Chapter 13

Author's Note: Ok, so it has been a while since an update. I apologize but this week has been absolutely crazy! LOL. Watching House on Tuesday (actually I watched it after my last class today from tape,) I got re-inspired after the disaster that was the season premiere. (Well, disaster may be a little rash but it certainly wasn't a good week for House/Cameron fans) LOL! I hope you enjoy and thank you for your patience!

Morning came much too quickly for House's liking. Somehow during the night, despite the wall of pillows, Cameron had breached the barricade and was now snuggled right against him, her head on his chest and arm thrown across his stomach. He wasn't complaining. Her quiet breathing was soft against his grey T-shirt and he was glad she was resting comfortably, she still needed to sleep more than she had been.

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

The piercing beeping of his pager tore apart the morning serenity with evil force. Muttering numerous curses, House carefully tried to extract himself from Cameron without waking her and reach the pager on his nightstand. No such luck. He watched with disdain as her eyes flickered open and she blinked groggily, clearing the sleep from her eyes. "House?"

"Shh, go back to sleep. Its just the hospital. Chase and Foreman are probably trying to play a prank on their charming boss or something." House watched as she groaned and flopped over on her side, bringing the blankets up to her ears and fell back to sleep. He snatched up the pager and rolled his eyes:

Msg Received: 11/26/05 7:16am from Dr.E.Foreman

"Call me at the hospital, we can't find Cameron."

Smirking, House quickly texted him back saying that she had probably been out for a night on the town and they shouldn't disturb her because she may be getting laid. Within three minutes, the phone was ringing.

"Hello?" House pretended not to know who was calling.

"What the hell is your problem man? Cameron just got the shit beaten out of her and you think she is out for a night on the town. I've been calling her all night and if we don't find her soon, I'm calling the police. Who the hell knows where this lunatic is!" Foreman was steaming mad.

"Calm down daddy. I'm sure she around somewhere." House was stalling, he didn't want them to know that Cameron had spent the night with him. "Why are you calling her anyway, you know she has the week off work!"

"Her building super called the hospital wondering if she was there because she has a stack of newspapers on her doorstep and when he phoned the hotel number she gave him, they told him she checked out. No one knows where she is."

House sighed, there was no way around this. "She is here. But she is asleep so can I give her a message for you?"

There was a long, drawn out pause on the other end of the line and House briefly wondered if he had hung up. "She is where exactly? At your house?"

"That is where I am so unless I am hallucinating, then yes, she is at my house. Can I give her a message?" House sighed, not at all amused with Foreman waking him up.

"No. Just tell her that she shouldn't eat anything out of your refridgerator and she can call me when she feels up to it."

"Okay then, buh-bye" House hung up the phone without giving him the opportunity to answer. Mentally, he swore. This was going to be all over the hospital in a matter of hours. Picking up the phone, he called Cuddy's office and told her assistant that he wouldn't be in today.

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It was nearly noon before Cameron woke up and she sat up in bed, momentarily confused as to where she was. She didn't recognize the masculine bed she was sleeping in or the stacks of medical journals that littered every flat surface in the bedroom. Catching a glimpse at the CDplayer and impressive stack of CD's, she realized that she was in House's apartment, in his bed. She looked out the window and saw that blue sky was peeking out behind the rainclouds that had been hovering over Princeton for the last four days.

"So, you finally decided to join the land of the living. Thats good because for a while there I thought maybe you were taking a dirt nap or something." House had his head poked inside the bedroom door and was regarding the sleepy Cameron with a smirk on his handsome face. "You know, when I said you could sleep over, it would have been much more fun if you actually woke up in the morning for breakfast."

"Sorry. I guess I was more tired than I thought." Cameron swung her legs gingerly off the bed and painfully stood, the cold floor on her bare feet making her shiver. "Oh, son of a bitch, one of these mornings I'll be able to stand without a knife poking my ribs." She put her hand on her injured side sat back down on the bed, breathing deeply.

"Still smarts huh?" House limped over to her side and helped her into a standing position.

"OUCH! Dammit!" Cameron settled back into her previous position, grasping her ribcage painfully.

House felt his concern growing. "Where is the pain exactly Cameron?" He tried to lift her shirt but pulled back when she cried out in pain.

"Ow. The whole side hurts, I can't sit up. Please don't make me sit up House." Tears of pain gathered in her eyes and trickled down her pale face, she was beginning to wheeze.

"Ok, ok. Hang on Cameron." He grabbed his medical bag off the dresser and pulled out his stethescope. Thrusting it into his ears he pressed the other end against her side, listening carefully through her gasps of pain to her lungs. The blood drained from his face when he got a good listen. Trying to keep calm for her sake, House reached for his cell phone on the nightstand.

"Cameron, I'm going to call an ambulance, we need to get you back to the hospital and I certainly can't carry you to the car."

Her eyes flew open in a panic. What! I'm fine, its just..." Her words were cut short by another gasp of pain and all the color drained from her face. "Is it.. Is it..." She tried to ask but it felt like someone was sucking all the air out of her chest, making it impossible for her to breathe.

"Yes, this is Dr. Greg House, I need a bus at my apartment 2243 Gorge Way, Princeton. I have a thirty-one year old woman with three day old rib fractures that have displaced resulting in a pneumothorax. Tell them to send a respiratory ambulance, she'll need to be intubated." He hung up the phone and turned his attention back to Cameron, who was breathing hard, trying to get oxygen into her injured lung.

"Cameron, hey Cameron!" House tried to get her attention. "Look at me. LOOK AT ME," he gently turned her face toward him and made her focus on him. He saw her struggled to keep her eyes open and locked with his, her breathing slowing considerably. "Don't you do this! You hear me! Just keep breathing, nice and slow. I've got help on the way. Help is coming." He was breathing hard, fighting the panic from his body. There was not much he could do until they got her to a hospital and re-inflated her collapsed lung.

"House," Cameron whispered, "House, I..." her eyes drifted closed and House immediately shook her shoulder. "Stay awake Cameron. STAY AWAKE!"

Her eyes fluttered half-open and she continued, "I love you House." A tear slipped down her face and weakly, she sought for his hand on the bed.

He grasped her hand in his tightly and leaned down to her face. "Don't you talk like that Cameron, you're going to be just fine. You hear me? Just fine." House rested his forehead against her sweaty brow and kissed the skin there, "You're going to be just fine."

T.B.C...