damigella | Lost In Translation (Reply)

Title: Lost In Translation
Summary: nightmare / ˈnaɪtmeə(r)/ n. incubo m.; incubus /ˈɪnkjuːbəs/ n. incubo m.
Warning: Some House/Cuddy. Supernatural, indirect mention of sex, major character death, happy end.
Word Count: ~600
Note: Written for camp

sick_wilson: contains the Sekret Woid nightmare, although whether it counts is very debatable (see also summary). Inspired by

alternatealto's Fever Dreams, could be viewed as a continuation of

luridlurker's A Beach To Walk On.
Rating: NC-17 for adult content.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the House, MD characters, which is good since I tend to kill them. Keep this in mind when you choose whether you read the warning or not.
ETA: now with deleted scene.

"Cuddy. Wake up, Cuddy."

Her brain struggles to fight sleep, while her body has started responding to the warm, strong hands sliding on her silk nightgown.

"Cuddy, you're so beautiful. So sexy."

She opens her eyes while a well-known stubble prickles her face and her nose recognizes the smell of the body so close to hers. "House. How did you get in here? Go away."

She can feel on her lips the warmth of his breath while she pushes him away. It's easier than it ought to be: he doesn't resist at all. She forces herself not to scream - Rachel should continue sleeping if at all possible. "I'll call the police. There's a restraining order against you."

House is not touching her anymore, but his eyes are fixed on her, as seductive as they've always been. In fact, he looks incredibly handsome, younger and happier than he's been since the infarction. "You want me, Cuddy. You're excited and wet and ready."

It's true. But other emotions are stronger than lust. "Go away. Do it immediately and you'll avoid jail."

House has a little moue of disappointment. "As you wish. I've never forced anyone and I won't start now."

He stands up and limps surprisingly fast towards the bedroom door. It's an instant before it clicks shut behind him, and she's alone.

Cuddy switches on the light, gets up and goes to look for House, since she hasn't heard the outside door bang. It is closed and latched from the inside, as it was in the evening. There's no open window anywhere, and all the security locks she has placed are in working order and latched. Rachel is sleeping peacefully in her bed.

She goes back to her bedroom: the bed on what used to be House's side is pristine, although she can remember him lying there, his head on the pillow. It must have been a nightmare, she decides, and cooks herself a chamomile tea before going back to bed. While she waits for the tea to cool, she looks at her watch: 1:20am.

*****

The police calls her in the morning. House has been found dead of heroine overdose the previous evening, on a beach in Tahiti. When the phone call is over, she checks on her computer Tahiti's timezone. House died around 1am, Princeton time. She feels a shiver go down her spine.

*****

The police officer's delicate, childlike hands push back the bedlinen just a few inches, enough for her to see the pale, wax-like face. She nods, and the bedlinen gets pulled up again.

"It's him. Dr. James Evan Wilson."

"Thank you, Dr. Cuddy. We thought it best to ask you instead of his parents. They've been informed and will be here later tonight."

"I'll talk to them. Is there a reason to suspect foul play?"

"We aren't sure. There will be an autopsy, but in the moment it seems a case of cardiac arrest. The only reason for suspicion is that he had sex shortly before he died."

"I've seen the wet patch."

"That's… not all. There's sperm in his rectum as well. Deep in. Do you know whether he had a boyfriend?"

"No. I didn't even know he was… are you sure he wasn't raped?"

"We cannot be, but there are no traces of a fight. And you've seen his face, haven't you?"

Cuddy nods again. Wilson had seemed ten years younger, a young man lost in a happy dream. One from which he would never wake up. "When did it… happen?"

"We'll know better after the post-mortem, but the coroner thinks around 2am."