Anonymousow: -giggles- Glad that it made you laugh. I kept cracking up while writing it...which is pathetic but so true.
WrongObsession: So...your whole math equation confused the heck out of me. LOL. I think I've read it at least 20 times...and I don't understand a word of it. Bahaha. I keep trying to put it together...but yeah. -snort- x]
Kirei28: I can't promise you no more House...because House plays a big part in my fanfic. Sorry. The whole thing is written and there's more House to come. Without him...Cadley probably wouldn't even get together in this fic. He had/has a big part in that.
Ina: Haha. I wanted to smack his head throughout the entire fic. He and Thirteen kept rebelling in everysinglechapter. I'd want them to do one thing and they'd completely do something else. Half the stuff in this fic wasn't even in my original outline. Including them getting arrested. It was going to be that House was going to blast his own music...but that got scrapped bc he wanted to do something else. Haha. -totally won't say anymore about worrying about Cameron- -wink- They'll eventually both figure out their feelings...eventually. Ha.
Nameless: So every time I get a review from you, I'm like, '.Now!' Is that sad? xD Mm. You should see the /whole/ picture. -giggles- I was going to say more, but my mom texted me and I forgot what I was typing. Huh. Anyway...thanks!
Tortall101: Thanks for reviewing and glad you like Alex. =] Your username is fun to say out loud, btw. Haha.
So...I lied when I said I wouldn't update. All my ways of procrastination fell out the window. I was actually going to go to the gym instead of update...but my friend re-scheduled for tomorrow. Hm. Not cool. Anyway...enjoy!
Btw...I see all the alert lists I'm being added to. -wink- Reviewreviewreview!!! I'll make Alex give you puppy-eyes. =]
Go, Diego, Go had to be equivalent to torture. Thirteen lounged on Alexander's bed with him, an arm around his shoulders. They stared at the TV. Candy bar papers and empty chocolate milk bottles littered the floor and stand beside the bed.
"Come on, Thirteen," Alex begged for the millionth time that morning. "Tell me the story? Please?" He looked up at her and gave a sweet, toothless smile. "Pretty please?"
Thirteen had to admit that it was hard to resist. "I already told you," she said, "It's Dr. Cameron's day off. We have to wait until she comes back so she doesn't miss anything."
"Fiddlesticks." Alex pouted and tapped his fingers on Thirteen's arm. "Can't you call her and ask her to come?" he pleaded. "I miss her."
"She'll be here tomorrow." Thirteen realized she was missing the presence of the other doctor too. She was shocked House had even let her around the boy without Cameron watching over them. It just wasn't the same without her though.
"Do you like her?" Alex asked. He leaned his head back against his pillow and looked up at Thirteen.
"Do I like her?" She repeated in slight confusion.
"Yeah," He said. "Dr. Cameron. Do you like Dr. Cameron?"
"I think she's a very nice doctor, don't you?" Thirteen replied. "Why do you want to know if I like her?" She hesitated, wondering if she was really that mean to her.
"She is a very nice doctor," He agreed. "Sometimes you stare at her all googly-eyed while you're telling the story. You should kiss her."
Her cheeks suddenly felt warm. "I'm not going to kiss Dr. Cameron. I think she's a very nice doctor, that's all. Let's not tell Dr. Cameron you said that either, okay?"
"What are you not telling Dr. Cameron?" House stopped by the room and looked inside.
Thirteen clamped her hand gently over the boy's mouth just as he was about to start speaking. "Nothing," she answered. "Go away, House."
He smirked and walked away.
-----
Cameron had been curled up on her couch at home when her pager went off. She was watching TV in an oversize t-shirt and sweatpants, half asleep with her now opened envelope in her hand. It was calm and relaxing, unlike the ER of the hospital. As soon as she arrived back at the hospital, she felt like she was in the middle of mass panic.
From the bits and pieces of information she gathered from other doctors and a few random adults, apparently eleven teenagers and a younger sibling of one of them had to decided to go into an old abandoned house and light there way with a candle. They were on the second floor when the floor gave out and two kids - including the one with the candle fell through. The dry wood of the house lit up within a matter of minutes. Five were dead when she got there, three had died since she had been there, and four were in critical condition with third degree burns.
"Dr. Cameron, have you seen my son?" "Dr. Cameron, is my baby okay?" "Dr. Cameron, how could this have happened?" "Dr. Cameron, they don't know which kid is which." "Dr. Cameron, they won't let me see my daughter." People were talking from every which way. Doctors were overwhelmed and sending all the alarmed parents her way.
It wasn't as if she was trying to avoid them when she walked into one of the rooms. Cameron didn't avoid people - especially people who needed her. There were only so many questions that could be answered and so much comforting she could do before there was nothing left that could be done until she got more information.
