Yes, another chapter is here! I am so happy that I have people reading! Yippee! Anyhow, I was a bit confused on what to do with this chapter, so I did the best I could with the ideas I had.
I was originally going to start on a different story, but figured that I would update this one, since it's been a while! So much to write, so little time! Here we go!
Silence
"So, House is kicked off the case and Wilson is supervising? Interesting choice."
"What, you would prefer Cuddy put you in charge?"
"No, I'm just saying that we don't work with Wilson enough to know where he is coming from in a medical, professional point of view."
"And the personal view of Wilson?"
"I hardly know the guy."
Foreman and Chase were lounging in House's office, waiting for the other two members of the team to arrive. House was on clinic duty and the office was strangely quiet. It was an odd, uncomfortable silence and both men wished the other would start talking again. They had been discussing the fact that Foreman didn't fully agree with the choice to put Wilson on the case as their leader. Wilson had no clue what the case was about until House gave him the lowdown. Foreman didn't agree that someone new should enter the case at such a critical time. They were waiting for Cameron to arrive with the results from all the scans the patient had gone through earlier that morning. So far, Wilson hadn't bothered to show up.
"Well, House should be getting off clinic duty soon and maybe he'll drop by. It's just Cameron that he has to stay away from, right?" Chase looked at his watch and then at the door. "Actually, House should be getting off duty right now."
"No, Cuddy said that House had to stay away from all of us, including the patient, for the duration of the case. It's not just Cameron the head of the hospital is trying to protect."
"I have a hard time believing that he actually hurt her. I mean, Cam is-"
"Do you really have such a hard time believing that House wouldn't grab her by the wrist and give her a good shaking? He's flying off the handle lately and that was obviously the breaking point. Cameron stayed behind and tried to get House to take the wrath out on her instead of us. But, I still don't know why she would allow House to do all of this and then turn him into Cuddy. I mean, that just doesn't sound like her, if you ask me."
"So, one of our team is a potential nut case-"
"House was already a nut case."
"Okay, one of our team is a nut case who is now forbidden from contact with us, and the other member is setting a trap for House? Why could Cameron-"
Foreman was cut off by a figure bursting in through the door. It was Wilson, jogging in and sitting down by Chase at the glass table, dropping numerous papers on the floor. Seeing the questioning looks Foreman and Chase were giving him, Wilson shrugged.
"Sorry I'm late, guys, but I just got off clinic duty."
"But House has clinic duty."
Foreman glanced over at Chase with raised eyebrows and Chase, realizing, muttered, "Oh, I see."
"Why do you do that for him, man? Why would you let him skip out on clinic duty and take over for him? He's supposed to be punished and this is his punishment: clinic duty."
"I know, Foreman, I know, but he wasn't looking very well today and I told him I would take over his shift."
Wilson shifted uneasily in his seat as he tried to arrange his files. Chase and Foreman sighed at the same time. It would have been funny if it wasn't for the seriousness of the situation. Wilson was lying, he was obviously covering for House. House hadn't looked well last time they had seen him, yes, but House never looked well.
"What is the matter with him?"
"Oh, um," Wilson stuttered and didn't meet Foreman's eyes. "I'm not really sure. He's not in the hospital today, though. He's at home."
"Cameron always could tell what was going on. If-"
Chase was cut off by Cameron herself, who came through the door with Mr. Deleyney's scan results. She looked exhausted and her hair hung limp around her face, twined around her neck. All three doctors could see the dark purple and green of the bruise on Cameron's wrist and Cameron, sensing their gaze, pulled her lab jacket farther down, until she could touch the cuff with her fingers. Wilson stood and pulled out a chair for Cameron, pushing the chair in after she had sat down. Cameron, confused, but unwilling to argue with anyone at the moment on unneeded chivalry, opened the file and read out loud.
"Mr. Deleyney has cardiac arrhythmia-"
"Atrial fibrillation?"
"Yes. He also has a mild case of exophthalmos, like House said he would. The protuberance of the eyes is not bad, but we need to find out why this is happening and how we should stop it without inter- What?"
Everyone had winced at the sound of her voice saying the word "House." She looked around the table; Chase was holding his chin in his hands, face tilted downward. Foreman was biting his lip. Wilson sighed. Cameron wanted to roll her eyes and tell the men to get a grip.
"Honestly, I'm not afraid of him and you three are acting like-"
"We just didn't think you would want to talk about him."
"But, I don't want to talk about him. He was the former head of this case and, as tough as it might be for you three to deal with it, he still needs-"
"It's okay, Cameron, excuse us."
Wilson shifted his shoulders and gestured for her to continue. Cameron, giving a look to every other doctor in the room, resumed reading.
"The patient is at high risk for stasis, though, and we still are waiting on the results for the blood clots. House had suggested that the medication-"
Again, the mood in the room shifted and Cameron closed the file and crossed her arms on her chest.
"Obviously, we have something to talk about. What is there you all need to say? Do I need to leave the room? Do you have something embarrassing you don't want me to hear? What is it? We need to carry on with this case and we can't keep a patient waiting because you three have issues!"
"Cameron, Cameron, we just-"
"Don't talk to me like that, Wilson! I'm not a child!"
"It's just that... after you were hurt by him, why did you go to Cuddy? I mean, the guy is in a bad mood and you go to his office. An hour later, the staff mutters about why your shoe is broken and how House won't look at you in the eye. Then, after we pass that off as you being in the wrong place at the wrong time, he sends us off for a task and you stay behind. We come back to find you bruised and House kicked off the case."
"What point are you trying to make, Foreman?"
"I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but why do you keep putting yourself in these situations? If you know he is in a bad mood and he ends up hurting you, instead of staying away next time and taking yourself away from the risk, you just go right back and confront him. Cameron, you are going to get House fired if this keeps up. Cuddy doesn't want to lose him, so he just takes him away from the team!"
The room was back to that eerie silence after Foreman's outburst. Wilson was frowning and Chase's eyebrows almost met in the middle of his forehead, face crunched in disbelief. Foreman and Cameron locked eyes and neither of them looked away. They stared at one another for what felt like minutes on end, for what was actually a handful of seconds. The doctor ducked his head in embarrassment as Cameron, against her will, felt tears welling in her eyes. Her eyes glistened and shone with a fury only a woman can contain. Chase was wondering at how to escape from this situation and Foreman was wondering how to escape the room before she breathed the fire that would come from her mouth the moment he moved.
"I'm going to go and check if that scan has come in yet."
"So am I."
Foreman and Chase left the room in record time, practically running for the door, the panic on Chase's face apparent as his sweaty fingers slipped on the door handle before the two doctors left the office. Cameron sat there at the table, shaking in anger and indignation. How dare they? Wilson, who was sitting next to her, gently put an arm around her shoulder, uncertain of what to say. His hand, patting her shoulder comfortingly, said that words he couldn't find and Cameron, unable to keep it in, let the tears roll down her cheeks.
Poor Cameron. Foreman raises some good questions, though! Oh, I can't wait until the next chapter! But, you know, she needs to grow up a little bit. I see Cameron as a young woman barely out of college (although I know she isn't) and she still needs to learn some life lessons. She's a bit immature yet, but, compared to the level of maturity House shows, she is leaps ahead of him. But, enough of babbling about the story... I might babble about my thoughts on the story from now on, just to give the reader a sense of what I am feeling as I write the scenes and what I am going for. So, if you don't like reading about that sort of thing, skip this last italic part from now on!
Thanks so much for reading and please drop me a review! I can't wait to hear from you!
