Ugh… I feel like crap….. Huh? Where am….oh…. bathroom…..
It is a truth universally acknowledged that copious amounts of alcohol do not a good morning make- if only someone had reminded Allison Cameron of this fact before she ever drank she may have been spared the pain and embarrassment of a vengeful hangover.
In her college days she had gotten trashed with the rest of her friends, and always paid the price, but this was different; last night she had decided to drown her sorrows in the cheapest way possible- with a bottle of white and an old bottle of vodka she had found at the back of a cupboard. That was just sad, drinking alone until she felt more miserable than when she started and vomiting up all that she had drunk. A doctor should know better she thought to herself, wincing at how loud her thoughts sounded within her head. Sleeping on the floor certainly hadn't helped matters, her neck felt like someone had put her in a headlock, and the side of her face was indented with lines from the tiles she had used as an impromptu pillow.
As she stumbled her way back into her bedroom her thoughts were of sleep and sleep alone, unfortunately upon getting comfortable and about to drift into an exhausted sleep she was uncomfortably reminded of the fact it was a Tuesday morning, and she should have been at work ten minutes ago. Wonderful, if I phone the office House wil yell orl get suspicious and probably come round here and make as much noise as possible, Chase and Foreman will be all brotherly and fuss….she sighed, Cuddy it is then…She thanked her lucky stars as the answer machine picked up,
"Doctor Cuddy, its Allison Cameron here, I'm afraid I wont be able to come in today and maybe not tomorrow- I seem to have a bug, its probably best if I don't come in…urm…thanks, call me if there is a problem….I thought doctor house would be too busy to answer my call…Uh bye.." Well that was smooth Allison she wond suspect a thing from that garbled message, you didn't even sound sick. Her brain chastised her as she fell into a deep sleep, brought on by pure exhaustion.
Upon waking up for the second time that day Cameron was distinctly aware of an irritating and exceptionally insistent noise burrowing its way into her head. Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang She had heard this noise before, and just as the realisation of the unfortunate noise sunk in, the effect of gravity made itself well and truly known, leaving her enough time to get to the bathroom and empty her stomach once again. Eurgh, I didn't think there was anything left after last night…She flushed and stood at the sink washing her face and rinsing the acrid taste of vomit from her mouth. As she looked up into the mirror she shrieked and jumped back, narrowly missing a tumble into the bath Well, that would have been great candid camera footage.
As her brain struggled to regain control over the rest of the body and slow down her heart rate she became aware that the reflection had been that of House, the source of the noise. Wonderful.
"Have you run out of patients houses to break into or are you just checking up on me?" Her voice sounded surprisingly hoarse to her own ears…At least I sound ill…
"I heard you in the process of emptying out your stomach. You could have choked, I was just making sure. Anyway the witch of all evil in the universe sent me, I was just following her orders…" Cameron wasn't in the mood for his sarcasm today, and his expression of a tortured slave wasn't going to help him at all.
"Sure, it was all Cuddy's idea. How did you get in here anyway?"
"A true magician never reveals his tricks…Credit card; you should get your landlord to check up on security around here" By now he was scrutinising both her and her apartment, checking for the sorts of clues that could tear a person apart.
"Well thank you so much for your concern Doctor House, I will be sure to let him know. Now if you would please leave before I call the police, and don't believe I wouldn't; there are so many excuses a pretty girl can use, even if she knows her attacker…" She let her voice trail off meaningfully whilst looking him dead in the eye, and for a fleeting moment she could have sworn she could have discerned something akin to respect deep in his eyes.
"Impressive Doctor Cameron, you seem to have grown a backbone overnight. This is fun." He took one last sweeping look over her before he turned to the door. "I expect you in tomorrow, no excuses. We have a case."
He sat in the high backed leather executives chair that he so envied waitin for the return of Boy-wonder oncologist. Upon hearing his footsteps he swung the chair so he was facing the wall and steepled his fingers. As Wilson approached the desk he turned slowly around so as not to startle him. Not yet anyway.
"Boo" Wilson jumped with an amusingly accurate two step usually reserved for flamenco dancers and matadors.
"Oh wonderful to have you back. Snooping done for now?" Wilsons voice was impatient.
"My my, isn't everyone snippy today"
"Yes it's the anti-House immunisation the nurses on the third floor have been cultivating for years, you really pushed them over the edge this time" House smirked at Wilson's attempt at snarky banter, grudgingly accepting that he was doing pretty well.
"I have a new patient"
"Yes I know, I checked her out, no trace of cancer, no family history. Done. Now can you go, some of us have important Doctor stuff to do."
"I don't mean that patient; I have an extra one…" The extra edge in Houses voice told Wilson that that this would be interesting, but not necessarily in a good way.
"Symptoms- Headache, Nausea, Sudden alcoholic tendencies, Isolation….."
"Cameron?"
"Exactamente….so what is so wrong with our lovely immunologist"
"If you ask me it's an overexposure to a certain Head of Diagnostics….and yes, that is my expert medical opinion." Wilson was eager to hurry this conversation up; he wasn't in the mood to deal with House once he had sunk his teeth into a case.