A/N: I've barely gotten any reviews for the last couple of chapters. Please review, it makes me happy!

Chapter 15

Chase had volunteered to stay and make sure Marcus was okay during the night while they waited for their test results. He'd intended to go home early today, but Foreman couldn't stay to treat his own brother. House certainly wouldn't do it, and somehow Cameron still seemed a little off to him. Besides, he thought to himself, it's not as if he'd be doing this much longer.

Foreman thanked Chase for staying with Marcus, and asked him to call immediately if anything changed. He arranged for Nichelle and the kids to stay at a nearby hotel, so they wouldn't have to spend the night on the waiting area couches. He assured Nichelle that Chase would call her too, if anything should happen.

House, naturally, had spent most of the afternoon holed up in his office. This was nothing unusual, and since his team was a little more distracted than usual, he'd managed to avoid any questions about his leg all day. Until it was time to go home. Cameron had come into the conference room to gather her things, when she noticed his office lights were still on. She smiled and pushed through the glass door into his office. One look at his face and the smile faded. She stood silently and watched him limping across his balcony to the door, and stopping short when he noticed her standing there. His pained expression was not lost on her.

"How bad does it hurt?" she asked.

"Been worse," House replied. He picked up his bag and stuffed in his Ipod and Gameboy.

"But it's been better," Cameron pushed, but gently. House put his bag on his shoulder and limped, slowly, toward the door without answering. Cameron placed a hand on his arm to stop him. "Taking something?"

House turned, angry, but Cameron held up her hands in a defensive gesture before he could say anything.

"I meant, ibuprophen or maybe naproxen?" House nodded. "Not helping?"

"Not much." House acknowledged. It actually felt kind of good letting Cameron know his leg hurt. He hadn't realized how much it was weighing him down worrying about keeping it from everyone. And he knew that she understood what he was really worried about.

"Come on, you're coming home with me," Cameron said, taking his bag for him.

"Aren't we forward today?" House teased.

"Can't give it away if you don't put it out there," Cameron said with a dry tone, and House grinned. He liked it best when she mocked him with total seriousness.

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House sat in Cameron's tub, letting the hot water and Jacuzzi jets soothe his leg. He hadn't noticed the tub when he'd visited before, but he was grateful for it. Actually, it might be worth it to have one installed at his place. His leg actually did feel better. He wouldn't say it felt good, not like it did right after the treatment, but it certainly felt better than it had all day.

When they'd gotten to Cameron's apartment, she'd ordered him to the couch, where she proceeded to give his leg muscles a long, slow massage. He'd hinted several times about other sore areas she could rub for him, but she'd merely raised an eyebrow at him and continued in a very professional manner. When she was finished, she'd brought him to the bathroom and begun filling the tub. After a quick explanation of the controls for the Jacuzzi, she'd told him to stay in the water for at least a half an hour while she made dinner.

"House?" Cameron's voice called at the door. "You about ready to get out, dinner's almost done."

"You've already seen me naked, so there's no point being shy," House said to the door, standing up as he let the water out of the tub and turned of the jets. He reached for a towel to dry himself off, and heard Cameron laughing from the other side of the door.

"Yes, but I want to eat dinner while its still hot. Naked men tend to distract me," Cameron said. House shook his head, grinning. Minutes later, he emerged from the bathroom, dressed and running a towel over his hair. Whatever Cameron had made for dinner smelled great. He tossed his wet towel on the floor, and sat at the table. Cameron came in carrying a dish, frowning at the towel as she set the food on the table. House smirked; he knew it would drive her crazy.

Cameron sat, and took House's plate. She put a large serving of the lasagna on his plate, and then added a generous helping of salad next to it. House raised an eyebrow at the salad.

"It's green," House said, poking the lettuce with his fork.

"It's called a vegetable," Cameron explained slowly, as she served herself a much smaller portion of the salad and lasagna. "It's probably been years since you've seen one, but I promise you won't die if you eat it."

"But, mom, I don't want to. It's yucky!" House whined, and put on his best five-year-old boy pout. Cameron couldn't help but laugh.

"If you eat all your vegetables, I'll give you a treat," Cameron said, putting on a serious mom face and tone.

"It better not be cookies and milk," House complained. Cameron leaned close enough to whisper into House's ear. When she was done, she sat back and smiled sweetly before picking up her fork and taking a bite of her salad.

"That might even be worth eating a pickle," House joked, and took a bite of his salad as Cameron laughed.

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House and Cameron walked into the conference room the next morning to find Foreman sitting at the table with Chase, going over Marcus's chart. Chase found the two of them coming in together a little odd, but Foreman was too engrossed in the notes to notice. House smelled coffee, and made a face.

"I thought I warned you about touching the coffee pot," House said to Chase.

"Wilson made it," Chase replied, burying his head in the chart again. After the previous day's tie assault, Chase was trying to be extra careful not to annoy House in any way.

"Wilson? What was he doing in here?" House asked.

"Didn't ask. He mumbled something about not being able to get any coffee at home. I wasn't really listening," Chase answered, flipping a page in the medical tome he'd been looking through.

