A/N: I do not own Wilson, House, Cuddy, Cameron, or anyone...it's still very sad.
Cameron yawned and stretched, her eyes fluttering open. Her eyes were sore and her head was throbbing and it took her a moment to remember what had happened the day before. She rubbed her eyes, fighting back a fresh wave of anger and rejection, and sat up, looking around for the first time. She blinked in surprise when she realized that she was in her room in her apartment and she immediately wondered how she had gotten there. The last thing she remembered was sitting in Wilson's office…
Jumping out of bed, Cameron made her way down the hallway to her small living room and smiled when she saw the sleeping form of James Wilson lying on her couch. His mouth was open slightly and he was snoring softly. He was still dressed in the clothes he had been wearing the day before and she was very touched that he had stayed there. She watched him sleep for a moment before going over to him and shaking him gently. He woke up almost instantly and blinked up at her sleepily. The confusion and innocence on his face was very endearing and Cameron smiled widely. Slowly, he realized where he was and when he did he smiled and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"Hey," she said.
"Hey," he replied, yawning as he did so. Cameron smiled again.
"Do you want some coffee?" she asked. "I was just about to go make some."
He rubbed his eyes again. "Yea. That would be great."
She stood up and headed to the kitchen, busily making coffee for the two of them. When it was done, she went back to living room with the two cups and found him sitting where she had left him. He smiled as she walked into the room and she felt a little shiver run down her spine. His hand brushed hers as he took the cup and she felt the heat rise in her cheeks. She sat down next to him on the couch and busied herself with putting sugar and cream into her cup so he wouldn't see her blush, but she had a sneaking suspicion that he noticed anyway. They drank their coffee in silence, both comforted by the age old morning ritual.
"How are you feeling today?" he asked, glancing over at her.
Cameron's face instantly darkened, but she didn't cry, which she supposed Wilson was grateful for. She had seen him deal with a million crying patients with compassion and empathy, but it was always with a detached and professional air. She knew that it would be awkward if she started bawling again.
"Like crap," she said bluntly. He winced slightly when she said it and her expression softened a bit. "I'm sorry. "
He flashed her a little smile. "It's okay," he said. "You have every right to be blunt."
Cameron smiled slightly and nodded. They went back to drinking their coffee in companionable silence.
"He fired me," she said suddenly. She knew that bitterness was heavy in her voice and she wished that she hadn't said anything. Wilson's face had gone dark at the mention of House and she had the distinct impression that Wilson was working very hard to conceal his anger. After a few seconds, he seemed to calm down and he looked up at her, his eyes compassionate.
"Do you want me to go talk to Cuddy?" he asked. "You could probably have your job back tomorrow."
Cameron shook her head. "No. I don't want to work with him anymore. He would be unbearable. He was hard enough to take when we were together."
Wilson nodded, accepting what she was saying without question. She looked back down at her coffee, deep in thought. She knew she would be better off if she found a new job, away from House, but it saddened her to think that she wouldn't be working at Princeton-Plainsborough every day. She would miss working with Chase, Foreman, Cuddy, and Wilson and she would miss the interesting cases she helped solved. She just couldn't bear the thought of working with House, though.
They finished drinking their coffee, sticking to polite small talk and when 8 o'clock rolled around he reluctantly stood up and told her that he had to go home and get ready for work.
"Do you want me to stop by after work?" he asked her hopefully. "We could go grab some dinner somewhere."
Cameron looked at him curiously for a moment, a refusal on the tip of her tongue. She was just about to turn him down when something stopped her. He was looking at her with those bright brown eyes that had always captivated her and he looked so hopeful and so inviting that she simply couldn't turn him down.
"That would be great," she heard herself say.
Wilson's smiled brightly and she couldn't help but smile back.
"Just dress casually," he said, as he donned his jacket and headed for the door. "We'll go do something fun."
Cameron smiled again and nodded. "I'll see you at 6:30?"
"It's a date," he said with a wink and disappeared through the door before she had time to protest.
Wilson knocked on the door to Cuddy's office and waited until she called that it was okay before coming in. She was seated at her desk and going over some files, but she looked up when he walked in and leaned back in her chair.
"House fired Cameron," he said without preamble. Cuddy nodded.
"I know," she said heavily. "He brought me the forms this morning. I knew something was up the second he stepped into my office. He never brings me forms. He always sends Cameron."
"Do you know why he fired her?" Wilson asked.
"No," Cuddy said, shaking her head and frowning. Wilson mentally slapped his forehead.
"They've been in a relationship for the past three months and yesterday they broke it off."
The transformation in Cuddy's demeanor was astounding. She went from shocked to confused to angry to raging mad in less than thirty seconds. Wilson unconsciously stepped back as Cuddy jumped up from her chair and began to storm out of her office. Wilson stepped in front of the door just in time and put out a hand to stop her.
"Where are you going?" he asked cautiously.
"To chew out House's ass," she said through clenched teeth. "He cannot fire Cameron just because they aren't seeing each other anymore. That's discrimination. She could sue us for wrongful dismissal."
"She won't," Wilson assured her, guiding her to a chair. "She doesn't want to work for House anymore, anyway."
"How do you know that?" Cuddy asked, narrowing her eyes.
"I…I took her home last night and slept on her couch," he said, looking slightly guilty. "I just wanted to make sure she was going to be ok."
Cuddy still looked suspicious, but she didn't pursue the matter. "I could hire her back in a different department," she said thoughtfully. "There's an opening in the ER."
"There's an opening in the oncology department too," Wilson said, throwing caution to the wind and trying to sound innocent. He knew he had failed miserably by the look that Cuddy gave him and he looked down, slightly embarrassed by his own stupidity. Cuddy frowned up at him, but decided to ignore his last comment.
"Tell you what," she said. "You tell Cameron to come and see me and she can have whatever opening she wants. She can even have her job back in diagnostics. It's up to her though. I assume you're going over there tonight?"
Wilson opened his mouth to lie to her, but he knew that it was no use. Cuddy had already read his emotions and his body language like an open book. "I'll tell her," he said grudgingly and stood up to leave. His hand was on the doorknob when Cuddy called out to him.
"Oh and Wilson," she said and he could hear the smile in her voice. "Good luck."
Smiling slightly, Wilson walked out the door.
