Hi everyone! It's been a very long time, I know… so I'm very sorry :( but here I am, back with the NEW CHAPTER! :-)
you'll now enter the unfamiliar walls of MGH – Boston, where Cuddy is expected for her appointment…
** CHAPTER 61 **
Lisa Cuddy was not a regular patient, which means she wasn't expected in Bill Russell's consult room like any other regular patients. Instead, they had scheduled her appointment early in the afternoon so that Bill could see her in his office and spare her the inconvenience of having to sit in the crowded waiting area of his daily consult until it was her turn. Cuddy hadn't requested that special treatment of favor, but she had to admit that when House and she arrived at MGH a little after two, she was happy to have to skip the unnecessary administrative paperwork and directly move on to the appointment part of their visit instead. They hurried through the entrance hall and toward the nurse station. Cuddy walked to the desk counter and the nurse tipped her head up greeting her with a warm smile as she approached.
"Good afternoon, Dr Cuddy," she said.
"Good afternoon. Dr. Bill Russell is waiting for me," Cuddy answered, pointing her hand toward the hallways' maze behind the counter.
"Yes, sure." The nurse nodded and went back to her computer screen, therefore informing her that she had nothing to add.
Cuddy glanced at House and started to head toward the elevators. House followed right behind her. As he walked past the desk counter, he spotted a jar filled with candies, so he plunged his hand inside and grabbed a handful of them, squinting mischievously at the nurse who stared at him, bemused.
"I need sugar. Hypoglycemia," he declared with a theatrical face. Before the nurse could say anything, he limped away, speeding up his pace to catch Cuddy up.
Once he did, he handed a candy to her.
"Want one?" he offered.
She turned her head to the side, gave a glance at the content of his hand, and sent him a disapproving look.
"No, thanks. In case you don't know, it's supposed to be for the children."
He shrugged and took the candy out of its wrapping paper. Leaning toward her, he conspicuously slid the cherry red bonbon into his mouth.
"Yes, but I'm a big child," he said, with an exaggerated pout.
Cuddy rolled her eyes just as they arrived at the elevators' doors. She pushed the up button and they waited in front of the steel door.
"You seem very familiar with this place," House remarked out of the blue, his expression undecipherable.
Cuddy's mouth dropped open and she stared at him, visibly taken aback by his remark. The elevator arrived at their floor and the doors opened with a ding. She took advantage of the distraction and swiftly stepped inside, thus avoiding answering him. He stepped in right after her while she pushed the 8th floor button.
"The nurse called you by your name," he went on, looking straight ahead, "so I guess… hmm what, second, maybe third visit?"
He jerked his head to the side and challenged her with his piercing blue eyes. She set her lips and cast her eyes down, staring embarrassingly at her shoes.
"Really?" House exclaimed, sounding a little upset. "More than three times?"
"What difference does that make?" she asked, looking up at him again.
"What difference? I guess the answer you're expecting is probably none, right?" he puffed sarcastically.
She took a step closer to him and put her hand on his shoulder, reassuringly.
"It's the fourth time I come here," she said, softly. "Do you feel better now that you know?"
His eyes widened and he smirked bitterly.
"Wow! Four visits in a week? That guy must be one hell of a good doctor-"
She removed her hand from his arm and stared at him quizzically.
"So, that's what it is?" she asked, sounding slightly annoyed. "You're jealous at the idea that I can trust another doctor?"
"It's not about trust," he spat through clenched teeth. "It's-"
He turned to face her, visibly struggling against a gush of confusing emotions he was not used to dealing with and sighed, resignedly.
"Ok. I'm sorry… You're right. This is not my field anyway. I guess this is more logical for you to see a gynecologist."
Cuddy bit her lip and averted her gaze, looking suddenly ill-at-ease.
"What?" House asked, noticing her embarrassment, and peering at her suspiciously.
"Bill is not a gynecologist," she said sighing, as if she already knew that her confession would get her into trouble. "He's an endocrinologist," she added, and she raised her chin up, bracing herself for House's stormy reaction.
At this exact moment, the elevator arrived on the eight floor and the door slowly slid opened. Cuddy wasn't too proud of herself for it, but she instantly seized that as an opportunity to escape. She promptly stepped out of the car and walked out, determinedly making her way into the hallway. House, however, stayed rooted to his spot and she heard him stuttered behind her back.
"What! An endocrino—Did I hear that right?" he shouted from inside the car.
Right after, she heard the thudding sound of his cane violently hitting the floor as he was catching her up. He grabbed her by the upper arm to make her stop and she turned around to face him. He was smirking cynically and shaking his head in astonishment.
