CHAPTER 18:

The team is gathered in House's office discussing a current case and treatment on House's first day back as team leader.

Thirteen shakes her head at House and says, "We should have waited. There isn't any guarantee that the treatment is going to work."

House counters, "That's why we treat. To see if it actually does work. It's called trial and error. Thought that was science 101."

"Yes, but if the error is death then we're screwed." Taub answers.

"Come on, where is your sense of adventure. A few months with Foreman in charge and you all become members of the lollipop guild." House quips.

Foreman counters, "Hey, I had this department running smoothly until you came back."

"Yes….as smooth as a baby's bottom and as efficiently as a drunken neurosurgeon performing brain surgery. House jokes.

"We kill this patient and Cuddy will be all over our asses." Taub remarks.

Thirteen chimes in, "Taub is right. We can't screw this up and you telling the patient's husband so colorfully that he's being an idiot certainly didn't help the situation."

"Or the fact that you did the procedure anyway without his consent." Foreman adds.

Getting frustrated House says, "This is a load of crap. Since when did the art of diagnostics become a game of appeasing the patient's family? Might as well use our medical degrees as toilet paper, since they clearly know more than we do."

"What if you're wrong and we kill the patient? The husband isn't going to be too happy with you, Cuddy, or with seeing his wife in the morgue, especially since he's a major hospital contributor." Thirteen states.

"Ah, welcome to the medical college of donors. Who needs a medical degree when the amount of lives you save are measured in the amount of dollars you give?" House says sarcastically.

Just then the phone rings.

Taub gets up and says, "I'll get it." He goes over the phone on the desk in the DDX room and answers it.

Foreman advises, "House, don't you think you should be careful here. I mean….it has been awhile."

Irritated House says, "I was in an insane asylum, because I was hallucinating not because I'm an idiot. Last time I checked, my medical mind was still up here. " He taps the side of his temple and continues, "Not in my other pants."

We turn back to Taub on the phone, looking at House. "He is…I will."

House rolls his eyes and jokes, "Let me guess…the principal is calling me to her office."

"You got it." Taub responds.

House mutters, "Tell me who's surprised by this."

He then walks out of the DDX room and heads for Cuddy's office.

Thirteen looks at Foreman and asks, "Do you really think he's lost a step?"

Exhaling Foreman answers, "No…..he's still the same insane ass he always was….and he's probably still right too."

"If he isn't, then Cuddy's going to make him miserable and he's going to make us miserable." Taub notes.

Foreman reacts deadpan, "Welcome to the diagnostic department of Dr. Gregory House."

We now see House entering Cuddy's office as he uses his cane to push open the door.

An older, rotund man with salt and pepper hair stands up, points to House and exclaims, "You! You arrogant son of a bitch! How dare you go against my wishes! My wife is dying! Don't you care?"

"The good news is…she's not dead yet. The bad news is….if you don't let me do my job…she will be." House counters.

Infuriated the man exclaims, "Dr. Cuddy….I want him off this case! He's nothing but a renegade doctor trying to exercise his bravado over weak family members making them feel as if they are ignorant to medical facts."

"I didn't call you ignorant. I called you an idiot." House says smugly.

Cuddy interrupts, "House….shut up." She then turns to the gentleman saying, "Mr. Michaels there is no question that Dr. House handled this situation without a shred of dignity or consideration for your wishes. For that, I will take responsibility for his actions. However, I will say that Dr. House does have a good track record with this hospital and if he is right then he will be saving your wife's life. Right now, I think you should be with her because she needs you. I will take care of Dr. House."

"I bet you will. " House says cunningly.

Cuddy shoots House a dirty look and walks over to usher Mr. Michaels out of her office saying to him, "You have enough to worry about right now. I will handle this."

Before Mr. Michaels exits, he looks at Cuddy and says, "Dr. Cuddy, I've invested a lot of money in this hospital. If anything happens to my wife….."

Cuddy cuts him off, "I assure you, Mr. Michaels I will be on top of everything from here on in, making sure Dr. House and his team are in compliance with you concerning your wife's treatment. Now, if you will excuse me. I need to have a word with Dr. House."

