Chapter Eleven

Australia

Thanks to Houddy fun, Boys Don't Cry, thevigilante15, RHSecretLove, mj0621, Abbeyannmd, RogueButterfly, DrusillaBraun, HouseAddiction, HOUSEM.D.FanForever, and Huddytheultimate for their reviews!

Dislcaimer: I don't own anything pertaining to House. Everything in relations to that show belongs to FOX, its producers, and the writers. I claim ownership to nothing.

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"It's not cancer." Wilson said, placing the file on the clear break room table.

The ducklings dropped their heads, as they felt another blow to their confidence level.

"Did we do any brain damage?" Chase asked.

"Too soon to tell." Wilson said. "We won't know until she wakes up."

"If she wakes up." Foreman corrected.

They looked at him for a long moment. He had just voiced the secret fear that was in all their minds. The one that they had been unable to voice so far.

"Your resignation papers." Fisher said, as she entered the office without a knock and handed Cameron the packet and then leaving without even a greeting to any of the other doctors.

It had been fine when Cuddy did it, since she and House were on a level of understanding that the ducklings still had yet to figure out. But when Fisher just entered as if she owned the place, it slightly irritated all three of the younger doctors.

"You're quitting?" Wilson asked bewilderment written on his face.

Cameron stared down at the papers, biting her lip. "Yeah." She said softly. "Today's my last day."

Wilson let out a scoff and shook his head at her. "Cuddy talked House into hiring you." He said suddenly. "She wanted a female on the team to balance out the testerone and when she needs you, you bail on her. Great, Cameron. It's what you're good at. Go. Run. Your crush, House isn't here to bring you back this time." Wilson said, his voice sounding ugly to his own ears. He got up and left without a backward glance.

Before anyone had a chance to say anything, all three of their pagers went off.

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He laid there for hours, with no genius ideas popping into his head. This was a first for him. It was exhausting and it was painful. The time he needed his unquestionable brilliance the most was the time that his own mind let him down. His sense of betrayal was childish, but he didn't care. He didn't care about anything.

He heaved himself to his feet as he fought a war with another onset of tears. He rarely cried. Never gave enough crap about anything to allow it to bring him emotionally down to his knees. Not until the day Cuddy left. Still he refused to lose the war.

He limped toward the front door and paused as he caught sight of something leather hanging on the wall of the living room. He moved toward it for a closer look. Then quickly pulled out his phone.

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"Clear!" Chase yelled as he placed the paddles on Cuddy's chest and flinched when her body jolted.

"BP's still dropping." Foreman yelled.

"I can fucking see that!" Chase yelled back.

"Now's not the time to argue." Cameron yelled over them, her voice panicky in spite of herself.

Wilson rushed into the room and pushed past the nurses. He watched Chase try another attempt.

"Clear!" Chase said, trying again to no avail.

"Come on Lisa." Wilson murmured. He shifted his gaze only a moment to find Stacy standing outside the glass walls with her hand over her mouth, her eyes a dead giveaway to her fear.

Chase tried a third and fourth time as Wilson's cell phone went off. He was about to chuck it into the wall when he realized that it was House. He watched them try to revive Cuddy as he answered.

"It's the Hendra Virus." House's voice rang through the line right in place with the rest of the chaos.

"What?" Wilson exclaimed. "No way, that has no ground for even a discussion."

"What's going on over there?" House asked, hearing the noise and the yelling. "What's going on with Cuddy?" he was unable to keep the fear from crawling into the very core of his voice.

"Her heart stopped beating. Chase is trying to revive her." Wilson said hurriedly.

"WHAT?" House practically screamed into the phone, making Wilson drop it.

"Clear!" Chase yelled as he zapped Cuddy one more time, knowing that it was past time to give up, yet completely unwilling to.

Cameron was biting her lip.

Finally the BP rose a little. Then faster, until it was once again steady. Below average, but steady.

"She's stable." Wilson announced as he picked up the phone.

He heard a soft sigh of relief, almost inaudible, but existing.

"Why would you think it was a Hendra virus?" Wilson asked, completely confused.

"Let me talk to Fisher and my ducklings." House said.

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Five minutes later, the ducklings and Wilson were all gathered in the Dean of Medicine's office.

Fisher was eyeing Wilson's cell phone with a piercing glare, as if it were really House standing there, not just House on speakerphone.

"You have no evidence that it's the Hendra virus. There have only been three cases recognized." Fisher said.

"You have to give her the cure for it. It's the only thing that makes sense. Her symptoms, the speed of progression it all makes sense." House said, his voice scratchy.

"House, the Hendra virus doesn't exist in the US." Cameron spoke up from her place in the corner of the room.

"Shouldn't you be gone by now?" House asked in an irritated tone.

She rolled her eyes.

