A/N: Warning, there is some graphic violence in this chapter, if you're sensitive towards violence please be careful.

As always huge thanks to my wonderful readers and reviewers. I wish I could personally thank you all, but the written word has to suffice. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Cuddy sat on the hospital bed; the white sheets were covered with various forms and papers. She held a pen in one hand and scribbled furiously on the paper. She didn't bother to look up when the door opened.

"What do you think you're doing?"

She looked up at Wilson who stood in the doorway with his hands on his hips, his expression condescending.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?"

"Surprisingly this hospital doesn't operate by magic alone, if it would my life would be considerably more pleasant these days." She muttered drily.

"They're forcing you to work?" Wilson asked incredulously.

"Of course not. They just don't have anyone qualified enough to do my job." She replied curtly and leafed through the papers.

"I heard that Foreman had applied for your position. Temporarily of course, whole you're still bedridden."

Cuddy looked up and sighed.

"Look. Foreman is a great doctor, and I respect him in his field, but I don't think he's ready for the commitment that requires to run this hospital."

Wilson raised his hands in the air as a sign of his frustration.

"According to you no one would be able to do the job the way you want it. You have to slow down, you've just been through a surgery, and your body is still healing."

Cuddy smiled knowingly.

"I'm thankful for your worries, but I'm fine."

"But you can't stress yourself. Even though the doctors gave you a green light you're still pregnant and need your rest."

Cuddy looked at him with a confused expression edged on her face.

"That's odd. People have been coming to me expressing their sincerest condolences about me losing my baby."

She looked at him with a pointed look. Wilson turned his head downwards sheepishly.

"The last time I checked my baby was just fine, and has been monitored the last days by the best experts, care to explain?"

Wilson's face turned serious.

"I'm not sorry for what I did. Someone is trying to get rid of you and House, and as long as they think that they're plan worked we'll be one step ahead." He said eagerly. Cuddy gave him a sad look and shook her head.

"You shouldn't have done this. How am I going to explain this to everyone? It isn't your place to make decisions like that."

"You were in a coma, and House was in custody. Yes, it might have been a little reckless of me, but it's done."

"Yes unfortunately, and now I'll have to clean up your mess." She spat angrily.

"I'm not sorry." He muttered.

"This wasn't yours to decide. This time you've stepped over the line."

"Cuddy. If you want to get House out of prison we must do something. I was just trying to help."

Cuddy gave him a sad expression. She knew that he meant well but he was stepping over the line.

"Wilson you have to drop this. We can only take one day at a time. House is innocent. I have never doubted it, but we can't do anything."

"Yes we can. We could contact the best lawyer in the state and get his ass out of prison."

"But what if you're right? If it's true what you say, that someone is trying to sabotage me and House, then no lawyer is going to be able to help us."

"But we can try." He said desperately.

"Wilson. I can't do this right now. I trust House, and if he doesn't want a lawyer, then I can't do anything to stop him. He's an adult, and even though I don't always agree with his decisions, I respect him enough to allow him to do this his way."

Wilson looked at her angrily.

"How can you stay so calm? Don't you care at all?"

"Of course. But unlike you I know when to stop. I wish I could talk to him and reassure him that everything will be fine, but I also know that he wouldn't accept any false reassurance. At this point we can only wait and hope for the best."

"That's not good enough." Wilson almost shouted. Cuddy closed her eyes, and said calmly.

"You'll just have to accept that."

Wilson slammed his hand on the table beside the hospital bed angrily.

"What is the matter with you?"

Cuddy stared at him her eyes wide. She tried to blink away the tears she had been trying to hold in the entire day.

Wilson looked regretful, but it was too late.

"I'm sorry Cuddy. I know how difficult this must be."

"Do you?" Her voice was thick with tears. "Do you know how it is to feel absolutely hopeless? House is in jail and I can't do anything to help him. I wish I could but I can't. I want him out just as much as you do."

She looked away and tried to compose herself, but the pain and sorrow she had so carefully tried to mask was slipping through the cracks, and her brave attempt to stay calm and levelheaded was falling out of her control.

