A/N: I thought I would continue to strengthen the connection to Storybrooke, and how Cameron could have ended up in Boston. This is the established patterns chapter, in which we see how Emma is susceptible to being worn down. Jay did it, Chase did it... and Hook. This is how she could miss that anyone else loved her enough to just let her be who she is and decide in her own timeline if she loves them.
Friends with Benefits
I know I was wrong to fall for House. I couldn't help it, he was right. He was damaged and I liked it. I liked him. I also liked Chase, and what they both were were Distractions. The best kind of Hormonal Distractions.
In my off time I took some courses in search and Rescue. It taught me how to find people that didn't want to be found. And I searched for my son. Whose trail was likely going to stay cold until he could have a digital footprint. But I couldn't help it.
Anyway, as I worked to get over House, Chase's pretty face came into focus. Sex with is him was so… good. Not a Strange lady at the Boston Bar good, but good. He was there and willing, so I decided to give it a shot.
But I can pinpoint the moment Chase started think about me sexually. We were in the lab one afternoon, all three of us. We had a patient who had gotten sick while having Sex with his girlfriend.
"It's got to be viral." Foreman said distractedly into the microscope. "We should start running gels and titers."
"We should test the girlfriend's theory." Chase said with a smirk. "She thinks she rode him to death."
Foreman laughed, "What did you tell her?"
"Well, I told her 22-year old men don't die of sex."
I quirked an eyebrow, and turned to him. "What'd you ask her?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I hope you got some specifics on exactly what was going on." I turned away and threw the next over my shoulder. "It's a girl who thinks it could kill you… it's worth knowing about."
Chase laughed, "Have you ever taken a life?"
I glared at him and Foreman interrupted as he got the lab results from the printer.
"We should stop the antibiotics." He said and the three of us got back to work. Later on that night, back in the lab. Foreman and I were working together.
Chase was off on the other side of the partition. Foreman glanced at Chase as I found the parvovirus results. "Negative on parvovirus B19."
"I'm impressed." Foreman stated.
"Thank you," I responded, " I was born to run gels."
"I meant about Chase."
"What about Chase?"
"Well, the man has no physical interest in you." Foreman shrugged. "He has a completely professional relationship with you, he respects you as a colleague and a doctor, and yet he can't look at you without thinking sex."
"Because I asked what kind of sex could kill you?"
"You now have total control over your relationship with him."
I smirked inwardly. I have that power over most people… except House. "So, a woman can't express her interest in sex without it being some professional powerplay?"
"No. " House said walking into the lab. "If you look the way you do, and you say what you said, you have to be aware of the effect that it'll have on men."
I'm aware…
"Men should grow up." I retorted.
House scoffed , "Yeah. And dogs should stop licking themselves, it's not gonna happen."
Then Chase walked into the room and all sex talk was over.
Later I walked into the diagnostics office, Chase was there pouring himself some coffee, and, after he turned and met my gaze he spilled it.
"Ah!" He vociferated. I held in a grin and I put on my most innocent princess glance. I guess I was born for it.
I sighed "I was just being glib."
"You haven't said anything." Chase said confused.
"No, " I began to clarify, "before when I was talking about Brandon's girlfriend thinking sex could kill you. I was just making a joke because I was uncomfortable."
"Oh, I don't even remember what you said." He lied.
Sigh.
I did a little lying of my own. "I'm uncomfortable about sex. " Chase turned quickly.
"Well, we don't have to talk about this…"
"Sex…" I push, " could kill you. Do you know what the human body goes through when you have sex? Pupils dilate, arteries constrict, core temperature rises, heart races, blood pressure skyrockets". Chase started to squirm uncomfortable. I was enjoying needling him about it. "respiration becomes rapid and shallow, the brain fires bursts of electrical impulses from nowhere to nowhere and secretions spit out of every gland" Chase began to look around for the exit I almost laughed out loud. "and the muscles tense and spasm like you're lifting three times your body weight. It's violent, it's ugly, and it's messy, and if God hadn't made it unbelievably fun… the human race would have died out eons ago." I pause for effect. "Men are lucky they can only have one orgasm." Then I made my face look super innocent and curious. I loved the effect I was having on him. "You know that women can have an hour-long orgasm?" Chase looked at me wide-eyed; not knowing what to say. He looked trapped until Foreman walked in. "Hey, Foreman. What's up?" I said releasing him.
