CREDIT TO THE PERSON WHO MADE THE EDIT I USED FOR THE COVER PICTURE. IT'S BRILLIANTLY EDITED. - Also, this is my first crossover fanfic so go easy on me critics ;)
It had been 10 years since Allison was Gregory House' fellow at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. Meaning that it had been exactly 10 years ago that she was burdened with House' clinic duties, to keep Cuddy off his back, and yet here she was finding herself at a completely new hospital, and somehow been roped into covering her friend Dr. Whale's clinic hours due to him being overbooked with patients.
Allison had 6 minutes left of her morning break and despite being an experienced doctor, she was still a mother to a 4 year old little boy named Liam. Her husband, his father, had passed away in a freak car accident leaving Allison a single parent in a new city where everything reminded her of him. It was then that she decided to leave Chicago, she'd got in contact with her friend Victor from medical school and he'd pulled a few strings to get her an interview at the hospital he currently worked at in Maine. Of course she was hired on the spot. Having Gregory House as a mentor on your resume was like a free pass. The man was a legend and she missed him every day, even though he irritated her to no end.
Victor had given her the number of a friend of his who could watch after little Liam whilst she worked. Allison had only met his friend Belle twice, and she seemed just as nice as he'd described. She had glowing recommendations from a couple named the Nolan's which really sold her. With a quick text to check in on her little man and a last bite of her apple, she tossed the core in the bin on her way downstairs to the clinic.
Victor passed her in the hallway and mouthed 'Thank you!' as she headed toward the double doors to the clinic.
"You owe me!" she rolled her eyes, smirking.
Dodging coughs, sneezes and weird smells from certain patients, particularly the guy who had two spare seats either side of him due to the awful odour, she reached the counter and grabbed the nearest chart.
"Alright, let's see what we have here…" she mumbled, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. Clinic hours were boring. It was mainly just people with sore throats or bruises or believe it or not, over protective parents bringing their children in with wobbly teeth. That had happened more than once or twice, and just the thought had Allison scrubbing a hand over her face and sighing heavily.
"Mr. Gold?" she called out and was surprised to see a well-tailored man hobble toward her with a cane. 'If House could see me now…' she thought to herself. "Right this way, please." she motioned toward the second consult room.
Allison held the door open for him and sat on the swivel stool with her legs crossed, giving his chart a once over before proceeding. "How can I help you today?" she plastered a smile on her face.
Mr. Gold refused to sit and instead leant awkwardly on his bad leg, the cane his only means of staying upright.
"I'm having trouble sleeping and I was wondering if you had anything I could use." he grumbled. If the dark circles under his eyes weren't a dead giveaway that he was sleep-deprived, than the yawn he tried desperately to stifle behind his hand just then was.
Allison was genuinely taken aback by his reason for coming to the clinic. She'd have bet her life that it would have something to do with his leg, his limp was uncomfortable to watch. It just reminded her of House and how much she knew he struggled with the pain, even on very strong pain meds.
"Look, are you going to help me or do I need to find someone who will?" he growled between clenched teeth. Her eyes snapped to find his knuckles bone-white as he clutched the cane in his hand.
"No, not at all. Just a moment." she grabbed her prescription pad and clicked her pen, "Would you prefer a herbal-" she was mid question when he cut her off.
"I don't care what concoction you come up with, I just need something to help me sleep." he said slowly, his tone bordering on a threat.
Allison tapped her pen against her bottom lip in thought as she stared at his leg, then the cane, then his leg again.
"Is there anyone in this blasted facility who can do their actually job?" he sighed frustratedly, his eyes narrowing down at her.
"Does your leg hurt?" she wondered aloud.
"Does my what?" he asked, his face a mask of pure confusion.
"Does your leg…" she pointed with her pen, "hurt?" she asked, swivelling closer and holding her hand out to move the cane from his reach.
"I didn't come here to-" he was about to argue when she cut him off.
"Listen, buddy… I have to 'treat' coughs and sneezes all day. A complete waste of my medical degree, if you ask me, so if there is one thing I can do today to help you, it's going to be to prescribe you something for the pain." she shrugged seeming unfazed whether he wants the help or not, but secretly she's desperate to actually help someone today.
