Newton's Third Law

This is an unfinished House one shot I wrote in response to Season 5 Episode Joy.

It was suppose to continue onto the last scene of the episode when House talked to Cuddy at her house, and Cuddy's really emotional line: "You son of a bitch. When I was getting a baby you told me I would suck as a mother. Now that I have lost it, you tell me I would be great as a mother. Why do you have to negate everything."


You knew she was hurting.

To be promised your heart's desire -- have it at your finger tips before helplessly watching it being taken away – hurts.

The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment: it’s a universal law, a simple extrapolation from Newton’s third law of Motion.

You were given a personal lesson on this law not too long ago: a few weeks of walking without a crane, a few weeks of morning run, a few weeks of blissful sleep -- only to find the pain return with renew intensity. It made you wish those three weeks never occurred. It was so much easier living with the pain when you have almost forgotten what you have lost.

It was Wilson who told you the news. It was three o’clock, and having solved the case, you went to Wilson for some well deserved gloating. House, Wilson said solemnly after you cracked a joke on Cuddy’s expense, There is no kid. The mom changed her mind. Your eyes widened. Leave Cuddy alone, Wilson pleaded, realizing your intentions, she needs time.

You mounted your bike and told yourself you would ride straight home. You told yourself you would not bother her. But you found yourself taking the wrong turns and perhaps inevitably, perhaps against your better judgement, stopping at Cuddy’s home.