Chapter 22

Yet another week had passed without a case coming their way. Cameron and House hadn't been spending as much time together as they would have liked. Cuddy was extremely busy trying to coordinate a team of 17 surgeons from around the world to arrive at PPTH and perform the surgery to separate a set of conjoined twins from somewhere in South America. Wilson was feeling a bit abandoned, and Cameron had taken pity on him. She invited him out for drinks one night, and House had shown up and made a ridiculous show of jealousy that left both her and Wilson snorting into their glasses.

House had taken the hint. He knew Wilson wasn't used to being alone. He'd been married or having an affair with someone for most of his adult life. So House had given in to Cameron's not so subtle hint and invited Wilson over to watch football on Sunday afternoon.

Monday morning came, and Cameron walked into the conference room bright and early as usual. There were no lights on in House's office, so she assumed he wasn't in yet. She smirked, wondering just how much he and Wilson had had to drink during the game yesterday, and calculating how annoying she could be if he had a hangover today. She was so busy plotting to torture him while she made a pot of coffee that she didn't hear him sneak up behind her. He snaked his arms around her waist and buried his face in her hair. She turned in his arms and punched him softly on the shoulder.

"Don't do that!" she scolded. "How does a man as big as you with a cane, no less, sneak up on people like a ninja?" She was giggling now, not really angry at all.

"A man as big as me, huh? I thought we agreed not to talk about bedroom stuff at work."

"House," Cameron groaned. She disentangled herself from his arms and reached for his coffee mug. She poured him a cup and added one packet of sugar, the way he preferred. She turned and handed it to him.

Chase came into the conference room, and almost backed out again. He felt like he was intruding on a private moment, despite the fact that House and Cameron weren't even touching. They were just so, into each other, it was as if he didn't exist. They were totally oblivious to him. He sighed a little. He wanted that for himself. Not with Cameron, really, but with someone.

"Chase, are you okay?" Cameron asked.

"Yeah, fine. Just wondering whether the coffee in the NICU is any good," he said easily. House had limped back into his office without saying good morning, par for the course. It only helped solidify that Chase's decision had been the right one.

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Another day of boredom came to a close. And then, the next one began. Cameron, Chase and Foreman sat at the conference room table on Tuesday morning playing Scrabble. Cuddy had forbidden House from sending Chase to the clinic to cover any more of his hours. Cameron and Foreman had clinic hours, but weren't scheduled until the afternoon.

"A-T-A-X-I-A" Foreman intoned triumphantly as he placed his letters on the board.

"Damn," Chase cursed softly. Foreman had used his A. Now there was no space on the board for aneurysm.

"Is this what I'm paying you people for?" House chided as he entered the conference room with a young woman in tow. Cameron, knowing this must be the new fellow House had hired, stood up for the introductions.

"Cameron and Foreman, this is Dr. Michael Jasper, cardiologist extraordinaire and our new fellow." House pointed out Cameron and Foreman to Dr. Jasper, ignoring Chase completely.

"Nice to meet you both," Dr. Jasper said. She turned to House. "Do you not know who this one is?" she asked, indicating Chase.

"This is Dr. Wombat, oops, I mean Dr. Chase. He'll be leaving us at the end of this week. I'm sorry, it's all too heartbreaking, I can't continue," he faked a sob and escaped into his office.

Cameron rolled her eyes. She remembered similar treatment when she'd come in to meet the team and get oriented to the hospital. The sort of small talk and chatter that was necessary when showing a new employee around the hospital was more than he could tolerate. Cameron looked at their new team member. She was a pretty woman, if a bit overweight. In fact, Cameron was a bit surprised House hadn't commented on it. It was so unlike him to let any possible weakness go unexploited. She'd have to ask him about that.

"You can call me Cameron," she said to Dr. Jasper. "No idea why, but we all sort of go by our last names here."

"That will be a nice change of pace. The last place I worked everyone made such a big deal of calling me Michael all the time." Jasper smiled at Cameron.

