So, i couldn't help but finish this chapter. i started writing it right after i uploaded chapter one, not knowing if either of them would be very good. I still don't know, but I enjoyed writing this so i couldn't stop! plus, it's only been a few days, so please review to let me hear some thoughts, comments, and criticism.

I got so absorbed in this chapter, for there are so many ways to express the pain that some of these characters are going through. Hopefully there's more to come on the Cameron/Chase story-line :) Depending on how much more you want to hear.

So R&R!

enjoy!

You would think that the absence of House would benefit Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, and maybe lift off some negative energy. That wasn't the case.

Everything was dark, it seemed. Outside, the rain fell heavily on the glass windows and doors of the hospital, and huge, black clouds engulfed the sun. The nurses were milling around the clinic, although not as urgently as they were before the best doctor in the hospital was sent off to a mental hospital. Everything seemed empty without House there to make snide remarks or comments.

Dr. Lisa Cuddy, the Dean of Medicine at the hospital, was taking it especially hard. She sat at her desk looking through papers. Her eyes were quickly scanning the words on the page, but her mind was somewhere else. Almost a week had gone by, and not once did an employee comment on the size of her ass or the shape of her breasts. Truthfully, Cuddy missed that.

After about a half hour of mindlessly looking through paperwork, Cuddy put her head in her hands and sighed. Even when she urged herself to work, her mind always wandered back to him. How was he doing? Was he making any sudden progress? Cuddy needed her plentiful questions answered.

Just earlier that week, House had told the entire Hospital that he had slept with Cuddy, which, at the time, infuriated her. Not once did she ever think about what might be going on in his head. She felt guilty for not helping him when he needed her. She felt guilty for taking everything way too seriously. And she was guilty for not being a good enough boss to check in on her employees once in a while and make sure they were all healthy. If only she had checked with House, maybe she could have stopped all of this from happening.

But there was one aspect of it all that Cuddy couldn't wrap her mind around. After House hallucinated sex with her, he seemed…happy. For the first time. Never before had Cuddy used the words 'House' and 'happy' in the same sentence. But once he found out it was all in his head, the look on his face shattered her heart. He truly thought that it was real and he was …happy.

There was nothing more that Cuddy wanted than for it all to be real, too.

Her thinking was interrupted by a light knock on the door. Cuddy looked up, only to find an employee already inside her office.

"We think our patient has HCV," Dr. Eric Foreman stated simply, immediately sensing cuddy's sadness.

Cuddy sighed and shrugged. She began to file some of the mountains of work building up on her desk. "Well…do a liver biopsy." She wasn't in the mood.

Foreman gave a curt nod and turned on his heels to leave. He stopped himself.

"That's it?" Facing her, he narrowed his eyes.

Cuddy sighed once more and looked up to meet his gaze. She had been looking paler than usual lately, and she wasn't wearing much makeup. Her eyes looked tired. "What do you want me to do? Fight with you about the discomfort and complications of a liver biopsy?" She turned back to her papers.

"If House were here, you-"

"Well, House isn't here. So there's no need for this conversation." Cuddy stood up and smoothed out her Black pencil skirt and low-cut pink top. She had to look composed in front of her employees, even if her mind was far from it. Her gaze met Foreman's, and she raised her eyebrows.

"If there is something you wish to discuss further, please consult one of the nurses out in the clinic and I will get back to you at my convenience." Her sharp words cut thorough foreman like a dagger, but he legs took him one step closer to the Dean of Medicine. Cuddy noticed that he wasn't about to leave and walked around her desk to where Foreman was standing. Her arms were crossed at her chest and her eyes were empty. Foreman knew something was up.

He spoke in a sincere tone. "Cuddy, where is House?"

Cuddy knew this was coming. Only Cuddy and Wilson knew House's true whereabouts. The team had been working under the direction of Foreman, but none of them knew where their boss was. Even Foreman, the team member who hated House the most, wanted him back.

She let out a deep sigh. Even though his eyes were warm and concerned, She couldn't meet his gaze. To avoid looking directly at him, she diverted her attention to the carpeted floor. As she shut her eyes, she took a deep breath. Tears began to fill the brims of her lower eyelids as she looked up at her colleague, finally realizing that the team needed to know where their boss was.

As she opened her mouth to answer, there was another knock on the door. Both doctors turned around to find Allison Cameron and Robert Chase, two doctors who used to be part of House's team until they switched to another part of the hospital, standing at the door. Cuddy was relieved.

She motioned for the two doctors to come in. As they opened the door, Cuddy glanced at Foreman.

"We'll pick this up later," She lied. Foreman shook his head and slid past Cameron and Chase to exit the office, knowing that later meant never. Cameron shot a confused look in his direction, and then looked at Chase, who shrugged.

