Chapter 11: Figure

Not much was said for about a quarter of an hour. Chase just leant over onto Cameron's formerly dry shoulder and wept. That curious bracelet had fallen to the floor after he'd collapsed into her arms with hysterical sobs, and while she'd been stroking his back, she'd only begun to notice how uncomfortable the compassionate hug was.

"Umm…Robert? Your baby doesn't seem to like being squashed."

Chase broke out of the upset bawling, "Huh? Oh, right. Sorry, mate." He shuffled back from her, patting the offending bump with a half-smile.

"I guess we were never formally introduced; when do I get to hear more about my co-worker's little boy or girl?"

"All right then." Turning his attention to Joey, "Okay, this is Dr. Allison Cameron. She's one of Daddy's work mates, really nice and friendly."

Cameron smiled at that, and then turned her gaze towards Chase's shirt-covered belly. "I guess that's pretty much right. So, what are you like most of the time?"

"I guess we're quiet most of the time, just a turn every once in a while, but sometimes, especially after dealing with something serious at work, we go nuts. So instead of butterflies in your tummy, we get sparrows on steroids in the guts."

She laughed, then went to turn on the more serious issue; "How badly did she hurt you?"

"Pretty bloody bad. Apparently she's been having it off with someone else for four of the five months we were together. Oh, and she can fake orgasms brilliantly, too."

"Really? What's the guy's name? Whenever one of my friends was dumped, we'd bitch about their new partner. Always manages to help."

"Um…well, it was kinda strange…"

"Come on, they normally tell, what is it?"

"Angela."

That shut her up quickly. That was not a good note to end a relationship on. "Oh, dear God. And she never told you-"

"That she was a lesbian trying to convert herself and used me as some cute piece of ass that she was going to dump when she was sure she couldn't change, regardless whether he was banged up or not? No, it was never a major topic of discussion." Chase said sarcastically, falling back onto the pillows of the couch in defeat.

"And you know the really sad thing? I thought this might have ended up in marriage, kids, and the whole meal deal thing. All this because of one friendly hug and kiss at a bar. God, how do I get myself into these messes?"

Cameron fell back into the couch with him; thinking about how she could help the situation. "Can I raid your fridge?"

"Yeah, just watch out for the soy milk. That was hers, and now I think it tastes toxic."

She smiled back into the fridge, looking around the shelves. From the lunches they'd had together, she'd assumed Chase was naturally compulsive about what he ate, choosing healthy over hearty. Peeking in again, she saw very few things that screamed "Bad for you!" even now, when hearty was supposed to be more appealing when someone was hanging around in your abdomen. Ah, there was an idea. Grabbing a block of chocolate and a few bits of coconut ice, she headed back into the lounge.

"OK! Part Two of How Girls Deal With Break-Ups: We grab the unhealthiest food we can find in the fridge and eat. Nobody will criticise you, or your ass, so dig in!"

Chase looked at her with some shock, but gladly took the chocolate and bit into it. With vigour. "Y'know, I swear my arse has gotten bigger, but then again, my whole body's been blown out of proportion-"

"Shut it. I don't care about your figure, bingeing is when you don't care about something like that."

"Now you sound like House!"

Cameron smiled, then suddenly remembered part of why she'd come over mainly because of a spicy smell coming from the kitchen, "Oh, I think dinner's ready!"

"Crap, you're right! Oh, dear dear dear…" Chase cried leaping up from the couch and pacing quickly back into the kitchen, stirring up the satay rice into two blue china bowls.

Bringing the food back in, the sat and ate in silence for a minute or two. Chase ran his fingers through his hair when he looked down to see the bracelet on the floor. It was a fine gold chain, with round little light-green emeralds and blue, square-cut topaz glinting in the light from the ceiling.

"I gave it to her as a six-month gift; she flung it on the floor when she headed for the door."

Cameron looked down at it. Boy, she really mustn't have felt anything if she could have ditched a gift like that.

Speaking of gifts, she remembered "Oh, I've got something from Meri for you." Heading back to the hall where she'd put the gift after running over to check on her colleague and friend. She took it back to the couch, and watched him carefully open it.

Inside explained the squishiness of the gift: a white, knitted blanket with a lamb embroidered in the corner. It was looking up whimsically at the word "Sweetie".

Chase chuckled for a moment, "This was the baby blanket Meri's mum made for her. Right before our last set of finals, she mailed it to her from rainy Wales as a "good luck" gift."

There were two other objects I the bundle, a large fish pendent on a finer silver chain than the bracelet on the floor and a small box.

"And this," he explained, "is a birthday present from five years ago, and this," he said while pointing at the little box, "plays 'Danny Boy'."

So, Idnax had sent some of her things to Chase for emotional support. It was a sweet enough idea, but maybe not as sentimental as what Cameron did next.

She began to wind up the little box in the clockwise direction, and when the lilting tune began to play, she leant over and placed it on his stomach, which was partly covered by Chase's hand, assuming Joey must have been moving around. Cameron listened to the tune:

"And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me

And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be

If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me

I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me."

Chase smiled, and mouthed "Thank You.", then closed his lids and smiled in his sleep.

Cameron nodded in welcome. Deciding to clean up the bowls so he wouldn't have to in the morning, she headed to the kitchen. His bowl had some of the rice in it, maybe she could have it. She had a long walk back to her apartment; he wasn't going to hunt her down, especially now he had become much gentler. House had begun to make jokes about that fact.

Looking into the bowl again, she thought that maybe she could wait to get home before eating again. Surely satay rice with French onion dip mixed in was not delicious to anybody else but him.

A/N: Yeah, yeah. It got sappy at the end, but hey. And I KNOW Danny Boy's and Irish song, don't beat me up for it! I just thought it sounded nice for the mood…Gah! I need a chapter that's sap-free! But still…

I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.