* Sorry for the delayed update!! I was suffering from some writers block concerning something coming up in a few chapters, but I think I'm past it. So here you go! Thanks for reading :-)

Quite unfortunately for Cuddy, House had solved the mystery of his profusely bleeding patient by mid-morning on Friday, leaving him lots of free time in the remainder of the day to pester his colleagues for information on her condition. If Cameron or Wilson had previously thought Cuddy presumptuous or a little narcissistic for assuming that House would waste no time in trying to unravel her secret, they both quickly realized their error. For all of the past meddling that he had done in Cuddy's personal life, whether it had been her dating, her rounds of I.V.F., or her adoption, it was clear that House had no use for boundaries when it came to Lisa Cuddy.

This lack of boundaries reared its ugly head around 10:30am in Wilson's office while he was in the middle of a consult with a patient. Without knocking, House walked right into the office and sat down on the couch.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," House said quite insincerely as he kicked his feet up on the coffee table and folded his hands behind his head.

"Do you mind?" Wilson asked, clearly exasperated. The patient, a heavy-set gray haired man with glasses, sheepishly turned his head around to look at House and suddenly felt very out of place.

"Oh, don't look so worried," House said to the patient dismissively. "Even if Dr. Wilson's giving you a diagnosis of death, he'll do it so sweetly that you'll be sure he just gave you free trip to Disneyland by the time he's done."

Wilson cringed, then sighed. He realized he was beat, and that if he ever wanted this poor melanoma patient to make it through his next biopsy, he better just end the appointment.

"I apologize for the interruption, Mr. Bailey," Wilson said, standing up. "I think we're pretty much done for today anyway… just make sure you see the nurse on the way out for your pre-surgery instructions."

"Thanks very much, Dr. Wilson," Mr. Bailey said as he stood, gratefully shaking Wilson's hand. Mr. Bailey stopped to look at House as he left, and said "You know, you should really knock before you come into someone's office."

"Oh, my humblest apologies," House pseudo-groveled in an English accent, while performing a dramatic genuflect from his position on the couch.

"Is he another patient?" Mr. Bailey asked Wilson quietly as he walked out the door, but not so quietly that he wasn't heard by House.

"He's going to be very soon if he doesn't watch himself," Wilson answered snidely, and House chuckled a little in spite of himself.

"Now, you have my undivided attention, your highness," Wilson announced to House as he closed the door sat back down at his desk. "I have to be down in the Ped.'s ward to see a patient in 20 minutes, so whatever it is you want, make it snappy."

"Where's Cuddy?" House asked almost too casually, popping open his vicodin bottle and dry-swallowing a couple of pills.

"She's at home resting," Wilson offered, feigning nonchalance as inadequately as House.

"Why does she need a day off?" House pushed, searching Wilson's face for signs of hesitation. "Is she really sick enough to need a day off, or did she pass it along to the rugrat?"

"It was a pretty severe case of gastroenteritis, House, and she was dehydrated enough to need I.V. fluids for a couple of hours," Wilson answered, hoping that his lie wasn't showing on his face.

"You said that she'd been sick for pretty much the whole week, though," House countered. "Since when does gastroenteritis last for that long?"

"It doesn't, usually… but you know how those viruses are," Wilson said vaguely, putting some books away on his bookshelf. "Always mutating. And they get better when you rest, and like Cuddy ever gets enough rest between taking care of Rachel and running this place and babysitting you."

"Oh, so now her tummy bug is my fault. How will I ever live with myself!" House said sarcastically as he grasped his heart and looked toward the ceiling. "Maybe I should make a house call so I can bring her some saltines and Jell-O."

"No!" Wilson said much too loudly as he turned around to face House again. "I mean, just leave the poor woman in peace to recuperate. I'm sure her nanny can run to the store for her if she needs anything."

"Huh," House said thoughtfully, cocking his head to one side. "If I didn't know better, Jimmy, I'd think you were really trying to keep me away from Cuddy right now."

"I am really trying to keep you away from Cuddy right now," Wilson retorted automatically. "She needs to de-stress so she can get better. And even if you mean well, which I seriously doubt, you cause her stress. So give her some space, ok?"

House thought for a moment. His instincts told him that Wilson was indeed trying to look out for their boss, but that he was withholding a crucial piece of the never-ending puzzle that was Cuddy. House decided, though, that he would get further in his quest for the pieces to said puzzle if Wilson thought his answers had satisfied him.

"You got it," House answered curtly as he got up off of the couch. "I guess I can go three whole days without Little Miss Sunshine harassing me about clinic duty."

"You going to lunch soon?" Wilson asked, attempting to change the subject.

"Yeah," House said as he walked toward the door. "I'll see ya 'round the watering hole."

House, however, had no intention of heading down to the cafeteria in the immediate future. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve. While he hoped that Cameron was in the mood for a friendly and revealing chat with her former boss, he decided to play the safer route first and track down a few of the student nurses who had been working in the ER when Cuddy came down with the "flu."