The Itch
"35-year-old male — crushing headache and three seizures in the last two days." Cameron stated she chanced a glance to the other woman in the room and found that she had her full attention… she didn't want to feel smug, although… she did just a bit.
She was wearing one of Remy's favorite pairs of pants…the purple-y grey ones that made her ass look good. She hoped that that distraction would make it just a bit more tolerating for the brunette. It seemed that every time she said 'hello' to her or tried to act kind in any way, that Remy would just pull from her further… So, she decided on the easiest thing she could think of that always made Remy want her when they were together… her ass in the pants that Remy loved on her… it seemed to be working.
She shook from her thoughts and looked at House.
"So it's a bleed, clot, tumor, metabolic, or infection. Stick him in a CT." He started.
"Can't."
House turned around in surprise, "I'm assuming he has a giant head."
"Severe agoraphobe. The world scares the hell out of him. So we can only test him with whatever we can take to him."
House obviously wanted to limp over and hug her, but he refrained, "Fun."
"Agoraphobia a symptom?" Kutner asked.
"Only of being shot. He and his girlfriend were mugged seven years ago. That's when it started." She looked down at him.
"Anybody can hate humanity after getting shot. Takes a big man to hate it beforehand."
"How'd you get this case if he didn't come to the ER?" Taub asked.
"I talked to him through his door when he had flu last year. I run the community outreach program now." She answered.
"See? Perfectly reasonable explanation. She's definitely not here trying to work her way back on the team and steal your job or anything." House gave Taub a look as he walked around and stood next to Cameron.
"It's a legitimate question." Taub defended himself, but saw that House was distracted by the dean of medicine that was lurking outside.
Cameron knew he was still listening even as he started for the door, "He agreed to meet with us. But even if I can get inside his house, his brain is a black box." She slumped forward once he was out in the hall though, "We can pick this up in a minute."
Everyone else watched House and Cuddy talking, but Cameron looked over to Remy. And Remy felt her eyes on her and decided to turn from House and Cuddy to the blonde. The gave her a half smile, ensuring the blonde not to worry, that she was fine… and yes, that she loved her ass in those pants still. Cameron gave her own half smile in return, letting Remy know that even though they weren't together, the pants were for her.
Once House walked back in, the blonde started again, "Portable equipment can't distinguish a bleed or a tumor. Can't see Vasculitis."
House nodded about to respond, but the other girl that liked girls started speaking.
"What did Cuddy want?" Thirteen asked, knowing it would annoy him.
House looked down at her as he stood next to Cameron and said sarcastically, "I kinda hit that last night, so now she's all on my jock."
Thirteen nodded in surprise, "Wow!" She started and kept that sarcasm going, "She looks pretty good for someone on roofies."
Cameron interrupted, knowing where this conversation could go… They both argued about anything but the thing that they need to argue about… Her. And she didn't want to be there when they actually did, so… She interrupted, happily, "The only equipment we have is a sonogram and a portable X-ray."
"What part of olivine, pyroxene, and amphibole don't you understand?"
Kutner started thinking out loud, "Pyroxene. Pyro means 'fire'…"
Cameron looked at him, "They're indicator minerals. You can't see diamonds so you look for the indicator minerals. I assume the diamond is the tumor or bleed or whatever it is."
Foreman nodded along, "We provoke a seizure. The indicator is the increased electrical activity focused around the abnormality. We do an EEG, see the focus, see where the problem is, which tells us what the problem is."
House took in a breath as if he were a proud father, "The Formster and the Camster. Kickin' it old school." He looked at Taub, "Thank God she's not trying to steal your job." Then to everyone, "Go do it. And search the home for toxins."
~0~0~0~0~0~
Cameron, Thirteen, Taub and Kutner all stood in the small room that was between the outside and the actual front door of the patient.
"I agreed to talk, not let you in." He said from his side of the door.
"You could be very sick, Stewart. We need access." Cameron was leaning against the door.
"I'm just not ready."
Taub looked between the doors and around the small room they were in, "Why does he have two locked doors?"
Thirteen looked around too, "He must use this room as an airlock. Deliveries in. Garbage out. He never has to go outside."
"Just tell us when you are. We're not going away." Cameron said into the doorway, ignoring the rest of them.
"Seriously?" Kutner asked.
Thirteen looked over to him as if scolding him for being annoyed with Cameron, "You want her to admit that all he has to do is ignore us for a few minutes and we'll take off?"
"He was shot. Girlfriend killed. He probably has post traumatic stress disorder. He doesn't believe in a just universe. He doesn't trust anyone. Give him some honesty." Kutner said seriously looking from Thirteen to Cameron.
Cameron nodded and turned back to the door, "I shouldn't have implied we can wait forever. We've got a whole hospital full of patients. We can give you a few minutes. But eventually, if you don't let us in, we're gonna have to leave."
"Just one person comes in." He bargained.
