To those of you who celebrate Easter, hope you had a happy holiday.
And thanks to everyone for reading my story.
Chapter 25.
Cameron followed the team into the kitchen of their house. "Your boss put in a request for lasagna."
"If there's any left." Simpson chuckled.
She nodded. "That's what I told him."
But the pan Magnani took from the refrigerator looked like it held about eight portions. "I'll set aside some for him. Gotta keep the boss happy."
"We've decided that Bart will cover for you while you're away." Jacobs took her to the dining room where the two women sat. "He's worked in a clinic setting before."
Cameron smiled at Simpson, who came in after them. "If you have any questions, Carol will help. Here are the keys."
"Do you expect anyone tomorrow? I mean, I know your patients rarely make appointments." Simpson's voice went up at the end.
"That's right. Just show up and treat any that appear. Neither of my students is scheduled for tomorrow, so you won't be teaching them."
"Dinner's ready." Magnani brought the lasagna to the table and placed the pan on a trivet. "We tend to help ourselves around here." He uncovered the food and the aroma of tomatoes, garlic and Italian spices filled the room with the steam. "I'll be right back with bread and salad."
When he returned, Cameron was scooping some lasagna onto her plate. "You could open a restaurant."
Magnani shrugged and put a cutting board down. The garlic bread on it added to the delicious smells in the room. "I'll admit it can be more fun than cutting into a body, but I've been fascinated with medicine and what I can do for someone else since I was about ten."
"We all got the doctor bug early." Jacobs tonged salad from a large bowl and poured dressing over it. "And never lost it."
"Working with House may have even intensified it," Simpson said.
Cameron chuckled. "I know the feeling." She took another forkful of food and closed her eyes to savor the taste. They all did the same. "It's a good thing you put some lasagna aside for House, because otherwise we would have finished it all."
Magnani beamed.
After dinner the team told her a bit more about their current case until she cut them short. "I have to go home and pack."
Jacobs walked her to the door and handed her the food for House. "Tell Dr. Wilson when he wakes that we all hope he'll recover quickly and completely."
Cameron nodded, got into her car and left. She called House when she arrived at the apartment. "Magnani saved you some lasagna."
"Even cold it has to be better than what I've been eating here. Do you still expect to arrive before dinner tomorrow?"
She laughed. "I'll be at the hospital by about five." She didn't ask about Wilson. If there'd been a change, House would have said so. "Simpson will cover for me while I'm gone. He seems to have accepted the relationship between Magnani and Jacobs, although he didn't mention it."
"Jessica says he hasn't talked to her about it either." He seemed on the point of telling her something, but was silent.
"What's up?"
"Nothing's up." His voice rose.
"Uh-huh. I know you well enough to hear between the pauses. Something's bothering you." She knew she shouldn't force the issue, but also that House might want her to.
"Okay, if you must know, I ran into Foreman in the cafeteria. I tried to avoid him, but he spotted me and came over."
"And?"
"And nothing. It was...disconcerting. He's recovered from whatever injuries he had from the explosion and now he's angling for a job at Princeton General." House made an odd sound in his throat. "He even had the audacity of asking me to recommend him!"
"You knew it was inevitable that you'd run into him, but would a recommendation from you have any weight there?"
"Oh, it would have weight. I've been amazed at how many doctors and nurses here smile at me when they pass me in the halls. They smile at me." His amazement came through loud and clear.
She chuckled. "I guess they're smarter than those at PPTH, they know you get results. I'll see you soon."
"Don't forget my lasagna."
Once the call was finished, she packed what she thought she might need, and went to sleep thinking about the day to come.
###
In the morning, she washed and dressed. Mrs. McClelland insisted on feeding her breakfast, but could tell how anxious Cameron was to be on the road.
Cameron headed north. She hadn't driven that way since she moved to Maryland. She had passed Baltimore before lunchtime and stopped for a sandwich and coffee at a place just off the road. She checked her phone and saw a message from Anderson. He'd contacted his friends in Princeton and one was waiting for her.
She gassed up at the same time. The closer she got to New Jersey, the more eager she became to see House again, to see Wilson's condition for herself, but also to meet the Princeton PD folks.
She reached the Interstate exit to take her to Princeton by two thirty. With only a vague idea where police headquarters was, she used her phone GPS to find it. Parking in the visitors' lot, she entered and approached the desk sergeant. "I have an appointment to see Detective Cullen. Dr. Allison Cameron."
He checked one of the lists in front of him and nodded. "Have a seat. The detective will be right with you."
The only chair, a scratched metal kind, sat not far from the desk. Cameron automatically held her purse close to her chest as her gaze roamed the room. A couple of men waiting to be booked, a woman pleading with an officer, but not close enough for Cameron to hear why, and two women being released caught her eyes.
After less than ten minutes, a man of medium height with thinning brown hair and warm brown eyes in a sagging suit approached, holding out his hand. "Dr. Cameron? I'm Brian Cullen." His handshake was strong. "My old pal, Gary Anderson, asked me to tell you what I can about the explosion at the hospital."
"Yes, I used to work there, and friends of mine still do."
His eyes narrowed. "But you won't share what I tell you with them, will you?"
She might with House, but he was asking about people who still worked there. "No. I came up here to see one who's comatose. I doubt I'll have a chance to talk to the others. And I know how to keep a confidence."