She ushers Mr. Michaels out, then slams the door.

Turning to House in a furor she exclaims, "What the hell is the matter with you? Lewelyn Michaels is a major contributor to the finances of this hospital and not surprisingly….you pissed him off because you are an arrogant ass!"

She walks past him hastily to her desk.

Totally deflecting House quips, "Who the hell names their kid Lewelyn? No wonder the guy is uptight…must have been in a lot of playground fights."

Throwing her hands on to the desk in punctuated anger, standing behind it, she berates him, "Do you enjoy torturing me like this? Do you get some kind of perverse pleasure out of making my job a complete and utter nightmare? Because while you're busy beating down the families of patients, I'm busy affixing the stitches to wounds left by the psychotic doctor who issued them."

"Words can hurt you know." House says to her not a bit phased by her demeanor.

In mock laughter and with an angry eye, she says, "I am so glad that you don't give a crap. Because if this woman dies, not only will this hospital face the biggest lawsuit imaginable, but you and I will both be out of a job."

Rolling his eyes he says, "Relax Cuddy and quit being so damn dramatic. The guy's not going to sue or do a damn thing, because no other hospital got to the point we're at now. They gave up and sent the woman packing. We're his last shot like it or not and he knows it. He's frustrated. They all get frustrated and take it out on the doctors, because they can't get pissed at anyone else. Now, I've been thinking. I think you should move in with me."

"God you are such an ass." She says exhausted by the argument. Then she says, "You know…I kept telling myself that I could separate the professional from the personal. For the most part, I can because I know you're a good doctor and I support a lot of the things you do here. The problem is…that I feel you support nothing I do here. And that's when the personal relationship suffers and I feel like I should be in Mayfield. I've got way too much stress in my life right now. I'm not sure I want to add any more to it."

Being sarcastic House asks, "So is that a yes or a no?"

Looking at him stoically, she tells him, "Get out."

He leaves again using his cane to push the door open. Cuddy brushes her hair out of her face in frustration.

We see House come off the elevator and into the corridor. As he does, he sees Wilson out of his peripheral vision and rolls his eyes as Wilson makes his way to catch up with him.

Finding his way next to House, Wilson says sarcastically, "So, I hear you're spreading your warm tenderness around again."

Trying to end the conversation House tells him, "I'm not in the mood. Go away."

"Ah, so your sunshine probably put a cloud on Cuddy's day. Now, you're miserable because she's miserable. Damn, I should have warned her that that's what happens when you get sucked into the gravitational pull of Greg House." Wilson says sarcastically.

"You know…I'm going to test your gravitational pull in a minute using my cane and your scrotum." House remarks clearly irritated.

"House, if you are going to be in a relationship with Cuddy, you may have to tone down your bad boy image just a bit. I know it's hard for you to take other people's feelings into consideration other than your own….but in order to make this work….my God…dare I say it…you may have to compromise." Wilson remarks.

"She knew going into this what I was like. If she can't take the heat, then she needs to get out of my pants." House jibes.

"Yes, because it is all about you. Has absolutely nothing to do with you irritating major donors, compromising her job or anything, because clearly she doesn't matter. It's all about your ego which is probably bigger than what's inside your pants anyway." Wilson says drily.

House says to him, "You're just jealous."

They stop at House's office.

As House opens his door, Wilson looks at him and says, "She doesn't want you to change. She's not trying to make you change. That's her compromise. What's yours?"

Then Wilson walks away and House's pager goes off.

We see him enter the patient's room to see Foreman hanging up an IV bag.

Foreman turns to House as he hangs the bag and says, "You were right."

Smugly House says, "Of course I was."

Thirteen chimes in holding a chart in her hand, "It took awhile, but once the medicine got through her system, her temperature went down and the rash disappeared."

Taub adds, "The poison got flushed out of her system and her kidneys started to function again."

Mrs. Michaels looks at House and says, "Thank you Dr. House for saving my life."

