Wow, I am getting more STORY ALERT Notifications every chapter but the closet readers still keep on hiding. Hehe, oh well. As long as, you guys are still reading.
Everything is still happening at the same time but on different time zones.
** Special mention to these 3 fellows who are posting awesome comments but not logging in. Many THANK YOU's to Carla, Sarah and Marinel. From now on, I'm gonna call you TRES MARIAS.
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING though I would have liked to bring home Dr. Cuddy with me so I can stare at her the whole day.
CHAPTER 7 – AS DAYS GO BY
[4 MONTHS LATER]
Lisa Cuddy continued to count the days that she is "separated" from the man of her dreams and the father of her unborn child. Four months, twelve days, seven hours, and twenty minutes had gone by since the last time she saw House.
But in her heart, it feels like that it was just yesterday. The look he gave her before turning his back from her is still freshly buried within the four walls of her bleeding heart. Nothing can compare for the aching pain she felt every time her mind will conjure that image at the forefront of her conscious thoughts.
There were so many IF ONLY scenarios she was able to come up with to prevent that fateful afternoon from happening that started this all. If only she didn't give up on him that night when she found out about his use of Vicodin again; if only her sister, Julia didn't mention the word "candies"; if only she gave him the chance to explain himself more before walking away from him and be deaf to his continued plea to stay with him; if only she wasn't that stubborn enough to take him back after Wilson went to her office to tell her to give House one more chance; if only she listened to her heart when it was telling her to go to him when Wilson told her that House was once again traveling down the road of destruction that night their friend went to knock at her door and almost in the break of tears told her that House needs her in his life even if they are not sleeping together; if only she did something even if how stupid it can be to stop his sham wedding to that promiscuous woman, Dominika; if only for once she did listen to her mother, Arlene telling her that it was House and only House that can put up with her and vice versa and that she's being an idiot with impossible standards for letting him go; if only she told House how deeply touched she was when she heard him say that he trusted her above everyone else even after everything that had happened between them in that Prep Room and told him back that she also still trusted him; if only she had the courage to finally surrender to what her heart was telling her over her mind to give in and just embrace him after he said that he feels hurt; if only she said more rather than her I'M SORRY before he walks away from her in her hospital hallway; if only she did come after him when she saw him turns his back to her after resignedly telling her that it wasn't her fault that his hurting; THEN all of this longing could have been prevented.
So many regrets and what if's and yet she can't do anything as the days go passing by without seeing him and feeling his intense gaze upon her every time he is at her close proximity. All she has are bitter sweet memories of him and the necklace that she kept near her heart since she left House's apartment that day. Since that day on, she didn't take it off from around her neck because she needs to feel it against her beating heart that only continuously beats just for the sake of living and not because she really wanted to. She needed it to remind her that somewhere out there, the father of her unborn child is actually breathing and maybe, thinking of their treasured shared memories, too.
She also kept the Music Sheet containing House's sweet memoir of her. Cuddy's Serenade is safely kept at a drawer near her bed while the "Family" Photo of her, House and Rachel was also placed on top of the small table nearest her side of the bed so that she can stare at it every single night and not forget the face of the man that will forever haunt her dreams, not that she can actually forget his face because even if she wanted to, House is like the air she breathes that is very essential for her survival.
Dr. Lisa Cuddy now seven months pregnant arrived early Monday morning at Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital for a scheduled Board Meeting that day. The doctors and the staff knew that even if the Dean was glowing on the outside, they know that she's indeed hurting deep inside. Her happiness doesn't reach her eyes. The sparkle they usually see there was forever gone along with the sudden disappearance of the cranky Diagnostician.
It took some time for the hospital buzz milling around the hospital about the absence of the famous Diagnostician to finally die because no one was indeed expecting that Dr. Gregory House will actually have the courage to leave PPTH and Princeton for good. They knew that House hated change and wherever he is at the moment, he will just eventually get tired of it and go back to the one place he feels at home to.
But to everyone's surprise, it has been 4 months already and they haven't seen a single glance of the hospital's biggest "ass". What is more surprising is by the time that they noticed that House is no longer wrecking havoc within the four walls of the hospital, their favorite Dean of Medicine also started to lose that glowing sparkle behind her eyes. She no longer has that confident stride within her when she walks around her supreme territory. It's as if life has been taken away from her right from the moment that Dr. House also disappeared.
