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It had finally stopped raining last night. The entire previous day it rained like crazy. The streambed was filled to the max, and then some. It was good news for Cuddy. Since the water in their seashells were gone, and there was no rain in sight for tonight, Cuddy had to make the legendary trip up to the streambed at the crest of the island.

With nothing to do because of his leg keeping him immobile, House kept himself busy by creating little trinkets in the cave. He made a mock knife out of a narrow- edged rock that he spent hours sawing down until the edge was sharp enough to split open coconuts, but not too sharp to where the rock would start to break apart. Cuddy was thrilled about the coconuts, not only for the hard inside shell being used to hold more water than the seashells, but because she discovered that coconut milk and oils from melting the coconut over the fire created a godsend with providing as a mock aid for washing her hair and body. With the help of smashed bananas, her hair was as perfect as it was before they were stranded and even though she reeked highly of coconuts from the oils, her body felt clean again. Granted, it wasn't the highly sophisticated shampoos and body washes that could be found in stores, but it was something in a pinch and worked nicely. She used the flooding streambed to wash herself and since she was the only one up there, she was able to strip to nothing while she discovered this luxury.

House also wanted to advantage of this find. Body odor isn't exactly appealing to him. When you can smell yourself, you know it's time to do something about it. Now they had to do something about their clothes. There's nothing more degrading than getting clean and putting on the same clothes you took off. House would feel this way also when he was able to leave the cave and clean himself.

"Think the coconut milk will work on the clothes?" Cuddy asked after returning from the streambed and giving him a half a coconut filled with fresh water. She felt even dirtier than before from having to put back on the same clothes she's worn now for the past six days.

House grimaced. "It's bad enough I smell it in your hair. I don't want to smell it on your clothes, too," House said, wrinkling his nose. "Saltwater is good for washing clothes. Or if you don't like that option, you can always hang your clothes over a branch and pray for rain, but I don't think you want to walk around naked. Although…" His eyes ate her whole as he scanned her body, "I certainly wouldn't mind."

Cuddy sighed. She half ignored the fact that House eyed her hungrily after his own suggestion. "I guess that's what I'm going to have to do. Saltwater and these pants don't mix." She remembered the rash she had their second day on the island.

"Aww…and here I was going to ask you if you wanted to go swimming," House said, half-joking.

His leg was feeling better, but not to the point where he should risk it by going swimming. Sitting in the same spot for days gets old. It would be a blessing to try to go swimming.

Cuddy frowned. "Well…you have your sense of humor back, that's good. I guess the climax of your detoxing has passed." She stopped to widen her eyes as House turned onto his side and hoisted himself up with a small grunt to a standing position. Usually, he would only use his left leg to stand, but Cuddy witnessed him putting a tiny bit of pressure on his right leg also.

"House, you really shouldn't be standing," she said, expressing her concern.

Ignoring her, he grabbed his mock cane and limped out into the day light. The late afternoon rays from the sun touched his face. It felt amazing after being stuck in the cave for the past two days with doing nothing except playing with rocks and fantasizing about stupid things, like learning how to make the fire hotter with the use of different types of leaves and hairs from the coconuts. He already discovered over fifteen different types of plants and leaves on the island and Cuddy joked about him becoming a botanist when this was over. With the lack of nothing better to do, he compared veins in leaves and other things someone would have to be extremely bored in order to be doing. There was only so much one could do with the naked eye before it gets boring. Not House. He found it fascinating.

And now, he was just happy to be out of that cave. For a split second, he pondered about sleeping on the beach tonight, in spite of any wind that might come across them tonight.

"House, come on, go back in there," Cuddy said, mustering up her best mothering voice.

"I'm going swimming," he said and pressed onward, even though it was very awkward for him to walk in sand. It couldn't be any easier than it was when he had Vicodin. The uneven steps must be hurting him.

Cuddy followed after him with pure concern. "You can't swim," she reminded. "If you go in there, you'll be in even more pain than you are now and probably drown."

"Who says I'm in pain?" he asked, reaching the shoreline and tossing aside his cane once he was able to gain the proper footing. The majority of his weight was on his left leg. The tender waves crashed in at their bare feet.

"You're detoxing, you have no idea what you're saying." She took him by the arm. He was actually going to go into the water! She looked up at him. The fear of him having another reason for doing this crossed her mind. Maybe he was still in pain and since Cuddy wouldn't let him break any bones, he would try going under the water and holding his breath until his lungs popped. It was a crazy idea, but she wouldn't put it past him. She really hoped this wasn't another blackout.