"It doesn't." He continued. "But Cuddy's been out of the country."

"How the hell do you know that?" Fisher demanded.

"I'm in her house now. There's horse bridle hanging on her wall. Says made in Autralia on it. Looks like she went to Chase's home country." House said.

"How do you know she went there?" Fisher asked. "It's just a bridle."

"People don't hang bridles in their living room because they want to." House said. "They hang it in a barn. Cuddy doesn't have a horse and she doesn't ride, which means this bridle is virtually useless. But she hung it on her wall, which means it has a sentimental value to her, which means either she's been in Australia or she really likes bridles." House said.

"The virus has probably been in her system for a while. It just decided to rear its ugly head now. Kill it with ribavirin and it's gone forever."

"Makes sense." Chase said.

Everyone else sent him confused looks. He shrugged.

"House is usually right."

"Too dangerous." Fisher concluded. "First off, that diagnosis has more chance of being wrong than right, and that drug is still in a study. It hasn't even been investigated yet."

"It's her only chance." House said firmly. "and I'm taking it."

"I won't put the hospital in the middle of an investigation if she dies." Fisher argued back. Voice rising.

"You have to do it!" House roared. "I don't give a damn about your damn hospital. I don't even count it as your hospital. It's sucked ever since you walked in the door. Do the damn treatment now!"

"You have no authority to authorize it!" Fisher shrieked back.

"Actually he does." Came a quiet, yet firm voice from the doorway.

Heads turned to find Stacy standing there, holding a file and an expression that said that she would not tolerate argument or opposing ideas.

"Who the hell are you?" Fisher seethed, angry that someone she didn't know would dare to go head to head with her.

Stacy was unfazed. "I'm Dr. Cuddy's attorney." She said. "This is her file. Under next of kin she has her daughter, but the person to decide her medical treatments is Dr. House, therefore he has the power to order this treatment."

"She trusted House with her life?" Fisher asked, aghast.

"Yes." Stacy said simply, daring Fisher to challenge her. "Now give her the treatment before this hospital is hit with the biggest lawsuit known to man and then a criminal charge on your ass as well."

Fisher was fuming as she glared at Stacy who was no doubt shorter, yet made up for the height difference with fierce determination.

"Fine. Do the treatment." Fisher finally said after a long moment of unbreakable tension.

The ducklings obeyed at a run.

In Cuddy's house, House smiled a little. She was going to be okay. He was sure of it and it was the first ray of hope he'd allow himself in a long time.

"I'll be there soon." He said then hung up.

He was on the highway within minutes, once again pushing the legal limits to his speed.

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His timing was perfect. Rushing through the door the moment she opened her eyes. His team greeted him with all smiles and House realized that the room was already filled with people.

Stacy was perched in a chair right beside Cuddy's right side. Wilson stood behind her with his hands on the back of chair and House noticed that she was leaning into him slightly. Cameron and Chase stood at the foot of the bed while Foreman busied himself with double checking that Cuddy was stable.

Cuddy greeted him with a tired smile.

"You came through." She said softly.

"Always." He said just as softly, before he thought about what he said.

She gave him another weak smile.

He walked toward her and checked her pupils. He then checked her pulse, even though Foreman already did it.

"I'm okay." She said gently.

"People lie." He replied.

She rolled her eyes. "Same old House." She muttered. "So what was wrong with me?"

"Why didn't you tell me you went to Australia?" He asked.

"You didn't ask." She replied shortly. "What was wrong with me?"

"Hanta virus." He said.

"What the hell?" She gasped staring at him. "That's one of the rarest diseases in the world."

"Yeah and you, Lisa Cuddy, decided that you would be one of the special people and get it when you went to visit the people down under." He said.

She rolled her famous blue eyes again. "Thank you, Dr. House for your sunny sarcastic comments. They really have made my day." She muttered.

"What were you doing in Australia?" he asked.

"I wanted a pet kangaroo." She replied sarcastically.

"Kangaroos are illegal to bring to the States." He said plainly.

"House, it's really none of your business." She said, her tone firm, end of discussion.

House ignored her tone completely. "Well if it's none of my business that means it's personal. Personal means private dating life. But you're Cuddy you don't date. So either you were breaking into your wild girl streak and forgetting your job, or you were in a serious relationship that I want to gossip about."

Neither of them noticed everyone else trying to sneak out of the room without seeming awkward or uncomfortable. They only noticed when they were the only two left in the room.

"Tell me." He said softly. "Are you involved with someone? Or did you really want a kangaroo, though I always thought of you as a more of a koala person."

"Ok, House, enough with the marsupials." She said, holding up a hand, like a traffic cop. "Yeah, I was in a relationship."

"With Chase?" he asked. "I mean he's the only Australian we know."

"Yeah we." She said. "But I know a few, and so I was dating one at first for a few months."

