Getting to Know You

Chapter 10: Interesting Encounters

Chase stood by the Macy's jewelry counter next to Mrs. Cameron while Allison and Christine browsed the women's clothing racks, having found himself the bearer of several bags.

"Allie doesn't go shopping that often," Mrs. Cameron remarked, "but when she does go…"

"She goes all in," Chase finished for her, shifting one of the bags in his hand. "I've seen it before." He smiled at his girlfriend's mother, who was watching her daughters with amusement as they debated over a shirt, which Cameron was claiming was hideous, but Christine liked.

"Those two girls used to battle it out when they were younger, but they got so close," Mrs. Cameron said, chuckling a bit as she turned to look at Chase. "I'm guessing you're relieved to have been out of the hospital for a few days? You look much more rejuvenated than you did when you got in on Wednesday. Less dark circles."

"Immensely," Chase answered. "Setting aside a few of our vacation days was worth it. It feels like we live there sometimes, although our hours are better than the ones we had in Diagnostics…we really did live in the hospital sometimes. Ate there, took naps in the on call room." Chase found himself caught in a rush of memories for a few moments, remembering how his days in Diagnostics made him feel as though he had a home in the new country he'd moved to, but also knowing that things had taken their natural course in all that had happened in the past months. He missed the excitement sometimes, but he was exceedingly happy now, being an attending in surgery.

"I've found that I've heard from Allie on a more regular schedule since she started the ER," Mrs. Cameron said. "It's a nice change."

"Thank you again for having me," Chase responded. "It's been a lot of fun, getting a chance to know all of you."

"We'll be said to see you go tomorrow," she answered, looking up at him over the rim of her coffee cup, a maternal gleam in her eyes. "But we talked to Allie about coming back for Christmas, so we may be seeing you soon!"

"Sounds wonderful," Chase said, suddenly feeling elated at the prospect, but also strangely feeling like a rock had landed on his chest. He'd had several happy Christmases in his adult life, spent with friends or extended family, but the last proper Christmas he'd had with his parents had been when he was 10 or 11…the ones after had been overshadowed by fighting and alcohol, and then after Rowan walked out his mother's half-hearted attempts to make the holiday magical fell flat because of the gaping hole his father had left.

Mrs. Cameron was about to respond when she suddenly gasped in delight, her green eyes that were so like Cameron's widening in surprise.

"Joe!" she exclaimed, as the tall brown-haired man reached them, a grin spread across his face.

"Hi Ms. Elizabeth," he said, hugging her in greeting. "It's a surprise to run into you here. Is that Allie and Christine over there?"

Joe had been Cameron's husband's best friend, Chase knew, who still lived here in Chicago, and who Cameron occasionally e-mailed back and forth with, but that was all he really knew. He was shaken out of his thoughts by Mrs. Cameron resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Joe, this is Dr. Robert Chase, Allie's boyfriend and colleague," she said. "They came for Thanksgiving and stayed a couple of extra days."

"Nice to meet you," Chase replied, shaking Joe's hand firmly.

"You too. Allie's mentioned you in her e-mails," Joe said, a curious look in his eyes. "Do I spy an Australian accent?"

"You'd be right about that," Chase said, looking over as Cameron and Christine came over, the former looking a little flummoxed. "I moved to the States about five years ago."

"Joe!" Cameron exclaimed, reaching out to embrace him. "What brings you here?"

"Picking up an anniversary present for Karen. 5 years tomorrow," he replied, lifting up the small bag which looked to contain a jewelry box. "I hardly recognized you with your new blonde hair."

"I felt like a change," Cameron answered as Christine moved in to hug Joe as well. "Did you Mom introduce you to Chase?" she asked, scooting over to stand closer to her boyfriend.

"She did," Joe answered, nodding at Chase with a smile, before looking at Cameron with a confused expression. "Did you just call him by his last name?"

"We all called each other by our last names when we were in Diagnostics," she replied. "Just old habit. How's Karen?"

