Chapter 11

House found himself feeling differently the next morning. For the first night in weeks he hadn't dreamt of Cuddy. He was elated. But what did this mean? Was he finally coming to his senses? Or was it…was it her…

He couldn't help but think of Cameron, the way her body looked trapped beneath his, the way her eyes fluttered when he pushed himself inside her, the sounds she made when she was close to the edge, knowing it was him bringing her there…

House sat up quickly in his bed.

"Oh, crap," he muttered to himself. He went from obsessing over one forbidden woman to another. Fucking fantastic, he thought to himself before throwing the covers off of him and heading for yet another cold shower.

The power of the motorcycle beneath him as he headed in to the hospital helped take some of the edge off of his painful thoughts. So what, did he have feelings for Cameron now? One second he's hot for Cuddy, and now he's lusting after the ingénue ER doctor?

He decided to test himself. He pictured the most pornographic images of Cuddy he could muster, recalling some of the devious thoughts that had plagued him over the past few weeks, and…nothing. There was nothing. His body did not react. If anything, it repulsed him. Hallelujah!, he screamed internally.

Parking his motorcycle in his handicapped space, he pulled of his helmet and smiled. He felt wonderful, ecstatic to be rid of her. He breathed deeply taking in the fresh, crisp air, letting it fill his lungs. He felt like a biggest weight had been lifted from him.

Despite what he may or may not have been feeling for Cameron, he had to at least thank her.

Entering the hospital, he decided to play it cool. He wouldn't immediately go to see her, although he felt his body pulling him in that direction.

No, he said to himself. It needs to be casual. There's nothing there between you two – it was just sex. Sure, you want to tell her she took all your troubles away, made the bad lady go away. Yeah, it's a mystery as to how and why she did it, but who cares. Ah…screw it!

He turned his direction towards the emergency room. Heading down the hallway, he could hear the hustle and bustle that was usually associated with this wing. People scrambling about, yelling, doors bursting open, curtains sliding back and forth. He hated the ER.

Turning a corner, he saw Cameron standing at the nurses' station. He stopped, watching her place a file on the desk. The nurse was grinning at her and talking, but he couldn't hear what was being said. There was too much noise around him.

Then the nurse bent down and placed a bouquet of flowers on top of the desk, pushing them toward Cameron. He watched her mouth gape open, admiring the beauty of the flowers. The nurse watched her expectantly as Cameron slid the attached card out of its envelope. He stared at her face as she read the words. Knowing full well he hadn't sent her any flowers, he could only assume they were another apology attempt from Chase. He waited in anticipation for her to spit on them and tear the card into tiny pieces.

Cameron's eyes scanned the card slowly and she sighed deeply. Then he saw something he was not expecting. Her lips turned up into a small smile.

He fought the urge to sit down as an imaginary someone socked him in the gut with a large mallet. She was touched by it, by Chase. Oh, this is not good, he thought. Not good at all.

His feet remained planted as he watched her take the flowers and walk away. Turning around, he headed back to the elevators and up to his office.

Plopping down in his chair with an exasperated grunt, he buried his face in his hands. Why did he feel like someone just ripped out his heart? You don't have a heart, moron, his head shouted at him.

The sound of the door to his office opening and Foreman and his team filtering in jolted him back to reality.

"What!" he spat at them.

They seemed unphased by his mood. "New case."

His hands fell to the desk. Of course, now they get a case when he's dealing with a worse inner turmoil than before.

The team proceeded to run down the patient's history, symptoms, possible theories. All the while House listened, but his head was somewhere else. How could she like those flowers? What had Chase written in that card that would make her smile? She hates him…she said he made her skin crawl and he was a creep.

House suddenly stood up and the group stopped talking.

"Are you…all right?" Taub asked hesitantly.

"No." Grabbing hold of his cane, he headed for the door.

"What do you want us to do?" 13 asked, annoyed.

"MRI, blood gas, spinal tap…the works. You're doctors, wing it," he shouted back at them without turning around, and headed down the hallway.

Opening Wilson's door, he had to stop as he saw Wilson literally jump in his chair.

"House, what's up," Wilson said, composing himself and looking back down at his notes.

House finally closed the door behind him and sat in the chair across from Wilson's desk, watching him intently. There was something going on with Wilson, he seemed more jittery than usual.

"I have a patient in 10 minutes so make it quick," Wilson said, not lifting his eyes.

"I think I'm over Cuddy," House stated in a monotone, waiting to gauge his reaction. Wilson looked up at him.

"Really?" He sounded anxious, almost overjoyed at that comment.

House raised his eyebrows. "Yep."

Wilson shrugged. "Well, that's…um…that's good, I guess…right?"

House nodded. "Aren't you going to ask me why?"

Wilson returned to his notes, scribbling away with his pen. "Don't really care, but I'm sure you're going to tell me anyway."

"I fucked Cameron."

Wilson's pen froze and he hastily returned his gaze to House. House watched him intently, waiting for his response.

