* I think I'm officially past my writers block! I'm singing in a concert this afternoon, but I plan on writing lots after I get home tonight as long as I'm not too tired. Also, is it just me, or do some of you get ideas for your stories totally out of order?! It's so frustrating!! Keep reviewing, I love it :-)
"Ouch!" said a little girl of about nine as Cameron was stitching up her knee.
"Sorry, I'm trying to be as gentle as I can," Cameron said to the girl regretfully. "But it's going to hurt some."
"I see you've resorted to torturing midgets," House interrupted as he sat down on a rolling stool and obnoxiously wheeled himself over to the little girl's bed.
"I'm not a midget!" the girl shot back. "And you're one to talk about people being short… you have to walk with a cane!" she said, noticing House's limp.
"Don't they teach you to be nice to handicapped people at your school, little girl?" House said, annoyed.
"Yes, but the grown-ups at my school set a good example by not calling us midgets," the girl retorted, defiantly folding her arms across her chest.
"10 points to you for a halfway decent comeback, kid," House conceded, pulling an orange lollipop out of the pocket of his blazer and tossing it to her. Cameron laughed at the exchange and decided put in her own two cents.
"Oh but see, Dr. House isn't really a grown-up, Hannah" Cameron instructed her. "He may look like a grown-up, but when he tries talking to people he usually sounds a lot more like boys your age." Her comment made Hannah giggle, and House stuck his tongue out at Cameron. "So what did you really come down here for, House? Do you need an immunology consult?" she asked, almost afraid to hear his answer.
"I was just wondering how Cuddy was doing," House said casually, taking another lollipop, red this time, out of his blazer pocket and sticking it into his mouth.
"She's going to be fine," Cameron stated, trying her best to look uninterested as she continued with Hannah's stitches. "Just your run of the mill gastroenteritis,"
"Really," House said with an air of amusement. "That's not what student nurse Brittany said," he continued, taking a very exaggerated suck on his lollipop and staring intently at Cameron. "She said that Dr. Myron from OBGYN came down here to see Cuddy."
Cameron stopped dead in her tracks for only a split second, but it was a split second that House definitely noticed before Cameron continued with her stitching.
"Cuddy and Myron are friends… she heard Cuddy was down here and wanted to make sure everything was ok," Cameron offered confidently.
"They aren't that good of friends," House disputed, continuing to keep a close eye on Cameron's facial expressions. "They went through med. school together. So did Wilson and Barry from urology, but that doesn't make them automatic bosom buddies, does it?"
"Ew, what's a bosom buddy?" Hannah asked, looking just one step shy of being horrified by the crazy adult conversation taking place before her naïve eyes and ears.
"It's just an expression, Hannah," Cameron told her good naturedly. "It's another way of saying best friends. And actually, you're all done… you did a great job!" Cameron praised, offering a high five which Hannah gladly reciprocated.
"Thanks, Dr. Cameron," Hannah said appreciatively as she carefully got down off of the bed. "And thanks for the sucker Dr. House… and I'm sorry I was a little mean about your leg."
House smiled a little in spite of himself. He never would have admitted it out loud, but he got a kick out of smart-ass kids like this one.
"It's ok, kid… I'm sorry that I was mean about you being a midget."
Hannah rolled her eyes at House as she herself limped over to her dad in the waiting area. House didn't quite know what to make of the dad not sitting with the kid while she was getting her stitches. Not that he'd ever been in the position, but he was pretty sure if he had a kid that needed stitches, he would stay with them, or at least make sure the mother stayed with them. House quickly pushed the thought to the back of his head as easily as it had come, not wanting to encourage it. It was moments like these, rare though existing, that would baffle almost everyone who knew Gregory House, brilliant butt-head of an M.D., were they to be said out loud.
"House," Cameron said, snapping in his face to get his attention again. "I've got to meet Chase down in the cafeteria for lunch. I'll see you around."
"You never answered my question about Cuddy," he reminded her as she began to walk away.
"I've said all I'm going to say," Cameron said, continuing to walk away. "Unlike blabber-mouth student nurse Brittany, Cuddy was actually my patient, so I do owe her the courtesy of confidentiality."
"Oh, confidentiality-schmonfidentiality!" House pouted exaggeratedly.
In spite of Cameron's unwillingness to spill the beans, student nurse Brittany's choice piece of information was shaping up nicely for House's Puzzle of Cuddy. And his suspicions that her condition was something beyond "the flu" were only further fueled by Wilson and Cameron's attempts to keep him at bay.
House could tell by their unconcerned demeanors, albeit somewhat forced, that nothing was seriously wrong with Cuddy. If it wasn't serious, and no one would tell him what the hell was going on, that had to mean it was something really interesting. And House had a instinctive feeling that the really interesting part had something to do with Dr. Myron.