"No! I was wrong!" The sudden exclamation halted Cameron in her steps. She searched the hall for the owner of the voice, continuing to hear it ramble on agitatedly, soft enough to be incoherent. After the rant stopped, it clicked. It sounded a lot like-
"Thirteen!"
Cameron turned to the elevators and was just in time to see Foreman follow Remy into the stair well. She stood rooted to the ground for a while, baffled at the turn of events presented before her. Here she witnessed a second of a rather loud disagreement between Thirteen and Foreman while she thought they were getting friendly. And now the man had followed her to the stairs.
Without really thinking it over she walked after them, almost immediately presented with the two of them fighting verbally.
"You had no right to defend me like that!" Thirteen had raised her voice in anger, her features marred with a frown as she gestured to the neurologist aggressively.
"I thought it was a good idea, I agreed," he tried explaining.
"Like hell it was," she lowered her voice, the angry undertone still present, "it dismissed several symptoms and assumed that she had drinking problems. You just need to get over the idea that this," she motioned towards the two of them, "has even the slightest possibility of happening."
"You're just misinterpreting the situation," he began, stepping forwards.
Either they were ignoring Cameron's presence or they hadn't heard her come in. Either way, she moved forwards with the intention of braking up the two before it got out of hand.
"Back off," Remy threatened, backing up the words with a shove hard enough to make him stumble backwards a step.
And a step was all it took for him to bump into the approaching blonde and send her off her balance. She tried grasping for something steady, but ended up clawing in air as she fell backwards. The stairs behind her made her fall a whole lot longer and in the split second that she realized that she was screwed, she was vaguely aware that someone called out her name before her world was enveloped in pain and darkness.
"Allison!" Thirteen panicked, racing down the stairs to get to her lover. There was no dramatic pool of blood slowly increasing in size, but with the way she lay there lifelessly, her arm bending in an odd angle, sent her thoughts in overdrive. It jumped to all kinds of worst case scenarios and she quickly searched for a pulse. Heart still beating. Okay. Hands shaking. She needed help. Spotting Foreman looking on wide eyed at the top of the stairs, she cried, "don't just stand there! Get some help!"
How ironic.
Thirteen sat on a chair in the hallway, staring at the floor as she tried to remember anything useful about the fall except for the burning hatred that had spawned towards Foreman. It was his fault for being so god damn pushy. If he wasn't she wouldn't have shoved him and he wouldn't have nudged the woman she loved into whatever life threatening situation she was in now. Okay, so life threatening might be exaggerated, but the situation felt dire anyway. She pressed her palm against her forehead. How could a lousy little fight lead to something like this?
House sat across from her, studying her distraught reaction. It could have been that there was more to the fall than they let on, but maybe Thirteen was just affected by the bad shape in which Cameron was currently.
Cuddy listened to Foreman bringing Chase up to speed, arms folded, tense. Hostage situations she could handle- no, that was a bad comparison. This situation was ranking rather high in helplessness levels though.
They were all interrupted in their thought processes when the door opened and a stereotypical old male doctor Thirteen had never really seen before walked out.
"Is she okay?" Strangely enough, Foreman was first to speak up.
"Physically she will be, there are no mayor injuries," he said professionally, turning to the group consisting of Foreman, Chase and Cuddy since they seemed ready to take in the information, "but she has sustained a blow to the head. She was unconscious for a while and the concussion could have caused some disorientation and other complications. We're unsure at the moment, but it seems minor."
"Thank God," Chase shared a sigh of relief with the rest while Thirteen looked that more lively. House's reaction was nonexistent as he kept observing everyone.
A nurse took this moment to exit the room hurriedly, urging the doctor to come back. Relief was replaced by worry just like that and more agonizing long moments followed after he disappeared back into the room.
Remy was about to consider taking up smoking to deal with the stress when the door opened dramatically for a second time. The doctor, whose name she still didn't know, looked grave. Thankfully not grave enough to announce a death, but grave enough for something really bad to have happened.
When no one said anything, Cuddy took it upon herself to complain, "don't just stand there! Tell us what happened."
"Nothing happened," he shook his head sadly, appearing as if he was considering his next words, "next to the usual symptoms that accompany a concussion, she appears to be suffering from amnesia. She noticed how the date on the nurse's watch was incorrect."
"The chance of amnesia that severe is almost nonexistent. Especially considering the relatively mild incident." Foreman frowned thoughtfully, watching the doctor nod.
"I realize that-"
"Is she awake?" Thirteen finally reacted, standing up, but hesitating about taking any action that would eventually lead to some situation she was sure she wouldn't like. This was all some kind of sick joke. Either that or she had forgotten a couple of days, it had to be that.
He nodded again, moving out of the way. She made a move towards the door but was held back by the doctor's advice, "it would be wise not to overwhelm her."
Remy wanted to tell him off for stating the obvious, but instead kept silent as she pushed the door open.
"Thirteen? What are you doing here?" Cameron's voice was soft and brittle.
She didn't answer, instead watching the bedridden woman in the dimly lit room. Safe for the sling in which her arm was resting and a little paleness from the shock she looked okay.
Then it hit her. Cameron hadn't called her Thirteen in forever. That alone should have been enough evidence that she didn't remember a long period of time, but she had to make sure.
"Did House send you?" Cameron questioned further. Remy opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Allison didn't even know how they used to be friends. She thought that she was on a meaningless errant, ordered by House.
Suddenly nauseous by the overwhelming sense of dread Thirteen steadied herself against a wall.
