Chapter 9
Cameron sat alone in her office, trying to avoid House. She didn't want to see him, especially not after he'd caught her coming out of Wilson's office. She'd never thought she'd be doing this, and she hadn't been prepared for it in the least. She needed time to prepare herself for the onslaught of questions she knew would be coming.
Her pager went off, House wanted her in his office. She closed her eyes and sighed; it had started already. Wilson must have done as she'd asked. Cameron steeled herself for the interrogation, and headed into House's office.
"You and Wilson have a nice little chat this morning?" House asked. He
He watched her carefully, waiting for an answer.
"Lovely, thanks." Cameron replied. She determined the best way to keep him guessing was to give him as little information as possible.
"Good to know you two get along so well." House commented, trying to goad a response out of her.
"Yes, we get along just fine." Cameron answered. She thought he looked slightly annoyed. It was a similar expression to the one she'd seen on his face when he was having difficulty with a crossword puzzle.
"Discussing a case? Maybe I can help." House offered. It wasn't as subtle as he would have liked, but subtle didn't seem to be working this time. Usually it was so easy to get information out of Cameron, but not so now. Why? What was different about this?
"No, nothing about a case" she answered lightly, but let her eyes drop to the floor. It was killing her trying not to let anything slip. Especially since she'd really love for him to be the oneā¦Stop it Allison, she commanded herself.
House noticed her eyes drop to the floor. He closed his eyes, and turned his head toward the window. He didn't want her to get a glimpse of the stunned look he couldn't keep off his face. She'd unknowingly given him the answer he'd been looking for.
"You're working my clinic hours this afternoon, better get down there, you're 15 minutes late." House didn't turn around, just waited to hear her leave. He reached into his jacket for his Vicodin; he shook out two, then one more for good measure, and swallowed them. He grabbed his tennis ball and began tossing it against the wall. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised, did he really think she would just pine away for him forever? Like he did for Stacy? Disgusted, he threw the tennis ball a little harder than intended, and knocked a picture off the wall.
"What was that?" Chase entered from the conference room, drawn by the noise. "You okay?"
"Fine." House answered. As Chase turned to leave the room, House called him back. "Chase! Have you noticed anything odd about Cameron lately?" House wondered how long this had been going on. Since he'd been shot?
"Well," Chase pondered the question for a minute, "She's been a little quieter than usual the last three or four days. Keeping to herself. Actually, she barely came out of her office at all the last two days. Except to talk to Dr. Wilson a couple of times."
House waived him away. Only a couple of days, maybe it wasn't too late to put a stop to this. As he got out of his chair, he paused. Why did he care? He shook his head; that didn't matter right now. He entered the hall to start looking for Wilson.
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House came across Wilson in the cafeteria, eating alone. House sat at the table and grabbed a container of pudding from Wilson's tray.
"So, how is she?" House asked in hushed voice, and raised his eyebrows.
"I don't know what you mean," Wilson returned, although of course he knew perfectly well what House meant.
"Oh, don't be modest. You and Cameron, I want details. Lots and lots of details. I bet she's a real animal in the sack." House said suggestively.
"House," Wilson whined, "Please don't do this."
"What, I'm curious?" House retorted. "She's a little younger than your usual conquest, Wilson. How are you managing to keep up with the little minx?"
"I'm not doing this with you, House." Wilson warned.
"No, you're doing it with her. Oh, come on." House complained. "You know I'd tell you all about it." His voice was teasing.
"House," Wilson said very slowly, "I can't talk to you about this."
House leaned in and cocked his head to the side. He searched Wilson's face before answering.
"You didn't say won't, you said can't." House mused. "Why can't you?"
"House, I can't talk to you, or anyone else, about this." Wilson knew he was letting Cameron down, but he just couldn't go on with this any longer. He saw the realization dawn on House's face.
"You're not sleeping with her." House said. "You're treating her."
