Rediscovery

By Ellie

Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue. I have no money.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but I got a virus on my computer and then work became hectic. I wish I could say that the next update would be soon, but I'm leaving town for the next 10 days for my best friend's wedding, and I doubt I'll get much, if any, writing done.

"Dr. Cameron," Wilson called out to the young physician as she walked down the hallway. She turned at Wilson's voice. "Can I see you in my office for a moment?" he asked.

"Of course," she replied and followed him down the hall to his office. She sat down in one of the chairs across from his desk and waited for him to start.

Wilson stared at Cameron as he had second thoughts (actually, more like sixth and seventh thoughts) about his decision to ask her to help him with House and Cuddy. Unfortunately, his choices for people willing to help House were very limited. Foreman was angry at House and would refuse to do this, saying it was none of his business. He might have been able to convince Chase to do it, but Chase was a crappy liar. This job required someone who cared about House's wellbeing, but could effectively (at least for a short period of time) lie to him.

Cameron cared about House. Wilson was pretty sure she was over her little crush -- at least he hoped that she was – so there shouldn't be any jealousy problems. And he was pretty sure that she would be able to fool House. He just wasn't sure if he would be able to talk her into helping him with his plan.

"Dr. Wilson …" Cameron interrupted his thoughts and he realized that he had spaced out for a bit. He chuckled a little self-consciously before he began.

"I … need your help with something," he said.

"With House?" she asked expectantly.

"Yes," he said slowly.

"Good. I've been worried about him, but I wasn't sure what to do. Cuddy didn't seem to know what was going on with him when I asked her yesterday. I assume you know what's bothering him."

Wilson looked away and nodded. "Yes. I know. He's … in love."

Cameron opened her mouth, but no sound escaped. "What?" she finally asked after several moments of shocked silence.

"Well if he's not in love, then he's very close to falling in love and it's freaking him out."

Cameron still hadn't gotten past Wilson's first statement. "House is in love? With who?"

Wilson sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "You cannot tell anyone else. It's Cuddy."

"Cuddy?" she yelped in disbelief. "They … they hate each other. I don't think I've ever seen them have one nice conversation. He's always talking about her breasts and she's always making comments about his leg. They can't be in a relationship."

"Fighting is the mating call of the snarky," Wilson said in his best wise voice. "Cameron, House and Cuddy have known each other for a very long time. They've always fought like this. That's how their friendship works. It's when they're being icily polite to one another that you've got to watch out." Wilson watched as Cameron digested this information. It was shocking, to say the least, but the more she thought about it the more it made sense. After a few moments, she nodded in acceptance and met Wilson's gaze.

"How do you need my help?" she asked, puzzled.

"They haven't really started anything yet. They're in the pre-stages of starting something. They're being cautious because of the possible complications.

"The Board."

"Among other things," he replied. "But House convinced me that they had really thought this thing out, and she is one of the few people I can think of who really knows him and doesn't want to change him." Cameron looked away for a moment, her cheeks reddening. Wilson realized his faux-pas.

"I didn't mean anything …"

"No, you're right. I'm a fixer, and House is just about one of the most broken people I've ever met. I wanted to be the one to help put him back together again."

"That's part of who he is," Wilson replied. "I won't say that he enjoys being broken, but he doesn't really want to do anything about it." He knew that House found Cameron attractive and was flattered by her attention. But he also knew that House, who had spent his life failing to meet his father's expectations, would rather poke his eyes out then be with someone who was constantly disappointed in him. "Anyways," he continued, "something spooked him. I don't know what. He's remembering what it was like to … be open to someone else like that and the pain that happens when it goes wrong."

Wilson paused to consider his words. He didn't want to violate House's privacy too much, but he had to explain enough to get Cameron's assistance.

"He's half-decided that the status quo is better than risking the pain of another failed relationship."

"I don't understand how you think I can help," Cameron said. "He won't listen to me if I try and talk to him."

"No," Wilson agreed. "We need to … uh … make him realize that the status quo isn't good enough."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

Wilson took a deep breath. Now came the hard part.

House was in an observation room above an empty OR. It was nice and quiet and usually an excellent place to zone out while playing video games, but he was having a difficult time concentrating today. Unwelcome thoughts kept on intruding. Thoughts about Cuddy. Thoughts about Stacy. Thoughts about risk. He finally put the game down and rubbed his eyes as he chuckled darkly to himself. He had this gigantic reputation as a risk taker and a mean son of a bitch who didn't care about his patients. What most people didn't understand that the latter was necessary for the former to occur. If he cared about something or someone too much, he became indecisive. He thought too much about the possible negative consequences and usually wanted to take the safer approach.

