Cameron and House, both bolstered by their unexpectedly happy Thanksgivings, were able to enjoy a quiet weekend at home alone. House spent most of his time playing his piano, something he enjoyed but had been neglecting of late. Cameron decided she needed a little comforting, and turned to books, as she often did. House played some of his old favorites, including some jazz pieces Cameron had never appreciated. Cameron chose one of her childhood favorites, Anne of Green Gables.
House was surprised to find that after playing those few pieces Cameron had never cared for, his fingers returned to her requests on their own; he barely noticed until he realized he'd begun to play Billy Joel's She's Got a Way, Cameron's all time favorite. Cameron discovered that Anne's antics simply couldn't hold her attention and she found herself channel surfing, eventually settling on a Dirty Jobs marathon on the Discovery Channel.
Monday returned the staff of PPTH to their offices, and most were happy enough to come. Wilson and Cuddy arrived together, early as always. After sharing a quiet breakfast in Cuddy's office, Wilson went to his office to work on clearing his schedule to help House interview for Cameron's replacement.
Cameron arrived early as well, as was her routine. She wanted to get through the usual pile of Monday mail, of both the paper and electronic type, before House arrived. She wasn't avoiding him exactly, just limiting her contact. She began a pot of coffee when she arrived in the conference room and settled at the desk in the corner.
Jasper found Cameron so engrossed in her task that she didn't even look up upon the other woman's entrance. Jasper poured herself a cup of coffee, and one for Cameron. She placed it on the desk along with some sugar packets, as she wasn't sure how the immunologist liked her coffee. Cameron glanced up and smiled thankfully.
Before Jasper could thank Cameron for covering for her over the holiday, Chase appeared in the hall and gestured for her to join him. Jasper and Chase greeted each other warmly, just short of embracing. They chatted for a few minutes, and made plans to meet for lunch. As Chase walked down the hall, Foreman approached from the opposite direction.
Foreman followed Jasper into the conference room. He first put away his things and then went to the coffee pot. After pouring himself a cup, which he drank almost in one swallow, he refilled and sat down.
"Better," he said, rubbing his face tiredly. "Morning ladies. How was your weekend?"
"Lovely, thank you," Jasper replied. "Cameron offered to cover my shift for the holiday, so I got to see my family after all. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it," she said to Cameron. "My brother Aidan and his wife came from Washington and brought my new niece, Amanda."
"How did things go with Marcus?" Cameron asked Foreman.
"Good. They were good. We had a nice visit and I got to know Nichelle and the kids better. I guess I never really realized how much I missed having my big brother around until he was there again," Foreman said. Jasper nodded emphatically but Cameron only smiled.
"Do we have a case today?" Jasper asked.
"No, but the Ramos twins are having their separation surgery tomorrow. If no new cases come in we can observe," Cameron informed them.
"Joyanna woke up?" Foreman asked, surprised. He hadn't been so sure she would pull through.
"Thursday afternoon," Cameron confirmed. "We had our own little Thanksgiving miracle."
"Oh gag me, already," House said, entering from his office. Cameron stiffened a little, but only a little. It was unnoticeable to Foreman and Jasper, but not to House. Nothing about Cameron would be unnoticeable to him again, he'd decided.
House limped to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. He took a sip and smirked. Cameron beat Jasper to the coffee pot. Maybe she was having second thoughts about being replaced?
"I see Jasper wasn't the early bird today. Too bad, I finally found someone who can make a better pot of coffee than Cameron and her talent is being wasted," House said, looking for a reaction.
"Excellent," Cameron said. "Coffee making and mail sorting, check. That should make hiring your new fellow much easier." She spoke lightly, but never turned to face him. In truth, she'd been having doubts about leaving before she'd even handed in her resignation, but he didn't need to know that.
House frowned. He hadn't gotten a good look at her and he really couldn't tell whether or not she cared anymore that they wouldn't see each other. He limped back to his office, not sure if he was more annoyed that she might not care or that he couldn't tell the difference.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The following morning, the hospital was buzzing with anticipation about the Ramos twins' surgery. Virtually every surgical student, intern and resident in the hospital and university was seated in main auditorium, waiting for word that they could begin filing into the hospital's amphitheater OR. Cuddy had once again asked House to 'borrow' Cameron to help corral the masses. House grudgingly agreed.
As the surgical team prepared for the separation procedure, House and Wilson walked toward the amphitheater. As one of the twins' attendings during Joyanna's brief but serious illness, House had been granted permission by the family to scrub in for the procedure. He declined. Although it was interesting, the OR would be crowded enough. The last thing the surgical team needed was a six foot tall cripple with a cane getting in the way.
"Not scrubbing in?" Wilson asked him as they passed a trio of nurses. Wilson smiled at them and House scowled.
"No, too many chefs spoil the pot," House replied. "And stop doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Smiling at the nurses. You're spoken for, remember?" House chastised.
"I smiled, I didn't propose," Wilson protested.
"Yeah, yeah. Smiling leads to talking, talking leads to coffee and we all know where coffee leads," House grumbled.
