When the Fog Lifts

Chapter 12

Allison took a deep breath before she slid open the door to Mrs. Bishop's room. She noticed a young woman, probably about 30, sitting at the edge of the bed, holding Mrs. Bishop's hand as they spoke quietly. She looked up as she heard the door open and stood to greet the approaching doctor.

"You must be Dr. Cameron. I'm Shelley, Ann's daughter." the younger woman said, extending her hand toward Allison. "Are you here to get my mom?

Allison shook her hand. "Yes, I am Dr. Cameron. I'm afraid I have some bad news. The surgery has been cancelled."

"Cancelled? Why? What happened?" Shelley asked, looking over at her mother who was too weak to ask for herself.

"Well, there was a problem with the donor's kidney and-"

Shelley cut Allison off, her eyes begging for an answer. "But the liver is ok, right? That's what most important. She can continue on the dialysis for her kidneys."

Allison exhaled heavily and continued. "Unfortunately, when a patient requires a double organ transplant, it is vital that those organs come from the same donor, otherwise the chances of rejection increase dramatically."

A whispered "Oh no" escaped Shelley's lips and she sat back down, the implications of what Cameron was saying sinking in.

"I am so sorry. The donor's kidneys were deformed. Conjoined actually. It's called horseshoe kidney, and although it functioned fine for him, it makes the kidney unable to be transplanted. It's just something that we don't become aware of until we actually get in there to do the recovery." Cameron reached out and put her hand on Shelley's shoulder. "Your mom is still #1 on the list, so the next available donation is hers. I know the waiting is hard, but-"

"What about me? Could I donate my kidney?" Shelley asked.

Cameron was about to answer, when Ann quietly spoke up. "No. I won't let you Shelley."

Shelley walked over to the bed. "But Mom, if I could give you a kidney that would eliminate one part of the puzzle."

"No. You have Megan to think of."

"Megan's fine Mom."

"Right now she is, but you don't know what the future might hold for her. I couldn't live with myself if she needed a kidney down the line and you couldn't help her because you had already helped me. No Shelley. We will wait."

Cameron spoke up. "Your offer is wonderful, Shelley. But it would still be the same situation. Both organs really need to come from the same donor if the transplant is to be successful. And your mom is right – you need to think about your daughter, too." She walked over to where Ann lay and put her hand on hers. "We'll continue with the dialysis until a donor becomes available Ann and like I said, you're first up on the list. Ok? Any questions for me?"

Ann silently shook her head and weakly said, "No. Thank you Dr. Cameron."

"You rest now. You, too, Shelley. I'll let you know if anything changes."

Shelley nodded, tears silently rolling down her face, "Thank you, Dr. Cameron." and she returned to sit on the edge of her mother's bed.

Cameron walked out of the room, struggling to hold back her tears. She knew House would be furious with her if he saw her crying. She punched the up button on the elevator and headed for the roof to gather herself before returning to the Diagnostics Office.

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House looked up from his PSP to check the time again. Hmph. Five minutes later than last time I checked. Where the hell is she? It shouldn't take THIS long to deliver the news. Yeah – but it's Cameron. She's probably sitting in there holding hands and crying with her right now. Closing the PSP, he shook his head and reached for his cane.

The nurse on duty looked up in surprise as House pulled the binder marked BISHOP, A from the rack. Having gotten the room number, he quickly replaced the binder and limped down the hall. He had no intention of actually visiting with the patient. He was only there to extricate Cameron from what he assumed would be a gathering of weeping women. But, to his surprise, she was not there.

He returned to the nurses station and asked, "Have you seen Dr. Cameron?"

"She left about 10 minutes ago. You must be Dr. House," the nurse answered with a smile.

"Must be. Which way did she go?"

"Um, I think she took the elevator up"

House turned on his heel and walked to the elevator.

The smile now gone from her face, the nurse muttered, "You're welcome…" and turned to her colleague. "I sure wouldn't want to be Dr. Cameron right now."