"Depression is nourished by a lifetime of ungrieved and unforgiven hurts"

Penelope Sweet quotes

"Blame it on the Bossa Nova. With its magic spell. Blame it on the Bossa Nova that he did so well. Oh it all began with just one little dance. But soon it ended up a big romance. Blame it on the Bossa Nova the dance of love!"

Allison Cameron sang along with her I-Pod, swaying her hips to the beat of the music as she began preparing dinner. She was so engrossed in the music that she didn't her the knock at her door.

"Blame it on the Bossa...EEEP!" Cameron let out a shriek as she turned to grab a knife off the counter, but instead found herself staring into the piercing blue eyes of her boss.

Greg House smirked as Cameron flushed and tried to compose herself. "Are you always in the habit of entertaining guests with a song and dance?" he said arching an eyebrow.

Cameron flushed deeper, "Well guest implies that they have been invited into my home and that I was aware of their presence," she replied crossing her arms. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking? In some cultures it might be considered rude to just enter a person's home unannounced."

House chuckled; he always liked this bantering side of Cameron. "Well I did, several times in fact but you and Miss Edie Gorme were getting along so well that I just let myself in."

If at all possible Cameron's face flushed an even deeper red. She turned and began chopping vegetables as she had intended to before House scared the bejeebies out of her. "What do you want House?"

"I came to see check on you, see how you were handling things."

Cameron snorted, "Sure. Well as you can see I'm just fine," she said continuing with her chopping which had slightly increased in pace.

"Liar."

"Everybody lies," she said pushing her hair out of her eyes to look at him.

"Touché," he said, gracing her with a small smile.

"Why are you really here House?" she said, setting down the knife and facing him.

"I was concerned with how you've been acting at work. You've been hiding in the lab, are always exhausted and in general avoiding people. And others are starting to notice, not just me." He said, deciding that if she wanted the truth then she could get it. "Cameron look at yourself, how much weight have you lost in just this past week? You aren't taking care of yourself, and if you're not going to do it then you'll have to be forced to do it."

Cameron had turned pale, she hadn't expected House to have a legitimate reason, and she sure as hell wasn't expecting that. "So, I've missed lunch a couple of days its no big deal, and as for being exhausted I'm always tired, as are you guys. And the avoiding people thing, what's wrong with not wanting to be around a lot of people? You do it all the time."

"But you're not me. And you have missed more than a few lunches this week. I bet this dinner that you're making is small and it's probably your first meal of the day" he said gesturing to the kitchen

"Are you saying I have an eating disorder?" Cameron said her tone accusing.

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying that because of the incredible stress and strain that you are under you've lost your appetite and as a result your stomach is shrinking so even when you are hungry you're not hungry for a normal sized meal."

"Stress and strain?" she chuckled mirthlessly. "Sure why don't we chalk it up to that. Because you know the possibility of having AIDS is just a normal stress for me. Or perhaps there's the having taken meth and sleeping with Chase? Or wait maybe it's that when things were finally shaping up in my life everything had to fall apart," her voice raising in volume and shaking as tears started to fall from her eyes.

House looked at her and saw the strong woman who'd already been through hell and back break down, and for once he had nothing to say.

"Don't give me that look of pity! I don't want your damn pity. Just get out House, get out," Cameron said sinking to the floor in tears, as the weight of everything came crashing down on her.

"No."

"No?"

"No. I am not leaving. You're just going to have to deal with me being here."

"I can take care of myself," she said, fumbling for a towel.

"Riiiight, and that's why I'm here now, because you've done such a good job of it that you won an award," he said sarcastically.

Cameron looked up at him and she saw that he was genuinely concerned for her.

"Let's see if we can find some actual food for you, none of this rabbit crap," House said turning away from her and moving to the fridge. He opened the door and inside found a chicken breast, some milk and a few pieces of fruit. "Have you gone shopping at all?"

Cameron shook her head. "I haven't felt like it all week. I know I should but I just didn't want to."

House sighed and scrubbed his face. What was he going to do with her? She couldn't keep living like this she'd eventually have a breakdown or end up in the hospital for malnutrition.

"Get up," he said offering his hand to help her off the floor.

Cameron looked at his offered hand, and at his face. "Why?"

"Because I'm taking you out of here. You have no food here and you need someone to watch you to make sure that you're taking care of yourself. That's why."

Cameron blinked and took his hand.

"Good. Now go pack a bag with clothes and whatever smelly girl stuff you've got."

"Where are we going?" She asked as she headed out of the kitchen.

"You're going to stay at my place. I'll drive us into work every day. You're staying with me until I'm satisfied that you are capable of taking care of yourself. Even if you have to stay until you get your results from the damn AIDS test."

Cameron's mouth opened to protest, but she closed it quickly when she realized that arguing with him would be pointless. She moved back into the kitchen to clean up what would have been her dinner.

"Uh-uh, you pack, I'll clean this up," he said making a shooing motion.

She left the kitchen and went to pack her bag of stuff to take to House's with her.