"House, we're not doing anything like that in here while the three of them sit out there and listen," Cameron said practically as the door closed behind House.
"Oh, come on. Even I'm not that stupid," House said. Cameron shot him a look that clearly said 'oh, really?' "Okay, maybe I am, but I know you're not so relax."
"Then what's up?" Cameron asked, sitting in his big yellow chair.
"Can't a guy just want to spend some quality time with his best girl?" House asked, limping over to sit behind his desk.
"A guy can, you can't," Cameron said. "What's up?"
"Cuddy wants to borrow you for a couple of days next week. The twins will be here by Wednesday and she's got all kinds of stuff to do. I was only half-listening," House waved a hand to indicate that he didn't care, but in fact he did. He was very interested in Cameron's reaction.
"Of course, as long as we don't get a patient. Chase will be gone, and Jasper's only been here a couple of days," Cameron said. House nodded.
"Wilson's very concerned about all the stress this is putting on Cuddy and the baby," House said pointedly, now trying to goad a reaction out of her.
"Of course he is," Cameron replied evenly. "Stress can be dangerous, especially in the first trimester. And I'm sure Dr. Cuddy isn't eating and resting like she should be."
"Can't you just for once stop worrying about everyone else?!" House finally exploded, standing up from his chair and advancing on Cameron. "My God, you just found out Wilson's having a baby, with Cuddy, and that's your only reaction?"
"What sort of reaction should I have?" Cameron asked slowly, looking up as he towered over her. She wasn't sure why House was so upset about this. Was he worried about Wilson not having time for him anymore?
"I don't know, but something more Cameron! You get intimately involved in the lives of patients that you've known for five minutes. Now my best friend and his girlfriend are having a baby and you don't even care!" House shouted. He was sure that Cameron did care, but she was shutting out all those feelings and he wanted to know why.
"I care," Cameron said quietly, looking away. She shifted in her chair, uncomfortable under his stare.
"I know," House replied in much more subdued tone. "Cameron, you can tell me this stuff. I only don't like to talk about my own feelings. I don't mind listening to yours."
"Nice," Cameron said with a small smile. "I'm trying not to think about it too much. They're having a baby, and I'm happy for them. Anything more than that is just torturing myself and it's not good for me."
"Okay," House said. He pulled her up from the chair and hugged her, burying his face in her hair and breathing deeply. Cameron pulled away from with a suspicious look.
"Did you just smell my hair?" she accused.
"What? No," House answered, too quickly.
"You did," Cameron said, pulling out of his arms and placing her hands on her hips. "You smelled my hair. You're checking me for cigarette smoke."
"Just making sure you're sticking to the terms of our bet," House protested.
"Right, because I'm the one who's likely to cheat," Cameron drawled.
"Oh, and you haven't been stopping by and chatting with Dianna after I finish physio?" House threw at her. He had no idea if that was true, but her reaction would tell him a lot.
"No, I haven't" Cameron answered, and House could tell from her tone that she was telling the truth.
"Really?" House asked, now with the lost puppy face. "Fine, you're right. I'm sure if you'd had a cigarette you would have told me. You can't lie worth a dmn."
"Good then. Now, I'm going to say goodbye to Chase. You coming?" House just looked at her and waited for her to realize how ridiculous that question was. She stared at him for a minute or two before finally giving him an exasperated look normally reserved for small children who refuse to tie their own shoes, and then went into the conference room without him.
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House and Cameron sat on the couch at House's place, watching TV. House was watching TV, in actuality Cameron was napping, her head in House's lap and a book lying on her chest. She could really only tolerate so much TV, since most of what was on TV today was just brainless. She preferred a good novel. She was currently reading an Agatha Christie.
House, on the other hand, saw TV as a welcome respite from the whirlwind that was his mind. He often found it difficult to stop thinking, and TV was an effective way to pause that. Usually, he could force whatever he was currently obsessing over to the back of his mind while watching TV. He found this skill especially helpful when dealing with a difficult case. Even the most brilliant mind needed a break now and then.
Tonight, however, he couldn't distract himself with the TV any longer. Ever since he and Cameron had argued Friday afternoon, something had been bothering him. He'd looked at it from every angle he could come up with, and it still didn't make sense to him. Finally, with Cameron's head in his lap, he decided he'd just have to ask her.
"Cameron? Hey, Cameron," House nudged her, waking her. "Need to ask you something." Cameron rubbed her eyes, and looked up at House, expectantly. Now that she was looking at him, he wasn't sure how to ask her. "Why did you give Foreman that biopsy?"