House continued to stare out across the water, as if he was having second thoughts. Cuddy was hoping that was his reason for the long stare. She looked into his eyes. They were full of concentration, as if he was moments away from conquering his biggest fear.

There must be something symbolic behind this. If he wasn't going into the water solely to find a clam with an open shell to step on, there was a bigger picture involved, probably one that Cuddy wouldn't understand. With House, it's always profound, one way or another.

"What are you trying to prove?" Cuddy asked. She may not understand his answer, but it's worth a try.

"That I want to try swimming," he said simply and walked further into the water. He was now up to his shins. Cuddy stepped along with him, holding onto his arm. "And that I need to get clean. Go get that shampoo stuff."

Cuddy shook her head. "I know what you're trying to do. You're not going to get me to leave you. If you want to swim, I'm coming too."

House sighed. It's as if he got stuck on the island with his mom. Cuddy's caring voice and hand on his arm pulling him back was getting to be a repetitive nuisance. "Cuddy, haven't you learned yet not to argue with me? Do you think I enjoy you always holding onto me? God, you'd think that after I had my blackout, you would leave me alone."

"It's going to take a lot more than that for me to leave your side, House. Now, come on, seriously, let's get you back into the cave."

Her tone was caring and compassionate. It angered House. She was always stopping him from doing what he wanted. Even now in the middle of nowhere, she still kills his fun.

She held his arm back when he walked further into the cold water.

"Let me go," he said. "Or I will make you let me go." Their eyes met.

Cuddy bit her lower lip. She wouldn't put it past him. She's seen some pretty horrible things come from House in the past six days, including a blackout where he had no idea what he was doing to her. She didn't want him to add on anymore strain to himself. She didn't care if she was sounding too motherly or not. Every time something happened to House, every cry that erupted from a spasm in his leg made her heart go out to him. She wished she could transfer over that pain and have it become hers. She could handle it a lot better than he could.

She wasn't letting him go out there. She pulled him by the arm to give him the message physically that she wanted him to come back up with her.

"Stop pulling me!" he shouted, ripping his hand out of her grasp. "I can swim just fine! I don't need you breathing down my neck every time I want to do something for myself. We're not at the hospital anymore. Like it or not, you can't always tell me what to do."

Cuddy's jaw dropped.

"Just leave me alone," he said, voice quieter. "Leave me alone for one minute and let me do what I want. I'm tired of being your lap dog."

"House…you know that's not—"

"Either make yourself useful and get me the shampoo or wait for me up at the cave."

Cuddy didn't budge.

"Fine. Stay here then."

Cuddy didn't listen. After he hobbled into the water and used his left leg to dive in, she followed slowly after him. He wasn't going in there alone. With his luck, he'd get a cramp in his left leg and drown.

House was a much better swimmer than she first anticipated. She could hardly keep up. He did this purposely.

The water was extremely cold and went straight to her bones. It felt like it was next to freezing. How was he handling the cold so well? Cuddy's teeth chattered. The water definitely wasn't this cold when they jumped from the plane.

She was up to the lower part of her waist when she witnessed House fall under the water many feet ahead of her. There was no warning or anything. One second he was there and the next second he wasn't.

Cuddy's sudden panic made the water seem not so cold. She waded through as quickly as she could, shouting for House. She couldn't seem to move fast enough.

He never came back up from the spot he dropped under. Cuddy's limbs started to grow numb from the worry. For every second that passed was a second she came closer to not seeing him again.

The water was cloudy where she was, so she couldn't duck under and look around. She'd never see him. Cuddy looked around so many times that she didn't know the exact spot where he went under anymore. She stopped just as the water rose a couple inches above her stomach and shouted helplessly for him once more.

She hated herself for letting him go into the water alone. A true feeling of fear zapped her heart. It was a similar feeling to what she felt when their airplane took a dive for the ocean. Tears came to her eyes. It's been over thirty seconds now. Is he flapping around under the water in pain somewhere?

However, before Cuddy could finish beating herself up being and completely empty inside, the feeling of her sides being gripped onto at such a quick rate caused her to scream in surprise. She was pulled forward enough to lose her balance and be dunked completely under the water. With her limbs already being numb with fear, she didn't stand a chance in fighting the surface of the water.

House pulled her up with a classic smirk. Cuddy was furious.

"You son of a bitch!" She hit him on his arms a few times and once on his chest. "You scared the hell out of me!"

"Don't like being dunked?" he asked, smirk remaining.

"I'm not talking about the dunk; I'm talking about you falling under water." Her breathing was still a tad bit labored. She placed a hand over her chest to will it away.

"It's payback for you always being such an irritant."

"There are other ways to pay me back!"

