CHAPTER 9: ENDGAME
Gregory House limped into the office of the Dean of Medicine, his expression stern, his posture straight, everything showing determination and willpower. "You finally remembered you have a job here?", Lisa Cuddy asked, her own features bearing witness to her own determination. "I came to submit my resignation", he responded, clarifying, "Afsoun's case is gonna be the last I tackle here". "Really? You disappear for two days, neglect your duties and put your patients into jeopardy, and now come here with a gall and submit your resignation? Outrageous, even from you, House", she answered. "Wanna know where I was those last two days?", he shot back and kept going, "I was being hospitalized in Atlantic City. I screwed up with trying a muscle growth compound, which was being tested on lab rats. The result was a number of tumors developing on my leg. I tried to excise them manually, but it was impossible. Here comes the call, the call I gave you in the middle of the night and you didn't answer. Don't get too flattered, though, your number wasn't at the top of the list. Actually, it was the last. To be precise, next to last".
Cuddy was taken aback. She had no idea of the real reasons behind House's absence. "I was lucky enough I had another number in my phone. When all others were thinking I was drunk, stoned or anything, my wife just answered the phone and took a cab all the way from Atlantic City to my apartment", House resumed explaining what had occurred. "Your... Wife?", the Dean of Medicine asked. "You mean the hooker you called on after our breakup?". "Wrong again", he replied. "Dominika was never a hooker. You just formed that conclusion, but I don't hold it against you, because even Wilson fell into that trap. Regardless, she is my wife and I require more respect is shown to her", he added. "And that's the reason you quit? Because I'm not applauding you for taking rat medicine, because I didn't answer a call from you, with your history of pranks and inappropriate comments or because I supposedly insulted your wife?", Cuddy retorted. "In resigning, I'm actually following your own advice. Moving on, you know. I'm, at last, moving on. I don't expect you to be happy about it, but you should know it's partly your own advice that made me decide to quit", the diagnostician responded. "And you are quitting for what exactly? What kind of job you have in mind that's so good in comparison to the one you have now?", she asked, barely able to hide the anger in her voice. "Diagnostics department in Oregon. No clinic duty, secure space in the parking lot, pain specialist who's gonna examine me every week. Should I go on? Because, none of the advantages the new job has are to be found here", he almost lashed out. "So, you quit because you want to be pampered? Ridiculous!", she retorted. "Does it sound ridiculous to you that I want to ease the pain in that useless chunk of flesh remaining of my leg? Or that, if I had more time for my speciality, I'd be able to take on more cases simultaneously? Or that clinic duty is difficult, especially those days I can't even get out of bed without the pain killing me? Or that I require a safe place to park without having to walk a large distance? If those things are ridiculous to you, congratulations", he replied.
The Dean of Medicine snorted, having to admit, at least to herself, that his complaints were valid enough. "I'm a Dean of Medicine, I have to make decisions for the benefit of the hospital", she tried to formulate her reply, adding, "I can't just issue privileges to you all the time". "Privilege? Basic things to accommodate the needs of a cripple are privileges? Gotta have the dictionary definition updated", he replied sarcastically. "Had I not offered you this job, you'd be still unemployed. You are quick to judge others, House, but focus on your own shortcomings. Ask yourself whether you'd be able to have any job at all had I not hired you", she answered. "After you botched the operation in my leg", he retorted. "You had guilt feelings, because you were responsible for my case and you knew you took the wrong approach. You sought to put your guilt to sleep by hiring me. It was never about me or about the best for the Diagnostics department, it was always about you", he quipped, adding, "I never held it against you all those years". "If you thought like that, why sign the contract then? You go on with accusing and belittling others, but you don't dare face yourself and your own problems!", she answered, her voice getting progressively louder. "I signed because I had a chance at doing my job for the good of science", he responded. "Would have been easier for me to sue you and the hospital back then, but nothing good was gonna result from it. My leg wouldn't get better, your hospital would be ruined and many people's lives would be in danger", he added, his reply once more taking Cuddy unawares. She never paid any attention to the thought that, behind the cold and cynical façade, Gregory House was a person deeply caring for people. Were he not caring, he'd never request all those dangerous procedures or repeatedly put his career and reputation at stake.
