Chapter 5 - Mnemonics
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Cuddy had avoided House's room as much as she could in the last few days.
She keeps taking information about her special patient, but she's not at ease with him. Or better she's not at ease with herself with this new (or better "old") House.
She feels vulnerable, and she isn't going to let her past feelings coming back. That ship sailed long ago.
She closes her eyes on that thought.
... That ship sailed long ago. Get over it...
...If your still referring to your ass, I think that supertanker sailed would be the more precise metaphor ...
She shakes her head, watching the images on the patient's folder on her desk and trying to focus on Wilson and Foreman's voices as they discuss about the proper therapy for the patient.
Why does everything in the last few days give her flash-backs?
Fuck him.
Their relationship had been a continue teasing for years... He teased her in all the possible shades of the word... he made fun of her, annoyed her, tantalized her and, in a way, he flirted with her even. Now everything sounds different.
She knows she should give little thought to the words of a man who had a bad head trauma, and yet her mind doesn't want to cooperate.
It's like meeting him again after a lot of years. Something it already happened once, honestly. But this time, instead of a girlfriend, there's a head trauma between them. She can't obviously forget the first time he entered her office, almost ten years before... the same piercing eyes, and a stubble which made him even sexier, if it was somehow possible. The most difficult job interview of her full career as Dean of Medicine and Hospital Administrator.
Due to their reversed roles, she's almost sure it had been even House's most difficult job interview. She had welcomed him, from behind her desk, with a polite and formal 'Nice to meet you again Dr. House' and for a second he had just stared at her, then at the desk, and again into her eyes, then replying with an as much formal 'Dr. Cuddy'.
One second. He had just stared at her desk for ONE second. And yet she could have bet on what had crossed his mind on that second.
But, anyway, from there on, they had been Dr. House and Dr. Cuddy. Just House and Cuddy. Nothing more.
Cuddy's eyes stare at the desk and the tip of her fingers lightly caress the smooth surface. It isn't her old desk, but she can remember it. Hard-wood, simpler and darker... it's probably still somewhere at her mother's.
A piece of her history. It has a lot to tell.
# "Er... 8th cranial nerve... Acoustic! Sensitive nerve. It contains sensory nerve fibers relating tohearing and sense of balance. It emerges from the pons. The 9th one... Glossopharyngeal. Both sensitive and motor nerve. Throat sensation, taste, speech, swallowing movements and secretion of saliva... Again, from the pons.10th..."
She closes her eyes as she tips the middle finger on her lower lip in the attempt to remember the tenth cranial nerve."Tenth...vagus... motor and sensitive nerve right from medulla oblongota. Eleventh...Eleventh?"She taps her ring finger on her lip one, twice...and a third time, then letting out an exasperated groan as the pencil in her left hand rolls along the block-notes, the wooden surface of the desk and then falls on the carpet.
"Fuck!"
And fuck all those weird technical terms! A mess of words coming from Latin And Ancient Greek! Why couldn't they just call it 'tongue-nerve' instead of that 'glosso-glossal-something'! One moment she remembers all the twelve of them together with every single vessel and every single hole in the damned human body, and a second later they're just a mess of bones and meat!
"I can't do it!"
She kicks the trash can under the desk, which vomits paper balls all around, she stretches out on the chair and reclines her head in exasperation.
"A GIRL'S VAGINA, AH HEAVEN!"
Cuddy almost falls from the chair as she meets House's look. She immediately crosses her legs and composes herself on the chair, realizing he isn't obviously referring to her vagina since she's wearing a pair of jeans, which doesn't reveal an inch of her skin.
"Acoustic, Glossopharyngeal, Vagus, Accessory, Hypoglossal" He says staring into her eyes with a teasing look "A Girl's Vagina, Ah Heaven" he repeats as she rolls her eyes.
"Do you know just smutty mnemonics?" She asks feigning indignation, then catching the notebook he throws her.
He doesn't reply and just gives her a mischievous look and a smirk before leaving. #
" Cuddy?"
Cuddy looks up meeting both Foreman and Wilson's stare, realizing just in that moment that their voices had become just a humming in the background of her thoughts.
"Uhm... yeah..." she just says as the two doctors glance at each other, then looking down again at the MRI on her desk.
"What would House do?" She asks, more at herself than at the two doctors in front of her.
"You know what he'd do, Cuddy" Wilson answers, not meeting her eyes, still fixed on the tumor clearly visible on the MRI
"He'd probably go for surgery" She says nodding, again not looking up from the folder on her desk.
