Note – This is another little House short focusing on Amber and (Allison) Cameron. It's S4-ish in that Amber is vying for a job as one of House's fellows, and Cameron is working in the ER and missing her Duckling days and the rush of working with House in Diagnostics. I made some of the details my own, not necessarily in keeping with the show.
An Exchange"I got you something."
Cameron looked up from her turkey sandwich and medical journal to find one of the hopeful new Ducklings standing in front of her with a prettily wrapped gift, bow and all, in her hands. "Amber?"
"Can I sit?" She waited for a nod before pulling out the seat across from her and sitting down, setting the gift on the table. "It's nothing big, just a little something I wanted you to have for all your help."
Cameron blushed as the gift was pushed across the table to her, and pushed her food and reading material to the side. "You didn't have to do that. I didn't really do anything-"
"You helped me," Amber cut in firmly. "You helped me and inspired me and encouraged me, and you didn't have to do any of it. And like I said, it's nothing big, just something silly and cute that I wanted you to have. After all your help on House's cases and all your advice on how to deal with him…"
She toyed with the pretty pink bow, tugging it loose. "So does that mean you got the job?"
The blonde shook her head. "I don't think I will."
"Don't give up," Cameron heard herself reply automatically. "I know it's tough, and trust me, he drags out the selection process and makes it as rigorous and infuriating as he can because he wants to weed out the ones that can't handle his…"
"Stalin-esque charm?"
"I was going to say singular personality, but you've described him so much better," she grinned. "But, yeah. He wants to hire people that won't crack under the pressure of being barked at and belittled and demeaned, and if you've made it this far, it means that you can hold your own against him and still come out okay. Don't give up, Amber. You're an excellent candidate for this fellowship, and I wouldn't say that if I didn't believe it."
"I know I'm not going to get it," she replied quietly, lifting her shoulder in a single shrug. "It's basically writing on the wall at this point. And it was more or less my decision, so…"
Cameron cocked a brow. "What do you mean?"
"I wouldn't give up James," she answered. "Ergo, I'm probably out of the running for the fellowship."
Cameron stared at her. "…House told you that if you wanted the fellowship, you had to stop seeing Wilson?"
Amber nodded guiltily. "Yeah. And I made my choice. And I don't regret it."
"Wow," she murmured, leaning back in her seat. "…You must really like Wilson."
It wasn't what either of them had expected her to say – this was, after all, about the time that Cameron would burst into a morally indignant rage over House's tactics – and after staring at each other for a brief moment, both women burst out laughing.
"So, do you?" Cameron got out as they settled down. "Really like him, I mean?"
Amber smiled warmly back, knowing that the other doctor meant no malice. "Yeah, I really do."
She was met with a bright grin. "Good. I mean, great. Because Wilson – Wilson's a great guy, and I'm so glad you're with him. If anything, it'll piss House off."
"Oh, trust me, it does," Amber replied conspiratorially, discreetly jerking her thumb toward the other side of the cafeteria where House and Wilson were having lunch. While the oncologist was munching on his sandwich and skimming the morning paper, House was sneaking his potato chips and discreetly stealing glances at their table.
Cameron watched him just as discreetly out of the corner of her eyes and then smiled at Amber. "He can't stand it, can he?"
Amber shook her head. "Nope. You should have been there when he asked to meet with me. He told me to give up James and I could have the fellowship, and it hit me just then how desperate he was, you know? And House is a lot of things, but I've never seen him be desperate before."
"Me neither," Cameron murmured. "In fact, if it wasn't pertaining to anyone but Wilson, I'd think you were making it up. But House is very, very protective of him and he thinks you're all wrong for him."
"He calls me Cutthroat Bitch, did you know that?" Amber nodded as she plucked a potato chip from Cameron's bag and popped it into her mouth. "That's his nickname for me. I think James asked him to stop calling me that, though, because I haven't heard it for two days."
"You could always complain to Cuddy," Cameron suggested. "Tell her about – about the nickname and the deal House wanted to make with you. Trust me, Cuddy will take your side. Whenever I had even the tiniest problem, she'd try her best to help me out with it. She really respects any woman that can tough it out with House as her colleague."
Amber shook her head. "No, thanks. I know it'll help me if Cuddy gets involved, but it will also hurt me. Even if she does get me the fellowship on terms other than the ones House suggested, he'll make my life miserable. That's the last thing I want. No, I think I'll stick with where I am. The job's less challenging but I'm really good at it and, hey, that just means I have more time and energy to devote to my boyfriend, right?"
Cameron couldn't help but smile. "There's the silver lining. You're good at that, you know."
"Good at what?"
"Finding the bright side of things," she answered, taking another bite out of her sandwich. "It was hard for me sometimes to do that with House constantly barking insults."
"Are you happier now? I mean, in the ER, away from him?"
