He sighed as he read the piece of paper in front of him, he had his newest patient. The tests had confirmed it: Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Stage IIB. He would be putting yet another person through the physical and mental torture of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, more than likely at the same time considering the severity of her condition. Wonderful. He had to tell Cameron, they needed to break the news to Mrs Braith and start her treatment as soon as possible. He couldn't help wondering how Cameron was going to react. She had been so…distant recently. He left his office and entered the diagnostics room just to see House in his office lying on the floor with his legs up on a chair.

"House, I need to find Cameron, is she with the patient?" House sat up noticing the businesslike tone in Wilson's voice

"I'm guessing its not good news then?"

"Aggressive Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma….we need to break the news and start treatment….So Cameron is…?" He let the question trail off waiting for House to offer a response.

"Aww Jimmy's got a new friend and doesn't wanna play with Greg" He pouted and crossed his arms like a petulant child. Wilson wasn't surprised; in fact this was just what he needed to distract himself from the seriousness of what he had to do. He let himself be drawn into the game.

"Well I think its time we cooled off, you know, started seeing other people…as much as I love these play dates I have other big kid stuff to do" House smirked at Wilson's reply. It was talk like this which fed the rumour mill about their relationship, and there was nothing better than people gossiping about rubbish; how the Boy-Wonder Oncologist and the cantankerous Diagnostician were having an illicit relationship, utilising storage cupboards for their sordid acts.

"Anyway, as much as I'm loving this tete-a-tete I really need to find Cameron"

"Clinic" Wilson looked surprised. He would have expected Cameron to be organising the lupus treatment or at least running labs, but the clinic this early in the day wasn't busy enough to need an extra doctor. He shook his head, it really didn't matter why she was there, and he needed to see her so he turned on his heel and left saying

"Why don't you get mommy to phone your friend in book keeping? I'm sure that would be fun" He smirked at Houses glare and left to find the elusive immunologist.

As predicted the clinic was practically empty when he arrived; just the usual mix of hypochondriacs and minor injury sufferers. House was right; most of the ailments they saw could be diagnosed by a monkey with a bottle of Motrin. He smiled at the receptionist as he went in. Young and pretty, she was just his type. Unfortunately for him she was married and a devout Catholic as he had learnt as he flirted with her on her first shift.

"Hey Carla, is Doctor Cameron down here?" He gave his trademark boyish grin and she ducked her head giggling slightly, turning pink at the cheeks. You've still got it man...

"Yes Doctor Wilson, Exam 3" He thanked her, flashing a smile at her as he walked towards the room, there's no harm in looking… He knocked on the door but heard no response. He walked back over to the reception desk just to check he had it right

"Are you sure it's Exam 3?"

"Yes Doctor Wilson, is there a problem?" She smiled coyly at him, and he decided if Cameron had a patient in there she would need a few minutes to finish up.

"No, no problem at all. How are you anyway? How's your husband…Michael is it?" He really couldn't care less about her husband, but liked watching her laugh like a teenager with a silly crush.

"He's fine, we both are…" She leaned forward to him, and he leaned in so close he could smell her floral perfume "Do you want to know a secret?" He nodded

"I'm gonna have a baby!" Her excitement was clear, but it wasn't thoroughly shared by Wilson, aww crap…never mind.

"That's great, really great!" He put on the most enthusiastic voice he could muster, while his inner voice laughed at him for his idiocy.

"But sshh, it's a secret remember, no one else knows!" She giggled again, but the effect on Wilson had worn off, he smiled

"Well congratulations, if you need anything you know where I am!" He nodded at her and returned to the door of Exam 3, knocking once again. Still no answer, but he swore he heard something metal drop. He pushed open the door, poking his head around and was shocked to see Cameron sat there preparing to do a surgical procedure on her own hand.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After the initial look of shock had passed from both their faces it was replaced by on of concern from Wilson and one of embarrassment from Cameron. She looked down at the trolley, with all the supplies she had laid out ready

"Doctor Wilson, its not as bad as it looks trust me; I just need a couple of stitches and I'll be fine" The tone of her voice was all seriousness, but still carried that strange flat tone that she had adopted of late. He also noticed a slight tremble in her words as she said fine, which showed that she was either in pain or she really wasn't fine.

"Here, let me take a look at it" His voice was so gentle and so full of concern that Cameron wanted to do nothing but be held in his arms as he comforted her. As she thought this, the darkness which sought to claim her rose up within her soul. You don't deserve his compassion, you don't deserve anyone's compassion. You deserve to hurt.

Wilson picked up the needle and began to make neat, tight sutures over the deepest cut. He did not say anything, noticing the battle that seemed to be going on within her as she stared at the wall. Noticing how deep the cuts were he frowned. How did she get her hand in this state?….did she fall or…. His thoughts broke off as he noticed something within one of the other deep cuts- a shard of glass…a mirror. He looked up at her not knowing what to say.

Her eyes were still vacant as he checked the other cuts to make sure they were free of glass fragments, however tiny. Finding only a few more minute pieces he laid them on the table and set back to work, deftly stitching the skin in such a way as to not leave huge scars. She was lucky she hadn't hit any major blood vessels, although looking in the bin beside him suggested that it had bled heavily. He finished the sutures and dressed the hand making sure she could still bend and flex her fingers without damaging the delicate threads.

He slid the chair in front of her, touching her face to get her to focus on him.

"Cameron…Cam..Allison" The use of her first name seemed to wake her from her trance, and she looked him dead in the eye. He was momentarily stunned by the conflicts he saw there- the beauty of her bone structure tainted by the pain in her eyes. This wasn't the same look she gave House when he was rude to her or disregarded her. This was new to him. The puppy dog eyes people were so used to seeing were nothing compared to the raw emotion he saw in those eyes at that moment, and it frightened him. She seemed to realise her error and her eyes clouded over into the content and passionate gaze with which she greeted people everyday. If it wasn't for the dark circles under her eyes and her unnaturally pale skin he would not have believed that anything was wrong.

"Do we have news on Dawn Braith?" Her voice was back to as he had heard it earlier, business-like and formal.

"Um..yes. Aggressive Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Stage IIB…" He expected to see the downward sad gaze she always adopted when the outlook wasn't good, but instead she looked him straight in the eye

"We should tell her. Have you decided on an appropriate course of treatment?" He cocked his head as he looked at her. Pretending like this didn't happen.

"Yes, chemotherapy with simultaneous radiotherapy, but due to the lupus there may be complications… I think we will need to keep her in a clean room during her courses of treatment seeing as she is already immuno-comprimised." She stood up disposing of the waste and pulled a latex glove onto her right hand and tucking another into her lab coat pocket.

"Lets go, she's probably wondering what's going on. Foreman and Chase have started her on Cytoxan to suppress her immune system, but they are worried about the damage to her kidneys after testing her urine. It revealed high amounts of protein, so they are going to do a biopsy later today. It's possible she may need a transplant."

Inside the elevator she turned to him with a concerned look on her face

"You won't tell House about this morning will you?" He couldn't believe that this was once the same doctor who had tears in her eyes talking to him outside of Cindy's room.

"Doctor-Patient confidentiality. Besides it's not on record." He smiled down at her, reassuring her that he would keep his word. They stepped out of the elevator and headed to the room to deliver the news.

If Wilson wasn't concerned before he was now, that look in her eyes had disarmed him, throwing her off balance.

Her mask has slipped.