The Gift
House/Cameron one-shot.
Summary: For Christmas, Cameron decides to knit a sweater for her cranky and grumpy boss. Does he accept it? That's what she's worried about. Does love come out of this exchange? Cameron will be surprised by House's reaction when she hands him the gift on the day before she leaves for break.
A case from the episode 'Spin' is featured, but slightly changed.
Disclaimer: House MD isn't mine :(
Dec. 7th
Allison Cameron sat in her living room, staring at the bundle she'd been working on earlier. It was no use. Would he even like it? What if he threw it away after one glance? She'd been working so hard on a sweater to give to him for Christmas.
Screw it, she thought. She was going to finish this project and it was going to be good. Those expensive online videos weren't for nothing.
Dec 14th
Greg House entered his office and checked his mail briefly before glancing back in the diagnostics room. His ducklings hadn't arrived yet. He smirked to himself as he limped to the white board.
He decided that he would leave a nice, little message for them while he headed down to the oncology department to annoy Wilson.
"Wilson." House tapped his cane on his best friend's door three times.
"What?" An annoyed looking Wilson came out of his office.
"Breakfast, now. Before the ducklings arrive." House tilted his head sideways.
"I'm busy." Wilson replied, his eyes darting back and forth.
"No you're not. You're hiding something." House pushed his way past a reluctant Wilson and let out a shout after two seconds.
"I told you I was busy with a patient." Wilson snapped, trying to push House away from the frightened looking woman.
"No you didn't, you said you were busy with a patient. There's a difference, Jimmy." House stared intently at the woman, trying to figure out who she was, and why Wilson was so determined to keep him away from his so-called 'patient'.
"Same thing. I already had breakfast. You go buy yourself breakfast. I bought breakfast for you every day this week now." Wilson made a shooing gesture toward an offended looking House.
"What?" he squawked. "You're dismissing me?"
Wilson rolled his eyes and picked up his clipboard before turning back to House with a sigh. "I'm not in the mood for your crazy antics today, House. Go do your clinic hours or buy breakfast alone."
House grumbled as he shot one last glare at Wilson before retreating to the cafeteria downstairs.
Nurses and doctors quickly made way for a cranky House as he limped through the hallways.
"Stop staring. Didn't your mother tell you staring is rude?" House snarked at a new nurse.
The young woman quickly hid behind the counter and waited until the older doctor entered the elevator lift.
"Who was that?" she asked.
"Dr. Gregory House." A pediatrician replied, shaking his head.
"He's very attractive." She blushed as she admitted this.
"But he has an atrocious attitude and is an asshole. Don't even try to talk to him. He'll end up pushing your self-esteem down." The pediatrician warned the new nurse.
The new nurse shook her head and sighed dreamily.
--
"There you are. House, have you been hiding away in the café?" Cuddy had her hands on her hips as she stared at House, who had his legs up on a nearby chair.
House turned his head to look at Cuddy. "Stating the obvious? Of course I'm here. No, I'm not hiding out. I already did my clinic hours. Don't bother me." He resumed staring off into space.
"House..." Cuddy started.
"Stop it. I don't want to hear it. Now shoo. I'll go back upstairs later. My ducklings can occupy themselves for a little bit." House shifted in his seat.
Cuddy sighed and knew she couldn't do anything to him. He'd done his clinic hours, which was new, and had no new cases. He could sit in the café as long as he liked.
What was so interesting? Wilson and the mystery woman. His so-called 'patient'. House was still dissecting their interaction. Stupid Wilson. He said he was busy, and couldn't breakfast with him, yet he had time for breakfast with a woman who was pretending to be his patient?
The woman laughed as Wilson said something funny. She placed her hand on top of his and he smiled, chuckling quietly.
House frowned. Wilson never chuckled quietly, at least, not in the way he was with the woman. His chuckles were soft sounding and tender-like. House did not like this at all. This new addition to Wilson's life would undoubtedly limit the hang-out time he had with his only friend.
Who would House go drink with after a hard case? Who would he be able to rant to when he had a bad day?
"House."
House jumped as soon as he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder. He spun around in his chair to see who it was.
It was Cameron.
"Did you have a valid reason for scaring me?" He scowled. She interrupted him in his observation process.
