AN: Not mine. I'm just borrowing them.
Allison Cameron had never been greatly fond of lectures. Watching and listening to a pretentious person give their thoughts on a specific topic wasn't exactly a joyride. Especially when you already knew the subject material. Allison had counted the end of lectures as one of her proudest moments of graduating med school.
Unfortunately no one had informed Lisa Cuddy of this tidbit of information. And as Lisa was Allison's top boss Allison found herself sitting in a lecture hall, shifting her skirt and adjusting her glasses as she waited for the speaker to join the rest of the group of people gathered. From what Allison could tell, the lecturer was a fellow immunologist who Lisa had known from her days as a student. Lisa thought Allison could benefit from watching the man since Lisa Cuddy was determined to make Allison's immediate boss, Dr. Gregory House, push his underlings into giving their own talks.
She looked around at the other people seated quietly in the hall. There were people of all ages but somehow she had a feeling they were there to learn about the subject offered to them. A man entered the hall at the bottom of the stairs and Allison sat up straighter, pen in hand.
"Good morning," the doctor said, flashing a hundred watt smile up at the seats. "My name is Dr. Adrian Fleming and I am here today to help you further understand some immuno-disease you will more than likely come across as you set off to save the world, one patient at a time."
Allison rolled her eyes at the grandiose and then prettily blushed as the speaker's eyes lit onto hers. She had spent too much time with House and hoped Dr. Fleming wasn't offended by her rude expression.
If he saw it he did not show it in his mannerism. "We have tons of material to cover and a short time so I'm going to skip the preamble and cut to the chase. Let's talk syndromes, antiphospholipid for starters."
The man wrote as fast as he talked and Allison truly felt she had been thrown back into college. Except this time she knew about the subject.
"Sometimes called the Hughes Syndrome, this is a tricky syndrome that is usually present with other illnesses. It is characterized by excessive clotting and/or complications of pregnancy. Of course, there is also a presence of antiphospholipid antibodies which can be detected by simple blood tests."
Allison looked around the room again to note that everyone besides herself was writing furiously. She felt she very well may be wasting her time when she could be saving patients, as Dr. Fleming suggested.
"This nasty antibody can be the cause of various symptoms including thrombosis of the arteries or veins, miscarriages, thrombocytopenia, migraines, or inflammation of the nervous tissue of the brain or spinal cord."
"Transverse myelitis," Allison murmured as she wrote the medical term of inflammation mentioned.
Dr. Adrian Fleming clapped his hands and beamed at the class. "Any questions?"
Allison looked up. Surely he was not done.
"Now, onto the next disease I have..."
Allison's hand shot up.
The speaker happened to turn around as he finished writing the next immuno-disease on the board. "Yes, my dear. You have a question?"
Allison stood automatically, a reflex learned from her schooling. "Hughes syndrome antibodies are also found in over half the patients who have systemic lupus erythematosus."
"Ah, lupus. Yes, it tends to be an all encompassing disease Thank you, Miss...?"
She didn't like the way he seemed to be belittling her with his expression and words. She threw her chin higher in the air. "Dr. Allison Cameron from the Diagnostic Center in Princeton-Plainsboro."
Dr. Fleming smiled. "You are an esteemed colleague. I appreciate any information you can add to help the students. Thank you. Now, as I was stating--"
"Dr. Fleming," Allison interrupted, not bothering to sit down yet.
He didn't look as chummy this time. "You wish to ask something, Dr. Cameron?"
She stood her ground. Three years under House had toughened her up some. "I feel we need to point out that while the antiphospholipid syndrome does have antibodies detected by tests there are also harmless antibodies associated with bacterial, viral, and parasite infections as well as certain drugs that can test positive. The presence of antiphospholipid antibodies does not automatically diagnose your patient as having Hughes."
Dr. Fleming glowered at Allison as she sat back down, noting the people were frantically writing the information she had offered. "Yes, well, thank you again, Dr. Cameron, for being thorough. I must point out, however, this is just a two day event so I have taken the liberty of summarizing these items."
Allison obediently adjusted her pad of paper, keeping her eyes down to avoid a confrontation.
Dr. Fleming, knowing he was back in control, smiled to his audience and gestured to the board. "Here's a mouthful. Hyperphenylalaninemia. A long name for a straightforward disease known as HPA. The breakdown? Increased amounts of the building blocks of protein- amino acid phenylalanine. Excess phenylalanine is very toxic to nerve cells and, untreated, will lead to brain damage. High levels can prevent normal brain development and cause symptoms such as mental retardation, seizures, and behavioral problems. Dr. Cameron, can you enlighten us on the statistics of the disease?"
Allison refused to be baited. "Statistics was never a strong point," she said, matter-of-factly.
Dr. Fleming smiled victoriously. "The most common type- phenylketonuria or PKU- is 1 in 10,000 to 25,000. But don't disregard this serious disease because of those numbers. The one child you diagnose will be worth the knowledge you store."
