Here you go. Sorry I was on vacation so it took a bit longer to flesh out this chapter…but I managed to get some writing done, and finalized it this morning. Hope you continue to enjoy!

The cab pulled up to the curb of the Children's hospital and Cuddy paid the driver before quickly getting out of the car, holding Rachel tightly cradled against her chest. She began walking anxiously through the doors leading to the emergency room that she had now been working at for some time…information she hadn't had the nerve to confess to House yet. The ride to the hospital had remained silent between them. The shock of being in each other's presence again after so many months apart overshadowed all attempts at communication.

Cuddy worried herself into a ball of rattled nerves over getting Rachel the fluids she needed, and over the fact that the man she had only received love letters from over the last six months was walking next to her, guiding her to the front desk of the emergency room with his hand pressed against the small of her back. She immediately felt safe with him so close by her side, but also she was terrified over the possibility that House would meet the man she had begun to date over the last month, Dr. Michel Barret, who happened to be the head of the ER they had just entered. Seeing as how the last time House saw her with another man ended in an epic disaster, she certainly didn't want a repeat of that, especially because Rachel's well being was all that mattered to her now.

"Dr. Cuddy?" One of the nurses that Cuddy worked with many times before, came over to them as they stood by the desk waiting to check Rachel in. "C'est que Rachel, ce qui est de l'affaire?"

Cuddy saw House's questioning look as she looked from him back to Nurse Moreau. She could read through his expression he seemed disappointed when he understood she worked at the hospital, she sensed it right away. They barely had time to talk since he arrived…and there was so much to say. "Elle a une fièvre et très déshydraté." Cuddy slowly pronounced, her French still extremely shaky. She shifted Rachel to her other hip, wishing her daughter was still a baby at that moment. She could hardly hold her anymore. "Is Dr. Sherard here?" Cuddy asked, she had worked with him and thought he was the most capable, besides Dr. Barret of course.

"No…he is sick. It is Dr. Barret, is okay? I get him." Cuddy froze when she heard his name. He was the best doctor this hospital had, but she didn't want him anywhere near House. "You come with me, yes? Room deux cent cinq."

Cuddy looked at House briefly again before she resigned to follow Nurse Moreau, wanting to get Rachel into a bed with an IV started before she had a conversation with him. She could sense him close behind her, grateful that he was there with her, but terrified this was going to end very badly.

House went into the room and sat down in the chair in the corner by the foot of the bed, watching mutely while Cuddy put Rachel down in the bed and kissed her clammy forehead. The nurse took Rachel's pulse and temperature marking it in her chart before she exited the room, leaving the three of them alone in the quiet they had grown accustom too over the last twenty minutes.

"So I gather you work here." House said calmly, finally breaking the heavy silence between them, looking at Cuddy as she sat down in the chair next to Rachel.

"Yes." Cuddy looked back at House, "Just a few days a week."

"You're a doctor again…that's good" He stated. House always wanted her to practice again, but not like this. He didn't want to think of her actually staying in France.

Cuddy could tell he was sad, but he said nothing more. She rubbed Rachel's back as she tried to figure out internally how she was going to handle the inevitable meeting between House and Dr. Barret, but nothing came to her, it was an impossible situation.

Then he entered the room…and she had no time to think further on it.

"Lisa?" He said as he moved the curtain aside, carrying Rachel's chart, not taking notice of House in the corner of the room, "Are you okay?" He asked in a thick accent, coming to stand close to her…'too close,' she thought. She knew House would read right away that there was something going on between them. He always had a nasty habit of deducing a person's deepest thoughts in a matter of seconds after meeting them.

Cuddy shook it off, Rachel came first. "I'm okay, but Rachel has been sick since early this morning, she's not keeping any fluids down and her fever will not break."

"Yes, I see it here is 104, her fever is very high. We will give fluids and something for fever now. Then we will see how she is." He turned to Rachel then and leaned down to see her face, touching her nose with his finger, like House had done not long before. "You stay right here, mademoiselle, and I make you better." Rachel gave him a half-smile causing House to immediately loathe him. He was tall and younger than House by at least ten years, and House knew that girls probably drooled over the French George Clooney bastard all the time.

