Disclaimer: See first chapter.

A/N: I'm really pleased with the response that I've gotten for this story. Much more than I was expecting. I'm glad that everyone is enjoying it. I had a pretty busy day on Saturday and so didn't get much time to write – then what I did write wasn't what I really wanted so I all but abandoned Chapter 4 and merged it with what I had for Chapter 5 (which I liked). So if it looks a little longer than the past three, that's what it is.

Broken

Chapter 4

House had been there since about two o' clock. It was not a little after five. Another hour or so and it would be the longest stretch of time they'd ever shared together outside of work. Not that she was counting.

Right now he was sitting in the armchair watching some soap on TV with the volume down. She, on the other hand, had been ordered to get some sleep. Easier said than done, Cameron thought bitterly.

She felt as though something weird had gone on between them. House had never seemed like the comforting type to her. Sure, she'd seen him giving hugs to people, but they were never initiated by him – usually they began with him telling a woman that her husband/child/significant life partner was dying. People rarely hugged him when he gave them good news – probably because by the time he was able to let them know the good new he'd insulted them so many times that he'd face a lawsuit if he ever went anywhere near them again.

People hugged Cameron. They didn't hug House. Then again, people didn't beat House up.

Perhaps it was the cane.

Cameron stared at it now, musing.

House had sat beside her making those small circular motions for a while and she had cried. Then when she couldn't cry any more she just sat there, feeling drained of all emotions. Vaguely she remembered House saying something, pushing her to have another sandwich perhaps. Then she felt this burning anger spreading through her body.

Wordlessly she'd picked up the plate, pushed past House (bashing his leg if his grimace was anything to go by) and dumped the sandwiches on the counter. She'd wanted to throw them but she was too good, too nice, and besides, that plate was part of a set. She went over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer, but the bottle opener wasn't where she thought it was. The bottle was thrown – with some force – into the sink where it shattered and leaked it's foamy contents down the drain.

Just like that it was gone. The anger ebbed away from her the way the beer disappearing from the bottle.

"Feel better?" House deadpanned from the sitting room.

Then Cameron did something quite unexpected. She laughed.

As House watched she parked herself down on the floor and just laughed. Then she got up, wiped her eyes and took a sandwich.

She had managed two more sandwiches after that before she had to make a quick dash to the bathroom. House made some comment about them tasting better going down than coming up and then forced two more onto her when she returned.

House shifting in the armchair told her than his programme had finished. She opened one eye and looked at him. He seemed uncomfortable; whether it was because of his leg and that chair or something else she didn't know.

"You can go. I'm fine."

"You know, repeating it over and over doesn't make me believe it any more. You are clearly not fine, which is why I am staying. Cuddy came to me asking about you and I don't plan to leave until I can tell Cuddy you're okay."

"Since when have you bothered with what Dr. Cuddy wants you to do?" House pretended not to hear her. "And I am okay."

"Cameron. An hour ago you were crying. Forty-five minutes ago you were tossing beer bottles around the kitchen and mere minutes after that you were sitting there laughing. Does that sound okay to you?"

Cameron sat up and avoided his eye. "So how long are you planning to stay?"

House shrugged and reached forward to help himself to a sandwich. The plate had since been moved back to the coffee table from the kitchen counter where she'd dumped it.

Shaking her hear Cameron got up. Immediately House was watching her. "I'm going to the kitchen. I want a drink." She told him. "I'm not going to top myself or anything." House blinked at her. "You want something to drink?"

"What've you got?"

"Well…" She stared into the refrigerator. The cool air felt wonderful against her face. "No more beer… I've got some orange juice… umm… milk… water… coffee." She checked a cupboard. "A little tea."

"Coffee's fine."

As she poured the two cups of coffee Cameron couldn't help but reflect on how good it felt to be just a little normal in the midst of all this. House was idly flipping through channels and here she was making them coffee. It almost felt homely.

Cameron handed him his mug and then took a seat on the couch as she cupped hers.

"You should stick to water." House told her. "You'll never get any sleep."

Cameron didn't say anything for a couple of minutes. "Thank you." When it became clear that House had no plans to say anything she continued. "I mean. I didn't ask you to come here. Yo stay with me. I… I just wanted to say thanks."

"Don't."

"What?"

"Just don't. You'll end up turning me into some knight in shining armour."

"So you would have done this for Chase or Foreman or -"

"Okay I get your point. You're more delicate than Foreman and… well maybe not Chase… but he's into all that 'S and M' stuff. He can hold his own. You're fragile, and when Cuddy told me what had happened to you… well I got worked up."

Cameron watched him, waiting for him to say something else. He didn't.

