Disclaimer: Don't Own, Etc., Except OCs
In their class, they were known by various nicknames. The Triumvirate was one, a play on there being three of them and the fact that all their first names began with "T." There was T-Sandwich, because of their alphabetical order in the class, Tamar (Tammy) Abelson being first, Teresa (Terri) Woslowski being last, and Tea (no nickname, thank you) Ng being exactly in the middle.
The most ironic name for them was T-Cubed, seeing as how they couldn't have looked more different from each other. Tammy was average height, slightly plump and had medium brown hair and hazel eyes – not an uncommon combination of looks for a descendant of Ashkenazi Jews.
Terri was tall, thin and blond-haired and blue-eyed. Her great-great-grandparents were Polish, but had come from the Northern part of the country that had passed back and forth between the Germans and the Poles for so many centuries that lines between ethnic Poles and Germans had long blurred, hence her Nordic looks.
Tea was tiny, with black hair and almond-shaped brown eyes. Her ancestors had been Chinese immigrants who had worked on the Transcontinental Railroad. Several generations later, her father had come east to study at Yale, where he had met and fallen in love with a fiery young woman of Italian descent.
But, all that background was old news between them now, seeing as how it had been five years since they graduated from nursing school together. The friendship in all its combinations had been tested thoroughly by jealousy about boyfriends and professional rivalry, among other things, but it had held remarkably well.
Today, there was no drama going on between them as they slipped into a booth at Princeton Plainsboro's cafeteria to eat their lunch. They were way too focused on the drama that had taken place the day before in the lobby of the hospital, which Terri had been unfortunate enough to miss.
"I always did have crappy timing," she complained. "I never get sick, and I came down with a stomach flu Sunday night."
"You sure it wasn't a hangover?" Tammy teased.
"I only had a couple of glasses of wine when we went out Saturday night, as you know," Terri explained wearily. "By Sunday night, I was rolfing so much, I had no desire to ingest anything."
"Well, you can give us a minute-by-minute description of your illness, or we can tell you what happened," Tea interjected impatiently.
"Go ahead," Terri encouraged.
"Tammy and I were working at the clinic," Tea began. "We both happened to be between patients when the cops came marching through the front door."
"They asked Brenda if she had seen a Lucas Douglas," Tammy picked up the story, "And Brenda pointed them to Doctor Cuddy's office."
"He was in there with Doctor Cuddy," Tea continued. "They were talking and laughing about something, but that didn't last for long."
"The cops burst through the door of the office, which blocked it open," Tammy went on, "That worked out well for us because we could hear everything. The cop flashed his badge and said, 'Are you Lucas Douglas? We're here to take you into custody.' The guy looked stunned."
"How did Doctor Cuddy react?" Terri questioned, getting into the story.
"Of course, she asked, 'What's going on here?' Tea supplied. "The cop said, 'Mr. Douglas is charged with intimidating a witness, conspiracy to intimidate a witness, breaking and entering, destruction of personal property, trespassing, assault, and criminal threats.' "
"Oh my God," Terri exclaimed "What happened next?"
"Doctor Cuddy insisted it must be a mistake," Tea continued, "But the cops said no, he had been named by the victims."
"Victims?" Terri asked, puzzled.
"It turns out," Tammy responded, "That Lucas had gone to Doctor House and Ann's house earlier that morning."
"Since when is visiting someone a crime?" Terri questioned.
"When you break in it is," Tea answered. "They were asleep in their room while he was doing some sort of property damage. They got up and surprised him. Lucas tried to hurt Ann and got into a fight with Doctor House."
"What a sleazebag, going after a pregnant woman!" Terri exclaimed. "The cops said all this to Doctor Cuddy?"
"No," Tammy replied.
"Then how do you know what happened?" Terri asked.