"Why haven't you reported back upstairs? We've been in the office for three hours and you didn't show up. Chase and Foreman checked the clinic, but Cuddy informed them that you already completed your hours." She paused and looked at House.
He wasn't even listening. His eyes were somewhere else.
"Are you even listening to me?" She asked, taking a seat next to her boss.
"Yes." He lied.
"House!" Cameron slapped her hand on the table.
"What?" He turned to the young immunologist. "Stop pestering me. Can't you see I'm busy at the moment? Did you see the message I left on the whiteboard?"
"Yes, I saw your message. It was weird. Busy with what?" she questioned.
"You tell me." House turned back to Wilson and Cameron fumed quietly beside him.
"Fine, if you must be this way, I'll go back upstairs and tell Cuddy you're simply sitting here when we have a new case." Cameron stood up and walked away.
House's eyes followed her back. His leg started hurting a moment later. He rubbed it carefully and sighed. He dug a hand into his pocket, looking for the little, plastic bottle that contained his Vicodin. It wasn't there.
He finally decided to head back up to the diagnostics office. Staring at Wilson and the mystery woman wasn't going to give him a clue to who she was. He'd have to dig deeper later. Preferably a time when Wilson was free. House could corner him after work and he'd have no choice but to spill the beans. He had a few theories as to who the woman was. He just wanted to test them out soon.
"Hello ducklings." House limped through the glass doors.
Foreman stared at his boss through narrowed eyes. "Cameron told me that you were in the café all morning."
House took a seat next to Chase, who was doing crossword puzzles.
"Six letter word for want, desire. I can't believe you couldn't figure that one out." House snickered as Chase glared at him before scribbling the answer in.
Cameron brought over the files for the case they were assigned earlier.
"Here, our patient came in the hospital saying that he's had constant diarrhea since he quit smoking." House flipped the folder open and scanned the papers inside.
"I feel bad for the guy. I would want to stab myself in the eye if I had constant diarrhea. Does he carry a mini porta-potty around with him? You know, the kind that kids potty train with?" House laughed at his own joke.
"You really are a bastard, you know." Foreman commented, taking the folder from House and reading it.
"My parents were married when I was born, so technically, I'm not one. But I suppose if you can call me a bastard, then I get the same privileges as well. It's only fair." House folded his hands on top of each other as he placed his feet on the chair beside him.
Foreman glared at him and looked back down at the paper. Cameron stood by the whiteboard, ready to write down any guesses as to what the patient might have. She already wrote 'diarrhea' in the list of symptoms and nothing for cause.
"Why is this even a case? Shouldn't this be in clinic?" Chase asked, finishing his crossword puzzle.
"Cuddy is afraid that it's more serious than it seems." Cameron replied.
House laughed. "Of course she thinks everything is more serious than it seems."
"Alright, getting back to the case... the man says he's been chewing sugarless gum since he stopped smoking. Six packs daily." Foreman nodded at Cameron to write it down on the whiteboard.
"I'll go see this guy." House stood up and grabbed his cane. "Where is he?"
"In a private room. Cuddy moved him from clinic to the floor above. He needed a private bathroom so he couldn't have used the restroom available on the clinic floor." Cameron said quietly, picking up the folder and prepared to follow House. "I'm going with you."
House didn't answer but made his way to the elevator, hoping Cameron wouldn't make it in time.
"Wait! Hold the door!" She called as House stepped onto the lift. He was prepared to press the button, but didn't.
"Thanks." She said breathlessly, swiping a few bangs away from her forehead.
"Don't mention it." House said.
They stepped out of the elevators together as they arrived on the patient's floor.
"Where is he?" House asked, a tinge of annoyance apparent in his voice.
"Allen, are you in the bathroom?" Cameron called out.
There was a muffled response from behind the wood door that led to the private bathroom.
"Well obviously he's in the bathroom, Cameron. How thick can you get?" House snapped as he limped over to the bed, checking the patient's charts.
Cameron remained still in her place as she tried not to cry. He'd always been an asshole, and she knew that. But she still couldn't help but hope that one day he would become softer. It was an impossible thing to hope for.
She took a deep breath and tried to compose herself before he looked her way.
"Allen, Dr. House is here. He's going to be the one treating you, along with me and two other doctors." Cameron knocked on the door twice. "If you can hear me, say something."