"Fragile?"

"Well…" House hated talking about the reasons he did things. He'd always wished that people would just accept 'because I wanted to' without giving any other explanations. An even more dangerous territory was feelings and he sensed that this was where he was headed now. Rather than answer her question he turned his attention back to the TV and carried on flicking.

"I thought he was going to kill me." Cameron said at last. She was staring into her coffee mug watching the liquid move.

There was a long silence. "He probably would have." House told her honestly. "What did Dr. Cuddy say?"

"Just that you'd been attacked and she couldn't get hold of you."

"I turned my cell and pager off. I didn't want to hear his voice. Is Dr. Cuddy angry?"

House gave a rueful laugh. "No. She'll probably be more angry about me missing clinic duty than anything."

There was some more silence. They were having a better conversation here, now, than they did when they went out for their 'date'.

"House. You really don't need to stay here with me. You've probably got things you'd rather be doing."

…

He left after several rounds of being told that she could cope by herself. That she had Detective Wallace's number in case there was any trouble. That once she'd changed her bedding she'd probably be able to sleep in it.

He told her to take the next day off. Then changed his mind and gave her a whole week off. And told her to call him if there was any trouble.

Cameron saw him out the door and then scanned her apartment. It looked just like normal. Part of her felt pleased to have finally been left alone and yet at the same time another part of her was just aching for House to come back.

Eventually Cameron got round to stripping off her bed and putting new bedding on. It didn't smell like Mike any more and though it was still early evening she cocooned herself up in the duvet cover. She was asleep in no time at all.

She woke regularly from dreams where she was running away from Mike down long dark alleyways.

…

The next morning Cuddy was waiting for House in his office. By the time he spotted her sitting at his desk it was too late to run away.

"Stalking me now?" He asked as he strode through the door. Cuddy looked up and opened her mouth to speak. "She says she'd okay. She promised to call me if anything went wrong."

"I'm sure having you to look after her is a great relief."

"I gave her this week off."

"How kind of you. I'd watch out if I were you House, people'll start to think you're going soft."

That touched a nerve. He was now standing beside his own desk chair – the one where Cuddy was sitting - he gave the base of it a sharp whack. Cuddy jumped up giving House just enough time to swivel the chair around and sit down. He gave a contented groan at getting the weight off his feet.

"What's that look for? Common courtesy; let the cripple have the seat."

"Did you have her go to the police?"

"No." Cuddy looked horrified. "I had them come to her." Cuddy actually looked impressed but House wasn't looking. "She was in no state to leave the building."

"And the guy who attacked her?"

"A guy she was seeing. Mike Kerr. They think he might have murdered a woman." House leaned back in his seat and stared up at the ceiling. Cuddy reacted to the news with a shocked gasp before grilling him for a few more minutes over Cameron's condition. She was reassured by the fact that House had ordered her to go into the clinic for a check up the next day.

…

Cuddy had just left when Wilson appeared at the door. A quick repeat of the earlier conversation with Cuddy ensured before Wilson moved onto the fact that House had spent not only best part of the afternoon with Cameron but most of the evening there as well.

"So, do you see this becoming a regular thing between you two?"

"Wilson. She's been beaten up by the guy she was seeing. She's hardly likely to be looking for someone else any time soon."

"So you've thought about it."

Damn. Wilson had caught him out. House didn't reply, instead he just threw his tennis ball at his friend and then stalked out of the room.

…

Cameron slept late. She felt weak and wobbling when she woken up and so she made herself a large mug of sweet tea and some toast. This was followed by an apple, a banana and some yoghurt. She was pleased when half an hour later she hadn't thrown up.

Later she found herself standing in the bathroom staring at her reflection. Her hair was lank and greasy, her left eye was puffy, so was her lip. Her whole face was a rainbow of colours. With a deep sigh she took off her pajama bottoms and baggy sweater and climbed into the shower.

When she stepped out half an hour later she actually felt almost human. That was until she heard the phone ringing. Wrapping a towel around herself she hurried through the living room and approached the phone like it was a bomb. She silently congratulated herself on choosing to buy a phone with called ID.

"House."

"I was about to give up. Did I wake you?"

Cameron smiled at the question. "No, I was just showering." She blushed. She hadn't needed to tell him that, a simple 'I was busy' would have done.

"You don't need anything?"

"No."

"And I'll pick you up at eleven tomorrow morning."

"Okay."

House said goodbye and hung up. He felt a little odd, he couldn't wait to see Cameron tomorrow. He wasn't entirely sure what it was he couldn't wait for exactly, he felt it was more than just about checking she was okay.