Disclaimer: I don´t own House M.D, wish I would…

Finally! Im finally able to update my story, I can´t believe it! I want to thank all the lovely people who reviewed the last chapter(s) and asked me to update soon. I hope that I can post the next chapter sooner, hopefully within the next two weeks!

Haunted Chapter 16

Darkness surrounds her, leaving Cameron wondering about Jared´s whereabouts. Was he in the room? Behind the door? Or had he left the building? It reminds her why she doesn´t likes the dark. Never did. Darkness not only leaves you in utterly blind, it leaves you unaware. She tries to appraise how much time has passed with her lying on the bed in this dark room, wondering if she is the only person there. In the end, she can´t tell. Her brain is still not working properly, the drug still too strong in her system. Thankfully, the headache is slowly fading, and she wishes that the same would happen with the pain in her shoulder. She had tried to move a bit, to place her weight more onto her other shoulder, but her arms bound together over her head, hadn´t allowed it. Every second of lying on the freshened wound requires all of her strength not to whimper. But no, if Jared is in the room, she would not allow him to enjoy watching her suffer. Think of something else. Deflect the pain. House. His lifeless form lying on the cold sidewalk, his blood coloring the ground. Was he really dead, or was this just another one of Jared's cruel games? She can´t tell. And did she really want to know? What if Jared had told the truth and he is dead? She couldn´t handle this, she just couldn´t. She would not be able to live with the knowledge that she had killed the man she loves. It did not matter that she had not pulled the trigger. That gun had been fired for only one reason; his connection to her. Her love for him.

She can still feel House´s lips on hers. It had surprised her that he had responded, and she had told him so. "But you kissed back". Now the sentence sounded like one coming from a teenager. And yes, it had hurt her that he didn´t seem to care when he found out about Chase and her having sex. After she had broken up with Chase she had watched House´s attention toward Cuddy. That too had hurt, but she couldn't blame Cuddy for this. Not after all she had done for her. She knows that the older women desperately wanted a child and it had been hard to watch every failure. Though, she doubts that House would be the father Cuddy is searching for.

The pain in her shoulder is getting stronger, almost too much to take. Lifting her face to the side Cameron tries to figure out the lines of the wall and the door. Is there any window? A second door, maybe? No. She sees a chair standing right in front of the closed door and she is almost sure that she sees no human body sitting there, but she could be wrong. Turning her heard to the other side, a whimper escapes her mouth. The pain in her shoulder was hard to take, but the face right in front of hers even harder. Even in the darkness she can tell that he´s smiling. Son of a bitch.

The two cups of tea, standing on a silver salver, are clanking against each other as Dr. Tiek warily makes her way to the living-room, her eyes resting on her boss, Lisa Cuddy. Right in this moment, the women sitting before her on the blue chair reminds Tiek more of a wounded and scared animal than of a respected leader of a famous hospital. But she understands. Truth is not an easy fellow. She slightly wonders what Cuddy´s reaction would be if she told her the whole truth right now. But no, theres no need to rush things. There was plenty of time.

"Lisa." Cuddy is not reacting; her mind too deep in an other world, a world she had thought was gone long ago. Dr. Tiek tries once more to get her attention, this time her voice louder.

"Lisa. I made tea." Now Cuddy lifts her head, looking as if she was seeing the women before her for the first time in her life.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She rubs her forehead as she lets out a small sigh of desperation. "What did you say?"

"I made tea. You´ve been shivering since you came by. Maybe it will warm you up a little." Dr. Tiek hands Cuddy one of the cups before she sits down on the couch, her eyes never leaving her boss. She gives Cuddy a couple of minutes to come back into the real world before she speaks again.

"Maybe you wanna talk about all this?" A try.

"No. I am not one of your patients, Amanda. I can handle it." Her voice reveals anger, but that is no surprise for the seasoned therapist.

"She's a great person, you know. Charming, caring. Lovely."