"She's great," Joe said. "Just got a new job at a bigger law firm, the one she's had her eye on."

"Being a lawyer is so popular these days," Christine said, chuckling. "You, Karen, me."

Chase listened intently to the conversation, suddenly feeling Cameron's hand grasp his own ever so slowly, squeezing so tight that he started to lose feeling. He glanced over at her, but she wouldn't meet his eye.

"Indeed it is," said Joe. "Are you liking the job so far?"

Christine started to respond, but was interrupted by Cameron.

"I keep telling her she should move to Jersey and take one of the vacant hospital lawyer positions at Princeton," she said, jabbing her sister gently in the side. "But I can't convince her."

"I like it here," Christine said, rolling her eyes good-naturedly at her sister.

"Some things never change," Joe responded with a laugh. "Well, I better scoot, but it was great to run into all of you."

He hugged each of the women in turn, reaching Cameron last. "Good luck with the ER, Allie. I'll shoot you an e-mail."

With that, he turned to shake Chase's hand. "Nice to meet you," he said, looking pleased that he had been able to put a face the name he'd heard about in e-mails. "Take care of this one." He nodded over at Cameron, a small smile slipping onto her face.

"I will," Chase said, still reeling a bit that they'd run into this rather mysterious person from Cameron's past. "No worries."

Joe waved in farewell, then was out the door.

"Well that was a nice surprise," Mrs. Cameron said, taking the shirt Christine had been mulling over and examining the fabric. "You'll never know who you might run into in this place."

"Yeah," Cameron replied, looking a little lost, eyes not focused on her mother. "I'm going to run to the food court and grab a soda. I'll meet you back here in few minutes."

Chase, who was concerned about Cameron's slightly odd behavior, accompanied her as they walked through the hustle and bustle of the Saturday mall crowd. Not as terrible as black Friday had surely been, but crowded nonetheless.

"Are you okay babe?" he asked, seeing signs that he should perhaps wait a bit before asking, but giving in anyway.

"Yes," she said, eyes flitting in his direction for only a moment. "Why?"

Knowing she wouldn't give in easily, Chase drew from the patience Cameron exhibited when he was stubborn about divulging things. It was a flaw they shared in common, stubbornness, especially when it came to admitting something was bothering them, most likely coming from a fear of seeming weak, even to the people they loved. Cameron may have worn her heart on her sleeve about many things, but rarely about her own personal problems.

"You just looked a little shell-shocked to see Joe," Chase answered. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, her tone clipped. "There's no need for you to worry."

"If you say so…"

"I do," she said, fully avoiding his gaze now. "Can we just drop it for now?"

"Yes," he said, unable to help from feeling a tad downtrodden. "We can drop it."

An hour and a half or so later, Chase sat on the back deck in one of the rocking chairs, eyes closed and only half awake. The rest of the house had chosen an afternoon nap before the extravagant family dinner that was planned for later in the evening, but he liked sitting outside here in Cameron's neighborhood, even if there was a distinct chill in the air. After a few minutes however, he heard someone open the door and sit in the rocking chair next to his. He popped one eye open to see Cameron beside him.

"I'm sorry," she spurted out.

"For what?" I asked, opening both eyes now to focus on her. "The thing at the mall?"

"For being short with you," she said. "I shouldn't have been."

"It's okay," Chase responded, warmth in his tone, loving the tinkling sound of the wind chimes as the wind blew through them. His mother, he remembered, had loved them too, but his father had hated them. No surprises there. "But why did you look so stunned?"

Cameron shifted in her seat, bringing her knees up to her chest as though trying to protect herself from something.

"It was complicated with Joe for a while," she began, resting her chin on her knees now, and looking at him. "When Michael was in the hospital Joe and I spent a lot of time together. I don't know if we fell in love, exactly, but there was something there."

Chase thought that maybe he should have been surprised, but he wasn't entirely. He'd heard a couple of stories like this from loved ones of terminal patients, and the inner turmoil it has caused within them.

