The Wild Escape - Chapter 7
Title: The Wild Escape - chapter 7
Status: Short story
Rated: explicit content
Characters: House and Cuddy
Summary: After Help Me - This story depicts a vision of season 7 premiere, extrapolated from the various pics that've been available on the Internet lately...
(could be considered as a sort of sequel to "There Is A Us")
Disclaimer: OK. Fine! it's not (all) mine. It belongs to David Shore, the lucky b... * sigh*
** THE WILD ESCAPE **
They remained enclosed, silent and quiet for another while, just caressing each other gently, breathing in the ocean spray filled with iodine, and almost drifting off in each other's embrace. It felt unreal, but so natural already it should have been frightening, somehow. And they both knew it. They were both well aware that the course of events of the last 24 hours had proved to be anything but rational. And for two rational freaks like them, it just couldn't stay ignored or dismissed forever.
Cuddy started to wriggle slightly inside his arms and he perceived the change in her breathing. She was struggling to repress an urge; an urge of speaking.
"What?" He said relaxing his embrace to give her enough space to straighten up, which she did interrogating him with a quizzical gaze.
"Why did you give me that book?"
"What book?" He faked not to understand.
"The one my great grand-father wrote-"
"Oh! That book... He paused and took a deep breath, "I told you, I had it for years and I wanted to give it to you on a special occasion."
"And so, that's the one you chose?" she asked with a strangely accusing edge to her voice.
He frowned.
"Well, that was a special occasion, wasn't it?"
"You just said you had it for years, why didn't you give it to me before? When I found Rachel for example?"
"Hmm, you're right. Makes sense, but I suppose it didn't cross my mind then. You've forgotten I wasn't really on top form last year."
She stared at him with eyes that said, quite on the contrary that she haven't. At all. He sighed heavily.
"Why do you wanna know that now?"
"Because…" She started, but stopped, looking down with embarrassment.
"You don't like it?" He asked, a little baffled, "I thought it'd be a special gift for you."
"It is... It could have been... But then, you gave it to me and Lucas."
"I see." An internal wave of awkwardness mixed with glee inflated his lungs. "So that's what's bothering you: that I wrote the name of someone else on a special gift that was meant to be just for you? Didn't your mom teach you to share?" He teased.
She kept her face down and it felt as if she was struggling to decide whether to confess or not.
"I hated it." She finally admitted with honesty.
House's eyes widened out in astonishment.
"I mean," she carried on, "I know I'm not supposed to. I know that it should have... sounded right, but... when I read what you wrote, I... I just hated it."
"Why?" He asked with a soft, supportive, voice.
"Because I wanted it to be just for me. Not him and me. Because you... acknowledging Lucas in my life like that just... didn't feel... I don't know... It upset me."
"I'm not the one who brought him into the picture in the first place." He said.
"Technically, you are."
"Maybe, but I'm not the one who slept with him."
They both simultaneously bit their lips and stared at each other, trying to suppress the heavy oddity of that last sentence. House lowered his head and his eyes fell on her left hand. He took it inside his and delicately brushed the empty spot around her ring finger with his thumb.
"Would you have done it?" He asked.
"Do what?"
"You know ... marry him?"
"Do we really need to talk about this now?"
"Hey! You're the one talking about this, not me!"
She stared intensely into his eyes.
"I guess not." She admitted.
"But you accepted his proposal."
There was bitterness in his voice. She sighed and closed her eyes, locking herself in to avoid his gaze, knowing all too well already that she wouldn't like what he would say, but that she had to hear it all the same.
"Yeah! Because it made you feel wanted. It made you feel special. A single mom, in her forties; tick-tock, tick-tock! You could have definitely missed your opportunities for good. And suddenly, there he was: the young sexy PI willing to make it right! That would have made some great family pictures to hang above your fireplace."
"Shut up!" She groaned.
"Which brings us back to the reasons why you changed your mind so quickly."
"That's not what you think. I didn't get scared." She defended herself.
"So why didn't you do it?"
"Because!" she suddenly shouted with anger, hating him for tugging at her heartstrings and forcing her to phrase it, "I wanted you not him!"
House sucked in a sharp breath.
"Last year, you claimed me as your possession from the top of your lungs, in front of all my staff, in my hospital, and then... then..."
"Then what?"
"Then you disappeared," she said reproachfully, "you went away. You left me. And when you came back ... nothing! It was as if it had never existed, as if you'd never wanted me for real just... only in your twisted, sickening, drug-induced fantasies. But I was real, House. I am real. And ... I wanted you to claim me again ... with a sane mind. When you came back, I went to see you and I asked you what I meant for you but ... you rejected me-"
"I had just stepped out of an asylum." He said sarcastically.