In this case, the safer alternative was to stop things with Cuddy before they went any further. She would understand. This was why she insisted on the grace period in the first place. It would be awkward at first, of course, but he knew that they could go back to just being banter buddies. But he really, really didn't want to do that. Of course he really, really didn't want to go through what he went through when Stacy left again, either. He wished that all of his gifts would give him a glimpse of the future. Just a hint to let him know what the correct decision would be.

He heard the door open behind him and he quickly picked up his game again. He didn't want to be caught brooding – especially if it were Wilson.

But the light footsteps behind them belonged to a woman. He turned to see Cameron approaching him with a concerned look on her face. He shut his eyes in dread. She was going to try and get him to talk about his feelings. What was with everybody today?

He opened his eyes when she stopped next to him and he looked up with a reproachful comment on the tip of his lips. Her expression made him stop. She looked … nervous and upset.

"Did you need something?" he asked when she didn't say anything. She took a deep breath.

"Cuddy's been brought into the ER. She was in a car accident. It's pretty bad," she said quietly.

House could feel all of the blood drain from his face as a gigantic knot of panic formed in his stomach. His brain stopped working. He could hear his heart thudding. He thought he heard Cameron continue to speak, but he couldn't be sure. All he could think about was the fact that Cuddy was hurt. He imagined her broken body lying in a hospital bed as doctors frantically worked around her. He got up and pushed his way past Cameron, ignoring her calling to him as he walked as fast as he could to the elevator, cursing his leg the entire way.

He finally made it to the elevator and repeatedly pressed the down button as he glared at the stairwell door which seemed to be mocking him. He was about ready to beat the elevator doors with his cane out of frustration when they finally opened up. He got in and hit the correct button and waited.

The relatively short ride seemed to take forever. He focused briefly on the music playing in the elevator. It was crap. He would have to get Cuddy to … He could feel his hand tremble as it tightly gripped his cane.

He had been right. Her leaving his life was worse than anything he had ever felt before. But he had never imagined her leaving like this. She was so indomitable. So … in control that is seemed absurd that something as mundane as a car accident could take her away from him.

House swallowed with difficulty as he realized just how much he wanted Cuddy in his life. How much he needed to see her eyes light up with humor when he entered the room. How much he needed her to fight with him.

He bit the inside of his cheek to help him maintain control as the elevator finally made it to the ER. He rushed out of the elevator and almost ran into Wilson. He pushed past him, but Wilson grabbed onto his arm to prevent him from going on. House turned to Wilson, desperately afraid of what he would see in his face.

"'What's one more regret?' Wilson said, repeating House's own words from earlier in a slightly mocking tone.

House stared at Wilson in confusion for a moment before the truth came crashing down on him. Cuddy wasn't hurt. This was Wilson's sick and twisted way of getting him to confront his feelings. His fear quickly turned into anger.

"You son of a bitch," he hissed as he lifted his cane and hit Wilson – hard – in the stomach. He doubled over in pain as House walked away.

Wilson struggled to catch his breath, ignoring the looks from the other people in the hallway. He couldn't say that he was surprised that House had hit him, but he had been hoping for a punch that he could have avoided a little easier.

Once Wilson had recovered, he set off in search of House. He finally found him on their shared balcony.

House was looking out onto the world as he took deep breaths to calm his still racing heart. He heard Wilson approach from behind and he turned to give him a withering glare.

"I'm still pissed, so approach at your own risk."

"Thanks for the warning," Wilson said as he came up to House and stood next to him.

"You had no right," House began.

"No, I didn't," Wilson agreed. "But it's what you needed to help clarify your thoughts."

"It was cruel and evil –"

"I learn from the best --"

"And how did you convince Cameron to cooperate?"

"That did do some taking, but eventually the idea of helping true love to find its way won her over."

"Oh God, I'm going to have to kill you just for putting that thought in her mind. You may have undone months of Cynicism Therapy," House replied. They were both silent as they watched over the hospital grounds.

"So," Wilson said after a while, "are we okay?"

House sighed. "Yeah,"

"So what are you going to do now?"

"Go find Cuddy and screw like rabbits."

"Wow. That's so touching. No wonder she wants to be with you."

"What can I say? I'm just that charming."

Wilson chuckled and turned to meet House's amused gaze. They both turned to head back indoors.

TBC

A/N2: We are almost done people. It's been an awesome journey. Thanks for the 300+ reviews. Please keep on reviewing.