Chapter 25: Different Now

Andy sat in bed and watched Gabrielle as she silently got changed for bed. "Are you by any chance still mad at me?" he cautiously asked.

"A little," Gabrielle angrily huffed. She stood there, her back to him as she pulled her shirt on, wondering whether or not it was still worth being upset with him. She had something else, something a little more disturbing at the moment to occupy her mind.

She turned around to face him and hesitantly walked over to the bed. She had kept her eyes down to the floor. "Were you aware that I stopped off to see my daddy today?" she asked, looking to him.

"No," Andy answered, looking to her with concern.

Gabrielle sighed. "Well, he handed me meds to hand out to keep mom and Jessica from going insane and told me how to take care of Rachel of Tommy," she explained.

Andy sat up and grabbed her hands. "He wants you to step in for him?" he questioned.

Gabrielle bitterly laughed in spite of the situation. "Yes! Yes he does!" she responded and then pulled her hands from his grip. The more she thought about it, the more worked up she was getting over the whole thing.

In attempt to try and calm herself down, she pulled her hands from his grip and paced over to the other side of the room. She crossed her arms, keeping her mind on her breathing as she tried to stay calm. "That selfish bastard didn't even stop to think that I might not be able to handle all of this," she she forcefully spat, desperately trying to keep her voice down as to not wake Jason.

Andy threw the covers off of him. He was about to get up and go over to her, but she hadn't finished yet. There weren't many times that she opened up to anyone, including him. Granted, she opened up to him more than she did anyone else, but it was still a rare occasion. She needed to talk about this and he didn't want to cut her off, knowing that if he did, she would never pick up where she quit.

Tears of frustration were now streaking her face as she turned back to face Andy. "I don't mind helping out, and I have no problem taking care of the kids while my parents step back and take a small break from all of this, I would have even offered to do that. But I can't just completely be expected to take his place," she harshly explained. She paused for a moment as her expression began to soften. "It just feels like my own father, the one that I thought loved me is just using me. It was like he didn't even care about what I might be going through. My feelings meant nothing to him," she stated through tears.

Andy got up and walked over to her. Now, she was finished. He put his arm around her and led her over to the bed and sat down, guiding her to sit down on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and embraced her. "I think he's just used to you doing that for him," he gently stated, trying to comfort her.

"That's not the point," Gabrielle sobbed into his shoulder. She pulled back, locking her eyes on his. "You expect me to make you breakfast in the morning, but you thank me by making it for me on Sundays. My mom used to always expect me to help out with the babies, but she would still thank me and make sure that it didn't interfere with school, or my weekends too much. My brother and sisters expect me to help them do the things that mom and dad tell them not to do, but they still at least thank me," she informed him. She took a deep breath and gathered her composure. "There was no asking, there was no thank you. He didn't even give me a chance to turn it down. And even if he did, what sort of selfish brat would that make me? Punish them because I'm mad at him right?" she implored, keeping her voice as steady as she possibly could.

Andy sighed. "Look," he firmly started. "You have to realize that this is not all on you. If Ellie were our daughter, I would be expected to be there for you and Jason. Yes, the rest of your family should be supportive, but it's not Rachel's job to make sure that you're mentally stable and hold your hand while you try to move on with everyday life. You have to stop feeling responsible for everything."

"I wish it was just that easy," she replied and then laid her head back down on his shoulder.

ooo

Andy walked into the hospital and headed for Cuddy's office. He had to lie to get extra time for lunch, but it was worth it. He wasn't about to sit there and watch Gabrielle fall apart because her father was being stupid. Maybe if Cuddy knew, she could get him o do something to make it up to Gabrielle. Something little, just enough to show her that he wasn't just trying to use her.

Andy opened the door and poked his head in to see whether or not she was busy. "Lisa?" he asked. "Do you have a minute?"

Cuddy looked up from her desk. She was surprised to see him there and was starting to wonder if there was something wrong. "Yeah, sure," she answered with concern.

Andy stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He went ahead and took a seat right before her desk. "I think your husband is planning on bailing out on you when Ellie dies," he started. He knew that she probably already knew, but it was the only way to lead up to what he really wanted to talk to her about, Gabrielle.