31 years old female patient affected by type 2 neurofibromatosis, typically characterized by multiple tumors. A past diagnosis of meningioma, a slow-growing benign tumor that led her to blindness years earlier. And now a clear diagnosis of multiple tumors of cranial nerves, 8th and 12th cranial nerve, vestibularcochlear nerve and hypoglossal nerve. The first one is going to lead her to hearing loss and the second one to tongue paralysis, which means dysarthria and speech impairment.
"Surgery is invasive but radical" Foreman adds in his plain tone "Better odds of success. It's the best option she has".
Cuddy looks up at him with a perplexed look.
"And yet you're here asking for my opinion," she saiys in a sharp tone "and authorization" she makes it clear.
"Just because the patient refuses surgery" Foreman replies with a cocky tone.
Cuddy stares back at the neurologist, not looking at Wilson but catching sight of him in her peripheral vision as he moves the weight of his body from one leg to the other one, in a clear sign of discomfort and embarrassment. It's not the same kind of tension the oncologist was used to during the common argues between she and House.
"Because surgery can leave her deaf and dumb, Dr. Foreman, or better, deaf-mute and blind" Cuddy highlights, not hiding the shade of irritation in her voice.
"Radiotherapy is definitely the best choice" she says firmly "Let give her a chance" She adds, looking at Foreman as he bows his head in disappointment, then nodding and silently leaving the office. Wilson follows him, but he hesitates a moment before exiting. He turns to Cuddy, his hand on the handle.
"Would you have given the same answer to House?" Wilson asks giving her a mischievous look.
"Mind your tongue, Wilson" she replies in a serious tone, but not holding back a half smile, which makes her eyes shining.
"I'm not the only one who has to watch the tongue lately " he says with a smugly and teasing smile that is a clear sexual reference to her relationship with House.
Cuddy's mouth opened in disbelief and for a moment she gives him a look which is a silent 'you're a dead man, Wilson'. Instead she shakes her head and she lets out a chuckle.
"It's not your business where I put my tongue, James" She says with a piercing but amused look.
Wilson smiles and raises a hand in an apologizing gesture.
"Fine, I'll mind my hypoglossal nerve then" he says with a laugh then turning to leave as Cuddy smiles in turn.
Her eyes fix the closed door and she can't help but biting her lower lip.
...the hypoglossal nerve…
# That night she can't study anymore. Probably she should go for a full review, but she really can't. She needs to distract herself or she's gonna drive crazy. It doesn't matter if her anatomy test is in a few hours, her mind is really going to explode if she tries to put another data into it.
There's a party on the other side of the campus. Maybe music and a beer can help her to relax. She puts on the first pair of clean leggings she finds in her closet and a t-shirt which reveals her navel and one of her shoulder. She has no time to lose for an elaborate outfit. She puts on golden rings on her ears and a pair of white sneakers and exits her room, not bothering about closing the book on her desk either. Now she needs to take a break, later she's surely going to study till morning to soothe pangs of conscience.
She sits on a bar stool and orders a beer taking a sip directly from the bottle and closing her eyes on the music, which is loud enough to cover the twirling of thoughts in her mind.
"Don't you have a test tomorrow?"
A shiver runs along Cuddy's spine as the warmth of House's breath hits the lobe of her ear. His face is an inch from hers, and she can feel it, the strong sensation which pervade her body every time he's near her.
"That's exactly why I'm here" she replies with a shrug still looking in front of herself.
He doesn't look away at her attempt to ignore him, and instead he takes the bottle of beer from her hand taking in turn a sip. She turns to him this time, giving him an annoyed look.
"Stop stealing my stuff, Greg. Did you steal my notebook from my backpack too? She asks, referring to the notes he returned her on that afternoon. Notes from their Endocrinology class. Well, "theirs" is an overrating... honestly it's 'his' Endocrinology class, as for 'her' thyroid is still just a gland on the front of the neck, which has two lobes connected by a bridge (called isthmus) in the middle.
"Your handwriting is better than mine" he just replies, taking another sip with a smirk as one corner of her lips curls up.
They laugh, take another beer then join a group of common friends. They're not together at the party and for a while they lose sight of each other. They meets again later on the dance floor. She's casually (or not) near him when the lights on the room turn down, and the music turns in a soft one. The first notes of 'Time after Time' fills the room and they exchange a half uncomfortable half conspiratorial look.
His hand finds her flank and hers his shoulder as they approach each other. Their bodies are close and she can feel the warmth of his body as they move to the music. She's almost mesmerized by the piercing blue of his eyes.