Of course, it was obvious to everyone that this two "events" are solely interconnected. They knew that House's absence has something to do with Cuddy's lack of energy and vigor, too.
More theories circulated when one warm afternoon, Dr. Lisa Cuddy while in the middle of her clinic duty passed out and it was only fortunate that the ever caring Dr. James Wilson was also on his way to the clinic to do his duty. After which, it was confirmed that PPTH's Dean was pregnant and there was only one ultimate person guilty of charged to be the father of the child and that is the now missing Dr. Gregory House.
Even if everyone was wondering as to what led to the sudden departure of PPTH's biggest jerk, Dr. Gregory House, no one actually had the courage to approach either Dr. James Wilson or the Dean herself, Dr. Lisa Cuddy.
Furthermore, Arlene Cuddy herself only has a vague idea as to why House left while her daughter was carrying his child. She was only told by both her daughters about the car crash incident and then, House's disappearance right after. Cuddy was able to convince her not to probe more questions and eventually the older Cuddy just stopped because she saw how deeply affected Lisa was every time she brought up House's need to run away, especially now that she is having their child. In time, Arlene just accepted the fact that her daughter might actually be raising two kids on her own now since there was no single news about the whereabouts of the father of the child.
When Cuddy arrived at the Nurse's station, she was greeted by Nurse Brenda with a smile while she was handed with some papers containing her messages. "Good morning, Dr. Cuddy."
Dr. Lisa Cuddy on auto-pilot also smiled back in return and said, "Good morning, too Brenda." She took her messages and slowly walked towards her office. Till this very moment, every day while she goes to her office, she still can't help it but to expect to hear a snarky comment from an all too familiar voice coming from behind her.
Sighing in disappointment, because once again, that snarky comment didn't come, she opened her office door and prepared for another busy but boring day ahead of her.
Meanwhile on the other side of the globe, Dr. Gregory House is as miserable as ever. Four months, twelve days, seven hours, and twenty minutes had gone by since he decided to run as far away as possible from his one true love and be a coward.
More than ever, his leg is hurting more and even though he refused to fully acknowledge it, he knows that whatever pain he is feeling now is not only due to the giant missing muscle on his leg but also from the huge hole on his lonely heart.
Lisa Cuddy is always still part of his everyday thoughts. Even in his dreams, he still can't hide from her. Try as he might, when he closes his eyes at night, he can still vividly see Cuddy's face, her eyes, her lips, her voice, her body and everything about her. The woman is not only on his thoughts when he is wide awake when his mind will go into an overdrive thinking of possible scenarios he can prevent that fateful afternoon from happening.
So many IF ONLY scenarios were constantly playing on his mind. IF ONLY that Cancer Scare incident didn't happen; if only he didn't make himself a big fool in taking that single Vicodin that night after he got the call from Wilson that Cuddy has lesions on her lungs; if only he wasn't that coward to deal with his emotional demons of losing the one woman that can actually stoop up to him; if only he didn't give in to the call of the drugs; if only he was just man enough to be by Cuddy's side without actually being scared to expose his emotional fears of losing her; if only he did give Cuddy more valid reasons to give him one more chance that night when she went to his apartment to break up with him; if only he did come after her when she turns her back at him after saying goodbye; if only he didn't try to wallow his pain and misery to various faceless hookers and alcohol afterwards; if only he didn't try to forget his loneliness by marrying the first woman in need he met; if only he did something to convince Cuddy to give him another chance when Arlene tried to make them reconcile; if only he also told Cuddy that he needs her when he told her that he trusted her on that Prep Room; if only he didn't let himself be blinded with rage and jealousy by the painful scene he saw at her window that afternoon, THEN all of these suffering and longing from their separation could have been prevented.
House wondered how she is doing and if she really was able to move on from him already. God, he only hopes now that he is no longer at her sight anymore, that she is least safe and happy with her daughter Rachel. He missed them both and all the times that they had spent together.
Slowly, House is able to build a new life on this warm country with more than 7, 000 islands and over 200 dialects. It only took a month through the help and influence of Dr. Jacqueline House for the famous Diagnostician to secure all the needed pertinent documents for him to practice Medicine on this foreign land.
Currently, he is also running his own Diagnostic Department with 3 doctors each with their own specialty as his new team. Jacque was able to convince the Board of Directors of St. Luke's Medical Center to open up a Pioneering Department of Diagnostics by enticing them of the fact that they will be the first hospital to actually open up a Diagnostic Department on the entire country.