"I know." She said, her voice coming down a little. "But then, Lucas was around, and he ... distracted me ... he made me think that 'normal' could be an option again."
He furrowed his brow disapprovingly.
"We'd spent half our life dancing around each other, House; playing that insane, unhealthy, game. You spread drama all over me. You dragged me down with you. You never gave me one minute of respite, adding crap after crap. And the craziest thing is that it never felt crazy. It never seemed strange. Never enough for me to say stop. You made me lose the sense of normalcy completely."
"You think that's what I wanted? You think it was easy for me?"
"I don't know. But all this time, I was there. I never gave up on you. You should have known it was for a reason. So I guess I was expecting you to do something. Maybe throw one of your crazy tantrums and claim me back again."
"That's what I did. At Thanksgiving-"
"No. That was just you jerking around. Messing with me and Lucas, for fun."
"It wasn't fun. I really ..." He looked away and gulped. "Ok. Maybe I didn't handle that the way I should have. Maybe I don't know how to do it the right way anyway. But I swear ..."
She sighed heavily.
"You stopped talking to me. You avoided me."
"I was hurt." He confessed through clenched teeth.
"And so was I! And the more time passed, the more I thought that you'd given up; that you didn't care."
"So that was your way of punishing me? You stayed with Lucas to make me pay for my indifference?" He clenched his fist and looked away.
She huffed. "You don't get it at all, do you? I was trying, trying to forget you. And yes! You made my life really miserable and I hated you for that. I needed to breathe. I needed to get away. And Lucas, he was there. He was ... nice to me, and Rachel."
"Talk about an exciting alternative!" He grumbled.
She pretended not to hear. "And then, you gave me that book with my name and his written on it and it felt like a slap."
He stared at her, taken aback by her confession.
"When I saw it," she explained, "it felt like another proof that you really didn't care."
"But I did what you asked. You'd told me you wanted me to let you live your life with Lucas, leave you two alone."
"Yes ... No ... I don't know, I was angry at you."
"Sure!" he puffed, "I can remember how much you were pretty vividly!"
She bit her lips and looked up at him with a guilty face.
"I've wished I could forget you." She whispered, "Every day, I kept thinking about you. Every night..."
He silenced her with a glare and she censored her confession, lowering her head in shame.
"Then I hated myself because I couldn't get you out of my mind."
"And then you yelled at me for making you hate yourself that you couldn't."
"You don't know how it feels." She told him unthinkingly to defend herself.
He glowered at her for a split second, feeling hurt and then he softened and enveloped her with a fond gaze.
"Don't you dare say that to me." He said in a low, hoarse, voice.
Sorrow spread on her beautiful features, and he smiled to make it go away. It would take time before all the open wounds they have caused each other would heal but she was in his arms now and it felt like the most righteous thing in the world, no matter what the reasons were. He held out his hand and gently touched her cheek with his fingertips. She instantly jolted her head towards his hand and rubbed her face inside his palm, like a cat seeking for a caress.
"So, actually," he summarized, after they reconciled in a moment of silent stillness, "after months and months of misunderstandings, all it took to win you over was a book with the name of your boy toy written on it?"
"It seems so, yes." She smiled at the irony.
"Wow, cool! Best money spent in my whole life."
She sat up swiftly and whacked him on the side of his arm.
"You didn't just compare me to a hooker, did you?"
"Of course not!" He exclaimed, chuckling. "You're not a hooker... you're more like a harpy." She narrowed her eyes at him menacingly. "You're going to make my life a living hell."
"That is, if you make mine a living hell, so then yeah! I am!" She warned.
"And I will love that!"
"Really?"
"Yep! That's how completely insane and screwed-up I am! You happy now?"
She laughed. "Yeah, insane and screwed-up; feels like my life has gone back to normal."
She sighed voluptuously and looked up at him, imperceptibly stretching her neck to bring her face up to his and she pursed her lips teasingly. He leaned down, appealed by her silent call, and kissed her mouth softly. She put her hand behind his neck and pulled him down closer, claiming a greedier bite of his taste. She parted his lips with her tongue and thrust it between his teeth. The way it made him feel incredibly good was unbelievable, almost like the dizzying effect of a shot of morphine. He gently pushed her away and looked at her, awestruck, trying to catch his breath.
"You know I won't marry you, right?" He said, not really knowing any other way but deflection to hide how dangerously overwhelmed he had just felt.