Chase breathed in relief. "Hey, Foreman!" He said turning away from me. I laughed silently. And leaned back in my chair.
"Hey." The Neurologist responded as House walked in.
"White cell count isn't up, is it?" House stated without preamble.
"No. We were both wrong." Foreman stated and just like that our little chat was over. "White cell count is down, way down, and dropping. His immune system is shot. We need to get him into a clean room." and we were off to make this boy get his platelets back up in the clean room.
After we slept together, I decided that I would just sleep with him to scratch the itch, and just have a convenient stress release. So On Valentines day, the two of us got on the elevator. "Happy Valentine's Day." He said to me,
I shrugged. " A holiday that only applies to people who are already paired up. For everyone else it's Wednesday."
"Wow. Thank you for that dash of cold water." he said.
I smirked and shook my head. "Don't get me wrong. I still think true love's out there, it's just very far away." I stated thinking about Neil, or perhaps this woman whose face would not leave my mind. "Possibly in another galaxy. We may need to develop faster than light travel before we can make contact." The elevator came to a stop and we walked out on to the main lobby, and then I faced him. "So I'm thinking we should have sex."
"That makes sense." Chase said his brows furrowed in confusion.
"Despite the wisdom of pop songs. there's no point in putting our lives on hold 'til love comes along." I stated with a shrug. "We're both healthy and busy people. We work together so it's convenient."
"Like microwave pizza?" he asked.
"And of all the people I work with, you're the one I'm least likely to fall in love with." I said and turned to face him with a smile.
"Like… microwave pizza." He answered a little disappointed at the wording.
"The point here is to make things simpler, not more complicated." I stated and continued to walk knowing he was going to want to continue this conversation. "Someday there'll be time to get serious about someone. Meanwhile, we already had sex once and didn't get weird about it. So…"
"I get it. I get it." He said, stopping my rambling explanation and progress. "So, what if I'm offended by your judgment."
I shrugged. "Then you're not the man I'm looking for." I answered then walked off. I knew he was going to follow me. And he did.
Once this arrangement began, the release became addictive. We never went home alone. We did it on home visits while the Patient's cat watched, And even The Hospital was fair game. Of course we got caught… Once we had to do a sleep study on one of our patients. "That's his third REM cycle and his breathing is completely normal, there's obviously nothing wrong with his sleep pattern." I stated
"It's not uranium it's got to be some other sort of toxin." Chase said looking over the Data.
"Or nothing at all." I sighed and leaned back to stare at the sleeping man again. "Do you really think there's something wrong, or do you just want Foreman to be wrong?"
"Both."
"Well, it's not his sleep pattern." I asserted and got up to leave. "If you really think it's a toxin you can do a liver biopsy in the morning."
"We can't leave," He stated. "if we don't monitor the whole test, House won't accept the results, he'll just make us do it over."
I shrugged. "It doesn't take two doctors to monitor what's clearly going to be a normal polysomnogram."
"Oh so you want me to stay?" Chase asked.
"You're the one that thought there was something wrong." I said turning back to face him.
"I never said it was a sleep disorder."
"You want to flip for it?" I asked, reaching for a quarter in my pocket.
He scoffed. "Just... go."
"Oh c'mon, don't be a baby." I rolled my eyes and sat back down next to him. "Fine, I'll stay…You know what we could do…" I motioned to the empty sleep study room next door with my head.
"Here?"
"Why not?" I answered with a smirk. "We're surrounded by empty rooms with beds in them."
