Cameron paused a moment, and without a word, walked behind the desk to where House was standing. She took his hand and continued speaking, all the while looking into his crystal clear blue eyes. "I know that this won't be a smooth, bump free journey, House. There will be rough patches." She raised her free hand to his cheek and gently stroked it, smiling. "But, I happen to like your rough patches." She leaned forward and let her lips brush his.

"I have other rough patches, too, you know," he growled.

"Well, I'll just have to look into those, won't I?" she smiled broadly as he took her into his arms.

Their kiss began softly, each carefully exploring the other, but quickly grew into a burning need for taste and touch. As she felt his hands slip beneath her blouse, she felt a shiver run through her. His hands were so large that even with them at her waist, his thumbs were able to caress the side of her breasts. She could feel his desire for her growing, and as much as she wanted him to take her right there, she knew that his glass walled office was not the right place. She drew away from his lips and rested her head onto his chest. House rested his chin on the top of her head for a moment as they both tried to catch their breath. He exhaled loudly. "Looks like the fog is starting to burn off. They'll be flying that patient over any time now. Better wake up the wombat and Foreman and tell them to get their butts in here."

She leaned her head back to look up at him. "Ok. I'll go and make sure everything is ready for her arrival."

He leaned down, kissing her gently and said, "And we will continue this later – after dinner?"

She smiled and nodded as he reached for the phone to call the other ducklings in.

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An hour later, Cameron, Foreman and Chase were on the helipad to meet the Lifeflight Helicopter as it arrived from Trenton.

"50 year old female, acute liver and kidney failure. Vitals have all been stable on the flight over," the flight nurse reported.

"Mrs. Bishop? Hi – I'm Dr. Cameron. This is Dr. Chase and Dr. Foreman and we are part of the team working on your case. How are you feeling?" Cameron asked as they rode the elevator down from the roof. Under the fluorescent lights, the patient's jaundiced appearance was extremely evident.

"Very tired," she replied weakly.

"I know. It's been a pretty busy morning for you. After you get settled in your room we'll be back to talk to you. Do you have family coming to be with you?"

"Yes – my daughter is coming from Trenton."

"That'll be nice for you to have someone here with you. Ok. Here we are," Cameron said as they arrived at Mrs. Bishop's room. "The nurse will help you get comfortable. We'll see you in a little bit."

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"It's about time you got back here!" House snarked as the ducklings arrived back in the Diagnostics Office. "What did you do? Walk her all the way to her room?"

All three of the younger doctors looked at him and shrugged their shoulders. Chase finally spoke up, "Well, yeah."

"Ok, ok. Look – this woman is heading into end stage liver failure. If we don't get a handle on what is causing this, she will be too sick to get a transplant if a donor can even be found, so let's get going on this. What does the file tell us?"

Cameron spoke up first. "50 year old female. Started with jaundice and abdominal pain approximately 2 ½ weeks ago. Has history of Hep A in 1963, and was diagnosed in 1992 with Hepatitis from Epstein-Barr. However, blood is negative for Hepatitis anti-bodies."

"Patient's P time is also very low. She's lucky that was discovered seconds before she was to undergo a liver biopsy 10 days ago," Chase added.

House responded, "Seconds after the biopsy and our lives would have been made so much easier. Simply stated - no clotting, no patient. She would have bled out right then and there. Cameron, re-run all the blood work and start her on Vitamin K shots to increase the clotting factor. Chase, get an MRI and an ultrasound of her liver. Do you have anything to add Foreman?"

"Kidney function is going downhill fast. She's going to need to start dialysis soon if this continues."

"Due to the increased workload from the liver failure. And unless we can stop the liver failure, downhill is the only direction she'll be going. Ultrasound her kidneys too – make sure there isn't anything else going on that we don't know about. Ok kidlets, let's get moving. She doesn't have a lot of time here." House said shooing them out of the office. "Besides, I need to go see Wilson. I know when that man has food and I am sensing Macadamia Nut Pancakes with my name on them."