"You can't leave!"
A tennis ball came flying out of House's office, nearly clipping Chase in the head. He ducked and glanced over to Foreman, who was attempting to look busy by paging through a file of a patient that had been discharged three hours prior.
"My fellowship ended six months ago, House. The plan was for me to stay until you hired a replacement; you haven't even agreed to interview anyone," Cameron's voice was shaky under her resolute tone.
"Why do I need to interview anyone? I have you."
"No. You don't. I have an opportunity for an amazing job at Mayo. I'm not going to pass that up to work under you the rest of my career."
"You want a raise? Is that it? A better parking space, a new car? Vacation time?" House negotiated, "Another date?" he finished dryly.
"I want you to sign this, so that I can give my two weeks officially."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I need an immunologist with mail sorting and coffee making skills on my team. And who else is gonna keep Blackie and the wombat out of trouble?"
"I'm not their i mother /i . They don't need anyone to keep them in line. You can't expect them to be here forever either, House. I didn't go to med school to get a fellowship, I went to med school to have a career. This fellowship was a fantastic opportunity, but it's time for me to move on!"
As Cameron came storming out of House's office, Chase scrambled for paperwork, trying to look nonchalant.
"You can stop faking now," she said to him, never breaking pace as she moved to the door, "Glass walls and an open door don't make for great privacy."
The next day, the tension was palatable. Cameron came in carrying a cup from Starbucks and the coffee pot went untouched.
"Are you going to do your job, or are you going to pout the rest of the day?" House asked snidely, dropping three identical files on the table. Chase and Foreman picked them up, flipping through them while they waited; Cameron made furious eye contact with House before picking up the remaining file.
"Seven year old girl presenting with..."
"If you'd sign my resignation, I'd be happy to give you two more weeks of me doing my job," Cameron said, nonetheless opening the file and paging through it.
"If I don't sign your resignation, I can have another year of you doing your job. Seven year old girl presenting with rash, fever, hearing loss and unexplained…"
Cameron was silent as House continued with the differential. She could go over his head – hell, she SHOULD go over his head, because this was going to happen whether he wanted it to or not. She had given him six months longer than intended, and she wasn't about to pass up the opportunity at Mayo, no matter how she felt about him. Especially when it was so blatantly obvious he reciprocated none of her feelings.
"Cameron, patient history. Chase, bloodwork – Foreman, set up the MRI for later this afternoon," House delegated, before disappearing into his office.
Cameron spend the remainder of her afternoon in Nikkia's room, taking detailed notes on everything she'd done, or come in contact with for the last six months. When she was done, she paid a brief visit to Cuddy's office.
If House wasn't going to do it, she'd take care of it herself.
"The hell is this?" The paper slammed down on the table in front of her, and Cameron barely caught herself before she flinched.
Cameron closed her eyes briefly before raising her gaze to his, "It's my two weeks notice, signed by Dr. Cuddy."
"I told you no."
"And I told you that I would be happy to give you two more weeks."
"Cameron…"
"I'm in the clinic today," she said with some finality, closing her laptop and shrugging her lab coat back on, "I will see you tomorrow."
She was in the Diagnostics room the next morning. The mail was sorted, requests for consults politely declined, the coffee pot three quarters full and warm.
"Change your mind then?" he asked, shoving his iPod into his suit coat pocket and pouring a cup of coffee.
"There are six CV's on your desk. Interviews start in two days; two a day for three days. The person you hire can come in next Monday and my last day will be that Friday."
"You're not leaving."
"I am, House," she said quietly, "Go start on those CV's."
It was becoming increasingly apparent that he was going to need to fight dirty to get her to stay. House went into his office, swept the CV's into his garbage can and settled back in his desk chair, ready to wait her out.