Chapter Nine

Last Will and Testament

Thanks to EOshipperSVU-MSR-HUDDY, Kris the fanficaholic, DrusillaBraun, PaulaAbdulChica2007, Boys Don't Cry, Huddytheultimate, mowrocks, mj0621, Miss-Miester, RHSecretLove, BlkDiamond, HouseAddiction, HOUSEM.D.FanForever, and sergeanthappybunny for their reviews! Thanks again!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from House. It all belongs to Fox though I am insanely jealous.

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The cardiology team at Mercy were biting their nails. Detective Tritter's surgery had not gone well. He had nearly crashed in the middle and he was angry. He had taken his anger out on every member of the team so far and Cuddy wasn't there to think of bright ideas to save their asses.

"There has to be something we can do." Meredith said, rubbing her temples, brown hair limp after being in the hospital for so many hours.

"What?" Sloan asked, bitterly. "He's gonna rob us for every cent we have all because the surgeons found something else wrong with him. It's not our fault we didn't catch him it at first."

"He was Cuddy's patient." Burke pointed out. "Why is he suing the entire department?"

"Money." Meredith replied simply. "He wants money. I overheard him telling Cuddy how he lost his job. He probably needs the cash."

"He has no foundation." Burke complained.

"Yeah I know, but we don't have much of a choice. He's suing that's fine." Sloan muttered. "We save his ass and he sues us. Typical."

"I mean the surgeon operated on his heart to save his life. Screw the damn release form. If he hadn't gotten that clogged artery out right then and there, stupid Tritter would have died on the table." Meredith noted.

"Well there was no way Cuddy could have noticed the clog. It hadn't presented any symptoms yet." Sloan pointed out.

"I'm not gonna tell her what happened." Meredith said with a note of finality in her voice that left no room for argument. "She has enough on her plate and its no help shoving more down her throat."

The others had to agree. Cuddy's sickness was driving them mad. The department was already overworked and to have the head of the department on leave was horrendously pushing back the hospital.

"I'll find us a lawyer." Burke said, standing up.

Sloan grabbed his files. "I'll cover you for the rest of the afternoon."

Meredith grinned at the two of them. "And I'll do everyone's clinic hours."

Just like that, the team made things work again. Cuddy had a team that functioned well even without her despite the horrendous hours and overworked schedule. They loved her, but she had trained them each in such a way that they could manage on their own without her leadership.

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She felt so tired. Her head was spinning as she fought to keep her focus. Her daughter was sitting on her lap, giggling and laughing, oblivious to the state of her mother. However, she froze for a moment, staring curiously at her mother.

Cuddy shook her head to clear the cobwebs from her brain. They did little to help, only made her even dizzier. She stared seeing two's and then three's. Her head was pounding and she felt so lost for a moment, as if she was swimming against the current and drowning.

She screamed out as she felt emotions of paranoia grip at her senses. As soon as she opened her mouth, so did Jesse, screaming her fright. Their combined decibels called the nurses to her room. One of them swept Jesse off her lap and started to comfort the child, who just would not listen, only squeezed her eyes shut and wailed.

Her mother wasn't doing much better. Cuddy couldn't tell where she was. Didn't know what she was doing. It was as if her entire body had lost all control of itself and her mind itself was no understanding its own chemistry. Confusion, chaos, intolerable fear. She screamed again and again.

Breathing became difficult as she struggled to comprehend what was going on. She struggled against the nurses that were trying to keep her from accidentally hurting herself. Darkness overtook chaos. She fought its hold without avail until it consumed her completely. She would not give in. She screamed out her defiance, partly to let herself know that she was still alive, partly to purge her own fear of the unknown.

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He didn't know her turmoil or fear when he limped into her room. He motioned for Cameron to pluck the child out of the nurse's hold and to take her outside, where she would not be haunted by the sound of his mother's terrified screaming.

He was by her side within seconds, watching her as she struggled and then stopped. Her heart rate decreasing fast. He yelled for the paddles as she hit zero.

"Clear!" he yelled as he shocked her once, twice, three times.

