Chapter 13

Just past five, Wilson came to House's office. House picked up his bag and they walked to the elevators wordlessly. Wilson shot House a look, but said nothing. He really wanted to know what was going on, but he knew it would have to wait until after House had eaten and had a couple of beers.

They remained quiet the entire ride home. Now Wilson knew that something was going on, House was only this quiet when he was brooding about something. There are really only a few things that can keep House quiet, his leg being among them. Wilson's concern caused him to be unusually observant. Arriving at House's apartment, Wilson was surprised that rather than flopping himself on the couch, as usual, House went back to his bedroom and looked in. He then proceeded to look in the bathroom and finally the kitchen.

"Lost something?" Wilson asked.

"What? No, just looking," House said, going to the answering machine and erasing all the messages without listening. Curious, Wilson thought.

"Chinese or pizza?" Wilson asked.

"Huh? Whatever you want," House answered, now looking at the refrigerator and then going through the papers on his desk.

"Okay, what's going on? Since when do you not care what we eat?" Wilson demanded. House didn't look at him, but sat on the couch. Wilson stared at him, waiting. "I know there's something you want to tell me," Wilson said. Finally, in desperation, Wilson grabbed House's Gameboy from the coffee table and took it into the bathroom. House heard a flush and jumped.

"You didn't!" He shouted at Wilson as he charged into the bathroom. Wilson stood over the toilet, holding the Gameboy precariously over the bowl, his other hand resting on the handle.

"No, but I will if you don't start talking," Wilson said, waving the Gameboy over the toilet a bit. House looked down at the floor, and the down the hall.

"I slept with Cameron," House said. Wilson gave House a smug look and handed over the Gameboy.

"Was that really so hard?" Wilson asked and went back to the living room. House remained in the bathroom for a moment, preparing himself for the girlish squealing about to come. Mentally ready, he walked back to the living room.

House sat on the couch beside Wilson.

"This isn't the reaction I was expecting," Wilson said.

"What reaction is that?" House asked.

"Miserable and brooding," Wilson answered. "I expected you to be jumping for joy. So what went wrong?"

"I don't know; she won't talk to me," House said.

"Well, she must have said something," Wilson prodded. House cringed.

"We haven't actually spoken since we …" House's voice trailed off and Wilson looked at him with disgust.

"You didn't say anything? You spent two years trying to push her away, then you asked her to wait for you while you went to rehab, slept with her and then you said nothing! You must be the most idiotic genius on earth!" Wilson shouted. House closed his eyes and waited as patiently as possible for the lecture to end. "Oh my God, was she here this morning? Is that why you pushed me out the door?"

"She was sleeping and I didn't want to wake her," House answered. Wilson stood up and put on his jacket.

"I'm leaving and so are you. Go over there and apologize to her before she decides you aren't worth it." He threw House's jacket and keys at him and held the door open, waiting for House to leave.

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Cuddy was surprised when she opened the door to find Wilson. He stepped in and took off his coat.

"You're early," Cuddy said, giving him a kiss and taking his coat.

"And you owe me $100," Wilson said smugly.

"What? Wait, are you serious? Already, he's only been home a couple of days!" Cuddy said.

"Last night," Wilson confirmed, sitting on the couch and patting the seat next to him. "I won't make you pay up yet though."

"A bet's a bet, I lost fair and square," Cuddy said, snuggling next to him.

"I know, but I may end up owing you a $100 tomorrow."

"He didn't even make it one day before he did something stupid?" Cuddy asked.

"Not sure," Wilson replied. "We'll have to wait and see."

"I hope it all works out for him," Cuddy sighed.

"Me too," Wilson said, placing his hand under her chin and tipping her head back. He placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "Let's worry about it tomorrow." She returned his kiss, and soon Greg House was the last thing on their minds.

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House arrived at work early the next morning. He hoped to catch Cameron before the boys came in. He'd gone to her apartment the night before as Wilson suggested, but after three phone calls, ten minutes of knocking on her door and two angry neighbors, he'd given up and gone home. By then his leg had been very sore. He took two ibuprophen, the strongest thing he had in the house, and was eventually able to get to sleep.

He went to his office first and dropped off his bag. Smelling coffee from the next room, he knew Cameron was already here. House stepped into the conference room and saw Cameron sitting at her desk, sorting through some mail. Unfortunately, Foreman was sitting at the conference table, head buried in a medical journal.

House said nothing. He walked to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. He couldn't find the sugar. He rattled a few drawers and jangled the silverware, but Cameron didn't get up and get the sugar for him. House stood at the counter a moment longer before opening every drawer and pawing through them, spilling the contents of a few on the floor. Exasperated, Foreman got up and got House a packet of sugar. House glared at him, but took the sugar and mixed it into his coffee. Then he walked back into his office, leaving his mess behind.

Once the door between the office and the conference room had closed, Cameron got up and began helping Foreman clean up the mess. Foreman looked at her and debated whether or not to say anything.

"Sorry about that," Cameron spoke first.

