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It was the Saturday after they had diagnosed Beth Landry, and all of House's staff had the day off due to the incredible workload they 'd endured the week before. House planned to stop in and check on their two remaining patients later in the day, but sleeping in was definitely a top priority. Even so, he woke before Allison, and decided to let her sleep and make his quick run to the hospital and pick up breakfast on the way back. He left a note and headed out a little after 9:30am

Therefore when the phone rang an hour later, Allison was out of it enough to answer it without thinking. Her groggy hello was greeted by a moment of silence, followed by a slightly confused female voice.

"I was trying to reach Dr. Gregory House," the caller informed her.

Allison awoke fairly quickly at that. "One moment please." She managed to say politely before putting down the phone and dashing out to find Greg. It only took a minute to spot the note propped up on the kitchen counter and dash back to the phone.

"He went out to run a few errands. Can I take a message?" Allison asked, praying it was a sales person.

"This is his sister Olivia. Could you ask him to call me as soon as possible?" she inquired.

CRAP.

"Of course. He should be back soon. I'll give him the message," Allison assured her.

Thank you, miss…?" Olivia was obviously hunting for information now.

"It's Allison. Allison Cameron," she replied, now feeling distinctly queasy. "I'll have Greg call as soon as he gets in."

"Thank you Allison," Olivia replied, and Allison could practically hear her planning to interrogate her brother.

But there was no time to worry about that at the moment. Allison made a mad dash to the bathroom and that is where House found her hunched over the toilet ten minutes later.

"This is a new look for you," he commented on finding her there.

Her only reply was a moan as she heaved the remaining contents of her stomach. To her surprise House was immediately at her side and even as one hand swept her hair back off her neck, the other was pressing a cool washcloth to bared skin. She instantly felt better and improved even further when he moved away to get her a glass of water to sip.

After a few minutes House helped her to her feet. "So that looked like fun. Same time tomorrow?" he quipped.

Allison gave a small smile despite herself. "I'd say it was a safe bet," she commented, and then paled slightly as she remembered the message she needed to pass along.

Seeing her lose what little color she had concerned House and he guided her over to sit on the bed.

"You might let me cope on my own tomorrow once I tell you what I did just before I lost it all," she confessed.

Instinct caused him to look around. Nothing seemed to be broken.

"I answered your phone," she said in a rush.

There was no reply.

"It was your sister. She wants you to call right away," she told him watching for a reaction.

"I'll bet she did," House commented with a sigh.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He really wasn't mad at her. After all it was just as likely nowadays that the call could have been for her. Besides, she looked pathetic.

"Well, I was going to tell them eventually, so there is no harm done," he admitted. "I'd better call her right away."

Allison let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. She was relieved and a bit thrilled by his reaction. If he didn't mind her meeting his family it meant they were progressing. She knew better than to make a big deal out of it though.

Although she couldn't resist one quip as she left him in peace to make his call. "Does this mean we don't have to move to a house with a basement for me to hide in?"

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As it turned out, Olivia had called because she was concerned about their mother. Madeline House had been diagnosed years ago with a heart murmur that had never been much of a problem. But Olivia thought that the sixty-eight year old seemed more tired than usual, and wanted Greg's opinion. After going over her meds and symptoms he finally suggested that they come down from Connecticut for a few days so Madeline could get checked out at PPTH. It wasn't until the very end of the conversation that Olivia brought up the fact that a woman had answered the phone.

"So this Allison. Will we be meeting her?" she asked.

"Allison! That's her name! I've been wracking my brains trying to remember it, thanks Livie," Greg replied.

Then he spotted Allison looking at him with a raised eyebrow and a bit of a hurt expression so he sighed and stopped fooling around. "Yes. You will definitely be meeting her," he agreed.

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The original plan had been for the two women to drive to Greg's that afternoon and spend the evening before going to the hospital the next day. However during the four-hour drive from her home Olivia became concerned when her mother seemed a bit disoriented so instead she took her directly to PPH. An alert nurse contacted Dr. Cuddy who was still in her office and Madeline was settled into a private room on the cardiac floor with little fuss. Cuddy then paged House and the head of cardiology, Dr. Gordon.

Twenty minutes later Greg and Allison arrived at the hospital. Not wanting to get in the way, Allison left to go check on their patients. She told House to go see to his mom, and to page her if she was up to visitors. "Otherwise come find me in your office. I'll try to make a dent on the stack of charts you have hidden in your bottom drawer."

