"Where are you going?" She asks, walking quickly to keep up with his determined stride. He doesn't pause but continues to Cameron's office, bursting in, and heading straight for her desk. "House!" Cuddy demands, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to Cameron's." He opens her desk drawer, and pulls out the key to her apartment, leaving the drawer open as he heads back toward the door. Cuddy stands firm in the doorway, not allowing him to leave.
"First of all, it's scary that you know where she keeps those. And secondly, I'm not going to let you do that. You can't just go breaking into people's homes!" He looms over her.
"Cuddy, move." She shakes her head, placing one hand on each side of the doorframe. He moves closer, trying to stare her down. "Cuddy," he starts, leaning in imposingly. She closes her eyes, and cringes.
"House, no!" she yells at him, surprising him. He backs off, shocked that she is so frightened of him. She opens one eye, sees that he's stopped, and straightens. "I'm not going to let you invade her privacy like that. She has a right to privacy just like anybody else." He eyes her, suspiciously.
"What are you protecting?" he asks.
"What are you talking about?" she counters. "I don't have to be protecting anything to tell you not to break laws. You can't just ignore them like you do Hospital rules! It's not the same system. If you get caught, you get put in jail, and I can't help you with that, I'm not above the law you know, and is that really what you want?" He stares at her through the whole speech. "What?" She finally explodes.
"You're hiding something. You're babbling. It's a dead giveaway." He steps toward her again, and she almost backs away, but then remembers what she is standing for. He grins a bit. "Thought I had you there." She frowns at him. "Come on, Cuddy," he sighs, "Do I have to physically move you?" She gives him a worried look, and he makes a move toward her just to watch her flinch. Seeing her determination, he decides it must be of some importance to her, and relaxes his shoulders. He walks back over to Cameron's desk, and replaces the keys, then returns to Cuddy who stands down for him to pass.
As she watches him walk down the hall, she tells him, "And don't go try to find a hidden key, either!"
House walks back to his own office, and sits at his desk, opening Cameron's charts to get her home phone number. He dials with swift precision, and waits.
The phone rings. He breathes to slow his heart. It rings again. Working like the wing beats of a hummingbird, each stroke invisible yet vital, his mind determines the best course of action. A third ring, and no answer. As the machine picks up, he speaks calmly into the receiver.
"This message is for Alison Cameron," he spews gracefully. "This is the-" A click from the other end, and a grumbly voice mumbles from the other end.
"'Ello? Yeh, I'm here. Wha'?" Stunned by the youth of the voice, and by its thick Manchester accent, House almost drops the phone, but at the last second recovers.
"Yes, is Alison Cameron there?" he asks.
"No, she's not. She's at work right now. Can I take a message?" House rolls his eyes, thinking about how this man is less useful than an answering machine.
"Yes, you can." He says, overly cheery. "Can you please tell her that Princeton-Plainsboro called with her pregnancy test results?" The silence tells him exactly what he wants to know. The man stutters unintelligible syllables for a moment, and then spurts:
"Well, what are they?" He asks, flustered. House grins to himself.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I can't disclose that over the phone. But if you come in I can see that you get what you're looking for." The man is audibly relieved.
"Ok, I'll do that right away." The phone clicks, and House sets down his receiver. He stands to leave, and looks up to see Cuddy standing once again in his doorway, mouth agape. He grins at her. "Cuddy, if you don't stop following me, I'm going to tell hospital security that you're stalking me." She gives him a look that could prick a porcupine.
"Are you out of you mind?" She asks, to which he gives a thoughtful expression. "You can't have him come here! You can't let him see her! Is this some sort of sick game to you?" House shakes his head.
"Of course not!" He limps toward the door. "And he won't even know she's here."
She lets him pass unopposed, watching his left hand as he turns to walk toward the elevator. He pushes the call button with his cane, and turns to look at her. She matches his gaze for a moment, considering all the objects in the world small enough to possibly fit in his clenched fist. Distracted, she clenches and relaxes her own hand to test its size. It is quite possible that he clutches his Vicodin bottle, or even a few loose pills. She looks down at her fist, and when she turns back to him he has disappeared. She hesitates a moment, and watches the lighted numbers above the door drop to the first floor instead of climbing to the third.
Surprised that he isn't headed back for Cameron, she returns to her own office to contemplate the ailments of her friend.