A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed these first couple of chapters. I did enjoy doing the same scene from each character's point of view. The rest of the story will continue on in the typical fashion.

Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Cameron glanced at Wilson, unsure whether to be grateful for his help or resentful of his butting in. She decided to be grateful; resentful took too much energy. She tried to gather her thoughts, but couldn't with everyone looking at her. What she really needed was for everybody to leave her alone so she could think. Is this why House was always ordering them off to do tests when even he didn't think they would give him the answer?

"Foreman, I appreciate your perspective, and I agree we need to keep looking for a new theory. In the meantime, go and have those tests repeated," Cameron said. She kept her voice intentionally calm and level. She was not going to get into another argument with him. Foreman looked at her, and then at Cuddy. He finally bowed to her wishes, both literally and figuratively, and went to repeat the tests.

"Chase, anything?" Cameron asked. Chase just shook his head no. "Okay then, I want you to go check out his house and his office. Don't break in, just ask him for the keys." Chase nodded his agreement and left without speaking.

"Dr. Cuddy, I appreciate that you're trying to keep an eye on us. But I'm never going to be able to get Foreman and Chase to put any faith in me if they think you don't have any. Give me a chance to do this my own way, and I promise if I get into trouble I will ask for your help," Cameron hoped that didn't sound too impertinent. She didn't want Dr. Cuddy to be angry with her, but putting her in charge was useless if she was going to stand over her shoulder the entire time.

Cuddy looked at the younger doctor with a little more respect. Maybe House hadn't been crazy to leave her in charge. And she really shouldn't have doubted the Cameron would ever put her own pride or interests above the welfare of a patient.

"Dr. Cameron, I will leave it in your hands. I would like an update on your patient before you leave for the day," Cuddy said. She looked at Wilson. "Dr. Wilson, would you join me downstairs when you're free?"

"Sure, Cuddy, I'll be there in a few minutes," Wilson said. He watched Cuddy walk down the hall and then turned to Cameron, who had flopped down into a chair and buried her head in her arms. "So, honey, how was your day?" he asked lightly. Cameron just groaned.

"Is he trying to tell me something, or trying to teach me something?" Cameron asked Wilson.

"Why can't it be both?" Wilson replied.

"If he's trying to tell me he trusts me, I would have preferred a deep, dark secret. And if he's trying to teach me something, I'm not sure I get it," Cameron complained.

"You will," Wilson soothed. "He didn't leave you in charge to fail, Allison. He left you in charge so you could prove to yourself that you could do it."

"I'm not so sure, anymore. It's only been a week and I've already got a team who doesn't follow instructions, a boss breathing down my neck and a dying patient," Cameron said. She stared at the whiteboard, which was once again filled with seemingly unrelated symptoms. "I swear sometimes that thing speaks to him," she gestured toward the board.

"You could be right. It would certainly explain a lot," Wilson replied. "I wish I could help you here, but I can't. You've got to figure this one out on your own." Wilson patted her on the back before leaving to go meet Cuddy.

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Wilson entered Cuddy's office and sat down, waiting patiently while she finished up a piece of paperwork. She scribbled for a minute or two, then closed the file she was working on and dropped it in her outbox.

"You wanted me?" Wilson asked.

"Yes, I did," Cuddy replied. She stood up from her desk and walked around to sit in Wilson's lap. "I'm worried about them, James."

"I know," Wilson responded, wrapping an arm around her waist. He looked up into her eyes and smiled. "They'll be okay. House trusts them, so should we."

Cuddy leaned down and kissed him softly. Wilson reached his free hand into her hair and pulled her closer, deepening their kiss. The couple forgot themselves for a moment, lost in each other before Cuddy broke the kiss and looked quickly toward the door of her office.

"How long are we going to keep this a secret?" Wilson asked her. He knew she was afraid of what people would think, but Wilson didn't really care. As much as he'd loved his wives, and some of his mistresses, he'd never felt this kind of connection with any woman before. The closest thing he'd ever felt to this was with House. He felt like she understood him.

"I want to wait until House comes back, and everything is back to normal," Cuddy replied. She laughed at the look he gave her. "Okay, what passes for normal around here." She couldn't really explain to James, but she needed to let House know first. She sort of wanted, what, his blessing, his approval? No, she wanted to know if House thought she was nuts and setting herself up to get hurt. Nobody knew Wilson like House, and she needed some reassurance.

Wilson sighed. This was the one area in their relationship that they couldn't seem to work out. Wilson wanted to shout from the rooftops about her, and she wanted to keep it a secret, from everyone except House. Wilson had suspected that maybe Cuddy would really rather be with House, but he'd quickly pushed that thought out of his mind. He told himself that she was just unsure of him, and he couldn't really blame her. He didn't exactly have the best track record with women and maybe she was just looking for a little reassurance. Of course, looking for reassurance about anything from House was a little bit insane, but that was part of what Wilson liked best about her.

Wilson leaned upward and kissed the tip of her nose. She smiled at him and kissed his forehead in return. She stood up, and walked back to her own chair.

"Dinner tonight?" Wilson asked, standing.

"My place?" Cuddy asked.

"See you at 6," Wilson answered, and walked out the door.

