Part 50

"Are you sure you don't want to sleep downstairs?"

Cuddy asked the question as she stood behind House, who was working his way up the stairs to the second floor. He was two steps up from first landing, another ten steps then he would be just a dozen or so away from her bed.

"Kicking me out of your bed before I even get in it, huh?" he asked as he took another step, one hand gripping the banister, the other braced against the wall. Cuddy was carrying his cane.

"Stop being an idiot," she said, her free hand on his back when he swayed a bit.

"Ah, so you do want me in your bed."

"Of course … idiot," Cuddy said, smiling in spite of the fact he was struggling.

He always engaged her in sarcastic banter when he was trying to distract himself from pain. And he was definitely hurting right now.

"You know, I don't know how I feel about your nanny going through my underwear," he slung over his shoulder and nearly threw himself off balance.

"Don't worry, she won't gouge her eyes out over it."

"What if they weren't clean?"

"God, House," she grimaced at the thought even though she knew he didn't put dirty clothes in with clean. Overall, he was rather tidy … other than the toothbrush and sink thing, which Cuddy suspected had been a deliberate test of her patience and boundaries.

"Save that kind of talk for bed, woman." Another step. "Speaking of which, is there sex in my very near future?"

Cuddy looked up at the back of his head. "If you ever make it up the stairs," she said it under her breath.

"If you promise dirty talk, I'll try two steps at a time."

Cuddy shook her head. "You do that and I won't have sex with you ever again."

"Harsh," he grunted on the next step.

"Realistic," Cuddy countered. "You try two at a time and you're liable to end up dead and necrophilia isn't on my bucket list."

"Ha, and you thought the underwear comment was disgusting," he scoffed.

"It was." She refused to argue that point.

Cuddy glanced up. Four more steps to go.

"What if—" he began but she cut him off.

"If you shut up for these last few, I'll do a striptease."

He immediately paused and took his hand off the wall long enough to mime zipping his mouth and throwing away the key.

Cuddy rolled her eyes.

"Go," she told him and he did, making it to the second floor but wincing the entire way. He was hurting worse than he'd been letting on.

By the time they made it to the bed, he leaned back against it heavily. He braced his hands on the mattress and looked at her. Pain and exhaustion.

"I'll trade the striptease for a hot bath."

Cuddy nodded. "I think that's a good idea."

She left him there and went to run the water. When she came back, he was closing up the prescription bottle that she'd set on the bedside table. He downed the ibuprofen with a big swallow of water.

"I'm going to get a couple ice packs. Can you…?" She gestured to his clothing.

"I've got it."

"Be right back."

Cuddy made it a quick trip. She'd prepped the packs earlier and they were now good and cold. She stopped by to make sure the front door was locked and shut off the lights downstairs before making her way back up.

She found House in the bathroom, sitting on the side of the tub. He'd managed to shed his shirts, pants and shoes, but his socks were out of reach. He apologized to her when she bent down and helped him.

"It's okay," she told him.

Once his socks were off, she helped him with his underwear. It was always the most difficult because the material had to be carefully moved over his thigh. It still looked terribly bruised but she was glad to see the tumor no longer showed quite as much. Extracting the clot had let it settle back into place.

From his perch on the side of the tub, he was able to ease himself into the water on his own, and she let him. She'd never been one to coddle him and she wasn't going to start now. If he needed help, she'd be there. If he could do it himself, she'd let him. It was better for both of them that way.

Rolling a towel, Cuddy slipped it behind his head as he leaned back. He thanked her and closed his eyes while his hands blindly sought out his leg. He sank his fingers into the muscles around his hip with one, and reached for the ones just above his knee with the other.

Cuddy sighed and sank down to the floor beside the tub.

He opened his eyes when she propped her elbow on the edge and rested her head in her hand.

"I wish there was something more I could do."

"You do enough … and more."

His gaze was sober, grateful. Cuddy held it for several moments then moved determinedly to him, touching his face as she leaned quickly in and caught his mouth with hers. She kissed him slow and deep and he kissed her back, his hands rising out of the water to hold her to him.