"Did anything happen, if you don't mind my asking?" he questioned, hoping to gently coax the story out of her without making her feel entirely vulnerable.

"No," she said, reaching over to take Chase's hand almost out of instinct, holding it loosely. "It wasn't something that was meant to be, it was just something borne out of tragedy, and it's always been a little awkward between us since then. Like we didn't know what to do with each other. This time was much better though, I was just surprised. I haven't actually seen Joe in person since I moved to Princeton. We've just emailed." She looked up at him, a small half smile sliding onto her face.

He smiled in return. "Thanks for telling me."

"No problem," she replied, holding his hand tighter. "So, you want to tell me the next installment of the Robert Chase chronicles?" she asked.

"Sure," he said, trying to sound confident as his mouth went a little drier from nerves. "Where did I leave off?"

"When you were leaving seminary," she said. "Are you okay? If you don't want…"

"I do," he cut in. "I started, so I need to finish. Let's fast forward a few years, shall we?"

The high-pitched beeping of Robert's pager sounded as he hooked his sleeping patient's chart onto the end of the bed. He slid out of the ICU room and closed the door quietly behind him so as not to disturb the little girl, who had just undergone emergency surgery after a car crash. She looked like she would make it, but it was still a bit touch and go, so he would stay in the hospital for the night to watch over her in case there was an emergency. He pulled the pager off of his belt, chuckling a little as he read the message from Roger, his friend from med school who had ended up working in the same hospital.

"911! Rowan Alert!"

He wondered briefly what his father was doing here, but didn't waste his energy pondering. It had probably been a good four months since he'd seen Rowan, although they'd spoken briefly on the phone a couple of times. He walked confidently through the halls of St. Joseph's hospital. He'd done his residency here, preferring to get away from his father's influence at Melbourne General. They were tentatively amiable with each other lately, and working in the same environment wouldn't have encouraged that. He'd been working here for a year while he completed some more specialty training in intensive care, and had grown to feel at home. Much as he loved his home country however, he was still itching to get away. At 28, he was one of the youngest doctors in the hospital, and he was tired of being constantly referred to as "Rowan's boy."

Once he reached the lobby, he predictably found his father surrounded by a small knot of people, Robert's boss Dr. Cohen among them. The middle-aged Intensivist spotted his young employee walking toward them, smiling broadly.

"Ah, here he is Rowan," said Dr. Cohen, reaching to put a loose arm around Robert's shoulders as he reached the group. Robert actually had a great deal of respect for his boss, truly liked him and had learned an immense amount, but hated the fact that he worshipped Rowan like this. Although, everyone seemed to in the medical community. "He's a credit to you, I must say. He's a natural."

"I'm glad to hear it," Rowan said, nodding at his son.

After a few more minutes of conversation, the small group of people dispersed, leaving father and son alone.

"You're quite the celebrity," Robert joked, sticking his hands in the pockets of his lab coat. "What brings you by?"

"Thought I'd come see you before you left for New Jersey," Rowan said, gesturing Robert toward the front doors, presumably so they could walk and have their conversation away from the bustle of the lobby. "When do you leave?"

"My interview with House is on Monday, so I'm leaving on Friday, just to give myself some time to recover from the flight," Robert answered, sitting down on one of the benches in the small courtyard at the front of the hospital. The sun was just peeping out from behind the trees, the sky a hazy mix of blues with streaks of pink shooting through. "Apparently the last four people he interviewed left his office within ten minutes, so I'm not entirely sure what to expect."

"Hmmm," said Rowan, frowning. "Well, don't get your hopes up. It sounds as though the man likes to toy with people." He looked at his watch. "Do you have time for a drink?"

Taken aback, it took Robert a moment to respond. "Well, I've got a patient I'm a bit worried about, so I was going to stay here and monitor, but we could grab a cup of coffee in the cafeteria."

