as he did so.
"… I'll leave you two alone," Wilson said, before retreating to his bedroom.
Chase and Sophie remained standing, staring at each other.
"What do you want?" she finally asked coolly.
"Sophie, you were right," Chase said contritely.
Sophie kept her gaze on him and her arms folded across her chest, a curt little laugh escaped her lips.
"I was right," she repeated sardonically.
"Yes. We can always adopt—" Chase began.
"Oh shut UP!" she interrupted him wearily, slapping her hands down in frustration, her entire body slumping in defeat.
"You said it yourself. You don't care about that. All you care about is that I've been lying to you since we met," she said glumly.
"Yes, that was my first reaction…." Chase began, taking a few steps towards her and placing his hand gently on her shoulder.
"Because I was ANGRY," he explained gently.
"Just like it was your first reaction that I was just another pretty girl and nothing special?" she mumbled sadly.
"I was angry that you didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth from the beginning," he said.
"If I had told you the truth from the beginning, I'd still be in Boston," she said in a tired voice.
Chase lifted her chin so she'd meet his gaze. Her eyes were filled with a deep sadness that made his heart ache terribly.
"Why do you doubt how much I love you?" he asked sadly, his own eyes reflecting the sadness in hers.
"…I don't know…" she said with a shrug, feeling her emotions well up inside her.
"What can I do to convince you?" he pleaded.
She shook her head, the flood of emotions starting to surface. Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes.
"I don't know," she whispered.
TBC…