Chapter Three – Where No One Knows Your Name
It had been two days and other then the visit he had made to her home earlier in the week, Cameron had done as he had requested and stayed away. He was hardly surprised to see the letter containing results sitting on his desk and he was even less surprised to find Cuddy, he feet on his desk.
"Why isn't Cameron at work?"
"She's grounded."
"Seriously. Does it have anything to do with your request for a paternity test for the Hogan girl?"
"No of course not"
Cuddy stood and took the letter off his desk. House kept himself still, resisting the urge to snatch it from her hands.
"Then why did you do the test?"
"Her mother was a hooker. I was concerned that I may be the dad"
Cuddy said nothing as she moved slowly; reaching for the letter opened that was in his pen holder. With deliberate movements, she sliced open the letter.
"Are you sure you don't to tell me the truth?"
"I promised I would say nothing"
"Is it going to get you into trouble?"
"Oh yeah"
"Good"
Cuddy tipped the envelope up and House watched as she pulled it out of its folded shape. He watched her eyes zip across the page before she gasped quietly and sat back down.
"Wow. Now I know why you ordered a paternity test and why Cameron hasn't been around"
"I told her that it would be best if she stayed away until we sorted it out"
"How old was she?"
"Sixteen"
"Shit"
"And this is why I agree with abortion. So you know which means that by the end of today the rest of the hospital will know"
"I do know what discretion is House"
"Really? Could have fooled me"
Cuddy glared at him, letting the letter fall back onto his desk before walking out of his office without another word. House took his seat back and picked up the phone.
Cameron knew what the answer was before she arrived. There was no other reason for him to call her back into work after two days other then the news that they had been waiting for. He said nothing when she walked in, just handed her a slip of paper.
"So it's true then?"
House nodded slightly.
"We can run the test again if you really want"
"No. The test is right, I know it is. So where to from here?"
"We need to find out what is wrong with her before she dies. Otherwise this test is a huge waste of money"
"So I can come back to work then?"
"Cuddy knows"
Cameron let her head fall back and tried to calm the desire to scream. This is what she wanted to avoid. It was enough that House knew but the Dean of the hospital was the last person on her list.
"Fantastic."
"She said she won't say anything"
"I hope not. So do we know anything about what is wrong with Brett?"
"No. All the tests we ran came back normal. We need to do another group brain storm."
"Well, I'm back now"
"Good. Just remember that this girl is just another patient."
"I might find that a bit hard."
"Then run the tests and leave the other minions to interact with her. I don't need you to get emotionally involved."
"Too late"
Cameron gave him a small smile as she stood and headed into the main office, joining the others who were waiting for them. She passed off their curiosity in regards to her absence, waving it off with a lie about having the flu. They nodded, taking what she said as truth. After all, Alison Cameron doesn't lie, does she?
They began the usual round of brain storming but nothing came of it. Like most of their first blush diagnoses it fit few of the symptoms and nothing more. House sent Cameron back into his office to go over the texts books that lined his bookshelves, ignoring the funny looks that came from her peers.
"Why is Cameron not in on this?"
"She is. I want you to try and get a sample of saliva and genital cells."
"That's a bit full on for an initial test isn't it"
House rolled his eyes at Chase.
"Just do it Wombat. Foreman can go with you if you are scared of the little girl"
Chase shook his head and moved out of his seat, Foreman following him. House took a deep breath and sat down in front of his whiteboard and began the long process that seemed so much more important now. The Hogan girl meant nothing to him but Cameron did. Sadly enough, she had somehow managed to make him care, in some way shape or form anyway, for her.
"What other tests are we going to do?"
House turned in his seat to face Cameron.
"Why haven't you got your head buried in some books?"
"Because I want to know what other tests you are going to perform"
"As many as I can. Why?"
"No reason. Just promise me something"
"What?"
"You'll do an MRI, lumbar puncture and a skin scraping"
"Why?"
"That will knock out a lot of genetic disorders as well as general ones"
House turned back to the whiteboard.
"Thanks for that. All those years in medical school and I had forgotten to do my job. Do a really look that stupid to you?"
"Sometimes"
By the time he had turned back to throw her a smart-ass comment, she had gone back to his desk.
