Chapter 6
A/N: Yay! A new chapter! Took me long enough, really. But this is a nice big one. Thanks again to all the reviewers, you are CHAMPIONS, prinnie, lillie, Smiling4eva, Jojo, BookwormKiwi, StopTheWorldImGettingDizzy, Jane QD, you all rock my jocks! You are keeping the flame alive, and I love it.
Anyway, enjoy reading chapter 6, please review, it's extra big and full of juicy bits, so you have no reason not to!
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"Emily Cuddy to Dr Cuddy's office please, Emily Cuddy to see Dr Cuddy in her office immediately, please."
The nurse's voice came across a little crackled as it called throughout the hallways of the hospital through its PA system. Cameron sat in the diagnostic's room, put-out, her arms crossed tightly as she watched Foreman and Chase continue to flirt shamelessly with a girl in the corridor. She didn't know who she was, but for the past week and a bit she had been taking up all of the boys' time – including the time they should have been spending with patients. Cameron was feeling very left out and neglected, and this was further reinforced by the fact that the hospital gossip network hadn't yet told her who this girl was. She watched as the girl laughed with Foreman and Chase – especially with Chase – and all of a sudden, her curiosity piqued when the girl let out an irritated sigh just as the announcement came over the PA. Cameron sat up in her chair, finally putting two and two together. The girl waved a playful and sad goodbye to the two doctors, then they headed back into the diagnostics room, both looking rather disappointed that their flirting session had been cut short.
"Who was that?" Cameron asked, trying to be casual as the boys entered the room.
"Emily Cuddy," Foreman replied.
"Dr Cuddy's daughter," Chase added, both men sitting down at the table, hearts broken.
"Cuddy has a daughter!" Cameron said, her eyes widening.
"Umm… yeah," Chase replied, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Cameron let out a dejected sigh.
"No one ever tells me anything," she pouted.
"That's probably because you just go and rat them out to House, or Wilson, or Cuddy, or… anyone, really," Foreman replied with a smirky smile, and Cameron just rolled her eyes. Yes, she was definitely feeling most dejected as of late.
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"Is this a no shoes no service kinda joint, or can I relieve myself from this constant pain?" Emily asked, cringing at her rubbing shoes as she entered her mother's office.
"That's the price you pay for not wearing in new shoes before deciding to sport them for an entire day," Cuddy said, shuffling papers and standing up.
"Anyway, you rang?" Emily said, sitting down opposite Cuddy's desk, and taking off her shoes.
"I just got a phone call," Cuddy said with an 'I-know-something-you-don't-know' grin.
"Good for you, mom. Would you mind sitting down, by the way? I'm kinda straining my neck here," Emily replied, looking up as Cuddy's short stature towered over the desk. She rolled her eyes and sat down, paralleling her daughter.
"The phone call was from Mrs McPherson," Cuddy added, baiting her daughter. Emily immediately froze.
"She was wondering when she was going to get the money for the damage you did to her car," Cuddy continued, adding a bit of bite to her voice.
"Umm… tell her I'll get back to her," Emily replied, trying to worm her way out of the situation.
"Emily. What did you do to her car?" Cuddy asked sternly. Emily rolled her eyes at her mother's over-dramatization.
"I just clipped it, nothing big. A bit of damage to the driver's side door, that's all. Oh and one of the lights and review mirrors," she cringed. Cuddy squared her jaw and adjusted herself in her seat.
"Ok, so it was kinda expensive damage! Eesh, I hate how you can always make me feel like I'm ten years old," Emily sulked, crossing her arms.
"How exactly do you intend on paying her back?" Cuddy interrogated.
"I dunno," Emily groaned, dramatically dropping her head onto the desk, "I don't have any money."
"Well, lucky for you, I've come up with a way," Cuddy said with a devilish grin. Things weren't looking up for Emily. "I've decided that I am sick of bailing you out of things… including jail -"
"That was one time, mom! One time! And I thought we promised to never bring it up again!" Emily defended, bring her head back up to argue. Cuddy continued, un-phased.
"… and you are going to pay it off for once."
"Fine, I'll start looking for a job tomorrow," Emily sighed, defeated.
