Promised You a Miracle
Cameron woke up to the sun pouring into her room. Had it all been a dream? She fought the knot in her stomach and looked at her left hand. It was still there, glinting in the early morning light.
She looked around her room. Her open suitcase spilling over with dirty laundry. The drawers in her room ajar from frantic packing before she left. "This is no dream. This is a real mess."
She wandered into her kitchen and checked the fridge, knowing full well that she had emptied it before she left. A pound of Starbucks Komodo Dragon coffee, a fresh quart of milk and a pint of orange juice sat next to a carton of eggs. A note told her to look in the bread box. She found croissants. "Foreman. You are a God-send." She cooked herself breakfast, taking every opportunity to admire her hand.
Properly fortified she could now tackle the laundry. She had it sorted and started the first load when she heard a knock at the door. "Coming!" She sang out.
Foreman stood there in his Sunday suit. "So? How awkward is work going to be tomorrow?"
She motioned him in and poured him a cup of coffee. "I don't think it will be too bad. We're still speaking, if that's what you're asking. Oh, thanks for the groceries, I am in no mood to go to the store."
He sipped and smiled. "My pleasure, I know how it is. So what stupid thing did he say?"
"I don't know what you could possibly mean." She feigned a quizzical look, and stuck her left index finger in her mouth, just enough to draw attention to her hand.
Foreman allowed his eyes to be directed to the ring. "Oh Sweet Baby Jesus, tell me that isn't what I think it is."
She giggled and then laughed, "It's worse. It's a promise ring."
He smacked the heel of his hand to his forehead. "He bought you a five-thousand dollar ring as a promise? What did you do to him?"
"Nothing." She regarded his skeptical look. "Really. We're still virgins. Figuratively speaking. He just really, really likes me. And I really, really like him. Okay, indulge me for a minute." Her voice went up an octave with giddiness, "And we're going to get married and have babies and live happily ever after!" She gazed lovingly at the ring again and tried to return to normal. "What do you mean five-thousand dollars?"
"That's Bulgari right? That diamond is probably very close to flawless and it's about a half carat. Seriously, you can tell me; I won't judge you. Was he very kinky?" His eyes sparkled mischievously.
The color drained from her face and she sat down in her favorite chair. "Oh no." She looked at her finger again, "But I love my ring. I love him. Why would he spend so much?"
Foreman laughed, "Oh yeah, it's going to be awkward. He's sprung. Girl, you got paid!"
"No! It's cute, it's a joke. I couldn't possibly…I'll call Chase! He'll know." She grabbed her phone and dialed Chase's cell. "Chase, it's Ali. Foreman's trying to freak me out. Where are you? Well gnaw your arm off and get over here."
Foreman flipped through her magazine rack and came up with a Vogue. He leafed through the pages until he found an ad. "Allison, come here." She sat next to him on the sofa. "Here's proof." The glossy pages showed various settings for diamonds and other precious stones. "He's got great taste."
"This isn't funny. I mean I had a crush and he liked me and we sat up kissing every night. He asked me to live with him and I told him I needed time. I thought the promise ring was so cute and so perfect. I thought it might have cost him a couple of hundred dollars. I had no idea…Oh no."
Foreman took off his jacket and loosened his tie, "I don't see what the problem is. He wanted you to have it; you want to wear it, done deal."
"But it's too much." She compared her ring with those in the magazine. She got up and fussed with her laundry and worried.
Chase arrived around thirty minutes later wearing the previous night's clothes. "So what's gone wrong? What did House do?"
"Show him." Foreman instructed Cameron.
She extended her left hand towards him, quickly flipping the magazine shut. "What do you think?"
"Wow. So have you set the date?"
She snatched her hand back, "It's a promise ring."
"That's some promise. What did that set him back do you think?" Chase asked Foreman.
"About five grand."
"Yeah, give or take. Good quality stone." He went into the kitchen to pour a cup of coffee.