"It is a bit unusual," Cameron commented.

"What can I say? Ultrasound techs are not to be trusted." Foreman and Cameron both laughed, but Chase continued to stare at Jasper, which he had been doing the whole time.

"So Dr. Chase, you're leaving?" Jasper asked him.

"Huh?" Chase said. "Oh, yeah. I'm taking an attending position in the NICU here."

"Chase is an intensivist," Foreman offered, as Chase seemed to have temporarily lost the ability to carry on a conversation. "Call me Foreman, please. I don't know if I'd answer you if you called me by my first name. I'm a neurologist. In fact," he said, checking his watch, "I told Dr. Kennedy I'd come upstairs and review a few cases with him since we don't have any patients right now. I'll be back before lunch." He turned and left the room.

"Well, why don't I show you around," Cameron offered. She knew this was why House had brought Jasper in to introduce her to the team, and although it was generally accepted that the fellow who was leaving would orient the new team member, Chase was being weird.

"Thanks. Nice meeting you, Chase," Jasper said.

"What? Right, uh, you too," Chase answered in a dazed sort of way. What was it about her eyes?

Cameron gave Chase an impatient, what is wrong with you today, sort of look, and led Jasper out of the conference room for a tour of the hospital.

"So," House said, walking back into the conference room, having observed the whole scene from the safety and quiet of his office, "is it your plan to sleep with all of my female fellows?"

"What?" Chase asked again. He shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Please," House scoffed. "You couldn't be more obvious if you actually had drool coming out of your mouth. I thought you hated fat people?"

Chase shot House a venomous glance and left the conference room without answering.

"Touchy," House commented.

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Cameron and House had just finished dinner and were settled down in the living room. House was flipping through the channels on the TV, once again disgusted that Cameron didn't have satellite TV. Cameron was curled in the armchair, the nearby floor lamp trained over her shoulder so she could read. Currently, she was engrossed in a journal article about an outbreak of smallpox in Portugal.

"Aren't you finished yet?" House whined.

Cameron took off her glasses and looked at House, amused. "Bored?"

"You need TiVo," House answered.

"Right, because I spend so much time watching TV," Cameron replied dryly.

"No, but I do. I need something to do while I'm here, besides the obvious," House said.

"I need to read this stuff," Cameron said sensibly.

"Do you want me to tell you how it ends?"

"Yeah, like you read this," Cameron scoffed. She placed her glasses back on, and picked up her journal. House proceeded to tell her all of the salient points of the article she was currently reading. "You read this already? It was just published."

House looked at her seriously. "If I tell you this, you can't tell anyone." Cameron was intrigued. "I took a speed-reading course in college."

Cameron looked at him with frank disbelief. House smiled at her, a genuine smile.

"How else do you think I keep up with all of this stuff? I read all the medical journals. Even some that aren't in English." House confessed. Cameron put down the journal and joined House on the couch. He allowed her to snuggle next to him and handed her the remote control.

"I think you just broke some universal law. The man is never supposed to give up the remote control," Cameron said.

"I don't plan on watching the TV," House growled, and began kissing Cameron's neck. She sighed, and closed her eyes. Moments later, all thoughts of journal articles and TiVo were forgotten.

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Hours later, House awoke in bed alone. He glanced around Cameron's bedroom, unsure of himself. They always spent Tuesday and Thursday nights at Cameron's. Those were his physio days, and she insisted on his using her Jacuzzi in the evenings. Even after a few weeks, House was still uncomfortable being alone in Cameron's bedroom. He got up and grabbed his cane from the footboard. Limping down the hall, he found Cameron in the living room, curled up on the couch in the dark.

"It's 3am," House said.