When he bends down on her, approaching his mouth to her ear, she thinks he's going to tell her something. She's unprepared when his lips touch her skin instead. His lips stay there, in a little spot behind her ear and kiss her skin, then moving down along her neck.
She gasps, taken by surprise, and hides her face against his chest in an attempt to prevent herself from moaning. She doesn't succeed though. She can feel his smirk even if she can't see it and he sucks on the same spot giving her a shiver which reaches her lady parts.
His mouth lightly moves on her skin from her neck to her cheek, then finding her lips. He stops there for a moment, just savouring the touch and the warmth of her breath. When his tongue slowly finds its way through her lips she literally stops breathing, letting go at that overwhelming sensation. It's slow and tender and sweet, and when he deepens it, she really stops thinking. Her arms moves behind his neck and his hand finds the back of her head deepening the kiss even more. And yet it's not rough or rushed, but profound and intense in such a way that it is enough to make her legs feel weak.
From time to time he moves apart from her, just to meet her again a second later, enough for taking a breath without breaking the spell.
She loses track of time but honestly there's not another place she wants to be right now. 'Time after time' gives way to 'True Colors" and Cindy Lauper's notes can't be more fitting...
'I see your true colors
And that's why I love you'
Gregory House is definitely the most interesting and enigmatic boy she's met. He's annoying, exasperating, irritating and draining sometimes, but funny and stimulating and exciting, well...both for her mind and body.
Insolent and arrogant at a first sight, but intriguing and interesting. And in his original and eccentric way he's there when she needs him... That's why she's so attracted by him.
As the music changes in something more dynamics, House eyes meets hers, and a smile plays on his lips. He bends down to place another soft kiss on the side of her neck and he whispers in her ear this time.
A second later they're leaving the party.
Her room is dark and silent when they enter and there's a little paper on the top of her open books. A note from her roommate which says not to wait for her on that night.
"Sound like we can take things slowly," House says with a smirk "but maybe you want to study" he adds getting a glimpse at the piled books on her desk and at the amount of notes scribbled on every paper sheet.
"Cranial nerves again? Really?" He says again, taking the paper on the top to give a better look and rolling his eyes, before she can reply at the first question.
"You should better really go for a review tonight" He says before she can answer at those questions, then heading to the door.
She just stays there, immobile. She should say something, but her throat can't cooperate, and she just looks at House's back and at his hand as it moves toward the handle.
She hears the sound of the key which turns in the lock, but her brain doesn't register it, so she's taken by surprise when he doesn't leave, but turns to her again instead, finding the back of her neck and pulling her toward him as his tongue searches hers hungrily.
It's a voracious and ravenous kiss, but skilled and expert in such a way that it makes her body burning and just wanting to have more of it... and of him.
His free hand finds her buttock, pulling her even closer. If she still has some doubts that's he's going to leave, they all vanish at the feeling of his full erection against her.
He pulls her T-shirt over her head and takes off his own, then moving her toward the desk till her ass touches the edge of it and his knee insinuates between her legs, slowly parting them. His mouth doesn't leave hers and the contact with both his tongue and bare chest is enough to make her moan louder. He lifts her, sitting her on the top of the desk, ignoring the papers which fall all around and the thud of the heavy book which falls face-down on the carpet.
A minute later the Netter's Atlas of Human Anatomy on the floor has the company of two pairs of sneakers, a pair of leggings and a white bra which not matches the light blue panties near it. If she'd thought the night was going to have that kind of ending, she'd be wearing matching panties, but on that moment none of them bother about it.
She's lying down on the top of her desk, completely naked. Her legs wrapped around House's pelvis as he still wears his jeans.
"So? Do you want a review, Lisa?" He teasingly whispers on her navel, looking up at her with a mischievous look as she gives him a questioning glance instead.
His lips trace the line from her belly to her sternum, slowing on the space between her breasts and going up, till her neck and chin. He doesn't meet her lips though and instead he moves on her neck and behind her ear, inhaling her scent.
"Olfactory nerve," he whispers "You really smell good "
He moves to meet her eyes. They close at the sensation of his body which brushes against hers, then open again, as her dilated pupils try to focus him.
"Fuck, I like when you roll your eyes like this" He groans, brushing his lips on her eyelashes and purposely brushing even his groin against hers . "Which nerves?" He teases her.
She can't help but moan and he repeat his question as she open her eyes this time.
"Optic... oculomotor ... throclear. And abducens."