He also deduced right away that the squalid doctor wanted Cuddy, any man would be crazy not to be attracted to her, and he felt sick at the thought that maybe there could be a chance that she felt the same. He needed to know.

Dr. Barret made a note in Rachel's chart before returning his gaze to Cuddy, placing his hand on her cheek, a gesture of intimacy that made House's skin crawl and confirm his worst nightmare…there was something going on between them. "She will be fine, no worried face." He smiled at her, caressing her cheek with his hand before he turned and left the room. House clenched his fist extremely tight, trying his best to mask his fury over the asshole having the nerves to put his hands on Cuddy.

Cuddy realized she had been holding her breath, and her head was spinning wildly from the last thirty seconds of insanity. She didn't want to chance looking at House, choosing to look back to Rachel and sit next to her on the hospital bed instead, her back turned towards him, attempting to hide her face the best she could. She knew it was cowardly, but she hadn't a clue what to say, she felt like she was being swallowed up by him already.

"House?" Rachel whimpered almost inaudibly from her spot on the bed. She couldn't see him from where her head was on the pillow.

House could sense she was upset, confused as to what was going on around her. He got up and crossed over to her, knowing that he needed to somehow attempt to make her feel better, something he had very little confidence in himself to provide her. "I'm here puke monster." He said as he put his hand over her small one, giving it a soft squeeze. "And I'm not going anywhere."

Cuddy turned to look at him as he spoke those words, finding him already staring at her. She knew then, that his words were not just meant for Rachel, and her heart was starting to race extremely fast from the intensity of his eyes pulling her towards him. They sat extremely close to each other making it hard for her to find the words she knew she needed to say to him. She felt sick from everything that had happened around her over the last few hours, but she pushed it away, drawing in a breath to calm her nerves, "House, I know we have a lot to talk through…and I need to explain—"

"Je vais commencer dès maintenant les fluides de Rachel." Nurse Moreau came into the room breaking the tension between them abruptly, interrupting Cuddy before she could clearly convey any details about Dr. Barret. "You hold her hand, for the needle."

"Yes, Rachel honey look at me okay." Cuddy stroked Rachel's hair out her face as she situated her other hand so that Nurse Moreau could start an IV.

"Mommy, no shots." Rachel started to cry as she became aware of what was going on, her whole body started to shake as her sickness and emotions took its final toll on her little body.

House was still holding her hand as he leaned in closer to her so that she could see his face, and put on his best pirate voice, drawing in her focus. "Aye, brave little pirates are tougher than any needles these here scurvy dogs can muster up. You have your trusty unicorn, right?" Rachel nodded, House saw her wince from the simple movement, but she was distracted as the needle was about to go in. So he continued in his native pirate tongue. "Arrgh, you see, that there unicorn will protect wee buccaneers from those damned son of a biscuit eater needles, so don't be afraid ." House finished with his pirate talk distraction just as the nurse finished with the IV and Rachel hadn't felt a thing. "I told you." He winked at her before lifting his head up from hers.

Cuddy was amazed that House had the ability to absolutely comfort Rachel. It was a gift she was incredibly thankful for, she found her eyes sting with emotion as she reached out to grab House and Rachel's hands that were still wound together, "Thank you." She spoke through the lump in her throat.

House nodded…not knowing how else to respond. Displaying emotion through a letter to her was one thing, but now that he was seeing her face to face, it was much harder to be completely vulnerable.

Rachel started to drift off to sleep as the two of them held her hand, the fluids and medicine for the fever slowly taking effect in her weakened body. House pulled his hand away first, his leg throbbing as he massaged his thigh and got up slowly from the bed. He reached in his pocket and pulled out an ibuprofen bottle. The pain had been escalating since he arrived at her doorstep and it had finally become too much, especially now after finding out what Cuddy had been doing over the last few months.

