Summery: Just
read…
Spoilers: Up until midway through "Heavy" and
takes a twist.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: You
know I don't own it! I play.
Author's Note: I know the subject is rough for a lot of people. I hope I don't offend anyone. I also don't want it to be too depressing and sad, so I'm trying to keep some of the snark alive. Of course, the first half is going to be very down as Cameron deals with her situation. It will get lighter, though. It was always meant to be angsty, but I also don't want to turn people off. I'm just glad it's gotten such a good response so far.
Worse
Shower… It may be the small hospital shower, but it had warm water. Cameron decided to test it out. She moved gingerly off of the bed. No real aches and pains. She felt pretty good, despite everything. The bruises were a bit sore, but otherwise okay. This is just what I need. I am defiantly going to have to get Chase and Foreman something for picking up this stuff for me, she thought, laying out her toiletries. They even picked up her bathrobe. Cameron adjusted the water temperature, undressed and stepped in for a nice, relaxing shower.
House sat in his office playing with his yo-yo. He was restless. There were no cases. He was done with clinic duty for the day. To put it simply, he was bored. And he wanted to check up on Cameron. Again. She was probably as bored as he was just sitting in that private hospital room. It's not like PPTH got any good cable channels and there's only so much Jerry Springer one can watch. House got up and headed toward her room. He was going to make the ultimate sacrifice.
He was going to lend her his I-Pod.
"Hey."
"Wilson, hi."
"Going to see Cameron again?"
"No. Going to the clinic."
"Clinic's the other way."
"Big hospital. I'm always getting lost."
"She says she's doing much better." Wilson walked with House towards Cameron's room. "I was just in with her a little while ago."
"She says. How does she look?"
"Like she's barely holding it together."
House looked Wilson up and down. "You look like you're barely holding it together."
Wilson sighed. "I can't help but feel somewhat guilty, for not being able to catch the guy, you know? I should have been able to do more."
"At least you tried," House said. "I couldn't do anything but watch. All I could do was hold her and tell her it'll all be okay." He glanced at Wilson. "So don't tell me about guilt." He left Wilson standing alone in the hallway.
"Cameron?" He walked into her room. The bed was empty, but he could hear water running in the bathroom. She must be in the shower. House went over and cracked the door just enough to poke his head in, just to make sure everything was okay. He listened to the water run for a minute and was turning to leave when he heard the quiet, yet still audible sound of a sob come from the shower.
"Cameron, are you
okay?"
No answer.
He walked into the bathroom completely and grabbed a towel from the bar. Then he walked to the shower, and taking a deep breath, pushed the curtain aside.
Cameron was sitting on the floor, furiously scrubbing away at her chest.
"Christ." House immediately shut off the water, and got down as carefully and painlessly as he could in front of her. "Cameron! Stop." He grabbed her hands to stop the chafing.
Taking a good, long look, he saw that she had scoured herself raw on the spots where the assailant had groped her. House thought he was going to vomit, his stomach clenched so hard.
"Okay, Cam…
Allison… you have to stand up. I can't help you if you don't
get up."
She looked up at him, shivering from the cold and
emotion. Slowly she got up, holding the towel against her. House
grabbed her bathrobe off of the door and helped her into it. Then he
slowly helped her walk to the bed.
"Lay down, okay? Do you need anything?"
She shook her head.
"Let me see the damage…" She nodded and shrugged the robe down around her shoulders. Then she showed him her thighs. "You can't see it…" she muttered, more to herself than House.
"Allison, what happened?"
"I could still feel where he touched me. It wouldn't go away." It came out in a whisper.
For the second time, House felt like he was going to be sick. She shouldn't have to go through this. No woman should have to go through this. He didn't want to imagine how a woman that was actually raped felt. He took a deep breath.
"Do you want me to take care of these abrasions or should I get a nurse to do it?"
"No, it's okay," she said. "I trust you. You can do it."
After House patched her up, Cameron fell back asleep. He stared at her for a few minutes, trying to understand the pain she was going through. For instance, he had to live with the pain of his infarction for the rest of his life. She had to live with the fact that she was very intimately violated for the rest of her life. He came to the conclusion that her pain was a billion times worse.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize you felt that way."
"No," House replied looking up from his computer to see Wilson in the doorway. "I shouldn't have yelled earlier. I think this has got us all on edge a bit." He let out a sharp laugh that sounded almost like a sob. "I found her in the shower. She scoured her chest and legs raw where he had touched her."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes. I don't know what to do. It seems that when you, Chase and Foreman are with her she's okay. When I'm with her, she's an emotional wreck."
"Wouldn't you be," Wilson countered. "You're probably catching her at some of her worse moments. Don't think it's you."
"She won't talk to me, though. Won't tell me what she's going through. It's Cameron, Wilson. I want to help her."
"She'll open up, Greg. Just give her time."
House rubbed his eyes in exhaustion. For once in his life, he was totally at a loss. He usually had his snark and sarcasm to fall back on, but, at this point in time, he found even that was missing.