Disclaimer – Chapter 1
Author's Note – I'm back! Exams are over and I've got a lot of spare time on my hands, at last. It's perfect for writing. I've had a little practice in the form of a Doctor Who oneshot and hopefully will slip quickly back into this story. I've planned it all to the end now so hopefully it should be complete by the end of next week, but I'm making no promises! This chapter is a bit of a filler but it does contain important things which will be mentioned in later chapters. It's not my best work but I needed it to get started again. This would have been up last week if it wasn't for some kind of glitch with the Documents Manager. Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to leave a review – good or bad, I want to hear your views!
Without saying a word Dr Cuddy lead Allison through the hospital and to her office. There she sat down behind her large wooden desk and, after pausing a moment, gestured to Allison to follow suit. She took in the younger doctor's worried expression and sighed. "This must be one of the first times you've been in here since you were hired. It's funny; I've never had a reason to ask you here. Now, suddenly, there are so many things I need to speak about." She paused. It wasn't an indication for Allison to speak, rather a moment to organise her thoughts before she began again.
"Before we go any further I'd like to make sure the rumours are true and that this isn't just another case of hospital gossip. Dr House's patient, Owen Miller, is definitely your husband?"
Cameron nodded before correcting her. "His name is Mark Holloway."
Cuddy noted this down on a scrap piece of paper before continuing. "I should issue you with a warning about the dangers of treating relatives and remove you from House's team for this case-" at this point Allison opened her mouth to protest. Cuddy held her hand up "-but I won't. I can't afford to replace you right now and having you working on his case may keep the patient sweet. However, if you can't prove to me that your still doing your job you will be removed."
"I understand," Cameron hesitated before continuing. "Was that all you wanted to speak to me about?"
"Not exactly. Yesterday a police officer called me to ask if we have a patient named Daniel Cameron. I told him that we didn't. I wondered whether the name was familiar to you."
Cameron's mind raced. She had a pretty good idea who Daniel Cameron was, and now it seemed the police were looking for him. She could own up and hand him over to the police - that would definitely be the right thing to do. It would be the moral thing to do. The only problem was it wasn't the right thing for her. She still had so many questions to ask, so many answers to find and so many things to do that she couldn't let him go. Not yet anyway. She decided to do the only thing she could do – tell the truth.
"I don't know anyone called Daniel Cameron," she told the other woman. After all, it was true; it just wasn't the whole truth.
A couple of hours passed. Allison had had her meeting with Stacy and was now spending her lunch break sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair in her husband's room. An uncomfortable silence lay between them as he watched her pick at a salad that she had brought in with her. They'd barely spoken a word since she'd entered.
"So, did you want to say something to me or did you just want me to watch you marvel at a cherry tomato for half an hour?" Mark finally piped up.
Without looking up Allison pondered his question before finally deciding to say the thing that had been bothering her all morning. "What did you do?"
Mark looked shocked. "Excuse me?"
"What did you do?" She finally built up the courage to look him in the eye.
"What makes you think I did anything?"
"You must have faked your death for some reason Mark. Now the police are calling the hospital asking for a Daniel Cameron." He tensed at this and she laughed bitterly. "Nice choice of name."
"Well I could hardly call myself Susan," he spat. It was another name Allison recognised, and the closest thing she'd get from Mark to him admitting he was on the run from the police.
"What did you do?" She repeated her question again. Mark broke her eye contact and hesitated. He opened his mouth to speak just as the door opened.
"I'm sorry, are you busy?" The room's new occupant asked and Mark jumped at the opportunity.
"No, not at all. Just catching up," he smiled. "So, who are you?"
Allison sighed. "This is Stacy Warner. She's a lawyer for the hospital and has agreed to do some work for me," she smiled bitterly at her husband. "I thought it was about time we got a divorce."