DISCLAIMER: Still don't own anything.


CHAPTER TWO

DISCHARGE??

Early rays of sunshine bore through the windows into Room 212. A tired Allison Cameron groaned a threw the pillow over her head to block out the intruding light. Only one hour ago had she been able to sleep. Damn hospital beds were ungodly uncomfortable.

'Morning Dr. Cameron. I have your breakfast right here when your ready!' an overly cheery nurse chimed in, supposedly trying to brighten the patients' day. The 'breakfast' was, what Cameron supposed was, an egg with some form of meat in it, and maybe some cheese. But, who could tell. She reluctantly took a small bite and nearly vomited. It tasted like cardboard mixed with rotten vomit, topped with cheese. Positively disgusting!

'Dr. Cameron,' the cheery nurse spoke, somewhat worried. 'Are you feeling nauseous?'

'No, I'm fine, thank you,' Cameron replied. The damn taste wouldn't leave her mouth. 'Can I have a glass of water, please?'

'Oh, of course Dr. Cameron.' Cameron took the cup from the anxious nurse's hands. The nurse wouldn't leave the room.

'I'm fine, really. You don't have to worry.' She gulped a huge amount of water to no avail. The horrid taste was still present in the immunologist's mouth. 'Next time I see Cuddy, I am going to kill her because of the disgusting quality of food she allows in her hospital. No wonder the patients always get sicker.'

'How are you feeling today?' asked Chase as he walked into the hospital room.

'Much better. When can I get out of here and sleep in a decent bed and eat edible food?'

'Once we are not afraid of your lung collapsing again. You almost died, like, a few days ago.'

'And I've been fine since then.'

'You've been losing some weight. That may be a cause for concern. You did have a stomach injury.'

'That you've repaired. And you've cleared me for eating sold food, but I can't. Not because I'm sick, but because it tastes like it was rolled onto my plate by a giant dung beetle!'

'Cameron, we can't discharge you. Anyway, you have a physio appointment with Dr. Rivers later this afternoon. And then, maybe, if you still haven't nearly died, we can think about a discharge. I swear, doctors make the worst patients.'

'Killjoy.'

HHHHHHHHHHHHH

'As promised, I have two more stacks of letters and papers for you to sort,' announced House striding purposefully into the room.

'Can you give me food in exchange?'

'No. I'm not paying for lunch for anybody.'

'I didn't say you had to pay. You had to fetch.'

'I've got a bum leg,' House replied in his best pity-me voice. Cameron rolled her eyes. House deposited the rather large stack of papers on the foot of her hospital bed. Cameron groaned. House took a seat on the couch opposite the bed.

'What, are you going to watch me and make sure I don't screw up or shirk my duties?'

'Have you had a physio appointment yet?' he asked, changing the topic.

'No. I have one scheduled later.'

'Are they giving you anything for the pain?'

'No. Why?'

'If you need something after the appointment, I can help you.'

'O-K,' Cameron said, definitely confused by House's offer. 'He never helps anyone, especially when he gets nothing in return. It is almost like he is being...dare I say it...nice. He is...caring? No, he must want something.' 'And what do you need in return?'

'Nothing. Just, promise me you won't 'visualise your healing.' Cameron tried to laugh, but it came out more as a giggle. 'It doesn't do anything but make you feel like an idiot.'

'I'll keep that in mind.'

'Well, I'll leave you to your sorting. I'll be back in, an hour or so. Have fun.'

'Thanks,' she sniped. With that, House turned and exited the room quicker than any man with one good leg should ever be able to.

Cameron looked down at the papers piled high at the foot of her bed. She groaned again, then mentally cursed House for pawning this off on her and herself for not having a backbone enough to tell him to leave her alone. She never had had a spine, and that had gotten her into trouble in the past. If she had stood up to Brian early, maybe, just maybe, she could have avoided her entire current situation. Maybe, on second thought, if she had stood up to him, she would have been in the hospital bed two months ago. I guess there was no way of her ever knowing.

However, as she flipped through the numerous requests for Dr. Gregory House to speak at a conference or teach a course in infectious diseases at Hopkins, she was distracted by the conversation earlier. 'Why had he been so nice. No, he wasn't being nice. He probably didn't mean anything by it at all. Or, maybe he pitied her. No, that wasn't it either. Maybe he was buttering me up to do some more papers. Wait, he already knew that I would do it. He was being nice. Greg House was being nice. Unbelievable.'

HHHHHHHHHHHHH

'Hello Dr. Cameron. I'm Dr. Rivers. How are you feeling?'

'Alright. Can we get started though. I want to get this over with. From what I hear, physio isn't exactly the most fun and painless thing that one can do in their spare time,' Cameron replied, trying to add a joke.

