Chapter 26
Cuddy steeled herself before walking into the barred holding room. An indifferent, uniformed officer waved his hand vaguely at the cells, then leant against the wall. She stepped forward and scanned the room, which was long and narrow. Cells lining the walls with a walkway in between. The cell closest to the front housed a modest but varied array of women, two sat together, one dozing on the other's shoulder both dressed in spangly club attire, the sleeping lady's dress unravelling at the hem. Another stood nonchalant in leather pants and red biker tank top, her tattooed arms threaded through the bars. She was carrying on a conversation with a rowdy group of drunken men, who were not even trying to disguise their leering. A fourth woman decked out in black lay prone, spread across an unyielding concrete bench, one arm draped on the floor, her black hair in wild disarray.
Cameron sat huddled in the corner closest to the door, her smart brown pants and stylish but sensible shoes marked her as different from the other ladies. Her coat was pulled tightly around her, whether to ward off the chill from the drafty room, or as a form of comfort, Cuddy didn't know. The young woman determinedly avoided the calls of men from the other more densely packed cell. Cuddy immediately walked over to the younger lady. "Cameron", she uttered gently, her previous anger at her young doctors evaporated when she saw the other lady's fear and shame. Cameron immediately looked up, startled. When she saw her boss standing over her, she jumped to her feet and quickly covered the short distance to her but made no effort to speak. Cameron looked so ashamed that she couldn't help asking "Are you ok? How have they been treating you?"
"I'm ok." The younger woman replied, avoiding eye contact. Her gaze strayed over to Chase who had emerged from the crowd and made his way over to the bars of his own cell. Cuddy frowned, his left eye was swollen, a small cut peaked through his eyebrow.
"What the hell happened?" She rushed over to him and reached out to examine the wound.
A deep, booming voice sounded from behind her. "Hands to yourself. Step away from the cell."
Throwing him a withering look, she countered, "He's hurt!" But pulled her hands back all the same. She then turned back to Chase and loudly demanded. "Did a cop do this?"
"I'm ok," Chase jumped in as the guard opened his mouth to retort. "Really." He added at her incredulous look. "It wasn't them. Hamilton didn't take kindly to finding us in his house. He wanted to make sure I knew it." His voice dripped with scorn as he mentioned the politician.
"What the hell were you thinking going to his house anyway? Hamilton has been trying to get you fired since the coffee incident." She ranted.
"We didn't know what else to do. Sarah's deteriorating and we have no idea why. When I spoke to House, he thought there might have been something other than her meds which caused the crash." He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
Cuddy sighed. "Please tell me you found something in the home, so we can finally get his wife better and get rid of him."
"They confiscated all of our samples. But I memorised the meds we found." Cameron found her voice at last. The events over the last eighteen hours had scared her, focusing on the medicine helped her feel at least a modicum of control. At least she could help the case. "We found the usual cold meds, and expired antibiotics. Sarah's SSRIs and anti-anxiety meds were in her bathroom cabinet."
"None of that matters! We knew she was on both of those." Chase jumped in. "We found a bottle of pills in his desk drawer; it was locked. There wasn't a prescription or any sort of label. There were only a few left. But they took the bottle away with the rest of our samples. There's something up with this Hamilton guy, I know it, but now we have no proof! I'm sure that whatever was in his desk drawer had something to do with the accident." He ground out, frustrated.
Arriving back at the hospital, after promising to do what she could to help her employees, Cuddy was frustrated that her subordinates had gotten themselves arrested breaking into the house of such a connected and difficult family member. But she was also frustrated that their efforts had yielded them nothing useful to show for the risks they had taken. She spent the rest of the morning with legal, trying to organise bail for her two doctors and investigating the charges levelled against them.
Before too long she found her mind wandering to House, floors above her. She hadn't had a chance to visit him since he awakened following his latest surgery. She had hour until her next engagement. Now was the perfect time to visit him and maybe update him on his team's situation.
HHHHHHHHH
As Cuddy approached the darkened room, she began to feel apprehensive. Her hand nervously fingered the necklace resting against her still bruised and tender neck. She could almost feel his injured hands at her throat, see his face close to hers, contorted with rage. Before she could succumb to the memories, she pushed them back down and buried them deep. She drew in a steadying breath and let herself into his room.
The door whooshed closed behind her, and she stepped further into the room, her heels tapping on the floor, at the sound House stirred. His eyes were closed but his breathing lightened and became less regular. He shifted again, stretching out his right leg. Slowly his eyes opened, searching for the sound that woke him. His eyes settled on Cuddy, and she felt a thrill run through her. "Good morning." She trilled, as he yawned and stretched, letting a smile play across her face. He didn't answer but studied her as she moved closer to his bed. "How are you feeling?" Again, he didn't respond, watching her closely, his face a mask of concentration. Grabbing his charts, she flipped through the previous night's notes to stop herself squirming under his scrutiny. "It looks like you slept well. Any pain or discomfort." His mouth parted as if to speak, but no words came. She was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable under his piercing gaze. He swallowed. "Are you thirsty?" This time she didn't wait for an answer, instead she busied herself with pouring him a drink and held it out to him.