"No." Cameron was in serious mode as she continued, "We've got to search the whole house for toxins… How about I examine you in one room and my colleagues will do the search?" He unlocked the door and Cameron turned around to everyone and smiled, both thanking them for coming with her and showing her smugness off because she got them all access inside. They all smirked back at her, but Thirteen's was the only one she noticed.
~0~0~0~0~0~
After doing the initial exam and searching the house, the four of them all sat around a speakerphone and called House, "What do you got?"
"His place is totally clean. No animals. No hidden drugs or alcohol. No lead in the paint." Taub said.
"And since you're not breathing hard, I assume you're not holding Cameron aloft in triumph. Which means no seizures." House responded, then before anyone could say anything else, he started, "Hey, speaking of breathing hard, Cameron, you Thirty-One back together yet?"
Thirteen rolled her eyes, "Sorry, we should have clarified. We're calling about the patient, not mine and Dr. Cameron's love life."
"We aren't together yet." Cameron answered his question and looked around at the table as they all eyed her, then back to Thirteen who was shaking her head at her. She shrugged, "Moves things along much faster to just give him the answers. (to House) Seizures can also be induced through—"
"After a year and a half of pure lesbian lust, you lesbians still haven't worked it out?"
"A month." Cameron looked into the speaker, "Through sleep deprivation or—"
"Sleep deprivation would take too long. You guys were living together though, right?"
"We were, but when someone breaks up with someone else they move out of the one-bedroom out of respect. There's a bunch of drugs that can lower a seizure threshold."
"And cloud the diagnosis with side effects. Did she ever tell you the specific reason why she broke up with you, or did you know it?"
"Yes to both." Cameron looked apologetically to the other woman who had crossed her arms and legs and sat stiffly.
"Interesting."
"You would've said interesting no matter what the answer."
"And no matter what the answer, it would've been interesting. You lived together, but only after nine and a half years. Commitment issues on both sides. You've broken up but if we're all honest with what we see everyday at the office, you haven't. Control issues on both sides too. It's interesting."
Thirteen swallowed and leaned over to Cameron, "Yeah, moves much faster this way." She said sarcastically.
~0~0~0~0~0~
Cameron couldn't believe that House had just proposed that Chase would perform a surgery inside Stewart's home. She ran after him and stopped him in a hallway both away from Stewart and the rest of the team, "With the risk of infection, Chase won't actually—"
"He's not gonna do surgery in some crazy dude's house."
Thirteen saw them both walk passed the entryway to Stewart's room and got up, unnoticed by the rest of them… she was curious as to what they were talking about.
"You just said —" Cameron started but was cut off by House.
"What I said was that Chase would put him under at the house, we'd take him to the hospital, open him up, do our thing, then slip him back into his room for the post-op without him ever finding out that we tricked him. Some of that was implied."
Thirteen made her presence known and stood next to Cameron, "That's unethical."
House gave her a look then gave them both a goofy grin, "That's so cute." He gestured between them then sobered completely a split second later, "He'll be asleep."
Cameron crossed her arms, "He gets to make his own calls even if he's asleep."
House gave her a look, "Why are you siding with him?" Then mocking put a hand to his chin as if thinking about it, "Oh, yeah, you're that girl who likes broken people because her girlfriend has Huntington's and her best friend is cripple. And since she's alone now, and she really isn't all that broken—"
"Hey, why don't we operate on his infarcted leg while we're at it? Who cares if he said 'no'." Cameron took his lead and hit him where it hurt right back.
"I was risking my life to avoid becoming a cripple. He's doing it to avoid sunlight and fresh air." House looked between them.
Cameron looked to Thirteen, who by the look she received was on board with whatever she wanted to do, "We've got to make it look good."
~0~0~0~0~0~
Staging the surgery got the better of Cameron… she should have known it would have… she should have known that she would have woken him up and told him… and she should have known his reaction… But she didn't. She did all those things and thanks to Remy running in and helping before Chase got there, they got him back under.
But that didn't stop them from getting sent to the principal's office… Cameron, Thirteen, Chase and House all stood in Cuddy's office and listened to her words… Cameron could not believe what she had heard. She could not believe that they were kicked off the case. She looked back at House for a little help, but he left, then Chase… and Thirteen was standing by the door waiting for her. She shook her head and walked out as well. Chase was waiting for them… for Cameron when they walked out of the office.
"You gonna keep working on this?" Chase asked… Remy stayed silent, having already seen the determination in Cameron's eyes.
"Yeah. I brought in the case." She started down the hall.
Remy knew where she was going so she jogged in front of them both and let them have their conversation as she listened in while Cameron allowed her to.
"There is no case. He's gone. You've been tossed. This is totally nuts." Chase said.
"He's incredibly sick. We don't know—"
"Forget about the patient. What is going on with you? This is why we left House's team to avoid this constant flood of pure craziness."
Cameron almost gave a chuckle as she spoke, "That's why I left House. You got fired."