"It's like a zoo out there." Another ER doctor peered outside then looked at Cameron. "I don't think anyone could get things under control if they tried."
"Can you blame them though?" Cameron asked. "The parents, I mean." She turned to face the other doctor when she felt a small hand grab hers. "Oh." She glanced down and her heart snapped in two. Now that the youngest of the patients was clutching her hand for dear life, she couldn't exactly call the room she was in a hiding place. Not that she was technically hiding to begin with. "Sweetheart, you're going to have to let go." The little girl couldn't have been more than ten years old. Burns covered a majority of her body and much of her red hair was gone. Cameron slowly tried to ease her hand away but the girl had a tight grip on it. Her fearful, blue eyes pierced right through Cameron's heart.
"We can't find her parents," The other doctor explained in a calm voice. "Out of all the parents out there, there's none looking for a little girl yet. They're all looking for their teenagers."
"It's going to be okay," Cameron told the girl as the other doctor tended to her burns. She figured she should be helping with that, but it was nearly impossible while she was being clung to. She crouched down beside the bed the kid was on and rubbed a non-burned spot on her hand with her thumb. "You're gonna be okay, Sweetheart."
-----
The hospital was boring when there was no work to do. A nurse had shooed Thirteen from the room so Alexander could get some sleep. Thirteen shoved her hands in her pockets and wandered down the hall. Her head ached and with each time it pounded, she regretted not letting Cameron help her with it the night before. Not because she needed help, but because she liked the feeling she got when the other doctor was near. It wasn't the same feeling she got from the random women she picked up at bars. Her day was being thrown completely off with Cameron not at the hospital.
Pushing the door open to the locker room, she was shocked to see the blond sitting on one of the benches. For a moment, she felt like smiling. Her joy was crushed when it registered that Cameron had her head in her hands and her shoulders were quivering. There was an urge to turn and run back out the door. It wasn't like Cameron had seen her walk in. Running back out of the room would get her nowhere though.
She walked over to the bench and hesitated for a moment before taking a seat, brushing her arm against Cameron's. "You okay?" she questioned when her presence wasn't acknowledged. Stupid, Remy, stupid, she thought. Of course, she wasn't okay.
"Yeah." Cameron lifted her head and scrubbed at her eyes. "Sorry. I'm fine." She placed her hands flat on the bench on either side of her, her one hand pressed against the side of Thirteen's leg.
"If you were telling the truth, you wouldn't be crying," Thirteen said bluntly. She regretted what she said when Cameron sobbed, thinking she had somehow offended her. Cameron moved her hand to Thirteen's leg though, gently gripping the fabric of her pants by her knee. "You going to tell me what happened?" she asked, feeling a bit awkward. She placed her hand between Cameron's shoulder blades and traced imaginary shapes with her fingers.
"Just someone dying in the ER today," Cameron replied. She wiped at her eyes with the hand that wasn't on Thirteen's leg.
"People die in the ER all the time," Thirteen reminded her. "You work there. You should know that it happens."
"I know." Cameron shook her head. "She was alive when she got there though. Her parents never got there until after she was gone. Never got there until after she died, because they didn't think it was serious enough to be in a rush. What kind of parents don't rush when they get a call that their kid is in the ER? What kind of parents let their kid do something stupid enough to put them in the ER?"
"Parents who should have never had kids to begin with." It had been a rhetorical question, but Thirteen answered anyway. "Speaking of kids, I know a certain little boy who has been begging me to call you. He got a game of Candyland from Wilson this morning. I bet he'd like to play it."
"You didn't want to play it with him?" Cameron moved her hand off Thirteen's leg and glanced up at her.
Thirteen was silent for a moment, continuing to trace designs on Cameron's back without even realizing it. "We wanted to wait for you."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Thirteen dropped her hand back to her side and got to her feet. "How about you give yourself an hour or two then come join us?" she suggested.
Cameron nodded.
-----
"What about a blue pillowcase?" Thirteen asked. She reached across the Candyland board and grabbed another handful of Fruity Pebbles as they waited for Cameron.
"No," Alex replied as he shook his head. "It has to match my blanket." He shoved a handful of cereal in his mouth then examined the colors on his blanket. "It has to be green or brown or black." His mouth was half full as he spoke. "But not white, 'cause that's boring."
"What are you guys talking about?" Cameron let herself in the room. She looked tired, but not miserable like she had when Thirteen had found her in the locker room.
"Thirteen said she'll buy me a pillowcase to match my blanket," Alex explained. He smiled at her then pointed to a spot on the bed beside Thirteen. "Let's play!"
Thirteen glanced up at Cameron then patted the spot beside her. "Yeah, Dr. Cameron, let's play some Candyland. Five handfuls of cereal says I lose."
