Chapter Thirty-sixHouse had driven Cuddy home and he had to thank someone for the fact that they weren't bombarded by nurses and other doctors when they left the hospital. Though that could be because House made them go the back way through the ER. Still, he was sure that at least someone would have tried to talk to Cuddy, but no one did. Not that Cuddy herself would have minded but he did.
When he got to her house he hopped out of the car before her and was already opening her front door before she was even halfway down her front path. Cuddy eyes him with a mixture of annoyance and amusement as he used her spare key.
"I'm going to have to hide that again." She said as she walked under his arm that was holding the door for her.
House offered her a sly grin, "I'd just find it again."
She walked into her living room and House turned and followed her, limping heavily on his cane. When he had offered to take her home, he wasn't sure what his next move should be. He didn't know if she would want him to stay. Heck, he didn't know if he wanted to stay. He knew that she was ok now which meant that he could relax a little. After everything that had happened he could really you a strong drink.
"Thank you, House," Cuddy said suddenly.
House had been so caught up in his own thoughts, that he hadn't noticed Cuddy stop in the middle of the room and turn towards him.
"You've been…really great. With everything." Cuddy told him sincerely. "Thank you."
"You said that already." He quipped back.
Cuddy smiled slightly before taking a few steps towards him. She carefully stood on her toes and leaned up to give House a hug. House stiffened a moment. He felt awkward, not because of the hug but because he hadn't realized how much he wanted her closeness. This was the first time they had been this close since they'd actually conceived the baby. Slowly and carefully he wrapped his arms around her but didn't dare to pull her tighter.
As soon as he felt her start to let go, he dropped his arms to his sides, stiffening back up again not wanting her to see the effect she had on him.
When she stepped back onto the flats of her feet, House could see tears starting to form in her eyes.
House sighed and shook his head.
"Cuddy," He began softly. "You have to stop thinking about it."
"I know." She said with a nod. "I will. Give me more than a few hours."
She didn't need him to clarify what 'it' was. She knew as well as he did that she was thinking about their older daughter and how they had agreed to stop looking for her.
"You should go rest." He said slowly, trying to change the subject. "Go to bed."
"I've just been in a hospital bed." Cuddy protested softly. "I don't want to go back to bed."
"Ok, so what do you want to do?"
Cuddy thought for a moment. The last few hours had been beyond hectic and now that everything was slowed down, she could stop and think about everything a bit more clearly.
"I want to have a shower." She said honestly. "And I want to eat something."
House noted the tinge of guilt in her voice and asked, "When was the last time you ate?"
"Probably…" She started to think, "Breakfast this morning."
House couldn't help but frown at her. "Go take a shower and I'll make you something."
"I don't know if I'm comfortable with you alone in my kitchen." She said lightly, as she almost smiled.
House realized that she was trying to start their usual banter again. It must be her way of coping and lightening her mood when things got too serious. If this is what she needed then he was happy to play along.
"If you prefer," He began with a sly smirk. "I could join you in the bathroom. You know, just to make sure you don't fall again."
Cuddy laughed slightly and turned to walk down her hall towards her bathroom. House took a few steps in her direction when he heard her yell out.
"Go to the kitchen!"
House smirked and spun on his good leg and limped into her kitchen.
**House MD**
Minutes later, House could hear the sound of water running in the bathroom while he busied himself with seeing what was in Cuddy's fridge. He frowned at the very limited and predictable selection when he heard someone knocking insistently on the front door.
House groaned and slammed the fridge door closed. He began limping towards the door and peered through the peephole when he got there. He groaned again when he was Wilson standing on the other side of the door.
House flung the door open quickly, causing Wilson to jump slightly.
"What?" House demanded.
"I tried calling you." Wilson explained, "You didn't answer. Neither did Cuddy."
"Phones must be off."
"House, this is important. I thought you should know –"
House interrupted him by holding his cane up in the air "-Is this anything to do with work?" He asked.
"Well, kind of—" Wilson began.
"-Bye Wilson." House snapped as he started to close the door.
Wilson quickly stepped into the doorway and blocked the door with his shoulder. He winced before breathing out "It's Max."
House let go of the door just as suddenly as he had grabbed it and frowned, "What about Max?"
Wilson stood up straight and pushed the door the rest of the way open.
"She just quit." He said.
"What?" House was visibly confused. "What do you mean she quit?"
Wilson walked past House and into Cuddy's living room, House following close behind him.
"I don't know," Wilson said with a shrug. "I went to Cuddy's office to talk to her about canceling Cuddy's meetings like you asked."
House nodded quickly, silently telling Wilson to get to the point.
"She had all her stuff and said that the job wasn't working for her anymore."