"It's so silly." She suddenly said. "I thought that everything was going so well. I must confess that I didn't believe that we would ever make this work, but then it seemed like it could. We were actually happy, and now everything has been taken away from us."

Wilson didn't say anything, his expression grave. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Today is our one year anniversary." She sniffled and smiled sadly.

"I'm so sorry Cuddy."

Cuddy looked at him angrily.

"Don't be." She said harshly then she squeezed her eyes shut and sighed heavily.

"I just can't deal with everything right now, and work keeps my mind off of these things, even though it's just for a short time. I just can't do this." She finally whispered.

Complete silence filled the room. Cuddy wanted most of all to be alone but Wilson stayed put. She appreciated his friendship but she was never really much for breaking down in front of other people and she just couldn't take Wilson's sympathy.

"I have work to do." She said stiffly and started to work again. She felt Wilson's presence beside her but didn't look up from her work. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Wilson drop into the seat by her bedside and start to look at the papers on her bed.

"What are you working on?" His painfully obvious attempt to appear normal was driving her insane, but she answered him anyway.

"I have to go through the annual expenses. They have been pressing me for weeks to give them the final numbers, but as you can see I haven't had the time to finish my report."

"Do you want me to help you?"

"No I would rather not."

"I understand. I'll just leave you alone." He stood up and started to walk out. Cuddy's hand froze in mid air. She looked up and bit her lip before whispering hastily.

"How is he?"

Wilson froze in his tracks and turned around.

"Cuddy…" He began but she interrupted him.

"Don't do this. I want to know how he is. I know what you told him and I…I need to know how he is." She said firmly.

"Not good." Wilson answered honestly.

"I see." She said simply, her voice shaking a bit.

"How could you do this to him Wilson?" She finally snapped.

Wilson looked at her in alarm. He hadn't expected her outburst and stood rooted on the floor. He didn't say anything for a while, but his eyes betrayed his true emotions.

"He must be terrified right now, and I think you just gave him a reason to give up. You question why he didn't get a lawyer, well there you have your answer."

Wilson's expression turned from shock to frustration.

"That's not the reason. He's a stubborn asshole who thinks only about himself and not the people around him. If he would show some effort he would have fought back. The House I know wouldn't give up so easily. If he will be sentenced he can only blame himself." Wilson bellowed. Cuddy stared at him in shock.

"Don't you dare say that about him. I know that you have made many sacrifices for him, so have I, but don't you dare blame him for this."

Wilson's gaze softened a bit, and he looked shamefully down. His own outburst had surprised him. The last days had been horrible, and Cuddy knew that he was concerned for his best friend, but his words were inexcusable.

They were all tired, afraid and frustrated, and she realized that Wilson must have experienced just as much pain as they had. He had been by her and House's side the entire time, and now he had reached a breaking point.

"I think you need to rest Wilson. You have barely slept this entire week, and you're tired." Cuddy said calmly.

"I'm sorry Cuddy. I didn't mean those things." Wilson mumbled in apology.

"I know. Let's just talk tomorrow, okay?"

He nodded his head and opened the sliding door.

"Goodbye Cuddy. Don't overdo yourself." He gestured towards her covered bed.

"I won't." She promised.

She watched the door close and picked up her files. She wasn't in the mood to finish the report, but she knew that she wouldn't sleep through the night if she didn't. She was gathering the last numbers from the hospital when she saw something odd. She frowned and looked through the numbers again. It didn't make any sense at all.

She calculated the entire list again to make sure that her calculations had been right, but it stayed the same. She lowered the file in shock.

Four million dollars had been removed directly from the hospital few weeks prior into an anonymous account. The numbers didn't belong to any bank in the state. She picked up her iPhone and saw that the account belonged to a bank in Switzerland.

Only someone in the highest chain within the hospital could possibly have done this. Financial information's went through her and the members of the board. No employee had the information required to get away with this.

She couldn't believe that she hadn't seen this before, that anyone hadn't seen this before.

How hadn't she known, but she must….

