Celeste

Sorry for the long wait, but you see... I've been busy watching 6 seasons of Doctor Who and 3 of Rizzoli & Isles, plus Sheis1963 was here with me c: so yeah, I've been busy being a spinning, derping ballerina Dalek a.k.a I was uninspired. It's my birthday in 3 days, so you better be good boys and girls and leave a review c:
Now down to business, I'm not completely happy about this chapter, but I guess it's better than anything since next week I'm going back to school and I don't know when I'll have time to write and procrastinate. A big fat thank you to Sheis1963 for helping me out and partypantscuddy for being a fabulous beta c:

Chapter 8

"Everything is going to be alright. I'll be there in ten minutes, okay?" Cuddy ended the call, throwing her phone on House's lap, who was currently sitting in the passenger seat of Cuddy's SUV in complete silence.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Cuddy asked in a whisper. House looked up at her and shook his head.

"Stop being a nervous wreck. We all knew that anything might happen at any moment. The man's condition was not what I would have hoped for and I don't think the trial is that effective. It could work on him but it could be a total waste of time." he stopped. "With Huntington's there's not much to do if not alleviate the symptoms."

"But I mean... with Celeste." she said stopping at a red light. Cuddy looked up at him. "This is all so sudden for her and for me" she paused. "For us."

House's hand took hold of her right hand and squeezed it. Cuddy smiled softly. That gesture was all she needed.

The Dean strode into the hospital. This time her strides lacked her usual confidence, she was now a nervous and worried wreck. She kept walking towards the elevator, House following right behind her. They went unnoticed by the night staff, either too busy or too tired to care. Only a nurse nodded at Cuddy only to be completely ignored by her boss. House nodded back at the woman who immediately went back to whatever she was doing.

If the ride to the hospital had been frustrating, the minute they spent in the elevator leading them up to the fifth floor was painfully excruciating.

The ICU seemed quite busy yet calm and functional; nurses and doctor were checking on their patients even at this time of night. Cuddy strangely didn't feel the usual burst of elation whenever she witnessed how smooth, functional and perfectly working her hospital was. She felt void of any pride; she felt the worry wash over her one more time as she kept walking.

It wasn't until they reached the other side of the department that they saw her. Celeste was sitting in one of the chairs in front of a closed room, where her father probably laid in his hospital bed. Her head was held between her hands, both elbows resting on her knees. She seemed so tiny, even tinier than usual. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail but a few wild curly locks had escaped the elastic band and had fallen onto her shoulders and face. When she heard hurried steps coming towards her, her head snapped up. Blue eyes met blue and she immediately stood up, swaying on her feet before dropping back onto the chair, a hand flying to her forehead in a pointless attempt to stop her head from spinning. Cuddy ran to her side and wrapped her arms around her tiny frame.

The girl sobbed against the woman's chest, her shoulders shaking in an erratic rhythm.

"Thank you for coming." Celeste mumbled still hiding her face in that warm embrace.

"It's the least I can do." Cuddy replied, kissing her head and tightening her hold on the girl.

"I'm so scared..."

"I know you are, but I'm here for you, okay?"

"Thank you." Celeste sniffled, breaking contact with Cuddy for only a second. She sat straighter in the chair and took hold of Cuddy's hand.

House tapped his cane against the wall; Foreman turned around and looked dumbfounded for a moment. He muttered something to the nurse and walked towards the door.

"Can't work on the case. I'm needed here." the Neurologist said, retreating back into the patient's room.

"We don't have a case." House said.

"Then why are you here?" Foreman asked.

"None of your business. I want this case." he stated, reaching for the patient's chart in Foreman's hands. The man reluctantly gave him the file without further complaining.

"There is no case, House. It's a reaction to the medications he has been under lately."

"He's not here because of the trial..." House said reading through the pages.

"Yes, he is..."

"Well, in a way, yes. Patient's here because of the trial or it would be better to say, because of ineffectiveness of such."

"The trial has only just started..." Foreman blurted out.

"I don't want to hear any blah blah blah... has anyone else shown problems with the medications?"

Foreman shook his head annoyed.

"Almost everyone has nausea and sometimes dizzy spells, but that's to be expected..."