Foreman saw that Cameron was still flipping out, "Okay, you can call your mom and tell her you got a promise ring. You can show everyone you know. You can get a cute manicure so it looks good. What you can not do is let him know that it bugs you that he spent so much money on it. This is something that he wants you to wear. No matter what it cost, it doubled in value for him when you put it on your finger. Don't worry. You're worth it." He patted her on the hand.
"I'm not so sure." Cameron had a far away look in her eyes.
xxxxxxx
House sat at the piano and played his favorite songs, mostly from the Cole Porter song book. He had just finished Night and Day when he heard the knocking at his door. "Come in!" He called. He was hoping that it was her, but in a way, he was happy to have some time to himself.
Wilson opened the door and blinked. "Hey, you've got the curtains open. It's bright and sunny in here."
"Yes, I've ushered in a new era." He tinkled the keys and then closed the cover over them.
"Oh? To what do we owe this miraculous change?" He walked back into the kitchen to get a beer out of the fridge.
"The usual things." House said dismissively, "But how's everything with you?"
"Don't ask." Wilson flopped on the leather sofa and rooted around for the remote. "Isn't there a game on?"
"What sport?" House smiled, despite his best efforts.
"Doesn't matter," Wilson said sulkily.
"Tennis? Golf? Baseball? Tiddly-winks?" House suggested.
"Yes. Fine. Put on ESPN the quad, if you have to." He flipped through the usual Sunday public affairs programming.
"Did Julie find a receipt that she shouldn't have?" He walked over to the bookshelf and absently looked over his collection of satirical novels.
"Something like that. It's my fault, I shouldn't be mad at her. But I am. I can't believe I'm on my third divorce. I'm too young to have three divorces. You've got the right idea. Never get married." He lay on the sofa and blew his bangs out of his face. "You got any nachos?"
"No. And I'm afraid that I'm deficient in the other category too." He quietly contemplated his friend and wondered what he would say.
"Other category?" Wilson said.
"Never getting married." He said.
Wilson got up so fast he gave himself a head-rush. "Holy shit House." It seemed that there should be more to the story. "So tell me what happened?"
"There's not much to tell. I gave her a ring; she's agreed to wear it. Maybe we'll get married." He picked up the phone, "You want me to order some Chinese?"
Wilson nodded. "There's something you're not telling me."
House rolled his eyes and placed the order, "I got extra dumplings, they just seem to be so…Sunday to me."
"So I'm guessing that you got beyond kissing? Am I right? Does she wear black lace panties?" He held out his hand as though collecting on a bet.
"You know, a hundred years ago I would have to duel with you over a remark like that. But I'm willing to overlook it, mostly because I don't know for sure."
"You got her an engagement ring and you haven't even…" He tried to think of a way to put it delicately and realized that he didn't have the vocabulary for it, "You're romantic!" He accused.
House gave him a withering look. "I beg your pardon?"
"An engagement ring House? And no nookie? That's romance."
"Technically it's a promise ring. She didn't want to be rushed." He explained, blushing under a two-day growth of beard.
"Okay, a promise ring. That's incredibly lame. How much did she love it?"
"More than a lot." House said, "It's a really beautiful ring."
Wilson's eyes narrowed to slits, "How beautiful?"
House shrugged, "I wanted something as unique and graceful as she is."
"So tomorrow when we get to work she's going to be surrounded by women squealing over her ring? That's the forth circle of hell House. Especially with Julie on the rampage." He sat back down on the sofa.
"I plan on being incommunicado all day. I'll be in the Clinic if that's what it takes." He stacked a pile of papers that he had collected during his trip. Boarding passes, tour tickets and receipts.
Wilson sorted through the pile after him. "You saw Pompeii? Cool."
"Ask Cameron to see her pictures, the place is incredible," He was happy to change the subject.
"Are you going to scrapbook these? Why don't you just throw this stuff away?"
