House snuck into the hospital. He didn't want to see Dr. Cuddy. She was furious with him. He'd never seem her this mad before. He had done many things to piss her off in the past, but she had always gotten over it. He wasn't so sure she would get over this one.
Dr. Wilson caught him up in the elevator. "Hey, House." He said cheerily.
"Hey," House replied, less cheerily.
"Don't worry, House. She'll forgive you. She always does. Look, I got fired and I forgave you." Wilson was trying to cheer his friend up, but he knew it was no use.
"You are the forgiving type. She isn't. I bet I get extra clinic hours." He was trying to lighten the mood with a little joke, but it wasn't working.
The elevator doors opened, and Dr. Cuddy walked in. Wilson glanced at her, then at House. "Oh," he said nervously, "this is my floor." With that, he scurried out of the elevator. He was not about to get in the middle of that fight.
Drs House and Cuddy stood in silence while the elevator rose higher. Cuddy took a deep breath, reached out and pushed the emergency stop button. The elevator came to an abrupt stop.
She turned and faced House, fury on her face. "Do you have any idea what you put me through?" She was raging.
"I did what I thought was right." It was all House could say.
"You always do what you think is right, for you." She placed heavy emphasis on the last two words. "You don't give a rat's arse what's right for anyone else. You could have handled things differently. You could have…"
He'd had enough. He knew she was mad, but he felt he had to speak his peace. "I could have what? I could have sold out one of my doctors. I could have fired someone? Well, I couldn't. Remember, I tried. Vogler wouldn't let me."
"Vogler was being an arse. That's no reason for you to be one too."
"I tried to play nice. It didn't work. Vogler had to go. If I didn't give that speech, then none of this would have happened, and Vogler would still be here telling you how to run your hospital."
Anger flashed in her eyes. She knew he was right, and she hated him for it. "I would have handled Vogler." She growled.
"Really, because you weren't doing such a great job of it as far as I could see."
"How dare you question the way I do my job. Do you have any idea what I have to do? Do you know how many compromises I had to make to keep you here?"
House was silent. He knew that Cuddy would do just about anything for him, and he never showed her the slightest appreciation. But she knew who he was, probably better than anyone. She chose to protect him. He'd never asked her to.
"This is all pointless now." She was settling down. She had let her anger out. "What is done is done. Please, don't make me regret my decision."
"It sounds like you already do."
She couldn't help it. Without thinking her arm raised into the air, and her hand fell hard on House's cheek. A large "smack" filled the air. House fell back against the wall. She had hit him harder than she meant to. Suddenly she saw how fragile he was. She put out her hand to help him regain his balance.
"Feel better," he said, holding a hand to his sore cheek.
"Yes, actually, I do." She looked at him. He looked like a hurt dog. All the anger was gone now. "Are you OK?"
"That's a hell of a swing you've got." He was smiling. He knew he'd deserved it, and he was glad it was over with. One thing about Cuddy that he admired was her ability to confront her problems and get past them. She was angry at him, she said her piece, and now she could move on. Not him. When House was betrayed, he held a grudge. It had destroyed his relationship with Stacy. He wasn't going to let it destroy his friendship with Cuddy.
"I was on the softball team in high school." She shook her hand. The palm stung from the impact of the slap. "You have one hard head."
"Actually, I've got two." An enormous grin spread across his face.
Cuddy shook her head, laughing. She could never stay mad at him for long. "You are unbelievable." She said, still shaking her head in disbelieve.
"I can prove it." He moved closer to her.
"You're impossible!" She pushed the button that started the elevator up again, and shortly the doors slid open. They both walked off the elevator and went their separate ways.