Chapter Twelve
Cuddy woke to find a man in a black suit sitting next to the bed she laid on. She felt sick, shaky and confused.
"Where am I? Who are you?" she asked hoarsely.
"At the Langston Estate and I am Bennings. I shall go get Doctor House," he told her.
"I'm going to be sick," she gasped as she tried to sit up.
Bennings helped her to the bathroom and held her hair as she threw up. When he saw the blood in her vomit, he removed one hand and pressed the intercom. Cuddy continued to heave up blood and bile.
"Please send Doctor House and Miss Allison to the guest room where Doctor Cuddy is," he said.
Cuddy was still throwing up when House and Cameron arrived in the bathroom.
"Oh, my God!" Cameron gasped. She ran over to Cuddy and took Bennings' place at her side. Speaking soothingly, she stroked Cuddy's back. Cuddy cried and finally stopped throwing up. She leaned against Cameron, crying softly.
"Get my medical bag, Jeeves," House instructed.
Bennings nodded and left.
"She's burning up," Cameron told him. "Fill the tub with cool water. I'll get her in."
House turned on the taps and water gushed into the tub. He adjusted the temperature and then turned to help Cameron undress Cuddy. Cameron waved him away.
"Go wait for Bennings and then bring me your medical bag. I'll take care of her," she told him.
"I know it's been a long time, but I have seen her naked," House reminded her.
"Greg, please," Cameron pleaded. "She's been drugged for who knows how long. She doesn't need to see you in here. There's no point in antagonizing her."
House narrowed his eyes. "And you won't?"
"Just go," Cuddy whispered. "Let Cameron take care of me. Please."
"Fine." House turned and nearly bumped into Bennings. House jerked a thumb at Cameron. "Give her the bag, Jeeves. I'm going to get a drink."
Bennings nodded, put the bag on the counter and followed House out.
"I hope I didn't cause problems for you and House," Cuddy murmured weakly.
"It's fine," Cameron assured her. "We need to get you in the tub. I'll undress you. Just relax."
Cuddy nodded. Cameron stripped her clothes off and helped her into the tub. Cuddy began to shake and her skin turned a sickly shade of gray. Cameron grabbed the medical bag and opened it. She found a vial of methadone and a syringe.
"Why would he have methadone?" Cameron questioned softly.
"Because he's House," Cuddy answered shakily. "He probably has drugs stashed everywhere."
Cameron loaded a dose in the syringe and found an alcohol swab. Quickly and efficiently, she gave Cuddy the shot.
"The methadone should help with the withdrawal symptoms," she told Cuddy as she put everything back in the bag and snapped it shut.
"What happened?"
"Greyson was dosing you. I don't know how long or how much or even what he gave you. You were either very docile or completely insane."
"That rotten bastard."
"Someone at PPTH had to be helping him," Cameron told her.
Cuddy sighed and some color returned to her face. "Probably Jeffrey Sparkman. I should have fired him years ago."
Cameron grabbed a bath sponge and wiped Cuddy's face. "You know he posts videos about House on YouTube, don't you?"
"No but I'm not surprised. He was always filing grievances against House. Of course, House went out of his way to provoke him."
"What do you remember?" Cameron asked her.
Cuddy leaned back and closed her eyes. "I'm not sure. I remember talking to Mr. Hernandez about his wife, Marina. Then I went back to my office and found your letter of resignation….everything after that is a blank until I woke up here."
"How did you get my letter of resignation? I tore it up," Cameron told her.
Cuddy shook her head and then grimaced. "It was on my desk. I remember thinking your signature looked a bit off but I figured you were leaving to be with Chase."
Cameron wiped Cuddy's face again. "Well, just rest. I want to give you something for the fever."
She got up and opened one of the cabinets. She grabbed a bottle of acetaminophen and filled a glass with water. She carried both over to Cuddy and gave her two pills. Cameron helped her sit up and take them then eased her back in the water. She pressed the intercom.
"Will you bring a clean nightgown and six bottles of water, please?" she asked.
"Yes, Miss Allison," Bennings answered.
She went back to sponging Cuddy down. She heard Bennings in the bedroom so she got a thermometer. After she took Cuddy's temperature, she helped her from the tub and dried her off.
"What's my temp?" Cuddy asked as she leaned against Cameron.
"102."
"I'm tired."
Cameron half carried her out to the bedroom and put the nightgown over her head. Once it was on, she got Cuddy back in the bed. She opened a bottle of water and helped Cuddy drink some of it.
