Wow! Thanks for all of the wonderful comments on the first two chapters. And thanks to everyone who favorited this story and me.

We'll get back to the present next time, but here's some more on the events leading up to June.

I hope you had a great day yesterday.

I'm looking forward to more comments. Thanks for being such great fans of my work.

Chapter 3. WORKING NINE TO FIVE

About an hour after we finished breakfast, I walked into my office for the first time since

before Christmas. I was much earlier than usual, but I didn't think

I wanted to hang around and bond with Oscar and Daniel or whatever

their names were. A glance into the conference room confirmed that

Yen was the only one in so far. When Sully came in I'd have to let

her know we'd be by to pick up the pooch that evening.

Sully must have been keeping my mail under control. There were only

three envelopes set aside for my attention. Probably should have

been none.

The first was a statement telling me I still hadn't sent in my AMA

dues for the new year. C'mon. It was only January third.

The second was from a patient from about a year before. Or so she said.

I certainly didn't remember her. Anyway, she also said that my

diagnosis of the cause of her life-threatening condition, and the

treatment and cure, had made it possible for her to finally become

pregnant. She wanted me to know that she and her husband had just

become the proud parents of a boy and they were naming him Clarence

Gregory Ditweiler. I hoped the kid would have enough sense to drop

the 'Clarence' before he started pre-school. Gregory is a much

cooler name!

I almost tossed the final letter out without reading it. It was from

Sebastian Charles. But curiosity, or maybe something else, prompted

me to open it.

It was an invitation to join him on a panel on tropical diseases as

part of a fundraiser. Fat chance. Still, the intriguing thing was

this final paragraph:

I hope it won't deter you from participating

to learn that I have also asked your former

Fellow Allison Cameron to be on the panel. Her

recent work on the Brazilian flu, not to mention

her beauty, makes her a big draw. I understand

she has rejoined Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching

Hospital, so I can only assume the two of you

have no difficulty working together.

I leaned back and thought about that. Dr. Charles had been attracted

to Allie when he met her so many years ago. Did he still feel the same way?

I wasn't surprised when she showed up at my office door less than

fifteen minutes later.

"Did you see the invitation from Sebastian?" she asked.

"Sebastian?" I couldn't help playing innocent.

"Yes, that invitation." She pointed to the sheet of paper I

still held in my hand. Oooops!

"You wanna do this?" I asked, but then answered my own question. "Of

course you do. Using your new-found celebrity to raise money to

research diseases."

"What about you?" she asked. "I'm sure Sebastian doesn't really

expect you to come."

"Then why did he ask me?"

"Because if, by some chance you actually said 'yes', it would be a

big coup for him."

"Yeah," I nodded, deep in thought.

Just before noon I went looking for my wife so that she could buy me

lunch. She wasn't in her office, and neither was Lloyd. Next stop,

her lab.

The young tech was running blood tests. Maggie? Maddie? Something

like that. "Where's Dr. Cameron?" I asked.

She looked up from her analyzer readout. "Dr. Billings asked her to

consult on a new Brazilian flu patient."

I hoped she wasn't giving out information that easily to just anyone.

"She told me that I could tell you if you came by." She seemed

to read my mind. Allison said this kid was sharp and she was right.

"Thanks, Meggie." I made an effort to read her badge.

She flashed a bright smile my way. "Anytime, Dr. House."

I took off down the hallway to the patient rooms used by Allison's

department. Sitting on a bench outside the rooms were two familiar

people, Joe Romano and his wife.

"Dr. House, have they called you in on my daughter's case?" Joe

asked.

"Is Dr. Cameron in with her?" I asked noncommittally. "So Calene's

got the flu?"

"Not Calene. It's one of the twins, Evie," Mrs. Romano replied.

Just then Allison and Billings slid open the door to one of the

rooms and came towards us.

"It's definitely Brazilian flu," Cameron told Joe and his wife. I

didn't even try to think of her name.

"So why isn't the antibiotic working?" Joe asked.

"We just need to be more aggressive with the treatment," she told him.

"Why don't you go in and see her."

Once they were gone, Billings said, "I hesitate to change antibiotics

without Davidson's agreement."

"We shouldn't wait until he comes back," Allie said. "I know it's

Davidson's case but..."

"Forget Davidson," I suggested. OK, I didn't quite use the word

'forget'.That b st rd was and always has been a menace. "Get Taylor

to agree to the change in meds."

"What House means is that if you get Taylor's OK, then Davidson can't

question what you've done," Allie interpreted.

Billings nodded in understanding, then left in the direction of

Taylor's office, a pensive look on his face.

Chapter 4. BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME

"The patient's a twin?" I asked.

"Yes. I guess you're thinking along the same lines that I am." Allie

put her arm through mine as we walked to the elevators.

"Identical or fraternal?"

"Identical. I've already asked Joe and Linda to bring Edie, the other

twin, to the hospital so we can test her and compare her blood

chemistry to Evie's," Allie told me.

"Good." We'd reached the elevators. "I'm hungry."

"Me too." Her appetite had certainly increased during

this pregnancy. And the extra weight suited her. She was filling

out in all the right places.

"So, where's dastardly Davidson?" I asked. I guess I should have

called him worse, but at the time that seemed appropriate.

"He's in New York for a conference this week."

"Spreading inaccurate information, no doubt."

"I just hope he's not too hard on Billings when he gets back next

Monday. The important thing is to get that little girl well again."

Allison and I ate some lunch in the cafeteria and then returned to

my office for a little afternoon delight. I closed my blinds, locked

my door, and then proceeded to ravish my wife.

But too soon she had to get back to check on her patients, and there

was something I had to check too.

I found Josh Beaumont where I expected, sitting in front of his

computer command center.

"Dr. House, welcome back."

I nodded at him. He knew why I was there.

"Our boy Davidson was busy while you were gone," Beau reported. "He

tried again to access Dr. Cameron's files. Unsuccessfully, of course.

Then he tried Dr. Palmer's." He looked at me and smiled. "Seems like

Dr. Palmer has beefed up the security on her files. I wonder why?"

His smile turned to a smirk. "But, he wasn't ready to stop there.

Next he tried Dr. Cuddy's files."

He saw my look, a combination of astonishment at Davidson's chutzpah

and concern about what he could have found.

"Relax. Our Dr. Cuddy must be paranoid. Her files are protected and

encrypted. No way he could learn anything from her."

"Maybe somebody should let her know he tried," I suggested.

"No need. She's got a program that monitors for anyone who so much

as tries to get into her personal files, emails, and records," Beau

told me.

I made a mental note never to even try. "Will she know you were

checking?" I asked.

He grinned. "No, I was in Davidson's system tracing his activity."

"So, she'll know about his attempts?" I asked, dare I say gleefully?

I was glad that Cuddy had even more against the man.

"Yup," Beau confirmed.

"Thanks, Beau," I said, and I meant it. This was even better than I

hoped.