Cuddy was feeling a bit dizzy, but she forced herself to maintain eye contact with House. "Since you care so much for your patients, why leave?", she made a rather inadequate attempt to parry his thrust. "I can perfectly take care of patients in Oregon. Those years I worked here, patients from every quarter of the country were admitted in the hospital, in need of a diagnosis. Can't see why this can't occur in Oregon", he demolished her argument. "As for the Department here, Foreman has already taken the reins. He's got his taste of power, let him have it for real now. He's really a good doctor, and it's not irony", he added. "So, there's nothing that can convince you to...", her voice faltered, the proper words eluding her. "I've already made my decision. I returned here just to diagnose Afsoun and announce my resignation. Sorry for the inconvenience and for not giving you the pleasure of firing me", he replied, adding, "In case you wonder, your reaction at the announcement of my resignation betrayed your thought". "Pleasure? Who said firing you would be a pleasure? If it were, I'd have fired you years ago", she objected in a loud tone. "And you suddenly decided to do it now?", he scoffed. "Because now your behaviour has gone beyond any boundary. After our breakup...", she began her response, and he cut her off, abruptly, "It has to be about you, right? Because everything I think and everything I do is about you, no?". "We didn't have any conversation after the breakup, that's why I bring it up", she answered, trying to hold on her own edge. "Because a conversation has such incredible healing powers, right? Gotta remember this for the next diagnosis", he shot back. "I didn't say a conversation will solve everything. It's gonna be a beginning", Cuddy responded. "I'm talking to you, you're talking to me. Isn't this the definition of a conversation?", House commented sarcastically. "I didn't mean it like that", she tried to elaborate, but it was obvious he wasn't going to tolerate the way the conversation had taken by now. "What did you mean by it, then? You wanna know about my feelings? I was feeling hurt. Partly, I still do. I wanted to go to your home and blow it to smithereens, but not anymore. Because I finally found the way of moving on. And that's why I'm quitting", he returned to his initial point.
"How is this in any way different from what Wilson thought to do after Amber's death?", Cuddy shot back. "You're doing the same, but you have double standards. You accuse all the others, but find an excuse for yourself", she practically yelled at him. "Wrong. Wilson didn't really want to leave, he was scared because of the sudden loss he had to cope with. I'm not afraid of anything, quite the opposite, I've found the courage to turn the page", he responded, his tone slightly calmer than hers. "And turning the page means going away? It still looks like fleeing", she shot back. "Let's say it does. How does it concern you? You're not getting any more complaints about how I'm handling my patients, you escape my comments on your sluttish clothes, you can go an a date with any guy without me following you or trying to make you break up with them. Unless you've regretted breaking my heart and realized you screwed up and your mother was right about your standards being impossible to meet", House quipped, his glance now fixed at Jerry Barrett's business card, which she still had on her desk. "Hmmm, maybe it's gonna work with you and that guy", he added in a biting tone. "It's not what you're thinking of. I haven't seen anyone else since... Since we broke up", Cuddy replied, getting on the defensive now. "By now, I couldn't care less", he retorted. "As much as I'd like to continue our wee game of verbal chess, I have a gorgeous girl waiting for me in Pediatrics. With the low difficulty level of the video games there, she must be getting bored by now, meaning I gotta go to make her day more exciting. As for Afsoun, I'm taking the file with me. You will be informed as soon as the diagnosis is made", he added and turned to leave, the Dean of Medicine having been rendered speechless. House paused for a moment and took hold of his backpack. After a quick search, he produced something looking like a gift for a child. Leaving the item on her desk, he said, "That's a present for Rachel. It's the doll she wanted to buy and you refused. I've left a letter for her with the doll, explaining I'm not gonna come to your house again, at least for a really long time. I wanna let the kid have some good memories from me". Leaving the Dean of Medicine at a loss for words once more, he turned towards the opposite direction and limped out of the room.
Dominika was sitting there in Pediatrics, as she was bidden, when her husband appeared. "Game over", he simply announced. "What now?", she asked. "Nothing. We're just going home", he informed her. They walked out of the room together, hand in hand, smiling at each other all along the way.