"Has anyone else noticed House acting weird?" Foreman asked.

"Who hasn't?" Chase chuckled.

Foreman and Chase exchanged cocky glances. Cameron stood on the far side of the room, seemingly ignoring them. They had both noticed something in her. During the past week, House seemed distracted, and checked his phone almost constantly, and every time Cameron noticed, she got quiet. Chase leaned over the table, grinning viciously.

"What do you think, Cameron?"

With a look of disgust, she rolled her eyes , glancing up from the chart in her hands.

"He'll be back to normal. Just let it run its course"

Again, Foreman and Chase exchanged looks. Chase stuttered.

"let...what run its course?

Tossing the chart to the table, she heaved a heavy sigh.

"Look, House will get bored and move on to something else. Its just who he is. Can we get back to the case, please?"

"Fine" Chase picked his folder up, mumbling under his breath. It had over a week since they had first come into contact with a teenage girl with worsening facial pain and neurological problems. Numerous tests had come up with nothing, and no one seemed to have the slightest idea what could be causing her symptoms.

Foreman cleared his throat,"Wilson thinks he loves her"

Cameron's head whipped around so fast, she could've been a predator zeroing in on its next meal. "House?"

Barely choking back a laugh, Foreman nodded "Yep"

Chase spoke up next, "But heartless bastards cant love, can they?"

Cameron shook her head, "Have either of you seen her? Wilson said shes young, maybe she-"

"What are you idiots talking about?"

Cameron jumped, spinning on her heel. She had failed to notice House coming in the door behind her, and now she was blushing furiously. "Nothing. I have to go run more blood work"

House watched her with a glare as she skittered from the room, her head down, face redder than fire. Finally, he turned on Chase.

"Any new symptoms?"

Chase shook his head, tossing the pen in his hand down onto the table with a clatter, "Nothing. Same as always"

Pulling his chair out with a groan, House laid his cane across the table before lowering himself down slowly. "Its been a week"

Foreman shook his head "10 days"

Again, House groaned, "Whatever"

Leaning back in his chair, Foreman looked less than amused. Before he could open his mouth, the room filled with the sound of Houses beeper.

XXXXXXX

Cameron met them outside the door, clutching a clipboard to her chest. She looked distressed, and before she spoke, she swallowed thickly.

"Shes gone blind in one eye, and shes having trouble swallowing"

Looking annoyed, House pushed past her, reaching for the door. Eyes wide, she stumbled out of the way. "What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna look for other symptoms of a stroke. Because that's what she had, a STROKE"

"House it wasn't a stroke! The MRI-"

Foreman looked slightly annoyed when House turned on him. "Got any better ideas?"

Foreman looked away, searching Cameron's face for an answer, even a hint of an answer. When he saw nothing, he shook his head sadly. Roughly, House ushered Cameron from the doorway and shoved past her. The door slid open with a glass rattling bang. When he saw the patient, he stopped dead in his tracks. The once slight pulling of her upper lip had progressed to an almost startling difference.

"Why didn't you tell me about that?"

Cameron looked completely baffled. "About what?"

"The drooping is getting worse"

House stepped forward, making his way to the other side of the bed. Everything he had previously thought about this woman went flying out an open window when he saw the right side of her face.

"Has her hair always looked like that?"

Cameron uttered a choked noise, rushing forward. "Like what?"

When Cameron came to his side, she saw his meaning instantly. The once pristine white-blonde hair had darkened, turning to a deep, midnight black in a strip going down the right side of her head. Something this contrasting would've been noticed before. Cameron herself had been in the room just the day before, so something like this had to have happened quickly. Overnight.

The 16 year old girl laying in a too big hospital bed looked much older than her years. She sat bolt straight, eyes darting from one person to the other. She did little more than blink, and House had become well aware of that fact in the last few seconds. His eyebrows shot up like a rocket, when a thought plowed into his brain. He narrowed onto the patient, watching her closely as he talked to her.

"Laura, Can-"

"her name is Lisa..." Cameron corrected, her voice small.

House rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Lisa...say something"

The girl's eyes darted to House and then the floor. Without even an attempt to move her mouth, she shook her head. House rounded on Cameron.

"She doesn't talk?"

Cameron shook her head, "She stopped talking this morning."

House ran a hand through his hair, eyes lidded in thought. "Do a contrast MRI"

He straightened, looking around the room. Foreman stood near the door, watching silently. House took a step forward, and without uttering another word, walked out of the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Cameron returned to Houses office, she was more than a little surprised. She found House no where in sight, he seemed to have gone home early. In the dim light of the late afternoon, a short, petite woman with dark brown hair stood beside the desk where House should've sat.

Her head popped up when she heard Cameron push the door open. With a shy smile, the girl turned towards Cameron, one hand coming up to push a tendril of hair out of her face. Leaning around her, Cameron flopped the MRI results down on Houses desk, studying her only companion in the room.

"Can I...help you?"

Finally, the girl looked up, her eyes meeting Cameron's confused gaze. Cameron noticed the abnormal beauty of the girls eyes, and found herself unable to look away. The girl licked her lips nervously and pulled in a ragged breath, her eyes darting around the room. She had an envelope clutched in her hand, held tightly to her side as if afraid someone would see.

"Do you...uhm- Is here?"

Cameron was hit by the freight train of realization, and it was all she could do to hold in her laughter.

"He left. Are you...Aurora?"

Again, she locked eyes with Cameron, and now a glimmer of happiness shone in her eyes. She smiled now, this one genuine, and nodded.

"Yeah! How did you know that?"

Looking a little more than annoyed, Cameron crossed her arms across her chest, "His friend-uh-Wilson, said he talks about you a lot"

Aurora blushed, "Oh...okay. Do you work with him?"

Cameron smiled, the girl seemed nice enough, though abnormally shy " Yeah, hes my boss" She pulled in a breath, and a sudden curiosity took hold of her. "Are you...I mean, you and House...serious?"

Aurora shrugged, and suddenly looked sad "I don't know..."

Cameron smiled, suddenly she identified with the young woman before her, "Don't feel bad. It isn't you. That's how he is"

Aurora narrowed her eyes, suddenly looking puzzled, chewing on her lower lip, she lowered her eyes again. After an almost uncomfortable silence, she said "What do you mean?"

Cameron smiled in a way she hoped was reassuring "He's a bastard. " She shrugged, "He doesn't care about anyone but himself."

Aurora dropped her eyes, once again avoiding eye contact. Cameron suddenly found herself talking without the ability to stop. "Don't get attached."

Aurora nodded, hastily shoving the envelope into the pocket of her jeans. She sniffed suddenly, and wrapped her arms around herself. "Ive gotta go...Thanks"

Before Cameron could stop her, or say another word, she practically ran to the door and disappeared through it.