AN: House is not mine. If he was...I won't even go there. It would be good. For me anyway. They belong to David Shore. He does an amazing job. I'm just a fan. This is my first attempt at a fanfic, please read and respond.

Last chapter:

As she walked briskly to her office door, the phone rang. She planned to ignore it, but knew she would feel guilty if it were important. She sighed and walked over to the phone, grasping the receiver in her left hand. She placed it by her ear and stared expectantly at the door.

"Hello?" She asked rather sharply.

"Lisa. It's Stacy. I need to talk to you."

----

Stacy Warner paced around her kitchen, twirling the coiled phone chord in her fingers. What would she say? They hadn't heard from her in almost a year. Perhaps it had been better that way for them. For him. That was who her thoughts were directed to, almost all the time. She could not help but pray every time her phone rang that she might hear his voice, that she might see him again. She had gotten over the crying now, and slowly she was getting better at controlling her thoughts about him. She would never be over him, but she could pretend. Mark had noticed her sadness at first, it was hard to miss. He hardly questioned, though. He seemed happy enough to have Stacy back.

She planned to just keep getting by, to get over it eventually. Mark would keep her happy enough. She felt guilty thinking that she was deceiving him, making him think that it was she that had chosen him over Greg. The thought of his name…oh God would it ever end? Mark was walking now, though rehab continued for several more weeks. He did everything he could for her, almost to prove that he was worth her love. Stacy felt horrible when it occurred to her that no matter what he did, he would never be what she needed. As she thought, she wondered if it was really fair to either of them. She was lying about loving him and only him, and she was unhappy being with him so far from Greg.

'Hello?' came the voice over the receiver. She was happy to hear Lisa's voice; it had been so long since they had spoken.

"Lisa. It's Stacy. I need to talk to you." The words spouted from her lips before she could stop them. What was she going to say? She had been stupid. She shouldn't have ever called Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. At the same time, she realized that it was her only option.

"Stacy…wow, what can I do for you?" Cuddy's usual calm, business-like demeanor faltered momentarily as she was taken aback by the voice that had responded. When Stacy felt confident enough to continue, she gathered her breath, and released it with a small sigh.

"Lisa, its Mark. His rehab was going so well and…then he started getting weird. We thought it was a bug, but then he couldn't sleep. He started loosing weight and getting really weak. The doctors we've seen suggested a sleep aid, but I know there is something else wrong. I…I…"

"You want House to see him," Cuddy finished unnecessarily. Her tones had become kind and understanding. She knew how hard it was for Stacy to do this. When Mark was diagnosed with AIP a while back, it had been House that had diagnosed and treated him. That had lead to their affair, and she was afraid of what might come out of seeing him again. Cuddy knew Stacy felt like she had no other choice, and she trusted House. It was like déjà vu really, but this time there was more history between the two than before.

"I do…but…but…I don't know what I want to do." A sob escaped her lips, and she bit it back. Mark would be back from his rehab soon, and she did not want him to see her like this.

"It's your choice Stacy," Cuddy said softly. She knew she wasn't being much help, but she knew that if Stacy was dependant on her and Wilson for all the answers, she would struggle here with House. Cuddy didn't know what she should do, either. It seemed the only real choice Stacy had, both to confront her feelings and to treat Mark, was to come to Princeton-Plainsboro. Cuddy feared, however, that Stacy and House were far from being over each other, and bringing them together again would easily damage the wounds that had slowly started to heal.

"Don't…don't tell him it's us…don't tell him it's me." Stacy's voice shook. She hoped she was making the right decision. Her stomach turned in circles. She wasn't ready for this again…

"Stacy…he'll find out it's you. Shockingly he usually ends up seeing his patients at some point or another."

"I know…I know. I just want him to take the case." She closed her eyes and spread her fingers across her forehead, breathing deeply.

"Okay Stacy. I'm…sorry." Cuddy didn't know why she said she was sorry. Maybe it was the fact that she complained about simple paperwork, while Stacy was caught between the health of her husband and the fear of the fire that burned between her and House. The fact that she had to face that again. It didn't seem fair or right, and yet, it was to be. She hung up the phone with a click. Realizing that she had been in a hurry to get home before, she left her office, the glass door swinging shut behind her.