Kirei: Aw. One of my comments made you hesitant? How very sad. I'm glad you really like it though!
WrongObsession: I think my Wilson is gathering a fanclub now. Lol. I'd be best friends with everyone but Foreman. House and I would play evil tricks on him. It'd be fun. Remy and Cameron could be together 'cause I'd marry Chase. xD If the guy tried something with Remy, she, Kutner, and Taub could use her suspenders and reenact Frosty.
Melissa: See...you'd all be happy if she hurt Chase...then pissed cause Cameron would be mad at her. It's a lose/lose situation. xD Glad you like the Cam/Wilson friendship. 30 updates a day might be a /little/ overwhelming. Just a little though!
Jungle: Well, I can tell you she didn't intentionally do anything.
Eva: I'd have to consult my imaginary lawyers before answering that question. -innocentlook-
SMF: Glad you like it. This chapter was a little late...hopefully it didn't take me too long though!
Shan: Aw. Thank you. Glad you're enjoying it!
Kj: Well...you got 2 of those right. Haha.
Enigmatic: Patience is so overrated. Glad you're enjoying it!
JB: Good that Chase is a bit better. Batman will appear next chapter.
Bigblusky: You all just really want me to torture people, don't you? Lol.
YDPP: Yes, but she hasn't said it to her. She said it to Wilson. But er...yay Wilson! And yay that I can make the guy a scary freak. I love villains. Don't worry...I need new adjectives too. I'm so redundant.
Ilessthree: Is it possible to be too happy to ever be sad? You'll find out who he is...eventually. Bahahaha.
Ina: I updated a little slower this time. I'm not giving out any more info or telling you if you're right/wrong. Bahahaha.
Setyourself: -revives you- No dying! I really wanted to make 13 ignore the page just 'cause you all are worried she will. xD
Roronoa: I think drama goddess might be a bit of an overstatement. Heh. It's okay. I yell at the computer all the time. I rolled my eyes at it yesterday and got in trouble for being 'rude'. How is it possible to be rude to the computer?! Bahaha. An irrational love for Wilson. That's great!
Amazon: Glad you enjoyed them checking out Cuddy and then pwning Chase. Yay for Rebecca coming across as not-exactly-hateable. Maybe if you smack their heads together, their lips will touch. -wink- And yeah...Cam's pretty scared. What's your guess? You could be right. I feel like I'm creating Wilson-fangirls.
Ilive: That's what Wilson's there for...somewhat. Glad I'm unpredictable. xD
Twampy: Is it bad I like making people cry? -win- Yeah...Chase is pretty harmless compared to the other guy. Cause at least he wouldn't hurt Cameron. Woo for Wilson-fangirls!
Lessthan13: The whole "dun dun dun" makes me feel like my fic needs theme music. I actually have songs I listen to during all the different scenes. If only there was a way to make them play while you're all reading! Second person is hard to read review-wise! I think I read your review fives times. Lol. I'm going to keep adding elevator moments just to make you worry. Ha.
Nameless: Oh jeez...How to reply to all of that!!! It's so long and wonderful!!! 18: House's antics are never very surprising. Lol. Pssh. Kutner will heal and get over it. Plus...Cameron got to fix him up...even if she was unhappy about it. Who wouldn't want Cameron to fix them up?! 19: I think she'd rather be in Rebecca's room...but she'd probably be okay with taking Rebecca to her room too. Fail/fail situation there. I think the point is not thinking. Cause thinking would cause hurt. House's prying not mending things reminds me of the quote:
Wilson: Have you ever considered channeling your powers to, I don't know, bring peace to the mid-east?
House: I couldn't do that.
Wilson: But if they ever got it, you could screw it up.
House: Yeah. That's more where my powers lie.
Poor Cuddy just needs to wear looser clothes...or...not. Teehee. 20: Have any idea who the guy is? Glad he's coming across as scary. Villains are the best to write. They're fun. She changed her hair color because he said he liked it as blond. Now I'm hungry for peanut butter and celery...and I don't even like celery.
Ooh. So now I need theme music and a commentator. Ha.
From: Thank you! Glad you're enjoying it!
