"You can't come in here." House stated weakly as Cuddy hovered in the doorway. He knew she wouldn't listen to him; why should she? He was high as a kite and completely defenceless. They could drop him in the clinic and he'd be unable to escape; plus, he'd still be able to correctly diagnose every patient before they even sat down! 'Probably best not to mention that to Cuddy; wouldn't put it past her to have me put in there…'
She gave him a questioning look before strolling in and seating herself on the small, hard visitor's chair. "Why can't I come in?" she asked innocently, noting his sickly complexion; to be honest, she wasn't feeling too good herself.
"Because you've got Salmonellosis" he replied matter-of-factly, being sure not to make eye contact with her; "It could be contagious…"
Cuddy scowled at him before folding her arms over her chest; trust House to know exactly what she was suffering with. "You're on antibiotics – so I wouldn't worry about catching it" she then frowned, feeling a little hurt, "So…why don't you want to speak to me?"
"I'm tired" House groaned pathetically into his pillow; it wasn't actually a lie – he really was absolutely knackered. "I've had Wilson lecturing me for the past half an hour" he stopped abruptly, realising that this statement would invite all kinds of uncomfortable questions from Cuddy.
"Lecturing you?" she was curious.
"Something about infections or pneumonia" he lied; "he's taking this 'attending' business a bit too seriously…"
"I think it's sweet" she said, grinning at House's disgusted look; "He cares about you – and he's not the only one, so get used to it."
'What the hell does that mean?' House thought frantically; he must have looked perplexed because Cuddy cleared her throat nervously and shifted about in the seat before hastily adding to her declaration.
"I, uh…I didn't get a chance to thank you…for what you did for me back in the ambulance." Cuddy mentally cursed as she stumbled through the tongue-tied acknowledgement. "So…Thanks…"
House was surprised to find that he didn't even consider a sly jibe or sarcastic remark before replying to her amusingly gauche gratitude with unfaltering sincerity - "You're welcome."
The awkward five minute silence that followed was eventually broken by a steady increase in House's heart monitor output; Cuddy looked up, alarmed, as she saw his face set in a grimace.
"What's wrong?" she asked anxiously.
"Nothing" he gasped painfully in reply, "just the Anaesthetic wearing off, finally…" he didn't sound as relieved as he wanted to, mostly due to the agonising throbbing feeling emanating from his right hand side.
"Do you need-"
"Just talk to me" he gasped, cutting her off and grabbing the PCA unit at the same time. 'Work dammit!' he thought desperately, repeatedly pushing the button that was intended to relieve him of pain.
"Oh…okay," Cuddy kicked off with the first topic that came into her head; her throbbing wrist. "I saw what you wrote on my cast."
"And?" he asked breathlessly, grasping the PCA so hard that she thought it might smash into a million pieces. Pressing the relief button didn't seem as effective as he would have liked.
"I accept your apology; but you have to accept mine too" she said quickly, scrutinizing the various monitors above him with her eyes as he closed his own, tightly, trying to escape reality.
"I'm sorry for running into you in your bedroom – and making you run around covering my tracks around your apartment; it's probably my fault your kidney managed to get so bad. Maybe if I'd been acting like a doctor, instead of…of…" the next word eluded her completely as she caught House staring at her absorbedly, seemingly intent on hearing her next words.
If he had the energy and physical ability, he'd have pulled her into a deep embrace at that moment; she was feeling just as scared and vulnerable as he was – in a way it made him feel less alone. 'Jesus, what's gotten into you…maybe it's not just the drugs making you feel like a idiot' he contemplated miserably, still waiting for the painkillers to live up to their promising name.
"Cuddy, I…" he tore his eyes away from hers and focussed on the busy hallway through the blinded window, unsure of what to say to her. Whatever came out of his mouth now could spell disaster…but he could always put it down to the medication he was currently drowning in.
Cuddy gawped for a second; still trying to figure out if she'd really seen that look of raw remorse in House's eyes; she cleared her throat uneasily, "Your sats are looking better – is the pain still bad?" she asked, diverting the attention away from anything too personal. 'That's right, keep hiding behind medicine…it's not like he was about to pour his heart out to you!'
The intense pain in his side was dulling down gradually to an aching throb; it wasn't pleasant, but was better than before, by far. He was concerned about his mental wellbeing more than anything else; the sooner he told Cuddy how he felt about her, the sooner he started writing poetry and buying flowers…it was enough to put his gruff reputation in hiding forever! 'I need more time…I can't just blurt it out…she'd have a heart attack!'
