Disclaimer – I do not own House M.D. It all belongs to David Shore and Fox.

~Chapter 3~

"Hello, my name is Dr. Lisa Cuddy. I am the Dean of Medicine at this hospital; how are you?" Cuddy asked the young girl kindly as she walked into the room with Cameron following close behind.

"I'm good." Gwen told her dryly. She was sitting back on the exam bed, and swinging her legs nervously.

"That's good," Cuddy walked up to her and carefully lifted her arm, "So, you fell down?"

"Yeah," She mumbled as she stared at her left arm, not wanting to look either doctor in the eye, "Dr. Cameron said I needed to get an x-ray and maybe even a cast?" Gwen asked as she finally had the courage to look up.

Cuddy nodded, "Yes. We will have to do an x-ray and then get you in a cast. Depending on the results depends on how long you will need to keep the cast on."

"You are here because you don't think I broke my arm from a fall." Gwen told Cuddy confidently, "You are the Dean of Medicine. There is no way Dr. Cameron needed your help telling me I broke my arm."

"Can you tell me what really happened?" Cuddy asked her kindly as she looked down into the young girls deep blue eyes. They all froze as screaming came from the main entrance to the clinic.

Cautiously opening the door, Cuddy and Cameron were shocked to find a woman in her thirties running wild and screaming at Brenda – the head nurse. She had black hair, pale skin; and was wearing a fancy dark blue dress.

"You have got to be kidding." Cuddy and Cameron turned around to see Gwen standing behind them looking angrily at the screaming woman in the distance.

"Whatever you do, do not let her take me home. Say I have some contagious disease and need to stay here or something." Gwen ordered as she angrily stomped over to the screaming woman, Cameron and Cuddy watching from a distance.

"There you are you little brat. Wait until your father hears about this." The woman told the young girl with a sneer as she reached for her broken arm. Nurse Brenda took this as her chance to run away from the crazy woman.

"Excuse me," Cuddy told the woman with a stern voice as she walked briskly over to aid the young girl. She could tell that the girl did not break her arm by a clumsy fall, Cuddy could tell it was defiantly abuse; and she was going to do everything in her power to help.

The heads of all nurses, patients, and doctors turned her way as they noticed the scene the strange woman was causing.

The woman looked up with an evil glare, "What do you want."

"That girl can't go home yet. Dr. Cameron diagnosed her with leukemia and needs to go for a series of tests." Cuddy improvised as she came up behind Gwen and put both delicate hands on her stiff shoulders. The woman rolled her eyes and took a deep breath before bending down and looking the girl in the face.

"You are becoming one very expansive eight year old, aren't you?" She spat angrily into her face. When Gwen looked away, she forcefully grabbed her chin, but Cuddy slapped it away without thinking.

Standing up, the woman flicked her long black hair behind her and glared at Cuddy.

"I will pretend that never happened, but will ask you one question. Do you have any children?" She asked as she pointed at Gwen, who was biting her lower lip and shaking slightly.

Cuddy tightened her grip on the young girl's shoulders as reassurance, and answered, "I did, and I know that your daughter has done nothing to deserve being treated like this."

The woman looked at Cuddy with disbelief, "My daughter? No way, she is sarcastic, smart, and witty and costs a bundle. My daughter is two years old. She is quiet, happy, and does not try to run away to find her biological parents. We adopted Gwen when she was three, man that was a big mistake."

"Well, like I said, we will need to keep her here for a couple of days." Cuddy told the woman as she noticed the crowd of people standing nearby.

"Fine, do what you want with her," She spat at Cuddy as she rolled her eyes. Bending down once again she whispered in the girl's ear, "Don't even bother coming home you little bitch." With that, she waltzed out of the clinic without a backwards glance at the little girl.

Once the rude woman was out of sight, Cuddy bent down and embraced Gwen into a hug.

Hearing the quiet sobs escaping the girl's mouth, she quickly scooped Gwen off the floor – being careful with the broken arm. Turning around, she called Cameron and they both went into Cuddy's office, as the many witnesses went back to work.

"Shh, it's ok." Cuddy comforted as she slowly rocked her back and forth. Cuddy was sitting on the couch in her office with Gwen in her lap; Cameron was pacing back and forth in the office. Gwen had stopped crying, but did not object to the Dean of Medicine holding her.

"What just happened?" Cameron asked as she stopped pacing and turned to look at Cuddy.

"That was Lena," Gwen informed them as she lifted her head slightly; "She is my foster mom. Well, she was." She added as she wiped away a few tears.

"Ok, and what is she going to do when she finds out we lied about you having leukemia?" Cameron asked as she started pacing again.

"Sue the hospital, kill me, and make you wish you were never born," Gwen told them with a small smirk. When the doctors looked at her shocked, she gave out a small laugh, "Ok, so she wouldn't sue or make you wish you were never born…but I will bet you anything she will wish I was dead."

"What did she tell you before she left?" Cuddy asked her quietly.

"She told me not to bother coming home," Gwen told her as she sat up, leaning back against Cuddy, who did not object and wrapped her arms around her protectively.

Cuddy looked up at Cameron who quickly grabbed her beeping pager. Gwen was lying on the couch reading a medical diagnosis book, and Cuddy was on her computer trying to find information about Gwen's past.

"We have a new case," She told Cuddy with a sigh, "It is 5:00pm. We are supposed to be going home now, not get another case." She mumbled as she walked towards the doors.
"See you later, Gwen," She said cheerfully as she opened the door, and walked gracefully towards the elevators.

"See you later," Gwen called back before she slumped back against the couch.

"Ok, so what did you say your real name was?" Cuddy asked, ready to type it into the computer.

Gwen looked up from the book, "Kelsey, but I am not sure about middle and last name."

"That's ok, we will find out sooner or later. Since you don't have a place to go tonight, would you like to stay over at my house?" Cuddy offered with a hopeful smile.

"Sure, thanks!" Gwen accepted excitedly as she jumped up, ran over, and gave Cuddy a big hug.

"No problem," Cuddy told her with a small laugh as she hugged back.

"I have one question," Gwen began as she slowly pulled away from the hug.

"Sure, go ahead," Cuddy replied.

"You said earlier that you used to have a kid. Are you married? Do you live with anyone that I should know about?" She asked nervously.

Cuddy laughed, "I live alone. Don't worry; no stranger will be waiting for you when we get there."

A/N – Hope you liked it! I will try to update soon…school starts again on Monday…