"It is f-f-freezing, H-House!" Cameron stammered out between the chattering of her teeth. "Well you should've changed." House stated matter-of-factly. "Well someone wouldn't let me," she replied. "Said something about it being so life-or-death that we'd put the patient's life at stake if I did!" Cameron retorted, her voice filling with more and more venom as she finished speaking.
"What I can't figure out is why you still haven't changed." House said inquiringly.
"Again, a certain someone made a surprise visit so I didn't have enough time to, lest I be caught with said visitor showing up while I am half-dressed."
"Well I'm sure said visitor wouldn't mind." House said with a cheeky grin. Cameron's only response was to blush a deep red and stare intently out the windshield in front of her. She was working very hard to ignore him. "Maybe if I wish really really hard, he'll disappear." she thought to herself. She shut her eyes and concentrated on that thought for a few seconds, then opened them. "Rats." she thought to herself. "He's still here. Oh well, guess I'll just have to enjoy the ride."
As she thought this, she subconsciously became more relaxed and comfortable in the passenger seat of her car as House silently drove on. Seemingly without her realizing, her eyes traveled to his face of their own free will. For his age, whatever it was, he was quite a handsome man. His well-defined jaw line with just the right amount of beard stubble, his stormy blue eyes, his kind and gentle lips that could form the tenderest of smiles when they thought no one else could see...
But she really shouldn't let her mind wander away like that. That could lead her down a path she really couldn't afford to go down right now. Especially considering what she was still currently wearing. An obvious blush rose to her cheeks as she thought again of the darn Halloween costume and mentally cursed Chase for making her wear it. She forced herself to banish all amorous thoughts of him to the dark recesses of her mind to be explored later at a more opportune moment. The remainder of the drive was spent in silence as they ruminated on the meager facts of the case they were about to tackle.
Cameron let out a sigh of relief as she felt the welcoming warmth of the hospital thaw her frozen skin. She had secretly begun to think of the place as a home away from home. She was there often enough it might as well be! She was grateful to be inside again, sheltered from the cold, but she was a little disappointed because it meant she had to give back to jacket that house had offered to her.
She was so shocked at the gesture that she would have dropped the jacket in the snow if he hadn't placed it securely on her shoulders. She thought about trying to give it back, but she knew how stubborn he was, and she really wasn't wearing snow-friendly clothes, and if she was being completely honest, she simply didn't want to give it back! Politeness be damned! When she though he wasn't looking, she hugged the jacket closer to herself and inhaled deeply. His musky manly scent was unlike anything she could put words to! It's not like she'd never noticed it before, but this was such a wonderfully concentrated dose that she almost found her head swimming with it.
Though she was reluctant to give it back, she knew she had to once they were inside. When they padded the through the doorway, she slowly handed it over to him with a quiet thanks, then turned on her heel (she had been able at least to swap her stilettos for a more sensible pair of pumps) and headed to her locker where she prayed there would be a change of clothes, or at least a sweater, waiting for her.
Gregory House let out a grunt as he sat down roughly in his chair. He held the still-warm jacket close and subtly inhaled the sweet scent Cameron had left on it. He kind of wanted her to keep it. He liked seeing it on her. It almost made him feel like he could hold a claim on her as long as she possessed it. Though that proposition was completely absurd, he liked the thought of it, anyway. If it hadn't been for his blasted cane, he might have put an arm around her in the parking lot, under the pretense of keeping her warm. Ah well.
Maybe it was really for the best. What chance did he have with her, anyway? She deserved someone young, and just as good-looking as her. But in his mind, no one would ever be good enough for her. She was just too pure and innocent and perfect and morally upright. He grinned to himself as he thought about that last trait. She was so cute when she got obstinate over moral issues, the way her nostrils flared out and the bridge of her nose got all squished up, and you could practically see the fire burning passionately in her beautiful blue-green eyes.
He looked up as Chase and Foreman walked into the conference room. "It's about time guys!" He called to them and ignored the eye rolls he got in return. House decided he'd had enough of staring out into space moping over what he could never have and focused on the two ducklings. Both looked like they had dressed in a hurry, but both appeared to have been doing different things. Foreman seemed extra breathless and a slightly bit irritated. He must have been with a lady when he got the call. Chase was starting to show the first signs of being drunk, so he must have been at a pub or something, but thankfully he wasn't too far gone. Finally he turned back to the file on his desk and looked it over.
Not too much to go on. The mother was in a state of hysteria (great) over her nine year old son who had collapsed while trick-or-treating, but kept insisting he was fine. There was a possible rash on the legs and weakness in limbs. A slight fever, but blood pressure and heart rate were largely normal. The thing that intrigued him most about the case was the child's sudden minimization of sensation in the limbs. That, and the child's apparent lack of awareness of his condition, indicating possible neurological trauma or damage, are what made him take the case. Thank goodness Cuddy finally mentioned the interesting bit after prattling on in that waste of a phone call! He really didn't want to leave Cameron's place unless he absolutely had to, and when she mentioned that bit, he became intrigued. Well, time to meet the patient! Not for him of course, just for the ducklings. He loved his job.