House tilted his head in thought. "Right…I could pay you back with sex…since you don't seem to like it in the first place…but that takes your consent."

"Thanks for thinking of me," she muttered and left his side to get out of the water and go back up to the beach.

Just then, her arm was pulled on. The swiftness and surprise of the action caused her to yelp. House enveloped her into his arms and kissed her softly on the mouth. She could taste the remnants of salt and water on his lips, as well as random water droplets that slid down their faces and interfered.

Their kiss kicked up in passion, causing Cuddy to moan in his mouth. Since everyone was weightless under water, it was easy for her to wrap her legs around his waist and seal herself to him without him having the extra strain on his leg. She rocked her hips gently against his.

"I've never done it in the water before," he admitted, trailing his lips down her jaw line and to the side of her neck that wasn't assaulted during yesterday's blackout.

Cuddy tilted her head to give him better access. She parted her lips to speak, but a moan came out instead. Her eyes fluttered closed. She tried to resist him, but it was very difficult. It took a lot of strength to speak, let alone tell him what was on her mind.

"House…" she moaned.

"Hmm?" He was too busy with her neck and throat to form actual sentences.

"We can't do it in the water," she whispered, hating herself for saying that. "Saltwater will kill me."

House remembered the rashes. Cuddy would be in agony for days if saltwater got up there. As much as he hated to do so, he backed down with a whispered cuss. He planned to ravish her once they got onto the beach. As soon as they reached the shoreline, she would be meeting the wet sand.

He held her in a cradling position with her arms wrapped around the back of his neck. He never held her like this before. It was made possible with the help of the water. He couldn't help but stare at her for a moment. She was so beautiful. It's as if he was noticing her for the first time.

He didn't deserve her. He didn't deserve the love in his heart that he felt for her.

Cuddy was smiling a smile that told him that she was wholly and without a doubt in love with him. Her face lit up like the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. He had never seen that look before. It's hard to see love just by searching someone's eyes. He could stand miles away and still see it in her eyes. It was love for him and him only.

Why did she feel this way about him? What was so special about a manipulative bastard who believed solely in self-preservation and that people are idiots? It was hard for him to wake up and look himself in the mirror every morning. Someone like Cuddy deserved better. He didn't feel worthy of her love and dedication.

She rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes. Apparently, she forgot they were still in the water. He walked a few steps with her and then stopped. The pain that came to his leg made it feel like she weighted a lot more than she should.

"I can't carry you any further, Cuddy," he said, sounding saddened that he couldn't.

"It's okay, House," she said, getting down from his arms.

"No it's not," he said, dropping his gaze to the water. "Any other guy would be able to carry you."

Cuddy took his hand into her own and enlaced their fingers together. "You're not any other guy," she said with a smile. "I don't want you to be."

"You can't possibly be happy with who I am. I can't give you what you want."

He was back to that again. Cuddy chuckled. "You sound like we're married."

House started walking. Cuddy held onto him in case he needed her support. Her helping him was aggravating him. It went without say. Every time she tried to help him, he would shove her away and they would have two go through the runaround with him being macho and throwing a hissy fit while she explains to him that she's doing it because she cares.

She wrapped her hand around his lower back in case he lost his balance. They were now getting closer to the shoreline. The undertow and the rocks didn't make it easy for a regular person to gain the proper footing, never mind House. Cuddy felt herself relying on him for support. He was doing fine.

House allowed her to help him the entire time without yelling at her. That was a first.

Cuddy's muscles were tired. She stuck her hands to her hips and controlled her labored breathing once they were able to stand firmly on the shoreline. "That was like a workout," she said, looking over her shoulder at the waves, which were now breaking at the shoreline a lot more severely.

When she looked back over, House was already half way up the beach, shoulders slouched. Cuddy sighed. It was heartbreaking sight to watch when he was in one of his depressed moods. It must really be something if he forgot about his vow to ravish her on the beach once they got in.

House didn't go back into the cave. Instead, he sat on the beach, legs stretched out in front of him. His head hung low. Cuddy was a little confused by his actions. Was he really upset that he couldn't carry her to the shore? The way the waves were and the undertow's deterioration, no guy could carry a woman in a cradling position through that. He probably felt the way he felt because whereas other people get the option of carrying their loved ones, House has to eliminate that entirely.

Cuddy wished he didn't feel the need to be her hero. She loved him the way he was, leg or no leg. He never tried to prove himself to her before. It was always a take it or leave it attitude with him. Why is he trying so hard now?

Walking up to the beach, she ran her fingers through her hair and grimaced. Now she had to take another bath. Maybe House would want to take one with her…

A smile replaced that frown.

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