...I think I spent more time replying to reviews than I did writing the chapter! =DDD -happy- Anyway.
1. Just so y'all know...I have a general idea, but I'm kinda just going chapt by chapt. It's a bit difficult for some chapts where I don't have much planned. So if anyone has any ideas, throw 'em at me!
2. I got mixed feelings about the end of the chapt. I let a few people read it. Some liked it others said change it. So...sorry if it's not great. Nvm if you like it!
3. Wonderousplaceforanecho helped me a lot with this chapter.
4. Do any of you RP? I'm on the prowl for a Cam/Remy RP...and I'm willing to play either.
5. I feel like I have something else to say...but I don't remember. Hope I didn't miss replying to anyone. There was a lot of reviews! Oh...and I totally wanna hear your ideas about who you think the guy stalking Cameron could be. Enjoy!
Thirteen's POV:
You're settled on the floor outside the ER when your pager goes off. Kutner is sitting beside you and Taub managed to find you with his lunch and is sitting in front of you. "That's weird," you mumble as you take a bite of your sandwich and look at the number the pages you. "What would Wilson want?"
"Maybe House stole his pager," Taub suggests as he and Kutner both lean to look at your pager.
"He even wants you in his office," Kutner points out. He leans back against the wall again. "Are you going to see what he wants?'
You nod and take a drink of soda. "If Wilson is paging me, it's probably important. What would he want with me if it wasn't?" Your sandwich is almost gone so you don't worry about eating the rest, instead tossing it in the trash next to the three of you. "You staying here?"
"We'll come too," Kutner says, getting to his feet. He shoves the rest of his sandwich in his mouth then brushes his hands against his pants.
You stand up and take another drink before twisting the cap back on the bottle. "At least I can escape the ER." After Taub gets up, the three of you head down the hall and toward the elevator. "How was the clinic?"
"I had twenty people who thought they had swine flu," Kutner answers. "And one who actually did. What's wrong with the ER?"
"Same thing that's wrong with the clinic," you lie, approaching the elevator. You push the button then take a step back. "I'd just rather have a case."
"She's avoiding Cameron," Taub states, staring at the numbers above the elevator as they light up. "Not easy to do in the ER."
"So House has a case?" you change the subject before they can get further into the matter.
"He only wants you if Cameron doesn't need you," Kutner answers. "Though he could have been being sarcastic."
It figures that House would choose to leave you in the ER just to make your day suck more than it already does. The doors open again and you walk out of the elevator and toward Wilson's office, followed by Kutner and Taub. "I'll see you later," you tell them as you approach the door.
Touching the doorknob, something tells you to just go back to work in the ER. You have no clue what Wilson could want with you unless your genetics plan on adding cancer to the Huntington's. It would be so much easier to pretend you never got the page and continue your day as normal. From the corner of your eye, you see Kutner and Taub walk toward House's office and you envy them. You should be on that case and dealing with House too.
With an inaudible sigh, you turn the knob and glance inside. You should have known Cameron was the reason you're needed. It seems like she's the center of your life these days. It's hard to be angry at that when it makes you feel like you have something to live for. Even though your head is telling you to run in the opposite direction, you stand frozen in the door way.
She can't breathe; that much is obvious. She's leaning forward with her hands cupped over her nose and mouth, visibly trembling. Her hair is making a curtain around her face and it's hard to tell if she's crying or not. Seeing her like this makes your heartbreak go from acute the chronic. It goes from trying to stop the hurt to attempting to manage the pain.
Wilson is kneeling in front of her but stands when he notices you. He holds his hands up slightly and takes a few steps back.
Your eyes widen and you stare at him like he's crazy for expecting you to step in and comfort her, like it's somehow your job now. What the hell did you get yourself into, Remy? What's worse is that you want to go in there and make everything better for her. Something tells you if you run out now, he'll page Cuddy and you'll get a lecture about how you should have just let her deal with Cameron. "I got it," you say, taking a few steps in the room. You feel selfish for avoiding her, for getting her so far then just allowing her to shrink back into herself.
"She didn't ask me to page you," he says as if it'll win her some bonus points or something. He turns to his desk and gathers his lunch then inches past you and out the door, avoiding your gaze.