"Yea and video cameras too."
"So, we turn them off." I said with a smirk.
He shook his head. "Yeah that's all I need. House or Foreman walking in on us."
"We have the keys."
He pauses to think about what I was saying. I knew I had him now. "No, what if he wakes up?"
"Alright," I said, leaning back in my chair and pulled my feet up on the desk in front of me. "Suit yourself." I looked over to the screens with a very normal reading. I watched Chase out of the corner of my eye and I could see the wheels turning in there.
All of a sudden we were through the door to the empty room kissing and taking each other's clothes off, we stopped as we got in front of the video camera. Chase looked at the camera and then walked out of view to lock the door. I smirked at it and pulled off my shirt and covered the camera with it.
That was the last time too.
We walked out of the room to find Foreman leaning over John, our patient.
"What's going on?" Chase asked.
"Good question" Foreman stated looking at us. Apparently John had developed some serious bacteria in his mouth and tongue.
He held on to his questions until we were back in the diagnostic lab. "Where were you two when the guy woke up?" he finally asked.
"Uhhh... we just... stepped out for a second." Chase answered.
"To do what?"
"To... get a coffee. We'd been up most of the night."
I spoke up about our boss so the questioning would stop already. "House is just pushing to make sure we get the complete history, obviously we're missing something or we'd have the answer."
He looked me over suspiciously, "You didn't have any coffee when you came back."
"All right already, we confess." I said annoyed at the entire situation. "You caught us, we snuck into one of the sleep lab rooms to have sex, we shouldn't have done it while we were supposed to be working and we're sorry, now can we move on?"
Chase's shocked face was accentuated by Foreman's laughter. "House would do Wilson before you'd do Chase."
I smirked, I knew he wouldn't believe what I said. "No you would do House AND Wilson before I do Chase. Now can we get back to work?"
"She did me once!" Chase defended.
"She was stoned!" Foreman agreed with him, still laughing. He laughed all the way out of the room leaving Chase and I behind. 4 e my
Chase just stared at me. I looked over at him and rolled my eyes. "What? Did you want me to tell him? The truth?"
"No." he grumbled. "You didn't have to be so convincing."
I smirked, "Don't worry. I'll make it up to you."
"This is getting out of control." He said standing.
"Don't pout." I said quirking a brow.
"Our patient woke up with an infection while we were getting our rocks off."
I stood and leaned closer to him. "Do you want to stop?"
"No. But I don't want to get caught either." He said stepping back.
"You think I do?" I said folding my arms at my chest.
"You certainly didn't go out of your way to keep the volume down while we were in the sleep lab."
I laughed softly, "I couldn't help that... Why would I want to get caught?"
"Maybe you want to give House a reason to be jealous?"
I rolled my eyes. "I'm over House. All this is, is uncomplicated sex, don't try to make it more than that."
"We're not doing it at work anymore."
Right…
"Fine." I said sitting back down at the desk and placing my glasses back on my nose. I begin to look at the differentials, but in my mind I really just wanted to sneak off with him. My distraction. He sighed and I looked back at him. "Want to go grab some lunch?"
We found ourselves kissing and undressing in the supply closet. The door opened and we paused and looked over. It was House. "Sorry, looking for an extra large trash can." Then he dumped a massive amount of paper in his hands in the janitor's trash can in the corner and walked out, shutting the door behind him.
Chase sighed, "Since when does he clean anything up?"
We were paranoid after that. We didn't know if the other shoe would drop, or what House would do with that information. I should have known that he really didn't care. Though had he found out about the sleep room he might have cared a little.
What he did do is separate us, often pairing me with Foreman instead of Chase. The next time we worked together, we went to an MRI with a patient ironically called Emma.
"That was weird." to him quietly as Emma slid slowly into the tube.
"He was the way he always is." He stated.
"Which is weird." I replied noticing the patient's head was moving side to side. "Stay still, Emma."
"Sorry."