"What?" Cameron asked, confused.
"Foreman, why did you do that biopsy?" House repeated.
"Because, I was his proxy," Cameron said, still confused. That was a year ago, why was he asking now?
"But you knew we could diagnose him another way," House pressed.
"In the time we had left?" Cameron asked. "It didn't matter anyway, it was what Foreman wanted."
"What does that matter?" House asked. "You were the proxy, it was your call. You could have done whatever you wanted."
"No, I couldn't have. The proxy is supposed to make medical decisions for someone when they aren't able. Foreman was able, he was perfectly clear he wanted the biopsy before we put him out. My job as his proxy was to make sure that what happened while he was out was what he wanted, that it was the decision he would have made if he had been able." Cameron looked at House again. She wondered where this was coming from. Suddenly, an awful thought crossed her mind and she quickly sat upright on the couch, twisting to face him. "Why are you questioning me on this now? Is something wrong? Is it your leg?"
"I'm fine," House answered. Now it was his turn to be confused. "Why would you think there's something wrong with me?"
"Because you're testing me. You wanted to see if I'd do the same thing Stacy did if it ever came to something like that," Cameron said. "I wouldn't. What a person chooses to do with their own body is their business, and if that person trusted me enough to put me in charge, then I would do whatever was necessary to make sure that what was done was what they wanted." Cameron finished, flushed. They'd never discussed what had happened to his leg, but Cameron was glad to have told him how she felt. She would never have done that to him. She would have respected his wishes, even if she didn't agree with him and even if it meant losing him.
"Good to know," House said, after a pause. He smirked at the flush on her face. No need to ask her what she thought of Stacy. "But I'm fine."
"Then why are you asking? What are you trying to find out?" Cameron asked. She looked at him intently, and he dropped his gaze, her scrutiny making him uncomfortable.
"I thought maybe you did the biopsy because you didn't trust me to figure it out," House said, edging closer to what he really wanted to talk about. He continued to look away from her.
"Of course I trust you. Do you think I would have told you my life story if I didn't?"
House pondered on that for a bit, glancing at her quickly to check the emotional weather. She was right. He could have very easily used the information she'd given him to make her life miserable, but he hadn't because she had trusted him not to do so. That just made this even more puzzling.
"Then why are you so afraid to talk to me about what you're feeling?" he asked, finally getting out what was really bothering him. He looked back again, this time locking eyes with her. He was surprised to see her grin. "This is funny?"
"From you? Greg House, the master of keeping it to yourself?" Cameron laughed lightly. "Come on, you have to see the irony in this." House gave her an impatient sort of look. Cameron sighed, and now she looked away. "I was afraid."
"Of me?" House asked. "Cameron, you do know I'd never really beat you with my cane?"
"I know. But the last time I tried to talk to you about feelings, you shot me down pretty hard. I wasn't anxious for a repeat performance. And, I was afraid if I got too emotional, you'd decide I wasn't worth the trouble, and you'd leave." Cameron fiddled with the hem of her sweater, feeling exposed and unsure. She finally looked back at House to see him grinning at her. She wiped a tear from her cheek; she hadn't even realized she'd begun to cry. "So this is funny?"
"You're screwed up even worse than Wilson," House said, and Cameron chuckled softly. House got up from the couch, and limped his way across the living room to the hall closet. He opened it, and raised his voice so Cameron could still hear him. "If I was going to let a few tears now and then scare me away, I never would have started this with you," House said as he turned back to the couch. "I even bought pink tissues," and he tossed Cameron a box of what was indeed pink tissues, complete with decorative flowers. She laughed as she took one and used it to dry her eyes. "And for the record, I'm not that easy to get rid of."
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House waited a few minutes after Cameron left the conference room Monday morning to follow her downstairs. Even though they'd talked, he was still worried about her helping Cuddy out. He knew she was purposely avoiding thinking about Cuddy's pregnancy, and he also knew from experience the sort of trouble you could get in when you didn't allow yourself to feel stuff. He smirked; Wilson might suggest he was something of an expert in that field.
House let the elevator doors open in front of him and glanced out before entering the hallway. He could just barely see the shadows of two people in Cuddy's office. Congratulating himself on timing things perfectly, he stepped in to the hallway outside the clinic. He lingered for a few minutes, making sure the clinic was fully staffed at the moment before venturing any closer to Cuddy's radar.