House shook his head in reply to her question; the nerve he needed to tell her how he felt, quickly disintegrating into nothing. "So…when do I get to christen your new cast?" he asked, adding just enough humour to the question to make Cuddy take the bait playfully.
"If you think for one second, that I'm letting you back near this thing," she smiled good-naturedly, "then you're more moronic than I thought"
"S'not fair – picking on patients…" House mumbled lazily, finding solace in their familiar banter. 'Do you really want to change this?' he wondered briefly, opening his eyes to take another look at his boss. "You okay?" he asked worriedly as he took in the sight of her clutching her stomach.
"Salmonellosis…remember?" she said, giving him an exasperated eye-roll for effect. "Assuming you were actually being serious when you diagnosed me…" she muttered whilst subconsciously rubbing her abdomen.
"Does it hurt?" he enquired carefully, something pulling uncomfortably in his gut at the thought of his Cuddy in pain.
"Yes" she said, throwing him a frown, "thought you said I was the one with the sadistic nature…"
He ignored her last comment, though still remembering her little black book and his sabotaging comments; "Abdominal cramping, nausea, pooping problems?" Cuddy nodded reluctantly with embarrassment, indulging House in his mini-diagnosis of her stomach problem. "Vomiting?"
"Not so much" she admitted.
"It'll probably get worse" he said almost gleefully; "I think you should get yourself on some fluids – just in case."
"I don't need fluids, I'm fine" Cuddy protested.
"Ah, but you won't be in a few hours – that's when it'll really kick off" House paused, pretending to think; "It'd probably be better if you stay in, at least for tonight…"
Something clicked in Cuddy's head that maybe this was House's way of saying he didn't want to be alone tonight. 'Why doesn't he just ask Wilson to stay with him then?' she thought, immediately remembering what House said to her when she arrived. 'Wilson's obviously getting on his nerves – keeps lecturing him…but he was trying to throw you out ten minutes ago…I hope the mood swings aren't indicative of something more serious going on…'
She must have taken too long to reply because House was attempting to fidget in the bed, nervously waiting for her to bust him for practically begging her to stay. 'You're pathetic' he thought miserably as he flexed his right arm, 'you can't even ask her to-'
He gasped involuntarily as he caught the dressing on his delicate side with his elbow; "Shit" he choked as he struggled to breathe through the blinding pain that emanated from his wound. He desperately pressed the button on the PCA, knowing full well that he wouldn't get anything out of it for at least another fifteen minutes.
Cuddy shot up in an instant, planting her good hand firmly on his shoulder; she didn't coo or attempt to soothe him in any way apart from letting him know that she was there.
She felt every agonising tremor racking through his body as he trembled uncontrollably; silently praying that he could hear her, she gave him a few snappy orders. "Just breathe through it, House; you're maxed out on painkillers. C'mon – a couple of deep breaths to get this under control."
When his vitals adamantly refused to return to normal, Cuddy slipped into her superhero mode once again by scrambling over to the other side of the bed; she grabbed a nearby syringe and plunged 10ml's of Diazepam into his IV port, watching closely as the tension dropped from his shaking shoulders and his breathing eventually evened out.
She strode purposefully back round to where he was facing and leant in close to his face; House was gaping in a dazed fashion, but otherwise seemed to be more comfortable. He frowned slightly, wondering what the hell she did to him; he felt like he'd just been hit by a truck, and then run over a few times for luck!
"I gave you a sedative" she said in a guilty explanation, impressing him with her prowess, "it was the only thing I could do."
"See…this…is why…I love you…" he mumbled softly before the high dose of painkillers kicked in with the sedative and forced him into a deep, deep slumber.
Cuddy stepped back slowly, a look of confusion taking over her features; for a minute there, she could have sworn he just said he loved her…'He did…Oh…!'
TBC…
Author's Note: Wow, I wonder what Cuddy's going to do with that piece of perplexing information…who wants to find out? Hope you liked the chapter – next one gets even more interesting…OMG 300 reviews – you guys are too good to me! Thank you so much…who should I send the gift baskets to? lol
Author's Second Note (unrelated to the fic):On a completely different subject – I received my 'QI' dvd yesterday (best quiz show ever!); and yes I have watched Hugh's appearance about five times already…so much hotness – I urge you all to buy it! So that's why I didn't update yesterday…and most likely why I won't update again 'till Monday! Plus, isn't it the Bafta's this weekend? 'House' is up for best International offering… x