CHAPTER THREE:

It had been a few days since House had been committed to the Mayfield Psychiatric Institution and colleagues had been questioning his absence at the hospital. At Princeton Plainsboro, House was the only doctor you knew was missing due to his legendary personality and cheery disposition; and even though everyone had questioned his disappearance, the majority of the hospital employees enjoyed the peace and quiet for a change. However, Foreman, Thirteen and Taub were not among that majority. After two days of working in the ER and clinic, House's staff began trying to get to the bottom of House's abrupt disappearance.

"I wonder what's going on with House. He hasn't been here in two days." Thirteen questioned.

Absorbed in a newspaper article, Taub sarcastically responded, "He's either hiding from a bookie, a pimp or is in a Vicodin induced coma."

Foreman observed, "He didn't show up for Cameron and Chase's wedding and it's not like him to skip out on a night of free booze and mocking."

"Come to think of it, Wilson never showed up either." Thirteen remarked.

Still not looking up from the newspaper, Taub responded, "Don't start jumping to conclusions. I asked Cuddy where Wilson was and she told me he had a prior commitment. As for House, he probably figured seeing that much happiness in one day would nauseate him and decided to stay home and wallow in his usual misery with a bottle of bourbon at his side."

Thirteen starts getting a little irritated with Taub's lack of concern and says, "I can't believe you aren't the least bit concerned about House not showing up for work for two days."

Taub drops the paper and answers her, "I'm not concerned, because it's probably his way of waging another war with Cuddy. He doesn't show up for two days, she comes begging for him to come back because she can't lose her star diagnostician and then we're back to normal again…being degraded and called idiots. End of saga."

Taub begins reading the paper again.

Foreman observes, "I agree that House has pulled a lot of crap around here, but something doesn't feel right this time. I keep thinking about how distant Cuddy seemed at the wedding. Every time we started a conversation, she seemed to zone out and we'd have to snap her back out of it. I just have a feeling that something might actually be wrong this time."

At that last remark by Foreman, Cuddy walked into the DDX room. After debating back and forth concerning the situation, Cuddy had finally decided what to do and what to say. Knowing this wasn't going to be easy, she proceeded with great care and caution, so as not to let House's secret reveal itself. Yet, the look on her face told the story of a serious problem.

Choosing her words carefully, she began to speak. "I thank you all for being so patient these last few days. I know that you are all probably wondering where House is or maybe you aren't. I don't know. But I'm here to tell you that Dr. House is taking a leave of absence."

Shocked Thirteen says, "Leave of absence! Why? What's going on?"

Cuddy says, "I can't tell you due to confidentiality, though I wish I could. Just understand that his leave of absence is something that needed to happen."

Confused Taub inquires stoically, "This wouldn't have anything to do with him shouting he had sex with you from the hospital balcony would it?"

Cuddy, a bit annoyed by the insinuation, responds, "This is not personal. This was House's own decision, and right now it's for the best."

Thirteen asks, "How long is he going to be gone?"

Cuddy quietly answers, "I don't know."

Concerned Foreman asks, "What are we supposed to do?"

Cuddy addresses the group, "I've put a plan in place. Right now Dr. Foreman will be in charge. Everything that is to be done will be under his watch. Every decision that needs to be made will be made through him."

Thirteen wonders," But we can still get in touch with House if there's a problem?"

Cuddy answers her, "I'm afraid you will be unable to have contact with Dr. House. Due to his current situation, he will not be in communication with this hospital. Unfortunately, you will be on your own."

In a bit of a cool panic, Taub asks, "And what if we get a case we can't solve? Just let the patient die? Sounds like a great plan to me."

Cuddy tries to calm the tension that she feels beginning to build in the room by saying, "You will have access to every doctor in this hospital including myself. But remember something, House wouldn't have chosen you if he didn't think you were capable of handling things under pressure. You all have something to offer here. In his eyes, you are the best doctors for the job. He has faith in you and so do I."

With a bit of a concerned look in his eyes, Foreman asks Cuddy, "Can I talk to you privately a minute?"

She answers him, "Sure."

Foreman then follows Cuddy into House's office as Thirteen and Taub try to digest what's happening.

Taub's arrogance at the beginning of the conversation now turns to worry, "What do you think is going on?"

Thirteen answers, "I don't know. But whatever it is, it can't be good."

We then are transported to House's office. Looking at Cuddy with a bit of a scared look in his eyes, Foreman reacts," I don't know if I'm ready to do this."

Putting a hand on his shoulder she says, "Of course you are. You studied under House and you know what he would do. He respects you and would feel completely confident in having you lead his team." She drops her hand from his shoulder and continues, "He really needs you to do this for him right now, Foreman. The situation is not good and I need everyone pulling together as best they can to keep things moving forward around here."

Foreman questions Cuddy again, "What is going on? Why can't you at least tell me? I promise I won't say a word. Does this still have to do with Kutner's death…or Wilson sitting in on his differentials?"

A bit perplexed Cuddy reacts, "Wilson was sitting in on House's differentials? When was this?"

Foreman answers, "Several days ago. I thought you knew."

Cuddy a bit nervous and slightly annoyed asks, "No, I didn't know."

He says to her, "I was suspicious at first that something was wrong, but Wilson acted like everything was fine. If there was something wrong, I figured that House at least took the responsibility to tell Wilson and Wilson would handle it or tell you about it. So, I didn't think anything of it after that." Foreman pauses for a minute and then continues, "Just tell me something. Is House okay?"