"What? What are you talking about?" Cuddy´s eyes show confusion and Amanda Tiek smiles a little.

"Dr. Cameron, I mean. I imagine that she´s one hell of a doctor, one of those who never give up on their patients." A simple statement.

Cuddy nods, almost fiercely "Yes."

"And wouldn´t you think a woman who fights so hard for other people, is strong enough to fight for her own life?" Even barely knowing the young immunologist, Dr. Tiek has no doubt about her own words.

"She already did that." Cuddy´s voice is almost a whisper now.

"Exactly, and she will do it again. I wouldn´t be surprised to hear that she has a lot of fights with this House. He is her superior, right?"

"Yes, she will, they have…I mean you´re right with everything you´ve said."

"Im sure they make a unique couple, the two of them. A man filled with bitterness and sarcasm and a woman filled with hope and love. Huh. Sounds very explosive."

"Absolutely. They strain my nerves a lot." Cuddy almost smiles a little.

"He can´t stand her view of the world, right? He can´t understand her trust and belief in human beings because he don´t knows her."

One puzzle solved, another unsolved. That´s what he would think naturally, but not this time. House stands perfectly still in the bathroom, the smell of his own vomit filling his nose, his stomach still rebelling. For once in his life, House is too shocked to think or to act. He knows that he should search further, but he can´t move. Regret and guilt paralyze him. If only he would have known… it all. Not the little pieces Cameron had thrown toward him. He remembers their last conversation, right before the bullet had hit him. He just hopes, no, begs, that it wouldn´t be the last conversation with her. He hasn´t yet found any clue or link to Cameron´s whereabouts. For a brief moment he wonders if he would ever find one, but he dismisses the thought immediately. He knows that he has something to work with now. He walks back into the bedroom, his eyes resting on the report lying on the bed, right where he had left it. Somewhere in this file, buried deep between Cameron´s testimony and the reports from the police and hospital, lays a hint, pointing toward Cameron´s location. He just has to find it. Maybe he should walk back to that therapist, and ask her to read the file. But then he remembers that she already knows the report. If she would remember something important, she would have told the police earlier. Or would she? He still doesn't trust her. Something about that woman makes him cautious. Same goes for the police. They showed their limitations twice. First by not finding Cameron and then by letting that scum face escape and disappear. No. He wouldn´t put Cameron´s life in those hands.

Walking over to the bed he grabs the file and starts to read it again, beginning with the police report. On June 17th, 1999, a woman named Charlize Mallies had called the police to report the disappearance of her friend Allison Cameron. She had last seen her two days before and she hadn´t shown up at the University or at their meeting that day, as planned. She was not answering the door or phone, neither was her boyfriend Jared Carter. Also his boat was not at the pier. To House´s initial surprise, the police immediately began a search, but he quickly discovered the reason behind that on the next page. The police were thinking that Cameron and Jared were fleeing. The police, or moreso the narks, had watched the two of them over a couple of months, accusing them both of dealing with drugs. That part, along with Cameron being a suspect is not new to House, but it still makes him angry. Two days later, on June 19th, the police received a call from Cameron, coming from Jared´s boat. She gave them the coordinates of the yacht, but the phone call was interrupted before she could tell them any more. The police came too late; the boat was found empty. It was four weeks later when a police officer stopped a car near a forest in Boston, because; the driver had urinated on the roadside, that the officer recognized Jared from the search photo, but was taken out by him with a branch. He later stated gave to protocol that a young woman was sitting on the nearside, obviously sleeping. Sleeping? House doubts that. Cameron probably was drugged. That also would explain why the police had found no traces of a struggle on the boat, or how Jared was able to take Cameron out on a street. He skims through the pages until he finds the hospital report, searching for Cameron´s blood results. Here it is. Traces of Ventanyl. Interesting. It leaves House to assume that Cameron was drugged but not unconscious for the most of the time. Ventanyl only takes out a person for about two hours. For a longer result you have to give a higher doses, but there wasn´t enough Ventanyl in Cameron´s blood for that. He briefly wonders whether Jared knew, or now knows that. And with that, he wonders if Cameron ever took advantage of that, if she ever just pretended to be unconscious. He hopes so. It could give her a chance to free herself or to call for help. Flipping back to the police report he tries to find a strategy to Jared´s actions. And, almost to his own surprise, he finds a first clue. As fast as his leg allows, he leaves Cameron´s apartment and gets in his car, making his way to Dr. Tiek's house. He has to speak to Cuddy.

