House grimaced as he stubbornly transferred himself from the wheelchair to Wilson's car; Cuddy refused to watch yet another act of House-stupidity, whereas Wilson stood close by, waiting to return the chair as soon as it was fully vacated...which was taking a long, long time.
"Yell if you need a hand" Wilson said, for the umpteenth time, flinching whilst watching his friend wince repeatedly, hanging onto the car for dear life; House grunted in response as he gripped the car door tighter, another sharp pain shooting through his abdominal area. "Just let me-"Wilson said as he made his way round the chair to House's side.
"You'd end up hurting me more" House reluctantly admitted, in a moment of uncharacteristic honesty, as he cut off Wilson's attempt of assistance by shooting him a warning look; the pain, coupled with Wilson's insistent nagging, was enough to put him on edge.
"Okay, okay" Wilson sighed as he dragged the chair out from behind his friend and pushed it briskly back up to the hospital; House was right, the last thing Wilson wanted to do was to injure him further by accidentally gripping him in the wrong place and causing more damage. On the other hand, he wasn't too keen on seeing him fall flat on his face either; unfortunately, the whole debacle seemed to be based on a lose-lose situation.
'At least Cuddy's agreed to look after him for the weekend' Wilson thought idly as he dumped the wheelchair in reception; he quickened his pace as he remembered that the two of them were currently waiting in his car, together. He desperately hoped that House hadn't ruined it already by chiding his, already peeved boss (and grudging babysitter)
Luckily, what energy House may have possessed on the way to the car, had now been thoroughly drained by the exhausting manoeuvre from chair to passenger seat; he was currently breathing shallowly, his head tilted back on the head rest, feeling like he was about Eighty years old.
The Oncologist started the car and began the journey back to House's apartment, all the while making a mental shopping list of things that House would need to take to Cuddy's; he knew that House wouldn't dream of doing the same thing, and waiting for his friend to 'um and ah' about what he may or may not need for the weekend was not something Wilson fancied doing at 3am.
He was almost pleased to see that both his passengers seemed to be reticent; hopefully it would remain that way, at least for tonight. If they didn't talk, House was less likely to need emergency care after being throttled by Cuddy, and Cuddy was less likely to need a lawyer for carrying out said 'throttling'.
"Wilson" Cuddy said, interrupting his silent musings, "just swing into here" she signaled to a small grocery store that was advertising the fact that it was open 24/7 with a proud, flashing neon sign. Wilson complied without complaint, saving his questioning look for when he'd safely parked in a place on the small concrete forecourt. "I may as well get some supplies from here and you can drop us both off at his" she explained quietly, "It's late...and he lives closer"
Wilson remained puzzled until he glanced across to his male passenger to find him snoring away quite peacefully, his head cradled in the nook between the seatbelt and window, and his arm draped across his stomach. Obviously he'd been telling the truth when he'd said he was tired earlier; plus, catching only a few hours kip the previous night had done nothing for his frequent insomnia.
Wilson smirked slightly as Cuddy rolled her eyes in mock exasperation at her sleeping Diagnostician before getting out of the car, doing her best to shut the door softly; House grunted as the car door slamming crashed through his dozing.
"I don't live here" he mumbled as he squinted against the harsh light beaming down on him from the neon sign.
"Oh no, you sure?" Wilson replied playfully, he loved messing with House's head, especially when he was disorientated from sleep, he blamed his cheeky inner devil.
"Where's Cuddy?" came a groggily, gasped question as House shifted in the seat in an unwise attempt at stretching his aching muscles.
"She's just getting a few supplies, then we're heading over to yours" Wilson explained, savouring the confused look House gave him before elaborating further. "She's going to brave your sofa in an attempt at making you just that little bit more comfortable"
"How unreasonably nice of her" House agreed as he watched his boss paying for her supplies through the large window of the store; she looked so tired and yet she seemed to be taking the impending 'weekend from hell' completely in her stride. It was a pretty unfamiliar sensation, but House almost felt guilty for dragging her into his mess; then again, he couldn't deny that he was extremely interested in what night attire Cuddy had in mind if she was staying the night too, which pushed the 'guilt' firmly to the back of his mind.
