CHAPTER 6

House sat in his chair, eyes following his yo-yo up and down, up and down…For some reason he found the continuity comforting and relaxing so he was especially irritated when it was interrupted by a knock on the door. Dr. Lisa Cuddy walked into the room.

"Hey," she said. "I'm in process of learning a new trick which is a very strenuous activity that involves a high level of concentration. So unless somebody's dying, there's no reason for you to be here."

"Good, we need to talk," Cuddy responded, her dry wit matching House's.

"What?" House protested. "I've already done clinic duty."

"Exactly! You did exactly what you were supposed to – no complaints, no sarcastic remarks…nothing!" Cuddy's face showed genuine concern. "Something's got to be wrong. You hate clinic duty. What's up?"

"So you're upset because I did clinic duty?" House's eyes glinted slyly. "Does this mean I shouldn't do clinic duty anymore?"

"No, it just means that something is wrong, now spill," Cuddy's arms crossed in a stubborn air and House could see there was no arguing with her.

He sighed, "Do you want to hear the long version?"

XxX

"She has a genetic disease called Long QT Syndrome, an essentially new disease and because we're still doing research, there is no known cure," the doctor looked sympathetic. "I'm sorry."

Gregory stared numbly, unable to believe what the doctor had said. "So-so how long does she have to..." he couldn't finish, but he didn't need to.

"Hard to say," the doctor said apologetically. "I am sorry."

Gregory nodded, tears filling his eyes. This isn't how it was supposed to be; they were supposed to get married, raise a family, grow old and die together .It wasn't supposed to happen like this! Gregory walked slowly, heartbroken into Gillian's room. One look at Gregory's tearstained face told her everything.

"You'll be okay Greg," Gillian murmured, a peaceful smile appearing on her pale face. "I know you will."

"I don't want to lose you," Gregory whimpered. "I love you."

Gillian reached up and touched his face, "I'll always be with you, no matter what. You wanna know a secret?" she leaned over and whispered in Gregory's ear. "I'm not afraid to die."

Gregory reached down and wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close and began to cry silently in her shoulder.

A half hour later, Gillian Piper Quinn was gone.

XxX

"And we all lived happily ever after," House finished bitterly. "I'd done a pretty good job pretending this didn't happen until this patient decided to come a long with the same symptoms. I'm almost positive – she's got LQTS, but I would rather pretend she doesn't. I've gotten pretty good at playing 'Let's Pretend' "

He looked up to see tears streaming down Cuddy's face. "What happened to the baby?" she asked.

He glanced down at his shoes. "The baby…died with her. Look, if I wanted to make you cry, I would have brought some tissues."

Cuddy let out a shaky laugh, "It just…explains everything – the bitterness, the sarcastic crap you pull all the time, it all makes sense now." She sniffed, brushing away the tears as she cast around for a new subject, "So what are you going to do, about the patient I mean."

House shrugged uncomfortably, "An EKG scan should tell us all we need to know."

Cuddy nodded, "Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me this."

House tried to appear indifferent "Um…ok."

Without thinking, Cuddy reached over and gave him a quick hug. Then, as if realizing what she had done, released him and left, leaving House to his confused thoughts.

The next day House limped over to his younger colleagues.

"Our patient needs and EKG scan," he stated briefly.

As if on cue, all four of their pagers rang: Janice Rand was having a seizure. House allowed a self-satisfied look, "God, I love it when I'm right."