Sorry I didn't get to post this yesterday, but we're in and out of the house all weekend with an assortment of activities. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 38.

When Cameron's call with Detective Cullen ended, House said, "I assume you want to do this alone."

"It might be best. He might be more open about his theories."

"And he doesn't particularly like me."

Cameron hadn't considered that. But what could Cullen have against House? "I'll go down in ten minutes."

Jessica grinned. "I wonder whether Cullen has a crush on Allison."

Cameron was startled by her remark. She refused to believe it.

"You may be on to something, Jessica." House smirk. "Maybe I should lurk in the background. Scratch your ear if you need rescuing, Cameron."

Cameron crinkled her nose. "You two are being ridiculous."

"How much you wanna bet?"

"And you know House only bets on a sure thing." Jessica was laughing. "Although, maybe it would be better if I was the lurker."

Cameron stared at them both.

Wilson had a hand on his chin watching and listening to them. "I remember something. At least I think I do. Something about lasagna and a bet, and you were there." He pointed to Jessica. "And House and Cameron and..." He shook his head. "It's too vague."

"Wilson, that's great. There were food contests at the Labor Day festivities in Shelby this year, and you made lasagna in the kitchen of the house where our apartment is." Cameron recalled some of the details. "Rocco, one of the team members, also entered, and so did Mo, the woman who owns the diner where we often eat. And my office assistant, Carol, did too."

"Who won?" Wilson asked.

"You did of course." Jessica beamed. "Those other three tied for second."

Cameron smiled. "I'd better go down to the cafeteria. Anyone want anything?" She was sure House would, but Jessica hadn't eaten since breakfast.

"No, I'm good." Jessica looked at Wilson. "What about you, James? You never got to eat your breakfast."

"Do they have Danish? I could really go for a cheese Danish. Or maybe a donut."

Cameron chuckled. "I'll bring a selection." She felt House's gaze on her as she left. But her mind was on what Cullen might want to ask her about. She knew she wouldn't need rescuing.

As expected, the cafeteria was almost empty. A few nurses and orderlies, likely on their breaks, sat in groups drinking coffee. Cameron found a table not far from the entrance but out of the usual main traffic flow. Seven minutes later, Cullen arrived, his mouth in a grim line.

"What's up, detective?"

"I caught a murder investigation out in the 'burbs. Nothing to do with the hospital case, but it's going to eat into any time I might have had to follow the dwindling leads on the explosion." He looked at the coffee machines. "Buy you a cup?"

"I'll get it. How do you like yours?" She stood and he sat, sighing as if he hadn't had a chance to rest for weeks.

"Two sugars, no cream. Thanks."

She left him looking around and got their java, then rejoined him. "So, you said you had some questions for me?"

He nodded, blew on his coffee and took a sip as if he still needed time to phrase what he wanted to ask. "Dr. Cuddy was romantically involved with your Dr. House at one time, right?"

"Yes." She wondered what that had to do with the hospital.

"So, in addition to his leaving, he also broke off that relationship." It wasn't quite a question.

"Yes. But that was last spring. She even came to see us during the summer, and seemed to have accepted the situation." She narrowed her eyes. "What are you getting at?"

"And added to that, Dr. Wilson was leaving and the board was about to fire her."

"So you said. Listen, Detective, Dr. Cuddy hasn't gone off the rails, as they say, because of all of this. She's the type of determined woman who would fight, not try to destroy any hope of keeping her job." Cameron tried to compose additional arguments that might convince Cullen to look in another direction, but she was all out of words.

"Dr. Cameron, if I was you, I'd look out for her. I don't think she likes you very much, especially now that you and Dr. House are in a relationship. You are, aren't you?"

Cameron nodded. If she hadn't known Cuddy for a few years, he might almost convince her. "I saw her earlier today, and she was..." She was about to say cordial, but the truth was, Cuddy focused on Wilson and ignored House and Cameron. "...she didn't threaten me at all." She crossed her arms.

"Hmmm. Well, don't say I didn't warn you."

She had to laugh. "That's a cliché worthy of House or Wilson." She caught a glimpse of the woman in question and told Cullen. "I still think you should keep an open mind and don't hesitate to look elsewhere for your culprit."

He drained his coffee cup. "I have an appointment to see someone in a few minutes. Thanks for meeting with me, doctor."

"If I see or hear anything else that might help, I'll let you know." She stood as he did and took the two coffee cups to the conveyor belt, while Cullen left. As Cameron headed for the line to get donuts and Danish for Wilson and House, she was stopped by Cuddy.

"What did the police officer want?" Cuddy asked.

"Cullen?" Cameron managed to shrug. "He had some questions about former PPTH staff."

"Like me?" Cuddy said.

Cameron kept her face neutral even though she was shaking inside. "Among others. I didn't have anything to tell him. He left rather disappointed."

"He seems to think I had something to do with the explosion."

Surprised that Cuddy was aware of how Cullen was leaning, Cameron was speechless. But Jessica came to her rescue. "House sent me to find out what was keeping you and his cruller."

"I'd better go," Cameron told Cuddy. "I'm sure Cullen suspects everyone who was at the hospital that day." She got into the line with Jessica, convinced Cuddy was staring at her back. "Thanks for saving me. Cullen wasn't a threat, but Cuddy..." She shook her head.

"Did I help?" Jessica asked.

Cameron nodded. "Maybe some of what Cullen's been saying has gotten to me, but when Cuddy approached me, almost demanding to know what he wanted, I felt threatened by her. I've never felt that way with her before."

"Well, I'm glad I could help. But House really sent me."

Cameron nodded. She collected several donuts and Danish in a cardboard box, paid for them and returned to Wilson's room with Jessica.

"There you are." House sneered.