"No problem." I stated and turned the microphone off. "He caught us with your hand up my shirt. He's gotta have a reaction to that. You think that's what the vacation is?"
"Yes. The pain of losing you is obviously forcing him away." Chase stated rolling his eyes. "Coronal slice appears normal."
"There's no way House just lets this slide." I said my brow furrowed. "He's gotta be planning something."
"Maybe he just doesn't give a crap." He said. Maybe, and maybe I really wanted him to care still. "Sagittal slice is clean."
"You think he just stumbled into that closet?" I scoffed, "He knew we were there. And he wanted us to know that he knew."
"Or, you wanted him to know. Now he does and you're annoyed because he doesn't care." He double clicked a computer key and the image became bigger. "Right there. Transaxial slice. Calcified mitral valve."
I moved closer to the screen "Barely. That's not big enough to throw a clot."
"Obviously it is because it did. House was right."
I started to think Chase was right. And I relaxed. It didn't matter. I could keep having fun with my pretty blonde boy. Cuddy took charge of Emma's care stating, "House won't care. He has his diagnosis.'' She started to leave the Diagnostics room then stopped and turned to face me as we were alone in the room. "Dr. Cameron. Dating Chase… can only end in one of two ways."
I gasped and looked at her. "House told you?"
"You get married and live happily ever after or somebody gets hurt and you two can't work together and I have to fire somebody." She said without answering my question.
I scoffed. "I would hate to see my personal life become such a burden to you."
"I'm telling you this for your own good."
I quirked a brow. "Well I assume you're going to have this same conversation with Chase for his own good."
"Chase isn't the one who's gonna get hurt here." she said and walked out of the room. Who do they think I am? I was the one that invented this no strings relationship. I will not be getting hurt. I am heartless. At least when it comes to a love life. That isn't for me.
House was in the hyperbaric chamber. I went straight over to him. I am so tired of everyone thinking I am so fragile. I knocked on the chamber window and picked up the receiver to talk to him. House picked up the other receiver and lay back down in the chamber. "There's only room for one. Though I could scooch over."
"My social life is my social life." I stated.
"Couldn't agree more. What goes on in the privacy of a janitor's closet is nobody's business except –"
"She told me to end it. Is that what you want?" I interrupted, I was in no mood.
"was actually hoping she'd fire one of you."
I sighed and looked into the room. Why was he even in there? "What are you doing?"
"Trying to avoid altitude sickness. Couldn't score a direct flight to Cambodia so I decided to scale Argentina's infamous Mount Aconcagua"
"Perfect, except for the fact that you can't walk." I stated.
"There's a tribe of Macovi Indians who actually carry the elders up –"
"You're insane."
"I'm an insane genius. Set the chamber to low pressure instead of high. Thinner air builds up extra red blood cells. Creates new capillaries. Few more days in here and I can save myself six weeks in base camp. Where's my MRI?"
Thanks to Emma, I found out How Chase actually felt. I found out he was in love with me, I found out that House was a sad old man that couldn't care less about me or my feelings for me or anyone else.
Chase could no longer be a distraction…
I had a choice to make.
We broke it off.
"Maybe Foreman's right about us too. Maybe we should just stop all this. I mean, if it's affecting our jobs." Chase said in the observation room.
"It's not affecting our jobs." I stated.
"We had sex in a patient's bedroom. A bedroom we were examining for toxins. Yeah, our judgment's right on the mark."
"All right, no more sex at patient's homes." I stated. "No more sex with cats watching. Anywhere else you wanna cross off the list?"
"The bowl." He said having an epiphany mid rant.
"What?"
He looked down at our patient Fran in the gallery. "Has she eaten since she's been here?"
"She's been sick since she's been here."
"What if it's a symptom?"
"Why would you think...?"
"The cat bowl was full." He said and left the room, leaving me confused.
That night as we headed to his apartment, I said. "Nice catch."
"Thanks."
"Think even House would be impressed." I stated.
"I don't know about that."
