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Chapter 36

Wednesday morning found Cameron, Remy and Taub watching their patient closely. He had fallen into a coma since his abrupt turn for the worse yesterday morning. The sudden change in his symptoms had all them, including House, completely mystified.

Taub watched as Cameron checked the monitor for the fourth time in twenty minutes.

"You constantly checking that is not going to change anything." He said to Cameron.

"I know but I don't like standing here doing nothing." She admitted.

Remy was going over the patient's chart. "Where's House?" She asked.

"Yeah. It's almost eleven and we haven't seen him yet. I saw him parking his bike over an hour ago." Taub added.

Cameron looked up to see that both Taub and Remy were looking at her. "Why are you asking me? I haven't seen or heard from him either. He probably had something to do. You know House. Besides, he knows we will call him if something changes." Cameron continued to check the patent's pupils with her pen light.

"I know but he's usually riding our ass for answers." Taub said.

"Then call him if your having problems functioning without him." Cameron teased.

"Funny." Taub said dryly.

"I haven't seen Foreman or Kutner since this morning either." Remy said.

"They are probably still in the lab running tests on the new blood samples that were drawn earlier." Cameron paused and turned to Taub. "Did you and Kutner talk to any of Jeremy's neighbors when you went to his apartment?"

"Yes and no one seemed to know anything about this guy. They said they hardly saw him. His apartment was clean, almost too clean. Why?" Taub asked curiously.

Cameron shrugged her shoulders slightly. "Just going over the list in my head. There has to be something we missed."

"Well, going back to his apartment would be pointless. There's nothing there. It's almost as if the guy doesn't even live there." Taub said.

"Hmmm. We could try his office again." Cameron said quietly.

Remy's head snapped up at this comment. "That would be pointless also. I talked to everyone there." She said coldly.

"What if you missed someone?" Cameron simply asked.

Remy glared at Cameron. "I did my job Cameron." She spat out.

Cameron is surprised at Remy's defensiveness. "I didn't say anything about you not doing your job Remy."

"Then why are you implying I didn't?" She asked.

"I'm not. I'm just retracing our steps. Maybe we missed something. That's all. I asked Taub about the neighbors too." Cameron answered.

"Well, I think it would be senseless to go back." Remy stated stubbornly.

Remy's comment annoyed Cameron. "I'm not asking you to go back. I'll go. You stay here with Taub. Page me if anything changes." Cameron left before either of them could say anything.

Taub is surprised at Cameron's abruptness and looked over at Remy, who was scowling at Cameron's back as she left the room. He stared at her for a long minute before speaking. "What's your problem with her?"

"Nothing. I just don't like her second guessing me."

Taub moved closer. "Look, I'm not happy about her being on our team either. She's just trying to find an answer. Don't take it personally."

"You wouldn't be saying that if she was questioning you about doing your job." Remy snapped and left the room.

Taub shook his head and slowly followed after her.

House had managed to avoid the subject of relationships with Cuddy since their little escapade the other night. Now, he was standing outside her door, wondering if he really wanted to enter and talk about it now or just keep doing what he was best at and that was to keep ignoring the issue. But he knew he needed to clear the air about Wilson. He glanced over his shoulder at the small empty desk where Cuddy's assistant, Christy, was usually sitting and was thankful she wasn't there to distract him. He could hear Cuddy talking on the phone in that authoritive tone of hers. He took a deep breath and opened the door. She smiled and motioned for him to come in. He shut the door behind him and limped across the room and stood in front of her desk and waited.

Lisa finished her conversation and hung up the phone. "Hi. I'm surprised to see you here."

He looked at her curiously. "Why?"

She smiled. "Because I figured you would still be avoiding me. You didn't return any of my phone calls."

"Did you really expect me to?" He asked.

"Not really but I was hopeful. You're here now. How is your patient?"

"Not good. We are still searching for an answer and running out of time." He said and leaned hard on his cane and stared at the floor.

Cuddy sensed that something was bothering him. "What is it?" She asked.

House ran his hand over his scruffy chin. "Why didn't you tell me that you and Wilson had a date last Saturday night?"

Cuddy gripped the file she was holding a little harder. "Because he asked me not to. He said he wanted to tell you when he was ready. I'm guessing he has told you."

House nodded. "You think?" He snarked. "He told me yesterday… after I told him you and I had slept together." He said slowly.

Lisa took a deep breath and glanced away from House's serious stare. "Oh god." She paused. "Why did you tell him?" "Because he's my best friend and that's what BFF's do." House said sarcastically. He started pacing back and forth in front of her desk. His agitation growing. "Why the hell didn't you tell me he was interested in you?"

