Thanks so much for the reviews! They gave me the confidence to continue writing this story. Hope I don't disappoint.
The explanation as to how Chase is out of the picture will be given in this chapter.
This is the second and final chapter for the episode, Painless. Enjoy!
At the same time as Kutner and Taub conducted the tests on the patient, Thirteen was sitting in the examination room in the clinical trial area. "I promise, I'm only holding your hand to check for choreiform movement. I'm getting absolutely no intimacy from it." Foreman joked, trying to lighten the mood as he slowly bent Thirteen's arm back.
Thirteen, feeling uncomfortable with the closeness of the other doctor, shifted her body to create some distance between them. Foreman, on the other hand, remained oblivious to her obvious discomfort. She let out a defeated sigh when he made the unfunny joke and noticed the slight slump in his expression, indicating that her reaction was not what he had expected.
"I told you, it has nothing to do with you." Thirteen replied with a tone of finality, after dropping her head and then closing her eyes for a few moments to calm her nerves, and at the same time showing him her palm as a sign for him to back off. She wished Foreman would just let this whole issue rest and settle on the professional relationship they had shared before. There was no such luck though, as Foreman continued his pursue.
"I know. That's the problem. There's 80 reasons we shouldn't date, but you can't shut everyone out. You're gonna need help, support." His tone revealing a hint of gentleness, even as his appearance remained stoic.
"Look at our patient. 32 years old, not dead yet and already he's traumatized his wife, his son-" Thirteen tried to argue, attempting to take an example to let him down easy. Her voice rising by a few decibels as she became exasperated with every second that the conversation went on.
"And I'll bet they're cherishing every traumatic minute he has left, wouldn't trade him for the healthiest guy in the world." Foreman responded, interrupting Thirteen's explanation.
"True. And they are stuck suffering with him, hating every day. Only their pain has no prospect of relief." Her retort managed to silence Foreman. Before he had a chance to think of a reasonable argument, Kutner and Taub entered the examination room with scans of the patient.
"Is this a bad time?" Kutner asked as he stepped into the room.
"No." Thirteen answered.
"Yeah." Foreman replied simultaneously with Thirteen, shooting her a displeased look afterwards.
"No trace of cancer in the patient." Kutner said as he handed the scans to Foreman, after exchanging inquisitive looks with Taub at the response from their colleagues.
"But we did find edema in his intestines, air in the intestinal blood vessels and House still won't answer his phone." Taub added.
After concluding that blockages all over his body would explain the patient's pain and why the cramps come and go, Foreman instructed Kutner and Taub to do an angioplasty and find the blockages before the patient suffers from another cardiac arrest.
"I'll help." Thirteen reacted quickly, seizing the opportunity to escape the examination room. She swiftly grabbed her lab coat and rushed out the door behind Kutner and Taub, relieved to be away from Foreman at last. Slightly dumbfounded by the brunette doctor's quick exit, Foreman clenched his jaw in frustration and then set off to put his back-up plan in motion.
As Cameron stitched up the rather ghastly wound on the forearm of the alcohol-scented brawny man in front of her, she was contemplating the idea of apologizing to Thirteen. That same thought had also been running through her mind repeatedly with other different patients before him. Unfortunately, this time around a slight slip in concentration caused Cameron to prick the needle she was holding right into the opened wound.
"Ouch! What the hell, doctor?" The brawny man yelled, feeling the full effect of the painful sting that resulted.
The abrupt shriek earned the attention of almost half the ER and jolted Cameron out of her own thoughts. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! It was an accident." She cried, apologizing over and over again. "Please let me try to fix it."
"After that? Hell, no!" The brawny man protested while holding his wounded forearm protectively with tears glistening in his eyes like a lost puppy, fearing the likelihood of the accident reoccurring. "Get me another doctor!" He added quickly.
"No, trust me! It won't happen again. I promise. That was just an acc-"
"It's okay, Dr. Cameron. I can take it from here." Cameron's plead was cut short by another doctor, who was attending to a different patient in the adjacent bed. He pressed his lips together into a straight line in his attempt at a reassuring smile.
