Chapter 25

The sun peaked in through House's bedroom windows, coaxing him from sleep. Reaching over onto his night stand, he grabbed at his Vicodin and quickly popped two into his mouth. His movement was partly limited, because his other arm was still pinned beneath Cameron, but also because he didn't want to wake her.

She had lain in his arms for almost an hour before he had finally been able to relax and sleep deeply. His thoughts were plagued with ways to protect her, and he was currently entertaining all of them, including the one that had him putting her on a plane and shipping her off to a different country.

When he had wrapped her in his arms the night before, he had been shocked by how natural it had felt. But now in the wake of the morning, he was shocked at how badly he didn't want to leave his bed, didn't want this feeling to end. Cameron must have sensed his awakening, because she rolled off of his arm and onto the other side of the bed, her face now facing him.

House rolled over onto his side to look at her closely. Even in sleep, she looked troubled, and he was struck by the desire to pull her into his arms. Closing his eyes and shaking it off mentally, he reopened his eyes and glanced at her again.

She was beautiful. He had never once denied that fact. He had even told her he thought she was beautiful, so he couldn't understand why he was so caught off guard when the thought passed through his mind. She had been crying for two days and still looked beyond beautiful. A smile tugged at his lips as a small one graced hers, but quickly faded as hers did. He watched her eyes pop open and closed his before she noticed he was awake. There was no way he was going to let her catch him watching her.

Cameron knew he was awake. She could tell by the way he was breathing; but if he didn't want her to know, then she would let him continue pretending. Glancing over at the clock, she saw that it was only six fifteen. Thinking that sun must have just risen, she decided to lay back down until Madelyn woke.

She looked at House closely. She knew he was a good person, even if he rarely showed it, but she didn't know what she would have done without him. He had been her rock through this, and she knew he would be there to see it through the end. She just hoped that when it was over, he would still be as involved in her life as he was now. She was no idiot. She knew that if he wasn't; she would be crushed. No matter how terrified she had been in the last two days, she never forgot how she felt when he touched her.

House knew she was awake and he knew she suspected he might be awake as well. He opened his eyes slowly to see her's closed. He could tell by the way she was breathing that she was trying to go back to sleep. His hand reached out and brushed a strand of hair off of her face of it's own volition, because he certainly would have never consciously done that. She shivered under his touch; and he denied that he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as she opened her eyes slightly and smiled at him before closing them again and snuggling back into the warmth of his bed.
He sighed as a faint smile graced his own lips and closed his eyes; this time truly planning to go back to sleep. He was barely still awake when he felt her finger entwine with his own . He couldn't force himself to pull away, nor did he want to, and allowed her to hold his hand for a brief minute before he pulled her back into his arms, both soon finding sleep.

xxxxxx

Wilson walked into Cuddy's office at eight a.m.. She was clearly surprised to see him and it was evident in the tone of her voice. "James. It's early for you to be in," she said smiling at him.

Wilson nodded "Yeah. House is going to start treating Mark Warner today. I thought you would want to know." he said truthfully.

Cuddy nodded. "Thank you. When's he coming in?"

"Greg said eleven. And I wouldn't expect to see House much earlier than that either."

Cuddy sighed. "Stacy being here is hard on him I'm sure."

Wilson groaned softly. "Stacy being here is the least of his problems. It has nothing to do with Stacy though, his coming in late, he just has a few things that he has to take care of that can't wait."

xxxxxx

House awoke this time alone. He sat up and looked at the clock that read eight a.m.. He looked over into the crib and found that Madelyn was gone as well. Assuming that Cameron must have awakened with her, he got out of bed and got dressed before heading into the living room. Finding his living room empty, he headed into the kitchen where he heard noises coming from. He smiled when he saw Cameron standing in the kitchen trying to cook with Madelyn in her arms. "You should put her down it would make cooking a lot easier."

Cameron shot him a glare. If she was startled by his presence she didn't show it. "I didn't bring her playpen."

House walked over and took Madelyn into his arms. "Speaking of your things. Any idea on how to get them here?"

"Huh?"

"I decided that you didn't want to run the risk of going to get them and having him follow you here."

Cameron shook her head. "No I'm sure that he's watching my apartment because he told me that hiding his daughter wasn't a good idea."

"Did he threaten you last night?"

"He said that I couldn't stop him from taking Maddie and that he doesn't recommend I try."

Anger poured through House but he covered it well. "He's not going to get to her, or you."

"I know... I know.. He told me he never touched Rachel, and I was so angry that I snapped. I was sitting there antagonizing him. I'm an idiot. I know I'm in danger, and I'm making it worse," she said sadly tears filling her eyes.

