Disclaimer: I do not own House MD or any of the characters
A/N: Thank you all for your reviews, as requested, here's chapter two, I hope you like it and keep the feedback coming :D
Enjoy!
Three months later, 5 months pregnant and looking it, Cuddy had told everyone, well, she'd 'told' Wilson and the board members, plus a couple of nurses and Cameron who had asked if the rumours were true, but somehow the news had spread and she was sure everyone knew by now. Anyhow, whether they did or not, by the speed at which her abdomen was expanding, pretty soon there would be no way anyone could plausibly continue to not know.
Except him. She knew he knew. She knew that as soon as she told Wilson, it was only a matter of hours before House found out. There was no way she could believe that he didn't know. If not Wilson, then Cameron would have told him. And if not her, one of his fellows, who all already knew, would have mentioned it. Oh, he knew. But he was expertly pretending not to.
On Monday, when Cuddy had arrived to work, he had looked at her and sent her a quick "did you put on weight this weekend?" before signing off the chart he had been carrying and leaving the clinic.
On Wednesday, he had asked Wilson if he thought Cuddy might have some abnormality growing in her abdomen while standing within 5 feet of her.
But he wouldn't be able to pretend forever. She knew that whether he chose to acknowledge her pregnancy or whether he didn't, within four months, she would have a baby and he wouldn't be able to ignore that, because it wouldn't be just a foetus, it would be a baby, her baby, hi … their baby.
"Wow, Cuddy! You ok?" asked Wilson who, unbeknownst to her, was passing by with House just as she momentarily lost her balance.
"Oh, she's fine, but you can't expect her to keep her balance all the time with that abnormal growth there, honestly, don't you think she should have it checked out?" asked House checking his watch as Wilson moved away from him towards Cuddy who was now leaning on the nurses' desk.
"I'm fine … I just didn't have a good enough breakfast today, probably just need some sugar" she said straightening herself for a few seconds before falling back onto Wilson. Reflexes kicking in, Wilson quickly grabbed her under the arms as House ran/limped towards them.
"What was that?" asked the oncologist looking up at House who, surprisingly, had a concerned look on his face as he stared at Cuddy's pale one.
"Everything looks good with the baby" said Cameron who was doing the ultrasound.
"That's good" said Wilson who was looking over Cameron's shoulder at the image
"Yea, great!" said House in a sarcastic tone "still don't know what's wrong with the mother though" he added looking down at Cuddy who was lying unconscious on the bed.
"Where are you going?" asked Wilson as House moved towards the door.
"Find out what's wrong with her" and with that he was gone.
House had lost count of how many times he'd been alone in Cuddy's office, usually to play some kind of prank, or find some document that she'd gone out of her way to hide from him. But he'd never been in there under this kind of circumstance.
How would he find out what was wrong with her? And why did he care so much? Why was he feeling so urgent?
Mentally shaking himself, House moved around the desk and sat down. As he began to open drawers, he saw the computer screen come on and an ultrasound picture covered the entire desktop. Normally, he would have made some mental comment about how much free time the woman had to have to scan the photo, upload it to the computer and set it as a background. But something on the top of the screen caught his eye and all comments vanished.
Ultrasound Date: 15 Jan. 09
Aprox. Foetus age: 10 weeks.
Now, House was a world renowned doctor. He was an expert in his field, which meant he was an expert in science, which kind of implied a fairly good understanding of maths. And even if he wasn't, it didn't take much skill to count 10 weeks backwards from January 15th and find that the date of conception was around the end of October.
The end of October.
Suddenly House understood why cartoons had little lamps over their heads when they had ideas. And it all made sense, well, it didn't make much sense, but at least it was clear.
House knew what this meant, he was fully aware of it, again, his vast knowledge of medicine and science came in handy. But even knowing what it meant, even being fully aware that it was … that he was … he still couldn't bring himself to think it, let alone say it.
It couldn't be. Well, it was, but it couldn't …
"Find anything?" came Foreman's voice from the doorway "I heard what happened and apparently had the same idea as you" he explained
"Oh … uh, no, didn't find anything"
"Want some help?"
"Uh…" the power of speech was gradually coming back to him "I, uh … I'm going to go check her apartment … you look here" said House coming up with the best excuse to leave the room that he could come up with. And hey, while he was 'away from the room', he might as well go to Cuddy's place and try and find something.
House hadn't been back in her house since the night that he now knew resulted in … Well, since the night he'd followed Wilson's advice and actually rung Cuddy's bell, both the physical and metaphorical one.
Moving around the apartment, he recalled each step of that night. Entering the house. Closing the door. Moving to the living room. Drinking coffee. Looking at Cuddy while she watched TV. Having her look back. The kiss. All the other kisses. The gradual move/limp towards her bedroom. Registering, along the way, that the room where the baby would have lived was now empty. Heading for the front door the next morning. Turning back. Changing his mind and actually leaving.
As he moved around, he saw her half eaten breakfast on the kitchen table, cornflakes and an orange. In her bedroom, the bed was still unmade and apparently, she had tried on several outfits before settling for one which fit and looked good – and boy, did it look good!
Ring
"House" he answered his cell
"It's Wilson, where are you?" he asked
"Cuddy's place"
"Why?"
"Why do I always break into patient's houses?" asked House with a 'duh' look on his face.
"Point taken. Find anything?"
"Not yet, just her half eaten breakfast" said House passing up the urge to go through Cuddy's underwear drawers and moving to the bathroom.
"Half-Eaten breakfast?" he asked "She did say she probably only needed some sugar …"
House knew that Wilson was probably right, but the knowledge that there could be something worse going on kept him going through her things.
"House!" Wilson called on the other side "You can come back, she's probably just hypoglycaemic. We'll give her some sugar and she'll be good to go in a few days" when he got no response, he spoke again "I know you think its probably some strange disease from Madagascar and are looking for all possible signs that you're right, but the chances of that are slim, House. Come back" as always, Wilson was the voice of reason.
Sighing, House nodded, glad that no one could see him "Fine, I'll be there in a bit" and he clicked off.
Well, seeing as Wilson had solved the, really non-existent, mystery, House figured that, to keep his mind off the problem he seemed to be obsessing about, there was nothing better than to actually go through Cuddy's underwear drawer, and so he did.
TBC