Cullen nodded. "The explosion occurred in the basement of the main hospital building. We suspected at first that it was an accident, although helped along by the careless storing of flammable materials nearby. All it would take was a spark from an electrical short to start a fire or explosion, depending on the material."
"But? You've found something to point to a deliberate act?"
Cullen sighed. "I'm afraid so. Now, very few people had any reason to be in that basement. One was badly injured, another was out sick, a third helped the injured guy out, and still another one's gone."
"Gone? What do you mean gone? Like disappeared?"
He pointed a finger at her. "Give the lady a silver dollar. Yeah. Disappeared. No one knows where she is."
"She?" Cameron tried to remember the people who worked on the mechanical systems in the basement. Didn't the cleaning crew also leave their carts down there? "There used to be a lot of people who had access to the basement." She ticked them off on her fingers. "The electrician..." his name escaped her, "and the boiler guy, Anthony, um the janitor, Jose, and the entire cleaning crew, and I think there was a maintenance guy."
"It was a maintenance woman. Sheila Murphy. The cleaning crew no longer kept their supplies down there." He took out an Ipad and checked his notes. "Anthony Kenner is the man who was injured, and Danny Butler helped him out of the wreckage. Jose Garcia was home sick, and we checked. He has pneumonia."
"Is Anthony at Princeton General?" she asked.
"That's where they took all the injured. I haven't checked recently whether he was released yet."
"I'll be there this afternoon. I can check for you." Cameron had a few more questions for Cullen before she left. "Will they try to rebuild PPTH?"
"I expect so, but not until after we've finished with our investigation and the insurance company does theirs." He shook his head. "It's a terrible thing for the community. No other hospital in the area has the prestige that Princeton-Plainsboro did."
"I understand many of the staff that worked there are wondering whether they still have jobs. Some have been helping at Princeton General, but don't expect that will be a permanent thing for them."
"Tell me, doctor, why did you leave PPTH?" He sounded more curious than anything.
She flashed a smile. "Mostly personal reasons. Chief Anderson probably told you I run the clinic in Shelby now. In some ways it suits me. One more question. Have you uncovered any reason Miss Murphy would have to blow up the place?"
He grimaced. "Nothing so far. She was quiet, lived alone, never made any friends at work, so no one knew her well. But we'll keep digging."
"Well, thanks for the information. Please let me know if there are further developments." She gave him her business card, then shook his hand. "It's been a pleasure talking to you."
"Gary spoke very highly of you when he called, and I can see why. Let me know what you find out about Kenner."
"I will." She walked out into the early fall sunshine and got into her car, then drove to Princeton General, more anxious than ever to talk to House and to see Wilson's condition for herself.
With directions from the receptionist, she took the elevator to Wilson's floor. Walking past hurrying doctors, nurses and orderlies she found his room easily enough.
Her heart raced when her first sight was House's back. He was looking out the window, but turned when she entered. She rushed to him and wrapped her arms around him. He couldn't suppress a smile as one arm wound around her back.
Minutes later she noticed the smile on Jessica's face as she watched them. "Hi, Jessica." Cameron and House parted enough for her to glance toward the bed where Wilson lay, eyes closed and completely still. It wasn't what she hoped to see.
"His eyelids flicker every once in a while, but they don't open." Jessica stood and embraced her. "Thanks for coming. I know it's mostly because you miss this big lug." She aimed her chin at House. "But I appreciate it too, and so will Jim." She didn't have to add 'when he wakes up'.
"What have they tried? Or are they just waiting for it to happen?"
"Peters has ordered that no drugs be used until forty-eight hours after his surgery, despite my pointing out that the longer Wilson is comatose, the more permanent any damage might be." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "You wouldn't happen to have some amantadine in your purse?"
"I should have thought of bringing some." She looked down. "Sorry, that was facetious. But maybe I can get some."
"How will you do that?" Jessica asked. "You don't have access to meds here."
"True. Still, I might have my ways." She handed House an insulated bag. "Your dinner, sir."
He grinned. "You haven't asked about the explosion lately."
"If you knew anything, you wouldn't tell me." She tilted her head.
"That's not true. I've told you what I heard."
She hesitated, but had always known she'd tell him. "I talked to one of the detectives investigating the explosion."
"Cameron!"
She held up a hand. "He's a friend of Chief Anderson's, and since Anderson put in a good word for me, he talked fairly freely. They believe a maintenance woman named Sheila Murphy is responsible for the explosion, but they can't find her and they have no idea why she might have done it."
"Murphy." House tapped his cane. "I don't remember her."
Cameron shook her head. "Neither do I. They narrowed it down to those who had access to the basement, and since one was home sick with pneumonia, one badly injured in the explosion, and a third pulled the injured man out, that left her. Detective Cullen agreed to keep me in the loop but asked me not to tell anyone from PPTH anything he told me."
"And since I don't work there any more, you had no hesitation to tell me."
"I did hesitate since I knew you'd be annoyed I approached him without you. You were, weren't you?"
House ignored her. He glanced toward Jessica. "You didn't hear any of that."
"Oh, was there something to hear?" She smirked. "Allison, your secret is safe with me. Then again, I don't work at PPTH either."