PAIN AND RELIEF
INTRODUCTION: A multi-chapter alternative take on 7.22, "After Hours", in which Cuddy doesn't answer the phone. House has to turn to someone else. AU, different universe from my other stories, but with similarities.
CHAPTER 1: AGONY
Lisa Cuddy stirred in her sleep, forcing herself to open her eyes with difficulty. Her phone was vibrating due to a call. She reached for it. The call was from House. Lisa sighed, thinking, "I get to see him enough in the hospital every day, now he's calling in the dead of the night?". Momentarily, she entertained the idea of answering, but ultimately decided against it, thinking he was probably drunk or just wanted to vent about their breakup. The phone stopped buzzing. Fleetingly, Lisa felt a pang of guilt for not answering, but, on the other hand, she would see House next morning in the hospital. He'd just walk into her office, quip about her choice of attire and request some insane procedure. Lisa Cuddy went back to sleep, no longer troubled by the call.
Meanwhile, Gregory House was in despair, in blinding and excruciating pain. He was still in his bathtub, bleeding, the second tumor almost excised. His hand trembled, he was drenched in sweat. No one had answered his calls. He'd called Wilson first, then all the members of his team, then Cuddy. Nothing had come from this. He still lay there, in dire need of a helping hand, but no one was there to aid him. No one, they had all ignored him. Unless... No, it was a crazy idea. House tried to pick the scalpel up, but his hand refused to stop trembling. The pain was getting worse, his leg was killing him. This time, it's killing me for real, he thought, oh, the irony, I tried to make it better, but I screwed up again. He took hold of his phone again. For a moment, he thought of calling 911. Nah, it's not an emergency, he told himself. He scrolled through the numbers in the phone's list and found the one he was looking for. If only she's awake, he thought.
When the phone rang, Dominika initially thought it was her mom or someone else from her family. She picked it up and saw who was calling, feeling totally stunned once seeing it was House calling. They had exchanged phone numbers before the sham wedding, as part of the plan. But, they'd never called each other, especially since she left him one day after the wedding, lying to him that she wanted to be with a boyfriend here, in Atlantic City. She wondered why on Earth was he calling her, just before midnight. She answered the phone, saying, "House?", still unable to handle the surprise she'd received. "Dominika... It's me. I... I screwed up. Please... Pick me up...", he muttered, his voice shaky, trailing off at the end. "House? Are you okay? House, talk to me!", she practically yelled, receiving no reply. "Hold on, I'm coming!", she said, unsure whether he was still listening to her. Throwing on a random sweater and a pair of sweatpants, she quickly got out of her small apartment. She quickly caught a taxi and told the driver to take her to Princeton.
During the journey, she called House three times. Still, no reply. She dreaded what she would find upon arriving at his place. The taxi driver apparently was in a mood for chitchat, but she ignored him. The only thing in her mind was House's desperate call. Finally, the time passed and the taxi reached Baker Street. Dominika got out of the vehicle and requested the driver to wait for some minutes. She opened the apartment door, shouting, "Greg? House? House!?", the only answer being the echo of her voice. She saw the light in the bathroom and headed straight to that room. House was in the bathtub, unconscious, bleeding from a wound in his sore leg. She prodded his shoulder, shaking him violently. "Wake up!", she practically screamed. Finally, her plea had an effect. House opened his eyes with a grunt, remarking, "So, you are here". "What happened here? Why are you bleeding?", she asked, the concern evident in her voice. "Will explain later. I tried to fix my leg, it's worse now", he answered weakly. "Let's take you to hospital", she said, offering him her hand for support. "No, no hospital. Not Princeton-Plainsboro", he uttered in between groans of pain. "You have to go to hospital", she insisted. "Not there. Anywhere else, just not there. Atlantic City has hospitals", he insisted. "It's more than an hour with cab", she protested. "I'm a doctor, I know what my problem is. I'm not gonna die and you won't need to find another fake husband, if that worries you", he quipped. "Fine. Wait here, gotta fetch help", she responded, trying to calm him down, electing to ignore his biting remarks. On the moment she turned to leave, he said, "Your wedding ring, go put it on. You are gonna be my medical proxy and, since I'm introducing you as my wife, put a convincing performance on, please". She did as bidden and afterwards bolted out of the apartment, requesting the driver's help in carrying House to the vehicle. Within some minutes, they'd wrapped him in a blanket and laid him down on the backseat of the cab. Dominika sat beside him, laying his head on her lap. He passed out soon after the cab started moving, leading her to prod his shoulder again. "Not now, honey, give me five minutes", he protested weakly, apparently jesting. She snorted, trying again to ignore his sarcastic tone.
The cab sped up, eventually arriving to the hospital she'd told the driver to take them. House had slipped into unconsciousness again. She shook him a bit violently, bringing him to his senses. "Where are we?", he managed to say, his voice a croak. "Hospital", she replied. "Use my card to pay for the cab", he said. "And ask for a stretcher", he added, grimacing in obvious discomfort. Indeed, mere moments ago, some staff members laid House on the stretcher. "Don't let them butcher me", he implored her, clutching her hand so fiercely that it felt as if her fingers were getting crushed. "Shhh, calm down, I won't let them cut your leg off", she promised.
A doctor appeared, standing above House, who was about to slip out of consciousness again. "What do we have there?", he asked. "Guy can't walk, his leg is injured", a male nurse responded, and the doctor cast a quick glance at the ailing man's leg. House was by now unconscious again. The doctor ordered his staff to take him to an examination room and disappeared. After some minutes, minutes filled with sheer terror on Dominika's side, the doctor reappeared. "Who's mr. House's proxy?", the doctor asked. "I... I'm his wife", Dominika managed to say. The doctor took her aside and explained that they needed to perform a surgery. "Your husband has tumors in his leg. I can't exactly explain how they developed, but we have to remove them. In case this proves impossible, we have to consider amputation. We need you to sign a form that...", he began to inform her, but she cut him off, replying, "Save his leg. My husband was adamant he wishes not to lose his leg". She practically shouted those words, making the doctor recoil. "We will try. I'm going to keep you informed. We've scheduled him for surgery and he will soon be operated", he answered. Indeed, in some time, the nurses took her husband for the surgery. For all her lack of religious faith, Dominika found herself almost praying for his health, for his survival.