"Alright," agreed Rowan. "Lead the way, I haven't been here in quite some time."

Ten minutes later, father and son were sitting in a booth in the hospital cafeteria, each with large cups of coffee in front of them. Robert couldn't remember the last time they'd sat together like this, just the two of them. Any dinners they'd had over the past few years involved Melinda, or guests Rowan had invited.

"This hospital makes better coffee than any other one I've ever been in," Robert remarked, trying to break the awkward silence that had fallen. "How's Melinda? I haven't spoken to her in a few weeks."

"She's doing well," Rowan answered, taking a sip of his coffee, which he took black with a few lumps of sugar. "She's settling into the Diagnostics department, and she's enjoying it. She's getting much different cases than she got in the ER."

"Diagnostics is intriguing," Robert said, still wondering why exactly his father had wanted to sit down with him. He felt a bit of warmth spread through him, but steeled himself for some kind of bad news, some kind of ultimatum. "I read that Princeton-Plainsboro has the best diagnostic department in the States because of Dr. House."

"I've heard that," Rowan replied, almost instantly changing the subject. "Are you alright with finances?"

Robert resisted the urge to roll his eyes, not wanting to ruin this seemingly pleasant moment between the two of them. "I'm fine, Dad. My salary more than covers me, and Mum's money is safely put away in a savings account."

"But the fellowship salary?" Rowan asked. "Will that be enough?"

"It'll be fine," Robert answered, not surprised his father was so persistent about money. It was his safety zone. It suddenly struck him that tomorrow was his mother's birthday, and he wondered if that had anything to do with why Rowan was here.

What Rowan said next confirmed his hunch.

"I left some flowers at your mother's grave yesterday," he said, not quite meeting his son's eyes. "I thought you'd like to know."

"Lilies?" Robert questioned, his voice almost a whisper, a swoop of sadness sweeping through his stomach at all that had been lost.

"Yes," said Rowan, clearing his throat. "She would be proud of all you've accomplished, you know."

"I know," Robert answered, feeling a pesky tear prick his eye as his father finally looked at him, blinking furiously to hold it back.

The sound of Robert's beeper broke the moment, and he grabbed it off his belt, reading that his patient was awake, and her parents wanted to speak with him. He breathed a sigh of relief that nothing had gone wrong.

"My patient's awake," he began.

"Duty calls," Rowan said, standing up as he drained the last of his coffee. "Good luck on your interview. Let me know."

"I will," said Robert, as they stood stock still across from each other, as though debating whether or not a hug was in order. Instead, Robert stuck his hand out, which Rowan shook firmly.

"See you, son," he said, before turning and walking towards the exit. He was always leaving, it seemed.

"Wait," Cameron broke in, the pieces coming together behind her eyes. "Do I get to hear about your interview with House? About the phone call?"

"Yes," Chase said.

"Should I get popcorn?" she asked, grinning at him.

"You're hilarious," he said dryly, jabbing her lightly with his elbow. "Go on like that and I won't tell the story."

"Okay, okay," she said, giving in. "But I can only imagine what House did with that kind of material."

Robert sat in the chair across from Dr. Gregory House's desk, wiggling his toes in nervousness as he waited for the man to arrive. After a few moments he heard two voices at the glass door, one a harsh female whisper, the other a slightly annoyed male, speaking more loudly than was necessary.

"You have to at least be decent to this one, do you hear me?" came the voice of Lisa Cuddy, Dean of Medicine. "He has an excellent resume, Intensivists are hard to come by, and we could use a young doctor like that. You currently have one remaining fellow, and if you don't start hiring more, the board is going to scrap you."

"Yes Mom," House answered. "And the board would never scrap me…my hospital makes this reputation look good. I've got an interview to do, so go away."

Chase heard Cuddy sigh as she walked away, and stood up to shake House's hand as he entered the room, noticing how pronounced his limp was, even with the cane. He was desperately curious to know what had happened, but didn't dare ask.