Things had gone exactly the way he had wanted. That cripple House wounded, and Cameron with him again, thinking that her boss was dead. He knows her. With telling her that House was dead she would feel guilty. Good. It is only fair that she experienced some of the feelings he had gone through. Pain. Suffering. Betrayal. It was just like he had said to her. WOUNDS. He reaches forward to touch her face, but Cameron dodges. How he's missed her. He almost can´t believe that she's with him now. Forever.

"What´s wrong? I can remember times where you had…craved my touch." His voice is mocking.

"Screw...ou." Damn drug, damn tongue!

"Did you say something? It sounded like you might have." No response.

"No? I thought you just said screw you´." He shrugs his shoulders. "Maybe I just imagined that, cause" Jared leans forward, his breath now touching Cameron´s skin, "you wouldn´t say something like that to me, right?"

Cameron, barely breathing now, just hopes that her eyes are not giving away her angst. Don´t show him your weakness. Don´t show him that you´re afraid. Be strong.

Leaning back, he makes himself more comfortable on the bed as he looks at her. "I want to ask you something." He plays with his fingers, sighing, before he speaks again. "Did you really think that I was dead?" ...He answers himself, laughing. "Of course you thought so. Let me ask you another question. Have you", he now plays with her fingers, "ever slept with another man after I…disappeared?" Oh no. No. He knows. He knows about Chase. His fingers now press hers. "Have you?" God, please help me. She knows that she must answer him. There is no other choice. Silence or a obvious lie would only make him angrier.

"I did." She doesn't dares to look at him. The pressure on her fingers is getting stronger, almost hurting.

"At least you're truthful. But I´m not sure if that will help this…what´s his name, Chase?"" His voice is gentle as ever, his touch now again caressing.

"No. Ont hurt im." He laughs. "You're words are sounding funny when you´re…sleepy. Did I ever tell you that before?" He had, and Cameron remembered very well. He had said that it sounded sweet and funny´. Sick bastard.

"You know, you shouldn´t worry about him. He's not worth it."

Something is wrong. He´s too calm, too nice and Cameron doesn´t know why. She just told him that she had slept with another man and she does not see anger in his eyes nor can she hear it in his voice. Something is wrong. Terribly wrong.

"I watched you." Cameron knows exactly what he means. "Didn´t you once accused me of raping you? Didn´t you said something about I was too weak from the drugs you gave me´? Is it just me or weren´t you drugged the first time you slept with that Chase?" Now Cameron knows what´s wrong. He is not angry. He is hurt, deeply wounded. deadly.

Standing up from the bed Jared walks over to the small window, taking a deep breath and grabbing something small before returning to Cameron's side. Again he sits down on the bed, his hands reaching for Cameron, touching her arms.

"I missed you. I really did. I thought about you every single minute over the last years. I missed everything about you. Your scent. Your touch. Your voice. Everything. It broke my heart to watch you sleeping with that guy. But it's going to be fine now. You can make it up to me. " Fear, knowing fear, creeps inside of Cameron. She just prays that he is not about to do what she thinks he is.

"I want to sleep with you. You can say no…"

"No!"

"…but it won´t stop me. You could sleep with that guy while being under the influence of drugs, so that´s not a hindrance for you. But I understand now. It was my fault. I didn´t played enough attention to you. I will now."

And as his hands reach her belly, Cameron knows that he means every word he said.