Cuddy noticed the exchange, and let out a small laugh.

"It's…not important." She forced a smile.

"Umm…ok. Well, that's not why we're here," Cameron was wearing her blonde hair up in a high ponytail. Her black pants matched her vest, with a baby blue blouse underneath. When she spoke, there was something hidden in her voice, but Cuddy couldn't figure out what exactly what it was.

Chase took a step up to where Cameron stood, and put his arm around his wife. He urged her to go on.

She took a deep breath. "We need to talk about something."

Cuddy's eyebrows knit together. "Is everything ok?"

The concern in her voice made Cameron's heart hurt. A tear escaped Cameron's eye as she spoke.

"Well, yes…but no. It's just that-"

She was interrupted by the sound of the door opening, yet again. Why now? Cuddy wanted peace and quiet for once that day, and now this.

They all turned around to find Dr. James Wilson shutting the door behind him as he entered the already crowded office. When he looked up at the situation, he hesitated.

"Oh…am I interrupting something?" when no one answered, he frowned and pointed to the door, signaling that he was about to exit.

"No!" Cuddy and Cameron shouted in unison. Cuddy knew that Wilson had to talk to her, and she needed to know how if he had heard anything from House yet. Cameron was stalling for time. Chase rolled his eyes, knowing that this conversation would have to wait.

Wilson's hands flew up in surrender. "Ok! Sorry!" The oncologist turned back on his heels and heading over to the couch on the far left side of the room.

Cameron played with her engagement ring and stared at the floor. "Umm...we can just talk later…" Without looking up, she grabbed chase by the wrist and headed over to the office door.

Cuddy blinked and raised her eyebrows. "Oh...umm…ok. fine." What was going on?

Chase shot an apologetic look in Cuddy's direction, and closed the door behind him. Cuddy glanced over at Wilson, who was staring after the two doctors.

Well, whatever it is, Cuddy thought, it can wait. All she was worrying about was House. Had Wilson heard anything?

As if reading her mind, Wilson sighed. "No." He walked over to the front of the desk and sat down on one of the chairs placed there. "I'm sorry, Lisa."

Cuddy tried to stop the tears from coming, but one after another they pushed through her closed eyes. Plopping down on her big desk chair, she put her head in her hands and silently cried. She was so grateful for Wilson, who came around and embraced her.

"Be patient. It's only been a week." His whisper was soothing, but nothing could keep Cuddy from crying. It may have only been a week, but for Cuddy, it seemed like forever. It was my fault, she thought. This only made her cry harder, and Wilson tightened his grip.

"It will be ok. I promise." Wilson tried to believe his own words, but had just as hard of a time as Cuddy did doing so. The past days had been rough for everyone, but they all knew that Cuddy was hit the worst.

After about 5 minutes of hugging and weeping, Cuddy looked up, her eyes blood shot and the little makeup she was wearing was smeared.

"Wilson," She choked on her words, feeing another round of sobs well up in her throat. She pushed them back.

"If they take him off the pills, he won't be the same doctor. He won't be the same person!" She shook her perfect brown waves from her face. Looking Wilson straight in the eyes. She said, "He'll be in pain. Even worse than how it is now…

He'll change."

"And he wont be the person that you fell in love with." Wilson concluded, and Cuddy dropped her gaze to her hands in her lap.

Wilson had always known that there had been a mutual love between House and Cuddy. The only thing that was holding them back was the boss-employee relationship; and now, this. The whole Mental Institution situation had affected the House/Cuddy relationship more than anything else. Wilson and Cuddy were both fearful of House becoming a different person. Wilson would loose his best friend, and Cuddy would loose the one she was supposed to be with.

Suddenly, a beeper went off. Cuddy looked up as Wilson sucked in air through his clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry… a patient just arrived at my office. I forgot I had a meeting." He stood up and started towards the door. He stopped.

"Cuddy, I'm about to tell someone that they're going to die. I know this whole thing is a pain in the ass, and I know you're upset. I am too. But there's always someone who's going to have it worse. This patient has severe lung cancer in its late stages. That's when you know it's over. This…" He paused to collect his thoughts. "This whole situation has only just begun. There's still hope. This isn't over yet."

Cuddy understood, but the pain wouldn't leave her heart. She nodded.

"Bye, Cuddy." Wilson turned and left. About 10 seconds later, Wilson poked his head back into the room. "Oh, and get some sleep. You look like you need it." Wilson was right. Cuddy hadn't had a good night of sleep in days.

Once the door was securely closed and Wilson had started walking away to his office, Cuddy responded. "Bye, Wilson." But he couldn't hear her. No one could. She felt alone even with Wilson, and now that he was gone, she broke down once more.

Both Doctors were terrified. Did the pill make the person? No one knew. But they were about to find out.