Cuddy watched him as he dry swallowed a few pills before putting the bottle back in his pocket. He sat down in the chair he had vacated only minutes before, looking extremely weary and upset, like he had been through a lot over the last few months. It was starting to concern her that there was something he wasn't telling her. She got up from the bed carefully, slowly regaining her confidence back, grabbing the other chair and bringing it with her as she put it down in front of House and sat facing him, their knees almost touching. She knew she had to talk to him, "House…are you alright?"

He looked at her but didn't respond right away. Of course he wasn't alright, not after what he had just witnessed, "Are you talking about my leg or how I feel about you sleeping with that doctor?" He quietly retorted. He was angry and hurt but he was trying to keep it at bay, he didn't come here to fight with her all over again, but he didn't come here to see her with another man either…

"Both."

"Well my leg feels as great as it's ever felt. As for the rest of it…does it matter?"

"Of course it matters…what you saw—it wasn't what you think."

"Are you dating Dr. What's-his-face?"

"No…I mean yes, but it's not like that." Cuddy fumbled over her choice of words, her exhaustion weighing down on her.

"Just sex then." He spit back at her, frustration seeping through his veins.

"House, stop." Cuddy sighed and looked down at her lap, wanting desperately not to fight with him over someone inconsequential, "We're not sleeping together. We have only been on a few dates…recently."

"He seems to know Rachel well for only a few dates."

"He has a daughter her age. They go to the same pre-school…"

House bowed his head and rubbed his thigh once more, wishing he had something much stronger than ibuprofen to help him through this. "I shouldn't have come."

"Please, don't say that. I know I was surprised when you were all of the sudden standing in my garden…but I don't want you to leave. You just got here." She weakly smiled at him, willing him to look back at her, believe her… Cuddy looked at his vacant expression, not knowing what to say, she was still in shock that he was there and scared that maybe it was too soon…but she missed him just the same.

House met her eyes and saw her worry her fingers over the necklace that he had returned to her only a few months before. "It's fine…I'm not going to repeat past mistakes if that's what your worried about. Dr. Frenchie isn't going to be maimed or punished because he stole you from me…you aren't mine to steal."

"House—" Cuddy was interrupted again by the door opening to reveal Dr. Barret. Causing them both to look at him and away from each other as he crossed toward Rachel's bedside.

Nurse Moreau came in behind him and went to check Rachel's temperature, showing the result to Dr. Barret as he listened to her heart with his stethoscope. "Her fever is now 101, is good. Let us have the fluids finish and then you can take her home. Is only flu she will be fine. "

"You're not going to run any tests?" House asked, forcing Dr. Barret to finally acknowledge his presence in the room.

"I'm sorry, who is this Lisa?'

"This is Dr. House…he works out of Princeton." She looked between the both of him.

"Ah, you have spoke of him, I think…Dr. House, what tests would you like me to do? Is a simple case of flu. Most children get this illness, I'm sure you know this."

"It's meningitis." House stared back, wanting nothing more than to punch the jackass.

"What?" Cuddy implored looking back at House.

House reached out and touched her arm, speaking quietly to her, "When she moved her neck, I saw it hurt her…trust me." He faced Dr. Barret once more. "Kids also get that illness too. Maybe you should test her and find out who is right, oh and you might want to do it quickly before you have an epidemic on your hands, I hear that illness is quite contagious."

Dr. Barret flipped the chart closed watching as House let go of Cuddy's arm. "Now I have seen why you spoke of him. He is more than just a doctor you work with, yes?"

Cuddy looked up to him, seeing the hurt she had caused, "Michel…if Dr. House is right...Please just run the test, I promise we can talk about all this later."

The doctor stood there for a moment looking at both of them, then he spoke to Cuddy, "I know you are worried...of course I will do it, but I think is mistake." He walked out of the room without another word.

"Je vais pour engourdir Rachel maintenant afin qu'elle se sentiront peu douleur lors de la procédure. " The Nurse went to the drawers to start prepping for the spinal tap. Cuddy was failing at controlling her tears at the thought of Rachel having to go through that pain, but she gently reached down and woke Rachel, wiping her tears away, telling her to lie on her side and kneeling beside the bed so they could be face to face.

