Hi guys,
My apologies for the wait. I've been super busy, and I also wanted to have these next few chapters as accurate as possible so it took a little time.
Thanks for being so patient...I wasn't going to break this down into several chapters and just have it as one huge chapter, but then I thought the build-up would be better suited in small doses.
We are now in the middle of the trial.
Chapter 79:
"So, after dinner, where did you and Lisa go…or, intend to go?" John Greene asked, referring to the night of Lisa Cuddy's accident.
At the moment, Gregory House was being questioned by Cuddy's lawyer about the events that transpired Friday November 16th of last year.
After the opening statements, to which John had told the judge and the court only facts he could prove and that could help his case (although, Savoy had tried to undercut the prosecution's credibility in his own opening statement, to which John was pissed at, but he kept his cool…at least for the present moment, anyway), House had been called to the stand as the first witness.
John's intention (and hope) was for Cuddy to go last, that is, if Steven Savoy, Chase's lawyer, didn't pull any tricks. By setting all of the other evidence into place before Cuddy was questioned (with House and of course, Chase, and possibly Cuddy's obstetrician Dr. Joseph Parker, who was currently seated in the gallery), John was sure that Savoy would have a harder time appropriately questioning her, and he was ready to go head-to-head with the lawyer, if need be.
Chase had asked for a non-jury trial, to which John was surprised at. Steve definitely doesn't think he could win this then, he thought to himself. If there was no jury, then it was only the judge's ruling which decided Chase's fate. Well played, Savoy.
As the only witness to the accident that night, House's testimony was of extreme importance and John was making sure that the judge was aware of that fact to help secure his side of the case (and he was doing quite a good job of it).
When he received no response, John asked his question again.
"So, after dinner, where did you two intend to go?" he repeated, a bit firmer this time.
"Back to her house," House responded, as he twirled his cane between his legs to give his hands something to focus on.
"But you didn't end up there, did you?" John added, his voice low. He was trying to gain the sympathy factor from the judge.
House said nothing and glanced down at his thigh.
"…Greg, I know this is going to be tough, but could you tell the court what happened that night after leaving The Ferry House restaurant?"
House swallowed and forced himself to look up at John before opening his mouth to speak.
"We, uh, we were…on our way back to her house," he began.
He stopped and cleared his throat and began again, his voice monotone as he tried to hide the quiver in his voice. "Lisa was in front of me in her car and I was behind her on the bike-"
"Pardon the interruption, but just curious, why did you drive separately?"
House shrugged. "I had driven to her house earlier and didn't want to leave my bike in her driveway."
"For fear of someone driving by and realizing that your bike was in her driveway and then most likely putting two and two together?" John interrupted, being careful about how he worded his inquiry. "And pardon me if I completely overlooked the reason," he added, hastily.
House shrugged. "Something like that."
John didn't push the issue. He knew Savoy would definitely question Cuddy about it, so he didn't waste time questioning House about the issue. He motioned for his witness to continue.
"We were stopped at the red light at the Mercer and Nassau intersection, and that's when…I – I saw the car flying toward us in the opposite direction and then - then" His voice caught and he stopped.
John waited patiently as he heard the diagnostician's voice start to crack.
House silently cursed at himself. He didn't expect himself to begin to lose control, especially now, only at the beginning. He didn't dare look over at Cuddy, for fear of completely losing it.
He found his voice and began again, looking anywhere but in the gallery of people. "Then, I knew – the car wasn't stopping," he continued, his voice barely audible now. He forced himself to take a breath and ran a shaky hand down his face."God dammit," he whispered quietly to himself. "I thought I could do this."
"Take your time. No one said this was going to be easy," he heard John tell him softly, his voice sounding strangely far away.
"…I called out Lisa's name to warn her but her windows were up," House continued once he found his voice again, although his voice didn't sound like his own. "She was already in the midst of turning when the SUV hit her….It was too late. I don't even think she saw the car…It just…crashed into her side…" He ran a shaky hand through his hair.
Form behind John, Cuddy made a slight movement.
She was stunned. She didn't know House had called out of her name from behind her that night. She closed her eyes and forced herself to take a slow breath, as her head whirled with what she had just heard. When she opened her eyes, she found House staring at her, their eyes locked onto one another, communicating so much with just one look.
"I'm sorry," he whispered quietly.
