Disclaimer:
I do not own House MD or any of the characters, but I sure as hell wouldn't mind owning Hugh Laurie!A/N: Ok … I know the apologies are probably getting old now (I apologise for that too) but RL has REALLY not been helping recently. I finished my IB exams last week and then, after a day out with friends, had Graduation, Prom and all the after parties that entails during the weekend … so updating has been basically impossible. HOWEVER, now that that hell is all over and I am officially a High School graduate (yay!), I will have more time for my fics and hope to give you more of this soon :D … that said, I do still have one exam to go and will therefore still need to study … *sigh*
Ok, now the apology is over, it's time to thank you ALL for your reviews which kept me alive during the torturous exam period, I can't begin to express how much your comments are appreciated :D *hugs* … please keep them coming as I love both the feedback and your ideas. (Oh the fun I have as I read your ideas and laugh "you have no idea how right you are" or "nice idea, but I'm too evil to give you that just yet" …) :P
Oh and, of course, once again, thank you to silkyway and huddyrules for your encouragement ... nothing tells me "go write ... now!" as much as seeing an e-mail reading "you have recieved a message of Fanpop" and then reading your words of encouragement ... Thanks ;)
Anyways, Enjoy!
"I need a gurney in here!" shouted Wilson kneeling beside Cuddy who was, her eyes half open but unfocused lying on the white tiled floor where she'd collapsed moments earlier.
"What happened?" asked Taub rushing to Wilson's side as Chase and Thirteen rushed in with a gurney and two nurses.
"I have no idea …" Wilson shook his head as he helped the other doctors tend to Cuddy.
"Cuddy?" she heard Wilson's voice as she opened her eyes. She wasn't completely sure where she was or what had happened, but she was aware that she was in a lying position and that her back was aching.
"James?" she replied attempting to sit up but feeling a sharp pain rise up her back stopping her from moving any further.
Suddenly recalling the moments leading up to the gap in her memory, Cuddy's hand instinctively shot up to her stomach.
"Lisa?" Wilson started checking her heart monitor as it beeped faster "Lisa, you need to stay calm, ok?" he asked her "you were under a lot of stress in the ICU and you had a panic attack. The baby's oxygen levels fell because of that, it went into distress and you fainted" he explained taking her hand as she looked up at him with the most frightened look he'd ever seen her wear.
"Is … is it …" she asked not wanting to know the answer
With a weak smile, Wilson squeezed her hand lightly "Dr. Bates came to check on you an hour ago, so far your …" he stopped himself, just because he now knew what the House baby would be, there was no need to tell Cuddy "baby is doing much better, the heart rate is at normal, and all the ultrasounds look good" he explained as Cuddy sighed and allowed her head to sink back into her pillows.
"You're going to have to stay here on strict" he emphasised the word "bed rest for at least a few weeks" the oncologist continued as Cuddy's face fell "and if you're allowed to go home before the baby's born, it'll be strict bed rest there too" he finished
Sighing, Cuddy nodded, bed rest wasn't something she particularly looked forwards to, but at least the baby was ok.
"Uh, how's House?" she asked after a few seconds of silence.
"The same" replied Wilson with another weak smile. It had been an hour since Cuddy had collapsed at House's bed side and the diagnostician was still just as out of it as he had been before "Chase is taking him up for another scan in about half an hour to check on his brain swelling and, hopefully, we'll know something more by then"
"Do you think …" Cuddy sighed feeling stupid "… do you think people in comas can hear?" she asked
Wilson inhaled deeply and stood a little straighter "I'd like to think they can" he replied, knowing it didn't really answer her question
"But do you …"
"I honestly don't know, Lisa" he replied with a sigh "maybe they do, maybe he did hear you … God knows he should have heard you" he added as a little side note
"He'd call us idiots for sitting here having this conversation" she replied with a smile as her little baby woke up and kicked her side
Smiling, Wilson nodded "that he most definitely would"
An hour later, after Dr. Bates had insisted Cuddy get some sleep, Wilson had finally left her side and headed to the ICU to check on House who had already returned from his scan.
"How's he doing?" Wilson asked Cameron and Chase who were huddled around some of the scans, examining them with concentrated faces.
"Oh, Wilson" smiled Chase turning over his shoulder "we got new scans, the swelling is going down, slowly, but surely" he smiled as he pointed to the spot which, Wilson recognized, had been much more swollen the previous night.
"So, he should be waking up soon …"
Chase nodded "he should …"
"Do you have any idea what it might be if it's not just the swelling?" asked Wilson examining the scans himself
Chase shook his head "as I said, it is possible that his Vicodin addiction, his multiple accidents and injuries, his coma last year, all of that could just have weakened him … and if that's the case, we'll just have to wait …"
Wilson knew all this, of course, yet it still hurt him. After he'd stood behind Dr. Bates during the ultrasound and gotten to know more about the House/Cuddy baby, everything had become more real. There was a kid out there who needed House, not an "it", the baby now had a sex, to Wilson and the doctor anyway, it was real …
Wilson sighed and Chase clapped him on the back.
"How's Cuddy?" the younger doctor asked
Wilson smiled "she's doing better, the baby seems to be out of danger. She's on total bed rest for at least three weeks, but things seem to be holding up …"
"Good" smiled Cameron turning off the light behind the scans and joining the other two doctors
The next two weeks passed surprisingly slowly.
Cuddy, imprisoned in her bed did nothing all day if not sleep, watch TV, beg people to allow her to work and ask about House. She was now into her seventh month of pregnancy, seven and a week, to be precise, and was feeling, every day, more confident that the little life within her would make it out some day.
She had even, though she'd never admit it, began to understand House's fascination with mindless soap operas; there was something strangely comforting about knowing other people's lives were even more screwed up than hers, granted, they were fictional people, but people none the less.
Wilson too was feeling like the weeks would just not end. His already monotonous days were made more so by the routine he'd fallen into. Arrive at hospital, morning consults, lunch, check on Cuddy, check on House, three clinic hours, afternoon consults, home. Sleep and repeat.
He hated the waiting, the not knowing whether House was alright, whether he'd have to walk into Cuddy's room one day only to give her the news that would throw her over the edge and complicate her pregnancy even further.
Every night, his phone rested on his night stand and he prayed to God he wouldn't get a call. At least not any that didn't have the words "he woke up" in them
.It wasn't until the end of the third week of Cuddy's hospital stay that such a midnight call came.
Waking in a sleepy haze, Wilson registered the vibrating sound of his phone. His heart racing, his mace expressionless, he'd picked up the phone and waited for whoever was on the other side to speak.
"Wilson?" it was Foreman
"Foreman?" the oncologist replied apprehensively.
"I think …" there was a pause, a short one, but one that was killing Wilson "… he moved …"
With that, Wilson felt relief like he'd never felt wash over him. That was good. That was very, very good.
"I'm on my way" he replied and promptly clicked off.
Whether the hours that followed would bring bad or good news, he knew not, but at that moment, Wilson couldn't really care less. House was alive.
TBC
I hope you liked it. I'm not usually a fan of the "three weeks later" time skips … but while I love the House-in-a-coma-and-Cuddy-on-bed-rest story line (and believe me, I really do like it) … I sort of sat here thinking "Oh crap" … because, ya know, you can't really have a Huddy fanfic without AT LEAST one of the two … so yea … I'm moving forwards with it … hope you don't mind, and I promise to bring more 'Huddyness' in in as timely a manner as the story will permit :D
Thank you for reading!
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CJS-DEPPendent