Allison refrained from rolling her eyes at the 'esteem building' statement and began to use her pad as a white board, listing the current symptoms of the patient waiting at her hospital.
Seizures
Glaucoma
Shuffling Gait
Stoke was the obvious answer but she had learned that the obvious answer never seems to be the right one. She tried to twist her mind around it further.
Allison recognized that Dr. Fleming was talking about ankylosing spondylitis but her symptoms definitely did not match that disease so she tried to tune him out. Her patient had a much more complicated illness than spine arthritis. Allison studied her list, squinting her eyes in thought. Something tickled her mine and she nearly grasped it when a loud familiar ring of Bach chimed in Allison's purse.
Dr. Fleming stopped the class and glared at Allison. "No cell phones allowed. Please leave or turn it off."
Allison was completely red while she struggled to find the phone. She silenced the ring and checked the caller ID.
House.
She stood to go take the call when it stopped vibrating. Allison quickly changed the ring to silent when her beeper buzzed at her waist.
Call now!!
Allison sighed and made her way out of the lecture hall to initiate the call as commanded.
"Dr. House."
Allison rolled her eyes at her Australian coworker. "Chase, where's House?"
"Cameron! He's in a mood so be--"
Chase didn't get to finish as Allison heard Greg House snark at him and then direct his mood to the phone. "Where the hell are you?"
"Hello to you, too," she replied snidely.
"There's no coffee."
She smiled, knowing he couldn't see her. "Look at the can. Surely your MD license gave you the ability to follow directions."
House snorted. "Yes, but you make it so well, mixing it with your sugar sweetness," he said in exaggerated sarcasm.
"Hm. I thought you hated my niceness."
"It makes good coffee," he answered. "Cam, the kids are going crazy. You know I'm not a father figure. Mommy is needed."
She rolled her eyes. "House, I'm not coming in."
Capriciously, House changed his tactics. "Where the hell are you?" he asked, briskly.
"I am at a lecture and you are making me miss the discussion."
He snorted. "Likely excuse."
"House! Dr. Cuddy told you a week ago about this. I am here in Princeton College and I'm not coming back until Monday."
"But, Cameron," House whined. "Our patient needs you."
"I'm sure Trent will be fine with the three of you on the case."
"Who?"
"Your patient. I have to go. Lunchtime." She closed the phone before he could respond and she felt a mixture of pride and guilt for hanging up on House.
Allison opened the door to head to her seat quietly while her phone silently vibrated in her hand as House tried to reach her. Dr. Fleming looked at her, silently, until she reached her seat. Allison fought the urge to blush again. She couldn't believe that SHE was the one disrupting class when she used to pride herself as an exemplary student. She scowled at her still vibrating phone as she sat down, stuffing the offensive device in her purse.
"Here's one people should recognize," Dr. Fleming continued. "Addison's disease. Any student was to input some symptoms?"
"Tiredness?" spouted out a blond.
That's the universal symptom of illness, Cameron thought meanly to herself.
"Great. Anything else?"
"Hypotension," said some guy to Cameron's left.
"Weakness," added another.
"Yes!" Fleming stated. "Those are all telltale signs that the patient needs to be tested. What is the major symptom to look for?"
The students looked confused so Cameron slowly raised her hand, determined not to stand for this man. He sighed.
"Dr. Cameron. Help us out."
"Addison's disease is characterized by adrenal insufficiency and/or hypocortisolism- not enough cortisol- which affects every organ and tissue in our bodies."
"Thank you for that description." He looked at his watch. "We have approximately thirty minutes before lunch. I'm thinking I don't want to interrupt the session so let's just chill and talk about whatever."
Allison had never been in such a lax lecture and couldn't help to roll her eyes when Dr. Fleming turned his back. She didn't understand how Dr. Cuddy was friends with such a man and she could hardly see how being here was going to help her at all unless it was on what not to do.
She looked once again at the white board symptoms and frowned. Taking off her glasses she dug for her phone. She smiled in acceptance as she saw she had 21 missed calls from three different numbers, four if you counted House's office number.
She picked Foreman's and waited two rings for him to pick up. "Foreman, it's Cameron. How are things?"
"Well," the neurologist said to her, "I can't say it's been the best day for our team. House has been a tyrant around here. First it was the coffee. Then the patient started getting progressively worse and he's spent part of the morning trying to convince Cuddy to, quote 'tell her fine ass to get back here' unquote."
"Nice to know I'm missed," she deadpanned, then focused on something Foreman said. "He's worsening?"
"Yeah, he's starting to show uncontrolled movements."
"What did the MRI show?"
"We ruled out stroke."
"I figured."
"It does show tiny spots on the brain that is not consistent with a tumor or clot. House has Chase using his pretty boy charm to talk the mom into signing off for biopsy. So far he's struck out. She's a widower and she doesn't want to risk losing her son too."
Allison ran her hand down her skirt in frustration. "She has to understand she might lose her son if she doesn't let us properly diagnose him."
"At this point she doesn't want to listen."
