CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR – The Deal Is On

"Ms. Vaughn, please. We don't want to have to restra…," POW! Right in Cameron's left jaw. She doesn't loosen her grip on her but just gets a stronger hold on her.

For the past couple of minutes she and Chase have been trying to keep Bonnie Vaughn down on the table while they attempt to get an MRI scan. She's been screaming and cursing at them since she woke up from the mild sedation they put her under. Cameron is surprised she has come out of it so soon. But nonetheless they still have to wrangle with her to calm her down.

"Cameron – I'll hold her down while you call for help," Chase suggests then Cameron nods her head. "Okay, ready? One…two…three," Chase says before he gets a more solid grip on her for Cameron to let go.

She steps back and looks at Chase and the patient, making sure he does have a solid grip on her. Her hair is a mess, flowing down in strands that softly fall on her face and even with a trickle of blood beginning to flow from the corner of her mouth he thinks to himself, 'Wow, she's gorgeous.'

The next thing Chase knows is his thumb feels like it's breaking in two, like being ripped apart by a falcon's talon. He looks at his hand and sees his thumb is actually in her mouth and she's biting down on it.

"Damnit, Cameron, hurry up!" he says out loud, even though Cameron is no longer in the room.

He pulls his hand away from her mouth and gets a better grip on her and her body. Only another second passes and he hears the door opening and then two sets of feet hurriedly running towards him.

"I've got her, I've got her," Foreman says as he rushes across from Chase and holds the other side of her down.

"Cameron, you got the…," Chase starts to say but Cameron approaches them with a syringe and inserts the needle into the inside fold of her elbow.

The two men continue to hold her down until the drug has enough effect on Bonnie to keep her from fighting them. The three doctors stand back and wait for her to be completely sedated.

"God, what was that all about?" Foreman asks as he places his hands on his hips and tries to catch his breath.

"That's what we're trying to figure OUT, Foreman!" Cameron spits at him.

Chase notices that Cameron seems to be angry with Foreman but they have an objective: they have to get an MRI of Bonnie's C-Spine. "Ok, let's get this done and take her back to her room. I don't want her to accuse one of us of abusing her," Chase says as he turns and heads to the small computer room off the lab. 'Even if she actually abused me,' he thinks to himself.

Cameron turns to get Bonnie resettled on the MRI slab and Foreman offers to help her. "No! I've got it."

"Cameron, I told you, I didn't realize how bad it was in here," Foreman defends himself.

She turns back around to him and gives him a dirty look before she walks through the computer room door.

"I'd get out of there if I were you, Foreman," Chase says through the intercom.

"No, let him stay in there while we start the MRI," Cameron interjects. "We'll say we were doing an experiment."

"Yeah, after you spend hours wiping my blood off the walls," he answers as he walks to join them.

Chase starts pressing a few buttons to start the machine then says, "What happened between you two? Cameron, you were perfectly fine before you left to get help."

"The moron was standing right outside the door! He heard the whole thing but he didn't bother to come in," she says.

"Cameron, I told you! She doesn't want me in there with her. She wants another…," Foreman says before Chase interrupts him.

"Guys, we have a little more important issue, here," he tells them without looking at them. "What do you see, there, on the C-4 vertebrae?" he asks them as he points to the MRI monitor.

"Oh, God," Cameron yelps.

"HA! I KNEW it wasn't me!" Foreman exclaims as both Chase and Cameron look him over. "What? I knew there was a reason why she had gotten so out of control," he says with a smile. "That tumor on the C-4 is pushing the nerve out of alignment…and there, it's forcing that part up into her neck. Get a head scan while she's out. The C-1 is pressing into her brain."

HOUSE MD HOUSE MD HOUSE MD

"What exactly do you MEAN I was never given the Ketamine!" House yells at Cuddy.

"House, calm down. You can't get yourself all worked up over this," she tells him calmly.

"Don't tell ME to calm down. That's all I asked for…wait, did Cameron tell you I asked for it?"

"Yes, House, yes, she did. And I told Dr. Zhang, personally. He never said anything about it afterward and it never dawned on me…"

"Never DAWNED on you? Do people not do what I ask just to piss me off or WHAT?" he screams at her.

"We can still give it to you," she says, hoping that will calm him down.

"It's…no, not now."

"Why not? There's no reason we can't."

"Forget it! Since everyone just LOVES to have control over my life, fine! Let them."

"House, you are being totally irrational about this." He looks at her, really looks at her then looks away, almost shamefully, before he settles back down on the bed.

"Think about it, okay?" she says before she turns and heads for the door.

"Cuddy?" he calls out for her, "Fine. Do it. This weekend, when the triplets are off."

She smiles weakly at him then walks out.

House, on the other hand, continues to lie in bed for the next hour before complete exhaustion invades his entire body and he no longer has the strength to force himself awake.

'Control of my own life…that's all I ask…all I've ever asked…,' House thinks to himself before he drifts off to sleep.