Ch.6 The Bruise

House stayed overnight at Cuddy's home sleeping on her bed rather than in it. Cuddy however, was neatly tucked in and unaware of House's proximity. Neither had changed clothes as Cuddy could barely keep her eyes open. House's fear of a concussion along with the maximum guilt a man could feel kept him close to her with hourly alarms to awaken himself solely to wake her up and make sure she was okay and not headed for a coma.

Cuddy, on the other hand, was terribly cranky after a long night's disrupted sleep every hour on the hour. House was also beat but the adrenalin and guilt kept him wide awake staring at her ceiling in the dark and occasionally glancing at Cuddy's sleeping face where the moon light had seeped in between the curtains and highlighted her contours. He could see the dark bruise forming on her chin. Gently he reached over and lightly caressed it to determine if it was swollen. It was. Cuddy would never be able to explain this away and he couldn't bring himself to tease her about it.

About 3am House got up and checked on Rachel who was dozing peacefully. He walked around her home turning on lamps to look over her things, her books, her photos. He enjoyed spying and all that inappropriate pleasure of learning about people's private lives. He'd checked her bedside tables – no pleasure toys in any drawer. "Well, what do you know!" House grinned secretly pleased. The thought crossed his mind that Cuddy didn't keep the battery-operated boyfriend parts because she might be getting the real thing now and then. House frowned at the thought and brushed the thought out of his mind right away. "Naw, Cuddy wouldn't throw herself at anyone, not even me." House thought.

Cuddy looked even more delicate because of the bruise. A face like hers, so feminine and feline, a straight slim nose, a full luscious mouth, and those eyes! Large, luminous and delicate -- framed with long dark lashes. He found himself staring at her willing her to wake up. It would be another 45 minutes before he could wake her. He moved around restlessly before spying Cuddy's blackberry.

He picked it up and began scanning her address book and call logs. Nothing unusual except that James Wilson seemed to make a lot of calls to her and even emails were quite frequent. He looked through her contacts list and noticed the number of men whose names he didn't recall. He could feel himself growing jealous. Who were these guys? He began reviewing each one. He then found his own. His entry had the least information. "Huh." House thought.

He then checked James Wilson's entry. Again, very little information. There were other men's names but he could find nothing to verify if they were personal contacts or business. House reviewed James' data and changed the phone number to his own. He added notes: "Gay. Tiny Penis. Dim. Divorced loser." House chuckled to himself. From now on whenever Cuddy tried to reach Wilson she'd be calling House. By four am House had fallen asleep on the couch.

Cuddy woke up round 6:30 am with a small headache. Her yawn alerted her to her chin's pain. She quickly got up and went to the bathroom mirror. There it was, a huge dark mark on the side of her chin. How was she going to explain this to her employees. She dug into her make-up drawer and sought out cover-up dabbing it on. It might work. She'd figure it out after her shower. Maybe it would fade by Monday and no one would notice she thought hopefully.

Cuddy checked on Rachel and found the little girl still sleeping in her crib. She tiptoed quietly out of the baby's room and made a pot of coffee for herself before returning to her bathroom. Cuddy undressed and started her shower. Brushing her teeth carefully, she waited for the water to warm in the shower. Pulling a towel out of the linen closet she hung it over the shower rod and climbed into the warm shower. She let the water run over her face and body and tried to recall the previous night's events. Some details didn't make sense to her.

She remembered the evening began with Wilson taking her out to dinner and an art gallery. She recalled having a pleasant time and suddenly remembered Wilson planting an earnest but hardly platonic kiss on her mouth. Did she kiss him back? She was unsure. She remembered Wilson falling and immediately it hit her that House had shown up on her date, had provoked Wilson into a brawl. "Oh god!" She whispered to herself. She knew better. When had she been on a date that House had NOT shown up to ruin it?

She felt herself getting angry, her forehead wrinkled into a frown. "Damn it, House!" She said aloud.

"Yes?" A man's voice came from the other side of the shower curtain. Cuddy jerked out of her reverie and nearly falling in the slipper shower.

"House?" She whispered tersely.

"Care for company in there?" House responded.

"NO! What are you doing here!" Cuddy reached for her towel but House snatched it away before she could pull it down to cover herself. "Give me back my towel right this minute!" Cuddy snapped.

"Iiiiiii don't think sooooo," House responded. "You can either ask me very politely or you're welcome to come out and get it yourself."

Cuddy froze. She was naked, warm and wet from the shower still pulsing on her body and terrified House would snatch back the curtain leaving her exposed.

"Please, House." Cuddy pleaded. "May I have my towel?" She hoped it sounded polite enough for House to return the towel.

"That's more like it." House chuckled as his arm appeared inside her shower space clutching the towel. It shocked her to have his hand so near to her naked body. She held the shower curtain in place and quickly snatched the towel away, quickly wrapping herself in it. She didn't move for a moment. The shower was still running but she had aimed it toward the curtain hoping House wouldn't try anything but if he did, he'd surely get hit by the spray.

"Cuddy? Are you coming out?" House asked. "What are you doing in there?"