"Are you alright?" Cameron couldn't help but become worried. Thirteen had looked pale from the start, disgruntled even, and now she was wobbling.
"I need to sit down." Hadley said, doing exactly that. She buried her face in her hands, trying not to have a panic attack by taking deep, calming breaths.
Meanwhile Allison looked on, failing to interpret the situation correctly. Thirteen never used to consciously seek out any contact with her and now, well, now she had no idea what was going on. Maybe she was there to escape House.
"How are you feeling?" The sudden question almost startled Cameron. Thirteen hadn't moved from her position.
"I'm fine," Cameron answered automatically before realizing how stupid that must've sounded, "I mean, as far as someone with a concussion, a dislocated shoulder and bruised ribs can actually feel fine. At least it doesn't feel like I've fallen from the third floor anymore." She chuckled. "Now it feels like I fell from the second floor."
"That's good." She raised her head from her hands, forcing an amused look in Cameron's general direction.
Chase took this moment to open the door and step in. Allison smiled at him, and he responded with a smile of his own. Hadley watched their interaction, suddenly all to aware of the way Cameron almost seemed to flirt with him. She hadn't been fond of him after the way he had meddled in their relationship, but right now, with the way he was taking up all of the blonde's attention, she couldn't stand him.
"How are we feeling today?" He asked, walking up to the bed.
"Okay, I guess," she answered simply, unable to produce a lengthy answer like she did with Thirteen. "It's not like I've been run over by a bus or anything."
Chase's smile fell slightly as he turned to spare a glance at Thirteen, who was too busy cursing him in every known language to notice the sensitive subject that Cameron had unwittingly brought to the attention.
Cameron noticed the sudden change in mood and followed Chase's gaze to Thirteen. She was taken aback by the hostility the brunette presented. As far as she had seen her, she always seemed to be so cool and collected. The strange thing was that Chase either didn't seem to notice or didn't seem to care that she was directing death in a glare towards him.
"I'm sorry," she said, drawing all eyes on her. Thirteen's aggression melted away like snow in the sun. "I said something inappropriate, didn't I?"
"No, not at all." Chase answered while Remy just shook her head in what appeared to be disappointment. "Let's see what you remember, shall we?"
"Okay."
"Where's Foreman?" Chase asked, walking into Cuddy's office with Thirteen close behind.
"He felt he'd be intruding," the dean answered, "so he left."
"Figures," Thirteen mumbled.
"Yes, let's talk about our resident scumbag while goldilocks is trying to figure out why her watch is half a year ahead," House commented from his place on the couch, leaning forwards on his cane. All eyes turned to Remy, silently asking for her opinion on the matter. She stared out the window as she thought about her options.
While it was heartbreaking to see that Cameron didn't remember their relationship, friendly or otherwise, and thought that she and Chase had never broken up, she appeared happy. She more than wished Allison all the happiness in the world and without a terminally ill girlfriend she would be spared a lot of suffering. Her previous attempt to do exactly the same had been a failure, but this would work out if she could just pull through with it.
"She should remember on her own," she told the room. She'd let Allison go, and if she came back to her it was meant to be. However corny that sounded. "If she asks, help her. But if she doesn't… then let it be. Until then," she spared a glance at Chase whose eyebrows shot up, "everything should be as she thinks is right."
"I'm sorry, what?" House interrupted, "I couldn't hear you through all the bullshit."
"I don't care what you think." She shot him a menacing glare.
"Me neither," he countered immediately, "but for a moment it seemed as if you were saying that Chase was allowed to take your girl because of a little memory loss. Pfft, silly me."
"If there is a chance that she may be spared my suffering, then I will take it," she spat quietly.
"Yeah, it's not like she accepted your Huntington's and was certainly never prepared to face the future with you." With satisfaction he noticed how she started to grit her teeth. "I mean, there are lots of other terminally illnesses accepting fishes in the sea."
"Shut up!" She yelled, fire in her eyes as she scowled at House. "I won't deter from my decision."
"Right, because it's your decision to make." Thirteen opened her mouth to respond to his underhanded comment.
"That's enough!" Cuddy interrupted them, bringing herself to her feet in one smooth motion. "While I agree with House," Remy turned to the dean, baffled, while House smiled in triumph, "Cameron is in no position to make any decision at all and the next best person to make the choice is Dr. Hadley." House's smile disappeared when Cuddy settled her stern eyes on him. "So we are going to respect her decision.
"Chase," she continued, turning to the aforementioned doctor, "of course you need to agree."
Chase spared a glance at the desperate looking Thirteen. Cameron still held a special place in his heart, however masochistic it was. Hadley was insane for even considering to 'hand her over,' as it were, but this could be his second chance. With a nod he showed his consent.
"There are no words for how ridiculous this is," House said, standing up so he could leave the room.
I was talking with one of my Sources and we were discussing all sorts of crappy scenarios, when suddenly I said, "only spontaneous Amnesia would be worse!" which turned into a "actually, that's quite the interesting idea."
Let's say that this story takes place in the same 'universe' as the Closet of Doom and the Plan, but where I was semi-serious with those stories, I wrote this for the hell of it. No, wait, I take that back. I always write for the hell of it. 'Cause it's fun. So there, I emphasized the amusement's worth of the story. Ignore all the medical plot holes, I know they're there. It's just that my brain's unwilling to research properly after being put through the hell that is called exams.
I'm curious though, what would you let happen in this scenario? I mean, I'm getting giddy just thinking about all the things I could pull off.