Chapter 18

House and Cameron arrived at work together the following morning. They'd made an unspoken decision not to deny that they were together. So far, only Wilson, and by association Cuddy, knew for certain. House and Cameron knew Foreman had strong suspicions, and Chase? Well, Chase would figure it out eventually.

House and Cameron parted when they reached the diagnostics area; House entered his office and Cameron entered the conference room. After hanging her coat and depositing her bag at the desk, she began making a pot of coffee. Neither Foreman nor Chase had arrived, so the offices were eerily quiet. And yet, Cameron didn't hear House come in the room behind her. She remained unaware of his presence until she felt the hem of her skirt lifting above the back of her knees. She turned sharply, and caught the wicked grin on House's face as he let the tip of his cane drop to the floor.

He'd taken the cane out of the closet this morning. Cameron had watched him from the bedroom, sensing that this was just one more thing he wouldn't want to talk about. He'd stood before the closet for quite some time, simply staring at the door. Cameron watched him first out of curiosity. Then he'd opened the closet door and stared even longer at its contents. Cameron's curiosity was definitely peaked, for she had no idea what he was keeping in there that could hold his attention for so long. Finally, he had reached into the closet and pulled the cane out. He swung the closet door shut and stared at the cane in his hand for a few agonizing moments before dusting off the top and gripping the familiar wood with his right hand.

Cameron had jumped back into the bed, praying that he hadn't seen her watching him. She knew he would be angry, and she wanted to avoid a fight. He'd limped, thumped back into the bedroom to get dressed, and she had gotten up and gone to the bathroom. When she came back, the bedroom was empty. She had dressed quickly, and then found him in the kitchen, making toast. She took a slice; kissed him on the cheek, and poured a cup of the coffee she'd prepared the night before. He didn't look at her, but she could sense his relief that she didn't pester him with questions about his leg. It hurt; they both knew it. Talking about it wouldn't make the hurt go away.

The scene played out in Cameron's mind in a few seconds. She gave House her evil death glare, and turned back to the coffee pot. House hooked the cane's handle around her waist and pulled her back into his arms. She smirked at him over her shoulder.

"House, people can see us," Cameron admonished.

"Don't care," House replied, burying his head in her neck and kissing her lightly. Cameron shivered; his kisses and the slight scraping of his stubble had never yet failed to get that response.

"House," Cameron said in a warning tone. She didn't mind people at the hospital knowing about them, but that didn't mean she wanted to give them a free show. House sighed in frustration, but relented. He was sort of hoping to get an audience for the House/Cameron show. Anything to take the heat off him using his cane.

Foreman came in first, just as the coffee finished brewing. He took note of House's cane, but seeing as House was standing really close to the coffee pot and Foreman really needed some caffeine, he decided not to comment. Cameron poured House's coffee first, and then poured a cup for herself. House limped back into his office with his coffee, while Foreman poured himself a cup. He gave Cameron a questioning glance, and Cameron shook her head almost imperceptibly, indicating to Foreman not to bring it up.

Chase strolled in last, and went greedily to the coffee pot. He flinched at Foreman's good morning, and Cameron grinned. He was hung-over, again. She liked Chase, she really did, but she just couldn't understand why he did this to himself over and over. And of all days, when House was sure to be in a foul mood, he was once again making himself the perfect target.

House came back into the conference room for a coffee refill. He'd been up since 3am, the only reason Cameron was able to get him to work on time, and he needed the caffeine. Chase took one look at the cane and gasped, audibly. House tensed, and waited for it.

"You're using the cane," Chase said, predictably. Foreman and Cameron both let their eyes fall closed in disbelief and pity. They prepared themselves for the onslaught.

"Am not," House retorted, petulantly. Chase opened his mouth to say something else, and Foreman kicked him under the table. Chase jumped, and gave Foreman a bewildered look. House held his red mug out in front of him, and Cameron took it to refill. On another day she might have given him lip about not being his maid, but not today. If she could only get him his coffee quickly enough, he might go back to his office before Chase found himself impaled by the cane.

Cameron handed him the coffee, and he let his eyes lock with hers. He gave her a silent thank you, and she nodded. House took his second cup of coffee and limped back into his office. Foreman and Cameron had barely finished breathing their sighs of relief when House's voice thundered at them from his office.

"CHASE!"

Chase hung his head. He knew what this was about, and he couldn't believe his bad luck that today was the day House had finally needed to take out his cane. He stood up slowly, getting a look of sympathy from Cameron and an I-told-you-so look from Foreman. He had a feeling that, had they know the real reason House was screaming at him, the looks might have been fear instead.

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"What is this?" House asked coldly, holding up a folder with several sheets of paper inside.

