A/N: Yep, it's late, don't hate me! The next chapter should be up sooner. Oh, and I just realized that it's almost the 1 year anniversary for this story, can you believe it? Anyway, thanks to all the reviewers!

She had driven in early in her own car that morning to sit with her dad. The doctors had told her that they would turn off the machines in the early morning.

Cameron sat in the chair by the hospital bed. She didn't know what to feel. Numbness washed over her as she watched the life leave her fathers body. 'I shouldn't be here,' she told herself. 'I shouldn't be watching him die.' But she couldn't force herself to leave.

She had given the doctors the answer they were looking for. Cameron signed the forms and felt the irony of being on the other side of those forms.

Signing them had made her decision final. Cameron was oddly comfortable with that. Sure, she didn't want him to die, she wanted to have a relationship with her father. But keeping him alive like this would only promote a false hope of recovery.

His life was slipping away; the monitor would surely show no life signs in a matter of moments. He would code, but nobody was going to come running in an attempt to save his life. He was too far gone.

Cameron reached out and touched her father's hand. It was still warm. "I'm sorry dad," she said and shifted her eyes towards the door to stop tears from forming. Chase was standing in the doorway looking over at her.

The monitor continued to beep slower, his heart rate was near stopping.

"Hey," he said. Chase walked over and placed his hand reassuringly on her shoulder.

Cameron shot him a weak smile to acknowledge his presence.

The monitor beeped, he was flat lining, officially gone.

"Shut it off," Cameron told Chase as she removed the finger clip. She stared at the object for a moment as the machine shut off. She blinked and unceremoniously dropped the finger clip to the floor, the noise momentarily filled the silence in the room.

Tears formed but didn't fall as she looked at her dad. No machines, no monitor, just him. The numbness stayed with her. She didn't notice much around her as she sat back down in the arm chair near the bed.

"Al," Chase said.

Cameron shook out of her reverie. "Huh?" She looked up at him.

"I think we should go."

"Yeh. I guess you're right," she said. With one more glance at her dad she silently said her goodbye as she stood up and turned away from the bed.

Chase silently looped his arm around Cameron and walked out with her. She surprised him by climbing into the driver's side of her car.

"I'm fine," she told him and looked up at Chase. "You should stay here. Who else is going to diagnose Mr. Lukas?" she asked, referring to their patient.

"You sure?"

"Yeh. I'm fine, you should stay," she repeated.

"I love you. I'll be home early," Chase promised and bent down to lightly kiss her.

Chase waved as Cameron backed out of her spot. He felt bad for staying but she sounded certain that she wanted to be alone. It was reasonable, he knew. Cameron needed time to think, time to remember and let go.

Chase hadn't been sure how she would react after her father died. He was never close with his parents, but when his dad died it was still painful. He had reduced the event to a memory, though he still tried to understand why he never knew his dad was sick.

Distracted by his thoughts about his dad and Cameron, Chase walked back into the hospital and into the conference/break room. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down.

"How's Cameron?" Foreman asked, obviously having already heard the news.

"I don't know. In shock, I guess. She went home."

Foreman nodded.

House said nothing; Chase didn't expect him to be sympathetic. He'd been indifferent to patient deaths before, he would have been crazy to think this wouldn't be the same.

After an awkward moment Foreman spoke up and reported test results on their patient. Life went on, after all.

A while later House ordered them to administer a new drug to the patient to gauge his body's reaction. Chase and Foreman made their way up to Mr. Lukas's room.

"You can handle this, can't you?" Chase asked as he absently watched Foreman inject a new drug into the IV.

"I have been handling this. Just leave already," Foreman told him as he tossed the needle into a biohazard container. He was sick of doing everything while Chase just followed him around.

Chase rolled his eyes and went to hang up his lab coat and stethoscope.

Glad to be home, Chase walked into the apartment to find Cameron. He found her in the bedroom asleep. She was sideways on the bed, curled up with her feet slightly off the edge of the bed. Her thumb was holding her place in the closed book by her head.

Chase smiled, she looked so relaxed. He didn't want to wake her so he slyly took the book, stuck her bookmark in it and laid it on the bedside table.

Finding something to do wasn't as easy as Chase had hoped. Chase paced the living room for a bit, read part of a medical journal, and finally decided to make lunch. He was sure Cameron hadn't eaten yet. He'd wake her for lunch.

"What are you doing?" Cameron asked from the table. She'd waken to cupboards shutting and pots clacking together.

"Sorry. I thought you might want some lunch."

"I'm a little beat," she said quietly, sitting down at the breakfast bar.

Chase came over to her. "I know. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"It's okay to be mad, you know?"

"At who? It's nobody's fault."

"Just in general, I guess."

She shook her head. "I'm not mad," she told him, her voice the slightest bit unsteady. Cameron was mad at herself, she hated that she hadn't been able to cure her father, but she didn't tell that to Chase.

"Okay." He squeezed her shoulder tightly. "So, about lunch?"

"What are you making?" she asked, glad for the change of subject.

"Grilled cheese." He smiled.

Cameron grinned and rolled her eyes. "What are we, 10?" She looked skeptical. "There's a reason I usually cook," she told him, half joking. It was one of her talents that had surprised him when the first moved in together.

"Come on, just sit down and leave lunch to me. If you hate it, we'll order Chinese."

Cameron smiled at how hard he was trying to convince her to let him cook. "Fine," she said. She kissed him before wandering into the living room and lying on the couch.

Chase turned back to the kitchen and pulled out cheese and butter from the fridge. He looked over at Cameron and wondered if she was truly okay. She was acting all right, but he wasn't sure if she was hiding her grief from him. She never had before but still, he wondered.

These thoughts floated through his head as he semi-concentrated on the sandwiches in the pan.

Soon Chase flicked the burner off and carried two plates out to the living room. He handed Cameron a plate and took a seat next to her on the couch.

"Should I be nervous?" Cameron joked before she took a bite.

"Maybe," he teased between bites of his own sandwich.

This is good," Cameron commented.

He smiled an 'I told you so' grin. "I've perfected it over many years."

At first she thought he was kidding. "You ate a lot of grilled cheese when you lived alone, didn't you?"

"My parents never really taught me how to cook," he admitted. She decided to take that as a yes.

"My mom was a terrible cook. She managed macaroni from a box when my dad wasn't around." Cameron laughed lightly at the memory, despite the reason why her dad wasn't there the few times her mom was forced to cook for them. He'd gotten so fed up with the fights that eventually he just walked out of the house in the middle of an argument with her mother. Cameron had never been sure how long he would stay gone.

"Your dad cooked?" he asked, hoping he wasn't digging at new wounds.

She seemed fine with the question. "Somebody had to. He was great at it too." Cameron smiled. She started to talk again but her voice cracked and she felt a lump form in her throat. She sighed and leaned against Chase on the couch, swinging her feet onto the other side of the sofa.

Chase wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

TBC!