I'd hoped to get this chapter up yesterday, but we were out of town for the weekend and just got home.

Chapter 2.

"Take it easy," Cameron said soothingly. "Injuries like yours are often accompanied by temporary amnesia." She didn't tell her patient that it usually centered around the events just prior to the incident. No need to worry her unnecessarily. On an impulse, she decided to call Foreman for a consult. The Neurologist responded almost immediately.

"Things slow in Diagnostics today?" she asked him when he showed up.

"Yeah, so what do you have?"

"Our Jane Doe here was found unconscious, probably due to a blow to the head," Cameron said, showing Foreman the wound. "She can't remember what happened. She can't even remember her name."

"I'd like to do an MRI to see what internal injuries resulted from the blow," Foreman offered.

"Dr. Foreman is a Neurologist," Cameron explained to the patient. "He'll take you for some tests."

'Jane' started to nod her head, but stopped because of the pain it caused.

About a half hour later, House showed up in the ER looking for Foreman. "You called him for a consult?" he accused Cameron.

"I've got a Jane Doe, head injury and amnesia, but not just the normal retrograde amnesia. She can't remember her name," Cameron explained. "Foreman took her for an MRI. They should be right back."

As she said it, Foreman wheeled the patient back in. Neither Cameron nor Foreman noticed the astounded look on House's face. It was his mystery woman, and now that he was finally going to meet her, she was still a mystery. "What did you find?" he asked Foreman.

"Nothing besides the surface wound and the usual swelling in response to the trauma. Certainly nothing that explains the amnesia."

"I guess she just wants to forget her shabby, pathetic life," House suggested.

"Oh, I don't know," Cameron said. "Can't be too shabby if she was wearing these." Cameron showed them the woman's clothes.

"High end," House said, feeling the cloth of the skirt, and remembering that she'd been elegantly dressed when he'd seen her the first time.

"No ID. The labels are name brands, as you said, but nothing so exclusive that they can give us a lead," Cameron told him.

"Us?" Foreman asked.

"Doctors?" the woman dared to say to get their attention. "I'm lying right here, you know."

"How do you know?" House asked. "You don't know who you are, how can you be sure where you are?"

She glared at him. "You can't talk about me as if I'm not here."

"Watch us," House countered.

Foreman interrupted the petty argument. "She should be admitted overnight for observation after that blow to the head."

Cameron nodded in agreement, already looking ahead. "But then where do we send her tomorrow? We don't know who she is or where she lives."

"Hello! You're both doing it again!" the woman shouted.

Cameron and Foreman looked at each other sheepishly.

"I have amnesia. I'm not brain-dead!"

"Maybe the cops will find out who she is by tomorrow," Foreman said. "Then she can just go home."

"If not, I'll take her home with me," House told them. Three pairs of eyes stared at him in surprise.

"House, she's not a rat you can take home to observe and experiment on," Cameron warned.

House ignored her. "Whaddya say, Ms. Doe? Care to come home with me?" he wriggled his eyebrows.

'Jane' shook her head, but had to smile. Something about this man intrigued her.

"I'll help you find out who you are," he promised.

She was saved from having to answer immediately by the return of Sergeants Levy and Perez. Cameron looked expectantly at the older man and the Latina, but they shook their heads.

"The crime scene team couldn't find any clues to what happened," Mitch said. He looked at the now-awake victim. "Miss, what can you tell us?" he asked.

"Nothing, I'm afraid. I…I don't even remember my name," she said apologetically.

The officers looked at the doctors for confirmation. "Amnesia is common after injuries like this," Foreman said. "But she seems to have forgotten a lot more than the events immediately before the attack."

"Do you think it was a robbery?" Cameron asked. "A mugging?"

"It would seem so, wouldn't it?" Maria said. "They took anything of value she may have had."

"Trouble is, no one's reported her missing," Mitch added. "Maybe because they didn't want her found."

"It's less than twenty-four hours. Maybe her loved ones, her parents, husband, boyfriend, whatever, know the police won't start looking until someone's missing that long," Cameron suggested.

"Could be," Mitch said. "But my experience has been when someone doesn't arrive home on time, their relatives panic. They report it immediately."

"Well, let us know if someone does report her missing," Foreman said. "We're admitting her overnight for observation."

"We're going to have to take her clothes, have them checked out," Maria said. "We'll return them in the morning."

After the police left they got their Jane Doe settled in her room. "I'll see if I can rustle up some clothes for you, besides the things you were wearing," Cameron offered.

"Thanks," the woman said. "You've been very kind."

"Cameron has an advanced degree in Compassion," House said. Much to everyone's surprise, he'd stuck around as Cameron and Foreman took care of the patient.

"I guess your offer to take me home with you tomorrow didn't come from the kindness of your heart," the patient said, smirking up at the tall man.

"He doesn't have a heart," Cameron said. "Just ulterior motives that no one can guess."

When he arrived at the hospital the next morning, House stopped by to check on Jane Doe. "How's the headache?" he asked. He knew he needed to play nice if he wanted her to agree to go home with him.

"Not so bad" she said. "But did anyone ever die from eating this stuff?" she asked, indicating the half-eaten food on her tray.

House had to chuckle. "If you're a really good girl, I'll bring you a turkey sandwich from the cafeteria. It's not the Ritz, but it's better than this slop."

She frowned. "Make it a burger. With cheese. And a diet coke I think."

"Right. The diet coke will make up for the gazillion calories in the cheeseburger." But when she stuck her tongue out at him, he relented. "OK, cheeseburger and coke coming right up."

When he returned less than twenty minutes later, he was surprised to find Wilson chatting with her. "Did your antenna pick up that there was a gorgeous woman in this room?" he asked.

Wilson laughed. "I was just leaving. JD was telling me you'd be right back." He left them alone.

"Ta-da!" House said, placing the food in front of her. "Just what the patient ordered. I even got you some fries."

"They're fattening" she said, then took a big bite of her burger.

House rolled his eyes. "I thought you'd say that" he told her, helping himself to some of the fries. "So taste like what you remember?"

"Very funny!" she said.

"What was it Jimmy was calling you? JD?" he asked, staring at her as she ate, and occasionally filching a few fries.

"I don't feel like a Jane" she said. When she was done eating she let out a contented sigh and asked "Do you always like to watch people eating?"

"Nope. Just never saw anyone chew every bite fifty times" he said. He cleared away all of the debris, then started to leave to see what his team had accomplished with their patient, but turned back to say "I'll be back for you when I'm through for the day.

"Dr. Wilson said that if there was anyone who could help me find out who I am, you'd be the one. Are they really going to let me out of this place?" she asked.

"You don't have a concussion. Nothing seriously wrong" he said.

"Except I can't remember who I am" she responded.

"They can't keep you here for that" he pointed out.

She nodded and watched him go, probably as curious about him as he was about her.