"Couldn't sleep," Cameron said. House sat heavily on the couch next to her, and she immediately snuggled into his chest. She ran her fingers lightly over his chest. "Tell me a story." House snorted. He looked down at her with amusement. "You know everything about me, and I hardly know anything about you. Tell me a story about you. Anything, I don't care." She looked into his eyes, and House knew he couldn't refuse. Sighing, he rested his head on the back of the couch and thought.

"Did I ever tell you about how I met Wilson?" Cameron shook her head no. House grunted; it was a good story. "I had just come to PPTH, it was about nine years ago. Wilson had just started there too; he took over as the new oncology head. He wasn't married then, and I was with Stacy. I didn't know it, but Wilson and Stacy had known each other from high school. So, I was in the clinic one day, hiding out from Cuddy," Cameron huffed a laugh here, "Yes, even then. Anyway, Stacy had come by the hospital to meet me for lunch, and she was waiting in the clinic reception area. Wilson came in, and saw her. I'm sure you can imagine the whole reunion scene. They were all over each other, the huge hug and a kiss, the whole works. I was watching them through the blinds, of course. I knew him by sight, and he already had a reputation with the nurses. He kept touching her arm while they were talking, and she kept laughing and slapping him on the arm, blushing. It was very ninth grade."

"I'm not really the jealous type," Cameron laughed again, and House feigned anger. "Do you want to hear this story or don't you?" Cameron quickly stopped laughing and kissed him softly on the cheek. "I really just wanted to know who he thought he was, with his hands all over her, and I walked out to say hello. Just then he made some comment, typical Wilson, about ditching her boyfriend and running off together, and I may have accidentally punched him in the face." Cameron was shaking with silent laughter, but House pretended not to notice. "Stacy smoothed it over, you know lawyers, always with the talking. I haven't been able to shake him since."

Cameron sat up straighter and kissed House sweetly. House kissed her back, not quite as sweetly as she'd started. She'd been running her hands over his bare chest the whole time, and he was only a man, after all. She moaned softly, and before long they were breathless and gathering up discarded pajamas.

House took her hand as they walked back to the bedroom. "If you're going to do that every time I tell you a story, I'll start with my first day of pre-school," House teased. Cameron grinned to herself, whatever it took to get him talking.

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Early the next morning, House leaned back in his chair, oblivious to the world as his Ipod blasted Bobby Bland through the ear buds. Eyes closed, House didn't know Wilson had come in until his tennis ball bounced off his head. Annoyed, he turned the Ipod off and looked at Wilson expectantly.

"Need a favor," Wilson said, somewhat distracted.

"You're asking the wrong guy," House said, reaching for the Ipod to turn the music back on.

"I need to borrow Cameron for the day," Wilson said quickly, before House could drown him out. House's hand paused above the button, and he looked at Wilson, impassive.

"I don't share," House told him.

"Greg, please. Lisa's running herself into the ground trying to organize this whole separation surgery; she needs help. Her assistant is useless, and I have patients all day. I know you're no help," House tried to interject a witty retort but Wilson held up his hand, "it's not good for the baby. Please, I promise she'll be all yours again in time for dinner."

House waved a hand at Wilson to indicate it was okay. He had just reached for the Ipod again when Jasper opened the door from the conference room and stepped inside his office. She glanced at Wilson, but addressed House.

"Dr. House? Since we don't have any patients, I was wondering if could look over some of your old case files, see what sort of stuff you guys are dealing with?" Jasper asked.

"Initiative, I like it. Fine, but you'll have to see Cameron, I have no idea where the files are," House said. "Actually, ask her to come in here, would you?"

Jasper stepped back into the conference room, returning a moment later with Cameron.

"You belong to Wilson today," House said, pointing at Cameron. "She," he now pointed at Jasper, "wants to look at some old case files." He gave everyone a last look to make sure nobody else needed him for anything, and then pushed the button on his Ipod again, letting the music envelop him.

"I can get you about a dozen files to look over," Cameron told Jasper, "if you can give me 15 minutes, Dr. Wilson?"

