In the Hues of a Life

(10/10)

M

Synopsis: An exploration of Cuddy's side of House's recovery and hallucinations.

A/N: Last chapter! I totally had one of those crap, it's over moments when I got to the last paragraph. However, I like the ending. I hope you do too. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!

Chapter 10

6:42 P.M. "Dr. Cuddy…and House." Drew Billingsly frowned as they entered the boardroom together. Cuddy lowered her eyes. She didn't want the entire board to know she had been crying, let alone fighting with House. She could practically feel House's anxiety and agitation next to her, so she continued to focus on the dotted, white spots across the black marble table. She wanted anything but his certainty right now. Drew studied them a moment longer and then spoke gingerly, "Thank you for joining us under the circumstances."

"Can we pop this out?" House snapped. "We have a patient."

"Certainly. I understand that you two went against Minors orders for the treatment of your daughter, Dr. Cuddy." Elliot Minors sat at the foot of the table, a solemn expression on his face that didn't match the gleam in his eye.

Cuddy's head shot up, revealing red-rimmed eyes and deep maternal anger. "His orders were not in the best interest of the patient. My daughter….the patient has…."

She swayed faintly, the air in the room unreachable. At that moment, she knew House was right. It was Lupus.

House took her hand, a tender gesture that confirmed what was had been gossip, speculation, and rumor for the past year. He looked at each board member, his eyes and voice frighteningly clinical as he continued to grip Cuddy's hand. "Rachel Cuddy has been diagnosed with Lupus. We have started her on the N-SAIDS, but we need to run more tests for the steroid treatment, and this, good doctors of the board, is wasting our time."

"Minors, you were going to send a Lupus patient to the clinic?" Billingsly took off his glasses and put them on the table.

Minors face deepened to a rich plum. "At the time, her symptoms were those of the common flu—"

"House is the expert, not you," Billingsly cut him off. "His call takes precedence, especially when it concerns the child of one of our most valued administrators."

"What?"

"We're letting you go, Elliot," Billingsly said simply. "It's already been decided by a quorum vote."

"This farce has gone on long enough. I propose Dr. Cuddy be reinstated as the dean of medicine immediately," Wilson spoke quickly, flashing a small smile at his friends across the room.

Minors stood up, short and irate. "So you're just throwing the death of a young intern under the rug? Forgetting that Cuddy lied, protected a drug addict, and allowed him to remain in employment here?!"

Cuddy leaned against House, the irony not lost on her that he was holding her up now. "None of us took that young woman's death lightly. But it's become clear that you are incapable of separating your personal grudges from professional ethics. In the last year, not only has Dr. Cuddy managed to convince me that she and Dr. House work well together; but I believe House's continued sobriety has been a direct result of Cuddy and Wilson's intervention. An unfortunate tragedy occurred. A life was lost. But in the middle of it, a life was saved. I want to continue saving lives. I second that motion."

"Unbelievable. This isn't a bureaucracy; this is a sick joke!" Minors screamed, slamming his hand down on the marble. He turned to House and Cuddy. "At least there's karma. I'm glad I was wrong about your kid."

Before Cuddy could react, House dropped her hand and slammed his fist into Minors' face.

"Get security in here. I want Minors escorted out," Billingsly ordered in to the speakerphone.

Minors curled on the floor, wheezing as he recovered. He glared at Cuddy as security lifted him off the ground. "You finally got what you wanted. Too bad you're going to be miserable for the rest of your life."

"Elliot, if you do not leave the premises now, I will throw you out myself," Billingsly said icily.

"Go to Hell. All of you." And with two jerks and hard shove, he was gone.

Unrushed, Billingsly sat down and adjusted his glasses. "All in favor—"

Before he could finish, a dozen right hands shot up in the air unanimously.

"Wait." Cuddy stepped out of House's protective shadow. "You have no idea how deeply grateful I am, but right now, my daughter needs me. I don't think I'll be able to run the hospital the way you need. I'm afraid I can't accept."

Hands dropped slowly, but House stepped back behind her.

"Wait. She needs a day to think about it."

"House," Cuddy turned around and glared at him.

"You need a day," he said to her quietly.

She gritted her teeth. "Don't speak for me."

House lowered his voice and invaded her space. "I'm still your boss. You love this job."

She hated that he was right.

As they stood at a stalemate, Billingsly took the opportunity to move. "In this one and only instance, we'll go with Dr. House's recommendation. Go be with your daughter, Dr. Cuddy. We'll see you tomorrow."

7:30 P.M. "I can't believe you did that." Cuddy slammed through the glass doors of his office. She couldn't think straight. She wished she had hit Minors herself. But nothing made sense now: not her, not House, not anything that made up her semi-hopeful life. She was seeing red, the shades of a normal life destroyed by an overwhelming sense of helplessness.

Her life was medicine. But never had she dealt with illness head on like this.

"Hey."

"What?!" She jerked as his hands came down around her shoulders.

Treading lightly, he pulled her slowly against him, whispering into her ear, "We caught it early. And she's a tough, gnarly, little midget."

"I just…. " She leaned into him, letting him hold her briefly. "As awful as that man was, I wish Minors had been right."

8:00 P.M. "The new meds have knocked her out. Once we get her regulated, you can take her home," Thirteen said softly as Rachel slept.

"Thanks, Thirteen." Cuddy forced a smile. The younger doctor left quickly, the tension palpable and uncomfortable between House and Cuddy.

"Go home. Get some sleep," Cuddy said without looking at him.

