Disclaimer : I dont own anything except the storyline.

Im only posting the 초 chapter so quickly on here because it's already done and up on ff.net.
Dont expect another chapter quite so quickly, but it's in the works. I've already written scenes for five chapters ahead :)
Enjoy!


House hated being sick.

As he raised his head from the pillow, the tiny, newborn headache he had felt yesterday evening came roaring back into his skull as a full blown, throbbing adult headache. House slumped back down onto his bed, and was suddenly overcome with a strong wave of nausea. He groaned, and as the sick feeling intensified, he scrambled out of bed, not even bothering to pick up his cane from where it was propped up 의해 his bedside table. He stumbled quickly out of his bedroom and almost collapsed into the bathroom and to the toilet, where he promptly threw up.

Once the nausea had subsided, he slumped back against the 벽 and looked at his watch. The LED display incessantly blinked 6:23 back at him, and he scowled at it.

House really hated being sick.


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Cuddy glanced over at the clock as she got out of the shower, and, satisfied with the way her morning was going so far, she allowed herself to simply sit and drink her cup of 차 while feeding Rachel for a couple of minutes. She had about an 시간 to get to the hospital, and she already had everything prepared she would need that day. Her mind drifted off to her tasks she had to do – a lunchtime meeting with a potential donor, a couple of issues she needed to clear up around the hospital and the weekly Board meeting. All in all, Cuddy felt her 일 was going to be good. All these things she could do half asleep and with one hand tied behind her back, and she knew it.


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"House?" Wilson spoke into the phone, surprised at receiving a call from his friend.

"Don't sound so shocked Wilson, I call 당신 all the time."

"Yes, but not at quarter to seven in the morning! Are 당신 sick 또는 something?" Wilson smirked to himself at his joke as he selected what tie to wear that day.

"Yup." Wilson paused, his hand hovering over a new mauve tie.

"Seriously? What did 당신 do?"

"Why must 당신 assume it's always my fault? I'm actually sick, a genuine illness, not a self inflicted injury. It's just gonna be one of the 24 시간 ones, but I have a killer headache and I've already thrown up three times today, so I'm just ringing to tell 당신 to pass on the message I'm actually sick to the she-devil when she come sniffing, and not to come knocking round here."

Wilson could hear the weariness in House's voice, and could tell he was genuine, despite the usual Housian sarcastic comments.

"OK House. I'll tell Cuddy when I see her. Why don't 당신 just call her though?"

"Are 당신 kidding? Hearing the high pitched screeching of the devils daughter is the last thing I need right now to ease the nausea. In fact, bathroom trip number four is going to be happening any sec-" Wilson heard a crash and then the dial tone echoed in his ear, and he flipped the phone shut with a sigh. He looked back towards his ties, and pulled out the mauve one. As he put it on, he wondered if Cuddy would actually believe House was sick. He remembered the time when House was consulting with the CIA and she hadn't believed it, as it was so unlikely. House skiving off work was in itself so usual it was practically insignificant, but Cuddy always demanded a reason, and House actually being sick would definitely not sound likely to Cuddy's ears.


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Cuddy breezed back into her office after exiting the conference room. Her 일 had gone so smoothly it felt almost too good to be true – she even had had time to call the nanny and have a decent conversation about how Rachel was doing that day. She sat down behind her 책상, 데스크 and looked at her 메시지함 – only a few papers lay there needing her attention, and she pulled them out and onto her desk. A few signatures later and she was done, and she sat back in her chair, leaning over to place the forms in her outbox.

She glanced towards her clock, and seeing it was almost now late afternoon, her mind whizzed back over the 일 to double check anything she may have missed around the hospital. As she thought, one issue popped into her mind, as it normally did every time she thought about goings-on at the hospital. House. No sightings of him all day, and she had had too good a 일 to escape House's notice and for him to seize an opportunity to ruin it. She normally saw him at least once a day, whether it was limping down a corridor with his team, sleeping in the clinic, 또는 bursting into her office. This silence was unusual, and remembering she had seen Wilson earlier talking to a patient, she got up and made her way out of her office to pay the fourth floor a visit.