"I hear you!" Allen yelled to Cameron.
"House, what are you doing?" Cameron turned around to find House rummaging through the patient's bag.
"Looking." He said.
"For what?"
"Again with the questions. Do you know you're kind of annoying?" He didn't look up to see that Cameron's eyes brimmed with tears.
"You can do this alone, then. All I wanted to do was help." She threw the folder down in front of him and walked out of the room.
House blinked twice, and exhaled. He knew that one day Cameron would realize that he would hurt her and that he wasn't good enough.
"Hey... are you my doctor?" Allen walked out of the bathroom, holding his stomach.
"Yeah." House looked over his shoulder to scan the patient's position.
"Cool. I dropped by the clinic and was examined by Dr. Cuddy who sent me up here." Allen walked slowly to the edge of the bed and took a seat.
"You chew gum, don't you?" House asked, holding up an entire box of gum.
"Um... yeah?" Allen was confused.
"Read the ingredients. They have laxatives in the sorbitol. Sorbitol sweetens the gum. That's why you're constantly in the bathroom." House limped out of the room, leaving Allen confused and slightly relieved.
"Thanks!" he yelled to the limping doctor.
House waved and turned the corner when Cuddy appeared out of nowhere.
"Whoa there. Stop doing that. It scares people." House smirked at Cuddy, who rolled her eyes.
"Wilson's looking for you." She stated.
"Oh, is he now? I thought he had better things to do, like.... eating lunch with his patient." House used his cane to push open the glass door to his office.
"Go see him. I don't need you terrorizing clinic patients." Cuddy was insistent.
"Are you trying to get rid of me, Cuddles? If you are, let me leave work early for the holidays. This way, I won't have to see you for a few weeks. Win-win. You don't have to see me; I don't have to deal with annoying hospital staff and stupid clinic patients. What do you say?" He waggled his eyebrows.
"Not a chance. I'm going to make sure you fulfill all your hours before leaving the hospital for break. If you try to sneak off, Wilson or your team members will inform me." Cuddy gave him a pointed look before walking back into the hallway.
House watched her walk away and raised an eyebrow. He tapped his cane twice and decided to visit Wilson.
Dec 20th
Cameron was nearly done with knitting House's sweater. Christmas was only five days away. Most doctors had already left for the break, but some remained to earn more money, or they simply had nothing else better to do.
Cameron just wanted to see House as much as possible before he left, and to earn some more money. She thought back to the way he treated her a few days ago when they were caring for Allen, their 'bathroom' patient.
She told him that it wasn't nice to label their patient as that, but it was House. He wasn't going to listen to anyone.
"Almost done," she whispered to herself, twisting the needle around the sweater again.
Cameron finished the sweater a little past 1 a.m. She wouldn't allow herself to get to bed before the sweater was completed. On her living room floor were empty coffee mugs that needed to be washed before the next day. Cameron decided that one day behind on dishes wouldn't kill her.
Dec 22nd
"House. Why did you break into my home?" Wilson looked at his friend, who was slurping a large soda and watching monster trucks on TV.
House shrugged. "I wouldn't call it breaking in, Jimmy. I had a key." House dumped the empty soda container in the trash can and spun around in his chair to look at Wilson.
"OK, so why were you snooping around?" Wilson was befuddled. House was House, and he never did anything unless there was a reason for it. Wilson was going to love hearing what excuse his friend would come up with.
"I found this....." House held up a black, lacy thong with the end of his cane.
Wilson laughed once and took a step back. "So what's the conclusion, Scientist House?"
".......in your shaving cabinet." House finished his sentence.
"I don't shave." Wilson responded.
"The hell you don't. I don't shave. I let my stubble grow so I have the scruffy look. Cameron digs it." House smirked. "But you, on the other hand, don't shave. Your face does not grow hair, Wilson."
He rolled his eyes. "House. You need to stop manipulating people by holding hostage items that don't even belong to them."
"Aha! So this is an item held hostage, is it?" House asked.
"No... it isn't, not at all. I have no idea what you're talking about, but you better put that thing away or else other doctors will get the wrong idea about you." House could see that Wilson was becoming increasingly nervous and started to stutter and stammer in his words.
Wilson hardly stuttered.