"Sit," House said, as Chase marveled at what the renowned diagnostician was wearing. "I don't do formality."

Chase nodded, still taking in House's clothes; he certainly didn't dress like any other doctor he'd seen. He donned jeans, gym shoes, a t-shirt, and navy blue blazer, no lab coat in sight, reading glasses perched on his nose. Chase felt suddenly very out of place in his dark navy suit and pale yellow shirt, hair swept back from his face, as he hadn't had time to get a haircut.

"So you're Dr. Robert Chase," House said, staring at him.

"Yes sir."

"The famous Rowan Chase's son?"

"Yes sir," Robert answered, trying to keep the slight annoyance out of his voice at always being associated with his father, rather than being looked at on his own merit.

"You have quite the resume, kid," House said, still not breaking eye contact.

"Thank you sir," Chase answered, feeling more awkward by the moment but trying not to let it show.

"Quit it with the sir," House said. "I said I don't do formality. Are you aware your father called me a few days ago?"

Robert felt his stomach sink, his cheeks flushing from embarrassment. "No. I can assure I didn't ask him to call. He always thinks his name can get…"

"He doesn't want me to hire you," House interrupted.

"What?" Chase stuttered before he could help himself. "But he knows I want this job!"

House chuckled, which Chase found a rather odd reaction, but went with it.

"He wants you to stay in Australia," House continued, picking up a rather large grey and red ball and throwing it up and down in the air. "Doesn't think you should be going so far away from home. Thinks you're building a fine reputation there, and shouldn't risk anything by moving all the way across the world."

Chase sighed in irritation, but tried to get a hold of the fury building inside him. "I'm sorry he bothered you. He likes to control things."

"I find it interesting," House said. "So, why do you want this job?"

"I want to learn," Chase answered, hoping he sounded confident. "I want to save lives. And you're the best there is at that." House met his gaze again, and Chase stared right back at him.

"And you want to get out from under Daddy's thumb," he said. "Interesting that you don't want to make your way off of his reputation. I need an Intensivist around here, someone who can make quick decisions when a patient is coding and not freeze up and come running to me before doing anything."

"I can do that," Chase said, still not breaking the gaze.

Silence fell between them for a solid five minutes as House broke his eyes away and flipped through Chase's resume once more, though Chase suspected he was merely building suspense, as the resume looked like it had been read through several times.

"You're hired," he said simply. "How long until you can be here?"

"Three weeks," Chase replied, feeling elated, but still terribly angry at what his father had done, and couldn't quite make sense of it.

"Fine. Be here by 8 a.m. three weeks from today or you're fired. Go by Dr. Cuddy's office on your way out, she'll be thrilled."

Much to Chase's surprise, House reached out and shook his hand.

"Now get out of my office," he said, an somewhat disconcerting grin on his face.

"Thank you Dr. House," Chase said, feeling much like he was walking on air.

"Wow," Cameron mused, twirling the end of her long blonde ponytail. "I can't believe your Dad tried to sabotage the interview."

Chase shook his head, the next memory flooding through his mind. "It wasn't malicious, he just thought he knew best. As always. And it was the straw that broke the camel's back. I think I hear the sounds of cooking though, so I'll save the rest for later. Okay?"

"Okay," Cameron said, suddenly cupping his face in her hands and attempting to kiss him senseless. He responded by running both hands through her hair, moving his body closer to hers. He forgot for a moment, the pain of the next story he would tell, lost in the inviting warmth of Allison's lips.

The sound of the sliding door opening, however, caused the couple to jump apart like shrapnel. Christine stood there, looking thoroughly amused.

"You two kids," she said, laughing. "I've been waiting to catch you. Come on and help with dinner."

They followed her inside, but not before Cameron had smacked her younger sister upside the head.

AN: I'm SO sorry for the delay in updating! Between grad school and a death in the family, I've been swamped. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and there are just a few more to go! Please review, if you can, and thanks to all who are reading!