You guys are so great! Thanks for all of the reviews! I love ya'll!
By the way, I haven't been to Sea World San Diego in…I don't know…it's been about two or three years now, and all I remember is the fact that I saw Shamu, but not a heck of a lot more than that. So, basically, most of this chapter really is the work of fiction, with a few exceptions. (However, the situation with Shamu and Cameron? Actually, that did happen. Only, it was a man in his mid 40's when I saw it. I took some authorial license.) Just clarifying, so you don't have another reason to sue me!
Disclaimer: I don't own House; you know that, so why am I writing this?
Vacation
Chapter 7
"It is way too early to be awake," House commented as the limo sped down the highway, driven by the ever-jubilant Rob, who was softly humming to himself.
"You can say that again," came the only reply; House was too tired to actually say it again.
"How can you say that?" Cuddy asked, puzzled. She was alert enough for the rest of them. So was Foreman, for that matter, but he'd never show it. "You have to be at work at 7 am! Why are you so tired now?"
House's eyes traveled much faster than his head to look at Cuddy. "I never stayed up until 1:00 in the morning at a restaurant called Ernie's."
Cuddy had to agree, "That could be it."
Finally they arrived at Sea World. They had given Rob permission to do whatever he liked until 2:00 this afternoon, when they had decided to leave. Cameron had silently pouted and mumbled to herself that six hours wasn't enough but never told anyone, so 2:00 it was.
By the time the last person, Chase, had checked in, Foreman was ready to leave.
"I don't know why I'm here," He mumbled to himself, but just loud enough for House to hear.
"You're here because it's the only free vacation you'll ever get in you're ever going to get. Actually, it may be the only vacation-period- you'll ever get."
"You're comfort makes me feel a whole lot better."
House kept following Cuddy, kept looking forward, but smiled. "You can always work on your tan."
Foreman opened his mouth to say something, but House scurried away.
Ten minutes later, the 'crew' (Cuddy rolled her eyes every time she thought of that) were sitting on blue bleachers, awaiting the appearance of Shamu and his trainers; their first attraction.
While they were waiting for the whale to make his debut, House looked around, taking in his surroundings and getting his bearings. He noticed that the bleachers in the last row were white, but 5 rows down their paint color turned to azure, and then another 10 rows down it turned into a deep indigo- navy. The indigo-navy section was where they were sitting. Most people would have disregarded this fact, but, as you know, House wasn't like most people. He turned to Cameron, who was sitting next to him.
"Look at the bleachers," he directed her. She did.
"Yeah…"
"Am I going insane, or are they different colors?"
"Yes, and…yes."
"Should that mean something?"
Cameron looked at him comically. "I don't think so. It's probably just for decoration."
House began to say something but he was cut off by a drum roll and a slightly off-tune trumpet. The lights dimmed and an announcer with a booming voice said, "Welcome, everyone, to Sea World San Diego. Here to officially welcome you is our head mascot, of whom you all know of and love, Shamu the whale!"
Suddenly, out of the depths of the gigantic tank of water that was placed in front of the crowd, the water parted and out poked…it was round and black…no, white…no, black AND white…it was…a whale!
The huge creature jumped out of the water, twisted around half way, and landed in the water on his back. The crowd burst into applause. House rolled his eyes and clapped his hands a few times.
Three back flips and a woman in a purple wet suit diving off of his nose later, the loud speaker was back on.
"We'd like to take a moment now, " the voice said, "to recognize a group here from waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay across the nation."
No. No,no,no,no,no,no,no.No. This is not happening," House thought. He looked at Cuddy with big eyes, as if he was about to cry. Cuddy looked as if she was about to go into shock, so she never saw him.
"They've been helping people for years at their hospital in Princeton, New Jersey. They've been flown here via local radio station K103.5, and here they are, practically fresh off the plane. I'll invite the following people to stand up:"Wilson leaned over Cameron to talk to House.
"How do they know where we're sitting?" Wilson hissed in a frantic. "How do they even know we're here!"
House frowned and shrugged. The announcer finally began listing off names.
"Dean of admissions, Lisa Cuddy." Cuddy stood as the spotlight shown on her, then Wilson, then Foreman, followed by House, Chase and Cameron. They all blushed fervently as they looked around them, seeing all the people, applauding brainlessly and saying, "Look at the man! With the cane! When was the last time he took a shower? Eww…."
The loudspeaker was back on. "As a conciliation for their brave work at the hospital, we'd now like to randomly choose one of the courageous doctors to perform a little show with Shamu."
'Courageous,' Foreman thought, aggravated. A month and a half ago House stabbed a patient in the leg with a syringe. Yeah, I guess that's pretty damn corageous?'
But the announcer plugged on, now with a drum roll in the background as he randomly chose one of the doctors.
"And I would like….drum roll please….our winner is….Allison Cameron, come on down!"
When the spotlight shown on Cameron, this time, her eyes were the size of saucers and she was frozen. She looked around at her co-workers, but the crowd was egging her on to go up front. Cameron made her way down the aisle and onto the platform that was even with the tank that held our fishy friend. The woman in the purple wet suit finished drying her hair and began talking into a cordless mic. Her voice was scratchy, but not in a way that made you to assume she smoked.
"Hello, everyone. My name's Kelli and I'm going to help out this young lady right here. You're name's Allison?"
Cameron smiled faintly and nodded.
"Where ya from, Allison?"
"Princeton, New Jersey."
"You work in a hospital, right?"
Cameron nodded again, but only once.
"What do you do? Like, doctor stuff?"
"Right." Cameron was disgusted by the woman's unspecificness, but she let it slide.
"Alright, Allison. May I call you Allison?"
