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Cameron checked on her patient several times during the night. Around 4:00am his fever began to go down. His parents had left late in the evening, along with two of the brothers, Patrick and Jack. Edward had taken up residence in the family room, andCameron updated him at midnight when she checked on Sean. When she went to find him at 4:00 to let him know Sean was improving Jack had replaced him. At 7:00am after having showered and changed she once again checked on Sean and headed to the family room. Mr. and Mrs. O'Malley were there along with Edward and Jack was preparing to leave. By this point she pretty much had the whole family's history. The elder O'Malley, Patrick Sr. had been a police officer. None of his sons had followed in his footsteps, although Jack was a fireman. Edward was a school principal, Patrick Jr. owned his own real estate firm and Sean was clerking at a law firm hoping to be hired on as an attorney once he passed the bar exam.
Sean was the baby at 24, and Patrick the eldest was 32. None of the four were married which totally mystified her. Four good-looking successful men, and none had been snatched up yet? Were all the women in New Jersey deaf, dumb, and blind?
An hour later the O'Malley men were already being relegated to the back of her mind as she started her daily routine. Coffee was started, and the mail was being sorted as first Foreman and then Chase came strolling in. She tossed them Sean's file to read as she took two case referrals into House's office for him to review when he decided to grace them with his presence.
It was a perfectly normal beginning to a day that would end up being anything but normal for her.
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House arrived at 9:15. The first batch of flowers for Cameron arrived at 9:25. Chase had gone down to check on Sean and arrived back just in time to hear Forman reading the card aloud while holding it out of reach of the petite immunologist.
"Do Angels go on dates with mere mortals? Please consider making an exception for me!" Jack O'Malley
"Seems our fair Cameron has made a conquest," Foreman teased.
"More than one," Chase reported. "Sean O'Malley is awake and demanding to see the 'Doctor Angel'," he informed them.
By now House had come out of his office and was raising an eyebrow at her. "Angel? That explains so many things," House commented.
Cameron rolled her eyes and gave a sigh. This was a nightmare. "I'm due in the clinic at 10:00. I'll stop and see Sean on my way," was her only comment as she moved past the three men and out into the hallway.
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She kept her visit with Sean brief and professional, brushing off his attempts to thank her. Then she went down and buried herself in the clinic. Although she was only due to work two hours, the place was busy and no one complained when she stayed until 4:00, only stopping to get a quick sandwich. Even so, she wasn't immune from the gossip. A lot of the nurses who normally avoided the Diagnostic department like the plague had made excuses to go up and get a glimpse of the handsome brothers, and more than one curious look was tossed her way each time she came out of the exam rooms to get a new chart.
She finally headed back upstairs late enough that she hoped everyone would be gone. The plan was to make sure all of her notes from last night were included in the charting and then hopefully leave a bit early. However it was not to be. When she entered the conference room the flowers there overwhelmed her. Four large bouquets now graced the table and House had obviously been waiting to pounce.
"It would seem someone has mistaken our humble home away from home for a florist shop," he complained. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"
Cameronignored him and plucked the cards off the three new arrivals, one each from Edward, Patrick, and Sean O'Malley. Each card contained a request for a date.
"So now you are setting one brother against another? How very Cain and Able of you," House sniped. "Better watch it though, stunts like that could lose you your wings."
Cameronwas all ready to protest her innocence when she suddenly realized House was jealous. She took a second to let that fact sink in.
House was jealous.
After mentally doing a little dance of joy her quick brain tried to find a way to use that fact. If she called him on it he would just become defensive. Better to use the knowledge to keep him off balance.
"Don't be ridiculous House. I'm not going to date all four of them," she informed him. Then she paused for just a second and actually saw a look of relief flit across his face before she continued. "Sean is too young for me, and he's a patient. I can only date three of them," she stated with a smile before taking the cards and heading out the door leaving House to stare after her in confusion.
She was kidding, wasn't she?
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TBC