She waited for the door to shut. Instead, the dragging chair came once again, and he planted it beside her. "Just because you're going to be my boss again doesn't mean I'm gonna do what you say."

She stared at him dumbly. "I need…I need a drink."

House smiled. "I can help with that."

11:15 P.M. Wilson stopped in House's office, catching a shadow sitting on the balcony. He pushed on the outside door and looked down. "House, I just wanted to—" Wilson stopped abruptly as he saw another shadow moving across the ground.

"Shh…" House whispered, fascinated by the movement. Cuddy was dancing with a silver flask in her hand. Stripped down to her slip, she moved with total abandon, lost to the darkness of the sky.

"Is she high?"

"Drunk," House whispered, his eyes not leaving Cuddy.

Wilson nodded, stepping back out of the moonlight. "She's had quite a day."

"Yeah. Thought I'd give her a little memory loss before tomorrow."

"I'll check on Rachel later," Wilson said quickly, embarrassed he had invaded such an intimate moment.

"Yeah." House nodded, his features dark and unreadable.

"You wanna dance, Wilson?" Cuddy called out just before he slipped back into the office.

"And that's my cue." Wilson vanished.

"I'm gonna have to buy chains," House growled as she teetered towards him. "C'mere."

She fell down on his lap, straddling him. "Dirty."

She pressed the bourbon to his lips, and he drank slowly.

"Hey." He pushed the flask away and cradled her wobbly face.

"You talkin' to me?" She smiled and rolled her hips into his.

He stilled her and made her look at him. Her eyes were glassy, fragile with booze and fear. He took a deep breath and said sincerely, "It's…. going to be okay."

She looked down, fidgeting with the creases in his t-shirt. "You're freakin' me out."

"We can do this." She shook her head, not hearing his words clearly.

"I can't. There's no way I'll be able to do it all. She's too little; she'll need constant care. My hours here are unpredictable sometimes—"

"So we'll figure out a schedule. You do mornings, Anna can cover the middle of the day, and I'll get the evenings when you're stuck in ridiculous, mind numbing meetings at the hospital."

"You?" She held her breath. Tolerating a little girl because he…cared about her was one thing, but caring for a sick child day in and day out? He could hardly take care of himself sometimes.

"I have taken a pill or two in my day," House said stoically. "I know the pros and cons. What to do, what not to do. What to look out for when things get…hairy. I'll keep her safe. Besides, what's the point in having a team if I can't delegate authority and get out of work early?"

"You love me."

"You're drunk."

"You do."

"Stop thinking. Or keep thinking. I don't really care. It's all an evil plot for sex anyway." House jutted his chin out stubbornly.

"Shut up." She slapped his chest and proceeded to wrap her arms around his neck.

"I think they put it in the new hospital bylaws. House and Cuddy are institution." House grinned and ran his hands down her back.

"I'll break up with you anytime I want, you ass." She leaned into him, her eyes closing with comfort and alcohol.

"No, you won't." He kissed her into her dreams, softly, with deep, unspoken love.

5 months later

Cuddy parked her car, grabbed her briefcase, and clicked her heels on the brick sidewalk leading up to her door. She stopped outside of her living room window, catching House and Rachel on the sofa unawares.

"Oh, dat's HOT!" Rachel hid her face in House's side as he put the last heating pad on her right knee.

"Too hot?" House lifted the pad a little, taking the pressure off her pink polka-dot pajamas.

"No," Rachel said pointedly and swallowed. She smiled for House. "It'd make de bad bones all better."

House put his arm around her lazily. "That's what I like to hear, Rach: denial. It's the most effective way to forget you're completely miserable."

"You warm your bad bone too?" Rachel lifted the hot heating pad and put on House's bad leg. "Go away, bad leg, go away," Rachel whispered and then looked at him pointedly.

House rolled his eyes but succumbed to the idea, as he usually did with her. Cuddy smiled to herself. "Why not. Go away, bad bones," he spoke to Rachel's knobby knees.

Rachel waited, and for a second, House thought something magical might happen. She sighed and looked at him. "It don't listen. It ugly."

"Yeah, I won't be sporting Speedos anytime soon."

Rachel touched the side of his face affectionately. "But you not ugly. Me and Mama love you a lot."

"Sorry I'm late!" Cuddy breezed through the living room, her cheeks rosy and cold from the outside air. "What is this? Spa night with the girls?"

House guffawed and held out his hand for her. She dropped her briefcase and flew across the room, kissing Rachel on the forehead. She leaned up and met House's waiting lips. He pulled her possessively into his lap.

"Rachel was having some joint pain." Rachel yawned and leaned her head against House's arm.

"No fever? You give her Prednisone?" Cuddy leaned forward and looked at Rachel's drowsy eyes.

"Yes."

"Antimalarial? Plaquenil?"

"Cuddy, yes."

"Ibuprofen?"

"You put her pills out a month in advance." House wrapped his arms around her, pulling her more securely against him. "We're good here."

"Yeah, we good," Rachel mumbled as she fought to stay awake. "Shhh, Mama. Me and House watchin' cartoons."

Cuddy nodded, allowing the discussion to end as the bright animation of the characters flooded her senses. She watched the bird and the wolf chase each other, seemingly going nowhere but back together. She felt his eyes upon her; she turned and looked at him, seeing bright blue promises, eyes filled with nothing but time and love. The vibrant light from the TV continued to dance across the sofa, hiding Rachel's pale, tired features, coloring her with shades of red, green, and yellow. Cuddy sighed against House's chest, closed her eyes, and dreamt of their brilliant hues.

THE END