Allison was about to answer him when the doors to the lecture hall banged open loudly.
"Hey!" shouted a disturbingly familiar voice. "What's a cripple got to do to get fed around here?"
Allison sunk down in her chair. "Uh, I gotta go," she told Foreman then hung up the phone, afraid to turn around.
The whole class and Dr. Fleming were understandably staring at House as he came slowly down the stairs.
"This is cripple discrimination. I should sue," he boomed out.
Dr. Fleming took a step forward. "Uh, sir. You could take a seat right beside the door. You don't have to come down the stairs."
"Ah, but then I couldn't cheat off of a hot girl or warm up my bed. Whores are expensive and tend to be a special treat for me to add spice in the bedroom."
Allison tried to sink lower, placing a hand on her face as she closed her eyes.
The thump of the cane hitting the floor near her showed he had made it to his destination. "Hey, hottie. Ever been with a man who had two wooden canes?"
"Go away," she muttered, giving up and shifting to look up at him.
His blue eyes, complimented by his blue Def Leppard shirt, sparkled. "You promised me food."
She shook her head. "No. Just because I mentioned lunch does not mean you are invited."
House put his full lower lip out in a pout as he claimed the seat next to her but didn't bother to adjust his volume. "But Wilson is out of town. I have to eat."
Allison rolled her eyes, noting the conversations around them were hushed and they were the subject of many glances. "You know, you do have a job. Which means you can spend your own money on food."
"But, Cameron," he whined. "I don't have any money with me."
Allison was opening her mouth to retort when Dr. Fleming appeared in front of them. "I really hate to interrupt this party but are you here for the lecture, sir?"
House looked up at him with a confused expression. "Lecture? Sure. I didn't come with any notes but what the hell, I'll wing it. What do you want me to talk about?"
It was Dr. Fleming's turn to look confused but he handled it gracefully. "I think it's time to get lunch--"
"Now he's talking," House muttered, staggering to his feet.
"Uh." Dr. Fleming glanced at House before continuing. "Be back in an hour."
Allison felt like she was back at Princeton-Plainsboro as she followed House obediently up and out of the hall, then followed the ebb of the others towards the cafeteria.
She waited until they were in line before catching his elbow. "House, what are you doing here?"
He lifted a brow. "Aside from the obvious foraging for food?"
She glared at him. "House."
"Stop clenching," he winced. "You look like you're trying to make a diamond." He ordered his normal Reuben, no pickle, oblivious to his current surroundings and turned slightly to her. "Our patient is getting worse," he said lowly.
"What does that mean?"
He gave a scathing look. "Cameron, I've seen your academic scores. You want to back that question up?"
She put her chosen salad on her tray and reached for a bottled water as House grabbed a Coke. "No, but I will go into further meaning. Our patient is worsening. I am stuck in a lecture mandated by OUR boss. You have Chase and Foreman, who is a top neurologist, working on this case. You should be there putting out the stops but you're here. With me. It's not lupus. It's not fibromyalgia. Hell, House, it's not even immuno- related on any level. Tell me why you are here."
"We're missing something," he admitted before shocking her further by paying for both lunches. "I think the mother is lying."
"Of course you do," Allison said but with no bite behind it as she still tried to comprehend that she may well be the only person who had ever seen House's wallet and lived to tell about it.
"I need you to come talk to her for me. You bat your big grey eyes and people fall all over themselves to tell you secrets."
"I think you severely overestimate my eyes, batting or not. Besides, you are again missing the obvious. I am here and the patient's mom is back at the hospital. Unless you think she might be there when I get out of here I'm afraid your plan is as dead as the meat on your sandwich."
House gave her a wide-eyed look as they both sat at an empty round table. "You were derogatory to my sandwich? How very un-Cameron-like." He reached across to put his hand on her head as if to feel for a fever, ignoring her as she tried to push him away. He sighed and took a bite of his food, not bothering to close his mouth. "Since you seem totally incapable of thinking outside the box I have taken the liberty to help further our ability to get clear of the Fleming crap.:
Allison arched a dark eyebrow. "Leave me out of this, House."
"Do you always have to be so Andy Ant?"
"What?"
He rolled his eyes. "Goodie two, goodie two, goodie goodie two shoes," he sang. "Eighties song," he explained at her blank look. "Probably before you were born."
"I was a child in the Eighties," she protested.
He snorted. "Somehow I don't see you as the big hair, denim patched type."
She flipped her wavy hair back behind her shoulder, swallowing a cucumber slice. "And the answer is yes. I do always have to be a 'goodie two shoes' as you said. Someone has to be the voice of reason on this dysfunctional team you've assembled."
"That's the first right thing you've said. My team. Which means do what I tell you or you're fired."
Allison pushed the rest of her salad away. "Grow up, House."
He scowled and pushed her food back. "Eat this. I didn't pay for it to be thrown away and you're too skinny as it is."
She begrudgedly picked back up her fork and they spent the rest of the meal in silence.