"Pay up." Amy stood jubilantly over Chase, her hand held out. He looked around at Cameron and Foreman as if to ask for help but they laughed.
"I don't know why you're laughing Doctor Foreman. I seem to remember that you were in on the bet as well. What was it? A hundred bucks? Pay up." Now Cameron was the only one laughing. Chase and Foreman dug reluctantly into the pockets of their lab coats; retrieving their wallets. Each paid Amy $100, sighing as she grinned victoriously and pocketed the cash.
"I still don't get how you knew what was wrong with the kid." Chase grumbled. Amy patted her nose, "Not gonna tell you so stop asking me. Coffee anyone?" Greg?" She changed the subject as House walked into the conference room.
"I thought I told you that you weren't allowed to bet on patients anymore?" he ignored her question. Amy's cheeks tinged a light shade of pink, but almost instantly she has resumed a defiant stance.
"You do it. And if Chase and Foreman are so eager to be parted with their money, who am I to say no? They should learn to trust me." With her last words she shot a look at the two mentioned doctors.
"Yeah yeah OK we get it. You're a child genius of astronomic proportions. All bets are off." Chase said, earning a snort of approval from Foreman.
"Less of the child. But thank you." Amy replied. "Happy now?" she asked her father.
"Ecstatic." He quipped, "You're buying dinner with your winnings." Before Amy had a chance to object he was gone, half walking half limping down the corridor towards lunch with Wilson; another meal he wasn't paying for.
"Unbelievable." Amy muttered under her breath, at the same time as a beeping noise issued throughout the conference room. They all checked their pagers; Chase and Foreman's being the ones to have gone off. Foreman headed off to clinic duty, while Chase was needed to sign off on a procedure on the Foster kid; their most recent patient.
"Coffee? Asked Amy, holding up Cameron's usual cup and Cameron nodded absently; her mind wandering. If she was honest with herself, she loved having Amy working in the department; and not just because she had subtly taken over coffee-making and sorting House's mail – something Cameron had never enjoyed doing. She was a doctor, not a PA. Chase and Foreman had seemed ever so slightly threatened by having Amy with them. Even though she never actually saw the patients (one of the restrictions Cuddy had set for Amy to work at the hospital) she was almost always able to produce a plausible, and most likely accurate diagnosis. It was like she had swallowed every medical textbook ever written, although in reality it was a combination of brilliant genetics and the fact that the majority of birthday and Christmas presents Amy had received from her father over the past 5 years were medical journals and encyclopedias.
House was different with Amy in the department. She'd been there almost a month and there had only been two incidences where he had gotten mad about a patient's treatment. And both times he had sent Amy on some random task before he ranted at them. He was softer and he actually occasionally praised them for a quick and efficient diagnosis. Of course, he was still House; but he was House the Dad-slash-Doctor now. And it showed.
"Hello? Alison? Are you having an absent seizure?" Amy asked, waving a hand rapidly in front of Cameron's face. She snapped out of her daze and saw her cup of coffee sat steaming on the table.
"No." She laughed, noting that Amy had called her Alison, rather than Cameron. Strange.
"Thinking about my dad?" Amy asked, sipping her coffee and wincing as the scalding liquid burnt her lips. A telltale tinge of pink spread across Cameron's cheeks and she knew there was no point in denying it. Amy knew all about House and Cameron's 'dates' and secretly was desperately hoping that her stupid father would come to his senses, before Cameron gave up trying. As this thought passed through her mind, it was as if a light bulb had flashed on inside her head.
"Come to dinner tonight?" she said suddenly and Cameron looked shocked.
"Excuse me?" she questioned. In the two months since she had met Amy they had had dinner alone several times; mostly after a day of shopping. They had become friends.
"Dinner, tonight with me and Greg. I'm paying. Well, technically Chase and Foreman are paying but I thought we'd order Chinese." Amy rambled.
"Why?" Cameron questioned, noting the way in which Amy refused to look directly at her.
"You haven't been to the new house yet,"
"Neither has Wilson." Cameron interjected,
"Fine. You were the only one who believed my diagnosis with the Foster kid." Amy reasoned. Cameron gave in.
"Ok, sure. Dinner."
"Great. Come over to the house around seven thirty?" she scribbled down the address on the back of a scrap piece of paper. "Do you need directions?" Cameron shook her head.
"Seven thirty." Amy said, handing over the paper.