Clinic Duty 001
Prompt: After Last Resort
"Fallout"
After House left, Cuddy stared at the contents of her desk drawer now scattered around her feet. When the hell had he done that? During a hostage crisis? She wouldn’t put it past him. The man was a lunatic. When that other lunatic had handed his gun to House, he was handing it to another lunatic. And then her lunatic had given the gun back.
At least the blood splattered over her office wasn’t House’s. It could’ve been, though, so easily. And he hadn't seemed to care. House had acted like it was just another medical mystery and not the chance for another gun-toting disgruntled patient to take a shot at him. She’d been more afraid for House than he’d been for himself.
And that was exactly why they couldn’t be a ‘thing.’ Not because she might act differently when the hospital was taken over by a lunatic, not because she might treat him differently, but because she didn’t think she could go through losing him. She’d come close enough too many times and that was more than enough pain just as his friend and colleague. She conveniently ignored the fact that refusing to acknowledge the ‘thingness’ between them wouldn’t make losing him any easier.
She took her purse from the lower drawer and slowly got to her feet. She grabbed her coat and walked to the door. She didn't look back as she turned off the light. She was going to go home and have a glass of wine and a long soak in the tub. Tomorrow would be soon enough to deal with the mess.