Hi everyone!
Here is a quick drabble for you. My apologies for not being able to update this sooner - what was the point of failing med school if I don't get any more free time, right?
This one is set somewhere in season 7. I hope that you'll enjoy it. And I'll see you soon with more drabbles!
32. Go back to sleep.
His feet ached. So did his knees. And his back. His shoulders. His neck. His eyes felt raw from staring at his computer screen, his muscles were sore from being hunched over his desk, and his head throbbed from the lack of sleep.
The thought that maybe he'd grown too old to stay at the hospital two nights in a row mulling over a case crossed his mind when he let himself into Cuddy's house at three in the morning. The throbbing pain in his leg was the only thing diverting him from his initial path to their bedroom. Ibuprofen had barely made a dent, and he needed to soak his leg in warm water if he wanted to be able to get any sleep.
Closing the door in order not to wake Cuddy up, House filled the tub and lowered himself into the bath, leaving the lights off so that he wouldn't strain his eyes any further. The hot water, in addition to the ibuprofen he'd taken earlier, did wonders to his leg, and to all of his muscles; he was in a state of utter peace when he joined Cuddy in bed. His body didn't feel so battered and broken anymore, and he longed for nothing more than to curl up under his lover's warm comforter, and drift to sleep.
He closed his eyes and let out a long, cleansing sigh, sheathed by a soothing warmth from head to toe. Cuddy rolled towards him, croaking a sleepy "Hi".
"Go back to sleep," he whispered, laying one of his hands on her back. Sleep won over him before he could know whether she'd followed his advice.
Although he didn't hear her get up and shower in the morning, Cuddy kissing his forehead before she left for work definitely wrested him from his slumber – just enough for him to vaguely grasp in his hypnopompic confusion at where her body should have been.
"Go back to sleep," she whispered, tenderly caressing his scalp. He did as he was told, burying his nose in her pillow, briefly aware that he was one lucky bastard.