Chase stopped and let Cameron catch up to Thirteen and the two of them walk on. They stayed silent as they gathered Cameron's kit and a few other things they could get their hands on then they went back to Stewart's house.
As they got out of the car, Thirteen watched Cameron open her back door and grab the stuff. She had a smirk on her face.
Cameron looked up at her, "What?"
Thirteen shook her head, "You." She smiled.
"Me?"
"You… are never not surprising." She said as they approached the first door.
The blonde blushed, then walked in and started tapping on the other front door of Stewart's home to try and win his trust back once more.
~0~0~0~0~0~
Cameron was sitting in Stewart's house, looking through his file once more. Researching anything and everything, if she could. She heard the door and saw Thirteen walk in with a take-out bag and coffee.
"Hey." She smiled at the other woman.
"Hey… He doing okay?" She asked.
"He's stable. Yeah." She took a gulp of coffee, "Thank you. You didn't have to do this."
"I know." Thirteen nodded and sat down. They looked at each other in that way they had, and Remy had to literally shake herself from it, "Uhh, I got Chinese… I know that it's a little late for Chinese, but really it's a little late for anything… and you need to eat. I know you haven't." She gave her the to-go box, "Bourbon chicken and noodles."
"Oh my God! You know me so well!" Cameron's mouth watered as she took it from the brunette, grabbed a plastic fork from the bag and dug in.
"Yeah…" Remy looked at her, and the way she spoke made Cameron look back at the sea foam eyes she adored.
"What?"
"I didn't break up with you because I fell out of love with you… I still care… I still know you… I still—"
"I know." She put her hand on Remy's knee, "I know." She nodded and smiled at the brunette. She leaned over and snuggled against her side, testing the waters. Remy only wrapped her arm around Cameron's shoulders, both of them smiling at each other. Cameron stabbed a piece of chicken and wrapped some noodles around her fork, then gave the bit to Remy, "Thank you." She said as Remy took it and chewed.
Remy closed her eyes because the food was just that good, "Mmm… You're welcome." She said through a full mouth.
Cameron grinned and took her own bite when Stewart started calling for her in his room.
~0~0~0~0~0~
Thirteen and Cameron did what they could, to keep him as comfortable as possible, but Cameron still called House, and finally got a hold of him on his cell, "I just tried your house. Where are you?"
"Clubbing." He lied obviously, "Good or bad?"
"Bad. Vitals are dropping. The abdominal pain keeps getting worse."
"Means we were too late with the treatment. Tell the lawyer he's off the clock. We're done."
"You're giving up?"
"Call Taub. Tell him to pick up some morphine. There's no need for the patient to be in pain."
"He's on morphine." Cameron had him on speaker as she stepped outside Stewarts room, so Remy could listen, but Stewart didn't have to anymore.
"No. He's on saline."
"I figured you put him on saline so I switched him back to morphine."
House paused a moment, "I love you. When you reach puberty, give me…" He stopped talking again. Cameron hoped to God that it was epiphany time, "His abdominal pain. That was on morphine?"
"Yes. Is there something that causes abdominal pain that doesn't respond to morphine?"
~0~0~0~0~0~
House got to Stewarts house with the x-ray they had taken a while ago and gave it to Cameron. She asked what she was looking at and he told her that the hip was less boney than they thought. He looked at Stewart as he took a scalpel, "You're not gonna feel a thing… Except excruciating pain." He inserted the blade, making an incision just over his hip, "The mugger used hollow points. They exploded and left fragments. Your doctors missed a couple hiding behind your hipbone. It's no biggie. Except years later, they started to dissolve, and then, biggie, you started to dissolve."
Then, after starting treatment, and in his normal House way and calling the patient a liar and pathetic for not going to visit his girlfriend's grave, House left them both to make sure that Stewart was okay. They made sure he was stable, and he quickly started feeling better… and asked them to leave.
Thirteen gathered their things as Cameron made sure that Stewart knew to call her if anything happened. She gave the blonde her kit and they walked outside.
"You know… you haven't seen my new place." Remy looked at her.
"I do know that." Allison nodded.
"You want to come over for a celebratory drink?" She asked.
Allison smiled and nodded, "Sure."
~0~0~0~0~0~
Remy gave her the grand tour and they settled on the couch with some wine.
Allison set her and Remy's glasses down once they were empty. "I miss this." she spoke after a bout of silence.
Remy looked at her and nodded, "I miss this too."
The blonde tilted her head and looked at the brunette. Everything was still there… the only thing missing was the many, many kisses they would have shared at this point. So… without thinking too much about it, she leaned in. Remy closed her eyes. She wanted more than anything to lean back, but instead she turned away.
So, Allison leaned her forehead, frustrated against the woman's cheek then leaned up and whispered, "I will wait for you forever, you know? So just… give it up and come back to me so we can get on with our life… Please." She then kissed Remy's cheek, got up and walked out of the apartment.