"One of the cops stayed after they frog-marched Lucas out the front doors of the hospital," Tea interjected. "He asked all kinds of questions about whether we knew of Lucas threatening bodily harm to Doctor House and Ann. When we asked why, he told us about the break-in and said that according to Ann and Doctor House, Lucas had made a move to kick Ann in the abdomen and Doctor House had stopped him, apparently by stepping in-between them so that Lucas wound up kicking Doctor House in his thigh – "
"The one with the scar?" Terri winced.
"Yes," Tea confirmed, wincing herself, "And then he punched him in the face."
"So, that's why his face is all bruised today, and why he was walking on crutches," Terri made the connection. "And, I never thought I'd say this in a million years, but poor Doctor House."
Tammy smiled. "Don't feel too badly for him."
"What do you mean?" Terri asked.
"Well," Tammy replied, "When they handcuffed Lucas, they did it by putting his hands in back of his head. His shirt pulled up, and I saw some bruises on his stomach. They were shaped like semi-circles –"
"You mean like he'd been hit with the top of a cane?" Terri surmised.
"Uh-huh," Tammy agreed.
There was a pause in the conversation as Terri processed the information. "Wait a minute, you said they also arrested him for intimidating a witness and conspiracy to intimidate a witness. What was that about?"
Tammy smiled again. "We wouldn't have been able to find out about that, except the cop had the hots for Tea."
"Tammy!" Tea protested. "He did not!"
"He gave you his card," Tammy countered.
"That was in case I remembered anything else," Tea insisted.
"Just let us know how the first date goes, okay?" Terri cut in, exasperated at the detour. "Tell me about the witness stuff."
"Well, you know that Ann was attacked several years ago, right?" Tea asked, thankful to get off the topic of the good-looking cop.
"She said something about it at the hospital Christmas party last year," Terri acknowledged.
"Anyway, the cop said that Lucas somehow contacted her attackers in prison," Tammy explained, "And that he gave them her cell phone number and they called her and threatened her."
"That's just so awful," Terri remarked. "I hope they lock him up and throw away the key."
"Chad did say that if they could convict him on all the charges, he was looking at some serious prison time," Tea noted.
"Chad?" Tammy questioned.
"He said it was okay if I used his first name," Tea responded defensively.
"Before we start to bust on you about your latest boyfriend," Terri said, "Any other juicy gossip about this incident?"
"Oh, yeah," Tammy answered, "I almost forgot. Yesterday afternoon, I overheard Brenda talking to one of the other nursing department heads. Apparently, there's been a special board meeting called, and then they're going to schedule a meeting with the hospital staff after that."
"Did Brenda know what it was about?" Terri inquired.
"No," Tammy answered, "But she thought that since it was being scheduled so closely to what happened yesterday morning, it had to be about Doctor Cuddy. She thought that between Doctor Cuddy's boyfriend being arrested, on hospital grounds, no less, and the lawsuit, Doctor Cuddy was in some serious trouble."
"Did she think they were going to fire her?" Tea asked, having not heard the conversation herself.
"She said they usually didn't do that with people that high up in the organization," Tammy reported. "But, she thought they would very likely take away a lot of her responsibilities, and probably create some 'special assignment' job for her."
"Wow," Terri said. "Did Brenda seem upset about that?"
"No," Tammy stated. "She said that Doctor Cuddy had been in the job for ten years, and it was probably time for a change, even if Doctor Cuddy hadn't been acting so strangely the last few years."
"Acting strangely?" Tea questioned. "Did she give any specifics?"
"No," Tammy answered. "She did say that after Doctor Cuddy came back from maternity leave with her daughter, she just wasn't the same. She said Doctor Cuddy became judgmental, vindictive, petty and immature."
"I thought kids were supposed to give you some perspective about what was important, and make you more mature and forgiving," Terri noted. "At least that's what my mom says."
"I think if have them at thirteen, probably not," Tea asserted. "But, if you're past forty, you would think so. Apparently, that wasn't the case with Doctor Cuddy."
