Chapter 18

"Go straight to hell," Cameron uttered, the wind knocked from her lungs. She turned around and slammed the door shut on her way out.

"Cameron!" House called out, but she had already stormed off to the elevators.

"Greg, what's going on?" Stacy asked, just noticing his formal wear.

"Stacy, I love you. I always will, but I'm in love with Cameron. I'm sorry," House said, pushing her away with his hands so that she had to look at him. "Go back to Mark."

House limped toward the door and left her in the office. He headed back to the ball, looking for Wilson. He ran into Chase first. Stopping in front of the younger doctor, he bellowed, "If you were worth it, I would knock you upside the head with this cane."

Chase smirked, knowing that his plan must have worked. House left him and did find Wilson. "Have you seen Cameron?"

Wilson shook his head, dumbfounded. "No, last time I saw her she was with you."

Cuddy giggled. "He panicked," she told Wilson, swaying. "You owe me twenty bucks."

"Lay off the cocktails," House barked at the obviously intoxicated Cuddy. He headed for his bike.

House raced for Cameron's apartment. It was the only place he knew to look. Once at her door, he knocked several times, but there was no answer. He tried her cell phone, but he only got voicemail. Assuming he had beaten her home, he looked around the hall for a hidden key. House realized that breaking into her apartment probably wouldn't help her trust issues, so he eased himself down to the floor. Resting his back on the door, he shut his eyes and waited.

………………………………………

The swirls so familiar to Cameron's stomach now swished nauseously, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. How could she have been so stupid to think she could have House? When she had resigned, she should have left and never came back.

She didn't want to go home, fearing Chase would follow her there. Cameron was sure House would be too busy with Stacy to try to find her. She got off the elevator on the second floor and headed for the stairwell, knowing there wasn't a chance of running into House and Stacy on a flight of stairs.

Tears flowed freely as she sat down on one of the steps. Resting her head on the cool, metal railing, she wept for what felt like hours. She gazed down at the corsage on her dress. Ripping it off, she lunged it violently down the steps. Cameron put her hands on her forehead. It had been ten years since she had felt like this, first with her husband, then with Joe, now House. She had loved, really loved, only three men in her lifetime. And she loved House the most. Cameron wasn't sure why exactly. There were so many reasons against it. Vicodin. Surliness. The wall he put around himself. But like she told him before, he did things because they were right. He was brilliant. And there was something about the way he looked at her. Cameron knew that she could search until the day she died, and she would find no one that looked at her the way he did.

She heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Cameron pushed back her falling hair and sat up straighter. Looking up, she braced herself for whoever was about to come around the corner. Her mouth dropped when she saw who it was.

TBC