"And you thought Chase was cranky when he didn't get any fuzz," Wilson commented. House gave him a murderous look. Wilson ignored it. House was being an idiot. Cameron was probably his last chance to find a woman who wasn't a prison guard who would spend any amount of time with him.
"I thought we agreed we weren't going to talk about that," House said in a warning tone.
"No, you agreed we weren't going to talk about it" Wilson argued. "Just tell her you're sorry."
"Why should I be the one to say I'm sorry? She's the one who went all postal on me about these kids." House retorted.
"And then you screamed out her inability to have children in front of half a dozen people," Wilson said.
House stopped and closed his eyes. They had nearly reached the amphitheater, and he wanted to get inside and get seated before Cuddy and Cameron showed up to herd in the onlookers. He had successfully managed to avoid her the entire previous day, and he hoped to do the same today. It was just too hard to be near her and not grab her and force her to apologize and say she still wanted him.
"And that may have been an error in judgment," House admitted to his shoelaces.
"Then talk to her," Wilson urged.
"And say what?"
"Tell her the truth," Wilson suggested.
"Tell her I think she was being irrational and if she could just keep her emotions under control around our patients we wouldn't have had that stupid fight and she could be on my couch right now criticizing my housekeeping?" House asked.
"How about telling her you were wrong to say something so personal in front of all those people, you miss her and you want her back?" Wilson asked. House scoffed. "You know, if you took the first step and apologized, she'd probably admit that she was wrong to let her emotions get in the way and tell you she misses you too."
"I'm not so sure," House mumbled.
"Then find out. Do you really need to add another regret to your list?" Wilson asked. He walked the last few steps to the amphitheater and entered, leaving House to stand in the hall and contemplate his next move, if there was to be one.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cameron and Cuddy quadruple checked their list of things to do making sure no detail had been overlooked before giving the go ahead to start prepping the twins for their surgery. It had been so long since Cuddy had a dependable assistant that Cameron had to practically sedate her before Cuddy would let her handle even the simplest task that morning. Cameron understood that this was one of those times when Cuddy felt the need for absolute control over everything, but she also knew that this much stress was positively toxic to both Cuddy and the baby.
"We're good," Cameron insisted.
"What about…"Cuddy began, but Cameron placed both her hands on Cuddy's shoulders and looked her squarely in the face.
"Lisa, stop it," Cameron demanded. Cuddy took a deep breath and nodded. "Everything is fine. We've been over everything at least four times. We can't delay any longer. I'm going to give them the go ahead to start prepping the girls. You sit down and I'll bring you some tea. We'll have about a half hour before things get started."
Cameron left Cuddy sitting on the couch in her office, wracked with nerves. She hated that all her raging hormones were making her feel so out of control at times, but she wouldn't change it for the world. She'd just have to learn to relax. She smiled softly, maybe James was right and she should consider taking up yoga. She certainly couldn't keep running ten miles a day, and it might be helpful to relieving some stress. She made a mental note to look into it.
Just thinking of James helped Cuddy relax. It was funny how he had such a wonderful effect on her. They'd been friends for so many years and had nothing but a casual friendship, their most intimate link being House. And of course it was House's shooting and rehab that eventually brought them together. She supposed that meant in some bizarre way she had House to thank for her relationship with James and for their child. She smirked, well if that wasn't a huge slice of irony for you.
Cameron returned with Cuddy's tea, glad to see her smiling to herself. She knew she had a tendency to over worry, but this time she didn't feel like she was. Cuddy really didn't seem to know how to slow down, and Cameron only hoped House would be able to find her replacement soon so she could start taking some of the load of this poor woman's shoulders.
"Black walnut and ginger," Cameron said as she placed the tea on the table. "House's favorite," she muttered, remembering the face he'd made when he tasted it for the first time.
"Thank you," Cuddy said, taking a sip. It was nice. She'd heard that last comment, but wasn't sure that she and Cameron were quite close enough yet for her to start handing out advice about House. "So, how are things?"
"Things?" Cameron asked. She knew this would be coming sooner or later. "Things are fine."
"Allison, House was right, you can't lie for shit," Cuddy replied. "Look, I know this isn't exactly my place, but I can sympathize."
"I know. House told me you used to go out," Cameron said.
"Really? I'm surprised. He doesn't tell anyone much of anything, except James," Cuddy remarked. "All I'm saying is I remember being where you are now. After the first real fight, the first time his inevitable House-ishness made you doubt whether he was worth it." Cameron looked away, and Cuddy knew she was right. "I'm sure this will come as no surprise to you, but he's very insecure about relationships. It's something to do with his father, I'm sure, but I have no idea what. That's why he always pushing. It has to be concrete for him. There has to be that limit, that line that he knows he can't cross. And then once he's found it, he'll seldom cross it if he really cares about you. You just have to let him know where it is."
Cameron nodded. She knew Cuddy was probably right. And although Cameron had doubted it that first night, she knew he was worth it. She just wasn't sure if she was worth it for him.