Second Opinion
Chapter 2: Reputations
Cuddy cut them all loose a few hours early to go home and pack. "How long are we supposed to be gone exactly?" Cameron questioned as they all headed to the bank of elevators at the end of the hall.
House shrugged. "Could be 3 days, could be a week. We won't stay past two weeks or so, wouldn't want anyone around here to miss us, or god forbid, a patient come in and no one can fix him." He replied tartly.
"I'll pick you two up in an hour." Wilson said, nodding at Foreman and Chase, who returned their agreement.
"Pick me up at 5, not a minute later." House told Cameron, not even bothering to make eye contact with her.
"Wait, why me?" She questioned, stopping in her tracks, confused at her instructions.
He swiveled around to face the attractive young doctor. "Because we can't all fit in Wilson's car, and I'm not parking the 'vette in airport parking for someone to violate her. That's just wrong." He responded, his bright blue eyes daring her to disagree.
"But it's OK to leave my car there?" She asked incredulously, not backing off.
"Well, seeing as we aren't going to get our luggage on my bike, yes, I'd say it's OK to leave your car there. Nobody cares about your Honda." He said dismissively before turning around and heading to his car, leaving her to stand there.
MEANWHILE – SEATTLE GRACE HOSPITAL
"Well?" Derek asked, catching up to Richard Weber as the older man headed towards the conference hall.
"He's coming, along with the rest of his team, and an oncologist apparently." Richard replied, slight confusion evident in his voice.
Derek laughed a bit. "Wilson I'm sure. He and House go back. I'm not surprised. Just glad he's coming." He confessed to the older man as he followed him into a small conference room to make the formal announcement.
"I'm sure he'll make you pay. We both know how House is when it comes to people asking for his help. He'll never let you forget it or live it down." Richard said, his voice low as they entered the room.
"Wouldn't expect anything less." Derek muttered as he came to stand next to the Chief.
Meredith, Izzie and Cristina had been paged to the conference room 10 minutes earlier. Bailey, Burke, Alex and George had also been paged and were milling around the conference room, waiting for the chief and Derek.
"Good afternoon people." Richard greeted as they walked into the conference room, shutting the door behind them.
Everyone sat forward in their chairs as Richard came to stand at the head of the table.
"As you all know, Clark Duncan has been a confusing and troubling case for all of us. The young man is dying, and we have no apparent cause. His comas aren't accounted for, he seizes for no apparent reason, has a breathing tube down his throat because he can't do it himself and we don't know why. So I made a call out to Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital and Dr. Gregory House and his team will be out here to help starting tomorrow. As of tomorrow, the case will be headed up by Dr. House, Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Burke. That's all. You may all head back to work." Richard finished.
The group started to file out. "Dr. House… Man, I would have killed to intern there, it was my first choice." Cristina muttered as they headed to the elevators.
"Who wouldn't have killed to intern there?" Izzie chimed in, her voice filled with excitement at the opportunity to work with the well known doctor.
MEANWHILE – CAMERON'S APARTMENT
She spent 45 minutes throwing her stuff into two suitcases. "What do I take to Seattle?" She muttered to herself, throwing random items into the cases. "Wish I knew for sure how long we're staying." She said with a sigh as she zipped up the last case.
Now, what to wear… Traveling for 6 hours, sitting an in airport for two. She opted for a pair of worn out, dog eared Levi's and a pale yellow, slightly clingy henley. She shoved her feet into a pair of sneakers and glanced at her night stand. The alarm clock read 4:45. Time to go.
She quickly dragged the suitcases to her car and tossed them in the trunk, going back to the apartment to retrieve her purse and coat. She locked up and headed to the car, making her way to House's condo, arriving at 5 on the dot.
He was standing outside, a lone suitcase sitting at his feet. "You're late." He quipped as she opened the trunk and grabbed his bag.
"I'm right on time." She protested as he limped around to the passenger side and threw the door open.
"I know, but for a person who's normally 15 minutes early, being on time is like being late." He explained, his tone snarky.
She sighed and rolled her eyes as she situated herself in the driver's seat.
Two hours later, the team began boarding the 7:30 flight out of New Jersey and into Seattle. They were the first ones on board, courtesy of House and his cane.
"For once, your gimp leg did some good." Wilson teased, clapping House on the shoulder as the 5 of them took a row of seats in the back, facing each other.