Though, House will never admit it, he was indeed grateful for all of Jacque's help. Because of her, at least his concern about securing a job is no longer a problem. True to her word, Jacque also secured his license to practice Medicine on this side of the planet without being on the radar of International Medical Media yet. So far, after 4 months, no one knows where the hell Dr. Gregory House suddenly vanished to.
With all these on his mind, the staff of St. Luke's Medical Center saw the world-renowned Diagnostician enters the front door of the hospital with his famous scowl face and this time around wearing dark sunglasses holding his cane and carrying his backpack. His office was located at the second floor of the building.
As a habit that he really wants to stop already but can't help it, he glances towards his left to where his mind knows Cuddy's office is located back when he was at PPTH. Of course, he can't see the office of his favorite raven beauty but that of his new boss, and "sister", Dr. Jacqueline House whom he is hiding from knowing that he is again to be reprimanded for being an hour late than his usual log in time. He was not in the mood to deal with her now because he had drowned himself again from too much booze on the bar he went to. He can already feel his head throbbing from the hung-over he got last night.
And as always, his luck is obviously not today because he suddenly hears her screeching voice calling his name in a high pitch tone. "DR. HOUSE!"
House tried to limp as fast as he can towards the elevator but even in her 7 months pregnant weight, Dr. Jacqueline House still has two functioning legs than can surpass his limping ones. He can hear her steps behind him and he was forced to actually stop. He took off his sunglasses and turns around to address her in a mocking tone, "Yes, Dr. Preggo. It's too early for you to be awake as of this time."
The pregnant woman begun to roll her eyes at her troublesome Diagnostician before saying in a controlled voice, "Do you know what time is it? You're supposed to be in the clinic two hours ago."
Gregory House also rolled his eyes before answering her, "Yeah, but you see I didn't get enough sleep last night so…."
But he was immediately cut off by the furious Chief Administrator in front of him who took hold of his left arm and squeezed it hard. "I don't care. You still have to do your job. Since you missed your hours today, you have to make up for them. I expect you to be in the clinic for 4 hours tomorrow." With that, she turned on her heels back to her office while the grumpy doctor just grimaced from her painful grip on his shoulders a few seconds ago.
Feeling that everyone's eyes was on him that moment, he wore his sunglasses again and slowly walks to the elevator to go to his office and take a nap.
House was brought out of his slumber when he heard some noises from behind him. Taking a second or two to adjust his eyes to the unfamiliar dark room where he was in, he turns around and saw a familiar figure giving him her back. Even through the darkness, he can already tell who that person is.
It's the one woman that is constantly "bugging" his conscious mind and almost every night, too in his dreams. He saw Cuddy's shoulders were shaking and instantly knew that she is crying. He can hear her sobs now but she must not have sense his presence yet because she continuously cry her heart out and kept looking down at the floor.
House lifted up his left hand and reached out to her. When he was about to touch her right shoulder, he was surprised to hear her say, "Why are you giving up on us, House?"
The Diagnostician though still very confused why he was once again in the presence of Lisa Cuddy found his self answering her, "It's not you that I am giving up, Cuddy. I'm giving up my own happiness."
Upon hearing him say this, Cuddy immediately looked up and stared at her beloved's intense gaze."Why do you feel the need to give up your happiness? Can't you be happy with me? Together with Rachel?"
House saw tears streaming down Cuddy's face now. He wanted to reach out to her and wipe her tears. God, how he wanted to just hold her and let her feel how much she truly means to him. But, instead he avoided her gaze and looked down while saying, "You know, I'll never be able to make both you and Rachel happy, Cuddy. I tried but being the miserable bastard that I am, I only managed to drag you down with me with my pain and misery. I wouldn't want that for you and Rachel. You deserve so much better."
Crying louder now because she couldn't stop her tears while hearing how the one man she truly loves try to negate everything they could have together because of his irrational fears, in a shaky voice, Cuddy answered him back, "But, it's you that I want, House. I want no one else. Why can't you just accept that you also deserve to be loved? I love you. I always will. And I need you. WE need you."
While she was saying that, House saw that she went to touch her stomach and that was the only time that he noticed something different from her. She was glowing and smiling through her tears while gently caressing her protruding stomach. Full shocked can now be seen on House's face as he realized that Cuddy is pregnant.