"Any idea how you want to celebrate?" I said leaning in closer. He didn't say anything, just looked down at his shoes as we walked. "What?"
"I want more."
I laughed, "I thought you were getting a little worn out, but…"
"That's not what I meant."
I sighed and let go of his hand. "I know. I was just hoping you'd take the hint and pretend you never said that."
"I want this to be more than it is."
"I thought we were clear."
"In the beginning, but you can't tell me you don'..."
"Yes, I can. And I don't. It was... fun. That's it." I stopped standing next to him. "And now it's over."
I walked away. I should have known that wouldn't be the end.
Chase was nothing if not persistent. Every Tuesday he checked in with me. I should have seen this was a pattern with me. Because with Jay it happened, with Chase it happened… and now Hook. Whoa… but I digress.
After I stopped sleeping with Chase, things between us got really tense. One day on the observation room over the OR, The three of us, Chase, Foreman and I were watching our patient Lucy's surgery. "This thing is already all around her heart. If it gets into the muscle she's dead." Foreman contemplated as he watched.
"Best bet's Coxsackie virus, Parvovirus B19, CMV-" Chase stated.
I rolled my eyes. I was the epidemiologist here. "Bacterial infection is more likely to turn constrictive." I stated looking at the coloring of the lungs below. "It could be TB."
Perturbed chase turned to me. "Right. Forgot about the part where she did time in Russian gulag.'' He stated rolling his eyes at me "Her hematocrit's elevated."
That was all it took. We got under each other's skin. And I argued back. Until Forman just got tired of it. "Enough!" We stopped our standoff and looked over at him. "I take it you two aren't sleeping together anymore? We do what House said. We test for everything."
Then he walked out of the room annoyed. The two of us stand there sheepishly. Then Chase finally spoke up. "Good." He handed me the file and began to leave. "Then I can go home."
I scoffed at the file. "Since when does we not include you?"
He shrugged and turned to face me. "Well, House is going to call us all idiots anyway. Might as well be a well-rested idiot." Then he left me to deal with the tests.
The next day we were at Lucy's house searching for toxins. While I looked in the oven I heard Chase's input. "Oven's a long shot. You'd smell the gas long before anyone got sick."
I sighed "Yeah right, House loves it when we skip something because it's a long shot." I closed the oven and checked the stove.
"Why did you take the flower?" Came from him suddenly. I stopped and looked at him. He was referring to Lucy's big brother. He was around 8 years old. "Why'd you kiss him?"
I smirked, "He did something sweet."
"He STOLE flowers!"
Truth was, he made me think of my kid. My kid was seven somewhere out there and I would hope he was that sweet. "He's eight."
"You're trying to make me jealous." Chase said and I laughed.
"Yeah, I want you to profess your love for me," I sassed. "Oh wait, you already did that and it caused me to end our relationship." I glared at him because now I was getting none. It hasn't been this bad since right after Jay died.
"You're enabling a thief." He said as I walked away to another room. "And a delinquent!" He follows me to the room and he has a file full of papers. "Letters from school, fights, detentions, a parent conference. Oh, I know, I know, bad boys are hard to resist."
I chuckled. "It's a crush. It's harmless."
"It's never harmless."
"So I'm learning." I mumbled to myself looking through the kids rooms.
From somewhere behind me I hear a sigh, "So this is us now? We snipe at each other?"
I glanced back over my shoulder. "I'm not sniping, I'm looking for a vent." I said and crawled under the bed. "Her room directly above the garage. There's all sorts of CO sources down there." I found one and took the grill out of the wall. "I found a vent, I think there's something in it."
Chase slid his top half under the bed with me. "This isn't right." He complained. "You dumped me, you don't get to be mad."
"We had a really good thing. You broke the rules," I explained my point of view. "I'm angry. I'll get over it."
Then we pulled out a bloody pink shirt. And looked at him my eyes wide. Who has been hurting this sweet six year old girl?
