Amazing Grace- A House/NCIS story
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything House related except DVDs. Ryan is mine, though.
AN. I tried to do Tony's movie thing, but I only watch musicals or rom-coms, so it doesn't sound the same. Sorry!
Chapter eight:
Cameron groaned when the alarm went off at six the next morning. She had dropped Abby and Ziva off at their hotel at one in the morning and then collapsed into bed. Grimacing, she got slowly out of bed, and stumbled to the kitchen. Luckily, she had not drunk enough to require a hangover, but to be on the safe side, she took two aspirin and made a pot of coffee.
She opened her front door and picked the newspaper off the ground. Glancing at the headlines, she returned to the kitchen, and poured a mug of coffee, inhaling it's rich scent. Suddenly, she paled and the paper fell to the ground in shock. Cameron shakily sat down on the couch and buried her face in her hands. The date was November 3rd, 2007. What should have been her seventh wedding anniversary. The day that once a year, she called in sick and spent the day remembering her husband.
'How could I forget?' she demanded furiously of herself. Granted she had been busy at work, with the new case, but she had never forgotten before. She suddenly became aware that her biggest fear was in danger of becoming reality- she was afraid of forgetting her husband. She muffled a sob, and resisted the sudden overwhelming urge to call her mother or one of her sisters. No, she decided. She was a grown woman and after seven years, it didn't seem right to suddenly collapse in her grief. She would shower, dress, go to work, then come home and eat a tub of triple-choc ice cream.
As she drove towards the hospital twenty minutes later, she prayed for a distraction to keep her from wallowing and becoming an emotional wreck. Thankfully, when she got to work, the team was in a surge of confusion and she was able to slip in and start the coffeemaker silently.
"The hydrolyse isn't working," House informed them barging in to the room with a clearly hung-over Wilson on his heels. Cameron then noticed Tony, McGee, Chase and Foreman looked slightly worn over too; and she and Ziva exchanged amused looks.
"Hello? Is anyone home? Why isn't the hydrolyse working?" he demanded.
"Maybe we should try a stronger dose," Chase suggested, wincing.
"Maybe we should try a different treatment?" Foreman asked.
Cameron checked the file. "It's having some effect. The paralysis is gone, the migraines under control, it's just the nausea and the breathing difficulties left."
House crossed paralysis and migraines off the whiteboard. "Okay, then. Maybe we should just up the dose. Changing treatments might send us backwards. So, differential."
"What was the first symptom?" Ziva asked cautiously.
Foreman glanced at the paper. "The migraines. Adam said he dismissed it as a hangover because he went out drinking with his brothers the night after he got home."
"He could have had nausea then too, but dismissed it for the same reason," Cameron contributed.
"I know I have," Chase muttered.
"And if he had the nausea and the migraines, then..." Cameron's eyes suddenly widened and she stopped mid-sentence. She hastily stood up, and left the room.
"She's been working here far too long," Wilson told House wearily as she hurried out of sight.
Cameron hastened down the halls until she reached Adam's room where he and Dana were watching cartoons with Rachel and Jaime.
"Hi, sorry I know it's early, but we have a really important question that could be important," Cameron said apologetically.
Adam nodded. "No problem." He shot Dana a smile. "Why don't you take the girls to get pancakes or something?"
Dana agreed, kissing him softly, and Cameron's stomach gave an uneasy twinge. When Dana and the twins had left, Cameron turned to him and smiled.
"This may sound strange, but when exactly did you smoke the weed?"
Adam, as she suspected, looked surprised. "Uh, the last night before we reached port. It tasted pretty foul, so I only had a few puffs. Uh- is this important?"
Cameron beamed. "I think it is. We'll keep you posted. Thanks," she smiled, and left the room.
She returned to the office, where House raised an eyebrow at her. "Care to explain?"
She was slightly breathless as she stood before him. "Ok, Adam said he only had a few puffs of the joint on the night before they reached port. Then, twenty four hours later, he got drunk."
"Yeah," House said slowly.
"So, what if, all the alcohol he drank washed most of the poison out of his system?" Cameron posed.
"Then, he has slight poisoning, which we treated with the hydrolyse, and that only leaves the nausea and the respiratory distress, which can be any common virus or infection."
House seemed sceptical. "That's your theory? He got drunk and saved his life without knowing it?"
"You did it with that Death Row inmate," Cameron reminded him. "He drank the toner to kill himself and you poured alcohol down his throat to remove some symptoms to find the underlying condition."
Remembering the case, her theory made a lot more sense. "Alright then, if we diagnose nausea and breathing problems... test for infection, lupus, sarcoidosis, anything you can think of. Go!"
The ducklings hurried out of the room to conduct the tests, Chase and Foreman more slowly than Cameron, and Tony and McGee slumped forward onto the table. Ziva cautiously stretched out her hand to slap Tony's head, but he pointed a finger at her warily.
"Do not come any closer unless you want to wear everything I drank last night."
"Ew. You're pathetic."
"Ziva, can you please be disgusted elsewhere, or at least at a lower frequency?" McGee begged.
"Fine. But I'm right, aren't I, Gibbs?"
"Somehow Ziva, I think they know you are. But in case they don't, yes they're pathetic."
"What time is our flight?" Tony mumbled.
"Abby's working on it," Gibbs answered calmly.
