Ok, first-timer here! Be patient with me haha. Ok, background. This takes place sometime in season two, haven't really pegged an episode to follow yet. Gotta wait to see what spoilers I need ;p Can't give to much away, at least not yet, but I'll tell you this: it's Cameron-centric, and it involves a character in her life that we know very little about. It also contains an intriguing medical mystery involving said character. Just... read it. I think you'll like it. It has canon HouseCam elements!
The air was filled with sounds of all the sorts you might expect to hear such a public setting. The murmur of low voices, the occasional PA announcement, a rhythmic clacking sound that grew intensity with each passing moment...
"Dr. House!" The call rang out, a single voice rising above the chorus of noise that made up mornings at Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. The clacking broke pattern, becoming more eccentric as the man in question winced and hobbled faster forward. His destination: the elevator. His intent was to get upstairs, grab a cup coffee, and lock himself away in his office, where he would spend the rest of his day playing his Gameboy and watching TV. No Dean of Medicine was going to stand between him and his plans. Almost there...
She materialized seemingly out of nowhere, effectively blocking his outstretched hand from connecting with the elevator call button. Damn, so close.
Immediately the man's demeanor changed, brightened. "Why, Dr. Cuddy! So nice to see you this morning. I was just on my way to your office." The forcefully pleasant expression was painful to wear. He dropped it at the snort of his colleague/boss.
"Uh huh. Thought I'd save you the trip. I hate to see you do so much unnecessary walking, what with your leg and all." Now it was Cuddy's turn to smile at the scowl that appeared on her best doctor's face. "Besides, the clinic's this way. You're on duty."
She brushed past him, confident that he would follow. He didn't disappoint her; he rarely did.
House struggled to keep up with the formidable pace she was setting, instantly concocting his newest tale as to why he should be exempted from duty today "See, here's the thing. I woke up this morning, and wouldn't you know it, the power in my building was out. Which meant no shower. And then some kid sneezed on me on the bus, because of course my bike wouldn't start this morning. I have the worst luck like that." He attempted to sound sincere. "So, combine the unhygienic conditions I was forced to endure with the potentially deadly virus I was exposed to from the expulsion of a sick child's nasal cavity... well, there's no way I can do clinic duty this week! With all those poor patients' compromised immune systems, I could start an epidemic." He prepared to drive it home as they ground to a halt just outside the clinic doors. "You wouldn't want to be responsible for that, would you?" The pleading, desperate tone of his voice almost convinced her that the narcissus bastard actually cared about another person's well-being. Almost.
"Exam room 4." She slapped a handful of files in the hand he had raised in a shrug of mock helplessness. " If you're worried, wear a mask." She shot him a warning glare, as she got ready to return to the business of running the hospital. "You had better not clock out of here until those patients are seen."
He sighed in resignation. "Yes, Mommy." Meanwhile, his hand reached down to fiddle in his pocket.
MDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDM
"You know, you could help me with this." The statement was accompanied by an impatient foot-tapping that the diagnostician found incredibly annoying. He glanced up irritably from his magazine. Cameron didn't flinch.
"You know, if I knew you were going to give me this much trouble, I would have paged Chase instead," House drawled.
"I wish you had!" The frustration was evident in her tone.
"Nah, he probably would have just flat-out refused." He smirked as her eyes narrowed.
"And why am I doing this for you?"
"Because my amazing intuitive skills of diagnosis would be totally wasted dealing with wanna-be doctors with Google." The contempt in his voice was totally undisguised.
Cameron wasn't satisfied. "Still not seeing a good reason."
"Because I asked you to." He batted his eyelashes. "Pwease?"
She sighed, but turned to leave the storage closet House had holed himself up in. She was nearly half done with the considerable stack of files, anyways. She mentally kicked herself for being unable to tell her boss 'no'. She had a terrible feeling that one day it was going to get her in trouble.
MDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDM
House emerged from his hiding place wearily, scoping out the scene to ensure that no one was around before hurriedly making his way to the bathroom. Idly he wondered how many more patients his sole female duckling had left to 'cure' before he could go upstairs to his comfortable chair in his office. The amount of Vicodin he was taking to bear the cramped position in the closet was staggering, even to him. Maybe he should check on her, coax her to speed things up a bit.
"Allie!" The voice startled him out of his reverie.
Normally he would have paid it no further notice, but his interest was piqued at a curious sight. Making her way towards stairwell, and in great haste at that, was his youngest doctor. Sticking his head from behind an exam room door was the man House assumed to be the originator of the shout.
He watched as Cameron effected her escape, frowning perplexedly. Where was she going? And more importantly, why? He made his way towards the mystery man, deciding it was worth it to examine a patient who was capable of provoking such a reaction from one of his fellows. After all, House loved puzzles.
Ugh, it sounded soooo much better in my head. In type I sound almost... paradiocal. It's supposed to be a serious canon episode of the show haha. Oh, well, I'll fix it later. Tell me what you think, if you feel so inclined. More medicine next chapter, I promise!
