Disclaimer: I'm not saying it again. We all know they don't belong to us who write these or read these. If they did, well, we probably wouldn't be doing this then, would we?
Two hours ago, Cameron had agreed to not only move in with House, but see someone about what had happened. Now she was in a recliner, looking at a woman, Doctor Patricia Farnsworth, who was in her late sixties. She looked like an old fashioned school teacher. She had her silvery hair up in a bun on the top of her head and was wearing a black skirt suit with a white top under the blazer and black, low heeled pumps. Cameron was wearing, well, what she'd been wearing since she'd been checked in. Two hospital gowns, a thin robe and socks with gripping soles.
"Allison, I understand that you're reluctant to talk, but I promise, once you come to terms with what's happened, and realize that it's not your fault yo---"
"I never thought it was my fault. I didn't do anything to deserve what those men did to me! I work in a hospital, I face risks every day, just like everyone else I work with does. We got in a couple of gang members who'd shot each other and they both died. They were too far gone to save when they came in. Their fellow members thought it was my fault their guy died, so they decided to make me pay. Two of them showed up at my apartment, broke in, raped me, then nearly killed me. I used my cell phone to take their picture and sent it to House so they could be caught. So no one else would have to go through what I went through, at least not by those two!" she shouts, obviously pissed at the woman.
And while it wasn't normal to have a third person in the session, Cameron had insisted on House being there, so he was sitting there in a chair of his own, his mouth slightly agape at Cameron's boldness. Maybe he'd rubbed off on her more than he'd originally thought.
"Oookay. Maybe this was a bad idea," he finally says, rubbing the back of his neck a little and looking from the older woman to the younger one. Farnsworth was dumbstruck and Cameron was, well, pissed.
"Obviously," Cameron says as she gets up, grabbing her IV cart and walking out, leaving House and Farnsworth to sit there and look at each other.
"Well, been nice seein' ya doc," House voices after a few moments, then limps out as quickly as possible, catching up with Cameron rather quickly in the hallway, seeing as how they're both disabled at the moment. "What was that about?"
"What was what about?"
"You. The whole thing in there," he says, pointing at the door they'd both just left.
"It was about me being pissed that she thought it was my fault. I never said it was my fault. Never gave any indication that I thought it was my fault. I was doing my job, a patient died because his heart had a hole in it, plus half his intestines were sticking out either his back or his stomach when he came in. I tried to save him, House! Even though I knew he was probably a bad person, I tried to save him!" she screams, then sudden starts to cry.
"Hey, come on, no more water works," he says softly, pulling her in for a hug, his left hand smoothing over her hair, while her hands grip him around his waist. "I'm sorry. I just…I thought if you talked about it, you'd feel better."
"It's n-not y-your fault," she sobs out, pulling back to wipe at her eyes and nose a bit. "I j-just don't g-get p-p-people," she says as she slowly stops sobbing, though tears keep slipping down her cheeks. "I think of people, in general, as good. But those men…they were bad. I like to think you're wrong about people, House. That they're not hopeless. That there's still some good in them. But time and again, you prove me wrong. Even about myself. I just…it's like there's no hope left in me for someone to be good. I tried so hard all these years. And one night, two men stole all that away from me," she says calmly, moving hair out of her face and behind her ears. "What's the point in living on this Earth if there's not some hope?" she asks him, her head tilted a little.
"Oh, come on! Don't say that," House says after a few moments. "You're Allison Cameron, you're supposed to be the overly optimistic one of the bunch!" he says, then sighs.
"I can't be that person anymore, House. At least, not right now. Not so soon after all of this," she admits, leaning into his side a bit as they walk towards the elevator.
"It'll be okay, Cameron. You'll see. I dunno how right now, but I promise you that I'll help you through this. I promise that I'll make it right, that you'll be the puppy-dog and rainbow spouting member of the team."
"I…" she starts, then stops and sighs. "You can try, House. And I'd love to be that woman again, but I just really don't think I can be. But maybe, in a way, it's for the best. It's toughened me. Made me realize how bad the world really is. I still want to try to fix it, but first I have to fix myself…with your help, of course."
"Of course," he says with a smile.
Once they're in the elevator, he pulls her to him, pressing their bodies tightly together, but careful not to hurt her, he kisses her. Deeply and passionately, one hand resting on the small of her back, while the other one rests in her auburn locks.
Cameron is caught off guard by this, but enjoys it none the less, and kisses him back just as much as he's kissing her. One of her hands stays on his chest while the other moves to run through his hair while they go down a floor to the fourth from the fifth.
When the bell dings and the doors start to open, House lets Cameron go and the pull apart, both people flushed and panting for air, but both also smiling. Maybe there was still some hope in the world after all.