"Well, that's not our problem," Tammy observed. "So, can we talk about Chad, now?"
"Oh, look," Tea, said, checking her watch, "Lunch is over. We have to get back to work."
"Gee," Tammy said, "I never knew you were such a conscientious employee."
"Hey, I love my job," Tea contended.
"Whatever you say," Terri responded with skepticism. "Just don't think you can avoid us at break time."
"Terrific," Tea groaned.
The three friends got up from the table, returned their trays and headed back to the clinic for the afternoon.
House was on crutches for about a week, and the bruises slowly faded from his face. He and Ann were tremendously relieved when they found out Lucas had been denied bail. For obvious reasons, Ann was still extremely stressed. Her OB/GYN convinced her to start her maternity leave.
Of course, all that did was free up Ann's time to search for a piece of property, which she and the realtor found rather quickly due to the depressed housing market. Ann then began meetings with the architect, who worked quickly getting a design together. He also brought in an interior designer, so they wouldn't be overwhelmed with all the choices they had to make, and who could help keep them on budget.
In the meantime, House had somehow managed to get though three meetings with Ann and the financial planner, who went off to implement the agreed-upon recommendations.
House suspected all this activity was too much for Ann, but he also knew that having her sit at home with nothing to do would be even more stressful. She'd obsess about the break-in and be anxious about the up-coming court dates, so at least all this stuff was a more pleasant distraction.
They were sitting at home one night talking about architectural details after dinner.
House had wanted takeout because he didn't want Ann on her feet too long. She was eight months pregnant, and her ankles were beginning to swell.
Ann enjoyed cooking, and so she insisted on making dinner in an attempt to relax herself. It seemed to work, as they talked and snuggled the couch, enjoying some time to themselves. Even though they were both first time parents, they were old enough not to have any illusions about the disruption a newborn would create in their lives. They both wanted the baby very much, but they were realistic that they wouldn't be having quiet evenings all to themselves, really, until the kid went away to college.
As House's cell rang, Ann rolled her eyes. "It's not the hospital, is it?
House looked at the number. "It's not anyone on my team. Hello. Stacy? Well, this is a surprise. I'm fine, and I don't want to waste a lot of time on mindless pleasantries, blah, blah. What do you want? About what? You're where? I don't know, hang on."
House put his hand over the speaker. "Apparently, my ex-girlfriend is sitting in her car, parked on the street in front of our house. She wants to come in and talk to me. Are you okay with that?"
"Now? What does she want?"
"She won't tell me unless she can talk to me in person."
"Well, I know you and your curiosity. Tell her it's okay."
House gave his consent and in barely five minutes, the doorbell rang.
"Hi, Greg," Stacy greeted him when he opened to front door. He motioned for her to come in.
"You have a lovely home," Stacy commented.
"We're renting this place and we're building a new one, so you can spare me the socially acceptable small talk. Especially when it's getting late enough for my wife to want to go to bed," House stated.
"Hi, I'm Ann," she stood up and made her way over to where Stacy stood.
Stacy's eyes couldn't help but travel to Ann's very large belly. "Congratulations," she said, sounding at least somewhat sincere. "When are you due?"
"Mid-November," Ann replied.
"Which means I don't have much time left to enjoy the effects of those pregnancy hormones on her libido," House noted. "So, can we cut to the chase?"
"Nice to know some things never change, like your lack of class," Stacy observed with an eye-roll.
They went into the living room and sat down.
"Why are you here?" House asked.
"I'm concerned about Lisa," Stacy began.
"What?" House asked. "You mean Cuddy?"
"Yes, that woman that's been your boss for ten years," Stacy said with exasperation, "And your friend . . . "
"She's no longer my friend," House interjected. "We haven't spoken about anything but hospital business for a long time."
"I can't believe that," Stacy said. "I mean, you got married and I'm sure she went to your wedding . . . "
"Nope," House stated flatly.