"The hell!" House half shouted. Then he remembered Cuddy in the other end of the house and lowered his voice. "She loved that job."
"That's what I said!" Wilson exclaimed as he nodded his head.
"Did she say anything else?" House asked.
There was a lot about Max that House still didn't know. She was a tough person to figure out, which was why House liked her so much. She kept him thinking. But, he knew that she liked her job and he knew that she really cared about Cuddy. There was a loyalty bond between the two women that House couldn't really understand but he knew it was there. So if Max quit then there must have been a significantly dramatic event that happened to her.
"I don't know," Wilson sighed. "She said she didn't want to make things more stressful for Cuddy."
"Yeah cause leaving her without an assistant is going to be great for her stress level." House snapped sarcastically.
"I know." Wilson agreed quickly. "But, I mean, she seemed really upset. Like she was about to cry. I don't know. I don't think she really wanted to go but she thought she had to."
Wilson paused and reached into his jacket. House watched as his friend pulled a book out from his jacket.
"She dropped this when she left," Wilson said. "It's full of-"
Suddenly House snatched the book from Wilson and started flipping through the pages. He frowned as he looked at the pages.
"-Of pictures of you and Cuddy." Wilson finished. "Only of the two of you. Almost looks like Max is obsessed with you two. I just can't figure out why."
House was only half listening by this point. He was too busy studying the drawings in the book. Max was a good artist, that was obvious, but what caught House's attention was how she was able to capture emotion in her drawings. There were pictures of both he and Cuddy smiling and they looked happy. Then there were pictures were Cuddy looked like she was about to cry. Wilson was right, the girl was clearly obsessed with them. The question was why?
"Should we tell Cuddy?" Wilson asked, bringing House out of his thoughts.
House looked up and opened his mouth but a voice from the hallway cut him off.
"Tell me what?" came Cuddy's voice.
House and Wilson turned to look at her, both looking slightly guilty. Cuddy folded her arms over her chest and eyed the two men in front of her suspiciously.
"Um, how are you?" Wilson asked.
"Don't even try," Cuddy warned sternly. She walked towards them, arms still crossed. "Tell me what, Wilson?" She repeated. Then she noticed the book in House's hands and frowned in confusion as she recognized the book straight away. "Why do you have Max's sketchbook?"
"You've seen this before?" Wilson asked surprised. "You know what's inside?"
"Well no," Cuddy said as she shook her head. "Max never let me see." She shrugged and added "And I didn't want to intrude. It seemed private."
Wilson and House shared a look which causes Cuddy to frown deeply.
"What?!" She demanded.
When neither man said anything Cuddy sighed and rolled her eyes before reaching out and snatching the book from House's hands.
"Cuddy…" House sighed as he tried to grab the book back. He didn't want her to get upset or stressed out again.
Cuddy stepped back out of his reach and started looking through the book. Her eyes grew wide in confusion and disbelief as she looked at each drawing.
"What is…I don't…" Cuddy muttered, lost for words.
"Cuddy, Max quit," Wilson told her suddenly.
House looked at Wilson and glared at him. Did his friend not understand that the goal was not to upset Cuddy right now?
Cuddy looked up at Wilson, tears starting to pull in her eyes. She opened her mouth slightly and tried to find the words she needed.
"Did…did she say why?" Cuddy asked slowly.
Wilson shook his head, "She said she was sorry. And…"
"…And what?" House demanded.
Wilson shrugged, "She said to tell you," He began as he looked at Cuddy. "That you're a great mom."
Cuddy bit her bottom lip and looked down. House could see how upset she was getting. He wanted to comfort her, partly to make sure that she stayed calm after what had happened earlier that day. He couldn't help but worry about her and the baby.
Suddenly something that Wilson said stuck in House's mind. House narrowed his eyes and turned to his friend.
"Not will?" He asked suddenly.
Wilson frowned as did Cuddy as the two turned to look at House in confusion.
"What?" Wilson asked.
"You said Max said to tell Cuddy 'you're a great mom'" House began, half talking to them but also half deep in thought. "Not tell Cuddy 'you will be a great mom'."
"Ah, yeah. That's what she said." Wilson replied. Still frowning in confusion.
"House, what?..." Cuddy started to ask.
House's eyes grew wide as suddenly everything over the last few months with Max came right back to him in one big flash of memories. It was like he was having an epiphany the way he did when the solution to a case came to him at the eleventh hour.
"Shit!" He groaned in frustration.
"What?" Cuddy asked again.
House shook his head quickly. "I can't believe I didn't see it before. I'm so stupid!" He exclaimed, mostly to himself.
"House!" Cuddy yelled, causing him to look at her once again. "What are you talking about?"
"It's Max," House told her, looking right into her eyes. "She's our daughter."
To Be Continued…