Confused as ever, John Greene spun around to face his client, waiting for an explanation. When he received none, he turned back toward House.
"What?"
House swallowed, his eyes still locked onto Cuddy's. "Lisa didn't know that I called out her name to warn her that night," he replied, as he finally broke his gaze with Cuddy and glanced down. He couldn't look at her anymore.
"Do you two need a moment?" John asked softly, after a few seconds of silence.
House shook his head. "No."
John spun around toward his client but she waved her hand, motioning for him to continue.
"So, the SUV hits Lisa, and then what?" John began, getting back to his main line of questioning. He was purposely extremely methodical in order to get the judge to see the full picture before making a ruling. And of course, to help their case.
"I immediately get off my bike and check on her."
"And that's when you called Dr. Allison Cameron, a member of your diagnostic team at Princeton Plainsboro, correct?"
House nodded. "Yeah. I also called Dr. Joe Parker, Lisa's OB-GYN."
"Why Cameron? What made you call her instead of say, Dr. Wilson, your best friend?"
"Objection!" Savoy interrupted loudly. "Leading the witness."
John turned towards the defense lawyer. "Oh really? How am I leading him? It's called collecting information. You should try it. It's very helpful."
Savoy opened his mouth to refute and to let out a sarcastic remark but the judge cut across him.
"Counselors, let's not get out of hand here. I will not have rowdiness in my courtroom. Mr. Savoy, overruled. In my opinion, that is a legitimate question as it pertains to this line of questioning." Judge Fleming turned toward the witness.
"Dr. House, you may answer."
House took a breath. "I don't know," he began, shrugging. "I guess…I knew that I could trust her not to say anything and respect everyone's – well, mine and Lisa's - privacy. To be honest, I didn't even think to call Wilson. He had gone home early that day anyway. I just – I didn't even think to call him. He didn't know anything yet."
He glanced at Wilson, who was sitting directly behind the table where Cuddy sat. "I'm sorry."
Wilson nodded, touched by the gesture, and then motioned for John to continue.
"But calling Dr. Cameron meant that someone else other than Lisa's doctor - I'm assuming he was the only person who knew about you two dating - would find out about your…secret..."
House cleared his throat. "I weighed that option, trust me, but I didn't have a choice. If I had just called for an ambulance, I would have gotten some punk ass kid attending on the late night shift who wouldn't know a rat's ass about confidentiality and it would have been all over the hospital that weekend, probably -"
"But it was all over the hospital, at least on Monday, when that article in the Princeton newspaper came out," John interrupted. "I think everyone in this courtroom read it, myself included."
"Yeah, well I didn't plan for that to happen," House replied bitterly. "I could trust Cameron, and that's why I called her, That and she was the first person to come to mind in that split second when I pulled out my phone to call for an ambulance."
"Did you happen to see your employee, Dr. Chase, that night?"
House's eyes narrowed. "I did," he answered, as he drastically began to get louder, and his voice changed to an exceedingly bitter tone. "He was getting forced out of his car by a police officer. He saw me and then fucking waved at me in his drunken stooper like some fucking idiot. That little shit waved -"
"Okay, okay, let's not get out of hand here," John interrupted. He stepped closer to the witness box where House was currently sitting and said in a low voice that only House could hear, "I know you're pissed, but tone down the language."
He stepped back. "What happened at the-"
"Excuse me your Honor," Savoy interrupted with a smirk on his face. "But I think we all want to know what Mr. Greene just whispered to his witness."
John spun around to face his opposing council. "Oh so now you speak for the whole entire court now? When the hell did you get that privilege?"
Savoy smirked. "Attitude, Greene."
"I told him to tone down the inappropriate language," John spat out bitterly. "Are you going to try and use that against me now?" he added sarcastically.
"Gentlemen," Judge Fleming interrupted loudly. "That's enough. If you two are done taking a go at one another, I'd like to get on with this trial. If not, you both can duke it out in chambers."
After House was done being questioned by John Greene, opposing council was offered a chance to cross examine the witness. Savoy refused, determined to put all his effort into questioning Cuddy and making her crack.
"Your Honor, the prosecution calls Robert Chase to the stand," John began, after House had taken his seat next to Cuddy behind the table.
To be continued...
I hope you all liked this chapter. Short but juicy. And as always, comment! Don;t know when the next update is going to be, but I know you guys will all be waiting with anticipation for more.