House walked over to her and turned her face towards him. Using his thumb, he gently wiped the tear that had rolled down her cheek away; his hand lingering to cup her cheek. "You aren't in any danger, because I'm not going to let anything happen to one hair on your head. I'm not going to let him hurt you, or Madelyn." he said gently. When she didn't say anything he added, "You should know that I told Wilson," and then he immediately backed away from her.

"Oh." Cameron said too stunned to say anything else.

"He was terrified. He didn't know what was wrong with you." House reasoned.

"I know, it's fine that you told him. He probably should have known before you left last night. He should have had some clue as to what he was getting himself into." she said logically.

House shook his head. "Last night was my fault. I should have taken you with me."

"It's not your fault. My phone would have still rang. And I probably would have still answered it."

House nodded. "Speaking of your phone. Where is it?"

"In the living room on the coffee table."

House left the kitchen and headed into the living room. When he came back he was holding her phone. "I'm taking your phone with me today. If he calls, you're not answering." he said leaving no room for objection.

Cameron nodded. "Ok." she said before she handed him a plate of eggs.

"Thank you," he said as she took Madelyn back and placed her in her carrier so she could eat as well, both ignoring how domestic and natural the whole thing really felt. "We have to tell Cuddy." he said after she had the baby strapped in.

"Oh," Cameron said emotionless.
"Hospital security needs to be notified, and Cuddy needs to know why before she can authorize it. She also has to authorize your vacation."

"Of course." she said agreeing with his reasoning.

House ate a fork full of eggs and then said, "But I don't want to discuss this with her at the hospital. Too many ears around there..."

"So invite her over for dinner. I can cook or something. I'm really good at ordering take out," she said and then as an afterthought added, "Unless you don't want her to know I'm here."

House smiled evilly. "Or we could make Wilson cook." he said ignoring her implied question.

She shrugged. "Whatever. We can do whatever you want."

"We'll figure something out and I'll let you know."

"Does that mean I can answer the phone if it rings?" she asked cheekily.

House rolled his eyes. "You can do whatever you want as long as it doesn't involve burning the place down. At the end of the day, the three us still need somewhere to sleep."

Cameron smiled. "Check. No burning the apartment down. Got it." she said laughing. "Oh I almost forgot. How was dinner? Was it really bad?"

House shook his head. "I listened to them argue for an hour after I agreed with Stacy and said there was something wrong. He kept saying 'Of course your ex agrees with you, he wants me to be sick then maybe you'll go back to him' and 'I'm sure he can't wait to open me, your husband, up and poke around' and then I got the phone call from Wilson. I told Mark to be in my office at eleven and left. So no, not really bad. Just bad."

Cameron sighed. "What do you think is wrong with him?" Cameron said handing him a cup of coffee and sipping from hers.

"No clue." House said drinking his coffee.

"Well if you need an immunologist. You know where I am." Cameron said softly.

House reached out and put his hand over hers comfortingly. "It's just temporary, Allison. You'll be back in my office sorting my mail in no time."

xxxxxx

House walked into the conference room at ten thirty and was met by Wilson. "Foreman's on his way down from Neurology, and Chase should be here any minute," he said when House walked in. When House simply passed him and went into his office, Wilson stood there until he came back out. "I was half expecting you to be late on principal." he said jokingly.

"Cameron wouldn't let me hang out with her anymore," he said shrugging. "I just came up to drop my stuff off before heading back down to talk to Cuddy. You coming?" he added.

Wilson nodded and followed after him. "Why not?" The second the elevator doors closed he asked, "How's Cameron?"

A pensive look crossed his face. "She's ok I guess. Just a couple of tears so far. I took her cell phone so if he calls back he won't get to her. She's scared."

"Are you worried? I don't mean worried in the sense that you're worried she can't handle it, I mean worried in the sense that may be in real danger?"

"She's not in any danger. He doesn't know where she is."

"Greg."

"Stop it James. She's not in danger. I'm not going to let anything happen to her," he snapped before walking out of the elevator and into Cuddy's office.

"House." Cuddy said acknowledging his presence. And then added. "James."

"Tell me you're free tonight," House said.

"Me?" Cuddy asked surprised.

"Yeah you, Wilson too. Both of you. Are you both free tonight?" House said exasperated.

Cuddy nodded. "Yeah I'm free. Why?"

"Because I want you both to come to dinner at my place tonight."

"Yeah, right. I don't buy that. What's the real reason?" Cuddy asked questioningly.

"I'm serious. I want you both to have dinner with me at my apartment tonight."

"But what about..." Wilson asked referring to Cameron.

"Not an issue." House said quickly.

"House, how is she not an issue?" Wilson questioned with a tinge of disbelief.

"She'll be there. She knows I'm inviting you two. She knows why we're having dinner."
"Who are you two talking about?" Cuddy asked skeptically.