Her heart rate stabilized. Weak and low, but existing. When he placed the paddles back onto the cart, he realized that he was shaking. His usually steady hands were trembling as his mind comprehended just how close he had been to losing Cuddy forever. The second time in too short of a period. It was too much. He was reaching the end of his rope and finding nothing left to cling onto.

He checked her vitals now and his heart sank when he realized what her last battle had done to her. The sickness was finally starting to take a drastic toll on her. He rubbed his temples and tried to keep himself impartial, objective.

It was impossible. It wasn't just another patient anymore. It was Cuddy. And it was Dr. Lisa Cuddy that was in a coma, not just another person that House didn't care lived or died.

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Wilson was just leaving the hospital when he ran into a petite dark haired brunette. She dropped the piles of papers she had in her hands, spilling them in every way possible. He mumbled an apology as he bent to help her pick them up.

"Sorry." He muttered. "Didn't mean to."

"I know Wilson." She said cheerfully. "You were always the nice guy."

The tone and the sound of the voice struck a chord with him and for the first time since running into her, he looked at her face. Stacy peered back at him with a warm smile. He laughed as he embraced her, papers flying everywhere again.

"Stacy, it's good to see you." He said.

"It's good to run into you too." She said with a wink.

He laughed as he bent down again to pick up her papers, handing them to her. She took them out of his hand with a quick thanks and started to walk toward the elevator, trusting him to follow her.

She wasn't disappointed. He followed falling in step with her as she hit the button for floor 4.

"Why are you here?" he asked, curiously.

"Cuddy called me last night from this place and well I assumed that she would want something to cure her boredom." Stacy replied briskly.

"You brought her work?" Wilson asked, eyes wide.

Stacy nodded. "We're career women, Wilson. We can't help it."

He laughed. "I've noticed." He said as they stepped off the elevator and into hectic everyday life of PPTH.

Nothing could have prepared them for the silent turmoil in Cuddy's room, however. They froze in the doorway, watching the sight before them. House was seated beside Cuddy's bedside, his cane leaning against the foot of the bed. His back was turned toward them, so his expression was unreadable, however no one could not catch how his callused hand was intertwined with Cuddy's.

All at once, Wilson realized that House wasn't as emotionally untouchable as he depicted himself. He was bitter, there was no way to second guess that, but whether or not he was beyond saveable was a different story. Wilson had spent so much time wishing that Cuddy was his, he never caught the invisible signs that were emitted from House. Whether or not Cuddy returned that affection was no yet clear, however, Wilson knew that it was time for him to back off. If there was any chance of Cuddy being the person to catch House before he hit rock bottom, so be it.

"What happened?" Stacy demander, her voice shrill with fear etched in it.

House spun around and wrenched his hand away from Cuddy's, letting hers fall limply onto the too white sheets.

Wilson didn't even wait for an answer as he went to check Cuddy's vitals. He already knew, but he just wanted to make sure because it was such an unbelievable situation. He never thought he would see her lying in a hospital bed so helpless.

House ignored him, feasting his eyes on Stacy. "She's in a coma."

Stacy felt wetness in her eyes as she moved to the opposite side of House. Wilson laid a hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze trying to project some comfort into her being. Stacy bit her lip as she kept her tears from falling. She laid the files she had brought with her onto her best friend's bedside table, worry causing her forehead to crease.

"She's only been sick for about 24 hours." Wilson pointed out.

"Only sick that we know about." House replied. "If she has a virus, it could have been lysogenic for years, choosing now to do its damage."

There was a moment of silence before Stacy spoke up, her voice trembling. "So based on that timeline so far, how much time does she have left?"

A long dragged silence followed her question. Wilson looked at Stacy, Stacy looked at House, House's eyes were intently focused on Cuddy.

"Another 48-36 hours." He said softly.

And for a split second, he looked almost scared, almost vulnerable. He knew they saw. He didn't care. It was a moment of weakness that he would allow them to keep.

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Fisher was buried in paperwork when Cameron slipped into the door. She didn't look up.

"Go away, Dr. Cameron. I will not allow the treatment."