House was thankful she was being so understanding. His top priority at the moment was to find out what was going on with his mom, and only after he was satisfied she was ok would he be ready to introduce Allison to her. He gave her a quick kiss and then left her to head to the cardiac unit. When he arrived Dr. Gordon was already inside and Olivia was sitting outside with Wilson and Cuddy.

"Don't believe a word they say," House warned as he stepped forward to give his sister a hug as she rose to greet him.

"They were telling me that Allison is way too good for you," Olivia teased.

"Oh, well that's true," he shrugged then cocked his head towards the closed door. "Any word yet?"

"Dr. Gordon has only been in there for five minutes," Wilson informed him.

Despite his respect for Jack Gordon, House was about to make a snide remark when the man exited Madeline's room and faced four sets of concerned eyes. He knew Greg House well enough to get right to the point.

"Well, the murmur is more pronounced than on the tests sent from Madeline's doctor in Florida. However I don't think it is anything life threatening at this point. She most likely just needs an adjustment to her meds. I would like to keep her overnight to get a good reading of the murmur, then in the morning we can discuss what medications to try," he told them.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the two House siblings simultaneously asked "Can we see her?"

"Sure, but no more than you two tonight," Dr. Gordon stated firmly.

Greg nodded and offered a brief "Thanks Jack," before he hobbled into his mother's room. Followed by Olivia who took a moment to turn and thanks James and Lisa.

"No thanks needed, Olivia. Tell House we will catch up with him in the morning," James said.

House was glad to see that his mom was alert when they entered. They spent a few minutes making sure she understood what Dr. Gordon had told her and then Madeline took over.

"I want to meet Allison in the morning Gregory, no excuses," she demanded firmly having dealt with his brand of procrastination all his life.

"I have no idea what you are taking about, Mother," he replied with a twinkle in his eye.

They chatted for a few minutes but it soon became obvious that Madeline could barely keep her eyes open so the two left her to get her sleep.

As they headed out into the corridor Olivia noticed a pretty young brunette heading towards them, and was surprised when her brother paused to wait for the woman.

"Hey, I thought you were heading to my office," he greeted.

"They moved Beth Landry up here a couple of hours ago to do some more extensive tests to determine any heart damage. I just finished checking on her," the woman explained. She turned to Olivia. "You must be Olivia. I'm Allison," she said offering her hand.

Olivia wasn't sure what she had been expecting but she suddenly knew that she was going to have all sorts of fun teasing her brother about robbing the cradle, and she shook the proffered hand with a twinkle in her eyes. "It's a real pleasure to meet you Allison."

Greg, who knew exactly how his sister's mind worked prepared himself for the taunting he knew would come later. For now though he simply herded the two women to the parking garage. Once there, Olivia quickly maneuvered Allison into her car to give her directions and Greg was left to drive alone in the convertible.

'Like a rat from a sinking ship,' Allison thought with a huff, even as Olivia started her inquisition.

"So, I will be in deep trouble with my mother if I don't get all the basics. We might as well get this over with," she suggested with a grin.

Allison smiled despite herself. "Dr. Allison Cameron, immunologist, age 30, good health," she provided.

"Marital status?" Olivia asked.

"Widowed," Allison replied turning her head as she pretended to look to see where they were. "You need to make a left at the next light."

Of all of the possible answers, Olivia hadn't been prepared for that one, so after a shocked moment of silence she continued.

"Any children?" she asked.

"No children," Allison told her, deciding it wasn't really a lie as Olivia obviously meant children from her marriage. Still, the answer was painful in many ways and she kept her head turned to watch the scenery pass by outside of the passenger window.

Suddenly Olivia felt uncomfortable. She could sense that Allison was in some distress and she quickly tried to think of something to break the solemn mood.

"So I guess there really is only one other question. What the heck do you see in that grumpy old man?" Olivia teased.

Allison who quickly regained control turned towards her with a wicked grin. "Are you sure you want to know?"

Olivia's eyes widened. "Only if it's nothing kinky," she declared.

"Let's just say he has the hands of a surgeon and a pianist and let it go at that," Allison grinned.

House could only wonder what the hell the joke was when the two women pulled up in the driveway, got of the car, took one look at him, and both started laughing.

He certainly knew better than to ask.

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TBC