Satisfied that he couldn't possibly get roped into clinic duty right then, he entered the clinic waiting area to get a better view into Cuddy's office. She and Cameron appeared at ease, but appearances can be deceiving and he was anything but a casual observer. Either they'd had a little talk or Cameron really was that good at hiding how she was feeling all of a sudden. Watching carefully, he took in their body language. It was all wrong. Cameron was tense, but only the usual amount of tension with which she carried herself in Cuddy's presence. It was Cuddy who seemed unusually stiff and uncomfortable. House narrowed his eyes, wondering what that was all about.
As he continued to watch the women from a safe distance, the wheels began to turn. Wilson had weaseled his way out of it last week, but he had lied about having lunch with Cuddy. And now Cuddy was uptight and uncomfortable. The chances of those two things being unconnected were pretty slim in House's view. Having reached this conclusion, he studied Cuddy more closely, looking for some sign or clue as to what might be bothering her. She wasn't upset enough for something to be wrong with the baby, and House was certain that was information Wilson would just not have been able to keep to himself.
Moving around the nurse's desk to get a better view of his girls, House took in Cameron's expression. She seemed concerned suddenly. Cuddy had moved so that House was now watching the back of her head, but he noticed that she seemed even stiffer than previously. Watching intently, he made out the slightest of hitches in her shoulders, and then watched as Cameron placed a tentative hand on Cuddy's back. Was she crying?
House had seen all he needed to see. Noting that Cuddy's office door was propped open, he walked to the doors separating her office space from the clinic and slipped inside. As Cameron had noted on many previous occasions, he did have a propensity for sneaking up on people unbeknownst to them. He took full advantage of this unique talent now to stand quietly in her outer office area and try to eavesdrop on their conversation.
Cuddy was crying softly, almost not really crying at all. House knew she prided herself on maintaining control of her emotions at the hospital at all costs. She was a woman, young in her position and could ill afford to be seen as weak. Even hormones, powerful though they were, had only once had this effect on her at work. He could now see Cameron rubbing small circles on Cuddy's back and rolled his eyes, cursing himself for not realizing sooner. No normal person could avoid Cameron's caring and concern. She practically dripped with motherly instincts. Whatever was bothering Cuddy had come out in Cameron's presence, just like it did with their patients.
Cuddy and Cameron both now had their backs to House, and were far too involved in their current situation to notice him. He chanced to get a bit closer and heard Cameron speaking.
"Dr. Cuddy, uh, Lisa, are you okay? Is everything all right with the baby?" Cuddy just nodded, still trying to stop the tears that were sliding down her cheeks. "Well, that's the most important thing right now. As long as you and the baby are both fine, everything else we can work out." House made a face; she really was sickeningly sweet sometimes. Thank God or whoever that she hadn't tried that on him.
"It's Jimmy," Cuddy said quietly, and House tensed, gripping the handle of his cane nearly tight enough to snap it. "He said he didn't want to know if the baby was his or not, that it didn't matter, but I had to know. I had an amnio test done, and now he doesn't, I mean, he won't even discuss it," Cuddy let out in a rush. Most of this was barely comprehensible to Cameron, who knew nothing about Cuddy's IVF treatments, but House jumped to the worst possible conclusion.
"Son of a btch!" he growled, and charged off as quickly as his leg would allow. Cameron and Cuddy both jumped and whirled around to see House striding off down the hall, cane pounding the floor with each step. They looked at each other confused, not exactly certain what he'd heard or where he was going. Recognizing the anger in his walk, they followed.
House was already in the elevator, a good two floors above them by the time Cuddy and Cameron had made it across the hospital lobby. They took to the stairs, and made it to the diagnostics/oncology hall just in time to see House fling Wilson's door open. They rushed down the hall, but not before Wilson had come around the desk to shout at House for barging in without knocking, again, and House had grabbed him by the lapels of his lab coat and shoved him roughly against the wall, then pinned him there with his cane.
Cameron grabbed House by the right arm and Cuddy by the left, listening in shock as House began shouting at Wilson.
"Just because the baby isn't yours you're going to abandon her! You really are screwed up worse than me! So all that stuff about how you love her, it wasn't any different than any other time. How many women do you have to crush before you get your set of steak knives, Jimmy?" Wilson looked truly frightened. It wasn't often he was at the receiving end of House's anger, and House's anger was not something to be trifled with.
Cameron and Cuddy succeeded in pulling House off of Wilson. Wilson took advantage, and seeing that Cameron and Cuddy were still holding House's arms, he took a swing and connected squarely with House's jaw. House rocked back, and with his cane still raised in his hands, fell backwards and hit his head on the side of Wilson's desk.