"Few months doesn't mean a trip to Australia." House mentioned.

She glared at him. "We were together for 6 months. Broke up in Australia okay? I flew back. He didn't." she stated. "End of story. My happy ending."

He noticed a few tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. She let out a soft sniffle as she wiped them away forcefully. It was pathetic to cry, especially something about this.

She looked up at House. "There. You happy?" She demanded, allowing her anger at her lack of control to seep to the surface. Anger was simple. It was clean. It wasn't shameful. "I'm barely awake for five minutes and you're already making me what to hit you with your cane."

"Very." He said, his tone serious as he sat down beside her.

She scoffed. "Whatever House, get out."

"No." He said.

"Why? You've got your answers. You can stop humiliating me now." She said, her tone still as authoritative as ever.

"I wasn't trying to humiliate you." He said matter-of-factly.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever House. I'm gonna sleep. Tell Stacy to bring me Jesse."

That reminded him of something else. "Why can't I take care of Jesse? Why don't you trust me?" he asked bluntly.

Without a verbal answer she reached into his pocket and pulled out his half empty Vicodin bottle.

"Because of this." She said, her eyes serious and with a touch of regret and sorrow in them. "Because I want her to have father who will lead her in the right direction. She watches the people she's around, and I don't want her to imprint off you, at least not in the condition you're in now."

He must have looked forlorn because her voice dropped a few decibels as she continued, "House, you're brilliant. No question about it and I am so proud that Jesse shares half of your genes. She'll be as clever as you, and probably just a sarcastic." Cuddy smiled at the last part, a smile that tugged at him and made him want to embrace her small frame in his larger one.

Her eyes bore into his. "You'll make a great father someday, House, when you change your ways. I don't expect you to change. I don't expect anything from you because you always disappoint when it comes to admitting you're wrong."

Then unshed tears began to fill her eyes. "I know you love Jesse. You don't have to admit it, but you do. I just need to think what's best for her and you're not the best until you get off those drugs. Not just soon, but now."

"Unfortunately, Jesse can't wait. And neither can I."

He watched her and then closed his eyes. With a sigh, he walked out of the room, feeling his heart tighten at the thought of the look in Cuddy's eyes and her words. She stared after him with the familiar sense of tears starting to overwhelm her. She wanted him so bad. She wanted him more than anything, but knew she had to do what was best for them all. She wanted to be the woman in his life. She wanted Jesse to know her father, be raised in a normal home, where Mommy and Daddy tucked her in at night and Mommy sang her to sleep while Daddy helped her with her homework. She wanted all that and more, and she wanted it with House. She just didn't know if she could trust him completely when his judgment can be so easily clouded. The last thing she wanted was to see her daughter hurt, like she had been. The last thing she wanted to see was her daughter jaded.

He wanted to change, but he couldn't. He never wanted to be vulnerable, but he was. He was weak and unable to change, even if he wanted to. The truth was, he never wanted to. He chose to be the way he was and never had any regrets. None until he lost Lisa Cuddy and his daughter.

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"We have to tell Cuddy." Meredith said.

The two others shook their heads. "No, she's still sick. Added stress won't be good for her."

"If we don't tell her on, things are gonna get worst and they'll be even harder to fix." Meredith argued back.

Sloan pulled her back down into the seat in Cuddy's office. "If we tell her now, she'll want to race back here and deal with it herself. She's sick. She needs to rest and recover. We should try to handle this ourselves."

Meredith sighed. "Tritter is an ass. I can't believe he's pressing charges for conspiracy. What grounds are there?" she huffed. "I guess I won't tell her. Not until she's better."

"That's the best course of action." Burke replied.

The truth was Tritter wasn't dropping the charges. He wasn't even planning to. He would never forget the fool Cuddy made him out to be in that courtroom. He would never forget the smirk on House's face as he emerged from that room as a free man. He would never forget the challenge that Cuddy had set before him and beckoned him to try his best to hurt House. She stepped in front of the cripple, protected him, and forced Tritter to back down.

He wouldn't this time. He found the quickest way to exert his revenge. He knew Cuddy had a daughter. With the hours she worked, and her reputation as a career woman, it wouldn't be difficult for him to call Social Services and question the amount of attention put on the child. If he can get lucky, he might even be able to charge her with neglect.

He threw the newspaper he was reading into the trash and light a cigarette. He had started smoking again not long after he was fired. Now this case, if he could prove it, would put him back on the force. Ruin the people that ruined him, then he would be back on top. He had little doubt that he wouldn't succeed.

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Author's Note:

THIS IS ME! Hehe. Sorry this update took a while. I'm gonna start working on the next chapter right now. This one wasn't that great, just closing some problems so that I can start new ones. MUAHAHAHA! Thanks for reading!