Cuddy bit her lip and held her breath. "House?"

"What is it Cuddy?"

"What happened last night?"

"Don't you remember?" House seemed surprised. "You went out with Wilson last night." Cuddy could see House's silhouette against the shower curtain.

"I remember but what happened to my face?" Cuddy asked quietly.

House held his breath and considered telling her the truth. "James hit you."

Cuddy yanked back the shower curtain and stared at House. Her towel clutched tightly. "Don't look!" She commanded. House smiled but his eyes never left her. "Get out of my bathroom, House!"

House pulled her to him. He could feel her shivering. "How about you let me dry you off and I'll tell you all about it? Here, let me help you out off that wet towel." Cuddy pulled back. "Absolutely NOT!"

"Oh you're no fun!" House pouted, eyes twinkling. "I'm just trying to help you – wouldn't want you to catch a cold."

"House, please! Could you just get my robe?" Cuddy whispered.

"Fine! Where is it?" He rolled his eyes.

"On the back of the bedroom door. Please?"

Cuddy looked so vulnerable standing there looking up at him with her pale gray eyes, wet hair cascading over her shoulders, bruised chin and tightly wrapped towel. "I'm freezing."

As soon as House moved out of the room, Cuddy ducked behind the bathroom door and stuck her hand out into the bedroom waiting for him to place her robe in her hand.

"I can't believe you're naked in there and I'm out here." House whined. "Here!" Cuddy felt the robe in her hand and she snatched it back, shutting the door quickly. House chuckled at her nervousness. "Why Miz Cuddles, are you afraid of me?"

"OF course not!" Cuddy yelled through the door wrapping her robe shut quickly. She yanked opened the door and House jumped back slightly. "Well aren't you cute!" House sing-songed as he gazed down her body wrapped in a short silky pale lavender robe.

"House, why would James hit me?" Cuddy asked.

"You really don't remember?" House tested.

"No. I don't remember much of anything," Cuddy admitted. "Why are you even here?"

"I stayed to make sure you didn't have a concussion. You took it pretty hard on the chin, you know," House added. "Last night, James got jealous that you chose me over him and tried to punch me but you got in the way. I really owe you my life, Cuddy. How will I ever thank you!???" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. The sarcasm wasn't lost on Cuddy.

"Seriously, House! What happened? Cuddy looked worried.

"I just told you! James has the hots for you and accidentally hit you when you tried to protect me."

"Right!" Cuddy said. "Why would James want to hit you?"

"Because I showed up on your date." Cuddy's eyes opened wide and a small grin threatened to stay.

"Why am I not surprised." She rolled her eyes. "Why do you do that, House? Why do you have to interrupt my life?" Cuddy looked riled up and her hands had planted themselves on her hips. She wanted an answer.

House looked into her eyes and blushed. Cuddy noticed.

"I'm just making sure you don't throw yourself at your dates. I know how hard up you are." House tried to deflect the point away from him.

"So what did you do last night to make James angry?" Cuddy demanded. "Tell me right now or I'll call him right now." House noticed Cuddy used Wilson's first name but stuck to using House's last name. He didn't like it one bit.

"Like I said, I showed up and I may have…." House hesitated.

"yes?" Cuddy countered.

"I tripped him."

"Why on earth would you do that?" Cuddy's eyes flashed with anger and surprise.

"Because he was all over you!" House snapped.

"James wouldn't do that, House!"

"He did last night! He kissed you and you kissed him back!"

Cuddy went silent. A puzzled look flashed across her eyes. "So?"

"So?! SO? That's not … it's not…he's not supposed to…" House couldn't respond without embarrassing himself.

"If I didn't know you so well I might think you were jealous," Cuddy smiled. " I just wonder if you're feeling jealous over me taking up Wilson's attentions or Wilson keeping me company."

House glared at Cuddy. Either way he looked like an ass.

"House, wait…did you…did James and you have a fight last night?" Cuddy frowned. "I remember James was bleeding and he needed a towel."

"Cuddy, what does it matter?"

"I still don't understand why you two would resort to fighting over interrupting a date?" Cuddy shook her head. "You have to leave now."

"That's a fine thank you!" House tried to sound indignant. "You could at least make me breakfast?"

"I meant you have to leave my room. I need to get dressed," Cuddy said shyly. "Why don't you make me breakfast?" House smirked. At least she wasn't kicking him out.

"Yes, mistress." House ambled out into the kitchen. He heard Cuddy lock her bedroom door. "Crap."

House poured himself a cup of coffee and looked around her kitchen. Eggs. Soy bacon? What the hell is that? He found a frying pan and got to work.

Cuddy sat on the corner of her bed for a few minutes and thought through House's comments. James wasn't the type of man to get physical over a typical House antic. It didn't make sense. She'd call James and get to the bottom of this. Something was off and knowing House, he wasn't telling her everything. She opened her lingere draw and select a pair of pink panties. The matching bra was missing. In fact all of her bras were gone.

"HOUSE! I want those back!" She yelled.

House smiled and took another sip of coffee.