Sorry about the typing errors. I check my work over and over and still always miss something, it's frustrating! I noticed some after I had posted it, which was annoying as it's difficult to edit them once the stories up, the top message was done quickly and as it was brief I neglected to read it. Sorry. I will read them as thoroughly as I can and try not to miss anything. Thanks for the reviews; they gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling! Hope you like the next chapter!...keep reviewing, i don't want to come down from my high anytime soon :)

Chapter Three: Internal Conflicts

Cuddy whirled round the corner and shut the door behind her. She was meeting a potential donor in less than 10 minutes and House already had her all riled up. God that man was infuriating. She never lets him see the effect he has on her.
The anger and frustration, how her blood pressure rises to uncontrollable levels, he's not good for my health, she thought. An oxymoronic comparison to what a doctor truly should be, she laughed, he would probably be the one to make a person sick and then be the one to save their life, it must be difficult to decide whether to thank the man graciously or beat him with his own stick; with the way Cuddy felt right now the latter was looking very attractive.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing, in, out, in, out, once she felt the stress leak from her muscles she straightened up, brushed herself down and strolled calmly from the room.

She wandered back down to her office, halting briefly when she noticed a young middle aged woman perched on the edge of a chair in front of her desk. Standing behind a pillar, with the pretence of scanning over some files, she watched as the woman flung her sleek blond hair from her eyes and twisted it into a bun.
There was clearly no disturbance in her office; the woman wasn't conversing with anyone and her eyes were glazed over as if she was in a world of her own.
House had presumably left. Thank god!

She scanned the clinic just in case. A riled up Cuddy, a House aiming to make her miserable and a potential donor currently having the best seat in the house to watch any commotion on the clinic floor was a recipe for disaster. Once Cuddy had ensured the grounds were clear and House missile free she placed the files back into there correct slots and slowly walked towards her office.

…………………..

The Woman's eyes quickly snapped into focus as Cuddy strolled into the room, she greeted the woman with a quick handshake and a smile. 'Dr Cuddy?' the woman asked, Cuddy nodded, 'Please, call me Lisa, a pleasure to meet you, Miss Faye'.
'Oh call me Lindsey everybody does', Cuddy nodded again and directed Lindsey to her sofa.
She called through to her receptionist and asked for her to make some coffee for their guest.

…………………..

The coffee was fowl, the new receptionist had only been there for a week and hadn't yet mastered the coffee machine, the old one having left when House decided to play a practical joke on her, she had only been here a month, the one before that 3 weeks and the one before…well you can see a pattern emerging

They discussed the hospital, what it could achieve with this new donation, an expansion of the oncology unit, some extra nursing staff and doctors in the ER and clinic, maybe even purchase a new MRI machine as the current one was always being used to its full capacity. Truth be told, either she got a new one or some patients were going to be extremely unhappy, she neglected to mention the unhappiness would be caused, not by not being able to get an appointment as expected but because their appointment had been stolen by either House or one of his minions.
The new MRI machine would mean that there was no need for House to revert to appointment robbery or (if he continued to steal appointments to make her life difficult, which sounded very much like something he would do)it would give her the opportunity to rearrange these patients appointments quickly and deal with House in a manner which she deemed fit without having a fuming patient on her back demanding that she fire him.

Cuddy had suggested giving the prospective donor a tour of the hospital grounds and facilities. Lindsey had graciously accepted and they were just strolling passed the diagnostics department when Lindsey halted outside the conference room. 'Who's that?'
'That's all of the diagnostic department, Chase, Foreman and Cameron are the interns training under Doctor House; that's the man writing symptoms down on the white board' she elaborated, encase Lindsey was confused about who doctor House was.
'He's quite hansom, isn't he?' Lindsey was looking through the glass, directly at House.
'Who?' Cuddy guessed who she was referring to but need confirmation, after all hansom was not a common adjective used in relation to House; the common ones not being so complementary.
'Doctor House'. She confirmed.

Thin lines appeared across Cuddy's forehead as she frowned, her eyes narrowed in concentration as she looked back at House; she was attempting to see him through this woman's eyes; the fact she had never experience House's harsh tongue or quick comebacks were going to have a detrimental effect on the way Lindsey viewed him i.e. it was going to be based purely on looks. If not, Cuddy thought, some of those other less complimentary words would probably come into play.

Her gaze took in his tall, lean figure as her eyes slowly travelled upwards, she studied the contours of his face and his three day growth of stubble; it gave house a rugged, rough appearance.

The edges of her mouth flickered upwards as she realised how his exterior reflected his internal journey. Over the last few years, in which he had allowed his harsh personality to engulf him and cover any remnant of his old self, the stubble had grown and been allowed to cover any of House's smooth exterior in little pepper coloured pin pricks.

She stared for a few moments longer; for some unknown reason she was unable to tear her eyes from his face. She allowed herself to get lost in the ocean blue of his eyes, foreign waves of emotion crashing over her.

In her daze her thoughts went unchecked, 'yeah she thought House is hansom'. As though he'd heard this thought House's head snapped up, his startling blue eyes locking on to hers, triggering an unwelcome sensation of drowning.
She subconsciously took a step back, feeling unnerved by the recent reflection she'd allowed to slip so easily, House, hansom? Never! He was a narcissistic pain in the arse and they were the only words she would be using to describe him from now on.

Her eyes flickered over to Lindsey as she replied, 'I can't see it myself….Oh wait! If I squint and turn my head to the side, I can kind of see what you mean'. Lindsey, mimicking the gesture, smiled, 'kind of hard position to maintain' she sniggered 'and you might receive a few funny looks'. Cuddy had already discovered that Lindsey had a sense of humour and responded well to jokes; this knowledge relaxed her enough to crack this one without it being a flaw on her professional exterior.

House had been watching this development with interest; as Lindsey's attention returned to the inside of the conference room House's eyes flickered across to meet hers and he smiled. Cuddy felt a stab of jealousy. Huh? She panicked, jealousy? No, confusion, I mean he never smiles at anyone, let alone a prospective donor, his aim is to make me miserable, not to help me.

He is making me miserable though, she thought, he is giving someone else the smile that I wish I could receive, Cuddy shook her head to dislodge the thought and forced it to the back her mind, her face remained passive and devoid of emotion throughout the whole process and she just turned to Lindsay, plastered a smile back on her face and asked if she would like to proceed to the Oncology department, Lindsey nodded and with one backward look at House, started to walk.

Cuddy clattered after her, the click of her heels echoing round the hall. She slowed, and chanced a brief glanced over her shoulder; House had turned back to his ducklings and returned to the differential diagnosis, she felt the disappointment flow through her body that he wasn't watching her leave, however, she could have sworn in the last few seconds, as she swung her head round to the front once again, that a pair of ocean blue eyes flickered over, coming to rest on her retreating back as she headed after Lindsey.