Once we figured out Lucy had early onset puberty, I ran into Chase at the break room. He was looking at the coffee machine.
"Don't get the mochaccino." I stated taking a sip of my own coffee. "They screwed up and put hot chocolate in the dispenser."
He sighed, "Thank you."
I had to apologize for teasing him about being jealous of an 6 year old. "You were right. That eight-year-old kid grabbed my ass. I shouldn't have encouraged him."
He laughed. "Well, I was a boy once. I know how they think." He stated and grabbed his cup of coffee. Then he walked over to me.
I raised an eyebrow, "You were a pervert at 8?"
"Maybe... 11." He said then laughed. I couldn't help but smile at that.
" I didn't realize you were going to get hurt." I said seriously, "I'm sorry I misled you."
"You didn't." Chase said and took a sip of his coffee. I looked over at him, a bit of relief coming over me. I was glad he wasn't hurt. "You have feelings for me. You come back to me again and again."
"For sex." I asserted maintaining my no strings position in this. "It's a simple, physical…"
"C'mon, you have feelings for puppies and patients that you barely know, but when it comes to a guy that you've worked with for 3 years?" He sat next to me and reached for my hand. "Had sex with, spent the night with, you're telling me you feel nothing? Absolutely nothing?"
Suddenly there was an enrage eight year old flying at Chase. "Get away from her! Don't touch her! I'll kill you if you touch her."
"Jasper!" I said and watched the little boy take a bite of Chase. It turned out that both Lucy and her brother had been infected with some sort of hormone their father was taking to be able to fuck his young new girlfriend. It had induced premature puberty on both of the kids.
It was distracting, and the thought of me using a kid to make Chase jealous was preposterous. I got to the locker room after their discharge, and noticed flowers atop my locker. I picked it up and smelled the flowers. There was a card attached and I took it. "Not stolen." It said I smiled and looked over at Chase who was taking his sweet time getting ready to leave.
"They're beautiful." I said then stepped closer to him. "I thought about what you said, and ... I really don't want a relationship with you."
Chase nodded and continued doing what he was doing. "I know." Then he picked up his things and stepped up to me. "I also know you like flowers."
Thus started the every Tuesday routine with Chase. The next Tuesday we were conducting an MRI. "6 mm cuts, started at the apexes." Then as if we had been talking about it all along, he said, " Also, I just wanted to let you know, should you change your mind, I'll be available."
I sighed and continued pulling different views from the MRI. "Aren't you getting tired of hearing me say it?" I turned to face him. "I have no intention of going out with you, having sex with you, doing anything with you, except work."
He shrugged, "You don't have to make a big deal about it, I just thought I'd let you know. I decided Tuesdays would be a good day to do that."
I scoffed, "You did not suddenly fall in love with me. You were looking for something, and I happened to be st –"
"Cameron, it's fine." Chase interrupted. "No need to go on about it. Advancing through the lung bases."
I sighed and turned back to the monitors. "We need to put this behind us."
"Understood."
"But you keep bringing it up!"
"You're the one who's still talking." He said pressing a button to get an image of another slice. "Look, I'm not demanding anything from you, I'm not following you home, I've got no expectations. A gentle, polite reminder once a week is hardly stalking." He leaned forward and squinted. "There's a mass just outside the lingual." and just like that the conversation ended.
Sure enough, every Tuesday, inane conversations like these happened. Like, one day at the Pathology lab, while we were running tests brought up in the differentials, he did it again. We weren't even on the subject. In fact, I'd been talking about Forman. "Why is House taking it easy on Foreman?" I'd said.
"He deserves a break." Chase said, piping on to the petri dish.
I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, House is all about giving breaks to people in need."
He didn't even look up from the microscope and said, "No on klebsiella." Then his eyes shifted to me and said. "And it's Tuesday."
I furrowed my brow, I had completely forgotten what he'd said the week before.
"It's got nothing to do with Foreman or House. It's just... It's the day I remind you I like you, and I want us to be together."
