CHAPTER 4

Cuddy woke and House was uncharacteristically gone already. He'd left a note taped to the mirror.

C

Wilson called with a case. Had to go in early. I'll stop by your office later.

Love, H

Later that morning, Cuddy walked into her office and set her stuff down, shrugging out of her coat. There was a file on her desk with another note from House stuck to it.

Hey, Cuddy.

Move your big ass and take this to the nurses' station for me. Please?

House

Cuddy was totally confused and annoyed. Why would he think it was her job to take a random patient file to the nurses' station? He walked right by it on his way out of her office! She turned on her computer and while it was loading she decided to just get the task over with. She walked out to the nurses' station in a huff and all of a sudden every nurse working there in the clinic appeared, some of them sticking their heads out of the glass doors. All at once they shouted, "Gregory House says Lisa Cuddy is the best boss ever!"

What the hell? Cuddy was stunned. She felt like she must be hallucinating. In a daze, she handed the file to one of them, who handed her back a different file. "Dr. House asked if you wouldn't mind taking this to the ICU for him," she explained. Cuddy, still confused and wary, but curious, agreed with an eye roll. She walked to the ICU and went up to the nurses' station, which had about ten nurses standing at it. "I was asked to bring this patient's file here," Cuddy said, cautiously.

All at once ten nurses called out in hushed whispers – due to the delicacy of this ward – "Gregory House says Lisa Cuddy restarted his heart!" Cuddy was floored. This was so crazy! One of the nurses handed her a stack of folded gowns and asked if she wouldn't mind dropping them off at maternity on her way back to her office. Cuddy was getting the idea and took the stack of gowns.

She walked into maternity and went to the nurses' station with the gowns. "Hi!," she said, getting a little giddy now, "Um, I was supposed to bring these to you…" she started to explain. Then the beaming nurses all said, "Gregory House says Lisa Cuddy is a wonderful mother!" Cuddy was blushing and flustered when the nurse handed her a ten dollar bill. "Dr. House wants you to take this to the cafeteria and pay his tab for him," the nurse explained. "He says if you don't do it before lunch, he'll be starving and they won't let him eat." This was a ridiculous line of reasoning, but Cuddy was enjoying this crazy treasure hunt of compliments.

She walked down to the cafeteria and told the cashier she was paying Dr. House's tab. The cashier told her to hang on for a moment while she grabbed the record book. Suddenly the cashier reappeared along with the cooks, the dishwashers, and the other people who worked in the cafeteria. They all said in unison, "Gregory House says Lisa Cuddy has a mouthwatering body!" Jesus, House! she thought , almost melting into the floor with embarrassment.

Then the cashier said, "It's all set. But Dr. House asked if you would mind taking this juice box to be analyzed at the lab. He thinks it's tainted," she handed her a juice box from the display case. Cuddy smiled. Was the whole hospital in on this?

Cuddy took the juice box down to the lab where several technicians were working. On her walk, she finally noticed that everyone she passed was smiling slightly and not meeting her eyes. She walked into the lab and said casually, "Here's the juice, guys," and they all replied, "Gregory House says Lisa Cuddy is permanently under his skin!"

One of the technicians handed her an X-ray and said Dr. House needed it to go back to radiology, and would she mind taking it. She grabbed it, rolling her eyes but beaming and headed to radiology. She walked in and gave the technician at the desk the x-ray. The tech shouted back, "Hey, guys, Dr. Cuddy has that X-ray we were looking for." Suddenly eight heads poked out of different offices in the suite and all the voices said, "Gregory House says Lisa Cuddy knows him inside and out!"

The technician then handed her a teddy bear and told her that one of the pediatric patients left it there, and would she mind running it over there for them. Cuddy took the bear, then clicked her stilettos over to pediatrics. When she walked in, the common area had about twenty kids sitting in it with parents and nurses, playing games or watching television. They all cheered when she entered and the kids yelled, "Gregory House says you are the best video game partner ever!" Then a little girl came up and handed Cuddy a file and said, "Dr. House wants you to take this to AR…"

"HR!" someone whispered.

"Oh yeah. HR," the little girl corrected.

"Thank you, sweetie," Cuddy said taking the folder and walking to HR. She walked into HR and handed one of the several gathered employees the file without a word. "Gregory House says Lisa Cuddy is the only human resource he needs!" they all sang out. Cuddy's cheeks hurt from smiling and burned from blushing. One of the employees handed her a roll of toilet paper. "Would you mind putting this in the 3rd floor men's room in this hall? It's out."

"Are you serious?" Cuddy asked, her smile fading a bit. He nodded. Cuddy walked to the men's room and knocked on the door hesitantly. A guy she didn't know opened the door, took the toilet paper and threw it behind him into the men's room. Cuddy heard a bunch of male voices ring out, "Gregory House says Lisa Cuddy doesn't take any shit!" Cuddy laughed and was so thankful House wasn't trying to have sex in the men's room. The man at the door handed her a white doctor's coat and asked her if she would mind returning it to Dr. Wilson. Cuddy took it, then headed to Wilson's office.

She knocked and he called for her to come in. He was on the phone and said, "I'll have to call you back," and hung up. Cuddy smiled shyly at Wilson, handing him the lab coat. "Gregory House says," Wilson relayed in a sing-song tone, "that Lisa Cuddy has replaced me as his best friend." Cuddy smiled and shook her head in amazement and embarrassment. "And," Wilson continued, "You need to take this back down to the lobby check-in station," he said, handing her a bouquet of flowers. Cuddy took them without a word and left Wilson's office, heading back toward her own.

Cuddy walked back into the main entrance hallway, which was way more crowded than usual, and everyone was staring at her. She slowed her pace and felt confused about where to go or to look, unsure of what was happening. Suddenly, she felt something hit her back. She turned around and saw a little suction cup dart on the floor. She looked around kind of wildly, then saw everyone either looking at her or looking up at the lobby balcony. She looked up. There was House, leaning on the railing, holding a little plastic dart gun.

"I love you, Lisa Cuddy," House said. Then he turned and limped down the hallway.

Cuddy was sort of frozen to the spot for a moment, self-conscious, but excited. Everyone was smiling at her. She felt like she might faint. She finally shook herself out of it and started meandering back to her office "Dr. Cuddy," one of the nurses asked her when, "Is it your birthday or your guys' anniversary or something?"

"No," she replied.

"Why did he do all that then?" she asked.

Cuddy paused for a moment. "I think he was just being nice," Cuddy replied, trying to keep from smiling too big.