A/N: I'm so sorry this chapter has taken so long to post. Abject pleading, apologies (extra points to whoever catches the reference), please don't hate me! Our soccer season has finished up, so I should be updating more frequently in the near future.
Also, just because I can, I'm going to gloat here about how awesome this summer is going to be for mainly one reason - I get to see Idina Menzel live, and possibly even meet her! Okay, rant over. Here's your chapter.
-------------
"We have a case." Cameron greeted House as he entered the department. He nodded and sat down at his desk as she handed him his coffee. He took a grateful sip. They'd gotten into a routine that suited them both. She was in early, making the coffee and sorting the mail (which was now addressed to both of them). He'd come in later, and the work day would begin.
He realized that he hadn't acknowledged the comment about the patient yet, and looked up at Cameron, as he reached for the file.
"Eighty-seven year old female." He began. "Presents with muscle weakness and fatigue. Apparently, she couldn't get out of her bathtub. She was sitting there for three hours until her daughter found her and brought her here."
"Lupus?" Cameron suggested.
"It's never lupus. Plus, it doesn't account for the muscle weakness. Get a medical history and see if that tells us anything. Oh, and do some blood work while you're at it." Cameron nodded her understanding and left to run the tests. House drew the blinds and pulled out his GameBoy, ready for another round of his favorite game "Avoid the Clinic Duty". He hoped Cameron would hurry.
-------------
"Medical history looks good. The only thing I can see is high cholesterol, but not high enough to be a problem." Cameron had arrived in the diagnostics department with the results of her investigation a few minutes earlier.
"Run an MRI, it could be a tumor causing the fatigue and muscle weakness, even if it is unlikely. And get a tox screen. Maybe Grandma's not such a good girl after all. Once again, he watched her nod and disappear through the doors.
-------------
After Cuddy had found him and forced him to do his clinic duty, after he had bullied Wilson into buying him yet another lunch, after he had finally given up on Mario, Cameron finally came waltzing through the door.
"Good God, Cameron." He snarked (A/N: Not an actual word. It would be cool though...) "Took you long enough."
"I had to wait to do the MRI. Took longer than I thought."
"Have I taught you nothing? You never wait in lines. You just run in and take over the machine." He threw his hands up in mock exasperation before settling back into his chair. "What have you got for me?" He secretly loved this part, the thrill of a new medical mystery for him to solve.
"Nothing." Cameron breathed. "Nothing on the MRI. Tox screen was clean. I talked to the daughter, and she said that her mother was fine."
"Except that she was stuck in a bathtub for three hours." House interjected.
"There's that." Conceded the immunologist.
"Come on." House stood.
"Where?"
"We're going to her house."
-------------
Twenty minutes later, House and Cameron pulled up outside the patient's condo. It was a small building that housed three other condos as well. Cameron and House dismounted House's motorcycle (Cameron was exceedingly glad that he had driven it to work), and entered the house.
It was dark, and surprisingly, did not smell like cats. In fact, it looked incredibly normal, almost modern even, with none of the old lady furniture Cameron had expected. Cameron started in the bedroom, while House tackled the kitchen. An hour later, they were still searching.
"There's nothing here!" Cameron called from the living room, where she had been searching through the pillows and cushions on the couch for some sort of mold, or maybe a hidden drug stash.
"There's gotta be something!" Came House's muffled reply. He had his head and most of his torso in a kitchen cupboard and was busy emptying it unceremoniously of the pots and pans it housed. "People don't just suddenly lose the ability to stand, even if the were alive to see the death of Henry VIII."
"Did we check the bathroom yet?" Cameron inquired. House walked through the living room.
"I'm on it." Cameron quickly replaced the couch cushions and wandered into the bathroom where House was. It was the only place they had left to search.
"Look under the sink." House instructed her, "I've got the medicine cabinet." Cameron complied, dropping to her hands and knees to search through the mass of cleaning products. She was inspecting a bottle of stain remover when House let out a triumphant yell. In all actuality, it was more of a yell of pain, as he had banged his head on the cabinet in his celebrations, but Cameron decided to let him have the benefit of the doubt. She grinned at his child-like antics, forgetting for a minute what she was supposed to be doing.
"Lipitor." House finally announced.
"What about it?" Cameron inspected a cut she'd received from one of the many cleaners under the sink.
"She must take it because of her cholesterol, but she doesn't really need it. Side effects include fatigue and muscle weakness. If we take her off the Lipitor, she should be just fine."
-------------
That afternoon found Cameron and House holed up in the diagnostics office once again with absolutely nothing to do. House's diagnosis had been correct, as usual.
"That was too easy." House whined. "I'm bored. Give me a case."
"We don't have one."
"Make one up." House's childlike whine implored her.
"Oh, all right." Cameron thought for a moment. "40 year old male. Presents with fatigue and swelling. Tests revealed extensive kidney problems and photosensitivity. Upon closer inspection, a rash was found."
"Hmm...oh, whatever can it be, Dr. Cameron. Surely not...the textbook definition of lupus?"
"Imagine that, Dr. House. Sometimes it is lupus." Cameron grinned at him, and for a second, he found himself grinning back. She settled into her chair, before turning back to him. "Your turn."