"I also need you to sign this." House said ignoring her question and handing her a piece of paper.

"What is it?" Cuddy asked taking it from him.

"It's a vacation request." House said flatly.

"If this is for you, you better hope you cure Mark first or I'll... this is for Dr. Cameron." she said finally looking at it.

"I know."

"She just came back Monday House."

"So."

"It's Wednesday."

"Boy, she's a hard worker."

"No."

"Just sign it Lisa." House said tiredly.

"No."

"She needs the time off." Wilson said trying to help.

Cuddy scrutinized them both closely. "I can not believe you two are ganging up on me." With her hands hiked up to her hips, she wondered, What are they up to?

"No...we're not. I'm serious. She needs the this time off. I'll explain it all tonight." at Cuddy's skeptical look House added. "Would I really be lobbying this hard for something like this if it wasn't important?"

"House." Cuddy said evenly.

"I'll do twenty more clinic hours."

"We've already had this discussion. You can't use that as a bargaining chip as long as you have Chase doing all your clinic hours."

"I'll do them myself, ok?" House responded sharply. "Just sign the paper and come to dinner," he added with impatient tone walking out.

Cuddy looked at Wilson. "What's going on?"

Wilson sighed. "You'll find out tonight, and believe me once you know you'll wish you didn't."

"And this." Cuddy said holding up the vacation request.

"Oh. Sign that." Wilson said flatly.

Cuddy sighed and signed the paper. "Go make sure House doesn't kill Mark Warner. Dr. Cameron won't be here to act as his moral compass." she said snidely.

xxxxxx

"Just redo the tests the other doctors did. If or when they come back negative, ultrasound his stomach. If that's negative, CT his abdomen and pelvis with and without contrast." House said to Foreman and Chase. Both started to walk out when House called them back. "Oh…and Dr. Cameron won't be joining our party today, so if you were planning on slacking and pawning most of the work off on her, that's too bad. And Chase, I'm done torturing you, I'll be doing my own clinic hours from now on. That's all, go and run the tests. Try not to kill the guy, the wife's a lawyer and malpractice suits suck." he said before going into his office.

He dropped his head onto the desk and sighed heavily. Waking up with Cameron had been oddly comforting. When he pulled her into his arms that morning, he couldn't help but think that nothing had felt that right since before the infarction. He remembered watching her shiver when he touched her, and the memory made his heart constrict. He picked up the phone and dialed his home number before he could talk himself out of it.

"Hello."

"Hi." House said calmly.

"I need a play pen." she said tiredly.

He suppressed a laugh. "Well...you should have brought it with you." House teased.

Cameron scoffed. "I didn't know I was going to be staying."

House sighed. "I know."

"I was going to go get one, but then I discovered my keys were missing," she said a bit frustrated from his clever obstruction.

House stuck his hand in his pocket and touched her keys and phone. "Yeah, sorry about that I moved your car into the garage earlier and forgot to give them back."

"Liar." Cameron good-naturedly smirked and letting him know she was on to him.

House laughed. "Ok, so I'm lying. I'm worried that he's going to see you in some random place and follow you back. Thus making your safe haven, unsafe."

Cameron sighed. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, Allison."

"I know that but I wanted to."

"So Cuddy's coming over for dinner. What do you think Chinese or Italian?"

Cameron thought for a moment. "Does Cuddy even like Chinese?"

"Yeah, we've all had Chinese together before."

"Well then Chinese. Me and Wilson had Italian last night."

"I know. I forgot my lasagna." House grumbled.

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," he said glancing up and seeing a familiar form approaching from the other side of his office glass door. "Hold on…," when it swung open he added, "Dr. Cuddy how nice to see you."

"Liar. Here's Dr. Cameron's vacation authorization." she said, "What time is dinner?"

"Hmmm...wait," he told Cuddy before pulling the phone back up to his ear. "What time's dinner?"

Cameron signed. "I don't know seven or eight."

"Ok." he said then to Cuddy said, "Eight."

Cuddy looked at him curiously. "Who are you talking to?"

"Wilson." House said just as Wilson walked in the door.

"Hey...what time's dinner?" Wilson asked.

"Busted." House heard Cameron say laughing.
"Who's he talking to?" Wilson asked Cuddy.

"You apparently." she said her eyebrow raised in interest.

"Oh." Wilson said looking at House knowingly.

"I gotta go. I swear Wilson just winked at me. I feel dirty." House said.

"Ok."

"Wait are you..."

"I'm fine," she said sensing that was what he wanted to know.

"And.."

"She's fine too."

"Great."

"Is the.."

"Deadbolt's locked and so are all the windows."

"Good."

"I'll see you later."

"Yeah."

"Bye, House."

"Bye." he said before hanging up.