"You…what?" Wilson couldn't help but sit there slack-jawed and dumbfounded. That was the last thing he had expected to come out of House's mouth, and House usually had some doozies.

"I'm thinking of recommending it to the psych department as a new type of therapy for lovelorn, sex fiends experiencing unrequited love. Maybe I'll publish an article. Do you think they'll name it after me?"

"How did this happen? I mean…when…I thought…" Wilson had trouble finding the words to say. House grinned mischievously.

"The first time we got really drunk and it just…"

"Wait, the first time? You mean, it's happened more than once," Wilson blurted out.

"Twice actually," House replied so simply you would have thought he had just said the grass was green.

"Well…congratulations. I mean, I can't say I didn't see this coming. You and Cameron have been dancing around each other for the past three years. I must admit the timing and everything has thrown me for a loop…I mean, just the other day you were crying about having feelings for Cuddy. But I'm glad you were able to get over that."

House listened and read his best friend, knowing he could figure Wilson out better than Wilson could. "You're glad, huh?"

He watched Wilson begin to fidget in his seat, twirling the pen nervously in his fingers. A light perspiration formed on his forehead and his cheeks flushed, meaning his heart rate was increasing. Wilson met House's eyes momentarily before they flickered around the room and back down to his notes.

"Yeah."

House paused a moment. "You slept with Cuddy."

Wilson damn near fell out of his chair as his pen rolled to the floor. "What!"

And that was all the answer House needed. He knew he was right. "You did, look at you, you're a nervous wreck sitting across from me, like I'm going to beat you up for sleeping with my girlfriend."

Wilson laughed nervously. "I don't know what…" he watched House reading him. "Oh, shit…fine. Yes. I did."

House raised his eyebrows. He was shocked, even though he had already figured it out. Hearing Wilson actually admit it was another thing.

"Wow," House said, and it was his turn to be dumbfounded. "You slept with Cuddy knowing I had a thing for her? That is so uncool."

"House," Wilson sighed exasperated. "It was a complete fluke…I mean, we went for a drink after work last night because she seemed like she needed to talk about things…"

"You mean me," House interrupted.

"Yes, you…and one drink turned into two then three, and you can fill in the blanks after that," Wilson muttered. He looked up at House. "Oh, don't look at me like that. You told Cuddy that you were over it and you were ok with just being friends again, going back to the way things were before."

"Were you fucking her before?" House asked.

"No," Wilson replied quickly with a hint of anger. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "No," he said again, more calm.

"So," House said, looking at his cane, "will there be a repeat performance?"

Wilson paused, confused by his reaction. "I don't…I don't think so. Wait, so you're not mad at me?"

"Mad? Why would I be mad? I just told you I was over Cuddy, and when I was infatuated with her for whatever insane reason that was, I still felt sick to my stomach and wanted to gauge my eyes out whenever she came into view. While I was having dirty thoughts about my boss, I still hated her. So please, take her. Maybe a ride on Wilson's love machine will do her some good."

Wilson couldn't believe his ears. House seemed like a totally different person. But while they were airing out the dirty laundry here, House never came into his office unless he had something he needed to get off his chest, or to demand Wilson buy him food, and something told Wilson there was more going on here. This wasn't really about Cuddy…it was about Cameron.

"Wait," Wilson said, furrowing his brow. "You slept with Cameron…what happened to Chase?"

House sighed and stared down at the floor. "Remember that night we saw them at the bar?"

Wilson nodded.

"Apparently Cameron went home alone that night while Chase got cozy with that little flake who was hanging all over him in front of his girlfriend's eyes."

Wilson's shock returned. "Chase cheated on Cameron? What an asshole."

"Well there's one thing we can agree on."

Wilson threw up his hands. "So you two got drunk together, drinking away your romance woes and wallowing in misery together, and ended up having sex."

"From what I can remember, yeah," House replied.

"And the second time?" Wilson pried.

"I had just had my little talk with Cuddy and Chase begged her to take him back…she came over to my place instead," House said, looking out the window. "Evidently our little Cameron isn't as innocent as we all thought she was," he said, wagging his eyebrows.

"Please, spare me the details," Wilson said. "So what's bothering you, now you feel something for Cameron?"

House thought a moment. "Chase sent her flowers today, and she smiled when she read the card."

Wilson regarded his best friend closely. "And that bothers you," he stated. House didn't reply. "You want this to be more than just a two-night stand."

House glared at him like he had just told him he had bad taste in music. "What the hell do you know, you screwed Cuddy. Obviously you have neurological problems that should be checked out. Should I schedule you an MRI?"

"Don't deflect, House. Admit it, you're in love with her."

"Whoa, I wouldn't go that far. It's just…sex. And now it's over."

"But it's more than that if you're jealous that she might still love her ex-boyfriend."

You're done for now, kid, his mind said, admitting that House was now in deeper than he thought he was before.