Holding back her emotions, trying to be a pillar of strength, she responds, "I wish I could tell you, but I can't. All I'll tell you is that he's having some serious troubles right now and has gone to take care of them. It was a difficult decision for him not to be here, but he needed to get as far away from this place as possible. In the meantime, House would be glad to know that his department is in the most capable hands possible. I have faith in you Foreman. I wouldn't have hired you back otherwise. You already have adopted his keen sense of observation based on what you just told me. You can do this. I need you to do this."

Foreman nods in acknowledgement. She gives Foreman a quick rub on the side of his arm, inconspicuously picks up House's tennis ball from his desk, and exits the office.

Sometime later, we find Cuddy nervously pacing back and forth in her office, tossing the tennis ball she swiped from House's office. For Cuddy, having that tennis ball was keeping a piece of him around to help her think. Her frantic pacing is quickly thwarted by a knock at her office door.

The door opens and poking his head in is Wilson asking, "You wanted to see me."

Still playing with House's tennis ball, she answers Wilson without looking, "Yes. Sit."

By the tone of her voice, Wilson can tell that she's not too happy. He takes a seat on her couch.

Treading carefully he asks her, "Is everything okay?"

On his question, she stops dead in her tracks, looks at him and answers him annoyed, "No. Everything is not okay." She puts the tennis ball on her desk with great force to punctuate her anger.

She then asks, "Why didn't you tell me you were sitting in on his differentials, Wilson? That's when he told you he was hallucinating? Wasn't it? Is there anything else I don't know?"

Squirming in his seat a bit, he knows that he has to answer her. She deserves to at least know some things. So he proceeds to answer her question.

"Well….he put himself into insulin shock that day. Thankfully, he called me before he did it." Wilson tells her.

"Oh my God, Wilson! How did I not find out about this?" She asks rather angry at the secrecy.

"I admitted him under a pseudonym, so you wouldn't be suspicious…and….tipped the nurses to keep them quiet." He tells her.

Irritated she says to him, "I can't believe you hid this from me, Wilson. Just when I thought House was the bigger ass…..along comes his sidekick Robin!" She pauses for a minute and begins pacing the floor again. "You know we tell each other everything when there is a problem with House. Then, we could both try to solve it together. Instead, the problem exploded and we're left picking up the body parts."

Wilson tries to calm her down, "Lisa, I didn't want to tell you because I knew you had a lot on your plate that day….meetings with donors, the board and the planning committee for construction of the new wing. Plus, you also have a real baby to take care of and can't be worrying about House all the time."

Wilson didn't realize that at that moment, he touched upon the real thing that has been nagging her about this whole situation…..the fact that her life took precedence over her abilities to notice House had a problem and her ignorance over not being able to realize he needed he help to solve it. It's something that never happened previously and, as a result, caused a catastrophe in her eyes. Using Wilson as her priestly guide, she took her turn in the Princeton Plainsboro confessional.

Cuddy says to him, with this calm distant look on her face as she faces her window, "That was the problem Wilson. I was too pre-occupied with everything going on in my life to see his pain."

Just as she had done during those quiet periods of her day, she stared out the window lost in thought .

She continued, "He came to me that night for help, but I was too tired to care. Too tired to notice that he wasn't being sarcastic when he told me that he'd quit. He was angry with me and made that rude comment, because I didn't notice that he was trying to get my attention. How could I blame him for that?" She pauses, trying to hold back the tears. She continues, "I'm not angry at you, Wilson. I'm angry at myself."

Cuddy crosses her arms in front of her, closes her eyes, and gently tosses her head back to take a deep breath so she doesn't break down. She turns around and exhales, but it still doesn't stop a light stream of tears from cascading down her face. Wilson gets up and goes over to her. He stands in front of her and gently places his hands on each arm to get her to look at him.

Once she does open her eyes to look at him, Wilson softly tells her, "You can't blame yourself for what happened. If you continue to feel guilty, you're going to end up just like him. We can only help him so many times…..you can only help him so many times….. Now, it's his turn to help himself. Trust me when I tell you that he doesn't blame you for what happened. What's important is that you were there when he needed you at the moment when he really needed you. And that's all that matters. Right now we need to focus on what we're going to do when we can see him again, because he's going to go through hell the next several weeks. He's probably there now as he detoxes. He's going to be in pain, cranky, irritable and an even bigger pain in the ass than he already is until things become manageable again. In the meantime, we need to send him our support. We can't see him for while, but we can write to him. That may be the only thing that keeps him somewhat sane." He rubs her shoulders and says to her, "It's going to be a dark road for him for awhile. But remember that there's always some kind of light at the end of it. He may not believe that, so we have to believe it for him. "

Cuddy looks at him with a smile and gives him a hug. Once they break Wilson questions aloud, "I just wish we could somehow monitor his progress, but you need authorization in order to do that." Then, Wilson is hit with a House-like epiphany. "Wait a minute." He points to Cuddy and says, "You're still listed as his doctor on his medical files aren't you?"

"Yes…wh….wait a minute. You want me to check up on him? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Cuddy asks.

"It's sneaky….underhanded…..and something House would totally do if it were one of us….I mean…..aside from hiring a private investigator." He remarks sarcastically.

Cuddy is a bit reluctant, "I don't know Wilson. This is a serious situation for him right now. It's not like he's hiding from the police or his mother."

"No….but it's the only way we can find out how he's doing. It's kind of like getting the cliff notes before a test. Only we're dealing with House which is far more complicated. So, I'd at least like to know what I'm in for before I see him."

"Okay." She says. "Next week, I'll make a call. I'm just afraid of what I'll hear."