"Oh no, no, no. I've already found you one," Cuddy smiled. Emily's eyes widened as she realized what direction this was going in.
"You're going to be a candy striper," Cuddy said with a chirpy grin.
"No!" Emily protested, her jaw dropping and her eyes pleading.
"If you want me to pay for the damage you've done, oh, and of course getting your car back from being impounded, then you are going to have to play by my rules."
"Candy stripers are at the bottom of the hospital social order! They don't even get paid!" Emily reasoned.
"Correct. They're volunteers, and despite the good they do, they remain meat for the taking. That's why I think it'll be good for you."
"You are horrible," Emily pouted.
"Awww, poor baby," Cuddy said with mock sadness. "All you've been doing since you got here is following around Dr House and the diagnostic team, distracting them whenever possible, so I figured your presence here could actually have a purpose."
"For your information, I have not yet met the famous Dr House. He's done a pretty good job of avoiding me since I ran into him about a week ago," Emily replied, beginning to resign to her fate.
"Well, consider yourself lucky."
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"Okay, I've done the polite thing for long enough," House said, stepping into Cuddy's office, once again ignoring the objections of her assistant.
"When did you start doing polite?" Cuddy asked, looking up from the mountain of work on her desk.
"I have waited over a week, I have given you sufficient space to mull over how you were going to deal with this, and now I'm sick of waiting," House demanded.
"What are you sick of waiting for?" Cuddy sighed exasperatingly, she sick of waiting for House to make a point.
"When did you plan on telling me that I'm a father?" House asked leaning on his cane, towering over Cuddy's desk. Cuddy took in a sharp breath and let it out in a sigh.
"I was wondering when you were gonna bring this up," she said, defeated.
"I'm surprised I was the one that had to bring it up at all, after 20 years," House replied sharply.
"Sit down, House," Cuddy said. He obliged her request, for once, and sat down in the chair opposite, putting his cane on her desk. They sat in silence for a moment, each looking at the other, expecting them to say the next thing.
"They're not yours," Cuddy said informatively. House just looked at her blankly. Cuddy rolled her eyes.
"They were born in December. We were together in January, Greg."
"Well you obviously moved on quickly, then. Not even waiting two months..." House said in mock-hurt. Cuddy rolled her eyes again – a thing she found herself doing a lot in House's presence.
"If I recall correctly, you had Jennifer Ballmer in your bed not a week after we broke it off," Cuddy replied.
"So who's daddy dearest then?" House asked, changing the subject and leaning back in his chair, feeling a small weight lift from his shoulders.
"I can see we're going into this now," Cuddy said, rubbing her forehead exasperatingly.
"Looks like it, doesn't it," House replied with a grin.
"His name is Harvey O'Brien," she said with a sigh.
"Harvey, huh? Sounds like someone was getting it on with a jock," House remarked.
"If we're going to do this, can you keep the comments to a minimum please?" Cuddy said, tired and upset that she had to open this wound again.
"No promises," House replied, and Cuddy figured that was the best she was going to get out of him, so continued.
"We went out for no more than a month, then we broke up and I transferred to Stanford before I even found out I was pregnant."
"What, so he doesn't know?"
"I assume not. He probably has his own family by now, and its better that he never knows now anyway," Cuddy said, playing with her hands as they rested on top of a pile of legal documents.
"What about your mini-me's?"
"They know about him. They've never shown much interest though, thank god," she replied solemnly.
"Well, this is turning out to be juicier than General Hospital! Maybe I could TiVo you, instead," House said with a grin.
"It's great to know that you're taking pleasure in this," Cuddy replied sarcastically.
"Someone has to sell your story to E! Hollywood, and I can think of none better than yours truly."
Cuddy sighed and remained quiet for a while as she lamented the burden she had carried for so many years. "You have clinic duty," she said softly.
"And you really expect me to go?" House replied, raising an eyebrow.
"Just do it, please," Cuddy pleaded, wanting nothing more than to wallow in the mess she had created for herself, alone. House, although usually completely indifferent to others emotions, didn't like this side of Cuddy he had evoked, and decided to quietly slip out of the office, leaving Cuddy to mull over her undesired past.
