"Are you busy?" Cameron asked hesitantly, her face bearing its permanent "I don't mean to be a bother, but do these pants make me look fat" look.
"Cameron, I'm at work, where people generally, oh, I don't know, work," I said, not looking up from my crossword puzzle. "Twelve letter synonym for generous?"
"Eleemosynary. There's someone in the lobby here specifically for you, the front desk just called," she said, as I penciled "eleemosynary" into the puzzle, slightly peeved that I hadn't figured it out on my own.
"I don't take appointments. Or patients, really, for that matter."
"She says she's your friend."
"That should have been your first hint that she was lying. Is she hot?"
"I, uh, I..."
"Eh, never mind. 50/50 chance, right?" I asked, picking up the telephone and punching in the front desks extension. "Mary, this is Dr. House. Will you please put whoever it is that wants to ruin my day on the phone? Thank you," I said, rolling my eyes at Cameron.
"It's been a while, Greg," a sultry voice on the other end of the line purred. My face cracked into an immediate smile: I knew that voice.
"Indeed it has Beth. Does Jimmy know you're here?" I inquired, shooing Cameron out with an annoyed wave. Confused, Cameron nodded and exited into the office.
"No, dear, of course not," she laughed. "Listen, Greg, I need a favor. Can I come up and see you?"
"Can we have crazy, hot sex on my desk?"
"Most certainly."
"Then come on up. Oh, you might have to tuck and roll past Wilson's office."
"In my current state, that would be decidedly unwise," she said, hanging the phone up. Mimicking that action, I pushed out of my chair and limped into the office to get a cup of coffee. I, as always, blatantly ignored Cameron.
"Who is she?" she asked after a long moment.
"None of your business," I replied, pouring my coffee, not surprised by Cameron's silence.
"Is she one of your friends or one of Wilson's?" she asked quickly, as if speed in the question would make it less innocuously obtruse.
"We're better friends than she and Wilson, assuredly. Now, go away," I said, waving my mug in her direction.
"This is my office," she said, as she stood to leave.
"Yeah, I know. Go away."
"But..."
"Bon voyage!" I said, opening the door for her. "Now." Sighing, Cameron gathered up her case files and slunk off down the hall, passing an extremely pregnant woman as she came off the elevator.
"You're huge," I stated plainly as the woman approached me.
"And you're rude. Some things never change," she retorted, smiling to reveal perfect white teeth. Grinning, I held the door open for Beth, ushering her into the office before Wilson had a chance to pop out of thin air, as was per to his fashion.
"How have you been Greg?" she asked, sitting down laboriously and leaning back.
"Fantastic, just brilliant."
"Really?" she asked, her eyes unbelieving.
"Yeah! I've got this great job, new bike, I ran a marathon last week... wait, only one of those things is true. How about you? Obviously something good happened," I said, regarding her beach balled stomach over the rim of my mug.
"Things have been relatively good. I wanted to ask you a question concerning this thing," she smiled, patting her stomach.
"Well, you see Beth, when a man loves a woman..."
"I have cancer, Greg. Breast cancer, end stage."
"Ironic."
"You're telling me. I wanted to know if delivering this baby naturally is going to kill me. None of my other doctors would give me a straight answer."
"Yes," I answered immediately, after quickly calculating the risks in my head. Beth's face dropped a little, before turning into a smile.
"That's what I thought you'd say," she whispered, standing again. "It was good to see you again Greg." Extending her hand, I shook it shortly before watching her leave.
"Beth," I called, as she reached the door. She turned and nodded. "Does Wilson know? About the cancer, I mean."
"Goodness, no. We were only married for three years, Greg. Hardly grounds to stay in touch,"
"Yeah," I responded, watching her leave. I waited until the elevator dinged to call Wilson.
"This is Dr. Wilson."
"You sound like a woman, you know that, right?"
"I'll take my chances. What do you need?"
"Come to my office. Bring the chaps, partner."
"Oh Lord..."
FLASHBACK
"Oh my God, Greg!" Wilson cried as he came, collapsing onto the bed. Grunted loudly, I pounded into him one last time, before reaching my own climax and flopping on my side. Panting, we lay next to each for a long moment, before Wilson rolled out of bed and headed into the bathroom.
"You'd better hurry up," I said, as I groped around in the dark for my boxers. "It's almost time to go. Hate to be late for you own wedding." Wilson laughed bitterly from the bathroom.
"Yeah, Beth would hate that."
END FLASHBACK