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Wilson was at his 책상, 데스크 filling in a patient discharge form when somebody knocked on his door, and opened it without waiting for an answer. Without looking up he knew it would be Cuddy – only two people in the hospital would come into his office without waiting for approval, and one of them didn't even have the decency to knock first. Looking up, he saw Cuddy shutting the door behind her, and he surmised she did have the right to come in when she pleased. It was her hospital, after all.

"Hey. 당신 alright?" Wilson knew what Cuddy would be here for, but thought a few pleasantries wouldn't go amiss.

"Where is House?" Wilson sighed, and sat back in his chair. Apparently not.

"I just walked 의해 his office and none of the team are there apart from Thirteen, and she told me nobody has seen House all day, and they have a case waiting for him. Where is he?"

"He's out sick." Cuddy raised her eyebrows at him, and Wilson raised his right back. "Honestly! He called me this morning to tell me, and ended the call 의해 practically falling into the bathroom to be sick."

"Right, I haven't heard that one before. Honestly, I'll believe it when I see it. Where is he?" Wilson replied 의해 digging in his 코트 pocket to retrieve his keys, and unhooked one of them to hand it to Cuddy.

"What's this?" She enquired, taking the key and examining it.

"House's apartment key. 당신 said 당신 wanted to see it to believe it, so off 당신 go." Wilson grinned at her, and Cuddy gave him a half hearted grin in return.

"You do realise 당신 can't call my bluff on this. I will go over there, and if he is there with some hooker 또는 two 또는 ten bottles of scotch, both your heads will be on the line." Wilson shrugged, confident for once that House was indeed in the right. Cuddy turned to the door and opened it, but looked back at him.

"Last chance to confess?" She jokingly enquired, and Wilson laughed and gestured her on. Cuddy rolled her eyes at him and shut the door behind her. As she walked over to the elevator and pressed the button, she looked at the key she held. She wasn't joking when she told Wilson she would check up on House – she was determined to catch him out for once. As the doors opened and a couple of people walked out, she got in and pressed the button for the ground floor, trying to ignore the part of her that said she was going over to his apartment to comfort him if he was actually sick.


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Cuddy let herself into the darkened apartment, stashing Wilson's key safely in her jeans pocket. She had gone 집 to change after leaving the hospital, wanting the comfort of denim and cotton for once, rather than her tight work clothes. She looked around curiously, scanning for any signs of life, 또는 a clue to what House was doing. She took off her 코트 and slipped her bag from her shoulder, heading to place them on the coffee table, and as she rounded the sofa, she was greeted with a sight she had seen countless times before, but never quite like this.

House was asleep. He was curled onto the sofa under a blanket, his breaths slow and steady but a little scratchy. His face showed discomfort even in his sleep, and she could see now that Wilson hadn't been kidding - House was actually having a sick day, rather than a "hooker" 일 또는 a "vicodin" day. She gently placed her stuff down on the 표, 테이블 and headed towards the 부엌, 주방 to make him a glass of water. As she filled the glass, she was struck 의해 the irony of the situation. Here she was, making House a drink. The coffee he had left her last week had gone unmentioned 의해 the both of them, and they had gone about their daily interactions as normal. Cuddy shut off the tap and studied the glass of water, knowing it was stupid to be thinking like this. It was a coffee, not a proposal. It was such a small gesture, but somehow it had made a difference to her. Mulling this over, she made her way back to the sofa and put the water down on the table.

She placed her hand on House's head, just at the side of his forehead. House grunted slightly, and turned his head into the warmth of her hand, shifting in his sleep. She smiled down at him, the childish side of her imagining whipping out her phone and taking a picture of him in this vulnerable position, then forwarding it to her entire phonebook. She pushed aside the urge and perched herself on the edge of the coffee table, while transferring her hand to House's shoulder.

"House?" She spoke his name loud enough to wake him, but soft and quiet enough not to startle him out of his sleep. His eyelids fluttered and he grunted quietly, and then his eyes fully opened and scanned the room blearily before coming to settle on her.

"Cuddy?" He said while sitting up slightly, his throat scratching, setting off a coughing fit. Cuddy picked up the glass of water and offered it to him, and he accepted it readily. She watched him drink down a couple of gulps and his chest stop juddering with coughs. He placed the glass back down 다음 to her, and he studied her for a couple of 초 before smirking slightly.