Suddenly it dawned upon her. It was like her memory suddenly cleared and she could remember, something that had been bugging her the last days.

When she had woken up she hadn't remembered the events of the day of the accident. For the last few days she had felt like she had forgotten something crucial, and now those memories were clear in her mind as if they had happened yesterday.

She stood on the platform and watched after Masters with a small smile on her lips. She had always liked her, she was levelheaded and kept House in check. She had turned around and started to walk down the stairs when the doors behind her opened sharply. She looked back and saw Dr. Saunders dart through them. He stopped in his tracks when he saw her. She was equally as surprised as he was but recovered quickly. Without thinking she approached him.

"Dr. Saunders. I'm glad that I ran into you, can I speak with you for a moment?"

"Sure." He said disinterested, and leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets.

"Your uncle is on the board isn't he?"

She didn't want to sound too suspicious, but if there was anyone she suspected that could possibly be behind the money withdrawal it would be him.

"I think you should know that." He said cruelly.

She nodded her head affirmatively. She wasn't sure how he would react to her next question, but decided that if anyone would know it would be him.

"Do you know if your uncle has been experiencing some financial troubles?"

Dr. Saunders paled, but he tried to keep his exterior calm.

"Why do you ask?" He said skeptically.

"I'm sorry but I can't tell you, but if you know anything then you know you can tell me." She realized that she hadn't approached the subject the right way, but it was already too late. Dr. Saunders had straightened up and approached her menacingly.

"You think that my uncle has been stealing money from this hospital?"

She stood up straight, and stated firmly.

"That information is confidential but important for the hospital. I just wanted to know. I'm sorry if I offended you."

"You're such a bitch. Do you know that? You think that you can accuse my uncle of this just because you're the Dean of Medicine, but guess what? You're a pathetic excuse of a human being, and you will pay for this."

Cuddy couldn't believe what he was saying. She knew that the subject wouldn't be well received but his reaction made her little bit more than suspicious.

Her encounter with Krauss had proved that he was up to no good, but that he would go so far and to do something like this was beyond anything she could imagine.

She immediately regretted that she had said anything to him, but kept her voice firm. She had dealt with people like him for years and was not going to allow him to talk to her like that.

"Excuse me Dr. Saunders, but I don't tolerate the way you talk to me. I know you don't like me, but I'm your boss and I told you that if you would keep disrespecting me like this you would leave me no choice but to let you go."

"What? Are you going to fire me?" He said angrily and walked closer to her. She backed slightly away and touched the railing behind her so she wouldn't fall over.

"No, but I will if you won't behave like a responsible adult."

He had reached her now, and was close against her. She tried to move away. She felt uncomfortable with the close proximity and tried to move closer to the railing but realized that she was already as far as she could go.

Dr. Saunders leaned towards her, and said.

"Sorry, but that's not good enough."

She felt his hands grasp her shoulders tightly, and with extreme force he pushed her backwards. The breath caught in her throat as she fell backwards over the railing.

Everything happened so fast, and before she realized what had happened her body hit the ground below.

The beeping heart monitor brought her back to reality and she didn't realize that she was hyperventilating. A nurse walked in quickly, and ran to her bedside.

"Dr. Cuddy, is everything all right?"

Cuddy wasn't sure what to answer her, but she was sure of one thing, Wilson had been right.

Sarah Adams stood in front of the luxurious hotel in Jersey City. She held her purse tightly against her side where the recording lay safely inside. She dropped the cigarette she was holding on the ground and stepped on it with the toe of her shoe. She breathed in the night air in and walked into the lobby of the hotel. The lobby was large and breathtakingly beautiful; marble Corinthian columns lined down the hall, and supported the arcs in the ceiling where magnificent crystal chandeliers hung. The light hit the tiny crystals, and they shimmered on the guests below. Sarah walked towards to the reception desk quickly. She felt like an outsider in that atmosphere and tried to hide her distress. She stopped in front of a receptionist.

"Good evening I have a meeting with C.J. Krauss, he told me that I should just talk to you."

The receptionist, a good-looking male in his late twenties gave her a pleasant smile, showing his all too perfectly white teeth.