"Tell me something that I don't know, please." House snapped.

"House, there's no need to snap!" Cuddy hissed at the man.

"Dr. Cuddy, what are you doing here?" Foreman asked, noticing Cuddy for the first time.

"Not any of your business. Again." House repeated.

"Dr. Cuddy told me to call her if anything happened. She's been helping me since my father and I moved to Princeton." Celeste said, standing up and moving towards the two male doctors. Cuddy followed her and stood next to Foreman, gesturing for him to give her the patient's medical file.

"I know there's no real case, but I want House to work on this." Cuddy told the Neurologist, who nodded his head still confused.

"Back to business." the Diagnostician interrupted. "The medications aren't working on Mr Thompson. His condition has gotten severe in the past few months. The disease developed faster than I've ever seen..." House trailed off lost in thought. "How long has it been since the symptoms started?" he asked, looking at Celeste.

"Since my mother died, about...six months ago." the girl replied. "After she died, both my dad and I went to see a therapist and everything was fine during the sessions, but his mood would change so quickly and inexplicably. One moment he'd be laughing with me and the other he'd be crying or shouting at one of him employees because of something that they have never done. The therapist said it was because of the emotional crisis we were going through but I convinced him to get checked out by a real doctor..." she said a bit sceptically, causing House to smirk. "He started having problems with his legs and arms. It got us quite scared. He was diagnosed with Huntington's soon after." She concluded with a sigh. Cuddy's arm twitched as she suppressed the instinct to wrap the girl into a tight hug. Celeste must have sensed it because she smiled softly at Cuddy and squeezed her hand.

"There's no need to call the team in." Foreman continued.

"I know and I didn't ask for that. But I know that Thirteen is here somewhere, probably down in the conference room getting coffee." Foreman opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped by House.

"No, I'm not going to ask to end your relationship again... as long as you keep the whole schtupping outside my office."

"Make it outside the hospital..." Cuddy muttered, making Celeste chuckle.

A sudden beeping went off. The three doctors and the girl turned around just in time to see Mr. Thompson wheezing and gasping for air.

"What's going on?" Celeste asked, moving towards the glass wall.

"He's in respiratory failure!" Foreman shouted as he raced to the patient's bed, House and Cuddy following him closely.

"Give him Atropine." House said as he opened the drawers, looking for the intubation kit. Foreman did as he was told before taking a grip of the man's shoulders and holding his neck still.

"We need to intubate now!" House moved the bed to stand right behind the patient's head. The Diagnostician opened the man's mouth and pulled on the upper jaw, before positioning the head in the right way.

"Neck slightly flexed, head extended..." Holding the laryngoscope in his left hand, House slowly inserted it into the patient's mouth.

"Back to midline..." House mumbled mostly to himself. When the blade reached the base of the tongue and the epiglottis, House lifted the laryngoscope upwards towards the man's chest.

"Vocal cords into view." he said as he reached for the endotracheal tube and started inserting it. Once he was done, House removed the blade and Cuddy, who was holding the man's legs down to the bed, immediately attached the ambu (BVM) to the plastic tube and started squeezing it every three seconds.

"I'm going to tell the nurse to get a ventilator." Foreman said, leaving the room. Cuddy stared down at Mr. Thompson's relaxed body, still squeezing the small bag. Only when she felt House's hand on hers, she looked up to find his blue eyes on her. He started squeezing the ambu with his own hand and nudged her to the side.

"Go talk to her." he said. Cuddy finally looked at Celeste. The girl was still outside the room, hands pressed against the cold surface of the glass, her face void of any emotion but fear. Cuddy gave one last squeeze to the ambu before caressing House's hand.

"Thank you." she whispered with a small tired smile, before walking away from him. At the same time two nurses came into the room with the equipment requested. House backed away from the patient and let them do their job.

His eyes wandered off to the two women talking quietly in the hallway. Celeste was still staring at her father's motionless figure as Cuddy explained what had just happened. The girl merely nodded before looking at House right in the eyes and mouthing a silent thank you.

Next chapter is about... well spoilers! *grins* I've been watching way too much Doctor Who. All I can say is that there will be some Cuddy/Celeste talking and Cuddy/House fighting *evil grin*.