A/N: Hi peeps. Here's another chapter for you. Enjoy!


The next morning was active in the Cuddy household. House was on the phone with Burt, discussing the case he would be consulting on in a few hours, Arlene was getting her things packed for the drive home and Sharon was in the kitchen making breakfast with Hannah and Rachel before they headed off to school. All in all, it was an organized chaos and Cuddy liked it. For a moment, Cuddy stopped and looked around and just listened. She heard House on the phone, her mother giving her advice from the next room and the girls laughing in the kitchen. This was her family, of course absent were two other people she loved dearly—Julia and Wilson, but this, as it was at the moment, was nice. She'd never had so many people in the house all at once and it was a nice break, it made her feel loved. Suddenly two strong arms came from behind and embraced her tightly.

"Wanna have sex right here on the couch?"

She put her hands over his arms, holding them in place. "Nice. You want my mother to walk in?"

"Your mother's no prude, believe me. I've seen the pictures."

"Please don't remind me!"

House laughed into her hair, she giggled and that moment she heard her mother's voice behind her.

"Seriously Greg, are you trying to molest my daughter in front of everyone?"

"Speak of the devil."

"So you were talking about me?"

"You're so perceptive," he said with a devilish grin.

"Ass."

"Takes one to know one." Arlene promptly smacked him in the arm.

"What the hell? Cuddy you gonna let your mother hit me?" House feigned hurt.

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "When have you ever known my mother to listen to me?"


Two hours later, Arlene was on her way home, Rachel was in school and House and Cuddy were at the hospital. He was a bit nervous about being in her place of work but she made him feel at ease, introducing him to a few of the people she worked with at the hospital. After a brief tour, they finally arrived at Cuddy's office. It was smaller than her previous office but it was cozy with light brown walls, dark brown trim and decorated in earth tones, which very much suited her personality. Her bookshelves contained numerous texts and journals and a few pictures of Rachel and some knick-knacks from travels. Her office had one large window which overlooked the courtyard and the historic Bulfinch building, the original hospital which was built in 1823. House knew Cuddy loved old historic buildings and thought it was a nice touch that her office overlooked the oldest building on the medical campus. As he continued to survey her office, there was a knock at the door. He opened the door and was greeted by Burt Kelly and a young woman in a lab coat he assumed was Dr. Tunkle.

"Dr. House, good to see you," he said offering his hand which House took. Burt then walked over to Cuddy and gave her a gentle hug. "It's good to see you my dear, how are you?"

"Actually I'm feeling much better Burt, thanks."

"Lisa, I think you know Dr. Ashley Tunkle. Ashley this is Dr. Gregory House."

"Dr. House, it's an honor to meet you." Dr. Tunkle offered her hand.

"Some wouldn't think so." House, not normally one to shake hands, offered his in return. He took in the woman in front of him. She was in her twenties, tall, pretty, with shoulder-length curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She smiled at him and he couldn't help but notice it was genuine and friendly.

"Dr. House, I know you have a reputation for being an ass but you get results, I like that. I appreciate you consulting on this case."Then she turned to Cuddy. "Lisa, are you back so soon? Burt said were taking a couple of weeks off."

"No, no I'm just here with House, showing him around and maybe help him with his case," Cuddy said as she smiled and nodded in House's direction.

Burt spoke up. "Listen, I took it upon myself to inform our Chief that we were requesting Dr. House's consult on a case. Given his outstanding reputation and the fact we have no diagnostics department, so long as Princeton-Plainsboro doesn't mind, we should be fine. The paperwork is being processed at this moment."

"Thank you, Burt." Cuddy was not at all surprised at the speed in which Burt had taken care of things. It was no wonder he was Chief of Emergency Medicine, he was prompt, efficient and knew how to get things done. He was also extremely well-liked and respected.

Burt put his hand on her arm. "You know I'm always glad to help." He looked over at House and said, "So...shall we begin?"