"Just a moment ma'am." He said kindly and typed on his computer.

"Mr. Krauss is staying in the Presidential suite. George here will take you there." He gestured towards a young man who stood silently in the corner. He stepped forward and gestured her to follow him. Unsurely she followed him to the gilded elevator. Instead of pushing a button he placed a card in a slot and picked in a four number security code. Sarah had never seen anything like this before. Her parents didn't have a lot of money and when they traveled they stayed in three star hotels not a five star luxury hotel like this. She backed away into the corner and clutched her purse tighter against her side.

For days she had thought about her next course of action. She had never been in this kind of situation before, but as she thought better about it she knew that this was the right thing for her to do. Of course she could have handed the evidence to the police, but what difference did it make for her?

Dr. House was an asshole, and even though she didn't think that he deserved to stay in jail for something he didn't do it didn't change the fact that she disliked the man with her whole being. He probably didn't even know who she was, but she had experienced plenty of his ruse behavior first hand. His arrogance, snide remarks and rude comments were horrible to take. In many ways he deserved to stay in jail. Maybe not for this, but it wasn't like he was an innocent man. She had heard the stories about him, and all of the times he had been close to get arrested but didn't because Dr. Cuddy always saved him from trouble.

No, he didn't deserve any pity. This time she needed to think about herself. Her entire life she had been taken for granted. Everyone around her looked down on her, even the man she had thought cared about her, but he had shown that he didn't. She was through with Karl, and all of his nonsense. This time she was going to stand for herself and make something good out of her life, even though it required sacrifices.

The elevator came to a stop and the door opened up into a lavish suite. She hesitated before she stepped into the area. Just as she walked out of the elevator the doors closed and she was left alone. She stared at her surroundings in awe.

Her whole apartment could have fit into the living room alone, which was decorated with dark, sumptuous furniture. The walls were covered with contemporary paintings in vibrant colors, and she could only imagine how much they cost. She walked over to the large windows that reached from ground to ceiling. The view was breathtaking, overlooking the entire city, and she could see the city lights of New York City in the distance. She looked down at the tiny lights below of the passing cars, and backed slowly away. She had never been much for heights.

"Breathtaking isn't it?"

She turned around sharply, her heart hammering in her chest. Christopher James Krauss stood in the hallway; his grey eyes bore into hers. He was clad in a black suit, with a red tie to match. He held a glass of scotch between his fingers, and took a sip.

"Yes, it is." She breathed, and tried to keep the tremor out of her voice.

"Care to sit?" He gestured towards the leather sofas in the middle of the room. She nodded her head and took a seat. He walked slowly towards the opposite sofa and sat down. He placed his glass on the glass table between them.

She folded her trembling hands in her lap, and tried to stay calm. She desperately needed a cigarette.

She looked nervously at Krauss who observed her curiously. She had only once encountered him and that had been brief. He had stated his business and left just as quickly as he came. He had intimidated her, he was rich, successful and so full of arrogance that she barely managed to utter one word to him without feeling worthless.

Karl had assured her that this was how he had always been, but she hadn't quite been able to shake the uneasy feeling away after he left. There was something unnaturally unpleasant about him. It was like he could see right through your soul with his piercing grey eyes that lacked any emotion. It was like he was completely dead inside. His looks didn't help him at all. His wrinkled pale skin and the sneer that seemed to be plastered on his lips gave him an unpleasant demeanor, which made her feel even more uncomfortable.

"You said that you wanted to see me. You sounded quite urgent, so may I ask why you wanted to desperately to seek my presence?" His papery thin voice snapped her from her thoughts.

She decided to get straight to business and opened her purse, and picked up her phone. She pressed the play button of the recorder and played for him the conversation between her and Karl.

Krauss's face was calm, his expression unchanging while he listened to the recording.

When the recording stopped she shoved the phone into her purse.

"I want to stay out of this. The deal is done I did what you want, but I can't do this anymore." She said firmly, her voice unwavering.

"How much do you want in exchange for the recording?"