Holding your breath, you stare at her and try to think professionally. Risking vulnerability and getting hurt isn't something you want to repeat. Being a doctor is easier than being a friend. It doesn't work though because the professional part of you tells you to send her to psych. Letting out air through your mouth, you walk over and kneel down in front of her, placing your soda bottle on the floor. "We're going to talk," you try to assure her, gently pulling her legs from the couch so her feet are on the floor. You gingerly pry her hands away from her tearstained face and lower them to her knees then place your palms flat on hers.
"Tell me what to do," she pleads in a whisper, gripping your good hand. Her breaths are still ragged and she pulls her hand out from under your hurt one to wipe at the tears on her face. She opens her eyes but you avoid her gaze. "I want to make it up to you," she mumbles, glancing down at the floor.
Sighing, you let go of her hand and rest your head against your hand as you place your elbow on her knee. Out of the very few people who have ever apologized to you for something, none of them sounded as sincere as she does. "You can make it up to me by taking care of yourself, okay?" You straighten up and are about to stand but realize you can't just leave her sitting here in tears. "Did you sleep last night?" You're already sure of the answer before you even ask the question.
She shrugs and wrings her hands together. "He called me," she chokes and stops rubbing her hands to grip the sleeves of your lab coat. "He scared me," she whispers like she doesn't want to admit it to herself. Her grip on you tightens and she clamps her eyes shut. "He - He…"
"You can tell me," you reassure her when her voice trails off. You carefully break away from her tight hold on your sleeve and hesitantly tuck a strand of hair behind her ear when she doesn't answer. "Let me page Chase and have him take you home. You can't work like-"
"Take me back to your house." She grips your hand and holds it against the side of her face. "I made a mistake, Remy. I messed up," she mumbles, her voice breaking and utterly honest. She sounds like she's at a point where she has nothing left to lose and the exhaustion has already numbed her to where the rejection won't kill her.
Her skin is slightly warm from the panic attack and you caress her cheek to brush away a few tears with your thumb. "Look at me," you demand softly then bite down on your lip and wait for her to open her eyes. Her gaze is painful and intense, full of terror and need. You can't come home with me, Allison. "How are you going to tell Chase this?"
She sobs and lets go of your hand to rub exhaustedly at her face. Shrugging, she seems to sink back into herself to avoid being overwhelmed.
"We'll figure it out." Just take things one step at a time. You're overwhelmed too. "Let's get you calm first." You need to get yourself calm too. On the outside you might appear cool and collected but you have no idea what the hell you're doing. One step at a time. What's the first step? Even though there's some differences, you have the uncertainty you had back when she was raped. You don't know what's okay and are trying to just play things by ear.
Cameron scoots forward on the couch so her legs are on either side of you and rests her head against your shoulder. "I'm so tired." She turns her head and hides her face against your lab coat as she struggles to match her breaths with yours.
You feel frozen for a moment, unsure of how to respond. Logic is telling you to push her away and go back to work. Last month, the two of you would have never even found yourselves in the same room. Now, she's clinging to you for safety and you enjoy it. "Don't fall asleep on me. Wilson might need his office." You run your fingers through her hair then slide your arms around her. It frightens you how thin she is. "Did you eat lunch?"
"I was eating with Wilson." Stifling a yawn, she seems to be ignoring your warning not to sleep. "I had a sandwich."
You crane your neck to look at his desk. "Allison, you had two bites of a sandwich." Patting her back, you rest your head against hers. "You know I'm going to make you eat the rest of that before you leave this office, right?"
"Thank you." Her grip on you tightens. "Chase wouldn't make me."
A sigh of warm air against your neck gives you goose-bumps and she relaxes into your grip on her. "What did the guy say on the phone to you?" you ask now that she's relatively calm. "Did he threaten you?" You try to keep your voice calm, but the thought of him threatening her makes you furious. Trying to distract yourself from the anger, you dig your nails into your palm.
"Sort of," she mumbles, shrugging. Sniffling, she pauses for a moment and loosens her hold on you only to retighten it as though human contact will keep her grounded. "He likes my hair blonde. He said he - I want to talk about it later, okay?"