Cuddy took a seat behind her desk and House stood behind her leaning up against the wall. Burt and Tunkle took their seats directly across from Cuddy's desk. Tunkle began reading the file.

"Six year old female admitted to the ER a few days ago with a high grade fever, dry cough for the past week, headache, lethargy and three episodes of nonbilious vomiting and two episodes of epistaxis. Examination shows no history of joint pain, swelling, abdominal pain, diarrhea or skin rashes. Child was not disoriented, normal pulse, blood pressure slightly elevated, no pallor, icterus, skin rashes and lymphadenopathy. Throat examination revealed single whitish exudates over right tonsil with no mucosal congestion. No clinical arthritis in any joint. No abdominal distension or tenderness, no free fluid and bowel sounds were normal. Respiratory and cardiovascular systems normal." She closed the file and sighed.

"She's had the symptoms for a week and the parents just brought her in?" Cuddy asked.

"They're just getting into the homeopathic stuff and thought it was just a cold but then a week passed and she got worse, that's when they brought her to the ER," said Burt. "We thought it was the flu at first so we took the normal course of action."

"So we're not thinking influenza?" Cuddy asked.

"We could do throat and nasal swabs but test sensitivity for this is sixty to seventy percent and we run the risk of false positives. Would help to know if anyone in her household or classroom was sick," House replied.

"She hasn't been to school in over a week and nobody in the household is ill," said Tunkle. That's what made us suspect it wasn't the flu."

"Has she been vaccinated?"

Burt opened his file and went through the list. "Let's see…flu shot, mumps, chicken pox, yep…the usual."

Suddenly Dr. Tunkle's pager went off. Looking at it she rose from her seat and said, "Guys I've got to get this, it's about a patient. Can you continue and we'll catch up later?"

"Sure," Cuddy said smiling at her.

"By the way, I've got two fellows, they're not really busy right now, and I have them working on charts. I can have them run any tests you need. They're office adjoins mine." She smiled. "I'll see you in a bit," she said before she left the office.

After Tunkle departed, Cuddy continued the differential. "Meningitis fits."

"I don't see any neck pain in her chart."

"She's got a lot of joint stiffness, but not a stiff neck."

"We'd have to do a lumbar puncture to verify," said Burt.

"On a six year old girl?" Cuddy asked her voice full of concern.

"It's the only way to know for sure."

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and turned to House. "We should avoid that if possible. It has to be something else."

"I'm all ears," House said, running his face over his stubble. He wasn't used to doing differentials with anyone but his team but he Cuddy was smarter and sharper than his entire team put together.

"It could be Mono."

"It could be. I think we should do a CBC to check the white blood cell count and Liver Function to see if there's any increased bile pigment and elevated enzymes."

Burt chimed in. "That's fine. I'll talk to Tunkle's fellows, I know them, good kids. They'll be a big help. You guys need anything?"

House nodded. "If you've got a whiteboard that'd be great."

"I think I can get one here from the lecture hall in no time. Shall I have them deliver it here?"

"That's fine Burt, thanks so much," Cuddy replied.

Burt nodded and said, "You two make a good team," then he left Cuddy's office. The two were left with their copies of the file. "So now what?" She asked.


A few hours later, it was mid-afternoon. Cuddy was in the patient's room and House had taken a stroll through the hospital corridors to think. He returned with one of Tunkle's fellows who was briefing him on the results of the blood work.

"CBC shows low platelets, anemic, low white blood cell count and elevated liver function," he said to Cuddy.

"Infectious mono?"

"No. Damn, she wouldn't be anemic."

"House, her fever is still high, and she's having chest pains and the cough has gotten worse. What if it's TB?"

House pondered that a moment, his eyes closed, deep in thought. "It just doesn't fit." He flipped through the chart. "No history of prior TB treatment, exposure, travels outside the country and she's not homeless or living in a shelter. I'm also pretty sure she hasn't been to prison yet."

"Should we do a PPD anyway?"