His voice was eerily calm, and she flinched away from his gaze.

"One million dollars, cash." She managed to keep her voice firm. Krauss raised his eyebrows. He leaned back and watched her steadily.

"That is a lot of money."

"That is what I will take in exchange for the recording."

Krauss seemed gave himself time to speak and when he did his voice was cool as ice.

"I'm sorry but I think I'll pass."

She stared at him in shock. She hadn't suspected this at all.

"I'll give it to the police." She said with a shaky voice. "I will do it."

"You will do no such thing." He said surely.

She felt the sweat form on her brow, and she tried to find some clever remark to say but it felt like someone had stolen her speech.

Krauss stood up and picked the drink off the table. He walked past her and stopped by the windows.

"I told my nephew that he shouldn't trust you." He looked back at her.

"He said that you were trustworthy. Thankfully I was right."

"What are you talking about? Karl said that it was you that wanted me to do this, not him." She said with disbelief.

"Of course. Karl is an idiot, you really think that he could have pulled this off?"

Sarah couldn't believe what she was hearing. The way Karl spoke of his uncle showed complete admiration, she had never imagined that the feeling wasn't mutual.

"But…but he's your nephew….I thought you cared for him." She said angrily.

"Oh you silly, silly girl. Do you really think that this is what it's about?"

"What do you mean?" She asked incredulously. "Karl told me that you were doing this because Dr. Cuddy threatened to fire him, that you wanted them out of the hospital."

Krauss smirked, but his smirk was cold and hateful.

"This is so much bigger than your pretty little head could imagine. I don't want to get them out of the hospital. I want to destroy them."

Sarah's heart hammered in her chest, the fear gripping her tightly.

"You're going to kill them?"

"If that's what it takes for me to accomplish what I need, then yes, I will kill them."

Unconsciously she started to move towards the exit, her instincts telling her to move away.

"Why are you telling me this?" She said while backing away from him. Unfortunately he had started to move towards her, forcing her to back towards the next wall.

"You see. You were just a piece of the game. Now you have done your purpose, and done it well might I add, but now your job is done."

He placed his hand into the inner pocket of his jacket and drew out a gun, and pointed it at her.

The blood froze in her veins, and she stared at the gun fearfully. She finally hit the wall behind her and realized that she had reached the tall windows. She stared at the life below and turned her head towards him.

"Please don't do it." She begged fearfully.

"I won't tell a soul, just please don't…don't shoot me." Her voice was begging; the tears ran down her cheeks. She wanted to run away as fast as she could but she was stuck in a situation she never thought she would be in.

"Please, I beg you." She whispered, the tears trailing down her cheeks.

Krauss looked at her coldly. Like in slow motion she could see his finger press on the trigger and shoot in her direction. She screamed out when the bullet hit the glass behind her, the shatters flew in every direction and scraped the side of her face, and hands. She fell down on her knees and pressed her hands against her head to shield herself. She felt the blood trickle down the side of her cheek, and shut her eyes tightly. She trembled with fear and stayed put while the shards fell around her.

She heard his heavy footsteps approach her and she desperately tried to stifle down her sobs. Her entire body shook with fear.

"Look at me." She heard Krauss bark above her.

She couldn't move, her body was frozen in place and she sobbed uncontrollably.

"Look at me." He said again with more force.

She tried to steady herself and looked up. Her blue eyes widened when she stared into the gunpoint.

"Where is your phone?"

With shaky fingers she fumbled into her purse and took out her phone. She put it in Krauss's outstretched hand.

"Thank you." He said evenly, and took the gun away from her face.

She almost cried out in relief and stood up on her shaky legs. She wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. When she had raised herself up she looked at Krauss.

"Thank you." She said tearfully.

"No. Thank you."

She barely felt the pain when the bullet hit her, and she had lost consciousness when her body hit the floor. The last thing she saw were the cold, dead eyes of Krauss.

He lowered the gun and took a sip of his scotch before moving away from the body on the floor. The breeze moved blonde locks away from a pair of blue eyes. A small tear ran down her pale cheek, and fell on a broken shard of glass.