Unexpected, Unsurprising, Unforgettable by Gabiroba

Monday morning found Dr. Gregory House bounding through the halls of Princeton
Plainsboro Teaching Hospital on his three legs and doing something odd for a Monday morning…something odd for him period. He was smiling. Not just a normal, everyday smile either. He was smiling brightly at everyone he saw. Even Nurse Brenda, the butt of many of his jokes was on the receiving end of many of those smiles.

Thousands of thoughts went through the minds of PPTH’s employees, but none were even close to the mark. Actually, Coma Guy had a pretty good idea, but that was only because he was the only one who ever really paid attention to the goings and comings of the hospital. He was the only one there all the time. Well, that and House always filled him in on what he missed.

Everything leading up to this moment started happening one week and a half ago, when his boss, Dr. Lisa Cuddy, told him of a conference he was mandated to attend in Las Vegas. Of course, she failed to mention the she would also be attending said conference with him, to make sure he attended obviously, until the moment the plane was about to take off and he found himself staring at her as she was sat in the chair right beside his.

“My, my, what a surprise, one would think you actually planned on sitting next to me.” Greg House took the seat beside his boss and began arranging himself comfortably.

Expecting a comment of the kind, Cuddy was all ready with a retort. “Then one might be correct.”

“If you’re going, it can mean one of two things. One, there really isn’t a conference in the big V and you just wanted me to yourself for the weekend and get me to make babies with you or, and this is a big OR, the board still doesn’t trust me after that last conference I went to and thinks me incompetent at spending someone else’s money. I’m leaning towards the “have me to yourself for the weekend” because, really, who doesn’t trust me?” He leaned close to her ear and stage whispered, “Am I close?”

“Hardly,” came her response. “I am the one that deemed you incompetent, not the board. Actually, they tried to talk me out of going, that is, until I showed them your bill from the last time you went to one of these things unsupervised. After that, they were practically begging me to go with you. Even Wilson wouldn’t risk coming on this trip.”

“Wilson’s a wuss,” he continued, keeping up with their barbs. “AND, it was not my fault. How was I supposed to know that just because the booze was in the room, it wasn’t free? You guys did say all included. And I got a discount on the peanuts; they were five for the price of four and a half.”

Cuddy rolled her eyes. “Yeah well, this time there won’t be any of those mistakes. I booked us one room with double beds. I mean to keep BOTH my eyes on you.”

House brought his hands up to his heart and a mock look of hurt came into his eyes. “You wound me. What have I ever done to make you not trust me?”

Deciding that his comments did not merit a verbal response, but rather a physical one, Cuddy’s eyebrow rose into a “What do you think?” look.

After that, the childish doctor turned forward in his seat and settled down for the five hour flight. Not another word was uttered between the two for a long time, but the uneasy feeling House had before he had gotten on the plane had disappeared. No way would he ever admit that this new feeling of calm was attributed to the woman sitting beside him. No way.