"And waste time? It just doesn't fit."

"But we have to rule it out."

House turned to the fellow. "Get me an ALT, AST, sputum and creatinine, stat."

Once the fellow did what he was asked and left, Cuddy went over to the window and looked out. She imagined her little girl in that bed. She needed to do everything she could to help little Katie go home healthy.

"Okay so we've ruled out Influenza, Infectious Mono, and we're testing for TB. What's left?"

House rattled off the list of possible ailments. "It's not Viral Hepatitis, Malaria, or Typhoid, so we can cross those off the list. That leaves us with brucellosis, histoplasmosis, infective endocarditis, and maybe leptospirosis."

"The patient doesn't live on a farm and hasn't been out of the country so brucellosis is not likely. Infective endocarditis seems like a long shot, it occurs in something like one in fifteen hundred pediatric cases per year."

"The symptoms fit."

"It also fits the others too."

Cuddy walked over to the patient, who was fragile and weak. She gently brushed the hair from her forehead. "Katie. Wake up honey," she said. When the child opened her eyes, Cuddy smiled at her. "Can you open your mouth for me? I just need to check something." Cuddy gently looked around in her mouth. "House, look at this."

"What?"

"It looks like she might have had some dental work."

"She could have developed a bacterial infection. We should test for streptococcus viridians."

"Talk to the parents and find out when she had the work done and if she's had any complications from it."

Cuddy nodded and walked outside the room to talk to the parents. House took a seat next to the patient. She was just six years old. He thought about Rachel and how if it were her lying in that bed in pain, he would want to be sure she had the best care.

"Are you my doctor?" The little girl asked House.

"I might be. What do you think?"

"I think you are."

"Then, I guess I am." House smiled.

"I hurt."

"I know."

"Am I gonna die?"

House wasn't prepared for that question.

"Not on my watch."

"What does that mean?"

"It means, rugrat, if I have anything to say about it, you're not going anywhere except home."

"Okay." She closed her eyes.

House just sat there watching the little girl and thinking. Cuddy entered the room and put her hand on his shoulder. "Katie had a couple of fillings put in about six weeks ago but hasn't had any problems. Now what?"

At that moment, Dr. Tunkle walked in. "How's the patient?"

House took Cuddy's stethoscope and listened to the little girl's heart. "No murmurs."

"What are you thinking?" Tunkle asked.

"Could be infective endocarditis which we can treat now or possibly histoplasmosis, both seem to fit but we can rule the latter out with more tests."

"I hate to start her on antibiotics for endocarditis if that's not it but we may have no choice."

"It couldn't hurt. In the meantime, have your fellows do a bronchoscopy, chest CT and chest X-ray."

"Okay."

"She's hot for me," House said as Tunkle walked away.

Cuddy laughed out loud. "What?"

"You saw the way she looked at me."

"House you're old enough to be her—"

"Don't even finish that sentence."

At that moment Sharon entered the patient's room. "Hey guys, how's she doing?"

"Not great. We're still working on it."

"Any ideas?"

"Could be any number of things, they're testing for TB. If not we're thinking infective endocarditis or histoplasmosis."

"What do the parents say? Any clues?"

"They haven't given us anything that can help so far."

"Do you guys want something to eat?"

Cuddy noticed House's head popped up from the chart he was reading at the mention of food. "Geez, I hadn't realized we missed lunch. Sure, let me call Burt and see if he wants to meet us there."

Cuddy informed the parents they would return later then Cuddy called Burt on her cell phone while the three headed to the cafeteria. As they entered, House detoured to the bathroom while the women served themselves at the salad bar.

"Well, well Dr. Cuddy, how are you?"

Cuddy didn't even have to look to know who it was. It was Dr. Mike Kirk, the Cardiologist she'd been hoping to avoid since he'd hit on her and grabbed her arm at the bar.

"I'm fine, thank you." Cuddy continued putting salad items on her plate and then headed over to a table in the far corner, with Sharon close behind.