"Hmmm," House mused. "What's up with the patient?"

"It's not lupus, lead poisoning or melioidosis," Chase answered. "Still waiting for the typhoid results, but I don't think that's it."

"Not very likely," Cameron said. "Are these your notes?" she asked Chase, sliding the file toward her.

"Yeah, maybe a fresh set of eyes will see something. I know there's something in there that I'm forgetting about, but I can't think." He looked at House. "I'm going to catch a shower and change into some scrubs, I stink." House nodded his assent, and Chase got up and walked out of the conference room. Mere seconds later, he ran back into the room, shouting.

"Urinary incontinence!"

"Geez, Chase, the bathroom is just down the hall," House shot at him.

"Nichelle said Marcus wet the bed a couple of times. It's a symptom." Chase answered, throwing House a dirty look. House wrote the new symptom on the board and stared. House turned to Foreman, but before he could say anything, Foreman spoke.

"It could be Alzheimer's. There's a history," Foreman said, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice.

"Alzheimer's wouldn't account for most of the other symptoms," Cameron said slowly.

"No, but stress from another illness could exacerbate the condition," Foreman replied. "He needs to be tested."

House nodded to Cameron, who gave Foreman a sympathetic look before leaving to run the test. Chase left again to get his shower, leaving Foreman alone with House. Foreman put his head in his hands and leaned his elbows on the table.

"Why don't you go and ask your sister-in-law if he's had any personality changes lately? House suggested, remarkably free of sarcasm. Foreman stood up wearily and left to find Nichelle.

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"He's been a little short-tempered, but nothing really out of the ordinary. He's been sick for weeks, he's just tired and out of sorts," Nichelle told Foreman, almost defensively.

"Nichelle, I know you don't want to think about this now, but we have to know everything that's relevant if we're going to find out what's wrong with him," Foreman told her gently.

"Eric, I'm scared," Nichelle said, and began to cry softly. Foreman, looking somewhat uncomfortable, put an arm around her shoulders and told her it will be okay, although he knew no such thing. When her crying had slowed, he asked her again.

"Nichelle, please. It's important. Has he been acting differently lately? Even something small could be important."

"He hasn't wanted to watch any racing for a couple of weeks. He seems sort of, disinterested. You know how much he loves cars. And he really has been short-tempered," Nichelle told Foreman.

"Thanks, Nichelle," Foreman told her, and left to update the team.

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"Personality changes," Foreman announced to House and Chase, who were the only two in the room. "He's been short-tempered and losing interest in his favorite hobby."

House and Chase just looked at Foreman, but didn't respond. They'd both looked at the patient history after Foreman had gone to speak to Nichelle. They knew his mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. It wasn't looking too good for Marcus.

"When the test results confirm it, you can talk to the family," House said to Foreman and went into his office.

"Foreman, I'm sorry," Chase said, and Foreman just nodded.

"I'm going to check on Marcus," Foreman said, and left to see his brother.

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Cameron snuck into House's office and out onto the balcony. She was waiting for the Alzheimer's test results to come in, but the lab was incredibly backed up. There had been a malfunction in one of the machines during the night, and all of the hospital's tests were behind. Cameron had been unable to even get near a machine to run the test herself. Seeing as she had nothing to do, her clinic hours not being until after lunch, she decided to sneak out for a cigarette before House got back.

She was standing on the balcony, and enjoying her moment of peace greatly, when Wilson stepped out from his office. They looked at each other, and Cameron grinned at him guiltily.

"You know those things will give you cancer," Wilson said to her, disapprovingly.

"She's got to keep you in a job, Jimmy," House's voice said from behind Cameron, and she jumped, and then blushed. "I thought you were quitting."

"I am," Cameron sighed. "They're just so…"

"Addictive?" House asked. "Hmm, can't imagine what that's like." He gave her a face, and she sighed, but crushed the cigarette on the wall.

"You knew he'd catch you," Wilson said, smugly.

"No, you were supposed to be keeping him busy," Cameron said with an accusatory tone.

"Uh, oh. Are you two conspiring behind my back? That could be trouble," House said lightly, and put a hand on Cameron's arm. "She's mine, you can't play with her," he told Wilson.

"You never were good at sharing," Wilson commented, and Cameron laughed. She rarely got to see House and Wilson together when they weren't working, and the easy banter between them made it clear how they'd remained friends all these years. She locked that bit of information away for future use. It might be helpful to her in maintaining her own relationship with the grumpiest man alive.

"So, couldn't get any coffee at home?" House asked, and Cameron and House both noticed Wilson stiffen a bit.

"Ran out," Wilson said simply, but looked pointedly at Cameron and then at House. Cameron understood; this was something he didn't want to talk about in front of her.

"I'll go check on those test results," she said to House, and walked toward the door to his office.

"Cuddy throw you out this morning?" House asked.

"She said the smell of the coffee made her sick," Wilson said, and looked at House. House smiled knowingly.

"How far along is she?" he asked.