Cameron nodded, unsmiling. Chase stifled a laugh- he had never known Cameron to be shy like this. Sure, she wouldn't tell you that your child of two days old was dead, but she was never quiet. He assumed it was the crowd size.
"Alright, Allison. All you have to do is stand here. Shamu is going to come up on deck here and you are going to help him learn some tricks. Okay?"
Cameron swallowed and chocked out a, "Yeah. Sure." Kelli took her arm and lead her out of the way, then blew out two sharp whistles. Out of the water came Shamu. He swam up to the dock and plopped himself on the wood, completely out of the water, except his tail.
Kelli instructed Cameron to make different kinds of noises, or make different hand gestures, each one telling Shamu to do a different trick. Snapping her fingers made the whale slap the water with his tail, where as waving both arms simultaneously made him 'nod' his head energetically. Of course, each trick was followed with many "OOHS," and, "AAHS!" This all brought Cameron great joy, and she soon loosened up. At least, for a little while.
"We're going to have a grand finale. Now, Allison, you're going to stand right here as Shamu comes up along the side and 'waves' at you. It'll be fun, don't worry. Plus, I have this umbrella," Kelli motioned to the black bumbershoot she was holding, "So you wont get wet. Are you ready?"
Cameron smiled and nodded as she stepped back. Kelli blew three long whistles, shrill ones, and held the umbrella over Cameron. Shamu circled the tank three times, getting closer to the edge each time. Then, on the fourth circle, Shamu lept out of the water, waving his fin. As he entered the water, Kelli hastily pulled the umbrella away from Cameron…
SSSSPPPPPPPPLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAASSSSSSHHHHHHH!
The next thing the crew from Princeton-Plainsboro knew was water. Lots and lots of water. All of their torsos were done for- their bottom half's had gotten lucky, they had been sitting down when the whale had the nerve to splash practically the entire audience.
The crowd erupted with cheers, the announcer guy laughed, and Kelli, the girl in the wet suit, spoke into the microphone.
"That was just great, Allison! Could we have a big cheer for Allison?"
The crowd clapped again, but Cameron didn't turn around to face them just yet. By the time she did, her hands were crossed tightly across the front of her chest, and she was laughing her head off, doubled over.
The poor girl was completely soaked, inside out, head to toe.
"It's great to see she's a good sport, isn't it, ladies and gentlemen?" Kelli thanked Cameron and handed her a towel that she wrapped herself in immediately and returned to her seat. She climbed the steps as the announcer made some last minute announcements about cancellations in shows and whatnot, and then the lights brightened and the amphitheatre began to empty out.
Cameron stood before them, drenched. She only had to stand for a split second, however, before they all broke out into cheesy, sitcom-like laughter.
"That was incredible!" Foreman was nearly crying. Chase and Foreman were clinging on to each other, trying to keep upright, but their sudden fits of giggles kept them down. Cuddy and House were desperately trying to keep straight faces, but it just wasn't going to happen. As much as Cameron would love to laugh along with them, she had bigger fish to fry.
"Um…Lisa?" Cameron said in a timid voice. "I need your help with something." She didn't remove her arms from her chest, but shook her head sideways, indicating that she needed help away from the immature male specimens. Cuddy immediately got the drift and followed Cameron into the ladies room. Foreman and Wilson were still laughing, but they eventually stopped.
"Where'd Cam go?" Chase asked.
"The bathroom," House replied, deadpan.
"What's she doing in there?"
Wilson opened his mouth to say something, probably something non-sarcastic, but House hushed him.
"If you morons would have payed attention, maybe you'd know."
"What's that suppost to mean?"
Wilson decided to play along. He rolled his eyes, egging them on. "Didn't you see the way Cameron was covering her chest with her arms?"
They nodded, eyes wide, like two thirteen year olds who were listening to their older, cooler, football-playing brother recall his 'first time.'
"Well…" Wilson trailed off, trying to let them pick up.
"Well what?" Foreman asked, obviously confused.
"You guys are so…in residency,' " House said, coining the term.
"Sorry, our mind isn't quite as perverted as yours," Chase quipped. House was taken aback.
"Oh, touché," House replied, narrowing his eyes.
Foreman cut in. "So…what are you saying? About Cameron?"
Wilson addressed House. "They ARE naive."
House shook his head in shame. "C'mon, it's obvious. The water soaked thorugh Cameron's shirt, which is yellow, and she's probably wearing a black bra, so you can see right through it. She got Cuddy's help, and now she's probably in the bathroom, shirtless, possibly braless, drying her shirt.
The two young doctors exchanged looks for about a half a millisecond, then took off, down the theatre's steps like a bullet. House called after them, "What was that about our minds being perverted?"
Foreman and Chase were both fifty yards away by that time, but Wilson thought he heard an Australian's voice, calling over his shoulder,
"Hey, it's our vacation! What are we suppost to do?"
Did you enjoy it? My first chapter back since my vacation, and I'm sure you all read my author's note, so you know my situation with the musical. Thanks, reviews make me happy…I tried Randa05's theory of reviews, you know, 'printing them out and frolicking in them', but I got too many papercuts, so I'll just come up with something else.
jeevesandwooster- Wowie. You're an ex-gymnast AND you like musicals? You have got to be my long lost sister. Anyways, I'm in Beauty and the Beast (you'd think it's lame, but it's not, it's actually insanely funny, but then, I'm prejudice) I am in chorus ( because of my age, I guess) so I'm a village woman, a gargoyle, and a salt shaker for the Be Our Guest scene. I get to flip onstage; It's pretty cool. Thanks for taking an interest! If you're ever in a play or musical, please tell me!