'Of course.' Dr. Rivers then proceeded to show her exercises that she can do to help build up strength in the various parts of her body that had been attacked. Her abdominal area didn't really hurt, and there wasn't much that needed to be done to fix that. But then he got to her leg. A jolt of fire shot through her thigh muscle and down to her knee. The flames radiated all the way into her back, paralyzing her. The forest fire continued to ravage through her body. She tried not to scream. She tried to be strong and not give up. She couldn't. In the end, the forest fire won, incinerating everything in it's path. She screamed in pain. Dr. Rivers stopped the exercise.

'Dr. Cameron, I'm sorry. Are you alright?'

'Yeah, sorry. I'm fine.' Lie. Her leg was searing. The pain was incredible. Like she was being stabbed all over again. 'How is this supposed to help me. It seems to be during more harm than good.' She felt her eyes began to water.

'We can stop, if you want. We have already made great progress today. I can come back tomorrow.' It was more of a statement, a command, rather than a question. Cameron knew better than try to argue with him. She wouldn't win. So, she just sheepishly nodded her head.

She heard footsteps and then the glass door closed. She rolled over onto her side. Bad idea. The fire shot through her right thigh again. Damn. A single tear rolled down her cheek. The path it made as it ran down her face burned. Everything burned.

The door opened again and the distinct sound of two footsteps and a cane entered, wandering closer to the bed.

'Does my immunologist have her papers ready yet?' House asked, sarcastically of course.

'Yeah. They're on the table,' Cameron choked. House was aware that she'd been crying. He could hear it in her voice, even though her back was turned away from him. Pain. He knew that was it; the cause of her misery. His heart went out to her. Cameron felt a small piece of paper float onto her head. She grabbed it.

Hydrocodone 5/500 one P.O. q6 P.R.N. pain

'You're giving me Vicodin?'

'I figured you'd need it. I've been there two,' he said, halfway to himself. 'I can run down to the pharmacy and get it filled for you.'

'Thanks, House.' He was still being...nice. By now, her tears had subsided.

HHHHHHHHHH

Two Hours Later...

'So, have you decided when I can finally get out of here?' an eager Cameron asked.

'Not today,' Chase replied. 'Look, maybe if you're still doing well, in three or four days we can think about discharge. Still, you'd need to go home with somebody because hospital policy states that any patient being discharged has to have someone to look after them after discharge. Who would you go with'

'A friend, maybe. Maybe an Australian friend of mine who feels pity for his friend who can't even eat breakfast or sleep in a bed that doesn't feel like it is constructed with cardboard.'

'Subtle. Sorry, I can't. Family is coming to town and I'm going to be busy for the next few weeks.'

'Foreman could, or Wilson even. Cuddy might even let me stay with her.'

'Wilson...is trying to patch up things with his soon-to-be-ex. I guess he is tired of paying billions in alimony.' Cameron twisted her head around to see the tall figure of House standing in her doorway. 'And Foreman would steal something. Besides, he asked for time off to visit his Alzheimer's stricken mother before she can't remember him anymore. It almost brings a tear to my eye.' House reached up and mock-wiped a tear from his eye.

'Well then,' Cameron shot at him, 'What do you propose I do to get out of here. Cuddy might-'

'Stay with me,' House said, cutting her off.

'What!' Cameron exclaimed in shock. House is asking her to stay...with him. She was amazed.

'You heard me. Stay with me. I promise, I don't bite, unless you want me to,' he said waggling his eyebrows. Cameron rolled her eyes.

'House,' Chase cut in, 'She needs to be monitored and helped around the house. Do you really think that is a job for you. Not to mention the psychological pain.'

'You think I can't do it,' he retorted. Chase shut up. 'I am perfectly capable of helping things out. I help Steve. I feed him and move his cage around.'

'Are you sure,' Cameron asked, still amazed at his un-Houselike offer.

'No, I'm just making you get all excited about leaving the hospital bed, just to see you crash when I get your little itty-bitty hopes up. Does that sound like something I would do?' he asked feigning innocence?

'Yeah, it does.'

'Offer is on the table about...30 more seconds.' He glanced down at his watch and began humming the Jeopardy theme song.

'YES. I'll go with you. Thank you.'

Chase stood in bewilderment. He was nearly as surprised as Cameron. House offered to let her stay with him? Amazing. He almost felt bad for her. A few weeks with House was enough to drive you to drink.

'See, home situation solved. Now, I'm sure Dr. Chase will have no problem getting you out of here by Friday this week, right Doctor?' House said, glaring at Chase.

'Yeah. Sure.'

'Good.' With that, House turned and walked back in the direction of his office.

HHHHHHHHHHHHH

Cameron stared at the ceiling. House had let her stay with him, at his house. The way she thought, this could either be very bad and they would end up hating each other. Or, this might be a very, very good thing for them. Maybe he liked her a little bit after all. He did offer to let her stay. Maybe.