"I haven't seen you in awhile. It's such a shame too, because your ass is looking bodacious." Kirk stood at the end of the both, leaning over with his hands on the table, leering at the women.

Sharon just glared up at him. "Do you need something?"

Kirk ignored her. "Oh come on Lisa, listen how about you and me go out Friday night? I've got a bottle of wine with your name on it."

"No thanks, I'm busy."

"You?" He laughed. "You haven't been out with a man since you got to this place. I think you're in need of a real man's attention." He leaned closer to Sharon and whispered, "You know…rumor has it-"

Cuddy cut him off. "That's enough! Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Oh come on you're not still upset about that night? It was a misunderstanding. I just wanted to get to know you better."

Suddenly, a voice came from behind Kirk. "Is there a problem here?" House had been standing there long enough to hear everything that had been said.

Cuddy looked up at him with a sense of relief, conveying to him with her eyes her appreciation that he showed up but begging him not to do anything irrational. "No problem," she said. "Dr. Kirk was just leaving, weren't you Mike?" She looked at Kirk defiantly.

Kirk had seen the intimate eye contact between the two and then gave House the once-over, noting his cane. He laughed and looked at Cuddy. "Wait, you won't go out with me but you'll go out with him?" He shook his head, "I figured you were cock tease or a prude, or maybe you just liked chicks, but this…this takes the cake."

House pursed his lips together and looked at Cuddy, silently pleading for forgiveness just before he turned Kirk around and punched him in the face. The impact made him fall back on the table where Cuddy and Sharon were eating their lunch.

"House!" Cuddy shouted. Sharon's eyes widened in shock and then once it hit her she tried not to laugh. She nudged Cuddy to show her the other patrons had seen the events unfold.

House looked at Kirk sternly with his cane held tightly in his hand. "You can say whatever you want about me pal, but she" he pointed at Cuddy, "is off limits. And that one was for what you did to her that night. A real man doesn't have to try and force a woman to have sex with him. You stay away from her. Got it?"

Just then, Sharon spotted a security guard heading over to their table accompanied by Burt Kelly. She stood up and took Kirk by the coat and got up close and personal with him. "Mike, you walk away and nobody says a word about anything. If you don't, your wife is going to find out about all the shit you've done behind her back with every candy striper and student nurse in this hospital and Dr. Cuddy will file a sexual harassment suit against you not to mention she'll be going to the police and filing a report for assault. Given your colorful past, I'm pretty sure her accusations will be taken seriously."

"Bullshit," he spat out.

"Try me," Cuddy said from her seat.

House watched the eye contact between Sharon, Cuddy and Kirk. He knew the women could handle it at this point.

Finally Kirk gave in. "Fine. Just forget this….everything that's happened."

Just then the security guard walked over. "You folks okay here?

"Everything's fine, just a minor misunderstanding. Isn't that right Mike?" Sharon asked with a smile.

Kirk looked at Sharon while he wiped the blood from his mouth with a napkin. He knew she had an impeccable reputation at the hospital and a lot of friends higher up, he couldn't take any chances. "Yeah, no problem here," he said as he turned around and walked away quickly. Sharon noticed a few of the hospital staff in the cafeteria gave her a smile and a nod, having witnessed what happened. She smiled back. Apparently they too knew of Kirk's lecherous reputation.

Burt talked to the security guard a moment and then the guard turned around and left.

"You guys okay?" Burt asked, taking a seat next to Sharon.

"Yeah, he's such a creep." Sharon looked at House and smiled, "By the way buddy…Bravo!"

House took a seat next to Cuddy and picked a tomato off her plate. "He's damn lucky we were in a public place."

"Thank you." Cuddy her hand on his arm and he looked down at it and then up at her and they smiled at each other. This did not go unnoticed by their lunch partners.

"Anytime. You think you'll have any problems from him again?"

