Thank you so much everyone that reviewed the last chapter and for those of you still following the story after all this time! You guys are my rock! *big group hugs!*

Enjoy :)

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"Wait, you're—you're what?" Cameron asked, eyes wide. Even Wilson left House's side to join in on this conversation.

Cuddy smiled, but it was mostly forced. She felt slightly embarrassed talking about this, even more so now that all who had ears was now lending them in.

"I don't expect anything of him," Cuddy said. "I know that once we get back home, he'll be the same way he used to be. It really wasn't much different on the island, really. He was still a sarcastic jerk who I wanted to kick out of the cave to sleep on the beach every night, but…I don't know…A part of me knew he was different. It was in the things he said and his tone when he said them. He told me that he wouldn't want to go home because he had all he needed right there with him," Cuddy remembered, feeling a tear gather in her eye. She didn't realize she'd be so homesick so fast.

"Oh, that's so sweet," Cameron said, wondering if House found some way to get drunk on the island to say that, or was sweet talking his way into her pants.

"That does not sound like House," Wilson said. "I'd pay big money to hear him repeat that."

"That's what I'm saying," Cuddy said. "He said some things that I'll probably never hear again. Him saying them only once had put these feelings inside of me, feelings I know will never be reciprocated."

"Then if you know they won't be reciprocated, you'll be able to let go easier, right?" the medic attending to House had piped in.

Cuddy shrugged. One would hope.

"What are you going to do if you are pregnant?" Wilson asked.

Cuddy shrugged again. "I don't know. I know House won't want it. I've always wanted a child…"

"I'd help you," Cameron suddenly blurted out without thinking.

"Absolutely," Wilson followed up, taking Cuddy's hand.

Cuddy smiled for real this time. "Thanks, guys. Thanks a lot."

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They got back to Hawaii a little over an hour later and rushed House immediately to the nearest hospital. Cuddy was offered a room in a hotel to get cleaned up and rest a bit, but she declined it at first. It took encouragement from Cameron and Wilson to get her to do so. Cuddy was hesitant. She didn't want to leave House's side, for the fear that something might happen to him.

Cuddy's hair was in desperate need of washing and her clothes had so many rips and tears in it that it needed to be taken care of immediately. Anyone stuck on a deserted island for that long without proper washing would no doubt ask for the nearest hotel to get cleaned up.

Not Cuddy. She was more worried about House than herself, which was no big shock. Cameron and Wilson knew she would turn down this offer. They found Cuddy by House's beside once he was hooked up and administered the proper fluids. He was still unconscious, but that didn't stop Cuddy from wanting to stay by his side. She's done it before. Twice.

"Lisa, come on, let's get you some better clothes," Cameron said, lightly placing her hand on her shoulder.

Cuddy didn't even so much as look in her direction. She continued to hold House's hand and stare at him, wishing he would awaken. Or maybe it was something deeper than that.

"I just need this moment," Cuddy said. Her look of hope turned into regret. "Once he wakes up, what we shared will be a distant memory."

"That's not true," Cameron said. "House may be a jerk, but he's not going to forget what happened to you two on the island and what you shared."

A tear fell from Cuddy's eye. He would forget. She's known him longer than she's known anyone else that wasn't family. She knew Gregory House. He would do everything in his power to deny or refuse to admit the moments they had on the island together.

Cuddy took one last look at House and turned to leave the room. It's better to let go now rather than later when it'll be twice as hard.

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Cameron let Cuddy borrow some of her clothes until she got back home and was able to get into her own clothes. They were about the same size, so it wasn't awkward, except Cuddy didn't have much breathing room in a pair of Cameron's jeans and had to wear some drawstring shorts instead.

Half the day had passed before Cuddy was ready to go back to the hospital to be with House. She had to admit that taking a real shower with actual soap and shampoo after two months felt fantastic. She definitely appreciated the value of a shower after that one. Cameron was with her the entire time, keeping her company. It was the ride back to the hospital that they actually had time to talk.

"How did you and House get out of the plane?" Cameron asked. This question had been looming around in her mind for a long time now.

"We jumped. The plane was landing on an angle and when we were about a mile from the water, we jumped, taking our seats with us."

Cameron sighed with relief, as if she didn't know that. "God, that's why they didn't find you when they pulled the passenger list and went down to rescue the bodies."

"They did that?" Cuddy asked, eyes wide.

Cameron nodded. "About a month ago, yeah. That's when Wilson wouldn't wait anymore and was determined to find you guys. He figured that with Feeney running things, he would find some way to fire him and if that happened, he'd never find another job anywhere else, so he would spend the needed time looking for you and House."

Cuddy sighed and threw her hands over her face. "I swear to god Allison, I thought I would spend the rest of my life on that island. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect anyone to come rescue us. I owe you guys so much."

