CHAPTER SIX

Chase had just come around from the effects of the sedative House slipped into the soda Foreman gave him hours earlier. It was just coming up on 7:30am. Chase was dazed and not quite sure where exactly he was. The last thing he remembered was being in the surgery observation booth watching Cameron…

Cameron…was in surgery?

"Allison?" Chase mumbled. He tried to sit up, but as he did, even though he stopped, he felt as if his upper torso would continue until it hit the other side of the couch. He slowly looked around the room as he attempted to focus on the items in the room to determine where he was.

As he finally sat up and threw his legs over the side of the couch, he suddenly realized he was in Cuddy's office. He continued to look around the room and saw Foreman, asleep on the floor by her desk. He put his head in his hands and tried to gather his thoughts.

Yes, it was true – Cameron was, or had been in surgery – was she okay?

Tentatively, Chase stood until the dizziness stopped and he was able to take a few steps without passing out. As he passed the nurse's station in the lobby nurse Brenda asked him if he was okay. He didn't answer because he hadn't heard her. His thoughts were strictly on Cameron. He prayed she was okay. He would find out soon enough.

Up in Cameron's room, she was still unconscious but breathing on her own, with only an oxygen tube in her nostrils but wires hooked up to her chest to monitor her vitals. Her face was awkwardly full and very bruised, as were both of her eyes; the swelling in her brain had caused her eyes to become so swollen she wouldn't have been able to open them had she awaken. Her right leg was only slightly bandaged but was secured to an apparatus that kept her leg propped up at an angle to keep pressure off her leg which had sustained major damage. It would be a few days before she would be strong enough to undergo surgery to repair her leg.

Beside her bed, asleep with his head on his folded arms on the mattress beside her arm, was House, his forefinger barely enclosed in her curled palm. An hour earlier, he had gathered enough courage to look at Cameron for the first time since he'd last seen her in surgery. He was shocked at her appearance. Cameron was a beautiful woman, House admitted to himself, but to see her like this was too much for him. He had begun to breathe heavily as he tried to catch his breath as he approached her bed.

"Cameron, I'm so…sorry," he said. And he'd meant it.

Dr. James Wilson unlocked his office door at 7:45am, not looking forward to telling his first appointment that their five year old daughter had leukemia. He turned on the coffee pot to make a fresh pot but realized he'd forgotten he used the last packet the day before. He headed next door to House's office but was surprised it was still locked and that even Cameron wasn't in yet; she was always there promptly at 7:30am every morning. He grumbled something about needing to get a key to the door then headed down to Cuddy's office to borrow from her. He frowned when he saw Foreman asleep on the floor, looking very uncomfortable.

"Foreman…hey," Wilson said, lightly pressing his foot against his thigh to gently wake him up.

"Wha…what?" Foreman said as he suddenly sat up and rubbed his eyes. He looked up at Wilson, stood and asked, "How is she?"

"How's who? Why are you laying on the floor?" Wilson asked perplexed.

,SIDENOTE: EXCUSE THE PERFORATED LINES. THEY MEAN NOTHING

"Oh, Cameron got in an accid…hey, where's Chase?"

The two men headed out the door together, Foreman telling Wilson what had happened the night before.

Up in the ICU ward, Chase approached the nurse's desk and asked which room Cameron was in. After he got the room number he walked down the hall, as apprehensive as House was to see what kind of condition she would be in.

He slid between the curtains that surrounded her bed and instantly grew livid at seeing House asleep beside her, their hands touching affectionately, more affectionately than any boss and subordinate should be.

He was torn between ignoring what he saw and giving House a good kick in the ribs. He hated House for a lot of reasons, but this was enough to drive any man into a fit of anger, rage, jealousy – too many emotions to deal with under the current circumstances.

He walked up to the other side, looking at the monitor and relaxed a bit when he saw her vitals were strong. His heart sank. It shouldn't have happened.

A noise in the hall woke House up and he sat up with a start. His eyes were swollen, sunken, and dark under the eyes. Chase's right fist curled up into a ball as if he were going to throw a punch at House. But this wasn't the time or the place.

There'd be time for that later.