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Cameron found Foreman in the lab. She wasn't looking forward to another confrontation with him, but if they were going to manage the next few weeks without House they were going to have to work this out somehow. She didn't want to go to Cuddy for help and she really didn't want to have to order Foreman to do things, but right now she wasn't seeing any other way.

"Foreman, we need to talk about this," Cameron began.

"I'm not discussing my feelings with you, Dr. Cameron. I'm not House," Foreman replied, turning his back on the tests and facing her.

"Well, that's pretty evident from the way you've been acting," Cameron retorted. She had hoped he'd remain facing away from her, but she should have known better. Foreman was never one to back down from a confrontation.

"And how is that?" Foreman asked.

"Jealous," Cameron replied. "You're jealous because House picked me over you."

"That's ridiculous," Foreman scoffed, but without conviction.

"Did it ever occur to you that there might have been another motive behind House choosing me?" Cameron asked.

"Like what?" Foreman asked snappishly.

"Maybe he thought I needed to learn how to do this. And maybe, he figured you didn't."

"How to do what?"

"How to be in charge; how to be the one that everything is riding on. Eric, you've never backed down from a fight or a confrontation with him since you started here. It's taken me two years to really stand up to him, and I still can't manage it all the time. You don't need to learn how to do that, but I do," Cameron said. She paused, and considered what she'd just said. How about that? I figured it out, Cameron said. "Admitting to you that I need to learn how to do this is the best way I know to get you to give me the chance to figure it out. But in the meantime, I'd appreciate it if you'd quit screwing with me. I don't want to run to Cuddy for help, but if your attitude about my being in charge is going to compromise the patient's care, don't think for a moment that I won't." She finished, and looked at him directly. She wanted to be certain that he understood she meant what she said. She was not going to let any patient suffer due to their inability to work professionally.

"I hadn't considered that," Foreman acknowledged. "I'm sorry, Cameron. You're right. We came here to learn from House, and this is part of it, I guess. I can respect that."

"Thanks," Cameron replied, as Foreman's test results began printing. She waited for him to review them, already suspecting what they'd say.

"All still negative, boss," Foreman reported, handing her the results. Cameron glanced at them quickly. He was right, of course, but something nagged at her. Reading more closely, she noticed that some of the patient's blood work was a little off.

"Negative, but definitely not normal," Cameron replied, giving the results back to Foreman.

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Chase had been all through Mr. Stephens house and office, and found nothing terribly interesting until he reached the bathroom trash can. He found two empty bottles of Ibuprophen. The rest of the house was very clean, which made Chase suspect that these bottles had been finished recently. Mr. Stephens wasn't the type of guy to let the trash pile up in the house.

When Chase got back to the hospital, Cameron and Foreman were just exiting the lab. Foreman was holding some test results, and he and Cameron seemed to be getting along better.

"Anything?" Cameron asked, noticing Chase down the hall.

"Yeah, two empty bottles of Ibuprophen in the bathroom trash," Chase answered. "He wouldn't let the trash pile up, so he must have used both of these bottles recently."

The three ducklings entered the conference room, and began looking over the patient's charts again.

"He did say he'd been having headaches lately, but he's been working on a big tax audit and spending a lot of hours at work, he figured it was just stress and spending so much time working at his computer. What if it wasn't? Maybe the headaches are a symptom?" Foreman asked. "Putting that into the mix could point to a neurological disorder."

"How about fever?" Chase asked.

"He doesn't have a fever," Cameron replied.

"Of course not, he's been taking Ibuprophen non-stop for at least three weeks. What if he has a fever, but he's been suppressing it without knowing?" Chase suggested.

"Foreman, let me see those test results again," Cameron said. She looked them over. "His white count is elevated. It's an infection. You're right Chase, he's been treating his fever unintentionally. Let's get an LP and hope its bacterial." Cameron smiled at the boys, hoping this was the answer.

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Several hours later, Cameron knocked on Cuddy's door. Cuddy called for her to come in, but Cameron opened the door and leaned against the frame.

"Mr. Stephens is fine, he has Listeriosis. One of his client's gave him some homegrown vegetables. They were using untreated manure as fertilizer and it infected the soil. We've started him on IV antibiotics, and he'll be fine," Cameron reported.

"And, how are things going with the boys?" Cuddy asked.

"Okay, actually. Foreman and I came to an understanding that House obviously feels I need to learn about how to take charge and he's going to let me give it a try. And Chase is fine. He doesn't seem to care one or the other, to tell you the truth," Cameron answered.

"And how are you doing?" Cuddy asked gently. She knew from James that House and Cameron had something going on, although he wasn't sure exactly what. Cuddy was happy for them, and she hoped it worked out. Just because things hadn't worked out between her and House didn't mean she wanted him to be miserable forever.

"I'm fine," Cameron replied quickly. Too quickly, Cuddy thought.

"You look awful, Cameron, not to put too fine a point on it," Cuddy chided. "Are you sleeping at all?"

"Three or four hours a night," Cameron admitted. "I'll be fine, really. It's almost Friday, I'll have the whole weekend to catch up."

"Cameron, he'll be okay," Cuddy said.

"Yeah," Cameron replied quietly, and left Cuddy to her paperwork.