House reached possessively for it, "Leave it alone. It's mine!"
"Spoken like a two-year old." Wilson laughed as he reached for a paper that escaped from the pile and was floating towards the floor. "What's this?" He read it out loud, "El Corte Ingles? That sounds fancy."
"Give me that!" House reached frantically for the paper but Wilson played keep-away with it, standing on the sofa.
"So you bought something for €4100? What's that work out to?" Wilson seemed to have no idea. "Wait! This is the receipt for the ring?" He worked out some calculations in his head. "These aren't pesos, these are euros." He sat down on the sofa and handed the receipt back to House. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"I haven't the vaguest idea." House admitted, "I just figure I'll do the opposite of what you tell me to do."
"You're a cold man House."
xxxxxx
Cameron was in his office sipping coffee and deleting his e-mail. He startled her. "You're here early." She said.
"I wanted to see you."
"Making sure I'm real?"
"That's just witchcraft." He said. "How do you know my thoughts?"
"They're mine too. All day yesterday I kept checking my hand. Do you suppose that's how the whole ring giving thing came about? As a way for girls to know that it wasn't a beautiful dream, that every minute of it was real and true?" She stood on her tip toes to kiss him.
"Real and true?" He had at least four snarky things to say to that and he let every one of them go.
"I already told the boys."
"Great. I guess merciless teasing is in the works for the next week or so?"
"Pretty much. There's all sorts of opportunity for awkwardness. You might want to have a conversation with Stacy. I mean, on the one hand you don't want people to just find out and fill in their own blanks, but on the other, what exactly are we announcing?"
He bypassed that minefield. "And then there's Cuddy." He added.
"Oh. Yeah. Glad you've got that one." She brushed past him to head down to the lab. She turned back towards him. "So when do I get to think clearly again? When do I get to take you for granted?"
He shook his head, "I don't know. I'm still dazzled myself."
She smiled, "But you're still my boss. When we're at work, nothing changes, right?"
"Absolutely. Count on me for insensitive remarks and biting sarcasm."
"I always do." She fluttered her fingers at him as she left.
"This is going to be weird." He said to himself.
xxxxx
Cuddy was usually in the clinic on Mondays to insure that things were running smoothly after the weekend. She was shocked to see House limping in bright and early. She smiled at him, "Look who we have here. So how badly did you screw up? Has she quit again?" She signed him in and looked over the list of waiting patients. "If I have to find another doctor to replace her I'm giving you the kid with diarrhea."
"It's worse." He said simply, "I'm here to do my penance. Kid with diarrhea, old lady with trichomonas, guy with a boil on his ass. Bring it on."
She regarded him suspiciously, "I'm wearing my pink ruffled shirt, which you haven't acknowledged at all. You're here early and you're volunteering to take the dogs? This is worse than I thought. I'm going to have to involve the lawyers aren't I?" She sighed with annoyance. "What did you do House?"
"You'll find out soon enough. My only defense is that I was provoked." He grabbed a chart and stepped out into the waiting room, "Travis?" He called. He turned back to a worried Cuddy, "That's the kid with the runs, right?"
She nodded and watched as he escorted the mother and her son into the exam room. "I've got to see about this."
She walked down to the diagnostic medicine department. She didn't know what she expected to see, but she wasn't going to rest until she knew the story. She was surprised to find Cameron in the lab catching up on paperwork.
"Oh." Cuddy walked in.
"Didn't think I'd be here?" Cameron said pleasantly.
"The way House was talking…I'm glad you're being professional. Whatever it is we can work it out." Cuddy sighed with relief.
"He's yanking your chain. We're fine. We're more than fine." She held out her hand.
Cuddy grabbed it to get a better look, "Oh my God. That's beautiful. You're going to marry him?" That seemed kind of drastic. Cuddy's idea of purgatory was a lifetime with House.
"It's a promise ring. We're not ready yet to get married. It's no big deal. I'd really like just to get used to the idea for a while."
