After staring at one another for a few awkward moments, Cameron finally broke the silence. "I see you found the pants" she said lightly.
"Yep. Hopefully he won't be stopping by tonight to collect them. Boy, will he be surprised".
"I think you're safe" she said as a small laugh passed her lips. "Oh, I set a new toothbrush out for you in the bathroom and there are towels in the tall cabinet across from the sink if you want to shower or anything".
As if suddenly aware of his proximity, the object of his gaze and how little she was actually wearing, she awkwardly crossed her arms over her chest.
"You keep those for Forman and Chase too, or am I just that special?" he asked sarcastically.
"Actually, they're for when Dr. Cuddy sleeps over, but I had an extra" she said impishly.
Completely taken off guard by her glib remark, House's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. "Ah, men are so easy" Cameron said as she mockingly rolled her eyes. "Go brush or whatever you need to do. I'm going to go lock up".
House quickly reorganized his thoughts. "Already did that and the dishes are …picked up, too" he said hoping she wouldn't actually doubt his word and go in the kitchen to double check. "Want anything when I come back? Water?"
Cameron shook her head lightly. "No, I'm good" she said, as he turned towards the direction of his valium bottle and finally the bathroom.
If he recalled correctly, he thought as he walked along the cool wooden floor of the hallway, his pills were in the jacket pocket of his blazer which he set on the back of one of the chairs in the kitchen. Finding it, he pulled the bottle out gingerly, throwing it up in the air slightly and catching it in his outstretched palm before making his way to the bathroom. The towels were exactly as Cameron had said they were, neatly stacked and incredibly soft. His towels hadn't been like that since Wilson got his own place.
House set the pill container down on the edge of the sink vanity and brushed his teeth. Even though he reminded himself the reason he was staying was to make sure she rested and to make up for his guilt, he decided at the last minute to jump in the shower. Suddenly, the idea of washing away the grime and smells of the hospital before lying next to Cameron seemed like a very good idea. A few minutes later he dried himself off, got back into the sweats and his t-shirt and made his way to Cameron's bedroom.
He found her sitting on the edge of her bed staring blankly at some imaginary spot on the floor. The only light in the room was the small lamp on the bed side table. It cast a warm buttery glow over her slender features. He sighed, tapping his cane lightly two times on the floor as if debating his next move. Slowly, he made his way over to her, sitting down next to her on the bed. His eyes roamed over her body before settling on her face.
"You're worried…about the biopsy?" he said, realizing it was half a statement and half a question.
"No. Yes. A little, I guess. Seems like all I ever do is wait for something bad to happen" she said, softly.
House continued to eye the side of her face intently. "What did Wilson say?" he asked gently, his eyes searching for a chance to lock onto hers.
"Probably just fibroadenomas, but one is larger and has changed size since I first noticed it, so he did biopsies on both of them just to make sure" she said, her face looking pale even in the warm light.
"But you're still worried"
Cameron shook her head softly. "No, it's just been a long day" she said as she turned to face him with a small smile.
"Come on, I'll tuck you in. But don't tell anyone. I wouldn't want the reputation of my immaculate bed side manner tarnished". His voice was sarcastic, but light as he pulled back the bed sheet and coverlet, letting Cameron swing her legs up onto the bed and slip in. He swallowed hard as the motion caused her hair to fall back off her shoulder, allowing her nightgown to gape in the front, revealing a well turned collar bone and the flawless skin of her cleavage.
He walked to the other side of the bed, placing his valium bottle on the nearby dresser before sitting down beside her on the bed. His back rested against the pillow lined headboard, his long legs stretched out on top of the coverlet alongside hers underneath. Carefully, he slipped his left arm around her shoulders giving them a gentle squeeze as she rested her head on his chest.
They sat there silently like that for quite some time. The only sound audible to Cameron was the deep, comforting thumping of his heartbeat against her ear. The only movement was his hand as it gently caressed the top of her bare arm. Awkwardly, House finally attempted to say something about moving to the sofa, but after getting no response he realized she'd already fallen fast asleep. He smiled slightly to himself as he placed a light kiss on the top of her head and carefully reached over to turn out the little lamp.
The morning sunlight poured through the old house's stained glass transoms creating a beautiful kaleidoscope like pattern of colors and shapes on the bare wood floor. House's eyes struggled to focus on the clock beside Cameron. At some point during the night, he had moved down from his sentinel spot against the headboard to stretch out alongside her. Still on top of the coverlet, he carefully rolled himself up off the bed, stiffly grabbing the valium bottle before reaching for his cane.
He looked back over his shoulder to see if the disturbance of their sleeping position had woken her. Assured that she was still fast asleep, he carefully began to make his way across the bedroom and to his clothes in the laundry room. The wood floor creaked slightly in the hallway but he pressed on, grabbing his pants and shoes from the top of the dryer before heading off to the bathroom to change.
A few minutes later, he stood at her kitchen counter scribbling a quick note on a drug company memo pad shaped like a giant round aspirin tablet. He ripped the paper from the gummy binding and set it underneath a coffee mug, positioning it so that it would be in plain view whenever she later made it into the kitchen. He hoped she was the type that actually made breakfast and coffee in the morning.
Grabbing his wallet and keys from the counter, he quickly shoved them into his front pant pocket of his jeans before debating whether to walk back to check on her. He quickly looked down at this watch. It was after six. She'd probably be waking up soon. Finally giving in to temptation, he hobbled back down the hallway to stand in the doorway of her bedroom. She still slept peacefully, although she had shifted her position slightly and her left arm now rested in the spot where he had recently been just a few minutes before.
He wasn't good at this, he quietly told himself. It was better to just catch a cab and head on home before work rather than having to spend an awkward domesticated hour eating pancakes and making small talk because it would be too rude to ask her where the television was. That part was familiar to him; the strange part was that when he really got down to it, he didn't want to leave. Pancakes actually sounded good to him- her pancakes. He even thought he could go an hour without the television. Well, maybe not a whole hour he corrected himself, as he sighed heavily.
He walked back past the note he'd left on the counter and pushed it closer to the edge, hoping to give it yet a more prominent spot in her line of vision upon walking into the room. His eyes quickly swept the room one last time before he slid the chain across the lock and threw the deadbolt, closing the locked door softly behind him.