"Did I hear that right?" he repeated, "Your Bill guy is an endocrinologist?"
"He's not my Bill guy," she corrected, upset by his innuendo.
"Whatever! You're telling me you entrusted your medical file to an endocrinologist? Excuse me if I've missed something here, but why would you do that?" he exclaimed, his voice rising up a notch in anger.
She closed her eyes briefly in a desperate attempt at brushing the growing stress caused by their discussion aside.
"Dammit, Cuddy, what is it? What are you not telling me?" he insisted, almost shouting.
"Don't yell" she pleaded, feeling the weight of people's gaze on them as they walked past them in the hallway.
She took a deep breath and came closer to House, wanting to hold him, wanting him to hold her, but the words escaped her lips almost in spite of herself.
"I know Bill from Med School," she confessed uneasy, her voice trembling a little.
"Oh, you know Bill from Med School," House spat disdainfully. "Great! Why don't we all celebrate?"
"That's not what you think. I barely knew him then. But I ran into him at that medical conference in Seattle a few months ago and-"
She stopped short in the middle of her sentence, silenced by the power of the glare House shot her which sent a shiver down her spine. He stared at her with a look of shock, and she tried to come closer to touch his arm, but he stepped back, aghast.
"You and that guy were in Seattle together?"
"No. We were not in Seattle together," she felt the need to clarify, feeling aggravated by his inappropriate innuendos. "He was there to deliver a speech and-"
"Why does it sound like you're justifying yourself?"
"I'm not justifying myself! God, House this is ridiculous! Please, don't do this now. We're late. We have to go."
Cuddy started to walk away but after a few steps, it seemed evident that House was not following her. She stopped and turned around to face him. He was standing in the middle of the hallway, perfectly immobile and intensely scrutinizing her, with a slight look of hurt on his face. She tried to suppress the distressed feeling she irrepressibly felt growing inside of her and opted for an exasperated sigh instead.
"Oh, come on! What is wrong with you? Is it because of what happened last night? I told you Bill only tried to k-"
House started to move but, most unexpectedly, he chose the opposite direction and headed back toward the elevator. The stress of seeing him walk away from her in such determined strides sent a shot of adrenalin to her heart, and the extra pounding beats rendered her breathless.
"House? House!" she called after him, distressed. "What are you doing?"
Still, she didn't try to catch him up and looked at him leave, feeling hurt but helpless. Once facing the elevator, House pressed the down button and turned on his heel to face her.
"I'm outta here. Why would you need me anyway now that you have Bill, your endocrinologist College buddy to take care of this?" he snapped.
With a perfect timing, the elevator arrived, and he stepped inside, his silhouette soon vanishing behind the closing doors.
"I'd probably smash his face if I ever came anywhere near that asshole anyway," he muttered to himself while the car started its descent.
Lisa Cuddy suddenly felt painfully aware of her standing alone in the hallway when a random person involuntarily jostled her while walking past her. She kept staring at the elevator closed door for a few extra seconds, her jaw slack and her eyes widened in disbelief, House's words still replaying in her head.
Why would you need me anyway now that you have Bill, your endocrinologist College buddy to take care of this?
"Because I love you, you moron," she replied to herself, and tears welled up in her eyes.
She perfunctorily pushed them back with the tip of her index and, without waiting any longer, she headed toward Bill's office for her appointment.
Alone.
A/N
So, as I said: I am very sorry that I wasn't around, without warning you about it but, thing is, I've been quite busy lately. On top of that, I had to deal with a terrible virus attack on my computer last week (now – thank Pete! – completely fixed) but I couldn't post any new chapter because I only got access to internet through my phone…
Anyway, everything's fine now and I'm so happy I could add a new chapter before the holidays…
Oh, and also, I have an announcement to make! I've learned that this story, "If You Let Me, I Might Try" was nominated for a 2010 Rock The House Award! O_O! Yes! in the "Relationship based fiction category - House and Cuddy pairing". And it's all THANKS TO YOU! because, I don't know how it happened, but apparently someone, or maybe more than one, submitted my story for the nominations so I just want to shout out a HUGE THANKS to whoever did that!
I feel really honored…
So, if you want to know more about that you can go check my profile where I'll add a link to the rockthehouseawards site for you to have a look if you want.
Anyway again: THANK YOU! that sure was an unexpected but thrilling Xmas gift!
And now that my computer is all good, you can expect another chapter much sooner… ;-)
Enjoy December! ~ maya