I groaned. "Thank you. I'd forgotten." I went back to work annoyed and frustrated. He turned back to his work, but I was completely distracted and I put my pipette down and turned to him. "You're really gonna do this every Tuesday?"
"You take the day off, I'll pick it up on Wednesday." He stated then paused. "What if we're looking for the wrong thing?" and just like that we were back to work.
The next Tuesday, again in the Pathology lab, Like I said this was my safe place. Chase and I were looking for hepatic fibrosis on our patient. Forman had quit the week before, and it was just the two of us. I was irritated because I was stuck with chase. "Foreman's interview in New York got screwed up." I said speaking on the subject that I really wanted to speak on.
"I heard." Chase answered.
"Foreman thought it was House," I said looking into the microscope. "House thought it was Cuddy. Cuddy thought it was Wilson, Wilson thought it was me."
I had my suspicions that Chase had made it so that Forman wouldn't get hired anywhere else. Because he had been House's target all along. And he was still here solely because Foreman had quit.
"And you think it was me?" He chuckled and shook his head going back to his work. "God... you think I... sabotaged Foreman? I don't even want him here."
I nodded, "I know."
"Then why would I do...?" He asked looking over at me.
"I think you sabotaged Foreman just to sabotage Foreman." I said deciding not to look at his face, because I would see the hurt in his eye.
Chase shook his head. "So everyone's a suspect because everyone wants to help House. Except for me." He said and turned to face me. "I'm a suspect because I'm a petty, vindictive jerk?"
I just look at him, waiting for all of his reaction to happen. I had to know if this guy was real.
He sighed and chook his head again. "You actually think I would do something like that?"
I shrugged, "It was someone."
"It wasn't me." He insisted. The nearby computer beeped, signaling the result of one of our tests was done. He took it out and annoyed he said. " Negative for VonGierke disease." He paused and turned to me. "And it's Tuesday."
Sigh
"I know."
"I like you." He grumps back at me.
I smirked because he said it even though he was mad, and I was starting to crack. For an unwanted little girl to get so much love is everything. "I know. See you next Tuesday."
The next Tuesday, Chase was no longer working at Plainsboro Presbyterian. House had actually fired him. House couldn't trust him anymore, and I didn't blame him. Not only that, but Chase had finally given up on me. After work I walked past the diner by the hospital and saw chase sitting at the bar. I paused and went inside. I sat next to him, he was looking down at his dinner lost in thought but I knew he knew it was me. "Hey."
"Hey." He said then looked me over. "You look great."
"You know House firing you has nothing to do with you?" I said facing him on my stool.
"The why doesn't matter."
"Foreman will end up staying and House will call you and probably yell at you for not showing up." I said optimistically.
"Its... its okay." he said turning back to his dinner. "He's right; it's time for a change." He put his fork down and turned to face me. "You were right too, the whole it's Tuesday I like you... it was silly." My look of pity must have come across my face. Because he said, "Oh, don't give me that look, don't feel sorry for me. Getting this job was THE best thing that has ever happened to me, everything about it. And losing it? Well I... think it's... gonna be good too." He misinterpreted the piteous look. It was for me, I was starting to like being wanted. Chase would never need me to feel complete. Chase had it all. That was why I just resisted him for so long.
"I'll miss you." I said placing my hand on his shoulder.
"Have you got time for a drink or something?" He said turning to me with an almost hopeful expression.
I got off of the stool and looked at him. "I think I should go."
He shrugged, "Yeah."
I left the diner with a sigh.
One entire week without Chase proved to be hard. I did literally miss him. I found myself driving up to Boston on Monday. It was my day off and I was searching for my little boy. To tell the truth I had been looking for the Hot brunette from before. I knew that she was from out of town, but every once in a while I would show up to the same bar from before on my days off, and wait for her.