"Tell me now," you reply. "You're falling asleep." Pulling back, you force her to sit up instead of cuddle with you. Missing the warmth of her embrace, you have to tell yourself she needs to talk to you before she drifts off. "Why did he call?"
Rubbing her eyes with her arm, she's silent for a moment. "He wants me to get what I deserve." Her voice wavers and she hesitates. "He said I did something to hurt him. It's all my fault."
This guy did have the right person, didn't he? Cameron is the last person you can imagine causing pain to anyone, minus hurting your feelings. "This guy is sick," you tell her, rubbing a hand up and down her arm. "It's not your fault. Did you tell Chase?"
"He said he'd suture his lips if I told," she mutters, shaking her head. "I don't want Chase to get hurt."
As much as you wish Chase had his lips sutured, that's not the way you want it to happen. "He didn't tell you not to tell me?" you question. She looks unfocused so you place her hands on her cheeks and gently force her to look at you.
"He said you'd put up a fight if he tried to hurt you." She holds eye contact with you for a second before rubbing at her face again. "I guess you're scarier than Chase could ever be."
"Good to know I'm more badass than Chase," you comment, trying to make her feel a little better. She looks awful and you miss her bubbliness, as annoying as it could be sometimes. "Is this what you got so worked up over?"
"Hm?" She glances at you and her eyes flutter open and closed for a moment before she can convince herself to keep them open.
"Is the guy calling why you were crying?" you ask, realizing she really just needs to go home. Your knees are beginning to hurt so you get to your feet. "You need to eat." You walk over to the desk and grab her sandwich then walk back over to her and hand it to her.
"He's not why I was crying." She takes her sandwich and stares at it for a moment, poking at the bread before hesitantly ripping off a small piece and putting it in her mouth.
"What happened?" Licking off some peanut butter that got on your thumb, you take a seat beside her and curl one leg up under you. You lean over and grab your soda then uncap it and take a small drink. "If you want to tell me anything, you can." You definitely have no room to judge anyone, if that's what she's worried about.
"Not this," she whispers before tearing off a slightly bigger piece of her sandwich and eating it. She turns to face you and leans sideways against the back of the couch. "You're already mad at me."
"Do I look mad at you?" you ask. Hurt, yes. Angry, no. "You don't have to talk. Just finish eating."
The door opens and Wilson glances inside before walking in. "I'm not interrupting, am I?" He lets his hand hover on the doorknob, ready to turn and walk back out of his office again.
"No." You stand up and rest your hand on Cameron's shoulder, glancing down at her as she rests her head against your arm. "Could you ask Cuddy to tell Chase I'm taking Cameron home?" You just want to get her home and in bed. If Chase says anything to Cuddy about it, she'll deal with it better than either you or Cameron could at the moment. Using Wilson as a messenger makes you feel a bit guilty, but getting Cameron home is more important than dealing with Chase at the moment and you hope Cuddy will be sympathetic.
Wilson looks hesitant but nods anyway. "Yeah." He lets go of the door and walks over to his desk then begins shifting through a few files. "Should I bring lunch for two again tomorrow?" he asks, glancing over at Cameron.
"We're taking a vacation day," you state before Cameron can answer him. You both need a day to just relax and get everything sorted out.
"Day after that though," Cameron tells him, nodding slightly. She finishes her sandwich and brushes her hands against her pants before shakily getting to her feet. Closing her eyes, she brings her hand to her forehead and slowly moves to sit back down again.
"Hey." You wrap your arms around her to support her and keep her upright. That's what happens when you don't eat or sleep, Allison. You get dizzy. You plan on making a decent sized meal for her while she's sleeping. Letting her lean against you for support, you lead her out of Wilson's office. Even though you're not sure if taking her home is the greatest idea, you can't help but feel relieved she's yours again. You've never liked someone enough to risk being hurt for a second time before. Now you just wish she'd feel the same about you. For a moment, you feel awful about thinking about yourself in a time like this. It's only rational and human nature that self-preservation with sneak up on you though. It's also human nature to be compassionate. Compassion is a quality that you're very selective who you direct it at, but you feel like you can't help but be protective of Cameron.