Tuesday morning, Cuddy's shoe slid off the gas pedal, forcing her to regain her footing as she peeled out of her parking space along the curb. She sped to the stop sign at the end of the street, the white brick exterior of House's apartment building blurring in her rearview mirror. Her foot barely tapped the brake as the car slowed and her hand dove into her bag to find her cell phone. Glancing left, then right, she floored the pedal to barrel through the intersection, heading for the hospital as her fingers dialed Wilson's office number. Her heart galloped, its beat loud in her ear, nearly overpowering the ring on the other end of her phone line.

Wilson picked up on the fourth ring, greeting her cheerily. "Good morning, Cuddy."

"Where's House?"

"Oh, well, we were playing a game of hide-and-seek, but I think he ditched me. Not the best seeker."

Cuddy's tone was vicious. "This is no time for jokes. Do you know where he is or not?"

"No idea," he said casually. "I haven't seen him since Saturday morning. I'm assuming you're calling me because you already checked his apartment."

"Of course I checked his apartment. He wasn't there. I thought you might know-"

"Are you on your way here?"

"I'm a few minutes out." Panic sent her heart racing as fast as her wheels. "God, Wilson, if he's out there, trying to prove something..."

"Cuddy, take a deep breath. We'll figure something out when you get here."

Cuddy pulled the phone from her ear to stare at it for a moment. Too calm, he sounded far too calm. "Wilson, what's wrong with you? We don't have time to just sit around and wait for him to turn up. He could be-"

"We won't be able to do anything if either of us is consumed with worry. Keep it together and we'll talk when you get here."

She gritted her teeth. "I'm pulling into the lot. Check the ER records just in case something happened to him."

"Cuddy, don't you think that's-"

"Just do it." She hung up, jabbing at the keypad, and tossed her phone into her purse.

Tires squealing, she swung the car, crooked, into the parking space and shifted it into 'park' before she even came to a complete stop, making the car lurch forward. She threw her hands out to keep from crashing into the steering wheel and struck the horn by accident. She gasped at the sound, flustered, pressing one hand to her chest, and closed her eyes for a moment before clutching her purse and hurrying for the entrance.

She blew past the front desk, ignoring a smiling nurse that extended a tiny stack of pink notes for her. Certain she was on the verge of an anxiety attack, she blustered into her office to deposit her purse and caught sight of the memo in her inbox-this afternoon's agenda for the board meeting, bearing House's name in the first item line. As her eyes passed over his name, about to turn and track down Wilson, a voice boomed from behind her.

"You're late."

She spun sharply, her heels digging into the carpet, as a tiny gasp escaped her. Her wide eyes fell on House, who stretched out across the sofa, eyes downcast but a smirk on his face. Cuddy felt as though her internal organs traded places, skipping around beneath her skin; she wasn't sure if she should feel relief, joy, or seething anger.

"Wow, you must be desperate, wearing that almost see-through black number. Board meeting today?"

Cuddy's jaw dropped, her mouth falling wide open. She suddenly noticed that House's eyes, still cast toward the floor, were blinking behind a pair of glasses. "House, are you screwing with me?"

He huffed a laugh. "Screwing with you?" His eyes settled on the opposite wall.

"Can you see?"

House swung his legs to the floor and raised his chin to meet her eyes directly and hold her gaze, forcing her to inhale almost violently. As he stood, his smirk morphed into a smile. "I could have an amazing telepathic connection with that blouse, for all you know."

Cuddy hardly heard him. She closed the distance that separated them and looked into his face, maintaining eye contact. "You can see?" Her tone was positively joyous, and she decided that he could mock her all he wanted; she couldn't repress the happiness threatening to burst out of every tiny, overjoyed orifice in her body.

He looked down at the floor and shrugged, shuffling his foot on the carpet. "Not perfectly. The damn chemicals messed with the focus, so I have to wear these"-He nudged the frames on his face.-"all the time."

Her smile nearly stretched off her face. "When did you...?"

"Sunday." He shook his head. "I thought I was dreaming that I was seeing underwater."

"That's...wonderful, House." She wanted to lift his face, but she kept herself from reaching out.

"Although, I admit, it was tough sneaking into the hospital yesterday."

She would have felt vaguely insulted if her happiness wasn't swallowing her. "You could have called me. I would have picked you up on my-"

"I didn't want you to know." After he spoke, he looked at her, his head still tipped slightly downward.

She drew a deep breath and nodded slowly in understanding. He'd wanted to be sure.

"So I'm assuming that, since you're here, telling me this, you're...sure about all of this."

He nodded, once, and didn't elaborate.

She bit her lip, still smiling. Finally, giving in to the urge, she touched his arm, squeezing it gently before dragging her hand to his wrist before letting it fall away. He watched her hand trace its path, then looked at her as she said, "Welcome back."

He swallowed, shaking his head, and pointed at her-bullseye. "Oh, you are a sap. Give it a few days and I guarantee that weepy sentimentality will disappear and you'll be hunting me down to screech at me like an Amazon woman." He spun around and headed for the door. "Not that I mind." He playfully growled at her over his shoulder as he walked out of her office and into the clinic, joining Wilson, who waited near the nurse's station.

House swiped a pair of lollipops from the jar on the counter and, with an underhanded toss, lobbed Wilson the green one. As House departed from view, heading for the lobby, Cuddy watched as Wilson turned, held up his lollipop in a salute, and offered her a smile.