Chapter 9

"What is that?" Cameron asked, as House handed her the biopsy sample dish.

"That, believe it or not, is the sample from Sandra Dee's liver."

"But it's white. House, liver tissue is red."

"I know. I went to med school too. I even have that anatomy flip chart – you know, the one with all the cool pictures."

Allison shook her head and continued. "You must have gotten into a pocket of fat in the liver."

"Repeated it three times. This, " he said, pointing to the dish, "is what her liver looks like. Run what tests you can. Call me when you're done."

"Ok….but don't expect too much." she replied and turned to process the sample.

Cameron walked into the conference room and dropped the lab reports on the table. "This woman has almost NO functioning liver tissue."

House looked surprised. "Well, yeah, we kind of figured that out by the fact that her liver isn't functioning!" He picked up the report and read the results as Chase reached for a copy.

Chase shook his head, "This can't be right. Are you sure you weren't in a fat pocket when you got the sample?" he asked looking over at House.

Not even looking up from the page he was reading, House answered him. "Yes Chase. I can ASSURE you that, unlike you, I tested the correct body part, and in fact, I tested the correct body part three times. Her liver is basically fat with a few strands of liver tissue holding it all together."

"She's going to need a transplant much sooner than we had anticipated." Cameron added.

"Yeah – like yesterday." said House, tossing his report back on to the table. "And to quote Cuddy "we ain't exactly swimming in livers."

"Add a kidney to that, too." Foreman said, walking in to the room. He dropped his own set of lab results onto the table. "She's barely got 5 kidney function."

House turned back to the table and picked up the new report. "Did you tell Cuddy so she can update her status on the transplant list?", his eyes on Foreman.

"Yes. I stopped by her office and gave her a copy of the report before I came up here. She said she would update us on her status as soon as she was notified."

"Ok….well, speak of the she-devil!"

Cuddy glared at House as she entered the Diagnostics Office, turning instead to direct her announcement to Foreman and the other ducklings. "She's at the top of the list. The next compatible liver and kidney are hers"

"Now all we have to do is wait." Cameron said.

With an air of foreboding, House headed towards his office, adding "And hope they become available in time."

Cameron sat at her desk working on getting House's charting caught up, when Chase walked into the office.

"It is Tuesday Cameron, and I wanted to remind you, again, that if you are ever interested…"

"I'm not" she said, cutting him off.

"Ok, but if you should change your mind, I'm going to…" he persisted.

"Will you PLEASE drop this!! It is over between you and I – whatever it was is OVER" she exclaimed, her voice getting louder as she continued, "I want you to stop asking me every freakin' Tuesday if I am still interested in pursuing a relationship with you. I was never interested in pursuing a relationship with you and that is not going to change!"

Hearing the increasing volume and tension in Cameron's voice, House stepped out of his office. "Is there a problem?"

"No Greg, I'm fine" she said, looking over at him. "And we," she turned to look at Chase, "are done here."

Chase got quiet for a moment and then said, "Greg? When did you start calling him Greg?" His eyes widened as he realized what was going on. "Wait just a minute. Are you telling me…

"She's not telling you anything Chase. Except to quit your futile and may I add, juvenile, attempts to continue your little arrangement."

Chase stared at Allison in disbelief. "Well, I guess your plan bloody well worked then." He shook his head as he walked towards the door. "I'll be in the clinic."

Cameron stood up as he left and yelled after him, "There was NO plan!!"

"Grrrrr!" she growled. "God that just pisses me off!" she yelled pushing her chair into her desk for emphasis. She looked over at Greg, who was still standing in the doorway. "There WAS NO PLAN."

"Whoa – ok. I believe you. Look, he's as ticked off at losing you to me as I would've been if it was the other way around." He said with almost a hint of sympathy in his voice.

"Not that that every could've happened!" He smirked and walked back into his office.

Allison smiled and shook her head, thinking You are right. That NEVER would have happened.

She was about to get back to the charting when Foreman came bursting into the room. "We have a donor."

"Thank God" she said.

"The team just left for Harrisburg. They're going to call after the recovery is done."

"Are you going to go tell Mrs. Bishop's daughter?" Cameron asked.

"I was on my way there right now. You want to come with me?"

"No….I really want to get this charting caught up while I have a chance, ok?"

"Sure." Foreman replied, adding "You know, he should have a damn secretary."

"Don't go there!" Cameron laughed, turning her attention back to the stack of charts on her desk.

Oh she thought. I need to let House know about the donor. "House!"

"I heard him!" he said, walking back into the conference room. "I'm going to go get a sandwich. Do you want anything?"

"Would you bring me back a chicken caesar salad?" She asked, reaching for her purse.

"Yeah." He waved his hand towards her. "Don't worry about it. I've got it."

She stared at him in disbelief.

"Don't look so shocked. Can't I buy my girlfriend lunch? Or are you gonna go all feminist on me?"

"I'm just surprised…..pleasantly surprised," she added. "Thank you."

Leaning over the desk, he gave her a quick kiss. "You can thank me later!" he said with a smile and a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Hmmm….I look forward to it."