"No, I'm sure he'll keep his hands to himself," said Sharon confidently. "His wife is loaded and connected. He's got money but she's got more. Besides, Kirk's got a shitty reputation and I don't think the hospital would go to bat for him if it came down to it. We're good."

"Well, now that we've settled that. Any ideas about the patient? Because I still can't figure out what's wrong with her and she's getting worse," House said.


A few hours later, the sun had already gone down and it was getting late. Sharon had offered to pick Rachel up from her after school program so she could have dinner with the girls. Cuddy assured her they'd be home early. She sat in her chair with her legs up on the desk, crossed at the ankles. They'd done a number of tests and House was frustrated. The whiteboard was full of writing and still no epiphanies.

"House, it's only been a day, sometimes it takes days for you to make a diagnosis."

"We don't have days, she's getting worse. Her glands are swollen now."

Cuddy watched him pace the office, twirling his cane. Finally he stopped and faced her.

"I need to get into their house."

"What?"

"Yeah, I need a Foreman but since he's not here, you'll do."

"We are not breaking into anyone's house."

"Come on Cuddy, we have to."

"How about we just ask them for a key?"

"Where the hell's the fun in that?"

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "It's after nine o'clock. At night."

"The parents are still here. Besides you know everybody lies, what if they don't give us the key because they have something to hide?" He asked. Putting on his best pouty face, he said, "Come on, I just have a feeling about this."

Cuddy closed her eyes and sighed. She was tired and frustrated but she gave in. "I can't believe I'm letting you talk me into this."

A half hour later, House and Cuddy were inspecting the kitchen in a modest home in South Boston.

"I still can't believe you picked the lock on that door. Where did you learn that?" Cuddy asked as she took items out of the refrigerator.

"You think I never learned anything from Foreman in all that time he worked for me?" Asked House as he continued inspecting the chemicals under the kitchen sink.

Cuddy shook her head. "Hmm…that's strange."

"What?"

"There's an unmarked carton of eggs, two glass bottles of milk and a two-inch slice of cheese in a plastic container." She took the items out of the refrigerator and placed them on the counter. She opened everything and sniffed it with a look of slight disgust. "There are no dates on any of this stuff and no labels either."

House finished his inspection under the sink and moved over to the counter next to the fridge and looked at the items carefully. He picked up the container with the piece of cheese in it, sniffed its contents and stared at it. He put it down and slipped on the latex gloves he had in his pocket and opened the lid of the garbage can. Cuddy watched as he reached in a gloved hand and rummaged around. He took out various items from the bag until he found what he'd been hoping to find. "And here it is," he said, pulling a plastic wrapper with a label on it. He handed it to Cuddy.

"River Falls Farm," she read from the label. "It looks homemade."

"Yep."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She asked, her eyes lighting up that they may have found a break in the case.

"Unpasteurized."

She smiled. Suddenly, in unison they said, "It's Brucellosis."

"Come on let's get outta here."

When they arrived back at the hospital, Cuddy asked the fellows to confirm the diagnosis by doing more blood and antibody tests. Once they were relatively sure of their diagnosis they approached the parents, who told them that in their quest to live a healthier life, not only had they chosen homeopathy, a friend had talked them into obtaining fresh produce and dairy products from River Hills Farm, which was about ten miles from their house. Among the dairy products produced at the farm, were unpasteurized milk and cheese. Cuddy told the parents all the symptoms fit Brucellosis and the parents consented to treatment. She also explained to them the dangers of consuming unpasteurized products.

Later that evening in Cuddy's office, House was sitting behind her desk with his feet up and she sat on the chair opposite him on the other side of the desk. Cuddy was on the phone with Rachel apologizing because she hadn't made it home earlier but that they would be on their way soon. At that moment, the door opened and in walked Burt and Tunkle.

"Good job," said Burt as he took a seat next to Cuddy. "I hear you contacted the farm and the FDA."

"Yeah, the farm is going to halt production for now. They need to get those animals tested."

"I don't know how to thank you Dr. House, I appreciate you taking this on, both of you," Dr. Tunkle said with a sigh of relief.