For a moment, he just kept staring at her because this turn of events is indeed shocking. Before he can actually find his voice again, he heard Cuddy speak again, "Please come back, House. WE need you." And just like that, she suddenly vanished from his sight.
Now reacting in a panic, House called her name in the hope to bring her back in front of him. "CUDDY!"
House lifts his head up from his desk and finds himself alone in his office in the middle of the day. He slowly realizes that everything was just another dream. Only this time, its content made him confused all the way more. What does that even mean? Is it really possible that Cuddy is pregnant? If she is, does she even want him to be there with him? Doesn't she loathe him for what he did to her and to Rachel? Is she going to give him a second chance to be with her and their baby? Is he capable of being a father to his own child? Is Cuddy even able to carry their baby to term? Is it safe for her? What if there will be some complications?
Once again, his thoughts are on overdrive and it's really not helping his throbbing head. He took out his bottle of Vicodin from his desk drawer and dry swallowed 2 pills. And then, he glances at his watch to see that it's almost 12 noon. Feeling his stomach rumbling, he stood up and decided to take care of that for now knowing that more confusing thoughts about Cuddy is about to come.
Lisa Cuddy was peacefully sleeping once again at House's bed when suddenly there was a loud noise that can be heard from the front door. She went back to House's apartment after her stressful day from the hospital. Rachel was currently at her mom's house because Arlene knows that Cuddy is having a hard time keeping up with the ever energetic toddler now that she is 7 months pregnant.
The woman lying on the bed woke up from the noise and sat on the bed waiting to hear if the noise is coming nearer. She can hear footsteps entering the bedroom and her heart started to beat faster thinking that it might be a burglar or something. When she felt the person at the bedroom's door, she really was on the verge of screaming already when suddenly that person switches on the light.
Cuddy was momentarily blinded by the sudden light that came to her vision but she immediately focused her eyes to the intruder. Staring back at her as equally shocked as her was the one person she was longing to see for months now.
House was staring back at her and surprised about her presence in his room, too. Then, she heard him say in an angry tone, "What are you doing here?"
It took Cuddy a few seconds to recover from her initial shock before she finally answered him, "Oh my god, House. You're back." She can feel her tears rolling down her cheeks now and she went to stand up to be in House's arms again.
House sensing her goal, rapidly called her out on it, "Stay where you are, Cuddy." Both of them were surprised as to how stern that voice came out.
Cuddy now on her feet stayed rooted at her spot. With trembling voice, she tried to appeal to him, "House, I'm sorry. Please just let me explain first."
She was about to move towards him again when the man in front of her reprimanded her once more for her intended action, "I said stay where you are."
Okay, she has enough now. How dare him to order her just like that? Feeling herself getting angry, too she shouted back, "Why are you mad at me? You're the one who almost committed a crime against me. And then, like a coward, just run away leaving me alone. Leaving US alone. So, you don't get to be mad at me, House. I SHOULD BE THE ONE TO BE ANGRY AT YOU!"
She saw House stared back at her and lowered his eyes down to her stomach when he heard her say the word "us". Seeing his eyes widen when he suddenly realized that she's pregnant, he stumble backwards as if shocked by that truth. And as if trying to negate what he saw, he shook his head from side to side while saying, "NO, this can't be happening. This just can't be."
And then, Cuddy saw him turns his back and starts to walk away AGAIN. She can't let that happen. She needs to stop him. And so, she called him back, "House, please stop." But, as if not hearing her, House just continued walking and Cuddy now on a verge of panic, shouted his name louder, "HOUSE!"
Cuddy suddenly wakes up and finds herself still on House's bed but alone in the darkness of his room. And then, she felt something wet between her thighs. In a hurry motion, she went to switch on the lamp beside the bed. What she saw when she lifted the sheets made her scream in shocked. BLOOD. She saw blood pooling down between her legs. With trembling hands, she grabbed her cellphone and called Wilson.
It took 3 rings before she heard an answer on the other line and then she said, "WILSON.."
*DRUMS ROLLING* Oh no. Is Cuddy and the baby gonna be okay? There you go. That's our first part of the angsty/drama chapters. Tell me your thoughts on the reviews. Also, an update might come in 2 days. A friend will be visiting me so the chapter might not be done like usual.
Thank you for reading,
Helen