Chapter
5: How It All Began
Iris was standing there staring between House and Alex.
"I need to sit down" she announced before collapsing into the chair next to Eddie.
She was terrified for her friend, but don't get in the way of the doctors had been drilled into her mind since she was a child.
There was nothing she wanted to do more then run over to her friend, but she knew that she would only be in the way. She also knew that her legs probably wouldn't have supported her on her way to the bed.
Richard shot a quick look at them, "Guys, get out of here. You're not doctors."
Iris shook her head, but Ollie wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Let them do their job 'ris, you can grill them after, we'll just be getting in their way."
Iris turned, prepared to yell at Ollie when she met his eyes.
He was just as scared as she was. Alexis was someone that they had quickly come to love and adore over the past few months that they spent with her.
She had been the one to find Alexis, and those terrifying moments would forever be engrained in her mind.
Flashback
It had been a long day - too long - in Iris's standards. On the third Sunday of every month she drove out to Billings and stayed for a weekend with her sister, catching up with family. She also bought some of the more important "chef things" – as Eddied called them, that she needed and couldn't get in Rudyard.
The weekend was over and she was on her way back home.
She was in a wooded area and allowed herself to relax and turn the radio up. These were back roads that her parents had taken when she was a child, the ones that she knew by heart.
It was on a side road that she saw the accident happen. A small blue car was turning off the road onto a busier one. A pick-up truck blew past, slamming into the car.
Iris was able to catch a terrified boy's face before he sped off. Iris was speeding up too, to get to the car.
It had skidded against the road before slamming head first into a tree a few feet away. It spun once as it hit the tree and then the passenger side was smashed into another tree. Already people were stopping to help.
Iris was already dialing nine-one-one as soon as she saw it happen.
There was a small stream of smoke coming out from the crushed car, no sparks yet. But Iris knew soon there would be. And by the time the police got to the scene the passenger in the car would be dead.
It had been a requirement for the residents of Rudyard to go through a number of First-Aid classes from sixth grade to senior year in high school. A safety precaution enforced in the small town to help people with everyday injuries.
Iris knew the danger she would be in if she got near that car. But she also knew the odds of survival for the person in the car if she didn't do anything to get them out.
Eddie was going to kill her. But if she didn't do anything to save the person in the car her guilt would kill her first.
With that final thought Iris was out of the car and racing towards the other one. Everyone else was standing shocked. Iris opened the driver door. The woman inside was unconscious with her head on the steering wheel. The windshield had shattered and bits of glass clung to her.
Iris unbuckled the woman, noting with relief that she had a little time to be careful because the steam was coming from the back of the car, and she hadn't seen any flames – yet.
That was shot to hell when she saw sparks begin to shoot up from the back. The seatbelt was unbuckled and Iris slipped a hand to support the woman's neck before dragging her halfway out of the car. A man appeared suddenly and scooped the woman up.
Iris let him carry her up the hill, his long legs moving faster than she would have been able to.
As they stepped onto the safe side of the road the exploded into flames.
Minutes after that an ambulance came screaming around a corner, lights flashing.
After she was placed on a support board, one of the paramedics turned to them.
"Are either of you coming with her?"
"I will."
The man nodded his head.
"I'll meet you at the hospital. Where are you taking her?"
"St. Vincent's."
Iris had called Eddie and Ollie and told them to be there as fast as they could.
She started crying as soon as she was wrapped safely in Eddie's arms. Ollie had already hugged her and checked her for injuries with his eyes.
"It was terrible. And no one knows who she is. Her car is demolished; they couldn't get anythingfrom it. Not the license plate even."
The man who had helped her get the woman from the car – Mike – had left a little while ago to go home to his wife and kids.
"What did the doctors say?"
"She has a broken arm, three cracked ribs, various bumps and bruises and cuts from the glass and a stage five concussion – they think. She's still out of it, but they told me that I should expect her to be disoriented and confused when she wakes up."
"Iris, how long do you think that you're staying here?" Eddie's voice was resigned. When she had called him he had known that she had found someone else that needed saving, someone that she wouldn't be able to let go of.
"No one knows who she is, I'm staying until we know who her family is. She has no one right now."
"I'll go book a hotel for us." Ollie replied softly.