Mr. Gold took a steadying breath as his eyes examined her. Allison's pager went off and she sighed standing up, just as she was about to apologise and leave, he opened his mouth.
"Alright." he cleared his throat.
"Alright, what?" she asked, a smirk playing on her lips.
His gaze dropped to the floor as his cane tapped against his shoe. "What can you offer me to numb the pain?" he asked in a low voice.
A grin spread wide on her face and she had to try not to laugh when he rolled his eyes and huffed at her excited demeanour. She chose her words carefully so she didn't rile him temper again, "My previous mentor had to walk with a cane due to a leg injury, and he used Vicodin to numb the pain… amongst other things, but Vicodin seemed to work… for the most part." she informed him sheepishly.
"Okay." he mumbled.
"I'll prescribe you Vicodin for the pain, I'd say give it about two weeks to work. Who knows, maybe you'll ever sleep a lot better because you won't be uncomfortable as much?" she tried to sound optimistic, but the glare he was shooting her, silenced her completely.
"Two weeks." he repeated.
"Deal." she grinned again.
Mr. Gold laughed to himself then before he took the piece of paper from her dainty fingers.
"What's so funny?" she asked, slightly self-conscious as he headed for the door with his prescription in hand.
"Why, Dearie… just your poor choice of words." he giggled then and a shiver ran down Allison's spine. 'Did this grown man just actually giggle?' she thought to herself, her eyes widening at him slowly. "You don't ever want to make a deal with me." he said then, barely above a whisper. She wasn't even sure she'd heard him correctly as she watched him limp out of the consult room and exit through the double doors.
She filled in her parts of his chart before moving onto the next patient. She checked the time on her watch and couldn't suppress the long sigh that followed her train of thought, 'It's going to be a long day.'
With just two hours left of her shift, Allison was desperate for the rest of the day to hurry up so she could just go home and have cuddles with Liam before she had to put him to bed.
She took her time going downstairs after her lunch break, not in any particular hurry to cure the common cold for the millionth time today.
Once she reached the clinic, the nurse on duty who Allison guessed wasn't her biggest fan, nearly threw the chart at her and pushed her toward the second consult room. "He's been waiting 10 minutes. Where the hell have you been?" the nurse huffed angrily half-slamming the door behind her leaving a very shocked Allison staring at the door.
The sound of someone clearing their throat came from behind her and she spun on her heels instantly.
Her jaw dropped at the sight of the man before her. He was not what she was expecting to see when she came into work this morning.
The man, she glanced down and tried to compose herself as she read his chart quickly, Mr. Jones… was quite possibly the most attractive person she'd seen in a long long time.
He sat patiently waiting on the edge of the examining chair. His dark hair fell over his forehead and into his eyes slightly, his piercing blue eyes were rimmed with dark, 'is that guyliner?' she thought to herself. His shirt was only buttoned half-way, revealing chest hair which had her mind racing. Mixed feelings between wanting to run her fingers through it and desperately wanting someone else to do this consult. It had been far too long since she'd been with anyone and it was clearly more of a problem than she'd thought, seeing as the very sight of this Mr. Jones had her throating running dry and her heart picking up speed.
He cleared his throat once more, this time scratching behind his ear nervously as he watched her intently.
"Hi, sorry! How can I help you today, Mr Jones?" Allison flustered, unable to make direct eye contact as she slipped on the swivel chair falling backwards.
"Are you alright, Love?" she heard him ask, 'He sounded concerned… and is that an accent?' she thought to herself. "Perhaps you should take the more comfortable seating arrangement." he offered his hand out to her.
He didn't wait for her to reply, simply just pulling her up and next thing she knew, her legs were swinging off the end of the examining chair and her cheeks were flushed scarlet as she thanked him quietly. Her voice betraying her, showing him the affect he was having on her. She just about made out a smirk playing on his lips from the corner of her eye, which made her twitch into a small shy smile.
"Sorry about that. How can I help you today?" she cleared her throat and clutched his chart a little closer to her chest.