"Meet me in Dr. Cuddy's office," Wilson said, and left House's office to convince Lisa to accept some help. Cameron led Jasper out of House's office and to the filing drawer she kept at her desk.

"These are the last dozen patients we worked on. It's about three months worth, so start with the oldest ones because those will be getting filed pretty soon," Cameron told Jasper.

"A dozen in three months? That's it?" Jasper asked in surprise. Cameron smiled.

"Dr. House is very particular about the cases he takes. We tend to deal with only the most bizarre situations. Foreman will be around this afternoon, and I know House isn't allowed to send Chase to the clinic anymore, so he should be around too. You could ask them about any of the cases if you need to." Cameron grabbed her laptop from the desk and left Jasper to the files.

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"Are you trying to suggest that I'm not capable of doing my job, James?" Cuddy said coldly.

"No, I'm suggesting that right now you're in the middle of a very large and time-sensitive project and that you could use some help getting the day to day items out of the way so you can concentrate on it. Your assistant is a moron, so you're not getting the help you need," Wilson was careful to keep his voice calm, but not patronizing. "And I'm worried about you and the baby. You're barely sleeping and I know you're not eating as well as you should. I don't want anything to happen to the two of you," these last words were spoken with a soft urgency that made Cuddy forget her anger. She took a deep breath and sighed.

"I know, you're right. And I'm sorry I'm being so unreasonable. But this is my hospital and I don't want anything to go wrong." Cuddy was exhausted, and she knew he was right. She was pushing herself too hard. "Fine, I'll look into getting someone to help me out, okay?"

Just then there was a knock at the door, and Cameron entered. Cuddy looked at Wilson, who smiled at her sheepishly.

"What can I do for you, Cameron?" Cuddy asked.

"Wilson asked me to meet him here," Cameron replied. She looked at Wilson, unsure. "You did say Cuddy's office, didn't you?"

"I'm sure you heard about the separation surgery that's going on here next week?" Wilson asked Cameron.

"I have, and I think it's wonderful," Cameron said. "It's good that the hospital is donating their facilities, and what a great opportunity for the surgical students to be able to observe a procedure like that."

Cuddy smiled, as Cameron echoed the same arguments she had used in her presentation to the board of directors. Maybe she should take Jimmy's advice and get to know her better. If she and Jimmy were going to raise this baby together, and Cameron and House were a couple it was inevitable that they'd be spending more time together.

"It's taken up more time than I realized," Cuddy said, "and some of the less glamorous but equally important administrative duties have been neglected. My assistant …"

"Is a moron?" Cameron asked before she could stop herself. "Sorry. I just, I meant, um…"

"You're not wrong," Cuddy sighed. "I don't want to take you away from something else."

"Like watching House listen to his Ipod? He's hot but even I can't stare at him all day," Cameron said. "Sorry, again." Cameron looked at both Cuddy and Wilson, bewildered. "I can't help it. These things just come flying out of my mouth."

"It's called House-itis, don't worry about it," Cuddy reassured her. "I'm immune."

"Well, I have a patient. I'll leave you ladies to it," Wilson winked at Cuddy and gave Cameron a quick smile as he walked out the door.

"What can I help you with?" Cameron asked.

"Well, I'm not really sure. The charting for the clinic is horribly behind, and so is the charting for my patients. There's correspondence to be answered, requisition forms to be approved, budgetary items…" Cuddy's voice trailed off.

"I haven't been doing House's paperwork for the last few years in vain, then. Go and do whatever it is you need to do, I'll take care of whatever I can, and whatever I can't will at least be organized when you get back." Cameron smiled at Cuddy, and Cuddy returned the smile in relief. "Allison, thank you," Cuddy said, and she closed the door on her way out.

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Jasper spent an hour or two reviewing some old cases before Chase and Foreman came back to the conference room. Chase seemed slightly surprised to see her there, and Foreman noticed he was tongue-tied once again. Foreman asked what she was doing, and she explained she just wanted to get a feel for the type of cases they typically had.