So the three of them had stayed, keeping vigil over a woman they didn't know, a perfect stranger.
When she had finally woken up after three days it had been in the middle of the night. She was alone and terrified, but a nurse had called them.
"Your girl is awake."
They had taken to calling her Alexis, as Iris hated the term 'Jane Doe'.
Someone would come and claim her, or she would wake up and be able to go home.
They hadn't expected the amnesia, the fear in the woman's eyes.
Twenty minutes after the exhausted group of three had arrived the nurses had had to sedate her.
We can't just leave her here. Iris had paced in the waiting room, tears streaming down her face.
And that was how it happened. One week later Alexis Peters had sat in a car for five hours with three complete strangers and had started a new life.
At first the doctors had been hesitant to let them take the Jane Doe home, but after background checks, and talks with both Alexis and Iris, Eddie and Ollie they had agreed - albeit reluctantly.
So, on the third Sunday of every month Iris would bring Alexis with her on her trip and they would stop at the hospital and run tests. Nothing had come up so far, and while the hospital looked to see if anyone knew her they didn't look very hard.
Sixty miles away from Billings at Big Horn County Memorial Hospital a doctor would sometimes wonder what had happened to his young immunologist, until he learned of her death via telephone and Dr. Cuddy. After that he stopped wondering.
Richard and the man with the blue eyes had both rushed over to Alexis and were still checking her vitals as a nurse scurried into the room.
"What happened?"
"What do you think happened?" Eddie spat. "She had another migraine and it caused her to pass out. Why the hell is the pain so bad? It's never been this bad before."
No one answered him.
"Does she get them often?" House was still examining her.
"Often enough for the pain meds to be refilled once and a while, but not often enough for Alex to end up in the hospital a lot. This one and the one before caused her to pass out. The other one though, she hit the pool table before I could catch her. But, the doctors don't know us."
"They should." The murmur was angry and only caught by Iris and Richard. She shot Richard a questioning look. He shook his head and turned to House.
"I prescribed her 10 mg of oxycodone when the headaches started."
"I want an MRI."
"She's already had about a million of those. What do you think you're going to find?" Eddie was watching the new man.
"Absolutely nothing. She probably has a mild concussion mixed with pain from memories. Her brain is just sending her body signals." House pulled away and turned to face him, eyes serious. "But in Med school they always taught us to be safe, than sorry. Sorry doesn't help."
Richard shook his head. Eddie was protective of Alex – especially because she didn't remember who she was. He was protective of his friends in general, they were his family and he would do anything for them.
"Eddie, be nice. This is Dr. House. He's the man I contacted about Alexis."
House had avoided looking at her face.
The moment her eyes had flutter closed in pain he had pretended that it wasn't Allison Cameron - Alexis Peters – whoever she was - staring at him in shock. He had pretended that she was just another patient. Another face in the crowd that he had to treat. He hadn't been sure until her eyes had met his. But now he took a moment to look at her face.
Even with the patch on her forehead she was beautiful. Even when she had no idea who she was. She was his. And that was all that mattered.
Blonde hair was in layers around her face, the longest layer just hitting her shoulder and the highest layer brushing her cheeks. He lifted his hand and brushed it away from her face.
The cold, hard relief that was running through him almost made him giddy.
She was alive. She was there. He hadn't believed that she was dead, and he was right. If it weren't for the cane he would have been dancing.
Normal people would have had a bigger reaction on the outside, would have been screaming, crying, laughing, anything really - but he wasn't a normal person. He was Gregory House, and would continue to be the way he was until the day he died.
He leaned heavily on his cane and sighed.
There was a small part of him though, whispering in his ear. She has no idea who you are. Who she is. If she does remember, when will that be and who's to say that she'll want you.
House shook his head to clear his thoughts. He would cross that bridge when he came to it.
Right now all he wanted to do was take her in his arms. Hug her. Never let her go. Maybe even get emotional.
The man Richard called Eddie was staring at him though and it was unnerving.
"You'rethe Dr. House?"
"I am." He was all out of sarcastic retorts for the day. For the week maybe even.
Cameron was alive. That was all that mattered.
Richard interrupted to look at Eddie. "How do you know who he is?"