Cuddy looked up to him, perplexed. She was trying to figure out whether or not he really thought that was news to her. He and Gabrielle had been together for a while and she knew that he had to have an idea of how House reacted during these types of situations. "I think you're about thirty years too late on that warning. I learned a long time ago that he can't handle this type of situation," she explained to him, an undertone of bitterness showing itself.

Andy sighed. "Either way, he saw Gabrielle yesterday and handed her sedatives and told her how to handle the kids when it happens," he informed her. His eyes stuck on her, waiting to see if she had known anything about what had happened.

Cuddy was speechless for a moment. Yes, it was pretty obvious that he wouldn't be there, and she did think that Gabrielle was going to step in for him, but she didn't think anything should be forced on her like that. "Did she by any chance ask him for this stuff?" she wanted to be sure of what she was hearing before she talked to House, or rather yelled at him.

Andy just shook his head. She didn't know.

"I see," Cuddy whispered, looking down to her desk. She had to think about what she was going to say to House. In a way though, she should have known to expect an action like this from him. It was House. It was, in now way an acceptable excuse, but she knew better than to put it past him.

"Last night she was crying about how he was just using her and he didn't care about whether or not she thought that she could do it. She's more hurt than anything," he stated.

Cuddy nodded, keeping her eyes down to the floor. Sighing, she looked up to Andy. "Thank you for letting me know," she said and then stood up and started for the door.

Andy just sat there and sighed. Hopefully, this would get fixed in a short amount of time. There was no way that he could handle Gabrielle feeling hurt like she did last night. He hadn't seen her like that in a while, and he was happy to think that he might never have to see her like that again.

ooo

House sat on the couch in Wilson's office as Wilson looked over an x-ray that he had handed to him. "What do you think?" House questioned.

"It's definitely malignant?" Wilson asked, looking to him over the x-ray.

"I don't know, I think I might have screwed up the results. Maybe I should go back into the patient and explain that I didn't know what I was looking at the first time around," House remarked.

Wilson laid the x-ray down and sighed. "Well, I guess he is my patient now," he stated. He then looked up and saw House playing with his cane.

"Are you waiting for me to volunteer to go tell him?" House questioned.

"No," Wilson answered before looking back down to his desk.

"House?" Cuddy called out as she knocked on the door.

Both men turned to look at the door. "He's here!" Wilson called back to her.

House rolled his eyes. He knew that he was about to get yelled at for something. He could just hear it in her voice, even if she wasn't screeching at him yet.

Cuddy entered the room and made sure to close the door behind her. As soon as she got to House, she placed her hands on her hips. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she firmly questioned. "Andy just came by to tell me that you made your daughter cry last night because she thinks that you're using her as your personal little stand in for when you decide that you can't grow up and actually deal with something!" she informed him, on the verge of yelling.

"You made Gabi cry?" Wilson implored.

House just sat there, watching her and ignoring Wilson's question. He did feel bad about Gabrielle now, but he wasn't about to show Cuddy that he was caving into her. "She never told me that she wasn't able to do it," he stated.

Cuddy sighed as she turned back towards Wilson. "He gave her the instructions on how to take care of us when Ellie dies," she told him and then turned back to House.

"Wow! That's a new low even for you," Wilson commented.

"Don't you have something you should be doing?" House asked, not liking the fact that he was helping Cuddy. It didn't really make a difference to him, it was just annoying.

"You know that he's right Greg. I want you to talk to Gabi and I want her to know that this is not her responsibility," she explained. Cuddy sighed and dropped her arms. "Maybe this is for the best. She can back down so that you have to grow up for once," she said before turning and leaving.

House watched her as she hurried out to the door and left. "Great," he sighed, rolling his eyes. "She's feeling all protective again," he commented right before he stood up and started for the door.

"You know that she's right," Wilson called over to him.

House just closed the door, giving Wilson his response.

A short chapter, but I can assure you, this one is actually very important. You'll see why later on. Hope you liked it though. Let me know what you think.