"C'mon Cuddy – we could have been home hours ago if you'd refrained from buying all those girly things" House moaned through the partially open window as his boss approached the vehicle holding a bag full of what he assumed were known as 'women's essentials'; he rolled his eyes as Wilson got out to help his boss, who was struggling with her broken wrist and a heavy bag. "Kiss ass" he muttered under his breath before shifting slightly to get comfortable; he dared not think about how the hell he was going to get a good night's sleep tonight, not with his ribs protesting with every possible sleeping position...
"I see Sleeping Beauty's awake" she sighed in response as she let Wilson close her door for her; it was pleasant to find that chivalry wasn't completely dead yet.
The recommenced their journey with little complaint from House; 'hopefully he'll sleep for most of the weekend' Wilson thought optimistically as he pulled up nearby House's apartment.
"House, we're here" he said loudly in an attempt to wake the drowsy Diagnostician; House stirred and mumbled something about needing a drink as he impatiently started dragging himself out of the car.
Wilson gave Cuddy his key and gave her a speedy run down of where to find all the relevant bedding and such; Staying at House's, on and off, meant that he probably knew more than House did about where to find his fresh laundry!
He jogged over to where House had managed to limp with the aid of his cane, and stood close by; the trick with House was to get close enough to help, but stay far enough away to look casual about it at the same time. Wilson had adhered to more than one lecture on this technique by none other than House himself, usually accompanied by a few drinks after a particularly bad day at work.
"You'll be okay, right?" Wilson asked tentatively as he led his friend up to the front door; House painfully turned to face him.
"That's your way of asking if I'm going to behave myself" he stated, catching Wilson's nod and look of impending disappointment, "I'll be on my best behaviour, I promise" he smirked, the glint in his eye giving away more than his words.
"That's what's worrying me" Wilson muttered under his breath as he gave House a wary wave and left them both to their fate.
Cuddy came through carrying a duvet and pillow; she stopped dead when she realised that Wilson seemed to have left her alone with House. "He's gone?" she asked in disbelief, watching the injured man clinging onto the back of the couch for dear life as though he was a Jackal waiting to pounce; House nodded in reply as he seemed to stare off down the hallway, counting the steps to his bedroom no doubt. "How are you going to get to bed?" she asked warily, taking in his pale complexion.
"I was thinking about teleporting myself" House replied in a semi-serious tone, "but I can't remember the exact co-ordinates...so, I think I'll walk" he finished his statement by clumsily limping down the hallway, much to Cuddy's guilty amusement.
After ten minutes, she fixed him up a glass of water to go with his newest pills and took them to his room, hesitating by his door; "House, you awake?" she asked softly as she opened his door slightly. She heard a gentle snoring coming from the dark room, which cemented her suspicion that he had, in fact, fallen asleep.
She navigated her way through his bedroom by the light of the moon, cursing as she stubbed her toe on the bedpost; 'delivering a glass of water is not worth this' she thought as she hopped over to the bedside cabinet to set down the, now half empty, glass.
"Couldn't stay away could you?" House's voice, booming through the deafeningly quiet room, made Cuddy almost jump out of her skin; she yelped, bringing a hand to her chest just as House switched the bedside lamp on, a grin forming on his lips as he took in the form of his semi-soaked boss.
"You almost gave me a heart attack" she snapped, unable to keep a matching grin off of her own face; her heart was racing and she felt like giggling uncontrollably at the absurdity of the situation.
"I almost gave you a heart attack?" House asked in disbelief, "You're the one sneaking around in my room"
"I brought you water – and antibiotics" Cuddy said as she observed House's unorthodox position in the bed; he was virtually sitting up, leaning on the headboard with his legs half curled under himself and a pillow hugged closely to his abdomen. It didn't look too comfortable; but then, that would explain the open bottle of Vicodin on the dresser.
"Only way I could get comfy" he raspingly explained as he took in her bemused look. Cuddy rolled her eyes and decided that she'd better vacate his bedroom before she did something stupid – like hugging the idiot for looking so pathetically adorable. "Yell if you need anything"she said coolly before leaving, being sure to swing her hips just enough for House to take notice; he smiled, thinking about how much cooler this was than having Wilson babysitting.
He coughed, trying to clear his throat, the action sending shock waves through his battered body, and making him mentally curse himself for sitting around in a wet towel earlier; 'just what I need with broken ribs – a bloody cold!' He was unaware that his 'cold' would be the least of his problems by the end of the weekend...
TBC