"That can't be true!" Stacy exclaimed. "Wilson would have told me."
"He wouldn't have known," House responded, "Since he wasn't there, either."
"What?" Stacy was incredulous. "Wilson wasn't at your wedding? Was he on the verge of death? Was he traveling and his plane was hijacked by terrorists? Because those are the only reasons your BFF wouldn't be at your wedding."
"Either that, or he's not my BFF any more," House postulated.
"Okay, now I'm in the Twilight Zone," Stacy stated. "What the hell happened?"
"I would say Sam happened," House asserted. "I was living with him after I got out of Mayfield. He hooked up with Sam, and he couldn't get me out of the condo fast enough."
"And what would Wilson say?" Stacy asked.
"Wilson would probably say that I happened," Ann interjected. She had been so quiet for the whole time that House and Stacy were speaking that they had almost forgotten she was in the room.
"Hey," House remembered. "Why the hell are we talking about Wilson when you said you came here to discuss Cuddy?"
"Sorry," Stacy apologized after she realized she had become sidetracked. "I'm worried about her, Greg."
"Why?" House questioned.
"Well, since you haven't been talking to her about anything personal, then I guess you wouldn't know what's happening to her," Stacy began. "She hired a criminal attorney I recommended to defend Lucas after . . . "
"He was arrested for what he did," Ann summarized. "Should you even be talking to us? Is there some sort of confidentially thing here?"
"Lucas is not my client and he is not being defended by anyone in my firm," Stacy stated with a slight note of condescension in her voice. "In any case, I'm here about Lisa."
"Just get on with it!" House almost snarled.
"Just before the adoption was finalized, about nine months ago, Rachel's grandparents decided they wanted to raise their grandchild, and they started legal proceedings to obtain custody, so the adoption was put on hold," Stacy informed them. "After everything happened with Lucas, Lisa was then cohabitating with someone who was accused of criminal behavior. Between that and the familial claim, Rachel's grandparents were able to take her away and she's gone to live with them."
"Wait a minute," House said, completely stunned by what Stacy had just told them, "I thought Rachael's grandparents had given up all rights when Rachel's birth mother died."
"Rachel's maternal grandparents did." Stacy confirmed, "But her paternal grandparents didn't. They're the ones who have Rachel now. And, as I'm sure you're aware, the case with Lucas isn't going too well, either."
"So, she's lost everything," House noted dispassionately.
"That's all you have to say?" Stacy asked in frustration.
"What do you want me to say, Stacy?" House asked, equally exasperated.
"Greg," Stacy said, "It's not what I want you to say, at least to me. I want you to do or say something to Lisa, something that will help her."
"What?" House questioned incredulously. "I just told you that Cuddy and I are no longer friends and that we don't talk about anything but hospital business, and not even that if we can avoid it. What makes you think she'd listen to anything I have to say about her life? And even if she would, what exactly would I say? Tell me the magic words that would make her believe that her life doesn't suck."
"It's not about 'magic words,' and you know it," Stacy declared. "She's just needs someone to support to her right now."
"Really?" Ann asked incredulously. "After everything that's happened? Her psychotic boyfriend came after us!"
"I've spoken to her and she deeply regrets that," Stacy informed them. "She told me she had no idea what Lucas was going to do to you or she would have stopped him, and I believe her."
"I'm not so sure you should," House disagreed. "Based on everything she's done in the past couple of years."
"What?" Stacey asked, taken aback by House's assertion.
"I don't think I want to get into it," House said.
"Greg," Stacy cajoled, "You can't make a statement like that and then not tell me."
Ann interjected, "Would it be easier if I told her?"
"Yeah, go ahead," House consented.
