Day Three of the Cuddy-enforced rest period.

"Tell me Lisa, does sex actually qualify as getting some rest?"

They were in his bed, the blankets twisted and tangled all around them. Cuddy propped up on her elbow and said, "Considering all the effort that goes into it, I'd have to say no. But that didn't seem to stop you."

House chuckled a bit, then glanced at the clock. It was 8:10am.

"Skipping school today, Dr. Cuddy?"

"It's my day off."

"The kids are all by themselves," he said. "They're going to think Mommy and Daddy abandoned them."

"The kids will get over it."

"You're starting to sound like me. Now that's a scary thought..." he trailed off, staring at the ceiling. "Back to the old grind tomorrow. Back to pretending we can't stand the sight of each other."

"Wilson knows about us," she reminded him.

"Wilson can at least keep his yap shut about it. Someone else could have seen your car, you know."

"Well, if someone asks about it, I'll just have to tell the truth," Cuddy smiled. "I was checking to make sure one of my sick doctors was okay."

House looked over and smiled back for a few seconds, then turned to the ceiling again.

"A lot has happened in the past few days," he said.

"What's happened, Greg?" Cuddy asked, edging closer to him.

"You, me, Stacy."

"Greg, you made the right decision about Stacy."

Pulling himself up to a sitting position, House said, "I know. But when you hang on to something that long...It's just...this whole thing has given me a lot to think about. I need to be alone for a while, Lisa."

Knowing that was as close to pouring his heart out as he would get, Cuddy made no effort to push him any further.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She wanted to shower before she left and he could hardly say no. As he was getting dressed, he remembered leaving the cane in the living room. Limping to it wasn't too bad, but bending down to get it caused a shooting pain that made him yelp. He tracked down his Vicodin, dry-swallowed one, then headed to the kitchen. A brief search of the fridge turned up a red apple. After washing it off, he limped back to the sofa to wait.

From the corner of his eye he watched Cuddy walk from the bathroom to the bedroom, then listened to zippers and clothes rustle as she packed up. Turning the apple around and around in his hands, he thought of everything that had happened between the first bottle of scotch and now. Images and words faded in and out like the screen of an old television.

He looked up as Cuddy walked into the room with the shiny gym bag over her shoulder. "Here" he said, holding out the apple. "I would have made waffles but I don't have any."

She took the apple and looked it over like it might be fake. "Thank you."

House settle back into the sofa and said, "Maybe in a few days I'll be ready to take some requests."

"I'll try to think of some. See you tomorrow, Dr. House."

"See you tomorrow, Dr. Cuddy."

He closed his eyes and listened to the front door open and close, then the sound of her car starting up and fading into the distance. Stacy suddenly appeared, Stacy who said she would never leave and did anyway when he needed her most. In his mind he saw the piles of Stacy baggage, picked up a box, and threw it out. The load was getting lighter.