Chapter 7
Cameron had been having a good day. The weather had been a harsh fall day, wind whipping about and a perpetual light rain that had hung on for days, but she saw none of that. She was happy and nothing was standing in her way. She'd had almost no traffic on the way to work, a great parking place, and somebody had actually made good coffee before she got to House's office.
Amazing how fast things can change, she thought, as she stared out into the murky day.
Cuddy had asked them into her office, House and her, slightly before lunch. The meeting had started out well. Well, uhmmm, well in the sense, where you don't know what the meeting was about and where it was going. Well, in the way, where House and Cuddy are snipping back and forth about nothing for half an hour, while she was left to roll her eyes or nod along.
And then the main reason for the meeting had been dropped like a lead balloon, or a hot potato, or one of those things you don't want to hold onto.
Her jaw had dropped and she looked at House who wore the same expression. She could have laughed if she hadn't felt like her whole world had tipped over on its axis. Gradually, the shock faded and the anger set in, and she was now, many minutes later, staring out the window, in her classic 'clench' position, trying to keep from leaping out of her chair and strangling Cuddy.
She obviously had not been paying any attention, because the next thing she felt was House, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her to his side, as much as the chairs would allow.
She looked around in shock, noticing that Cuddy had left. She looked to House for an explanation.
"She left, to give us time to think about it." He said simply.
She huffed and pushed herself to her feet, pacing the floor to the window. The gray sky seemed to collapse downward as the clouds folded over one another in a silent ballet. She longed to go where they were going, anywhere but here.
"I see I don't have to ask you, how you feel about this…." He trailed off.
She relaxed her posture and leaned on the windowpane, the condensation cooling her face. "I'm not sure how to feel." She admitted.
"You are mad, though." He observed.
"Yes." She sighed and turned to him, "What are you going to do?"
"What do you want me to do?"
She rolled her eyes, "What are you going to do?" She asked pointedly. No matter what she thought, he was going to do what he wanted anyway. She walked to her chair and towered over him, waiting for his answer.
"I'm leaning towards it." He said carefully, glancing up at her. She huffed again and flopped into her chair, on the verge of tears.
"What will this do to us?" She forced out. This is what she was truly mad about. Cuddy hadn't made her move when he was single; she'd waited a long time. She and House had been together almost four months and were doing really well and this didn't seem fair.
"Why couldn't Cuddy have just gotten an anonymous donor, like everybody else?" She whined, finally letting the tears fall. House handed her a handkerchief and leaned close, swiping a hand over his face.
"Because, I, like an idiot, told her a year ago to find somebody she liked and knew instead of some stranger." He said with a wry chuckle.
At this Cameron started to laugh, hard and without any control. "And she picked you!?" She gasped. She held her sides trying to get the guffaws to die down. House looked at her in mild hurt till he considered the thought, and broke out in laughter along side her. They roared with laughter till they were weak and their faces hurt.
Cuddy opened her door to this scene, and stood in the doorway in utter bewilderment.
House hauled himself up, still laughing, and brought Cameron up beside him, by her arm. He walked toward Cuddy, dragging a helpless Cameron in tow, paused in front of the baffled woman and declared, "We'll do it!" Then he promptly pushed past her, and went down the hallway, Cameron and him laughing manically all the way.