He replies with a 'good girl', then moving on her forehead and down to her cheek. He sucks on her lobe and the muscles of her face contract in pleasure. She named one by one the nerves from 5th to 8th, then moaning again as he moves down from her throat to her breast, sucking on her nipple.
She gasps and swallows and gasps again enable to articulate a clear sound.
"Looks like your glossopharyngeal and vagus nerve don't work properly" he says in a teasing tone as she opens her eyes meeting his smirk.
He sucks harder on her nipple and her head tilts back as her shoulder stiffen and her back arches.
"Accessory nerve" she moans, not wanting to give up at the game he's begun.
His lips curl up in a smile this time and they move on hers. He looks into her eyes with a conspiratorial gaze, as he finds her tongue.
"Hypoglossal. It's always been one of my favorite" #
"If I didn't know you, I'd think you're avoiding me"
Cuddy gives a start at House's voice and half the papers on her hand falls on the ground. He hasn't lost his habit of entering her office without knocking, and now he stands right in front of her desk, just holding the pole of his drip, instead of his cane.
"Oh my God," Cuddy exclaims, as her eyes move from House's naked feet and legs to his hospital gown, quickly standing up and approaching him as he picks up one of the sheets she just dropped "Are you out of mind?"
"Well, actually it's the reason I'm still here, doc" he replies in a teasing tone as Cuddy puts a hand on his chest and the other one on his biceps like if she's afraid he's going to collapse at any moment. Not that she has any chance to succeed in supporting him anyway, if that's going to happen.
"Don't try to check my pupils again, Lisa," he adds as she stares at him with a worried look "or I'm gonna check yours" he says with a teasing and mischievous tone as one of the corner of his lips curls up.
Score for him! She's clearly conscious her pupils are probably dilated and she can still feel the warmth of pleasure the previous memories left on her cheeks and, down till her lady parts. He undoubtedly is an amnesic man, but for sure his observation skill is still there. And she has a hard time not to blush even more.
"You should be in bed, House"
"This guy too, due to this MRI" He says, ignoring her worried tone, looking seriously at the spots on it.
"No way" she replies, taking that MRI from his hand "And you need to lie down"
House ignores her, nothing surprising to be honest, and he just stands there, looking at a fixed point in front of himself, like if he's having a flash back or if he's trying to remember something.
He stands there, inhaling the captivating perfume permeating her office, in the dim light coming from the half closed shutters...
… That same perfume... that same dim light...
House's peripheral nerves send data to his brain.
… A clear image of Lisa in a red blouse and a wide knee-length black skirt... she's bent down on the desk, leaning on it... her skirt is lifted up, showing the clear skin of her naked butt cheek...
"Have we ever had sex in here?" House asks out of the blue as his eyes move to look at her.
Cuddy's eyes widen at first, then she just shakes her head, meeting his perplexed look. In another moment she would be mad, or at least irritated by that question... right now she would pay to know what is in his mind instead.
House nods, still looking in front of himself with a serious look, concentrated in deep thoughts, or maybe just trying again to recall something.
And yet he can remember the two of them in that same office. But it's not a full memory... just fragments of it... He remembers Lisa as she bends down against the desk. From the view he knows he's standing behind her. She lifts her skirt and... his hand touches her ass or...her hip... er... he can't tell honestly... It's blurred... he can't remember anything else...
House gives her a half thoughtful and half sad look, then staring in front of himself again. Then he shakes his head, turning to meet Cuddy's eyes again. Maybe it's not a memory, but just a sex dream. Surely he has always been a soft spot for her ass. A whatever but soft spot to be honest.
"C'mon, let's get you back to bed" Cuddy says, wrapping an arm around his back and pulling his arm around her own neck and over her shoulder, as he just gives her a piercing look, then, incredibly, obeying without a fight.
He lets her supporting him, slowly walking toward the elevator, ignoring (or not) the look Nurse Jeffrey gives him as they pass through the hospital hall.
"Do you want to get me in bed too?" House says out loud, in a sarcastic and mocking tone, staring at Nurse Jeffrey as he glares at him.
"I see you haven't lost your good habits," Cuddy replies in what had to sound as a reproach, but without success, as she can't restrain herself from smiling.
House bends down toward her as they reach the elevator door.
"I'd like to get YOU in bed instead" he whispers in her ear with a mischievous tone and look, as she feigns to ignore him, still looking in front at herself at the still closed doors.
"Shut up, House" She replies, not looking at him, in what sounds like a serious tone as instead he can catch sight of her amused look, mirrored on the metallic door of the elevator.
The corners of his lips curl up and hers follow a second later.