She considered that for a moment. "Yes and no. I like what I do. I like working with patients and doing what I do in the ER, but sometimes I miss the rush of working in Diagnostics and solving the cases that no one else could solve. And sometimes…"
Amber cocked a brow, waiting for her friend to continue.
Cameron shrugged helplessly. "…I just miss House."
Pretending to fix her hair, Amber sneaked a glance across the room at the table where House and Wilson sat, and found the diagnostician eyeing their table as well. She cleared her throat and reached out to tap the box between them.
"Hey, you know, you never opened your gift."
"Oh!" Cameron immediately wiped her hands on her napkin and reached for her present. "I'm sorry, I just got caught up in the conversation. Okay, let's see…"
She pried the wrapping paper loose from the tape with her nails, peeling it back carefully. It was a habit that used to annoy House and Foreman to no end. Whenever she got a gift, they'd both stand over her shoulder, practically breathing down her neck and yelling at her to just rip the damn paper off so they could all see what she got.
Amber, however, was the picture of patience as she watched Cameron meticulously remove the tape and peel the paper back, which led her to believe that Amber was the same exact way.
She folded the wrapping paper into a neat rectangle and reached for the white box she'd uncovered. Grasping the lid with both hands, she pulled it up and stared down at the object inside.
"Aw…"
Amber smiled, leaning forward in her seat to sneak a peek as well, even though she obviously knew what the gift was. "Do you like it?"
Cameron grinned down at the oversized blue and gray tennis ball inside, just like the one that always sat on House's desk. "It's perfect. I love it."
Her friend shrugged modestly. "I thought it was fitting. It's just like House's, you know. But I got it in your favorite color instead of red. I just thought it fit: House worked with you and helped you get better and always had your back – professionally, I mean – and I feel like you were kind of that way with me. You were the one that was always there if I had a problem or a question or just needed someone to back me up. And I really wanted to thank you for that."
Cameron smiled warmly. "Again, you really didn't have to do this, but for the record, I'm happy to help in any way I can."
"I know I can be a pain sometimes, and I must have annoyed-"
"You didn't," she cut in firmly. "Actually…I liked it when you came and found me in the ER or during my break. I like talking to you. I spent the past three years in a conference room with House, Foreman, and Chase. Talk about a testosterone festival."
Cameron shrugged awkwardly. "I don't know. I didn't have many girlfriends when I worked with them, and I never really realized how nice it was to have one."
"I feel the same way," Amber replied, her tone genuine. "It just felt so natural to come see you, you know? I mean, especially since I'm with James now and you're so close to House."
"I'm not-"
She waved her hand as her friend balked. "You know what I mean. He talks about you a lot, you know. I remember Taub, in a moment of total, complete, unmitigated stupidity, asked him once how he was supposed to break the news to a patient that she was dying. I expected House to just explode at him and rip him a new one, but he got this weird look on his face and said, 'Doctor Cameron would say…' and then he told us about how you'd handle it. By that time, we were all staring at him, so he covered it up by saying that he had to pay James ten dollars every time a patient thanked him for telling him he was dying."
Cameron let out a little laugh, but Amber wasn't done. "And sometimes he'll do that, you know. Just say, this is how Doctor Cameron would have done it. And sometimes he asks us what you're doing in ER if he knows we were down there, that sort of thing."
She leaned closer, arching a brow just slightly. "Who knows? Maybe he misses you, too."
She felt the blood rushing to her cheeks but shook her head anyway. "House doesn't miss anything. House goes on like nothing ever happened. Trust me on that one."
"I don't know, I think your judgment might be just a little impaired," Amber winked. Cameron blushed again and reached down to pull the ball out of the box, and was surprised when her friend's hands shot out and covered hers.
"Don't take it out," she insisted, pushing the ball back in the box. At Cameron's confused look, she turned and looked pointedly at House's table.
Cameron looked, too, and found the diagnostician scowling. Amber smirked at him, and Wilson looked back and forth between them, his confused expression identical to Cameron's.
Amber turned back to her with a triumphant little smirk. "It has your name on it, you know."
"What?"
"Turn it around," she urged, watching as Cameron rolled the ball without removing it from the box. "There. See?"
She smiled when she saw her name written in gray on the blue part of the ball. Doctor Allison Cameron. Diagnostics. Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. "That's…wow. Thank you so much, I just don't know…"
Amber was barely listening. Instead, she was still smirking at House, who was looking as if he'd just eaten something rank. "Oh, he hates this."
Cameron laughed and put the top back on the box. "Yeah, he does. You know, it would really kill him if the two of us became close."
They both sat in silence for a second, looking at the frowning doctor, and then turned slowly and faced each other with wicked grins. Amber cocked a brow and Cameron burst out laughing, thrilled with the prospect.
Across the room, House just scowled.