"You didn't believe I was actually sick, did you?" Cuddy sighed, and stood up. She gestured for House to 옮기기 his legs off the sofa so she could sit down 의해 him, and when he did, she flopped down on the sofa.

"No, I didn't. Happy?" House looked down at her with a half hearted grin. Even while he was huddled down on the sofa and sick, she was still smaller than him. For the first time that day, his mind focused on something other than how sick he felt for a second. He contemplated how such a powerful and confident woman could suddenly appear so petite and plain reachable in her jeans and soft 담홍색, 핑크 jumper, and if she was aware his headache had subsided a bit when he woke up and found her there, but he snapped back into the present a 초 later.

"Well I would be, but the fact I am really sick takes the edge of my joy a little bit." Cuddy looked up at him upon hearing his world-weary tone and smirked.

"You really have a high opinion of your little bug don't you? After all the exotic diseases and gross infections 당신 have come across in other people and offer them no sympathy, 당신 expect to be lavished with care when 당신 get a sniffle?" House gazed back at her for a second, but then grinned.

"You got me a glass of water. I think that counts as care, don't you?" He struggled not to laugh as her face changed into a defensive expression, and as she narrowed her eyes at him, a chuckle slipped out. This caused him to start coughing again, and Cuddy couldn't help reaching simultaneously for his shoulder and the glass of water to offer to him again. He swallowed it down, helping the coughs, and then glanced down at her hand which was subconsciously stroking his arm. He looked up at her and smiled.

"See?" Cuddy rolled her eyes at him and got up.

"I'm going to leave now." House just carried on grinning at her in a self-satisfied way, and she shook her head at him before picking up her 지갑 and coat. She turned and headed around the 침상, 소파 towards the door, but was halted 의해 House saying her name. She sighed, and turned back to him.

"What?"

He was twisted around on the sofa to peer over the back at her. "Can 당신 fetch me my cane? It's in the bedroom - I left it there this morning after a rather urgent trip to the bathroom." She studied his face for a 초 before putting her 지갑 and 코트 down on the floor and walking resignedly down the hall to his bedroom. She quickly located his cane leaning up near his bed, and turned to head back out again.

She paused in the doorway to glance around the room, her thoughts flying back briefly to that one night in med school. As she stood there, she felt again what she had about a week 이전 before the coffee incident, a small twist in her gut that came from the man waiting for her in the other room, and how frustrating he could be, leaving her coffee one 일 and being an 나귀, 엉덩이 the next, and also how they were here in a setting perfect for something, anything to happen, yet it never would. She turned and shut the door behind her, shutting the door on that part of her mind that sat and dreamt of things never to be.


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As House watched Cuddy re-enter his living room and hand him his cane, his mind suddenly dredged up Wilson's words from a week ago."You'd be surprised at what the small gestures can do." He watched her avoid his eyes and walk back over to pick up her bag and coat, and he found himself calling her name at her back for the 초 time in ten minutes. As she turned around to look at him, expecting a 코멘트 about how she was a idiotic sap for actually fetching him his cane, he made a 스플릿, 분할 초 decision, and what came out of his mouth surprised both him and Cuddy.

"Thanks."

Cuddy gazed back at him in utter confusion, before regaining control of her features and putting in place a smooth mask.

"You're welcome, House. See 당신 at work." House watched her turn and leave, softly shutting the door. He pushed himself up from the sofa, leaning heavily on his cane, and ignored the protest from his leg, head and stomach to limp over to the window. He watched Cuddy climb into her car, and pull away a 분 later. He watched the tail lights disappear round the corner, and thought to himself that Wilson's 조언 may have come through for once.


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"You're welcome, House. See 당신 at work." She turned and headed out of the door, pulling it shut with a soft click. She hurried down the steps and into her car, where she sat gripping the steering wheel for a 분 before turning the car on and heading back to her house. In her head a mental whiteboard was set up, and however much she tried to resist picking up the mental marker, she wrote House's name at the 상단, 맨 위로 of the board, and drew a line down the middle. She didn't name the columns, but she knew what they represented.

She put two marks on the left hand side of the board.