With the tests safely being processed and every book he owned book marked by bright post-its, House sent the team home. Usually he would make them work through the night but he didn't feel like babysitting. All he wanted to do was go home and the only way to make that happen was to send the others home as well. Cameron was grateful for the release but instead of doing what she should she found herself doing something that she was strictly forbidden to do: see Brett. In her defense, she didn't go into the room, just slipped quietly next to it and watched Brett sleep. She could hardly believe that this dying girl was her daughter and yet up close it was almost hard to deny. Both had petite frames, dark hair and the same eyes. She had seen them in the picture and something stirred inside her, a memory that she had pushed into her past. Like most women, she wondered if she would make a good mother when the time came again. Would she be able to deal with all the things that came with it? Watching them go from being a tiny, fragile bundle to a functioning human being was amazing. She knew the biological functions of it but to actually see it in practice was another thing entirely.
"You shouldn't be here Cameron"
Cuddy came to stand beside her, a small frown on her face. Cameron sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"She can't see me"
"It doesn't matter"
"Yes it does. She does not know what you now do and if she did it could throw off her health"
"What health?"
Cuddy turned on her heel and almost knocked Cameron down with a hard glare.
"This is a hospital. We treat medical situations, not personal ones. You already dragged House into this but you will not drag the hospital in as well"
"For your information, I didn't drag anyone into this. He offered to help"
"Well the help stops here."
Cuddy's face softened as did her voice.
"Cameron, you are going through a really hard time right now, I get that. I also understand that you feel helpless. But I want you to understand that you need to be a doctor first and a mother second."
Cameron smiled slightly.
"Who ever would have thought that I would be a mother? I didn't play with dolls when I was growing up; I never wished to have kids."
"Things change. Brett may need you after this. But first she needs to get through this illness. So the sooner you do your job as a doctor, the sooner you can be her mother."
Cuddy turned to leave but paused when Cameron spoke again.
"How do I do that? Be her mother I mean? She's already had one of those."
Cuddy smiled at Cameron.
"Be her friend. She's sixteen; she'll hate you no matter what you are. Just be her friend and let whatever happens after that, happen."
Cameron turned back to Brett as Cuddy's footfalls faded down the hall. She felt stressed and anxious. She needed to get out, she needed to forget.
At some point in the night, she believed it was in the beginning, she handed the bartender her credit card. She tried almost every drink on the menu, vomited at least twice and ate her own weight in nachos, yet the memories still danced with her. So she took the most obvious action that was within her means. She visited something that she hadn't since high school, her good friend Tequila. She must have passed out because she was shaken awake by a hard hand and very familiar and very annoyed voice.
"Wake up!"
Cameron tried to open her eyes but couldn't. Someone had attached bricks to her eyelids, she was sure of it.
"I'll throw water on you if you don't open your eyes right now!"
Cameron managed to force her eyes open and to her astonishment found herself face to face with a very blurry looking House.
"House! Join me for a drink"
"Clearly you have had enough to drink. We need to get you home"
"No! I'm happy here."
House said nothing just grabbed her by the forearm and yanked her from her seat and started dragging her outside. Cameron didn't do anything except mumble protests but House ignored her. He had been pulled out of bed for this! Of all things to be pulled out of bed for, this would be last on his list. Apparently Cameron kept his card in her wallet and the bartender took it and called him. Stupid idiot. He should have just called her a cab instead of dragging him out of bed. House pushed Cameron into the waiting cab before giving the driver her address. Now he would have to do his good deed for the decade and make sure she got home safe. She had fallen asleep again, her face pressed against the window, her breath fogging up the glass. House waited until her apartment came into view before shaking her awake.
"Rise and shine. I'm not carrying you"
Cameron allowed him to drag her up the stairs and too the elevators before dragging her down the hall to her door. He took the keys from her hand bag and unlocked the door, watching as she slowly started to fall forward. He caught her just before her face hit the ground. With a grunt he pulled her into the apartment and pushed her onto the sofa.
"Get some sleep"
She nodded and curled herself up into a ball, pulling a blanket off the back of the sofa and onto her.
"House?"
"What now?"
"What am I going to do?"
House opened his mouth to tell her to stop asking him the same question but his comment stopped short as she began to snore. He let himself out and went back downstairs. Gone was the idea of sleep, he was far too awake for that now. After a moment, he decided to walk for a bit before hailing a cab. He hated feeling like this. He hated Cameron for making him care. But mostly he hated the fact that he had no choice but to push her away. He also knew that that was what she needed to do with Brett. The sooner she pushed the young girl away, the sooner she could go back to being a doctor. She was not meant to be part of that club of mothers, she was not meant to be so helpless. She was not meant to make House care the way that he was starting too.