"I'm going to stay with you," Cameron told her.
"To make sure I don't stop breathing?"
Cameron nodded and pulled a chair up to the side of the bed. "Just try to sleep."
"That's my second win and the last game," Wilson pointed out. "I win the bet."
"I still say I was hustled, but a win's a win." Hilary walked over to him and reached up to give him the long, deep kiss he'd been waiting for, and she didn't disappoint. He returned the kiss and buried his fingers in her long hair, holding the back of her head as the kiss intensified.
"I think you let me win that second game just to get my hopes up," she murmured between kisses as he lowered her back against the pool table and held her in place as he stood between her legs.
"Think what you want," he said as his hands slid up her thighs, under her dress.
Hilary gasped and immediately wrapped her legs around Wilson's waist as they resumed kissing.
"Mmm...James….I want you...I've always wanted you…"
"I want you too," he murmured against her lips as he shoved her dress higher. "But…."
"Please...I need you. I need to feel you…"
"Maybe we should go…"
"No," Hilary said as she unbuttoned Wilson's shirt and shoved it off his shoulders. "I want you right now...right here." She pulled him down on top of her so she could give him one of her long, deep kisses. Her tongue slid against his.
All of a sudden Wilson lost all form of conscious thought and he reached under her dress to pull off her white satin thong underwear.
Hilary unzipped his pants and released him from the confines of his boxers, stroking him to get him even harder, which didn't take long, since he was already halfway there.
He grabbed her hair and pulled her close for another kiss as he used his free hand to pull her to the edge of the pool table and slammed into her.
She let out a strangled cry as he immediately began pounding into her, his mouth forcing hers open under his as his tongue explored.
"Yes! Oh God, James, yes! Harder! Faster!"
Her words of encouragement were all he needed to hit his own orgasm, and she followed shortly thereafter, holding him against her breast as she stroked his sweaty hair.
"I'm going to miss you, James. Try not to stay away too long."
"I'll try. I have a lot to take care of in Princeton and then in Asheville, I need to find a place to live…"
"I have a friend out there who's a real estate agent. Give me an idea of what you're looking for and I'll call her. She's pretty good."
"She's gotta be better than my ex-wife."
Hilary smirked. "Which one?"
"Touche."
An hour later, House entered the guest room where Cuddy slept and pulled a chair over to the bed. Cameron looked up from the book she was reading.
"When were you going to tell me about the methadone?" she asked quietly.
He looked down at the head of his cane. "I don't know."
"Is it helping?"
He nodded.
"I just realized you haven't been taking any Vicodin. I was so caught up in GG's death and all the drama with Greyson and Cuddy that I didn't notice until I was sitting here. What if you stop breathing?"
He shrugged. "You're with me."
"And the drinking?"
He shook his head. "I either drink club soda or throw it up."
"Jesus, Greg. Why didn't you just tell me?"
"Do you have any idea how impotent I feel because of my damn leg?" he hissed at her. "I can't pick you up and carry you to bed. You usually have to be on top when we have sex because of my damn leg. I won't be able to carry you over the threshold after we're married. I can't even go for a fucking walk with you!" he said in frustration.
"You're an idiot! Do you think I care about those things? I don't! I love you. I don't want you to be in pain but I also don't want you to endanger your life just so you can pick me up or go for a damn walk!"
"Shhh!" he shushed her looking at Cuddy. "You'll wake the beast."
"I gave her methadone about thirty minutes ago. She's not waking up for a while. So stop trying to distract me."
House slumped in his chair. "You deserve a normal man."
"Oh for fuck's sake," she groaned. "You are a normal man. You just happen to have a bad leg." She shook her head. "You need to get over this. You need to trust me."
"I do trust you."
"Really?" she asked skeptically. "Because if you did you would've told me about the methadone. We have to be honest and open with each other or this relationship is doomed."
He looked out the window.
Cameron gasped. "Do you want our relationship to fail?"
"No," he whispered. "But I'll screw it up. I always screw it up."
"You and your absolutes," she sighed. "Look at me."
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
"You may have chased Stacy away and other women you were involved with but you're not getting rid of me so easily. I love you. You're stuck with me so deal with it. Man up, House."
"I can't lose you."
"Then don't keep secrets. Trust me. Trust that I love you," she told him.
He sighed loudly. "Fine."
She smiled and leaned over to nuzzle his neck. "I know it'll be hard but I have faith in you. You can do it."
He laughed softly and kissed her.