Cuddy definitely noticed the change in his tone. "I don't know. He's your best friend. Why didn't you know?"

That thought hadn't occurred to House. Why hadn't he picked up on Wilson liking Cuddy? He wondered. "I had no idea." He admitted regretfully then continued. "But you knew and you knew if I had known, the other night would have never happened."

"I didn't know that for sure." She said hesitantly.

"Then why didn't you say anything before you asked me to follow you home?" He asked her.

Lisa slowly sat down in her chair and looked into his steel blue eyes again. She cleared her throat nervously. "I was hoping to discuss this with you later tonight."

"Let's just get it into the open now." House said coldly.

Lisa was a little shocked and somewhat hurt by his tone. "Okay…You and I have always had this thing between us and lately it has felt like it has become stronger." Lisa paused. She was having a difficult time spitting the words out. "I wanted to know if… if you and I had something… if you felt it too and when we went out for a drink, it just all seemed to fall into place. I certainly didn't hear you say no."

House stopped. He wasn't about to tell her that the reason he had asked her out for a drink was because he didn't want to think about Wilson and Cameron sleeping together. He wasn't going to tell her that the reason he followed her home and slept with her was because the thought of Wilson and Cameron together had bothered him so much, he didn't want to be alone. "True. I didn't say no but I would have never let what happened happen if I had known about Wilson." He said truthfully.

She looked at him skeptically. "Would it have really mattered to you?"

He stared at her, expressionless. "You and I…" He stopped. "The other night was sex Cuddy and that's all it was."

His words stung but she held her composure. "Was it really or are you just saying that because you now know Wilson likes me?" She asked with her chin tilted up in a defensive manner.

House stared hard at her. "Do you think I'm really capable of more than just sex? Did you really think you could change me?"

Cuddy's nostrils flared as her anger began to take over. "You are such a bastard." She hissed. "I can't believe I let myself think there could possibly be something between us. I also find it hard to believe that hurting Wilson actually bothers you."

House narrowed his eyes at her. "It should bother you though."

Her tone softened slightly. "Of course it bothers me and I will talk to him about it."

"And say what? That he can have sloppy seconds?" House said sarcastically.

"That's enough! Get out. I do not want to talk to you about this any more. Not only are you a bastard but you are incapable of having a civil conversation. How did I forget how you really are?"

"But you enjoyed the other night, didn't you?"

"Are you trying to piss me off? Is this your way of making sure I will never want to be with you?"

"It doesn't matter if you want to be with me. I don't want to be with you."

His words hit her like a slap in the face. "Get out House." She said in a controlled tone.

House could see the hurt in Cuddy's eyes and regretted his comment. He turned to leave but stopped and faced her again. "You and I will always have a something between us Cuddy but we both know if we were together it wouldn't last. You and Wilson have a chance of having something real."

His sincerity caught her off guard and she didn't know how to respond. She just watched him leave thinking what a complicated man he was.

House limped down the hall thinking about Wilson and Cuddy when the thought occurred to him that this was Cameron's fault. She was the one who lied about sleeping with Wilson in the first place and he was very interested to hear her excuse as to what possessed her to tell him that little lie. Unless Wilson had told her, she doesn't know that he knows the truth about what happened. Watching her squirm while he confronted her, lightened his mood some.

He was making his way to the elevators when he glanced out the large windows that over looked side parking lot and saw Chase with his arms around the waist of a tall blonde woman. He blinked his eyes shut a couple of times to make sure he was seeing clearly and continued to watch as Chase pulled the tall woman closer and kissed her. What the hell? He thought and decided he needed a closer look and quickly limped to the elevators. When he reached the lobby, he practically skipped to the side entrance. The windows at the end of the hall gave him a perfect view of Chase and his mystery woman. He couldn't get a good view of the woman's face however. His chest tightened and his stomach churned as he watched them fondle one another. The scene actually angered him. He would be very surprised if Cameron knew and it would definitely explain why Chase had been giving her so much grief lately. A couple of minutes later the woman waved good bye to Chase and started walking towards the front of the hospital. Chase headed towards the side entrance where House was standing. House's first thought was to duck into the bathroom until Chase had passed by but an evil thought crossed his mind. Instead he quickly and awkwardly made his way up the fist flight of stairs, hoping Chase would do the same. At the top, he leaned against the wall and waited. A minute later, he heard a whistling Chase enter the building and just as he had hoped he heard him start up the steps. A wicked smile crossed House's lips as he waited for Chase to reach the top of the stairs.