"Alright, I guess. Thanks." Cameron replied, reluctantly getting up from the stool she was sitting on. "I'm really sorry." She apologized to the brawny man once again, expressing her regret in a quiet voice which was responded with a hateful glare in return. With that, she hung her head down and trudged back to her office.
Once she was in her office, Cameron flopped down onto the small couch situated right at the corner. Rubbing her face with her hands, she let out a tired sigh as her mind refused to let up with thoughts of Thirteen constantly flooding through. She took a glance at her watch, figuring the time was about right for Thirteen to have ended her round of drug treatment, she swung her legs off the couch and headed for the door.
When she reached the clinical trial area, Cameron looked around for any sign of Thirteen. The door to one of the treatment rooms opened and she saw the object of her musing walking out, then turning in the other direction away from her. Instinctively, Cameron rushed after her.
"Dr. Hadley!" Cameron called out as soon as she deemed the brunette doctor was within hearing range.
During the treatment, Thirteen had a whole speech planned out for the impending confrontation with Foreman. She was not going to be polite and understanding with the dark-skinned doctor as she had been in the past couple of encounters. He had crossed the line by manipulating the schedule of the clinical trial. Thirteen exited the treatment room, jaw set in determination as she braced herself.
She only managed a few steps when she heard someone called out for her. Whirling around, Thirteen saw Cameron jogging up towards her.
"Is everything okay, Dr. Cameron?" Thirteen asked and fidgeted impatiently while waiting for an answer as Cameron tried to catch her breath.
"Yeah. No. Actually, I want to apologize for what I said earlier." Cameron replied rather breathlessly. "About you and Foreman." She continued, after noticing the confused look on Thirteen's face.
"Oh. It's, it's alright. Don't worry about it. I probably overreacted a little bit there as well." Thirteen uttered, glancing towards the reception desk distractingly when she saw Foreman approached it from the corner of her eyes. "Look, is there anything else? I really need to go."
"Erm, no. Not really." Was Cameron befuddled reply. "I just wanted to say I'm sor-"
"Okay, then." Thirteen interrupted, before turning away and strode out towards the reception desk.
Cameron was left surprised as Thirteen left her rather abruptly. Her unspoken words left hanging meaningless in the air. When she saw Thirteen approaching Foreman at the desk, she couldn't help the jealousy which ignited within her and the heartache that followed. Maybe there is something going on between them after all. Finding herself unable to continue looking at the scene that was unfolding in front of her, Cameron turned away and numbly dragged herself back to the ER.
"Nice." Thirteen started, the moment she reached Foreman's side.
Taken aback by the confrontational attitude, all Foreman could muster up was a "What?"
"Switching Janice's appointment time so I could see the skies brighten like a Lifetime TV movie." Thirteen answered.
Foreman, at last understanding the situation, attempted to feign ignorance and hide his surprise at her ability to uncover his motive so quickly. "I don't know what you're-"
"Sticking your most improved study participant in my face. Is that your way of getting into my pants?" Thirteen asked sardonically, angered by the fact that Foreman wouldn't man up and admit to the deed.
"I don't make the schedule, and if I did, I wouldn't use it as a social lubricant. And this is the first I've heard of Janice improving at all. So, hey, thanks for the good news." Foreman calmly replied, meeting Thirteen's stare audaciously with his classic smug look. Without giving Thirteen the opportunity to respond, he turned away and allowed a prideful smile to spread across his face.
Thirteen stood dumbly in place as she clenched her jaw in a mixed of frustration and embarrassment, staring disbelievingly at Foreman as he walked away. She began to doubt her suspicion of Foreman's intention and mentally reprimanded herself for jumping to conclusion.
The ER had been relatively quiet with no major accident occurring, leaving Cameron in her office alone with her thoughts as she brooded over the encounters that she had with Thirteen. Ever since Thirteen made the sarcastic yeah-moves-much-faster-this-way remark to her at the agoraphobic patient's home two months ago, she had been bothered by Thirteen's lack of interest in her.
Cameron was bothered to the point where she had practically ignored the insecurity Chase had been feeling during their relationship. He told her how she had never emptied a drawer or cleaned out her closet for him. It was then Cameron realized that it shouldn't have been that hard to do the things he said. When the case ended, so did her relationship with Chase.