House watched as Cuddy grabbed onto Rachel's hand and kissed her face, telling her to be brave and humming a song in her ear that House couldn't quite make out. He could sense her thought's from across the room, "Rachel will be okay, her symptoms only started today..." House tried to mask his uneasiness, he knew if Rachel had meningitis than she might have it too.

She looked over to him with tears filling her eyes once more, "I know." She spoke softly, "Thanks to you."

"Well it might just be the flu. Than your Dr. Friend can come in here with his potent cologne and tell me where to shove my cane."

"You know that it's not the flu." She was internally kicking herself for not coming to the same conclusion that House did…'if he hadn't been here…' she shuddered to even think of the 'what if's.' So grateful he was there.

Dr. Barret re-entered the room then, putting on his gloves and mask as Nurse Moreau finished silently setting up around House and Cuddy. House turned and went to sit back down in the chair even though every part of him was screaming to do the procedure himself, not trusting anyone with Rachel's welfare.

"Okay mademoiselle do not move, maybe just be small pinch and then we are all done, okay? Nous comptons à three… de deux, trois, un" Dr. Barret inserted the needle as Rachel cried and squeezed her eyes shut against the pinch in the small of her back, grasping Cuddy's hand.

House felt horrible for her, he had just been through painful tests recently himself, and he certainly didn't wish that pain for a four year old little girl, he wanted to protect her from the anguish. Dr. Barret collected the sample and handed it off to the Nurse. Taking off his mask and coming to bend down to Rachel's face to talk with her, "You were very brave. . . magnifique." He smiled at her and unwrapped a red lollypop for her, "Ne déplacez pas OK?"

He turned to Cuddy and said, "We will run the test. Stay here, I will be back soon with results." House saw Cuddy smile to him as he left the room, and he felt a pain in his chest at the thought that she cared for this man. Maybe he was too late…

Cuddy and House sat there in silence for awhile, Rachel was slowly falling back to sleep after all the anxiety she had just been through. Cuddy got up and turned off the lights in the room, walking over to stand against Houses leg as she closed the vertical blinds, leaving the room in a subdued light.

It took all of him not to reach out and wrap his arms around her, but she turned around and was gone before he had a second more to think about it. He watched her go and lie down next to Rachel in the bed, angling her body so she could still see into his eyes, it was a gesture that comforted him. He realized how much he missed looking at her face, his memories he drew upon when they were apart, were nothing compared to seeing her in person. "You should get some rest." He offered quietly.

"I know…but I'm too stressed to sleep."

"Want me to tell you a story?"

"A story?" Cuddy raised her eyebrow at him, 'God only know what kind of story he could come up with,' she thought. "That depends. Is this going to be fiction or non-fiction?"

"Let's say …it's open for interpretation." House smirked, daring her to accept his offer.

"Okay. " She pulled the blanket over her and Rachel.

"How about a story featuring a girl who gets kicked out of a concert because she kneed a guy in the balls for grabbing her ass, causing her charismatic boyfriend to miss the entire show." House said knowingly.

Cuddy bit her bottom lip to hide her smile. "That's not what happened."

House threw up his hands, in mock surrender. "That story may be a bit tame, you're right." He paused. "What about a story involving a girl who absolutely adored having sex in public—you know…on second thought, we should probably keep it PG in case Rachel wakes up."

"Good idea." She shook her head at the smart-ass in front of her. "For Rachel's sake of course."

"Of course…" House lifted his cane and twirled it in his hands, he had missed this, how he could feel the spark between them instantaneously even through simple conversations with her, it was always there. "I know…" He continued, resting his cane in his lap. He shifted and leaned forward in his chair as he began his tale:

"There once was a man who wandered this earth in a cloud of perpetual doom. People around him always knew him as the miscreant bastard who deserved every nasty thing life threw his way, and he was in agreement, he deserved nothing more. It started at a young age for this man I speak of, always a cynical creature, fighting against the world with his ego and intelligence. A genius that would always be his unique gift and his ultimate downfall.