"When Doctor Cuddy got her daughter, she went on maternity leave. She put Doctor Cameron in charge. She then decided that Doctor Cameron wasn't supervising Greg to her satisfaction, so, she came back early. For some reason, she resented Greg for this, and put up signs on all the elevators that they were out of order, making Greg walk four flights up to his office. She stole his cane at one point. And she used a tripwire to trip him in his office. When Greg got back from the mental hospital, he still had some unresolved feelings for her, so he tried to see if there was a chance for them to have a relationship. She hid the fact that she was dating Lucas. He felt like an idiot when he found out. He had had a very personal delusion about her, and she told Lucas about it! Technically, since she wasn't his doctor, I guess it didn't violate HIPPA, but she probably violated confidentiality rules as his employer. In any case, it was a shitty thing to do to a so-called friend. She invited him to Thanksgiving and told him it was at her sister's house, which is a three-hour drive from Princeton. When he got there, he found out that everyone was at her house here, and the house sitter said she was told to offer him a turkey sandwich. Do you have any idea how much his leg hurts when he's in a car for six hours, especially then, when he had virtually no pain meds? She tried to buy a condo with Lucas and involved one of Wilson's ex-wives as the realtor, just so Wilson would tell Greg and she could rub his face in it. Lucas decided to retaliate after Wilson bought the condo himself, so he loosened the grab bars that Greg used to get into the bathtub, and Greg cut his face, and he was damn lucky nothing worse happened. Lucas also tripped the sprinklers and flooded the loft and ruined a lot of Greg's stuff. To top it all off, he tripped Greg right in the hospital cafeteria. And she did nothing about it. And then after Greg and I got together, she was nothing but a bitch to us. And all of this was before the lawsuit, and before Lucas decided to sic my former rapists on me and attack us."
Stacy's face wore an expression of shock. "I . . . I . . . had no idea . . . "
"I was guessing you didn't," Ann responded. "At least now you can understand why they are no longer friends and he's not inclined to be 'supportive.' "
"Listen, I'm sorry to have bothered you," Stacy said, rising from her chair to head toward the front door. "I should probably be going. I have a long drive home."
"Thanks for letting me know what's going on with her," House stated. "At least now I'll know to keep my head down."
"Okay," Stacy said as she fished for her keys and headed out the door. "See you."
"Bye," House acknowledged.
They watched through the front window as she drove away.
"So, that's Stacy, huh?" Ann asked rhetorically.
"Yep," House said.
"Hmm," Ann remarked.
"What are you thinking?" House asked warily. "It's never fun to meet the ex."
Ann already knew about Stacy. House had told her everything. Well, maybe not every moment in the five years they had lived together, or every second of the months they dealt with each other after Stacy returned and House cured her husband, but certainly all the highlights and even some details. Some details about how House felt, even.
"Well, it's good to be able to put a face to the name," Ann remained vague.
"That's it?"
"There isn't much else to say. She's no longer a part of your life, as evidenced by what she came here to ask you."
"Yeah. It was like she was in a time warp. Like nothing had happened in the last six years."
"Kind of narcissistic."
"What do you mean?"
"Like nothing would happen in your life unless she was there. Like your life was put on hold because she wasn't in it."
"Interesting point."
"Although, that isn't good news for me."
"How so?"
"Well, you loved her and you thought you wanted a relationship with Doctor Cuddy, which means the significant women in your life have been very self-centered. That doesn't say anything good about me."
"I guess that's one interpretation, even if it is the wrong one."
"What's the right one?"
"That it took me long enough, but I finally wised up and got together with the right woman."
"I like that better."
"Thought you would. Now, can I enjoy the effects of all that estrogen coursing through your veins?" House asked as he began kissing Ann's neck.
"Let's go to bed."
House followed his large and largely pregnant wife down the hall, both of them shedding clothes as they went. By the time they reached the bedroom, they were both naked. Ann lowered herself on the bed as House looked at her. He saw her big belly, her huge tits and he felt underneath her to fondle her generous bottom. If you had told House a year ago how much he would be turned on by the ample flesh before him, he would have said you were crazy. But now, he just couldn't get enough of touching his wife's sizable, curvy body. It was a craving he never knew he had, and its fulfillment was pure physical and emotional indulgence.
