Thanks to theAlyCat, crazypeoplearemypeople, and lily moonlight for reviewing. I'm glad you guys enjoyed the last chapter! And there's a little surprise for you…Cold Case also makes an appearance in this chapter! Yay! :D

Chapter Six: An Annoying Patient

Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Illinois

Cuddy walked into the room, smiling to Cameron as she came to her side. "What's wrong?" she signed.

"The patient banged her head hard on the wall in her home and insists she's fine," Cameron signed to her. "I think she might have had a concussion. Her sister also believes she had a concussion. That's why she rushed her here."

"And what I am supposed to do?" Cuddy signed.

Cameron smiled. "You will help me prove she had a concussion." She turned to the patient. "This is Dr. Lisa Cuddy, administrator of the hospital. She agrees with me that you had a concussion."

The patient shook her head. "I'm fine. I just have a headache, nothing serious. Go help and save another life, like someone who is actually dying. Not me."

"Concussions are serious," said Cameron. "And a headache is a symptom of having a concussion, if you didn't know."

The patient rolled her eyes. "I'm fine."

"You're not the doctor," said Cameron. She turned back to Cuddy. "See?" she signed. "I told you this patient was a pain."

The patient glanced at Cuddy, and then back at Cameron. "Wait, she's death?"

Anger flashed in Cameron's eyes. "First of all, the word's deaf, not death. And second, just because she can't hear, doesn't mean she's not capable of anything. She has been working here for the last year like this and not ever has a patient thought of her as not being able to hear. She's a good doctor. She went to med school, and she had worked as a doctor many years before she became deaf. And just because she is deaf, doesn't mean she has forgotten any of her medical training."

Cuddy knew what had just happened. She could lip read, and she knew that Cameron had just told the patient not to think of her as that, as deaf, disabled, different. She looked towards Cameron, who nodded to her. Cuddy quickly looked at the patient's eyes and then signed to Cameron, "Pupil size isn't unequal, so that's good. All she needs is plenty of rest and then she should be fine."

Cameron nodded. "Get plenty of rest. You had a concussion."

The patient shrugged and got up from her seat. As she walked towards the door, she almost lost her balance and Cameron quickly stopped her from falling into the wall. "I'm just a little woozy," she told her.

"More symptoms of a concussion: loss of coordination, difficulty with balancing, and feeling lightheaded. I think you should be wheeled out of the hospital. Don't want to fall into a wall and end up with another concussion, do we?"

The patient looked at Cameron in disbelief. "A wheelchair? Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously," said Cameron. She signaled to a nurse in the room to get a wheelchair for her. It was the first time Cuddy realized there was a nurse in the room.

She then departed the room, and Cameron followed, leaving her patient still standing in disbelief. She quickly caught up to her, and began to sign furiously. She was also talking as she signed, which was something she never did. "I'm sorry about that," Cameron signed. "The patient's an idiot. She's lucky she didn't end up with serious brain damage."

Cuddy shook her head. "I'm fine, really," she signed to Cameron. "There's nothing you need to apologize for. The patient didn't know about my condition, so it was just a surprise for her. If I got a nickel for every time someone learned that I was deaf, I would be rich."

Cameron looked at her uneasily. She knew that had been partly a lie, most people knew she was deaf, and if they didn't, nobody ever responded to her like that patient had. But most people also knew the she was a good doctor, so no one disagreed with her judgment. Maybe she had made too many friends that were worried to say what they really felt about her. Maybe no one wanted to make her mad.

She decided to change the subject. "I have to get ready for a surgery," she signed to Cameron. "I'll see you later."

Cameron nodded. When Cuddy had left and was totally out of eye sight, a voice called her name. "Cameron?"

She turned around to see Robert Chase, looking at her with concern in his eyes. "What was that about?" he asked.

"A patient," replied Cameron. "She couldn't accept that Cuddy was deaf. I…I just hate people who think of her as that. She's a normal person, just like you and me! It's just stupid for people to think that; just because someone's deaf it doesn't mean that they can't do anything. They think deaf people need help with everything, when the truth is, that they are smarter than anyone else around them."

"I don't think that of Cuddy," said Chase.

"I know you don't," said Cameron. "But you've worked with her for a long time and knew her before she became deaf. You know how she feels and know that life can be hard for her. You and I understand what she's going through. Other people don't even think twice about what she's going through. They just assume she doesn't know anything."