"I feel so used. Didn't even take me to dinner first." House shot back, the statement dripping with sarcasm.
Wilson just rolled his eyes and went to sit in the seat next to House, who'd claimed the aisle. Wilson shot him a dirty look.
"I'm saving that seat for my stuff. Don't want to make the cripple have to stand up every time he wants his gameboy or iPod, do you?" House asked, cocking an eyebrow at the oncologist.
"Can't you at least sit next to the window then?" Wilson questioned, bracing an arm on the overhead compartment.
"Nope, cause then I won't be able to get to the bathroom as easily, and I plan on drinking… A lot. Speaking of drinking, Waitress?!" He called out, raising his cane to get the attention of a nearby flight attendant.
Wilson sighed and took the seat next to the window as the 3 remaining members filed in, Foreman taking the window, Chase in the middle and Cameron on the aisle.
House began unpacking his gameboy and iPod and was just about to stick the earbuds in when something caught his attention.
"You know Ellis Grey's daughter is an intern at Seattle Grace. Ellis practiced there too." Chase remarked to Foreman as he buckled his seat belt.
House had forgotten all about that. He'd known Ellis briefly, when she'd flown into New York to meet up with several doctors on a case, he being one of them. House racked his brain a moment, trying to come up with the prodigal daughter's name. Meredith. That's it.
"Wonder if the daughter can get me in with her mum? Pick her brain, you know?" Chase continued, unaware that House was listening.
"The 'daughter' you're referring to? Her name is Meredith. You should at least know the name of the person you're going to manipulate before doing so. Not that it would help, seeing as it's a terrible idea and it won't get you anywhere, but still." House commented, flicking his gameboy on and turning his full attention to the toy.
Cameron smiled to herself. House certainly had moments that surprised her, and standing up for an intern was an unusual one.
"Why wouldn't she help me?" Chase asked, his brow furrowed as he turned his attention to his boss.
"Not that she wouldn't. But it won't do any good. Ellis has advanced Alzheimer's. Half the time she thinks she's twenty years younger and a still practicing. The other half of the time, she doesn't even recognize her own kid." House quipped, sticking the earbuds in and focusing back on the game.
They touched down in Seattle at a little after 1:30 am. They gathered their carry ons and filed off.
"You guys grab the luggage. Let the cripple and the girl deal with picking up the rental." House said as they moved around him. Wilson nodded and grabbed the luggage tickets from Cameron and House.
Cameron and House walked in silence to baggage claim. She felt like death warmed over as she adjusted her pony tail, attempting to smooth her appearance.
"Give it up. No one looks gorgeous at 2 am. Not even you." House muttered as they strode to the Enterprise desk to pick up the keys to the SUV they were being provided with.
"Can't blame me for trying." She said softly as they waited for the car to pull up. He had no response, as usual. They waited in silence. The air was cooler than in New Jersey and Cameron hadn't thought to keep her coat with her instead of packing it. She wrapped her arms a bit tighter around her in an attempt to ward off the offending air.
House glanced to his young companion, who was making a valiant effort to appear fine when she was in fact, shaking like a leaf. He rolled his eyes as he awkwardly shrugged out of his sport coat and tossed it over her shoulders.
"I need you healthy. Can't have the immunologist down with a cold." He told her, effectively cutting off the appreciative thank you that was about to exit her mouth.
The car pulled up a few minutes later and House accepted the keys. He pulled Cameron's door open for her as he moved around the front of the vehicle to the other side.
15 minutes later, they'd picked up the guys and were on the way to the hotel.
By 2:30 they were checked in and headed to the suite they were staying in.
245 was the suite number. House handed out the keys before they went it.
It wasn't much. There were two bedrooms. The smaller one had a queen sized bed, the larger had two full size beds.
There was a small living room with two pull out couches and a desk, and a kitchen with a table equipped for six rounded it out.
"Not much to it, but it'll work. Cameron, you take the single bedroom. Wilson and I will take the other. Chase and Foreman, I'm sure the instructions for the pull outs are around here somewhere." House said as he made his way to the bedroom, leaving Wilson behind.
"Get some sleep, or as much as you can. We have to be at SGH at 7." Wilson told them before following House to the bedroom.
By the time 3 am rolled around, the entire suite was asleep.
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