Chapter 3

House took the bottle of bourbon from his desk drawer and poured his first large measure.

"Little early," said Wilson, sitting opposite him.

"I'm off the clock. You want some?"

"I'm driving. So are you."

House poured him a drink anyway, albeit smaller than his own. "Eh, it's a hospital, gotta be a bed somewhere."

"What are we drinking to?"

"Do we need to drink to something?" he thought a moment. "Let's drink to… discovering the contents of Cameron's purse." He placed the purse on his desk.

"Where did you get that?"

"She left it here."

"Did it have a little note on it saying 'please look inside'?"

"No."

"She won't thank you."

"She won't know." He began bringing things out of the bag. "Makeup, wallet, ooh!" he threw something across the room. "Girlie stuff," he shook his head and shuddered theatrically.

"What are you hoping to find?"

"The meaning of life." He pulled a black object out. "Bingo, her day planner."

"House, that's private."

"Your point being?"

Wilson shook his head but didn't answer.

"Wow, lot of men in the address section. Peter, Robert, Harry. Oh," he said gleefully, "James, that wouldn't be you, would it?"

"It's a common name."

"It wouldn't surprise me, of ether of you. But I guess you're probably not needy enough for each other." House refilled his glass and looked thoughtful. "Would two people who need needy people work together? You can't be healthy if you only date people who need you, so maybe you two do have a shot."

House sat back in his chair and began flipping through the diary pages.

"I think I'll leave you to it. Have fun." Wilson rose and left. House waved by way of a goodbye as he pulled a photograph out of the day planner.

III

The next morning it took Cameron only a few seconds to realise exactly what House had done. Slumped over his desk, snoring lightly, a few of the items from her purse lay scattered around him.

"My god!"

House raised his head. "Too shrill," he croaked, squinting to see who had awoken him.

"How could you?" She stood with her hands on her hips. "Just because I forget my purse doesn't give you the right to go through my things. Don't you have any decency? Any respect for privacy at all?"

Sitting upright House shook his head to clear the fuzziness. "I regularly have you break into other people's houses, doesn't that tell you something?"

Cameron walked up to the desk, picked her purse up from the floor beside it and reached for an object on the desk. House snatched it away and looked at it again.

Cameron sighed and glared at him. "You had no right."

"That's true. But you are a liar."

"I've never lied to you."

"No? What about a lie of omission? You have a sister. Correction, had a sister." House pulled his pills out of his pocket and shook two into his hand.

"You're my boss, that does not give you the right to know every intimate detail of my life."

"How about if I were your boyfriend?" He swallowed the pills dry. "I wouldn't mind a coffee if you're offering." Cameron glared at him. He sighed. "If I can't trust you, I can't work with you. Simple as that." He stood up and walked through to the diagnostics room to put some coffee on.

"It's none of your business," she said, following him.

"Probably not, but you're going to tell me anyway."

Cameron crossed her arms over her chest and glared at his back.

"What did she have?" Cameron didn't answer so he looked at the picture again. "It has to be some type of cancer; her hair's short, much thinner than yours, the skin pale."

"Leukaemia. Can I have that back?" she held her hand out.

House gave her the picture. "She was very pretty," he said softly. Turning back to the coffee machine he asked. "How long?"

Cameron sat down, staring at the picture. "Diagnosed when she was five. She died when she was 17. Renal failure."

"How old were you?"

"17. We were fraternal twins."

House nodded. "That explains a few things."

Cameron looked over at him as he turned around and leaned against the wall.

"You think you've discovered how I tick?" she asked calmly. Almost too calmly. House studied her intently as she continued. "Well you're right. I didn't have a childhood. I had a job. I spent my childhood never having enough love from my parents because they didn't have the energy with Emily being ill. I didn't have dance lessons, or music lessons or karate lessons, there wasn't the time or money. I never got to rough-house or climb trees because Emily wasn't well enough to do it, too. They missed me playing lead in the school play because Em was rushed to the hospital. I washed her, cleaned up after her, played with her, read to her. I shaved my head every time she had chemo so when the kids laughed at her, she wasn't alone. When we both got a crush on Tim Davis, I pretended not to like him so he would take her to junior prom. And you know what? I never minded any of it, because she was the most wonderful person I've ever met." She had tears glistening in her eyes. "She was my best friend."

House swallowed. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not. You're pleased. Now you think you know why I became a doctor, why I married a dying man, why I like you. But you're wrong. I didn't become a doctor to try to save my sister or make up for her death. I didn't marry my husband because he was sick and I don't like you because you're damaged. You think you can sum people up in a few sentences but life is more complicated than that."

She stood and went back into House's office, collected the rest of her things off his desk and left.

"Where are you going?" he called after her.

"Away from you."

III

By the time Chase came in, House had finished three cups of coffee and was feeling much better.

Surprised she wasn't in before him as usual, Chase asked, "Where's Cameron?"

"Sulking."

"What did you do?"

"Why do you assume it was me?"

Chase shrugged.

"You know," House continued, "you'd think you'd be more protective of someone you slept with."

"I slept with her, I didn't marry her."

"You're dying for a repeat performance, though. I can see it in the way you watch her when you think no one's looking. "

"I do not…"

"Thing is, she'd probably like it better if you stood up for her once in a while, backed her up. Chicks dig that."

"There's nothing between…"

"But that would be unprofessional, and we can't be biased, can we?"

"What's this about?"

House stood up. "You're covering my clinic duty," he told Chase as he headed for the door.

"Why, where are you going?"

"Hunting."

Chase stared after his boss, perplexed.

III

"God, you're predictable."

"Did my walking out not give you a hint I didn't want to see you?" She didn't turn around to face him.

"I don't do hints. Besides, if you didn't want me to find you, you wouldn't have hid somewhere so easy." House sat in the pew behind Cameron in the hospital chapel.

"I suppose you think I came here to mourn."

"No, I think you came here because you didn't expect I'd come here. First rule of hunting, understand the prey."

"And the second rule?"

"Don't wear day-glo."

Cameron was glad she had her back to him as she couldn't keep a smile from playing at her lips.

After a silence he asked, "Don't you want to correct me?"

"Not really."

"Sure you do. You want to let me know how wrong I am so I can learn a little humility."

Cameron smiled and turned around to face him. "I'm strong enough in myself that I don't need to explain my motives to you, and I know you well enough to realise you have no humility."

"That's why you wanna teach me some."

Cameron shook her head, smirking at him. "Sorry, but I don't." She stood up and walked towards the door. She paused before leaving. "And doesn't that just kill you?" she teased.