"It doesn't seem like you guys have a typical sort of case," Jasper told Foreman.

"Not really. House gets to pick and choose his patients. He only takes the most difficult cases, or the ones he finds interesting for some reason. The only thing typical about them is they're weird," Foreman told Jasper.

"I'm kind of getting that idea," Jasper replied, closing a file. She picked up another from the pile and looked at Foreman. "Did you seriously have a case of the plague? And scurvy? Who gets scurvy?"

"You think that's weird, you should hear about some of the clinic patients House gets. It's like the guy's a magnet for the bizarre. He actually had a patient once who tried to use strawberry jelly as a contraceptive," Foreman chuckled, remembering when House had paged him to the clinic for that one.

"She did not," Jasper gasped.

"What about Georgia?" Chase asked, finally recovering his powers of speech.

"Who's Georgia?" Jasper asked.

"This elderly patient who had neuro-syphilis. She got a major crush on House; she wrote him a love poem and Wilson read it in front of the entire clinic. That was a good day," Foreman laughed. It wasn't often you got to see that completely gob-smacked look on House's face.

"What about the guy who turned himself orange?" Chase asked. House had gotten into some hot water over that case, too.

"Wow, I can't wait to start pulling clinic hours," Jasper joked. As if on cue, House entered the room.

"Excellent. Showing initiative again. No time like the present," House said, tossing her his ID badge. Jasper caught it and looked at Chase and Foreman with trepidation. She turned to ask House if he was serious, but he'd already left the room.

"He's serious?" Jasper asked.

"I'll come with you," Chase volunteered, and then nearly knocked the table over as he tried to stand up from his chair before detangling his legs. "Sorry," he muttered, embarrassed. Jasper just smiled at him.

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Cuddy returned to her office in the early afternoon, and gasped when she realized she could actually see the top of her desk. Cameron had stepped out, and Cuddy began quickly taking note of all she had done. The clinic charting was current and filed, her own charting was updated, requisition forms had been reviewed and were awaiting her final approval and all the correspondence had been answered. Cuddy was in awe.

"Oh, Dr. Cuddy, you're back," Cameron said, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Don't sound so happy about it," Cuddy joked.

"Oh, no. It's just, I was hoping to tackle that budget report from pediatrics," Cameron said.

"Cameron, are you kidding? This is incredible, how on earth did you get all this stuff done?" Cuddy asked her, the honest praise in her voice causing Cameron to blush slightly.

"I guess I just have a knack for paperwork," Cameron said lightly, embarrassed. "Of course, being uninterrupted for four or five hours helps too."

"I guess that would be helpful," Cuddy remarked. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had an hour uninterrupted.

"You know, Dr. Cuddy, it's not really my place, but it's such a shame that your assistants couldn't take care of some this stuff for you. I mean, there's really no need for a lot of it to even make it to your desk," Cameron said.

"Well, I'm not the easiest boss, or so I've been told," Cuddy replied. "And most of my assistants come from the college. By the time you can find someone half-way decent, they're graduating or starting their rotations here and they quit and I have to start all over again."

"You can't be a worse boss than House." Cameron joked.

"I certainly hope not," Cuddy answered, and they both laughed. It was an easy sort of laughter, and both Cameron and Cuddy were aware of how nice it was to have another woman to talk too. It was something they were both sorely missing.

"Dr. Cuddy, I was wondering if you and Jimmy, I mean Dr. Wilson, um…" Cameron faltered, unsure.

"It's okay, I know you two are friends. If Jimmy and I what?"

"If maybe you'd like to have dinner with House and me some time?"

"I'd like that," Cuddy responded, warmly. "How will you talk House into it? He hates dinner parties."

"I won't tell him," Cameron answered, as if that were obvious. Cuddy grinned. Yes, it would definitely be nice to have a woman friend. Especially one who could get around House.