Mr. Jones sat down lazily on the swivel chair as his gaze dropped to his hand. "I… well, erm… I…" he was clearly finding whatever it was that was bothering him, difficult to say.
"It's alright." Allison encouraged with a warm smile and slight nod.
He huffed a nervous laugh before continuing. "My prosthetic is being a right pain in the arse and I can't remember where put the cream to stop the brace from rubbing and-" he was clearly getting frustrated with himself so she thought it best she chime in now before he explodes entirely.
Allison hopped down off the chair and cautiously stepped towards him with her hands out, "May I?" she asked pointing toward his hand.
Mr. Jones stood awkwardly then, scratching behind his ear with his free hand whilst she carefully examined the brace.
"Is it alright if we take the brace off so I can see, Mr Jones?" she asked politely, she also didn't miss the slight narrowing of his eyes. "Unless you'd be uncomfortable, then we don't have to." she found herself stumbling over her own words for the first time in 10 years with a patient.
She watched as a slight smile danced on the corners of his lips, "It'd only be uncomfortable if you kept calling me 'Mr. Jones'.. I have a name. It's Killian." he laughed slightly as Allison's shoulders visibly eased from his teasing tone.
"Okay, Killian… let's get this off so I can see it better." she didn't miss the flicker of mischief in his eyes as she said that.
"The amount of times I've heard that." he wiggled his eyebrows and she snorted.
Allison doesn't snort. Never had until that very moment, and she was absolutely mortified.
His grin only spread as she felt her cheeks heat up significantly. She didn't need a mirror to know that she was blushing intensely right now.
Clearing her throat, Allison turned her attention back to his stump as she set the brace aside. Her fingertips absentmindedly caressing the scarred area. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed his eyes close and a small sigh of relief leave him.
"Does it hurt now?" she asked, putting a little more pressure on what was left of the damaged appendage.
Allison hadn't known this man long at all and yet she watched as Killian's walls came down. "No, it's fine." he simply replied, his gaze locked on his stump and a look of pure disgust shone in his eyes.
For some reason, her heart clenched at the sight. She had no idea what he was thinking but she still thought he was the most attractive person, even with out a hand.
"I can prescribe you painkillers if you need them?" she asked cautiously, to which he shook his head adamantly at. "Well in that case, I can get the cream for you here now, before you leave… so, is there anything else I can do for you today?" she asked distractedly, jotting down notes on his file.
"How about a name?" he asked and when she glanced up at him, she noticed he was smirking at her again. Her heart beat pounding in her ears now. "A name, Love?" he tried again as he placed the brace back on.
'Two can play at this game, Mr.' she thought to herself as a smirk of her own presented itself. She pointed to the name badge on her lab coat, "Dr. Cameron." her eyebrow raised slightly as she saw his tongue press against the inside of his cheek to keep himself from laughing, "Don't tell me I need to get you an eye test scheduled too?" she teased, writing his prescription on the pad in her slightly shaky hands.
"Don't be daft, Love. My eyes are just fine." he laughed and she rolled her eyes, still smiling.
"Come now, help a guy out…" his tone was playful but his eyes were hopeful, her jaw going slack as she briefly saw his dimples flash at her. Dimples, accent and ridiculously good looking. She suddenly found herself not wanting the consult to end.
Allison tapped the pen against her bottom set of teeth before finally concluding that he seems to be the kind of guy who, if she doesn't tell him, he'd only go and ask the nurse at the front desk anyways. "Allison." she couldn't stop the effortless smile as she placed the pen into her lab coat pocket.
"Well, Allison Cameron" he smirked again, holding his hand out which she took without thinking twice, her breathing stopping momentarily as he placed a chaste kiss to her knuckles, "I hope to see you again soon." he breathed, his touch warm on her skin.
He winked at her before leaving the room with his prescription in hand and she just barely heard him ask the nurse outside if she could "fetch the cream" he needed.
Allison found herself for the first time, in a very long time, looking forward to what this job had in store for her next… also secretly hoping that the piercing eyed, smouldering patient would be in again, soon.