"A file?" Chase asked. House glared at him.

"This is your fellowship renewal application," House told Chase. Chase didn't reply; he stared at House. "You turned it down."

"Yeah," Chase answered shortly. House gave Chase a look. "Dr. Hernandez in the NICU decided she wasn't coming back from her maternity leave. The NICU needed an intensivist and Cuddy offered to it me."

"Cuddy wouldn't have offered it to you unless she knew you were looking," House said, slowly, piecing things together. "Which means you must have given her these forms weeks ago, while I was in rehab."

"Just after you came back, actually," Chase replied. He hadn't wanted to talk to House about this. "Look, I just don't feel like I'm getting anything out of this anymore. The patients are horrible, the hours are too long and you're…" he let his voice trail off. He really did have a hard time dealing with the patients, and he hated the nights spent here alone. But mostly, he just couldn't put up with House and his mind games and torture anymore.

"I'm what?" House asked. He didn't want Chase to leave, but more importantly, he couldn't let Chase leave until he'd learned his last lesson.

"You don't take me seriously. You disregard everything I say, even when I'm right. I gave up fighting for my diagnosis because it didn't even matter if I stood up to you or not, you still disregard my opinion. I don't have to work for someone who doesn't respect me. I know I'm a good doctor, and you can't beat it out of me." Chase was flushed, but looked at House triumphantly.

House looked at Chase thoughtfully. This had been the one thing Chase had been missing. For the past three years, he had taken all of House's abuse. The insults, the screaming, the cursing and even the physical assaults. He'd always spoken up for his diagnosis, but never for himself. Even when Vogler was here, and threatened their jobs, Chase hadn't stood up for himself. He had gone to Vogler behind House's back. Now he had finally taken a stand for himself, and House was ready to let him move on.

"Okay," House said. He signed the form, and handed it to Chase. "Good luck."

"That's it?" Chase said, staring at the file in amazement. "Just 'good luck'?"

"I only cry in private," House snarked. "Besides, I still have you for two weeks. You like bedpan duty, right?" House flashed him an evil grin and stepped into the conference room.

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"I can't believe you're leaving," Cameron said to Chase. She, Chase and Foreman were having lunch together in the cafeteria, something they hadn't done in months. Chase shrugged.

"Finally had enough of House?" Foreman asked, wiping egg salad from his mouth.

"I just needed a change, that's all. I mean, it's not like we can stay with him forever, right?" He turned to Cameron for support. Cameron just looked back at him. It had never crossed her mind not to renew her fellowship. In fact, she'd already filled out the paperwork, even though her own renewal wouldn't be up for another six months.

"Well, I already know I won't be renewing my fellowship when it comes up next year," Foreman said. "I came here to learn, and I have. Staying just to stay is kind of sad, isn't it?"

Cameron stiffened at that last comment. Chase and Foreman were discussing Chase's new position, but Cameron wasn't listening. Was she sad for staying with House? Was she sacrificing an opportunity for her career just to keep working for him? She pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind. It was six months away; she had plenty of time to obsess over it.

"So, Cameron, are you still going to have time to have lunch with an old colleague once I'm just a lowly NICU guy?" Chase teased. Cameron smiled at him. She was going to miss seeing Chase every day.

"As long as you're paying," she quipped, and Foreman's eyebrows shut up in surprise. He looked at Cameron; she didn't even seem to realize how much like House she sounded. He put down his sandwich and really looked at her. His mind ran over the clues he'd noticed over the past couple of weeks. He grinned.

"So how long have you and House been sleeping together?" Foreman asked casually. Cameron turned and looked at Foreman slowly. Chase was choking on his chip, but Cameron didn't seem to notice. Cameron and House had sort of decided not to hide it from people, but she hadn't been prepared for someone to just ask her outright. She didn't know what to say. She could feel a blush begin creeping up her neck and into her cheeks, which of course would only make her look guiltier if she tried to deny it.

"Since I got back from rehab," House's voice said from behind her, and all three of them jumped. None of them had heard him approaching. "Is that a problem?" He stared at Foreman hard.

"Nope, no problem," Foreman looked at his watch. "I'm due in the clinic. See you guys later." Foreman grabbed his tray and dumped the rest of his lunch in the trash as he beat a hasty retreat out of the cafeteria.

Chase looked at Cameron and House, unsure of what to do. He picked up his tray and moved to another table, joining a NICU nurse he would be working with. House sat in Foreman's vacant seat and starting stealing bits of chicken from Cameron's salad.

"Well, that went well, don't you think?" House teased. Cameron just rolled her eyes, stabbing him with her plastic fork before he ate her entire lunch.