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: "They don't know. They never found the guy. Maybe they never will."

Stacy ran her hand behind her neck nervously, glancing outside Wilson's window. "How do I tell him? I…I want to see him again…James. I really do."

"I don't know…I really don't."

----

"So she didn't tell him she was bringing Mark back here?" Foreman asked, directing his question to Cameron.

"No. She wants him to take the case, and she's afraid he won't if he knows its her," she finished, still rather irritable from her argument with Cuddy.

"You don't want her here, do you?" questioned Chase, a sly grin on his face. They all knew of Cameron's feeling's for House, but it was rarely mentioned. Chase found it rather funny that she had competition yet again from Stacy. He looked to her from across the table.

"I think it's unfair to keep this from him. He deserves to know-" she was cut off by the entrance of House himself. He looked to her, his brows raised.

"And who deserves to know what?" he asked Cameron pointedly.

"Nothing," she sighed, clearly unable to overcome Cuddy's wishes. House looked from her to Chase and Foreman. Both nodded, and, curious, House turned from them to face the white board.

"So its not depression," he said, more of a statement than a question.

"No. He wasn't exactly happy, but he's not depressed," confirmed Foreman. He watched as House scrawled the words 'insomnia', 'weakness', and 'weight loss'.

"Could be a thyroid condition," Chase contributed.

Cameron sighed and looked up. Hiding the irritability in her voice, she spoke her thoughts. "Could be autoimmune. If the body's own defenses were attacking his body, it could lead to those symptoms."

"What's your problem?" House chiding, seeing right through her attempt to hide her petulance.

"Nothing. Isn't this about the patient?" she snapped.

"Fine, go run the blood tests for the thyroid condition, and Cameron, go…do whatever you wanted to do. Foreman, go eat lunch or something."

Cameron stood up, and didn't bother to correct him on her interpretation of a diagnosis. She was relieved to get out of the office, sick of lying to him.

House stared at the white board. He added the words 'thyroid?' and 'autoimmune' to it, before limping over to his office. He grasped the ball, and tossed it up against the wall.

----

"We've got to tell him. Someone does." Wilson and Cuddy sat in Cuddy's office. Cuddy shuffled through papers on her desk, while Wilson made himself comfortable on a chair by the door.

"And how exactly should we do that? He pined for five years before she came back. He suffered again when he sent her off. He's still suffering for God's sake! Putting him in this situation again could literally kill him." Wilson chided Cuddy on her remark. He knew she was right, that he was going to find out eventually. He couldn't bring himself to let House go through this again so soon, though.

"He's going to find out, and that's going to be a lot worse than if we tell him," Cuddy responded, feeling defeated. She sighed and looked out the door at her hospital's lobby.

"He doesn't need to know yet. It can only hurt him now. He needs time-" Wilson found himself unable to finish, as House entered the room, limping over to Cuddy's desk.

"What are you gossiping about? Have you heard the latest on Kevin in bookkeeping? I heard he had an affair with one of the nurses." House strode across the room, and took a seat next to Wilson.

"We were discussing a matter which is none of your business. You, for some reason, can't figure that out," Cuddy invented, glancing at Wilson. The subtle hints went ignored by House, for now, but not unnoticed. Instead he walked over to Cuddy, placing a hand on her stomach.

"Don't be anal like your mommy. The world can't take another one of her." Cuddy rolled her eyes, used to the snide comments about her being pregnant. He turned to Wilson, spinning his cane between his fingers. "So, what are you lying to me about this time?"

"Nothing!" shouted Cuddy and Wilson. House raised his brow, clearly surprised by their reaction. It was then that the doors swung open, and in walked Stacy Warner.

House gripped his cane tightly, and strode to the exit without a word.