Slowly, he pulled himself up the bed, grimacing as the movement irritated his ribs, then took the proffered cup in his right hand. He took a few sips, then lowered the cup to rest on his stomach. "Cu…ddy?" He said softly. "Lisa Cuddy?" He repeated. Again, Cuddy felt a shiver pass through her.
"Yes!" She shot out with more intensity than she intended, and he flinched slightly, the noise overwhelming him for a moment. To hide the awkwardness, she reached for the cup in his hands, and busied herself with straightening his table, forcing her voice to remain calm. "My name is Lisa Cuddy. You remember me?" Her now controlled tone now belied the emotions surging through her.
Again, he paused, wading through a lifetimes worth of jumbled memories, trying to piece together his relationship with this woman who evoked such emotion in him. "I've known you… for a while?" He finally uttered, feeling the answer was inadequate. Hoping she could fill some of the gaps in for him.
"Yes, we have." She smiled. "We met at college. You were a few years ahead of me, but we met… a few times." Now wasn't the time to open that can of worms.
He seemed to consider her again. "Are we friends?"
"Of course! Of course, we're friends. We've known each other for… forever."
"Are we friends?" He repeated, puzzled, his head tilted slightly at the question. "I like you… a lot." At this Cuddy felt herself shiver. "But… I'm not nice to you."
She sighed, considering their relationship. Of course, they were friends. He drove her crazy, but she always found herself watching him when he was near her. His antics made her tedious, paperwork filled days more interesting. She missed him when she hadn't seen him for a while. She yearned to see him, to be with him when he was sick. "Yes, we argue, but we don't hate each other. It's… like a game, who can get a rise out of the other first. You often win, but it keeps me on my toes." Again, she couldn't stop the smile that played across her lips.
"You like that?" He questioned, uncertain.
"You drive me crazy sometimes, but you're the most amazing man I've ever met." She smiled warmly at him as he considered what she said.
Just then commotion from the hallway drew her attention. She turned to see a large group of reporters making their way towards House's room, Hamilton leading the way.
"Dr Cuddy?!" She heard the politician announce to the entire ward. "I was told she's on this floor. Where is Dr Cuddy?" As the ensemble drew closer, she could see microphones and cameras clutched in the hands of those who accompanied the man who was causing so many issues. Doctors, nurses and patients stood around uncertain. Someone broke away from the crowd and tried to intercept them and return them to the lift, but Hamilton snubbed her and continued to scan the hallway like a hawk searching for its prey.
Cuddy shot a hesitant glance towards House before she composed herself and strode towards the door, hoping to intercept the group before Hamilton found a way to embroil House in his drama. "There you are, Dr Cuddy!" His voice boomed before she was able to open the glass door. "I believe we have a few things to discuss." Signalling for his entourage to follow, he marched towards the room and blocked her exit.
Anticipating his next move, she attempted to guide him away from the room by his elbow. "Mr Hamilton, how nice to see you. Shall we conduct this meeting in my office? We don't want to disturb the patients on this floor, do we?" She looked at the group surrounding her pointedly.
The reporters crowding them shuffled their feet, weighing their integrity over their desire to get the scoop. Hamilton, however, stood fast and Cuddy felt his arm twist out of her grip. Whatever reluctance his group began to show melted away as he announced. "Is this the famous Dr House?" Suddenly, cameras were raised, microphones were thrust into her face and Cuddy found herself being forced backwards into the crowded room.
"Call security!" She yelled at her dumbfounded staff. "Now!" She added when no one moved. The doctor who had tried to stop Hamilton a moment ago now rushed to the phone, shouting orders for her staff to try to control the crowd now spilling from House's room.
Hamilton aimed a triumphant smirk at Cuddy before rearranging his face into his concerned husband mask and continued. "Dr House, it's so pleasing to finally get to meet you. It's not every day you meet your wife's saviour." He showed a practised, toothy smile to his audience, then rounded the bed and stood beside House. The group raised their equipment as one, microphones thrust out and cameras poised as he shoved out a hand to shake with the man on the bed, pausing a moment as he hesitated. Seeing that a handshake wouldn't be possible, he reached to place a hand on House's right shoulder. House in turn began to shy away from the anticipated contact, burying himself deeper into the pillows supporting his back, pain evident in his features.
He raised his hand to block out the lights from the cameras and the shuffling bodies confusing his vision; causing his head to ache and bile to rise in his throat. "Cuddy?" He said pleadingly as the reporters surged forwards for a better shot.
"No pictures!" Cuddy protested too late. Cameras began clicking, capturing the impromptu photo op. "You all need to leave this room now!" She bellowed over the crowd. "This is not the time or the place to be conducting an interview. Dr House is still a patient in this hospital. He is very sick and all of this… excitement could set back his recovery." Seeing that her words made no impact, she stepped in from of House, obscuring him from view, then whirled around and levelled her gaze at Hamilton. "Don't touch him!"