cuddys_house | Afternoon, Thursday, 26 April

Cuddy pulled into a parking space as close to the entrance of Mayfield Hospital as she could find. She'd made the drive by herself this time. Wilson had protested, of course--he really did take his white knight delusion seriously--but she'd insisted. She was perfectly fine. Junior was happily incubating away and showed no signs of popping out any time soon. She knew that could change in a heartbeat but she didn't intend to spend the remaining days until the baby's birth staying at home because she might go into labor at any moment. She'd be fine, and as long as Dr. Patil remained ignorant about all her 'traveling,' everyone would be happy.

She hadn't actually planned on being back at the hospital just yet. Between her obligations at work and the fact House had his own obligations as far as therapy sessions went, she hadn't planned on visiting on weekdays. However, House's doctor had called on Monday and asked if she'd be willing to join one of his one on one sessions with her. Well, what could she say to that? Of course she'd do it if his doctor thought it would be helpful. It's not like they were asking her to donate a vital organ or something. All she had to do was talk.

She couldn't help being a little nervous, though, because she didn't know what to expect. She hoped the doctor would be able to give her some guidance on how she should deal with House's issues. She'd really, really like to have some guidance on that because she clearly didn't know what to do. But she didn't have any experience with psychiatrists from the perspective of a patient, or loved one of a patient, so she was a bit in the dark as to what would happen in this session.

She pulled herself out of the car, which wasn't all that easy when she had to extricate herself from the seatbelt and squeeze Junior out from behind the steering wheel. She retrieved a small tote bag from the back seat before heading to the entrance. She'd gathered up the things House had asked for, thinking the sooner he got them, the sooner he might feel a little more at ease. Of course, once she got inside, she had to let them search the bag to make sure she wasn't bringing in anything he wasn't allowed to have. She'd been careful about her choices, though, so it didn't take too long before one of the orderlies was taking her into the ward.

She'd arrived a bit early because she wanted to make sure she'd have a few moments with House before the therapy session. She wanted to be able to give him his things and maybe steal a hug or a kiss. She still felt guilty remembering how despondant he'd looked when she'd left on Saturday. She knew this was the best place for him but boy, it was hard to think about him feeling so lonely and lost.

The orderly got all chivalrous on her and carried the bag down the hall to House's room. He gave a sharp rap on House's door. "Vistor for you, Greg." Then he handed the bag to her and smiled before he walked away. "Have a nice visit, ma'am."

"Thanks." Cuddy turned the doorknob and opened the door just a little. She didn't want to intrude if he wasn't quite ready for a visitor. "House, are you decent?" she asked just as she poked her head in.

Threaded | Flat

After lunch, House went back to his room to have a nap. His meds had been upped in dosage a couple of days previous, reigniting the side effects he'd had when he first started them, though to a lesser degree. He was sleepy and a little dizzy, and felt a little weak all over his body. Naps during the day were easier to slip into than sleeping at night; he fell straight to sleep within five minutes of lying down and was prodded awake by a nurse what seemed like only five minutes later, though it had turned out he'd been asleep for almost an hour and a half.

"Your therapy session with Megan is in ten minutes," the nurse told him.

House quietly groaned, rolling onto his back. He felt lethargic and his mouth was dry. And then he remembered, as he licked his lips in attempt to bring moisture back into his mouth, that Cuddy was going to be here any minute, to accompany him in the therapy session. Anxiety suddenly gripped his stomach. He didn't know how he managed to be talked into agreeing for Cuddy to attend one of his sessions. Megan, his doctor, had been the one to suggest it. He'd adamantly said no at first. But after she talked him through it, she managed to drag a reluctant agreement out of him, using words like, 'speedier recovery' and 'get out of here sooner' as a means of persuasion.

"Is Cuddy here yet?" he asked the nurse in a sleepy, croaky voice.

"Not yet. But I'll send her to your room when she arrives." The nurse left the room and House rolled over onto his other side with a yawn while he reached for a tissue on the nightstand. His nose was still congested from the prazosin. That particular drug hadn't been increased in dosage but it still had an effect on the blood vessels in his nose, making it run and seem like he had a cold. After blowing and wiping his nose, he crumpled the tissue up in his hand and just lay slack on his side, barely without much energy or drive to get up. He hated this deadened, heavy feeling so much. He hated feeling so lifeless and weighed down like the world was resting right on top of him.

Slowly, he pushed himself to a sitting position, cringing slightly as a small dizzy spell hit him. The spell passed quickly but he made no further move to stand or do anything except sit on the edge of his bed with his shoulders slumped, bleary-eyed, in his sleep-rumpled clothes, hair mussy from sleep and one side of his face with faint pillow lines down it. He cracked a wide yawn just as he heard a sharp knock on the door and despite how sleepy and unkempt he was, he instantly brightened a little when the nurse announced that Cuddy had arrived. Even if he was dreading the therapy session with her, he'd been looking forward to seeing her all week. It was the one bright spot in his week, at least.

"Not really," he replied, his voice still scratchy with sleepiness, as Cuddy opened the door. The moment he saw her face, he was instantly filled with gladness and all the feelings he'd had of missing her since he saw her last came rushing forth and squeezed his chest with an ache. The corners of his lips tugged up into a small smile. "When am I ever decent?"

no subject