Title: Everybody hurts, parts I & II
Fandom: House, M.D
Characters/Pairings: Everybody can appear here along the way. I hope there will be some House/Cameron in the future so bear with me!!
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: None that I've known about
Summary: Everybody lies; everybody hides something . . . welcome to Gregory House's world.

Author's Notes: I would like to thank Hazel/chilibreath for beta reading this fic and giving me good feedback!!!! Muchas Gracias!!!!

Gregory House limped his way into the hospital, eyes fixed straight ahead. He had never been known by his amicable attitude, but today it was worse than ever; not even Dean of Medicine, Doctor Lisa Cuddy, dared to stop and drag him to clinic duty. When he arrived to his office, he locked the door and set the blinds, a clear sign that he didn't want anybody to bother him. Which it was fine if you were Doctor Foreman or Chase but terribly wrong if you went by the name of Allison Cameron—and the man who had secluded himself into his office is not only your boss but the man you're in love with.

She was about to risk her life when she was stopped by her colleague's voice. "Don't do it. If he wants company, he'll come out barking and being his usual bastard self".

"Maybe he doesn't feel fine, Foreman. Why do you have to be so mean?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because since we started working with him, three years ago, he has never asked for your help or because he likes to throw things at us when we go into his office".

Cameron saw Wilson coming fast down the hallway and decided to ignore Foreman.

"Has he arrived yet?" asked the normally formal Wilson.

"Yes, he has but from the looks of it, he doesn't want our company, like he doesn't want it any other time" replied Chase.

Wilson realised Allison was really close to the door that connected both the briefing room and House's office. "Just don't bother him, today, okay? I told him to take the day off but as always, he doesn't care about anyone's opinion but his."

Wilson left the room praying that none of them asked him for an explanation, but when he heard the sound of heels following him, he closed his eyes and waited.

"Doctor Wilson, can I talk with you please?"

"How can someone say no to a sweet voice like that?" he thought. He had laid his eyes upon young Allison Cameron the moment he saw her in the job interview. She could have been his next extra-marital adventure if it hadn't been for the deadly glare his best friend had thrown at him after merely mentioning of a date with her. At first he thought it was funny the way House felt and behaved towards Cameron, like a five-year-old who thought that girls have cooties but still watched every move of her. Wilson hoped this sweet young woman was the one to break House's walls and make him feel human again.

"Are you okay, doctor Wilson?" asked Cameron in a worried tone.

"Yeah, sorry, my mind was somewhere else. Look Cameron, I know what you want to ask but I'm afraid I can' tell you anything, not if I want to live with all my organs and unmentionables intact."

"But . . . "

"You know how House feel about any intrusion of his personal life. Do you think Cuddy or I like to see him like this? But we're smart enough to leave him licking his wounds alone and pray that he doesn't kill anyone today".

"Yes but what happens if I can't do that? What happens if I'm not smart enough?"

"I don't know, Cameron. My best advice is to leave him alone, not to bother him, but if—and that's a big if—he makes any attempt to open up, just be there for him, okay?"

"Do you think he'd open up to me?" Wilson could sense a bit of hope in her voice.

"Don't get your hopes up. Just be there and take care of him if the time comes".

When Wilson got into his office, he found he had a visitor.

"What are you doing here?" he asked Cuddy, who had gotten herself too comfortable in Wilson's chair. He knew she was as worried as he was about House so hence the visit was not so unexpected.

"Have you talked with him?" She asked him.

"No, I value my life too much to throw myself in the lion's den, thank you very much. I've warmed Foreman, Chase and Cameron; though Cameron needed more convincing than the other two".

Cuddy closed the magazine she had been reading and bit her lip. "Why does he always take the hardest way? Last week I offered him some days off which he obviously refused to take and now he comes and locks himself in his office. Sometimes I get the impression that he only does things when he's not supposed to".

"Yes, but that's the House we know and love after all".

"Do you think Cameron will follow your advice?"

"I'm not sure but I can tell you she has been the theme of many conversations between House and me and though he won't ever admit it, Greg cares about her more than he likes to show. After his break-up with Stacey, I'd never seen him so . . . ".

"Vulnerable?"

"That's not a word I'd use to define him. I'd never seen him so willing to open up again. Maybe she's the one who can bring us the old House back".

"Not an easy job," Cuddy replied, smiling.

"I've never said it were."

&&&&&

Allison was patient enough to wait until 6 to knock on House's office. She had been working non-stop down at the clinic for as long as she could. Going up to the briefing room, she found it empty, Foreman and Chase having escaped long an hour ago. She gathered all the strength she had and knocked shyly on the door.

"Doctor House?" she said into the darkened room.