"Don't apologize, you didn't do it," Foreman replied. He had a feeling Cameron wanted to talk, but he wasn't sure he really wanted to know. Chase coming in behind them saved him from having to either hear about their relationship troubles or tell her to keep it out of the office.

"What happened?" Chase asked, picking up a final few coffee stirrers and tossing them in the trash.

"House," Foreman replied. It was enough of an answer for Chase. He put down his bag and shrugged out of his jacket. Foreman and Cameron exchanged a glance over Chase's tie, but said nothing. House would only tear him apart about it later, why torture the poor guy?

As if on cue, House came back into the conference room. He looked at Chase, but didn't say a word. Instead, he went to Cameron's desk and opened the top drawer. He took out a pair of scissors and walked over to Chase. He grabbed Chase's tie and snipped it off just below the knot. Chase looked at him as though he had gone mad.

"What are you doing?" Chase shouted, backing away from House in fear and confusion.

House didn't respond. Instead, he threw his half of the tie in the trash, returned the scissors to Cameron's desk and went back to his office. Foreman and Cameron were unable to contain their laughter as Chase fumbled to remove what was left of his tie.

As the laughter continued in the conference room, Cuddy came into House's office to assign the team a new case. Well, most of the team. This was not going to be easy.

"New case?" House asked, trying to mask the hope in his voice. Avoiding work like the plague was fun, but only for a while. Then the gears in the brain began to spin wildly, and without a patient to focus on, House was likely to get into trouble.

"Before I give this to you, I have to tell you that Dr. Foreman cannot be involved with this case," Cuddy said.

"Are you trying to test my knowledge of neurological disorders? If you are, it was silly of you to have me hire a neurologist," House commented.

"The patient is a 35 year old male, presenting with fever, headaches, muscle and abdominal pain," Cuddy began reading from the file.

"Not interesting," House interrupted.

"He's been treated for a gastrointestinal virus, with no improvement. He was seeking a second opinion when he had a seizure," Cuddy continued, as if House hadn't spoken.

"Still not interesting," House pressed.

"The patient's name is Marcus Foreman," Cuddy said. "Foreman's older brother."

"That's interesting," House said. He stood from his chair and took the file from Cuddy. "I'll tell him."

"Be nice," Cuddy warned.

"Of course," House replied, his expression hurt.

House walked into the conference room with the file, and Foreman and Cameron managed to contain their laughter. Chase was fuming, but silently. One round of Chase-bashing per day was really more than enough. He wasn't going to give House any more fuel.

"Foreman, your brother is dying. Get out," House said. Foreman's face dropped.

"That's not funny House," Foreman said.

"Not being funny," House returned. He opened the file and began to read, "Marcus Foreman, 35, presents with fever, headaches, muscle and abdominal pain and seizures. See, it's all right here." House waved the file at him. Cuddy had followed from the office and gave House an indignant look.

"Foreman, he's being transferred upstairs now, if you'd like to see him," Cuddy told him sympathetically.

"Thanks," Foreman said quietly, and walked out of the conference room. Cuddy rounded on House.

"That was nice?" Cuddy barked.

"What? I didn't even call him Dr. Bling or anything," House rolled his eyes at Cuddy and picked up a marker to write the symptoms on the whiteboard. Cuddy turned and walked out quickly, deciding it wasn't worth her time.

"House, that wasn't nice," Cameron said quietly.

"I'm not nice," House answered. He turned to face his remaining ducklings. "So, ideas?"

"What's he been tested for?" Chase asked. House tossed him the file and Chase grimaced. "There's nothing in here. His doctor said he had a virus and sent him home."

"Go get a better history from the patient and do a full blood panel," House told him, and Chase left, taking the file with him.

Cameron looked at House and stood up slowly. She wanted to talk to him about Paula, but she wasn't sure what to say.

"Cameron, about yesterday," House began, but Cameron cut him off.

"It's okay," she said. "I know you didn't want to wake me, and I'm not upset about it."

"Then why didn't you answer the door, or your phone?" House asked. If she wasn't upset with him about leaving her, then she was acting really weird. Cameron hesitated, but decided it was probably best to get it over with.

"Paula stopped by your apartment yesterday." House dropped his eyes to the floor. He had not seen that coming. How was he going to explain this to Cameron? "You know what, I'm sorry. I was upset yesterday, but it's really none of my business. I know you haven't seen her lately, and what you did before has nothing to do with me, or us or whatever this is."

"How do you know I haven't seen her lately?" House asked. Had she talked to Wilson about this before talking to him? This could be setting up a bad pattern.

"She told me," Cameron answered. House gave her a questioning look. "Well, I asked her. She thought I was her replacement." Cameron said dryly.

"I could never afford you," House quipped. Cameron smirked. Typical House.

"I'll read between the lines and take that as a compliment," Cameron said. She stood to go. "I'm going to check on Foreman and Chase."

"So, we're okay?" House asked.

"As long as no more hookers show up on your doorstep," Cameron answered.

"Right, no more hookers," House said. "Silly to keep paying for it when you're giving it away," House said to her back as she walked out the door.