"Perhaps I like other doctors getting the wrong idea about me." House said, twirling his cane around, causing the undergarment to also swing with its movements. Wilson swallowed.
"OK, OK fine! The woman was an old friend from college. She spent the night, and of course you probably know what happened." Wilson looked down, his hands on his hips.
"You said she was a patient!" House said, feigning anger. "I saw you eating lunch with her last week."
Wilson's eyes widened. "You mean Lucy? My friend has a twin sister. The one in my office was actually sick, that's Luisa. The one you saw eating lunch with me was Lucy."
"That's not possible..." House trailed off. "...unless you're lying right now, again!" He sent the thong flying through the air and it was about to hit Wilson in the face, but ended up hitting someone else in the face.
Cameron had just walked into the office, ready to hand her holiday gift to her boss when the black thong ended up hanging off one side of her head.
"Am I interrupting something?" she asked calmly, taking the undergarment off her face and throwing it back on House's table.
Wilson was red in the face and shook his head. He turned and left the office, leaving House and Cameron alone.
"Did you need something?" her boss asked.
"I, um, just wanted to give you a little something before you left for break." Cameron held out the nicely wrapped bundle.
House stared at it for a moment before taking it. "Thank you, Allison."
She gasped. He called her Allison.
House ripped the bundle apart as politely as he could, but it ended up being vicious ripping of the present anyway. He held up the knitted sweater and placed it against his chest for fitting.
"It looks very nice. Did you make this yourself?"
She nodded.
Hm, thought House, how impressive. I wonder what else she can make...
"Well, have a good Christmas, Dr. House." Cameron turned after he said nothing more and was ready to leave.
"Would you like to join me for dinner at a restaurant?" He asked.
She froze in her tracks. Did her boss really ask her out to eat? Her much older, experienced, grumpy boss?
Why yes, yes he did. Now, accept, silly girl!
"Sure," she replied.
House smiled.
--
After the filling meal, House and Cameron walked out of the restaurant hand-in-hand, laughing merrily.
"I never knew you had such a great sense of humor. You should show it more." House was commenting Cameron's talent of telling jokes.
She blushed. "I like to keep it secret."
"Ah, I see. Being mysterious, are we?" He teased.
Cameron never knew how one meal could change House's entire attitude and behavior. She wasn't sure what to make of it, but she enjoyed it a lot and wished he was like this more often.
Cameron laughed. "Right. Let's go."
"My place?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her waist suggestively.
Over dinner, they both had been flirting like crazy, so the way things were heading right now wasn't surprising.
"Are you sure?" she asked breathlessly, staring into his sparkling, blue eyes.
He nodded. "I'm positive."
And so they both made their way back to House's home. They spent some time talking and Cameron asked about him personally. He asked the same questions, and was surprised to find out that she had a pet goldfish at home. He never thought her as a pet person.
Christmas day
"I love waking up next to you." Cameron told him, stroking his hand.
"Me too." His voice was muffled as a result of him burying his face in her smooth neck.
An hour later, they were out of bed and were eating breakfast in the kitchen.
House wore the sweater Cameron knitted for him, and she wore only a baggy t-shirt of his from John Hopkins.
"What was your best Christmas ever?" Cameron asked, sitting in his lap and feeding him hot chocolate.
"I'd have to say that getting you was the best gift ever." He replied.
The answer made her entire face light up in happiness. "Oh Greg!" She cried, placing the mug down and throwing her arms around his neck. He chuckled, hugging her tightly.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't get mushy on me now. I can't handle anymore.... oomph!" Allison had him pinned on the carpet.
She looked down at him with some love in her eyes and overall happiness.
"Merry Christmas." She kissed him on the lips.
"Merry Christmas, sweetheart." House replied to the only woman in his life. He would make sure she was loved and cared for properly. He was the only one who would be able to fulfill this role; no other man was going to take his place because Greg House was it for Allison Cameron.
All that was expected never came. Cameron thought House would refuse her gift, but he actually accepted it and now they were dating and confessed their attraction for each other.
What a wonderful Christmas after all.
"So tell me about Wilson..." Cameron said, her head on House's chest.
First attempt with House fanfic. Did you like/hate it? I would love to hear any comments or questions. Please review! And if you could take the time to check out my collab entry for the Googleward Challenge (it's a one-shot called 'A Little Bit of Help'), that would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!