All the blinds were closed so she couldn't tell if House was there or not. She walked to the desk slowly praying silently and hoping not to find anything she couldn't deal with. Arriving to the big windows, she pulled the blinds open so that some light could fill the room. That's when one of her fears came true; laying unconscious on the ground and with a blood stain close to his head was House.

What happened in the next ten minutes felt like a blur to Allison. She would remember later how she screamed asking for help or how Wilson had to drag her away from House where she remained motionless while the nurses took care of House and moved him to ER. Afterwards she found herself alone in the office. She looked down at her trembling hands and realised they were stained with dried blood. She was taken out her reverie when she heard a gentle voice calling her name.

"Alison, are you okay?" Dr. Cuddy asked her.

The young woman couldn't say a thing so she showed her hands to Cuddy as if that simple gesture could explain what she was feeling inside. Cuddy held Allison's hands into hers and began talking in a quiet tone.

"We had taken him to emergency room. It seems that he drank himself into unconsciousness and fell off his chair, hitting his head in the process. I know it scared the hell out of you but apart from a couple of stitches and a headache the size of his ego, he's going to be fine".

"Why . . . why would he do something like this?" Allison asked sobbing. "Why do you and Wilson let him do this to himself? I asked you . . . I asked Wilson and everybody told me to leave him alone.

Lisa knew Allison was right, so not knowing how to explain herself, she hugged the young doctor and let her cry her fears out. Once the sobs seemed to fade, Lisa looked face to face to Allison. "Tell you what? Why don't you clean yourself and come down to ER? I'm sure House would love to see you when he wakes up".

"I'm not so sure about that" Allison responded.

"Oh, don't sell yourself so low, Doctor Cameron. I know for sure you've broken a certain old doctor's shell. You coming?"

"Let me get decent and I'll see you downstairs".

Once Cuddy was gone, Allison tried to compose herself. People could think that she was innocent or naïve but she was determined to know what had caused such reaction in House. If he had passed the whole day there, he must have left some clues behind.

She took a look around the office and began putting some order in the mess House had left behind. She threw two empty bottles of scotch into the trash, and after piling some documents into a tidy group and putting the CDs into their racks, she sat down and looked at the now clean table. House rarely used his computer but the light sign in the CPU indicated that he had used it today. Allison switched on the screen and was very surprised to find that his boss seemed to have an email account she didn't know anything about. As far as she knew, House showed pretty little interest in keeping updated with his email and she was the one who had to deal with all the messages directed to him. So finding out he had another email which he handled himself was quite amazing. The inbox only had three messages and all of them with the same sender. The last one was dated today and it seemed to have a file attached.

Allison looked nervously at the door, as if House could enter into his office and catching her invading his privacy, and click on the message. What she read made her heart beat faster than she had ever thought possible. So she read it again . . . four, five times as if by doing so, her brain could assimilate the words better.

Hi,

I guess you know this one was coming as it does every year, don't you? I don't know why I keep doing this since you haven't even bothered to answer me back. I really hope you read it anyway, being the only way I have to some connection with you. That's pretty lame, I know. Anyway, many things have happened since my last message. I keep working at the same hospital but now I'm the head of the paediatrics department. My Mom is really proud of me because, at 31, I was the youngest doctor to occupy this position. I tell her it's in my genes just to irritate her but she tells everyone how good a doctor her son is.

I'm still playing with the band, even though every time it seems harder to play together as everybody has new responsibilities to worry about. I feel really great when I'm playing the keyboards or the guitar so I always try to find some time for my own. This year I've begun learning to play the violin. Yeah, I know there's no place for a violin in a rock band but I'm learning some good Irish Jigs that take me back to my childhood in Ireland and they give me the chance to meet some folks to drink some Guinness with.

Well, I've left the most important thing for the last . . . . Nearly a year ago my girlfriend Laura gave birth to our son Eamon. I helped deliver the baby and even though I see newborns all the time, I must confess seeing your baby for the first time--it's something you'll never forget. He was a big baby, like his dad, and now at 9 months old, he's a happy kid who has all the family wrapped around his chubby little finger. I sent you a picture attached in this email so you can see him and judge for yourself.

Well, that's all for today. I'm pretty sure my family has prepared some "surprise" birthday party for me so I better leave the office and go face the troops. You have my phone number and my addresses so if you feel like calling or contact me anyhow, please do!

Callum.

Allison didn't know exactly what to think of what she had just read. As far as she knew, House was an only child so whoever this Callum was, he wasn't a brother or a nephew. She moved the mouse to the picture and proceeded to open it. As soon as the file was opened, there was no doubt left for her. In it, a young, blond-haired man proudly held a chubby baby. Both of them were smiling and their icy blue eyes, like the ones she dreamt about every night, shone brightly. At the bottom of the picture she read: "Callum Patrick and Eamon Gregory House. Dublin 2006".

tbc.