Part 36

"Look, it's either this," Cuddy said, shaking the empty plastic container in her hand, "or a catheter, so take your pick."

He was scowling, looking at the container. "Can't I just use the bathroom like normal people?"

"No."

Cuddy wasn't budging. He did not need to be up and moving yet. Through the night, the nurses had been icing his leg every half-hour, fifteen minutes on, fifteen minutes off, hoping to stem swelling and promote healing. Cuddy had helped for a while before the nurses had brought her a cot and finally made her lay down. If she hadn't been so exhausted, she'd have probably fought them on it, but she'd gone off to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

She's slept soundly but had woken a few minutes ago to the voices of the staff trying to keep House from getting out of the bed to go to the bathroom. Rising, she'd ushered them out of the room and taken over. Now she was laying down the law.

Holding out the container, she shook it again with a smirk. He gave her a petulant look then snatched the container from her hand in dramatic fashion.

"Could you at least make sure I don't end up with an audience?" he said, chin lifting in a gesture toward the door.

Cuddy's smirk became a smile, one fueled by mischief. She leaned forward, over the side of the bed to take a quick peek over the barrier he'd made of the covers as he pulled himself out and prepared to use the urine container.

"Do you really think," she said, looking up at his face, "I want anyone else to see that part of you?"

She raised an eyebrow in challenge and earned a very Housian response, amused arrogance replacing his pout.

"Possessive much?"

"I would say a little," she smiled at him, then took another peek over the covers, "but that's not."

"Oh you," he replied then held up his hand and turned his finger in a circle.

"Okay," she agreed and moved over to the door to deter anyone from entering. From there, she offered him an olive branch for the embarrassment of the bathroom situation. "I'll arrange a shower in a while. You'll have to sit, but I thought you'd like to clean up."

"In the women's locker room?"

Cuddy rolled her eyes and smirked. That question was so him.

"The patient showers," she responded. "But if you behave, I'll help."

"I love when you blackmail me … and your huge ass. Can I say that? That I love your huge, gorgeous ass."

"I think you just did, twice," Cuddy shook her head, still smirking.

For years, House had been teasing her about the size of her ass, but she'd known it was because he coveted that part of her. Instead of being insulted or offended, she'd gotten a thrill out of knowing she could drive him mad by wearing tight skirts and adding a bit more sway to her hips when she knew he was around. And low-cut blouses — he loved those.

"I added 'gorgeous' on the second one," was his reply followed by an elongated sigh of relief.

Cuddy looked over and watched his head drop back against the pillow as his bladder surrendered. She understood the reaction. They didn't call it "relieving yourself" for nothing.

When he finished, Cuddy took him a cloth to clean up with and accepted the container from him. She capped it off and set it out of the way. The nurses would pick it up later and take it to the lab for a post-op urinalysis. The cloth, once he was done, was tossed into the bio-hazard laundry hamper.

"You hungry?" she asked handing him an antiseptic wipe for his hands.

"Unless the food has improved around here … and I doubt it has with Foreman in charge … I'll pass," House replied then met her gaze. "By the way, did you see what he did to your office? You could operate in there it's so sterile. I think Chase almost did a surgery in there once by accident. I know Ayersman did, but he shouldn't be allowed in an OR anyway."

Cuddy shook her head in amusement. She had not seen it but with Foreman so uptight and his incessant desire to be perfectly poised, she could see it being just as House described. She started to say something snarky but stopped when she noticed House looking at her with a seriousness that she hadn't expected considering the nature of their conversation so far.

"What?" she asked.

"All the warmth left this place with you."

They were simple words but the meaning behind them was powerful. It was both a confession and an apology. She heard it in his voice, the earnestness of his tone giving away what he was really saying. It touched her to know that she'd been missed here, this place she'd helped turn into one of the best hospitals in the country. She'd sometimes wondered if she had been or if they'd been relieved to have her and House both gone.

House started to say more but only two words — "I would" — made it out of his mouth before she closed the distance, took his face into her hands and kissed him soundly.