Chapter 44

Cameron parked her car as close to the front of the lot as possible, silently scorning herself for forgetting to ask House to bring his handicap ticket.

Thankfully, though, House didn't comment on the distance. He simply hopped out of the car and began the walk toward the hospital. He had been wondering if Cameron would actually walk in with him or take another route to the ER just to avoid any rumors starting. He was slightly surprised to see that she walked with him to the door and through the lobby until finally taking a different direction to the ER. Nobody seemed to be looking at them or even the least bit curious as to why they would arrive together, that is until House noticed Wilson rushing to catch up with him. He had an intrigued expression on his face. House rolled his eyes, and he knew what was coming. Should he jerk Wilson around and suggest that he and Cameron were together? No, Cameron would surely be pissed when she found out, and House knew that such a relationship would be exactly the sort of rumor that Wilson would spread.

"So," Wilson said mock-casually, "you and Cameron coming to work together." He climbed into the elevator with House.

"She gave me a ride," said House nonchalantly. "The roads are icy, you know."

That sounded exactly like the sort of excuse House came up with when he was trying to hide something. "So this has nothing to do with Halloween night?"

House pretended to be confused. Halloween night was about two and a half weeks ago. Honestly, he was shocked that he'd managed to avoid this conversation for as long as he had. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Right," said Wilson skeptically. "That's why she was at your apartment in the middle of the night."

House subtly looked around at the other people in the elevator, wondering if they were listening to Wilson. He tried to convince himself that he didn't care, but it wasn't working. Thankfully, the doors opened up to the fourth floor, and they both walked out together. "She forgot her purse," he explained. "She was just coming back to get it."

How did she forget her purse at his apartment in the first place? He had a better question, though. "So she was only wearing your clothes because she got a little chilly in her dress, then?"

House smirked at the comment and supposed that it was true. After all, Cameron had only put clothes on because she was cold. "Exactly."

Wilson saw that House was walking to his own office rather than stopping at his for a conversation. "You're hiding something," he decided.

"I have a new patient," replied House, pretending to be innocent, although he knew he wasn't fooling Wilson.

Wilson shook his head and made a note to check on House in about ten minutes after their differential was sure to be over. He was going to get to the bottom of this.

House entered his office, dropped his things on his desk, and finally made his entrance in the conference room. "What do we have?" he asked.

Foreman opened the file. "Forty-two year old male presents with shortness of breath, chest pains, confusion, and hallucinations."

House wrote the symptoms on the whiteboard and turned around for input on the differential diagnosis.

"The obvious suspects are drugs, withdrawal, or infection," started Taub. "Cocaine and amphetamine abuse are both likely. We should run a CBC and a tox-screen."

"Since when do we deal with the usual suspects?" asked Hadley. "The ER already ruled out drugs and infection. The shortness of breath and chest pain lead me to believe that it's a heart condition."

"A heart problem that causes hallucinations?" asked Foreman. "It's more likely that it's something that affects both the heart and the brain."

"So what affects both the heart and the brain?" asked House.

Again, Taub was the first to answer. "The other main cause of hallucinations is cerebral hypoxia, which could lead to heart issues. His history says he's getting over the flu. What if it isn't the flu? What if it's carbon monoxide poisoning? We should check his house and workplace for possible leaks, and we should check his blood for carboxyhemoglobin levels."

"That would fit," agreed Foreman, "but nobody else is sick."

"Then maybe the leak's not at his job," said Taub.

"Jobs," corrected Hadley as she skimmed over the patient history. "It says here that he has two jobs."

"Well then maybe it's not at one of his jobs," Taub repeated. "The history also says that he lives alone. There could be a leak in his apartment, and nobody else would be sick."

House looked around the table to see if anyone disagreed with Taub or had any other ideas. Unsurprisingly, they didn't. "Okay," he said. "Thirteen, redo the CBC and tox-screen, and check the carboxyhemoglobin levels. Taub, redo the patient history. Foreman, check the apartment and the jobs."

The three fellows all left to go complete their assigned tasks while House returned to his office to relax. Unfortunately, he wouldn't get that opportunity because Wilson was walking into his office, probably to interrogate him again. House rolled his eyes. "Why can't you just accept that nothing happened?"

"Oh, something happened," said Wilson with certainty. "What I'm curious to know is if that something has happened again, which judging by your arrival with Cameron this morning, it has."

"You think I would sleep with Cameron right after she and Chase separated?"

"I don't think you care if a woman is separated, divorced, seeing someone, or even married," said Wilson. "You slept with Stacy, and she was married."

House rolled his eyes. "That was different."

"How is this any different?" asked Wilson.

"Well, for one thing," stated House, "I haven't slept with Cameron."

"Why can't you just admit that you slept with her?" asked Wilson.