It was springtime this time, I was out on Boston Common. I knew that I'd be moving up to Boston the moment I left House. So I was looking for apartments I could get. I saw a preconstruction Condo and I walked into the sales office. I bought my first place and used Emma Swan.
As I stepped out of my building, I saw her. She walked past me heading toward the bar we'd met at the year before. "Hey!" I said. She stopped and turned to face me.
The shock and was it pleasure? The emotion played across her beautiful brown eyes. "Hello, Miss…"
I smirked, "I guess we never exchanged names last time." I held my hand out. "Cameron, if you want to be formal."
She smiled and looked me over. "Regina." She said. "I was just headed to the venue where we met in the hopes to get a drink."
"Me too, care to join me?" I answered.
She nodded and we walked together. We talkies a little. She said she was from Maine. She didn't tell me the town. She told me she had a Seven year old son at home, and the last time we had met, was his birthday.
My gut flipped at this information, but I pushed it down. She showed me a picture of his little face, and he looked like she did. My heart ached because I would have been that same kind of mother, I was sure of it.
"So what brings you out here this time?" I asked.
"It is my annual shopping trip, It's when I do the bulk of the shopping for Henry for his birthday and Christmas." She stated. "Shopping is dismal in my town."
I smirked and looked at her. She was a bit of a label whore. "Small town living eh?"
"Indeed… what brings you back to Boston?" She asked me.
"I… Just bought a Condo, I think I'm gonna move up here." I stated. "The fellowship I work I feel is about to disband, so I have to plan out my next move."
"So you are also here for the week?" She asked
"The day, I drove up on my day off." I stated. "I am back on shift in the morning."
Regina smirked and stood from the barstool she was sat at. "Well there isn't much time then, is there?" She stated.
I looked at her, "are you fond of public restroom sex?" I asked.
"Dr. Cameron, I thought you'd be more comfortable in my hotel room." Regina said, "and we can take our time."
I smirked and followed her to her room.
The car ride back home that night was drought with thoughts of that woman, and her assertion that she would see Emma Next year. Right after she picked up the phone and was talking to some guy. I made a bit of noise in the background and she turned to me and glared. She explained me away, as if I were nothing and I was thrown back into that lost unwanted little girl.
I reeled back and I slid out of the bed. I picked up my clothes and put them on in haste. I looked at the time on my phone and saw that if I left now, I could be back in New Jersey before 11.
She was still talking on the phone when I left the room. "Alison!" I heard her shout at me as I got on the elevator. She couldn't come after me, she was naked and wrapped in a bedsheet. Now I understood what Chase was feeling. I wanted so much more with Regina at that moment.
Being in his shoes was heartbreaking. So I decided I would fix that.
I drove straight to Chase's brownstone that night and knocked on the door. He startled when he saw me at the door. "Hi."
"It's Tuesday." I said with a sheepish smile.
He furrowed his brow then looked up at me. "Uhh... no, it's Monday."
"I shrugged, "I know, it's just... I didn't feel like waiting."
He smiled at me, and I couldn't help but smile back. He liked me, that was enough. Sure I didn't love him at all, but it was better than knowing how hurt he felt and not being able to do anything about it.
The next morning I came into his office. I was the only fellow left on his team, and I was about to leave him too. I sat at his desk, in his chair so that he didn't ignore what I was about to say like he had done the other times I had quit on him. "You now have a bigger office than I do, why don't you go enjoy it." he said dismissively. I stood and handed him a manila envelope. "Better be naked pictures."
"My resignation letter." He was surprised at first, but then he seemed resigned to the fact and put the letter down. He looked up at me as though to ask me why. " I've gotten all I can from this job."
"What do you expect me to do?" He asked, dropping into his chair. " Break down and apologize? Beg Chase to come back?"
I shook my head. "No, I expect you to do what you always do." I said and signaled to the desk where the letter lay. "I expect you to make a joke and go on. I expect you to be just fine." I turned to leave, and shouted over my shoulder. "I'll miss you." and I walked out of the diagnostics lab. I was free.