"You're welcome," said House. "She'll be fine with daily intramuscular injections of streptomycin for fourteen days oral doxycycline twice daily for forty five days, concurrently."

"Well there's one happy family tonight. I just saw the parents, they are so relieved. You guys did great. I'm going to let the Chief know about this one. I'll see you soon," she said to Cuddy and Burt. "Dr. House, it was a pleasure," she said as she shook his hand and left.

House leaned back in Cuddy's chair and smiled his Cheshire cat grin. "All in a day's work."

Burt shook his head. "I can't believe it was something as simple as unpasteurized milk."

"They never would have thought of telling us because it didn't appear to them it might be a problem. They weren't trying to hide anything, they just had no idea," she said.

"That's why an accurate patient history matters." House looked over at Burt. "I'm not saying you did anything wrong, you couldn't have known, none of us could. I don't think there's a question we would have asked which might have prompted them telling us about it."

Burt looked at House and nodded his acknowledgement. "You two ought to get home, it's late and you must be tired."

"Yeah it is and I am," said Cuddy. "We still need to pick up Rachel."

"Well I expect you two will enjoy the rest of your time off. I hope to see you again soon."

Cuddy got up and gave Burt a hug. "Burt, you're a good friend, thanks for everything."

"For you Lisa, anytime." He looked at House, "See you soon." House nodded as the old man left.

Cuddy walked over to House, stood behind him as he sat in her chair, and she put her arms around him and gave him a hug.

"What?" He asked smugly.

"We solved the case."

"We?"

"Well I did, you just helped a little." She chided tightening her hold on him.

"I can't believe we solved it in a day, granted a very long and frustrating day but a day nonetheless. That's got to be a record."

She helped House out of his chair so they could leave. As she handed him his cane, she said, "You used to drive me crazy at the hospital but damn, I loved watching you work, the way you processed information, came up with the answers, I've always been amazed by it, I still am. To be honest…it feels good to be a part of it." Cuddy's eyes sparkled in a way he hadn't seen in a long time. She was energized and radiant. The last time he saw her like that at work...she'd helped him on a case.

"House?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for what you did...in the cafeteria."

"No problem."

As they walked side by side out of the hospital into the chilly night air, he asked, "Do you think we could handle working together?"

"I wouldn't mind. We make a great team."

"Yeah we do but you know I'm a pain in the ass."

"I'm well aware. I just think it would be interesting and fun, don't you think? Especially if I weren't your boss." She took his arm in hers and walked close to him.

"That I do." They reached the car and he opened the driver's side door. She knew his leg was likely hurting and it was easier for him to stretch out in the passenger seat. After making sure she was secure, he got into the car and buckled himself in. He looked over at her. "And how exactly would this work given I live in Princeton and you live here?"

"I don't know?" Cuddy put the keys in the ignition but didn't start the car.

"Details suck," he said.

"Yes they do. Maybe you could...consult occasionally?" She looked hopeful.

He smiled at her and said, "Maybe."

Cuddy smiled again, something she noticed she'd been doing a lot of since he returned. She started the car and pulled out onto the street towards home. House fiddled with the buttons on the radio station.

"You want to talk about it?" He asked.

"Maybe tomorrow. For now, all I care about is going home, tucking my little girl in, taking a hot shower and relaxing with you. That okay?" She smiled at him flirtatiously.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Ohhh, I think we can work something out."


Yes, House and Cuddy solved this case in the course of a very long day but...had they not gone to the patient's home it would have taken much longer. Some cases in this story will take longer, but this one wasn't necessary to stretch out over the course of time. It served its purpose and I hope you are happy with it. :)

I'm going to have a busy week but my plan is to once again publish the next chapter by Friday or Saturday. I've already got some of Chapter 56 written and so I may be able to add bits and pieces this week, edit and have it up in a timely manner!

Thanks for reading, now please be kind and leave your comments!