Desperate to forget about Thirteen, Cameron got up from behind her desk and headed to the OR where the pain patient, Jeff was getting the total spinal block to test if the cause of his pain was his brain.
When the total spinal block didn't work, House came up with the theory of the patient's brain receptors reading painkillers as killer pain and ordered the team to take the patient off all drugs. He now stood outside the patient's room looking through its glass wall as Kutner and Taub began to wean him off the drugs.
"This is lunacy. You're torturing this guy based on a hunch." Foreman stated as he joined House.
"It's the only hunch we've got. If I really wanted to torture him, I'd manipulate a clinical trial in the hopes that he'd sleep with you." House retorted with a slight smirk.
"Are you suggesting I got Thirteen in that trial because of some personal-"
"I think you got her in because of your usual Messiah complex. I think you messed with the appointment schedule because of your 'I like to have sex' complex." House interrupted Foreman as he tried to deny the accusation albeit unsuccessfully.
"I checked the logs. You moved your most promising patient right before her. False hope quite the aphrodisiac." House commented, looking at Foreman pointedly.
Feeling exposed, Foreman attempted to justify his action. "How's it false if the trials are showing results?"
"Well, if it were that promising, you wouldn't have to change the schedule." House shot back at his companion's weak effort at justification. "But hey, hope springs eternal." With that, House turned away from the patient's room and limped off. Foreman, conversely, stood in place, annoyed by the fact that his motive was seen through so easily.
After leaving the observation gallery of the OR, Cameron drowned herself in the tons of paperwork that were sitting on her desk in her office at the ER. She was going through the last pile of paperwork for the day when she heard a tentative knock on the door. She scrunched up her face in frustration, assuming a nurse was on the other side of the door holding another thick pile of patient files. Not more of this!
"Come in!" Cameron said, raising her voice loud enough to be heard.
"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" Thirteen asked as she poked her head into the office, sensing a level of annoyance in Cameron's voice.
Cameron's head snapped up at the unexpected voice. The fact that she had been sitting in the same posture for the past couple hours or so, the quick and sudden movement of her head accidentally caused her to strain a muscle in her neck.
"Owww!" She cried out, rubbing the strained muscle with her right hand in an attempt to relieve the pain.
"God, are you okay?" Thirteen stepped into the office fully and walked over to the desk, concern etched onto her flawless features. "I didn't mean to scare you." She added, smiling sheepishly. Her smile faded when she saw the amount of discomfort Cameron was in.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just- I didn't think that it would be you knocking on the door. I was surprised, that's all. I thought it was a nurse bringing me more paperwork. I have been reading through patient files for the past few hours and I'm really tired. It would explain why my neck's a little stiff. It didn't cross my mind that it would be you-"
"Dr. Cameron!" Thirteen exclaimed. As much as she enjoyed Cameron rambling on insecurely, she decided that air was probably a good thing for the blonde doctor right now. "Calm down. You're gonna hyperventilate." A small laugh escaping from Thirteen at the end.
"Right. Sorry." Cameron muttered, slightly flustered at the attention she was receiving from the brunette doctor.
"It's okay. There's nothing to apologize for." Thirteen replied. She shoved her hands in the front pockets of her pants, rocking back and forth slightly on her heels as she mulled over on the things to say. "If anyone should apologize, it's me."
Cameron was puzzled, yet at the same time fascinated, by the sudden uncertainty the normally composed Thirteen was showing. When Thirteen spoke again, Cameron was even more confused than she was. "What, why?"
"I haven't really been..." Thirteen paused, thinking of an appropriate word. "pleasant with you during our past few meetings. So, I guess, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. And also, I would like to make it up to you. Does dinner tomorrow night sound good?"
Cameron opened her mouth to say something, but failed miserably. The only success she got was looking gobsmacked. Her mind blanked as she stared incredulously at the object of her obsession for the past couple months who had just asked her out, in a way.
"Dr. Cameron?" Thirteen called out hesitantly, her eyebrows slowly dipping into a frown.
When she heard Thirteen called her name, Cameron finally managed to snap out of the spell she was under and find her voice. "Yeah. Sounds good." Replying in a rather soft voice.