"I wasn't asking about the treatment." Cameron responded, shifting her weight to one leg nervously. She never knew if she would lose her job walking out of this office.

The office that Cuddy had once occupied and made her own was transformed. No longer were the lights dim and welcoming, but now bright, almost glaring. The windows she had usually kept open allowing the sunlight to stream in were now tightly shut and locked. The comfortable chairs she kept beside the shelves filled with books were no longer there, neither were the books. Instead there were more boxes of papers and the shelves were filled with ornaments that were more creepy than a decoration.

"What are you bothering me for then?" Fisher asked. "I'm a busy woman unlike you."

Cameron gritted her teeth. "I was just wondering if you could sign a letter of recommendation for me." She said.

Fisher eyed her suspiciously. "Why?" she demanded.

Cameron fumbled over her words. "I was thinking about taking another job at Harvard. The only thing is they want a letter of recommendation from my Dean of Medicine and my supervisor."

It was not that she didn't like her working conditions at PPTH. She was in love with House and stayed for him throughout the years. Helping patients was the light of her life and saving them was the center of it. House was an added bonus. However, the center was the world was slowly being smothered by Fisher's control over the entire hospital. Patients died left and right because of the safe treatments that weren't strong enough and the lack of clearing the stronger ones.

It pained Cameron throughout the day to watch and it angered her to find that Fisher didn't care. As long as House was kept quiet and the hospital didn't suffer any legal damage, she was happy. Cuddy had played it safe but along the edges between ethics and saving lives. Fisher played the game completely under a rock. Cameron had had enough.

Fisher snorted. "Honey you aren't cut out for Harvard." She said, without a hint of mercy. "Stay here or leave now. I'm not signing anything for you."

Cameron glared and was about to object when Fisher waved her out. The look was clear. Dismissed and be out of my sight. With fumes emitting from her ears, she obeyed, striding out with her steps angry and loud.

Fisher watched her go, shaking her head. It was not that she wanted the doctor to stay, but the girl was the opposite of House. She could at least summon some control of the asshole in ways that Fisher could not. She didn't know how the younger doctor did it, but she did, using some kind of blackmail of some sort, Fisher guessed.

Fisher thought that Cameron was House's soft spot, but she never would've guessed that his true soft spot was for the woman who lay dying upstairs.

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Detective Tritter was finally out of the hospital. He didn't like being there. For a moment, he had always felt empathy for Dr. Cuddy, however, that had been short lived. When he returned home and saw the dismal surroundings he had to live with, he felt anger again at what she had done to ruin him.

He wanted to get back at her and to afford to pay the bills again. So he took a step toward winning it all back. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate having his life saved, it was the fact that desperate times called for desperate measures and he was desperate.

He threw his jacket onto the ground and made a phone call to Cuddy's office.

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Stacy was bent over her papers in the waiting room, using her briefcase as a hard surface to write upon. Wilson sank down beside her and handed her a steaming cup of coffee.

"Thanks." She said gratefully.

Wilson glanced at her work and raised his eyebrows. "Cuddy's will?" he asked slightly confused.

"Yeah." She said with a catch in her voice. "She told me that if anything were to happen to her at all, to make sure Jesse was taken care of."

Wilson gave her a sad smile. "Trust Cuddy to always be prepared." He said.

Stacy snorted. "Tell me about it. She had me write her will up the moment Jesse was born."

"Do you think she's gonna die?" Wilson asked.

The question had come out of nowhere. Stacy found herself unable to answer. The harsh reality of death was one she was not yet ready to face. Prepping the will was one thing, a precaution, but actually admitting that Cuddy may die was another, more frightening image that Stacy was not yet ready to think about, too weak to even turn over in her mind.

"God I hope not." She murmured softly.

She felt Wilson's hand upon hers for a moment, as they began to wrap their minds around the reality of the situation. What could be and what they could lose.

"God, please don't let the worse happen." She pleaded, Wilson's thoughts echoing her words.

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Author's Note:

That's the next chapter. I hope you liked it. I'll update a lot more as soon as spring break hits which will be soon. I hope. Or at least the days before spring break when my work load is lighter. Thanks so much for reading!