"Fine," House relented. "I slept with her, okay?" He was becoming very annoyed with this conversation and hoped that his confession would satisfy Wilson and make him go away. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect.

"You slept with Cameron?!" asked Wilson, shocked for some reason.

House rolled his eyes. "It was only one time, and it's not going to happen again."

Wilson was confused by this statement. If House would admit to sleeping with Cameron on Halloween, then why wouldn't he also admit that he'd been sleeping with her ever since? It didn't make any sense. "Then why did you drive together today?"

House closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He was obviously trying to decide how much to tell his friend.

"She never gives you a ride to work," started Wilson, clearly trying to figure this out on his own. "Even if there is ice on the roads, you still drive yourself."

House rolled his eyes at Wilson's attempt to deduce why he and Cameron had arrived together.

"So she must have been close to your apartment, or she wouldn't have even considered giving you a lift," continued Wilson. "But your place isn't in-between any hotels and the hospital, so she must have gone out of her way."

House appeared confused.

Wilson shook his head. "No, she wouldn't have gone out of her way because she never gives you a ride." He thought for a moment. "She gave you a ride because it was convenient."

House suddenly felt himself tense. Was Wilson actually going to figure this out on his own?

A thought suddenly hit Wilson. "Where has Cameron been staying since the separation?" The guilty look on House's face answered his question, though, and he was stunned. "That's why you lied about sleeping with her!"

House rolled his eyes. "I didn't lie about sleeping with her."

"You just didn't want me to know that she was living with you!" exclaimed Wilson.

"She's not living with me," House corrected him. "She's staying with me until she finds another apartment."

"Oh sure," joked Wilson. "You keep telling yourself that that's why she's there and maybe it'll come true." He gave House a giant smirk.

"Who else is she going to stay with?" asked House, trying to defend himself by giving a better explanation.

Wilson considered this question. Certainly Cameron couldn't stay with Foreman because of his new marriage to Hadley. It would be equally awkward for her to stay with him, Cuddy, and Rachel. She most certainly couldn't stay with Chase. That basically knocked out all of her close friends from the hospital. Perhaps House was her only option after all.

"And I wasn't lying," House insisted.

Wilson seemed to believe him this time, but he was still confused. "Let me get this straight," he said. "Cameron's divorcing Chase, and she needed a place to stay."

House tilted his head as he watched his friend think through the situation.

"So, she asked you." Wilson thought about it for a moment. "And you said yes, but you two aren't sleeping together."

"There is nothing going on between me and Cameron," he tried to convince both his friend and himself.

Wilson almost laughed again. "Right…"

House rolled his eyes, knowing that Wilson would never believe him.

"Well on the note of love," began Wilson mockingly.

"I do not love Cameron," House interrupted, possibly too defensively.

Wilson chuckled at House's comment as he pulled an envelope out of his pocket and presented it to House.

House took the envelope curiously. It was an invitation for his mother's wedding. "You dug this out of my trash?" he asked with an annoyed roll of the eyes.

"You threw her invitation away?" asked Wilson, although he knew he shouldn't have been surprised.

Confused, House looked at the envelope and noticed that it was addressed to Wilson. "She invited you to her wedding?"

"She called me yesterday asking why neither of us has RSVP'ed yet," said Wilson. "I guess I never thought to tell her it was because you threw the invitation away."

"She invited you to her wedding?" repeated House in disbelief.

"She was probably just being polite," said Wilson with a laugh. "She probably just assumed that I would be your plus-one anyway." Seeing the look of disdain on House's face, he continued to mock his friend. "Besides, I'm like the son she never had."

House rolled his eyes. "I already told you," he said. "I don't want to go."

"Why not?" asked Wilson. "You could take Cameron." He was sincerely enjoying this conversation. It was one of those rare moments where he got to mock his friend rather than House mocking him.

"I'm not going," insisted House. He dropped the envelope into the same trash can that he had used to dispose of his own invitation.

Wilson reached into the trash can and pulled out the envelope, though. "You are going to that wedding whether you like it or not," said Wilson. He pointed his finger at House.

House rolled his eyes and obviously didn't believe Wilson.

Wilson stood up to leave with his wedding invitation in hand, but he suddenly remembered something and turned around. "Oh," he said, "Lisa wanted me to ask you if you wanted to come over for Thanksgiving."

House cringed at Wilson's use of Cuddy's first name, more because he was annoyed than jealous. "No, thank you," he said rather rudely, although he knew it wouldn't offend Wilson. Honestly, he did not want to spend Thanksgiving with the girl he once liked, her noisy daughter, and his best friend. Usually he just went out to dinner with Wilson (or ate alone if Wilson was busy with his current wife's family), but not this year. As much as he loved spending time with both Wilson and Cuddy, he didn't want to be with them on Thanksgiving. He could just imagine the two of them plus Rachel being a cute little family together, and the idea sickened him.