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Emily rushed out the hospital doors into the carpark, ferociously dialing a familiar number into the keypad of her phone. She put it up to her ear as it began to ring on the other end, and she stopped beside a parked car, nervously jiggling her leg.
"Pick up, pick up, pick up," she mumbled into the phone as it continued ringing. It clicked through to an answering machine, and Emily rolled her eyes.
"Hey, looks like I'm studying. Big surprise seeing as this is a college dorm. Leave a message or call my cell," Anna's deadpan recording echoed along the phone line.
"I know you're there! Pick up the damn phone. This is an emergency! I have a serious issue and I need you to get off your ass and talk to me! It's your own fault for always packing the dorm phone last," Emily's voice called out through the answering machine. Anna lay on her bed, flat on her back, tucked tightly under the duvet, her dark curls contrasting against the clean white pillow, arms over the covers and straight by her sides. She stared up at the ceiling and groaned.
"I'm not going to leave you alone until you answer. I will just keep talking, and calling, and talking, and calling -" Anna's right hand reached out and she hit the speakerphone button.
"I'm asleep," she said bitterly, still lying flat, eyes to the ceiling.
"It's 2pm," Emily replied, leaning against the car she was standing in front of, only to have it's alarm start blaring. She quickly ran halfway across the carpark, trying to get away from the deafening screech. On the other end of the line, the alarm had most certainly woken up an agitated Anna. Emily stopped running, and panted down the phone.
"You have to come home," she pleaded.
"Is she dead?" Anna asked in a deadpan voice.
"What? No! Mom is not dead, Anna! Do you have to be so morbid…?"
"Then I don't see a reason to come home," she replied, shutting her eyes and reaching out to turn off the phone.
"Don't – do NOT hang up on me!" Emily called, knowing what her sister was doing.
"I'm staying at Aunt Linda's for the summer, if you wanna talk you can reach me there," Anna argued.
"Aunt Linda's? Again? No, Anna, you haven't been home since Christmas," the lighter haired twin argued.
"So let's see if I can make it 'till next Christmas," she replied cynically.
"What about mom?" Emily pleaded. Anna rolled her eyes. "She misses you."
"She also misses her youth, but she's not gonna get that back," Anna replied scathingly.
"You can't hide away at Aunt Linda's the rest of your life."
"Why not?"
"Don't be difficult. You are coming home whether you like it or not," Emily said sternly. Anna sniggered.
"Give me one good reason why I should subject myself to Lisa's constant scrutiny for the entire summer?"
"We're calling her Lisa now? Talk about detaching yourself," Emily replied with a raised eyebrow.
"I was just trying it out. Did it work?"
"Not really."
"Okay. Now what was that reason for my life to come to an abrupt end?" Anna asked, trying to relax into the bed.
Emily took a minute to create a dramatic silence before squaring her jaw and uttering, "She made me a candy striper."
Anna scoffed. "You're joking."
"Do I sound like I'm joking?" Emily replied bitterly.
"Candy stripers are at the bottom of the hospital social order," Anna said flatly.
"That's what I said. But no… apparently now, because she's paying to fix the damage I did to Mrs McPherson's car, I have to play by her rules."
"That sounds like her," Anna smirked.
"Please, I need you to come home and bail me out. I need you to be my barrier," Emily pleaded.
"You expect me to be the barrier? I'll probably have a panic attack the moment I see that woman."
"I just need some support here. I cannot go through this summer alone," Emily begged. There was silence on the other end of the line. Finally, Anna let out a defeated sigh.
"Fine."
"Fine!" Emily replied excitedly.
"Yes, fine, I will come home," Anna said dejectedly.
"Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!" Emily squealed.
"Don't get too excited. I haven't finished packing yet."
"Well get onto it! No time to waste!" she gushed happily, before hanging up the phone with a smile. Anna lay on her bed and let out a loud, angry groan, trying to vent her frustration. She quickly reached for her asthma puffer, which was located conveniently on the bedside table, and took several doses in a row, trying to calm herself. This was going to be one long summer.
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A/N: don't forget to review on your way out, my dears!
Coming up next… Anna arrives home, and sparks will fly between Emily and one of the ducklings.