"That's a very pessimistic sort of view on things, don't you think?" Cameron climbed onto the bottom of the bed beside Thirteen and sat so their shoulders were touching.
Thirteen's breath caught in her throat at the contact. "Yes, well, I'm a pessimistic sort of person." She waited for Alex to pick a piece to put on the board then reached for her own. Cameron reached at the same time and they ended up grabbing the same piece.
"You can use that one," Cameron said.
"I was aiming for the piece next to it anyway," Thirteen lied. She grabbed the one beside it and placed it on the board.
"You should get married," Alex said, smirking at Thirteen.
Thirteen's cheeks suddenly felt like they were burning. She was afraid to look over and see if Cameron was bushing too. "Maybe we should," she replied. "Just not to each other. Pick your card and move, kid." She shot Alex a look then grabbed the box of Fruity Pebbles and offered them to Cameron so she would have an excuse to see if Cameron was blushing too. Cameron's cheeks were a light shade of pink and she avoided Thirteen's eyes as she grabbed a handful of cereal.
Alex muffled a giggle and drew a card from the stack. He studied the color for a moment then moved his piece to the nearest matching space. "Your turn, Thirteen."
"My turn." Thirteen placed the box of cereal in Cameron's lap then took a card from the pile. Realizing she only got to move one space, she frowned and looked it over. She moved her piece then carefully nudged it an extra space as she moved to put the card at the bottom of the pile.
"Hey," Alex complained. "That's cheating. Move it back, Thirteen."
"I didn't cheat," Thirteen argued. "My card said it to move there."
"Then let me see your card," Alex demanded.
"Shush." Thirteen grabbed a pillow and gently whacked him with it. "It's Dr. Cameron's turn."
"You cheated, Dr. Hadley." Cameron grabbed another pillow and hit her over the head.
Thirteen gaped at her. "Ow," she stated. "I hit my head there last night."
"Dr. Hadley, I'm so sor-" Cameron was cut off as Thirteen hit her with a pillow.
"Hit Dr. Cameron!" Alex announced.
"Sounds good to me," Thirteen agreed.
"Wait, wha-" Pillows came from both sides and hit Cameron on either side of the head. "Wait! Guys, this isn't fair! Oof." She couldn't beat Alex with a pillow, so she focused all of her energy on hitting Thirteen. The box of cereal and the Candyland pieces all scattered to the floor.
Despite both she and Alex were hitting Cameron, Cameron was beginning to get the best of her. Thirteen scooted back, hovering dangerously close to the edge of the bed. One good hit from Cameron sent her toppling backwards. She grabbed Cameron's arms as she fell and yanked the other doctor off the bed and on top of her. Fortunately, she managed to keep her head tilted forward and it didn't hit the floor.
Cameron hadn't expected to go flying forward. She squeaked in surprise and landed directly on top of Thirteen. Her hands were on either of Thirteen's shoulder and she had one knee directly in the middle of Thirteen's stomach. She was in shock but Thirteen's laughter caused her to start laughing too. She lowered her head, trying to get her heart to stop thumping from the surprise of the fall.
Thirteen leaned her head back against the floor, ignoring the pain that came with it. She reached her hand around one of Cameron's arms and rubbed at her eyes as she attempted to catch her breath. She could feel Cameron's breath on her face and it was almost intoxicating. "Cameron," she gasped through her laughs. "I think you're crushing me."
Rolling off of her, Cameron glanced up at Alex. He was staring down at them while giggling. "Oh, you think that's funny, huh?" she asked, trying to stop laughing.
"You fell off the bed," Alex giggled, pointing at the two of them. He threw his pillow at Cameron's head.
Cameron caught it and whacked Thirteen across the face with it. She sat up and tossed the pillow back onto the bed then looked down at Thirteen. "Here." She held her hand down to help her up.
Grabbing her hand, Thirteen was sure electric shocks were going down her arm and up her spine. She got to her feet and took a breath. "So much for a calm game of Candyland."
"Yeah." Cameron let go of her hand and dropped backwards onto the bed, letting her legs hang off the end. She turned her head to face the TV and Alex lied down on his stomach so his head was on her shoulder. "I'm tired now."
"You were tired to begin with." Thirteen collapsed beside Alex and propped her head up with her hands. The position got quickly uncomfortable and after about a good five minutes of mental debating, she crossed her arms over Cameron's stomach and rested her head against them. They watched Wow Wow Wubbzy until Alex ended up falling asleep. Thirteen glanced over and found that Cameron seemed to be struggling to keep her eyes open. She thought about moving Alex and telling Cameron to go home, but the effort it would take to move didn't seem worth it. With a content sigh, she rolled over onto her side and closed her eyes.