"I looked into people who might be able to find out who Alex was, doctors, specialists and stuff. His name popped up a few times in my searches."
House nodded, impressed with Eddie's desire to help out his friend.
"Her name is Allison Cameron. She's thirty three years old and she used to be an immunologist on my diagnostic team at Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey."
"Allison." Iris slipped over to the bed and stared at Alexis-who-was-really-Allison.
"What does it mean?"
"What does it mean?" House repeated, confused.
"Alex – Allison has an – well, I guess you could call it obsession with names and meanings. She didn't even know her name when we found her, so she loves finding the meanings of names."
Eddie interrupted. "Richard's name is powerful leader. He's the only doctor in town, the one who leads us through everyone's medical crisis. Iris's name is colorful and rainbow. It goes on."
"It means noble, truth."
Iris nodded, but did not ask anymore questions on the name, instead choosing to slip into the chair next to the bed, slipping her hand into Alexis'
Richard disappeared to talk to the nurses' about getting a MRI. He worked at the hospital three out of the five days of the week and spent the other two in Rudyard taking care of the people there.
House sat down on the other side of Cameron, his hands on his cane. He popped a Vicodin and looked around the room before focusing his eyes back on Cameron.
"What happened?" Iris asked softly.
Any thoughts of getting the three of them out of the room were forgotten. This was more important.
She could see it in his eyes. There was a story behind Alexis – Allison's disappearance. And probably not a very happy one.
She wondered if there had been a love affair. The look on his face when he had confirmed it was in fact his missing subordinate had been more then a boss's joy.
"I had three fellows working for me. We solved medical mysteries. Three months ago one quit, the other was fired and Cameron resigned. I convinced the other two to come back and work for me, as attending physicians this time, which basically meant that they got a better parking space and more money, and maybe a bigger office. She refused. We fought about it and then she left. Two days later when some of her friends hadn't heard from her yet, and neither had her family they filed a missing persons report."
House sighed and rubbed his forehead.
There was nothing more that he wanted then to have Allison – Alexis – whatever she wanted to go by - wake up and have everything go back to normal. Maybe a little different. He would tell her that he liked her and keep her away from the wombat. Tell her that he really did like her. Make sure that she never left again.
"She didn't want to be found by us. Gave three different people three different states that she was going to work in. They found an incinerated car, not enough bone to do a DNA test and blonde hair. It would have taken Cameron two days with no sleep or stops to get from New Jersey to Montana. The car that the cops found was in Wyoming. The car that was there was complete incinerated, they couldn't even get a license plate or model number. All they knew was that it was blue. Which was the color of her car. They said it was her, and closed the case."
"But you didn't believe it was her." Iris was watching him with wide eyes.
"No. First off, she wouldn't have been in Wyoming. It's not on the way and she doesn't have any family and friends that live there."
Relief and the high that House had felt was quickly fading and exhaustions was setting in. He didn't want to leave though.
The last thing that he wanted to do was let Cameron out of his sight for one minute.
There were people that he had to call to let them know, things that he had to do, but his first concern was Cameron.
The man that had not been introduced to him was watching him with murky blue eyes.
"Richard, when can we take Ale- Allison home?"
His voice was quiet, but firm.
"Soon. After her MRI. She should be waking up soon. Which is why all of you need to get out of here, too many people might shock her again."
"But-"
"Iris, you can stay but Ollie, Eddie, and House need to leave."
Eddie and Ollie stood reluctantly but House remained seated.
"I don't want her to go into shock again if she sees you House. Can one of you-" Richard turned his attention to Ollie and Eddie "Show House where the MRI is? No one else had it booked now, so we're going immediately."
House watched the images of Cameron's brain on the screen.
Just as he had suspected there was nothing there. But, the other part of him was insanely relived. The part of him that wasn't always a doctor, the part he tried so hard to hide. The part that made him human.
Richard stood next to House and stared at the screen as well.
Richard pressed the proper buttons that would take Cameron out of the MRI machine and sighed.
"So, nothings wrong with her brain."
"But-?" House trailed off waiting for the 'bad news' statement.
"But last time she saw you the memories were so intense that she passed out."
House finished the thought with a un-House like sigh. "So how do we get her to remember without causing her excruciating amounts of pain?"