Chapter 11
Later that afternoon House hooked the IV line into Cameron's arm again, but this time she informed him that if she continued to feel as good as she felt throughout that morning, and she didn't lose her dinner that night or her breakfast the following morning–it was coming back out. She wanted her freedom again, and being attached to an IV pole wasn't what she considered being free. It was decided that House and Tony would eat dinner in her bedroom with her, and they both watched in amazement as she dug into her roast chicken breast, side dish of stuffing and salad with gusto. By the time House finished with his salad, Tony (whom House had come to think of as a human trash compactor) was finishing his complete meal. But what caught both of the House men's attention was that Cameron was midway through her second helping of stuffing and was putting a drumstick on her plate.
Tony and House stopped eating as they watched her in silence, then looked at each other as they leaned back in their chairs, waiting for what they expected to be a rude awakening for Cameron. Tony glanced over at the basin near her bed and wondered if he would have enough time to actually limp over to get it and still be back in time when she would turn that now familiar shade of green and start purging herself. He looked doubtfully at his father, who was watching Cameron again with an almost stupefied expression covering his face. He wondered where she was putting all that food–and at the rate it was going down, he was sure it would come right back up any second now.
"This is sooooo, good! I'm so glad your grandmother taught you how to cook," Cameron said to her son with awe.
"Um, thanks." He watched her closely, waiting for signs of her eruption. "But it's not like I'm a chef or anything. She taught me how to cook a few things–like chicken, steak. . ."
"Mmmm," Cameron interrupted. "That sounds wonderful! Do you know how to make Swiss steak? Or no–maybe just a rib eye–medium–no, medium rare."
"You never eat your steak medium, let alone medium-rare," Tony said suspiciously.
"I know–but, I don't know–I could really go for a nice juicy, medium-rare cut of steak. Just enough so you can see a trace of red juice coming from the pink center." She put her fork down and looked toward the doorway. "Do we have any steak in the freezer?"
"No!" Both Tony and House answered, neither wanting to be the one told to go downstairs and make her a second dinner.
She looked at them then shrugged her shoulders as she took a bite from the drumstick. Two more bites of stuffing and she leaned back in her chair, prompting Tony and House to scoot their chairs back to get out of her way. But she merely rubbed her hand over her still flat tummy then reached for her napkin, daintily wiping her mouth and hands. When she finished she noticed the way she was being stared at and she smiled gently at them.
"That was filling," she said quietly, then noticed House's barely touched plate. "Greg, you're not eating. Aren't you hungry?"
"I–I guess I'm hungry. Just not as hungry as you were."
"Oh–then finish eating." She turned her attention back to Tony. "I don't suppose your Grandmother ever showed you how she makes her baked pork and sauerkraut, did she?"
"Sauerkraut?" House spoke up. "You're not serious."
"Yes–I am. My mom makes the best baked pork and sauerkraut."
House gave a warning glance at his son.
"No–no, Gramma never showed me how to make her sauerkraut," Tony told her.
"Fine." She got up and moved her IV pole back to the bed where she picked up her telephone and dialed. "Hi, Mom. Yes, actually I'm much better. Tony made roast chicken and stuffing for me–and Greg. Yes, Mom. He's here. I know, but I was hormonal when I called the other night. I don't know." She turned to look at House and relayed a message from her mother. "Do you plan on staying around now?"
Finally beginning to eat again, House put his fork down and looked back at her, then looked at Tony.
"What's she asking me?" House asked the boy.
"You mean Gramma?" Tony smiled at him.
"Yeah–Gram-ma."
"I think she wants to know if you're going to stick around for this baby and not abandon mom like you did when she was pregnant with me," Tony said lightly.
"She didn't say that at all!" Cameron snapped.
House could hear Mrs. Cameron's blaring response from across the room. "No, but I meant it!"
"Mom, now don't get yourself all upset. This isn't why I called tonight. I wanted to know how you make your baked pork and sauerkraut."
It was at this point that House stopped listening to the conversation. If she thought she was going to make sauerkraut and eat it in front of him, she had another thing coming. He could barely think of anything harsher on an upset stomach than that stinking dish. He was just finishing his food as Cameron hung up the telephone, looking somewhat forlorn. She plopped down on her bed, sitting with her feet pulled up and her back against the pillows and headboard.
"What's wrong?" House started to stack the plates to be taken downstairs. "Didn't get your recipe?"
"No," she moped. "She says I shouldn't eat it until I'm sure I won't be throwing it back up again. I told her I've been eating all day and haven't felt sick. I'll tell ya, though, I'm going to be eating whatever I want at the hospital when I go back tomorrow."
This caught House's attention. "You mean for an Ob appointment? I thought you were just seen two days ago."
"No, not an appointment. When I start back to work.
"Oh–no. You're not going back to work tomorrow! You don't even know if you can keep your food down yet."
"I do know. And I'll be going to work tomorrow morning, after you take the IV out of my arm."
"No you won't." House warned as he handed a stack of dishes to Tony who took them downstairs.
"Yes, I will," she said with anger then starting to giggle. "Okay, I won't."
"And that isn't going to work either."
"What?" She smiled up at him.
"You're sitting there thinking that you'll wait until I leave, then go in anyway."
"Actually, I was thinking I'd sneak out after you disconnect the IV, while you were still in the shower," she laughed as he moved to sit next to her on the bed.
"Can you tell me how you went from barely being stable on your feet two days ago, to thinking you can go to the hospital and get around tomorrow. There's a lot more walking to be done there than traveling from your bed to the bathroom."
"I was downstairs last night and today." She moved until she was leaning against him.
"Alright–more walking than going from your bedroom to the kitchen." His arms went around her automatically pulling her over until she was sitting between his legs and leaning back against his chest.
"So, I won't do a lot of walking. I'll go through your mail. I'll make coffee. I can even work in the lab."
Tony came into the room and picked up the remaining dishes and food to be taken out. He paused in the doorway with his hand on the knob.
"You guys want this closed?"
"Doesn't matter," House told him while at the same time Cameron answered.
"Yes, close it," she instructed.
They waited until the door was closed and resumed their conversation. But Cameron took this opportunity to move his hands until they covered her breasts, then she wiggled her butt against his lap.
"You've got something in mind?" House asked as his fingers squeezed and massaged each breast. "Are you bribing me?"
"Will it work?" She tilted her head to the side to give him better access to the side of her neck as he began kissing and sucking it at the tender spot where it joined her shoulder.
"No," he mumbled against her skin. "Does that mean we don't get to mess around?"
"No, it just means we're agreeing to disagree, and I'll be going in to work with you tomorrow," she sighed as his hands moved lower, flattening against her stomach and then sliding beneath the waistband of her pajama bottoms.
"We'll see."