Then one day he met a girl. She was beautiful, witty, and charmingly stubborn... and this man was smitten, possessed by her from the moment he laid eyes on her. Of course he should have known then what fate had in store, being the pessimistic soul that he was, he knew nothing that amazing would ever be that easy to posses.

They danced around each other for years, after only one night together of unforgettable sex-" Cuddy felt her body blush as he spoke, recalling the memory. "-they would spend the next couple decades plagued with off timing and self doubt. You see, this man I speak of assumed early on in their friendship that he would never be worthy of her heart …and that she would never be able to allow herself to love him completely, his insanity was an impossible thing to embrace. He was well aware of his shortcomings, but he knew not how to break free of them."

Cuddy saw House look down at his hands, sadness crept over her whole being as she saw the pain in his face, but he continued:

"She knew deep down that he loved her, but that knowledge also terrified her. He was unpredictable, and always hid his true feelings away where no one could touch them. How could she possibly want to be with a man who was incapable of expressing anything real?"

"Because no matter how much she fought against this man you speak of…she was already in love with him?" Cuddy asked quietly, searching his eyes.

"Perhaps." House was searching her eyes too, "This man did get his ultimate wish. She came to him on a very broken night, finally confessing her love to him and slowly began ripping down the walls around his dysfunctional heart. It was the best day of his pathetic life…but sadly he knew then… he would never be able to keep her, he would always disappoint her, break her heart over and over again. But despite all that you see he was even more stubborn than she was, he had to try. Hold out hope that maybe after all those years toying with each other's hearts they would be able to hold on to each other this time…and never let go. He wanted that with every part of his being, and he believed she wanted the same."

"She did." Cuddy shakily confirmed.

"But when she finally gave into her love for him, after all that time hiding from it, do you think she still allowed her fears to rule her heart?"

Cuddy felt her eyes moisten, "Perhaps…" she replied.

"Maybe love was never going to be enough for them."

"House—" Cuddy wanted desperately to say that he was wrong, but she couldn't bring herself to speak the words out loud. She had thought that very thing…that perhaps they were never meant to be. They would always mess it up.

The door opened revealing Nurse Moreau entering with a tray in her hands, "It was positive, but it is viral. J'ai la médecine pour vous de prendre tous et j'administrera de Rachel grâce à sa ligne." She spoke quickly while handing them each a cup of antibiotics and then going over to put Rachel's medicine into her IV. "When it finish for Rachel, you can take her home, okay?" The Nurse smiled leaving the room to get the discharge papers, as Cuddy let out a huge sigh of relief over the fact that Rachel would be okay. She looked at House, "Thank you."

House nodded, "I'm glad you can take her home, hospitals give me the creeps." House half-heartedly smiled as he carefully stood from his chair trying to avoid further pain in his body, a maneuver that did not go unnoticed by Cuddy.

Cuddy took a moment and then made a decision, she arose from the bed and walked slowly towards him, stopping just inches away and looked up into his grey blue eyes. "Are you coming home with us?"

"A little forward don't you think, I am a gentleman." House replied teasingly, trying to ease the tension surrounding them from his honest story.

"Where were you planning on sleeping tonight monsieur gentleman? You booked a hotel I'm sure." She retorted giving him a teasing smile.

"Of course…but now you both should be monitored overnight, meningitis is serious you know. You could still come down with symptoms." He bent his head and brushed his lips against her cheek, lingering in her scent. "You have a fever too." He spoke softly in her ear before pulling away from her.

Cuddy felt a rush to her senses as his lips left a trail of heat on her skin, spreading through her whole body instantly…but she knew she couldn't get wrapped in it too quickly, there was still so much left unsaid and broken between them. She wiped the tears from her eyes that his touched had enacted, "Well I'm glad that I have a couch for my nurse to crash on. " She said as she turned and walked away from him then, needing a moment to catch her breath.

"I thought male nurses got bedroom privileges." He joked from behind.

Cuddy couldn't help but laugh, "That all depends on his bedside manner." She answered, looking back at him once more with a smile on her lips.