Mr. Michaels, holding his wife's hand, looks at House and echoes, "Yes…thank you Dr. House. I know I overreacted. I should have listened to Dr. Cuddy when she assured me you were the best."

"Don't feel bad. You would've only been the first who actually listened to her anyway." House jokes.

He then walks out of the ICU room.

Later on that night House is in his office, with only the soft light of his desk lamp illuminating it. He is leaning back in his chair in thought, when Cuddy enters.

She walks up to his desk and says, "You did good today."

"You mean my arrogant ass medical mind was right? It's a miracle!" He says with mock sarcasm.

"You may have been right with the diagnosis, but you were wrong in the way you handled the husband." Cuddy tells him.

"And that come as a surprise to you? God… I guess you don't know me then." He quips.

"I do know you. And I guess that's why it scares me. If you handle someone you don't know like that, what happens when you deal with someone close to you? How far are you going to push things?" Cuddy says concerned.

"The guy was an idiot. You're not an idiot. I can negotiate with you, because that's what we do." House tells her.

With a surprised look on her face she remarks, "We do? Because I've noted hundreds of times when you've defied my authority to do what you wanted to do?"

"Because I was right, and you knew that in the end. You trusted me." He argues.

"That's just it House. I can trust you to be right. But is there ever a time when I can trust you to be wrong." She says honestly.

"Well, I do hate operating under that pretense medically. So, I assume we're not talking professionally anymore." He observes.

"I keep going back and forth as to what I hope to get from this relationship. A part of me says something and another nothing, because I don't know how much you're willing to give. I have these hopes for what you and I can be on a personal level to a point where I think I'm delusional and belong in Mayfield." She starts to get teary eyed a bit, "I love you, House. But I wonder if it's enough for us to survive. I don't know if I have the strength to endure the hurt I could be facing on those days when you're closed off. I keep telling myself that I do, but now I'm not sure. And maybe there won't be any pain verbally, but then I wonder if I can handle things physically…when the pain gets to be too much for you to bear and you push me away. Can I be resilient? Or will I worry about you so much that I can't emotionally handle it?" She sniffs and wipes some tears away.

"For as much as you have faith in what I do, I have faith in your strength. You've been dealing with me for a long time and putting up with my crap…no one has done it better, Cuddy. How can you give up on what hasn't even started yet?" He questions.

"It's not giving up, House. It's stopping the dam before it breaks. There is so much you have to consider and can't ignore. Like Rachel…you hate sharing me and you aren't keen about kids." She notes.

"I never said I wasn't keen on kids. It's their parents who are morons. Kids are honest. They don't lie. If your breath stinks, they'll let you know. They're smart and can probably figure out how to put together something while you're still reading the directions. Plus they've got really cool toys." He says trying to lighten up the mood.

"You think I'm a moron now that I'm a parent?" She wonders.

"You're neurotic and you doubt yourself…..but you're not a moron." He tells her.

"Thanks." She says softly.

Then House says, "Besides, Rachel doesn't have your genes, so there's still hope for her."

She smiles a bit then says to him, "I need some time to think about what I want and to stop being indecisive. Until then, I don't think we should see each other."

"That might be hard, since we work in the same place." He tries to joke softly.

"I mean personally. I'm so sorry, House." And with that she walks out hiding her tears.

House is left alone in silence with his thoughts.

It's around eleven and House finds himself tinkering at the piano, since he can't sleep. His conversation with Cuddy was still embedded in his mind. Of all the women he's been in contact with, he had the most hope for a relationship with her because she knew him so well. She knew his pain. She knew his feelings of being alone. But House regretted not opening up to her more and treating her a bit better after all she's sacrificed for him. As he sat there playing, he was stopped by a knock at his door. Getting off the piano bench, he limped over to answer it.

As he opened the door, Cuddy came through it quickly with Rachel in tow, nestled asleep in her car seat saying, "She sleeps well during the night but wakes up early. I know you won't like that, but you'll have to live with it. I snore a little but you know that. Good night." She kisses him on the cheek and swiftly heads to his bedroom.

As House begins to close the front door, we see a sly grin on his face. Then it shuts.

THE END