Chapter 11

"I'm worried about Emily," Cameron announced as she put on her helmet.

House attached his cane to the side of his bike, replying, "I know. But you don't get to see her for very long. Just enjoy her company."

She straddled the motorcycle from behind him. "Oh, this coming from the man who never lets anything go," Cameron scoffed.

He revved the bike. He turned his head to see her worried face. "But I've never had a sister."

She wrapped her arms tightly around him and they headed for work. Cameron had hated riding his motorcycle at first, but now that they had been together for two months, she saw the advantages. She relished any excuse to snuggle him, and enjoyed hanging on to him. Cameron felt like that was what their relationship was—they hung on to each other, supported each other.

Before they had left, Cameron had told Emily that everyone was going out to dinner to celebrate Reynolds's upcoming book. She hoped that Emily would be all right while she was gone. Cameron knew that her sister was quite capable of taking care of herself, but she saw fear and hurt in Emily's eyes the night before. And she didn't know what to do.

At the hospital, House smoothed down Cameron's hair after she had removed the helmet. She grabbed his hand while it was still brushing her hair. With a serious face, she said, "Thank you."

House wanted to play it off lightly like he was so used to doing, like he had always done to her. "For what?" he asked, unphased.

"For sticking by me, Stallion," she said with a warm smile as she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down towards her lips.

Just before they kissed, Foreman walked by with mock disgust, saying, "Go find a room. It can't be that hard. You have an entire department."

Cameron and House laughed and followed him inside. "What grosses you out more, Foreman?" House retorted, "That Cameron's counting my teeth with her tongue or that she's not counting yours?"

Cameron blushed and hit House in the arm. Foreman smirked. "Neither. The gross part is watching two WASPS grope each other in the parking lot."

Her face turned so red that any bull would be tempted to charge her. She threw her hands up in the air. "I quit."

"That's always better than getting fired," a voice said as they entered the elevator. The three doctors looked up to see Van Reynolds joining them.

"Good morning," Cameron greeted him, grateful to change subjects. "You're here early."

His smile displayed his perfect, white teeth. "A book waits for no man," he said with profoundness.

House stared at him stupidly, scrunching his face. "It waits for the man with the keyboard and printer."

Cameron brushed past House's snide remark. "We're so glad you're going to dinner with us all tonight. You'll have a chance to meet my sister. She's been everywhere—like you."

"I'd be delighted," Reynolds said with a small bow.

This man is more pathetic than I thought, House thought, but secretly realized that jealousy was speaking more than reason. Van Reynolds was the kind of man Cameron should be with. Smart, handsome, wealthy, successful. And House hated him.

Reynolds's turned to House now. He needed information for his book. "So, Dr. House, what exactly happened to your leg?" he asked.

House motioned to Cameron. "She bit me."

Reynolds's glanced down, scoffing. "I'm sure," he replied.

House leaned into him as if they were a part of a boys' club. "Really hard. She had braces as a child and swigged milk by the gallons. Perfect child you know. Left her with a bite like a beaver."

Cameron rolled her head back in exasperation. The elevator doors opened. "Come on," she ordered them, "we still have jobs to do."

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Chase had had a hard time concentrating all day. That silky voice and those blue eyes still haunted him. As he sat in the restaurant with his friends and coworkers, he wished he was at the Swinging Door waiting for Micah.

"So I was shooting pictures in Amsterdam," Emily said, engrossed in the middle of her story. "And you know what's legal over there," she continued with an exaggeration as the table laughed. "Well, I'm absolutely starving, so I run into this cute little café. I didn't notice the cannabis leaf on the sign because I'm rushing. And I see that their nationally famous for their brownies. After I order a plateful, I woke up the next morning with this tattoo," she explained, showing them the map of Sweden permanently marked on her hip. The group exploded with laughter.

Foreman had made sure that he got to sit next to her. He had been right in his presumption: she was as pretty as her sister. Emily was even a little prettier. Her features were less tense and affected. She smiled more and with a brighter radiance. He thought she was stunning.

So did Wilson. If it had been about a year ago, he might have made an attempt to seduce this woman, but he looked over at Cuddy. He was ready to be with her for the long haul. Wilson didn't want anyone else. He held her hand from underneath the table as they listened to the conversations.

Reynolds sat at the head of the table. He lifted his glass. "This is why I write books. I get to meet wonderful people like you. Here's a toast to friendships and love."

Everyone happily drank to that, except House, who pretty much needed a swig of beer after a nauseating speech like that.

Cameron was pleased to see her sister in better spirits. She was still afraid that something was bothering Emily, but she was going to let it go for now. Cameron put her head on House's shoulder. Her glassy green eyes looked up at him as she jutted her bottom lip out. "Ready to go, Preppy?" she asked, tracing circles on his arm with her finger.

House put his arm around her. "What happened to Stallion?" he asked, his voice rumbling with sexuality.

She giggled. "I'm drunk. I forgot," she replied.

He smiled self-deprecatingly. "It always makes you feel like a man when your girlfriend forgets your sexy pet name."

The liquor had overtaken her. "My girlfriend doesn't forget my pet sexy name," she said proudly.

"On that note…" House said as he got up to use the restroom before they left. Wilson followed him. "If I had wanted a quickie in the bathroom, I would have given you a signal at the table," House told his friend.

"As tempting as that sounds, I actually did just have to go to the bathroom," Wilson snipped back.

House shook his head. "No you didn't. You went to the bathroom about fifteen minutes ago, and you haven't drunk enough to have that bad an urge," he reasoned. "You wanted to tell me something away from the others."

Wilson rubbed his cheek with his palm. "Lisa and I got our results back today," he declared. He thought he detected hopefulness in his friend's eyes. "We got a clean bill of health. We can have children. We just haven't conceived yet."

TBC