"For starters, a month off with pay would be nice," Cameron joked, sending a warm smile in Cuddy's direction.

Cuddy smiled back. "If I get my job back, that's the first thing I'll grant."

"WHEN you get your job back," Cameron corrected.

"One could only hope. I'm sure since they legally declared me dead, the papers were signed over to Zachary, making his position permanent. The contract couldn't be broken so easily."

"But you're not dead!" Cameron cried out.

"Well, yeah, I know that, you know that, but Princeton Plainsboro doesn't know that and either does Zachary's lawyer, who is probably very good, by the way."

"Lisa, it's your hospital, your baby. They can't take it away from you!"

Cameron was more outraged than Cuddy. They may have found them, alive and well, but did they have anything to come back to? With the diagnostics department gone, House was out of a job. With the little twerp running amok at the hospital and administrating things his way, Cuddy was out of a job if she couldn't reclaim her position as Dean.

"When the papers say that you and House were found, god help him."

"Allison, relax," Cuddy said, noticing her fists tightening around the steering wheel. "When House gets better, we'll be on the first flight home and I'll straighten everything out. Don't worry; I have no intentions of letting my nephew keep my job."

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House was still in the same position they had left him in. Wilson had dozed off and was awakened immediately upon their return.

"I'm glad you guys are back. They found out what House had and are giving him antibiotics to cure him."

Cuddy and Cameron sat in the two available seats near him. "What is it? It's some sort of tropical illness, that's obvious," Cuddy said.

"Typhoid fever. But his was so severe that he would've…died if they didn't attend to it right away. His temperature was spiking a hundred and six. They had to use cooling blankets on him when you guys were out."

"Why didn't you call us?!" Cuddy asked, jumping up to House's bedside and feeling his face with the backs of her fingers, as if expecting to feel him burning up still.

"It was over by the time I could dial my first number."

"He could've died," Cuddy said harshly. "See, this is why I didn't want to leave."

"Lisa—"

"No! I'm not leaving this room unless he does. On his own two feet."

"Lisa, he's going to make it. You and Cameron should go back to New Jersey."

Cuddy's mouth dropped, as if that was the stupidest thing anyone's ever said to her. "I'm not leaving without him, James. We've been together for two and half months straight, from the time we woke up until the time we went to sleep. We formed a bond that if last year I saw myself in the present and told me that I would have this bond with House, I would think was completely impossible and I would've laughed myself silly. If it weren't for him, I'd be dead right now. I can't leave him."

Cuddy's face alone begged Wilson to let her stay there, as if the whole thing was up to him.

"Lisa, do you really think House is going to feel the same way about you when he wakes up?" Cameron asked in a small, careful tone. She continued when Cuddy looked back at her. "House will be House, no matter what events he was in. He only acted like that because he wasn't around others. When you get back to the hospital, he'll be back to his old self in no time, ruining MRI scanners, replacing the patient's shaving cream with whipped cream, and being defiant to all personnel, especially you."

"Who's side are you on, anyway?" Cuddy asked. "In the car, you were the one trying to reassure me that House wouldn't forget what happened to us on the island and now you're telling me he'll be back to his old self?"

Cameron sighed and hung her head.

"Why are you both trying to get me to see a white light?" Cuddy asked, looking back and forth between Cameron and Wilson. "Is something happening to House that I should know about?"

"No, no, of course not, sweetie, it's just…we don't want you to be hurt when he wakes up." Cameron laid a supporting hand on Cuddy's shoulder. "And plus…you need to get back to the hospital and get everything in order. You missed out on so much, Lisa. There's a million things that needs fixing to your hospital, starting with throwing out that twerp and getting the diagnostics department back so House has a job to come home to." Cameron lightly rubbed Cuddy's shoulder.

Cuddy exchanged silent glances between the two and then looked over at House the longest. He looked so serene just laying there. If anything, Cuddy wanted to stay there with him and get these last moments in, because she knew he wouldn't be the same as he was on the island. She didn't want to ruin this moment. But Cameron was right. She had so many things to do when she got home. No one even knew they were rescued yet. There was no media circus or a report on anything. If she stuck around until morning, there might be. She didn't want to be stuck in the middle of that, so she agreed to go home with Cameron.

She leaned over and kissed House on the cheek, taking in this moment on how peaceful he looked and knew she'd never see him that way again.

"I'll be waiting for you when you get back, Greg," she whispered, brushing the pad of her thumb over his newly shaved face.

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I'm roughly giving this two more chapters and then I'm planning a sequel. Whether or not that sequel gets put into production depends on my muse and my time restrictions. You guys also have a say in it, too! Sequel, yay or nay? Oh, and thanks for reading! :)