Tony suddenly rose from his seat. "I'm gonna go throw up."
"Drink lots of water," Ziva retorted, not looking up from her newspaper.
"Yes, thank you Dr. David. Ooh, I'll be back with a much smarter comeback right after this message from our sponsors," he groaned, and hastened out of the room.
"I really hope he doesn't make it in time," House said gleefully. "It would be thrilling for a NCIS agent to throw up in our humble halls. Or better yet, on Cuddy. Hmm... I wonder where she is?"
With that thought, he wandered out of his office. To his disappointment, the nurse revealed Cuddy was in meetings all day with donors, and was not to be disturbed. Resisting the urge to do just that, he instead roamed the halls, finding himself approaching the cafeteria; when Cameron exited, just before Tony entered.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" she asked lightly.
"Like I've been hit with a semi-trailer that's led to a ten car pileup on the freeway at peak hour."
"That good, huh?" Cameron replied, dryly.
"Yeah. And that's ten times better than this morning," he smiled faintly.
She looked horrified. "How much did you guys drink?"
"Oh, not much. You know the flood in The Day after Tomorrow? The one that hits New York?"
"Yeah," she said slowly.
"If that had been alcohol, it'd be gone right now."
"I always knew you guys were intelligent," Cameron rolled her eyes.
"Thanks for your support. Hey, what are you guys doing here anyway? I thought you were running tests?"
"I am. Or rather, the boys are. I'm on hangover cure food runs," she chuckled. She held up what she was holding.
"Coffee and fries for Foreman and water and pickles for Chase."
"Pickles?" Tony raised an eyebrow.
Cameron shrugged. "I don't know. Personally, I'm a orange juice and crackers girl myself, but whatever works for you."
Tony grinned. "I go for coffee and fries too. Then when my head stops aching, I go for steak."
Cameron laughed. "There's a really good steak place a few blocks from my apartment. I go there when I can't be bothered to cook after work. You should try it."
"Oh, but I hate to eat alone, and McGee's crappy company. Do you think you could be bothered to cook tonight?"
Cameron flushed, and House's stomach clenched. "I could be, but there's no food in my kitchen and I cannot be bothered to do grocery shopping, so steak sounds great."
"Ok then. Seven o'clock? I'll pick you up?"
"Sure. Ziva and Abby have my address... oh, wait! I thought you guys were flying home tonight?"
"Apparently, we're to remain until the good ol' Captain is recovered, and then to determine if he can return to work," Tony answered.
"I can't say I mind either."
Cameron blushed. "Ok then. Seven o'clock."
Tony nodded and smiled, entering the cafeteria, and House stood rooted to the spot in shock. Cameron meanwhile, hurried away up to the lab, and suddenly froze in realization. She had just agreed to go on a date on her wedding anniversary. For the rest of the journey upstairs, her insides writhed with guilt. And by the time she entered the lab, where the boys eagerly pounced on the food and drinks, she was sure she was going to collapse.
"Cameron? Are you okay?" Foreman asked cautiously.
Cameron blinked back tears and nodded at her friend. "Yeah, fine. I'll do the ANA test for lupus."
Foreman nodded, swilling his coffee, not hearing the muffled sob from his co-worker.
"He's positive for sarcoidosis," Chase announced suddenly, twenty minutes later, when Cameron had regained some control over herself, or enough so that she was not in danger of crying (again) in the lab. "But at this stage, he's gonna need a lung transplant,"
"I'll start the treatment and get consent for the transplant," Cameron offered quickly, leaving the lab before either man had time to argue with her.
"I'll get him on the donor list," Foreman added, picking up the phone.
"I'll... wait around while you do that then," Chase mumbled.
Cameron told a very relieved Dana and Adam the diagnosis and started the treatment. Then she met up with Ziva and Abby in the conference room to offer them accommodation in her apartment for the remainder of their stay in New Jersey, which they accepted.
"Did you tell House yet?" Chase asked as he and Foreman entered the room shortly after.
"No, I thought you would have," Cameron replied, shrugging off her lab coat and relaxing in her chair.
"He's in his office with Wilson," Ziva offered.
Tony, McGee and Gibbs entered the room just then, and Cameron looked away guiltily. When House and Wilson entered the room, Wilson saying something while House ignored him and poured more coffee; Foreman spoke up.
"Adam tested positive for sarcoidosis, and is responding to treatment," he told his boss.
"He's going to need a lung transplant," Cameron added.
"And he's on the list," Chase continued.
House turned to his team and raised an eyebrow. "Great. Gee, Cameron. All you have to do is get rid of the wife, and you've got hubby number two."
Cameron's stomach did a cartwheel, and she swore she stopped breathing for a heartbeat, feeling all colour drain from her face.
House, oblivious to her reaction and still reeling from hearing her accept DiNozzo's date offer , continued harshly.
"Or, if it's easier, keep the wife around. You could go pro. Expand into damaged army wives of dying husbands."
This was all Cameron could handle, and knowing she was about to break the dam she had been building all day, she hurried from the conference room, determined not to let House see her cry.
When she had left, Wilson turned to House in disgust. "What the hell did you do that for?"
House didn't answer. For the first time, he consciously noticed the others in the room. Chase and Foreman looked as mad as Wilson; Ziva, Abby and McGee's jaws had dropped; Tony appeared confused; and House didn't like the expression on Gibb's face at all.