CHAPTER 27
Cameron's hair was still damp as she and House entered the hospital. They walked side by side to the elevator and rode up in silence. House felt much less oppressed than he had the day before, and he felt marginally better equipped to handle what might be thrown at him that day. He squeezed the handle of his cane in silent preparation as the elevator doors parted, and he held his breath at the prospect of once again seeing the silhouette of his father outside the door of his mother's hospital room. He was surprised and relieved to find the hallway deserted, and his gait quickened slightly as he became eager to take advantage of what might very well be his last moments spent alone with his mother. His expression hardened into a puzzled frown when he peered through the door to find the room deserted. He shot a look back to Cameron, who wrinkled her forehead questioningly.
"She's not here."
"What?"
"Look, she's gone."
Cameron saw the empty room for herself. "This is the right room, right? 324?"
"Yeah, of course it's the right room. She must have been moved out of the ICU."
"Thank god! Let me go ask somebody." She walked down the hallway for a short time until she reached a nurse's station, with House following a few feet behind her.
"Excuse me," Cameron said to a young man in scrubs at the desk. "We were wondering where they moved the patient in room 324. Blythe House."
"I'm sorry. Blythe House passed away last night. Her husband took her off life support."
There was an earsplitting crash as House's cane smashed down hard on top of the desk, demolishing the keyboard and sending keys, pens, paperclips, and staples flying into the air. The nurse jumped back and Cameron shrieked in surprise as House leapt toward the desk, pushed her to the side, and came within inches of the nurse's shocked face, growling, "The husband, where is he?"
"Chapel, last I saw," the flabbergasted nurse stammered.
"Where?"
The nurse pointed to a sign mounted on the wall, with an arrow pointing left. "Down the hall and to the left."
House bounded down the hall without his cane. Cameron was running to catch up with him. "House! House, what are you gonna do?" He didn't hear a word she said. His mind was focused on one thing only, and that was the set of double doors 80 feet away from him. He quickly reached the entrance to the chapel, and Cameron grabbed his shoulder with both hands. "House." He felt nothing. He flung open the doors recklessly and was met with a silent room bathed in a warm, reddish glow. He glanced over the space savagely, his eyes skimming over a sparsely populated arrangement of benches. His stare fell upon the one set of eyes that did not widen in surprise at his loud entrance, a figure bathed in shadow in the front corner of the room, staring down at his lap in reverent contemplation.
"You BASTARD!!!!" House roared. His father's gaze remained frozen on his lap, and House hobbled over toward him, yelling, "You killed her!" John House lifted his steel grey eyes to meet with his son's clear blue ones. All the other occupants scurried out of the chapel at this revelation, blowing past Cameron's tear-stained face as she retreated into the back corner of the room, looking on helplessly at the two men.
"She died, I didn't kill her," John House stated calmly.
"There was no goddamn reason to pull the plug before I could say goodbye! You killed her to hurt me, you son of a bitch!" John started to stand, but House shoved him violently back down.
"Keep your goddamned hands off me," John hissed, and started to stand again. House slugged him square in the jaw and he stumbled back onto the bench with a grunt.
"I could kill you, you piece of shit!" House screamed as he bent over his father and wrapped his hands around his neck. John's adrenaline surged and he hurled himself off the bench and shoved his son back into the wall. House crashed back and fell to the ground, at which point John started viciously kicking him repeatedly in his side. Cameron screamed and leapt across the room, trying desperately to pull him off of his son, but John House was a strong man who knew how to fight, and her small hands and arms were no more of a nuisance to him than a gnat might have been. All at once, Cameron felt herself being pulled back, and looked behind her to find herself in the arms of the nurse to whom she had spoken earlier. He dragged her back as two security guards converged on the two men and eventually succeeded in separating them, at which point Cameron broke from the nurse's hold and ran sobbing into House's arms, partly seeking comfort, partly seeking to give comfort to him. He clutched to her for dear life, for the same reasons as she clung to him, rubbing his rough face against hers, muttering, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She was sobbing too hysterically to assure him that he had nothing to be sorry for, so she just moaned into his neck and grabbed at his biceps and back. The guards ushered the three of them out of the chapel and into the hallway. One of the guards escorted John out of the hospital, while the other asked House if he was okay. When he was convinced that everything was under control, the security guard left, leaving Cameron and House alone in the hall. Cameron was clutching to House's chest and he had his arms wrapped around her protectively.
"Are you okay?" House asked.
"House, I'm fine, don't worry about me." She felt horrible that she reacted the way she had. Here she was standing here crying, when House was the one who had just lost his mother. "I'm so sorry, I…." She trailed off, not knowing what to say.
House had no response. He couldn't tell her everything was okay, because it wasn't. His mother was gone. He hadn't said goodbye. As much as he despised his father, he never would have thought him capable of doing what he did. All of a sudden, he felt hot, oppressed. Cameron could feel him start to squirm in her arms and looked up at him worriedly. "Are you okay?" He pulled away from her quickly, turned his head, and wretched. Cameron flagged down a nurse and asked her to bring a wet washcloth and some water. She walked House over to a bench and sat him down. When the nurse returned, Cameron thanked her and started wiping down House's face and neck with the washcloth while he slowly sipped his water.
"I just… I never thought… even him…" House stammered.
"Shh, I know," said Cameron gently.
"He used her. He used her." House's face was eerily pale.
They sat in silence.