"I can certainly understand that." Cuddy said diplomatically. "I'm glad. It'll be good for him. Okay, I guess I'll just get back to work." She started to walk out, "Let me see it one more time."
xxxxx
Cameron found that staying in the lab was a good way to avoid the inevitable looks and whispers. A hospital is a small place when there's news this big. She decided to stay away from the Clinic to allow House his space and to try to concentrate on something else.
Foreman showed up at around one with some lunch for her. "I figured that you'd be here all day." He handed her the styrofoam box.
"You take very good care of me." She opened it to see what it was, "chicken salad. Yum. Thanks, I'll eat it later; I'm not all that hungry right now." She pushed it to the side.
"You might not feel like eating, but you really should." He pushed back to her.
"Eric, is it really so weird?" She took a mouthful to please him.
"Yes. It's entirely weird. But Allison, you've never done anything normal in your life. Just add this to the list. You see something in him, he sees something in you. What, we'll never know…"
She swatted him, "If you knew my family, you'd understand."
"How so?" He slid the pickle out of the box and bit into it, "You didn't want this, did you?"
"Not now." She took another bite, "I'm the youngest in my family by fifteen years. My brothers and sisters are all way older than I am. I guess I'm just more comfortable with a guy who talks like they do, listens to the same music. He just fits comfortably in my mind. If that makes sense."
"But what about your husband? He wasn't older, was he?" He looked down, afraid that he might have said something to make her sad.
"No. But that was different. It's not that I was consciously looking for an older guy, but for me, it's not something I'd rule out. And I didn't." She couldn't help herself; she stole another look at her ring. "Thank God."
xxxx
At around four, Cameron had finally sorted everything out. She filed it all and made the appropriate notes in the charts and felt that considering how disordered her emotions were, that she had at least managed to put the scut-work in order. Not that it was much of an accomplishment.
She was about to walk up to House's office, looking for something to do when Wilson found her. "Hey, been hiding out here all day?"
"Yup. Did a little work too. I guess he told you?" She felt shy suddenly, Wilson was important to House and more than once he had warned her not to play with his emotions.
"Oh yeah. He told me. So let me see." He took her hand, "That's beautiful. Have you been showing it around?"
She took her hand back, "No. Not that much."
"Don't want to show it off?" He admired it for another few seconds.
"Who here really cares? It's pointless to garner oohs and ahs from people who are just looking for a cheap thrill. It's different when it's someone who knows us, someone who's happy for us." She licked her lips, "are you happy for us?"
Wilson smiled, "Of course."
"Are you sure? It changes a lot of things for you. You rely on Greg a lot." She didn't elaborate.
"I do, but ultimately I want to see him happy." He considered his words, "Or less miserable. Might as well aim for something attainable."
"I'm aiming for happy." She said simply.
"That's what I like about you. Your eternal optimism. So you've got what you want, huh?"
"I think so. It happened so quickly. I wonder if he might wake up one day and realize that he's made a mistake. I don't want to rush him."
"Oh. That explains a lot. He's a decisive person."
"I've noticed."
"He's sure right now; today. Aren't you?" He wasn't worried about House's ambivalence.
"I want to learn more about him. I know him as a person and I love what I know, but I need more time."
"What if after that time you decide you don't want him?"
"Is that what he's afraid of, or what you're afraid of?" She loved how protective Wilson was of House.
Wilson gave a self-effacing laugh. "It's probably me."
"Would you feel better if I swore to love, honor and cherish him, in sickness and in health, in front of a judge? Would that make it right in your eyes?"
"Ouch." Wilson replied, "I was hoping that you'd rub off on him, not the other way around."
"I'm sorry. That was harsh. You know, better than anyone, that there aren't any guarantees. I promise this, I'm with him with my eyes wide open. I don't want from him what he can't give."
Wilson hugged her, "I guess that's as good as it gets. Welcome to the family."