"Not everyone thinks that," said Chase. "Some people are just scared about how to react to Cuddy, because they don't want to upset her. And maybe the patient's known for her attitude; don't forget what House was like."

"Yeah, House," said Cameron. "He left Cuddy, right there in her hospital bed when he figured out about her being deaf. He's just like the others, he's just writing letters to Cuddy to make her feel better. He's never going to come back to Chicago."

Before Chase could say anything else, she walked away from him. She wasn't the one who needed comfort; she'd had enough support in her life. Cuddy needed House, and she would do whatever it took to get him to come back to Chicago. Cuddy had lived enough of her life being alone, now she needed someone to comfort her.

Lobby

Lilly watched the doctors rush around, ordering nurses to get this, and get that, for their patients. Doctors were bringing patients to the OR, or bringing them to reunite with their families. There were not many people sitting in the waiting area, only a couple, who were silently crying. She tried to not watch them, knowing that could be Scotty, crying over the death of his friend. And that's what she was waiting for, for Scotty to bring the news of how his friend was, if he had a chance of living, or if he was about to die in a matter of a few days.

She wanted to believe his friend was going to live, but she knew that lung cancer was untreatable, and if the cancer was well developed, then his chances of living would be less likely. She still had hope; hope for Scotty and for his friend, even though she had never met him.

A doctor passed by the waiting area, stopping to talk to a nurse. But then she realized the doctor wasn't talking to the nurse, she was using sign language to communicate with her. The doctor was either deaf or the nurse was. She couldn't tell, but once the nurse just answered with a nod of her head, she had a feeling that the doctor was the one who was deaf. The nurse didn't know sign language, but must have only known what the doctor had told her, because she had seen the doctor sign it to her many times before.

This interested Lilly, she had worked a cold case when a deaf student had become murdered. She had had to go around and communicate with the deaf community, and learned how they saw the world. She thought it was fascinating how they explained the way they heard the world, "hearing the world through their eyes." The doctor must have noticed she was staring at her, because she had put her head to one side, giving her a look saying, "Are you okay?"

Lilly nodded and then signed to her. "I'm okay. Thanks."

A smile appeared on the doctor's face. She nodded to her, and then walked away from the waiting area. Lilly was glad to have made the doctor smile; she didn't even think the doctor would have noticed her. She didn't know much sign language, but had learned a few saying during that case.

She had been staring at the spot where the doctor had been standing for a long time that she hadn't even realized Scotty was saying her name. "Lilly, what are you looking at?"

She looked up to him. "There was a doctor there, earlier anyway. She just reminded me of a case we worked last year…"

"What case?" Scotty asked as he sat down besides her.

"Remember when that student was murdered, Andy, right by a piano he was playing?"

"Yeah," said Scotty. "He was deaf, right?"

Lilly nodded. "The doctor, she was deaf too. She noticed me, so I signed to her, saying, "I'm okay. Thanks," because she had given me a look asking if I was all right. When I signed to her, she smiled. She was happy I was able to communicate with her." She was quiet for a moment, but then decided to ask, "How's your friend? Is he going to be okay?"

Scotty shook his head. "The cancer gave him pneumonia."

"Do you know how long he's going to live?" asked Lilly, though she was some what afraid the question might bring him to tears.

"He has a month to live," he replied.

"I'm so sorry, Scotty," Lilly apologized. "This must be hard for you…I wish I could do something to help…"

"You're helping me now," said Scotty, "staying with me, here at the hospital. I couldn't ask of anything more from you. You've really helped me, through all of these years."

Lilly tried to meet Scotty's gaze, but she couldn't. She could feel her cheeks grow hot, turning red in embarrassment. Scotty put his hand on her chin, raising her head so he could see her face. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. I'm glad you've helped me through these years, really."

"I know, I'm sorry," said Lilly. "It's just…"

"Shh," Scotty whispered. "You don't have to apologize. It's okay." He removed his hand from her chin, and then set his gaze on a window, a little ways away from the waiting area. Lilly understood the message.

"You need time to think about what happened," she whispered.

Scotty nodded, his gaze still on the window.

A/N: Not much action, but anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter. The next part will be about CSI: NY! And also, the dialogue that is italicized is what Cuddy can't hear. And I apologize for any mistakes on the medical issues in here.