Wilson shrugged his shoulders. "Suit yourself." He made his way to the door, but stopped again when he saw that Cameron was entering it. He grinned. "Hey, Cameron," he greeted her. He turned to House and said, "How unexpected." He smirked to himself as he left the office. As much as he wanted to listen to their conversation, he knew that House would never allow it.

Confused, Cameron watched Wilson leave before turning back to House. "What was that all about?"

"He thinks that you're only sleeping on my couch because you're in love with me." It was meant to be a joke, but he noticed Cameron blush ever so slightly.

Cameron tried to hide her embarrassment as she rolled her eyes. She shouldn't have been surprised that House had told Wilson about their living arrangements. "That's actually what I came here to talk to you about."

House was intrigued. Had she come to talk about their living arrangements or her being in love with him?

"I've found an apartment," she said. She noticed House's demeanor turn from one of playful mockery to one of surprise. "One of the ER residents is moving, and she offered me her place."

House didn't know what to say. He didn't want her to leave, but he could never tell her that without also telling her that he liked her. "Good," he said curtly with a nod.

Cameron noticed House's response but didn't quite understand it. Did he not want her to leave? "Are… you upset?"

"Why would I be upset?" asked House, and he forced himself to smile as if Cameron's question was ridiculous.

Cameron didn't believe him. She debated whether or not to take a chance and confront him about his feelings. "So… you acting this way," she hesitantly began, "it has nothing to do with what happened between us?"

House was shocked that she would bring that night up again, but he tried to hide it. "Nothing happened," he insisted.

Now Cameron was annoyed. "It wasn't nothing," she tried to tell him. "In fact, it was the opposite of nothing. It was something."

House didn't know what to do. "What do you want me to say?" he asked with anger becoming evident in his voice. "Do you want me to ask you to stay?"

Cameron's jaw dropped. "I want you to tell me that what happened wasn't just nothing," she said. "I want you to tell me the truth for once."

House gave her a shrug, as if he still didn't know what to say.

Cameron shook her head. How could she still be surprised after all of these years? "You are unbelievable," she said. "You know that?"

House rolled his eyes as he watched her dash toward the door.

She paused at the door and turned back to him. "It wasn't nothing," she argued. "And I'll have my things out of your place before next Monday." With that, she stormed out of the office.

House allowed himself to frown as he watched her leave. Why couldn't she understand his hesitance? Why couldn't she just understand why he was avoiding a relationship with her? He had just watched her destroy a relationship with Chase from the inside out, and he couldn't bear to go through that. He couldn't stand to see a relationship with someone he cared for so dearly dissolve like that, and he couldn't stand the chance of ever losing her for good. He acknowledged the fact that maybe he was preventing himself from ever having something truly great, but he was also protecting himself from ever being completely alone. At least this way, Cameron could remain in his life. They could remain friends no matter what, just like he and Wilson were. He could settle for never being in a relationship with her as long as it meant being able to keep her in his life indefinitely. Why couldn't she just see that, too?

Before House could give the issue any more thought, though, Taub and Hadley returned to present their findings.

"All of the blood tests were normal," said Hadley, "including the carboxyhemoglobin levels. Whatever's making him sick wasn't caused by drugs, infection, or carbon monoxide poisoning. Foreman's still searching the guy's two jobs, but he called and said he didn't find anything at his apartment."

Taub then presented his findings from the patient history. "He's been getting over the flu for the last few weeks," he said. "He's slightly overweight and has high blood pressure. He also seems a little bit depressed, but I'm not sure it's a symptom."

"Why not?" asked House.

"Apparently," said Taub, "he recently lost a lot of money in the stock market."

House knew that Taub was thinking back to the time when he, too, had lost a substantial amount of money for the same reason.

"And then his wife, Pru, left with their daughter, Sarina, because she was afraid of the financial instability."

"The guy lost both his money and his family," repeated Hadley. "I doubt the depression is a symptom."

House nodded in agreement, but he was beginning to feel even more saddened by this news. He didn't particularly care about his patient's life, but he did care about both his and Cameron's lives. He wondered how depressed Cameron must be feeling because of her divorce, and he surely hadn't helped matters. But then again, that was only more reason not to start a relationship with her. He didn't want to end up like his patient with no money and no family. Of course, that probably wouldn't happen to him, but he could end up with no Cameron. For him, that would be equally devastating.

Taub and Hadley glanced at each other, both wondering what House was thinking about.

House finally snapped back into reality and instructed his two fellows to tell him when Foreman returned so they could run another differential. They agreed to do so as they returned to the conference room. House returned to his desk to continue contemplating his issues with Cameron. He wasn't sure how to solve them, or if there was even a solution. He only knew that anything that would risk the loss of Cameron was something he wasn't prepared to do just yet.