If their surrounding hadn't been quiet, Thirteen thought for sure she would have missed what Cameron had just said. "Great. I'll see you tomorrow then, Dr. Cameron. Take care. Especially of your neck." Thirteen chuckled as she added the last part after remembering the strained muscle, flashing Cameron a charming smile before turning on her heels and then headed towards the door. She stopped abruptly at the door, smacking herself mentally at being awfully sidetracked.
Thirteen turned around to face Cameron again, whose cheeks had turned pink. She stared at the adorable expression the blonde doctor was sporting for a moment before explaining the real purpose she was here.
"Actually, I was here to tell you that Jeff is getting better. House diagnosed him with epilepsy. So, he's gonna be okay." She explained.
"Oh, that's great. Thanks for telling me. And also for the dinner invite." Cameron trailed off towards the end when shyness overcame her.
"You're welcome." Without waiting for a response, Thirteen turned around and headed for the exit for the second time.
After the door closed, a huge grin plastered across Cameron's face and she proceeded to squeal internally. Powerless to the excitement building up within her, she decided to head into the ER to work off some of the restlessness as she willed tomorrow to come sooner.
Thirteen headed straight to the clinical trial area for her next round of drug treatment after having asked Cameron out for dinner. Now seated in a chair in the treatment room writing on a yellow notepad, she smiled to herself as she replayed the scene in her head.
She had never interacted much with the blonde doctor before the last case and honestly, never really made much of an attempt to. But after everything that had happened with her the past few days, she had noticed Cameron seemed to be making an effort and so, she decided she should probably do the same. The fact that Thirteen thought Cameron was incredibly beautiful and also extremely adorable at times, contributed as well.
"You're here early." A familiar voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked up from her notepad to see Foreman standing in front of her, wearing a smile.
"I'm feeling better." Thirteen replied truthfully, determined not to let him spoil her good mood. "What's wrong?" She asked when she saw Foreman fiddling with her IV.
"IV's leaking a little. It's no big deal. I'll be right back." He answered reassuringly.
Thirteen watched him leave before directing her attention back to writing on the yellow notepad.
"Rita, the spike on Dr. Hadley's IV bag wasn't pushed in all the way. Don't want any dosing errors." Foreman informed the nurse at the reception desk outside the treatment room while using a tissue to clean the medication off his hand.
"Sorry. It won't happen again." The nurse apologized. "It stinks, doesn't it?" She couldn't help but asked after smelling the scent of the medication.
"What?" Was Foreman's puzzled response.
"The medication. When we switch out the bags, you can smell it. It's disgusting." The nurse replied, scrunching up her face in repugnance.
Foreman looked befuddled at the nurse's answer, sniffing the air around a little. "I don't smell anything." He stated.
"Oh, she must be on the placebo then." The nurse responded casually, failing to notice the darkening expression on Foreman's face as he turned around to stare at a blissfully ignorant Thirteen writing on her notepad.
Cameron was in the process of examining a patient in the ER when she glanced up and saw Cuddy standing a few feet away from the bed. She smiled and nodded Cameron over, indicating that she wanted to speak with her. Cameron smiled at her patient before politely excusing herself.
"Is there something wrong?" Cameron wondered, as she and Cuddy walked side by side towards the nurses' station.
"You offered to do House's budget because you wanted him to owe you, wanted him to take that case. Why?" Cuddy asked.
"I thought it would help House. Seeing someone worse off than him, possibly curing a guy who has even less to look forward to." Cameron plainly stated. She looked up from the patient file to see Cuddy nodding thoughtfully at her answer. After a short moment of awkward silence, Cameron cleared her throat uncomfortably and started to go back to work.
"Can I ask you something?" Cameron stopped and turned around at the question, tilting her head in wait.
Cuddy hesitated for a few seconds before blurting out the question. "How would you like my job?"
Poor Cameron, it wasn't my intention to make her verbally impaired around Thirteen which you guys had picked up on, it just happened to turn out that way. But she's so adorable that way.
I completely forgot about the patient towards the end and so, I had to make Thirteen turn back around from making her dramatic exit from Cameron's office. Damn!
And see how the scene in the treatment room had no "Foreman, busy tonight?", that has got to be the unsexiest thing Thirteen has ever said.
Up next is the episode Big Baby!