"God forbid!" She exclaimed with a coy smile and she kissed him again, thirstily, and it made his head spin again, enveloping his whole body with a deliciously warm wave. Suddenly, she drew apart and frowned dubiously at him, as if she'd just had a revelation.
"Did you really buy the book yourself or did you buy at the hospital's expense?"
His eyes widened out, and he stared at her bemused. "I'm going to forget you ever dared ask me that for real!" He huffed, showing his best outraged face to her.
She waved her hand in the air dismissively, clearly telling that she wasn't in the least bit remorseful for implying that in the first place.
"How much did it cost you?" she asked casually.
"You know you're not supposed to tell the price of a gift, right?"
"That's a first edition, it must be appallingly expensive."
"It is." He said, somehow oddly proud of himself that she could finally realize the little crazy things he was ready to do for her. And then he smiled and studied her tenderly. "You just can't stop being this hospital administrator freak obsessed by costs for one single minute, can you?"
"That's because I am a hospital administrator." she said, "I'm a doctor and I'm a Dean. That's who I am. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Not yet."
"What do you mean 'not yet'?" She said defensively.
"Oh come on, don't tell me it never crossed your mind!"
"What?"
"You're my boss." He said with a 'duh!' face.
"Yes, and?"
"Don't you think it kinda complicates things between us now?"
"No. Why?" She said with the most undoubting and spontaneous outburst, but then she realized her answer had puzzled him and she rolled her eyes. "I've been dealing with you at the hospital for over a decade. I'm used to putting up with your shit. So why would anything change now?" She said, raising her chin up defiantly.
"Because you and I are going to have sex."
"Or not!" she teased, "At least, not if you ruin my days being a total pain in the ass any time you get a chance."
"Oh-ho, so that's how it's gonna work? You're going to blackmail me with sex to force me to do my job?"
"And I am so going to succeed!" she said, beaming.
"See? That's exactly what I'm saying." he protested, "You're already being unfair because of our relationship. and we haven't even gone back to working together yet."
"I'm not unfair, and you know it; that's the reason why you listen to me... most of the time." She added as a moderator. He pouted, upset and she let out a quiet laugh. "House! We're going to do just fine." She said reassuringly, "Nothing has to change. You're going to keep storming in my office to beg for my approval over crazy procedures based on your inexplicable hunches, and I'm going to say 'no', and you're going to be pissed, which eventually will force you to find more proof that you were right the first time, so eventually I'm going to say 'yes', or you'll do it anyway, which will get me pissed and yell at you but in the end ... you're going to save another patient's life and despite all the mess you'll force me to deal with, that is what will matter the most; because life is priceless. And that's why nothing is going to change."
He stared at her with his mouth slightly agape, not really knowing if he should tug her in his arms and make love to her right now on that beach or just shake her back to her senses for being so naïve. But he wanted her to be right though. God, he so wanted her to be right... She studied his face, and suddenly she felt overcome by a wave of awkwardness, that ran all the way down her spine and made her quiver.
The sun had gone down and it was dark outside. She looked around her and then back at him.
"It's almost night now." She whispered.
"Yeah, we should move on!" He said enthusiastically.
"Move on? Move on where? You're riding me back home, right?"
"Oh no, I'm not!" He chuckled.
"But House! It's late..."
"I asked for a day. And a day is 24 hours. So it's not even close to ending now." He said with a wicked grin.
She got up, pushing herself up off the trunk. Then she put out her hand to help him stand up. He groaned, wiggling in the sand to sit up and he let her tug him toward her. He bent over to take his cane and backpack, while she shook herself out, part of the warmth she had accumulated while being inside his arms evaporating into thin air and making her shiver.
"Ok, what else have you planned now?" She said resignedly but with a smile irrepressibly forming on the corner of her mouth.
"Do you know who 'the boss' is?"
"Yeah, it's me!" She giggled.
"Ah-ha!" he said, deadpan. "Seriously?"
"Seriously? You're asking me? Have you forgotten that the first thing you'd noticed about me was my ability to party?" She said playfully.
"Yeah, sorry but that concept doesn't automatically pair up with the Springsteen spirit. Actually not even remotely. And anyway, when I said that, I was more visualizing you, moaning Madonna's 'like a virgin' in the campus parties, in do-me pumps and sexy shredded dresses."
She laughed. "Your fantasies will really be the ruin of you one day, you know."
She walked past him and started to leave, returning to where he had parked his bike on the road overhanging the beach.
"So you're pretending that you never sang "like a virgin" in do-me pumps? Ever? And you expect me to believe that?" He shouted after her, following her footsteps in the sand.
The only answer he got was the sound of her laugh, spreading out in the wind.
--> The Wild Escape - Chapter 8