"God, you are so beautiful," House murmured as he continued to touch her. He lowered himself on the bed beside her.
A flash of memory brought back Lucas's attack. House knew he couldn't let anything happen to Ann or the baby. After Lucas had kicked and hit him he'd been operating on sheer instinct and adrenaline when he went after him with his cane. He'd been yelling so loudly, he found his throat hurt later, along with everything else. He did feel some satisfaction watching Lucas run away, he had to admit.
That night, he was bruised and ugly and hurting. Ann caressed him tenderly and told him how strong and brave he was and how protected she felt. He knew it was a lame stereotype, but he could feel himself get hard at just the memory, as he had that night.
Unfortunately, his mind drifted to what Ann had told Stacy tonight. At the time, it was an incident here or there, mostly, but when he heard about it in the aggregate, it was pretty awful. How had he gotten to the point that he would let someone do all that to him? And, at the time it happened, he actually thought he deserved at least some of it. How pathetic was that? House could feel his wood disappearing.
Apparently, so could Ann. "What's wrong, baby?" she asked softly.
"Nothing," House replied, he'd stopped touching her and was pulling away. Before he managed to do it, he found Ann's arms around him. She gently pulled his head toward her and held him against her chest. She was gently stroking his face.
"Did I embarrass you in front of your ex, telling her all that stuff that Doctor Cuddy and Lucas did?"
"She needed to know."
"Still, thinking about it like that is painful."
"And humiliating."
"No, it isn't. Well, maybe for them, but not for you."
"But, I let that stuff happen to me. I didn't fight back."
"You're an addict, who also happened to be either spiraling into or coming out of mental illness. The fact that they took advantage of you when you were so vulnerable says more about what horrible people they are than anything about you."
"I shouldn't have let them do that to me."
"Don't you get it? You weren't well, and they knew that and used it. It would be like a wealthy family coming in to the hospital with a child who had cancer and Doctor Cuddy refusing to treat that child until the family donated a lot of money. It's called exploitation."
"But, I let myself get exploited. Other people don't allow that."
"You mean the people who work at shitty jobs where their bosses abuse them because they need the money? Or the people who stay in painful relationships because they don't want to be alone? Welcome to the human race, Greg."
"Why do they, why did I, put up with it?"
"Because someone, somewhere, convinced them that's all they were going to get, that's all they were worthy of getting. And they live their whole lives believing that."
"Well, I lived damn near my whole life believing it."
"But, you didn't. You got help and you worked very hard, and you realized you deserved better. You're past it now, Greg. You're able to choose to be happy."
House wanted to say something to her. Something about what she had said and done in the past year and a half to help him, to let him see that he did deserve not to be hurt, that he did deserve to be respected. It was his efforts, yes, but also hers. It was the way she defended him, and believed he could make the right choices for himself. It was even the way she saw him – realistically acknowledging his problems, but, underneath it, as a whole, strong person, worthy of being loved.
But, he couldn't. The lump in his throat was growing so big, there was no way to talk around it.
He lifted his head and looked in her eyes.
"My beautiful, courageous man. And not just because you made Lucas run away like a girl." They both smiled slightly.
"You're brave here," she said, her hand resting lightly on his chest. "You have the heart of a lion."
"Thank you," House managed to croak out. "For everything."
Their lovemaking that night was intense, passionate, tender and comforting all at the same time. They fell asleep in deep contentment.
A/N: There are a few extra OCs in this chapter, which I hope don't dilute the focus of the story. I felt so badly for House after last week's episode, I just couldn't write a scene where we saw him get beaten up. (Writing violence isn't my strong suite, in any case.) So, we find out about it indirectly, and deal with the aftermath instead.
And thanks to everyone who has put this story on alerts and favorites. I hope it's made what has been a bad season (IMO) a little bit easier to take.