"I was waylaid by Cuddy. Good thing Jessica showed up."

"What did Cuddy want?" House's sneer deepened.

"She saw me with Cullen and wanted to know what we talked about."

"Is she trying to make herself look even more guilty?" He shook his head. "What did you tell her?"

"That Cullen suspected lots of people from the hospital." She smirked. "Everybody lies, even me."

He laughed, then took a chocolate cruller. "Yum."

"Did they have Danish?" Wilson tried to see into the box, but Cameron had to put it on his rolling tray table so he could extract one.

"Can I have one?" Jessica asked.

"Help yourself," Wilson told her.

House was still in a sneering mood.

"There are plenty left for you." Cameron took a glazed donut. "I made sure of that."

For a while they were all busy eating their treats. But after three, House had his fill, at least for the moment. "What did Cullen say?"

Cameron had been dreading this, and hoped he'd been put off from asking by Cuddy's confrontation. "He, uh, he warned me that Cuddy resented the fact that you and I were together, and she couldn't have you."

"What did he think she'd do to you? Blow you up too?"

"He didn't say. It was a general tip-off to avoid her."

He rolled his eyes. "And then she promptly approached you."

Cameron nodded, then looked at her feet. "Funny, I wasn't afraid of her or even suspicious until he said that and the next thing I knew, she was in my face."

Another man might have comforted her, but that wasn't House's way. He did take a step closer to her and offered her another donut.

She lifted her head and laughed. "No thanks. I'm not the chow hound you are."

"What are you going to do?" Jessica asked. "I mean, do you still want to defend Dr. Cuddy?"

Cameron shrugged. "I truly don't know. Mostly, I don't think she did it, but any sympathy I had for her is disappearing fast." She turned to House. "What do you want to do?"

"I want to send you back to Shelby."

"Where I'm safe?" Cameron raised an eyebrow.

"Where you belong. I'll stay a couple of days more to irritate Wilson." He pointed his stick at his friend. "And then I'll be home."

"Home." She smiled. "You still think of Shelby as home?"

"Of course I do. It's where we both belong, where we're building a house, where I have a job that I've neglected too long."

"And Cuddy?" She tilted her head as she waited for his answer.

"At this point, I'm more interested in finding out who did blow up the hospital than in saving Cuddy from herself." He glanced at the almost empty box. "Guess I'll have this last Danish."

Cameron chuckled. "I'll leave tomorrow after we get Wilson home."

"If I can go home tomorrow." Wilson massaged his temples.

"I'll sign the discharge orders myself if I have to," House said around a mouthful of apple and pastry.

Jessica frowned.

"Jess, what's wrong?" Cameron touched her arm.

"I know James will eventually get his memories back. At least I hope so. But...but when will he remember you?"

Wilson smiled at her. "You're the woman who sat by my hospital bed through all of this. How could I forget you?"

"I mean..." She bit her lip.

Cameron felt the need to speak for her. "I think what Jessica meant was that she wished you'd remember the time you two spent together before the hospital explosion and your memory problems."

"I wish I could, too." Wilson adjusted his position. "That had to have been great based on the wonderful woman you are."

"Really? You really think so?" Jessica's eyes lit up.

House groaned. "You mean we're going to have to witness these two falling in love with each other all over again?"

Cameron laughed. "You sound as if it's a fate worse than death."

"Now who's spouting cliches?"

Cameron took the now-empty box from the tray and tossed it in the trash.

Peters returned to check on Wilson again. "How're you doing, doc?"

"You tell me." Wilson pointed to House. "My friend here says he thinks I can go home tomorrow."

"Well, Dr. House isn't your doctor of record, but he's probably right. I won't make my final decision until tomorrow morning." Peters wrote something in Wilson's chart and took it with him.

"Darn." House grimaced. "I wonder what he wrote."

"I'm sure you can find someone who'll let you see it," Cameron suggested.

House seemed to think about that. "On second thought, maybe I want to be surprised."

"I can tell you what it was." Jessica smiled.

"Huh?"

"I was close enough to read it." She winked. "Of course, it was upside down, but that didn't matter. He just wrote, 'patient improving.' We already knew that."

"You'd make a terrific spy." House grinned at her.

Cameron spoke in a soft voice. "Have you ever noticed how you inspire others to spy for you?"

"It takes a knack, but, yeah. Better than doing it myself."

The door opened, and Foreman entered. "So? Do you need me?"

"I don't think so." House indicated Wilson. "See for yourself."

Foreman put the file down to examine Wilson's eyes and reflexes.

House eased over and lifted it.

Cameron looked at him questioningly, thinking 'so much for letting others do the spying for him'.

House finished glancing through the papers before Foreman turned back.

The neurologist grinned. "He's doing very well."

"I still don't have my memories back," Wilson complained.

"Give yourself time." Foreman only confirmed what everyone had told Wilson before.

"Foreman, before you go." Cameron thought about how to phrase what she wanted to know. "Before the explosion, did anyone you know act strangely?"

"You mean besides Remy arguing with everything I asked her to do? That wasn't strange, or at least not different from how she's acted before."

"What about Chase? Or Taub?" Cameron paused. "How about Cuddy or any of the department heads?" She didn't want him to think she was only asking about the hospital administrator.

"Cuddy was upset when House left, but she was finally getting over that when she learned of Wilson's resignation."

"Someone told us that the board had considered firing her," Cameron said.

"They were?" He seemed genuinely surprised. "I didn't think they had it in them."

"Do you think they should have dismissed her?"

The sound that left his lips was more a guffaw than a laugh. "She was one of the worst bosses I ever had."

"Worse than me?" House asked.

"Believe me, the only reasons I stayed were the facts that she brought me back when I didn't handle things well in New York, and that she gave me your job when you left."