CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

"Fine, I'll quit taking 'em. I don't need them anyway," Cameron continued her defense of why she was taking them.

"Okay, but why?"

"Why quit taking them?"

"No, Cameron. Stop being dense. Why did you start taking them in the first place? I mean, how did you let it get this far?" House wasn't really upset; he was more baffled than anything.

"At first I did need them for my leg, and eventually the pain got better. But I was taking the Vicodin three times a day by then, and when the pain stopped all together I would still take them."

"Okay," House said as he sat down beside her on the couch. "I can understand my need for them, but why you?"

"I don't know. We started seeing each other and everything was great, but then you pushed yourself away from me again and somehow taking the…"

"Cameron, I never promised anything."

She looked up at him confused. "And I never asked for anything. It's just – it was going so well, you know? I was afraid…" she hesitated a moment.

"Afraid of what? I wouldn't hurt…"

"No, no," Cameron said as she wiped a tear that had fallen down her cheek. "I'm just…happy, I guess, and that never lasts long with me."

House put his arm around her waist. "Allison, there's no guarantee in anything, especially relationships. I can't tell you what'll happen, and I can't tell you where we'll end up, but let's just enjoy it for what it is, okay?"

Cameron tried to laugh at her stupidity and it seemed to dry the tears from her eyes.

House wasn't ready to say this, yet, and he never planned to, but he put his hand on her head, pushed her head onto his shoulder and lay back against the couch. "I only told Stacy once that I loved her, and that was before they put me in the drug induced coma after my infarction. That was after we'd been living together a couple of years."

She cocked her head up to look at him. "Did you…love her, I mean?"

"Of course I did. But there was so much resentment I held against her for…doing what I asked her not to. Even after all that there will always be a part of her in me and I'm glad for that…"

"House, what are you trying so say?"

"I'm trying to say that I don't see any reason why I wouldn't be able to say it again," House finally let out, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

"Oh, sure, you'd say it to Anjelina to get into her pants," she joked.

"No, I'd say it to get into your pants."

"But you've already been in my pants," Cameron said, somewhat relieved that she got just a little bit of his heart from him, finally.

"Just bare with me, Cameron, will you…can you?"

HOUSE MD HOUSE MD HOUSE MD

Early the next morning Debra woke up in her bed alone, and at first she wondered where Wilson was, but then it came back to her and she felt like crap. She knew she hadn't been with anyone, but he swore he couldn't get a woman pregnant, but it was possible, it had to be; she hadn't been with anyone else. It hurt her that he thought she'd been with someone else, more so than House making himself scarce.

She got up, used the bathroom then went to the extra bedroom to talk to Wilson. But he wasn't there. She hadn't even looked to see what time it was, and when she looked at the clock in the living room she realized he'd already be at work and she'd be later herself. She called Cuddy and told her she'd be in for work within an hour.

HOUSE MD HOUSE MD HOUSE MD

"Debra, are you okay?" Cuddy asked when Debra walked into her office.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure? Because you've been looking a little peaked lately."

"Is my job performance suffering?" Debra snapped then apologized when she heard how nasty she sounded.

She told Cuddy she was pregnant but that Wilson didn't believe he was the father and asked her if there were any doctors in the hospital they could talk to that could verify it was possible. She wrote down a name and his number.

Now, all Debra had to do was talk to Wilson. She didn't want to lose him, and she wasn't going to lose him, not as far as she was concerned.

When Debra talked with Wilson on the way home, he seemed to be back to his normal self.

"Debra, I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I already talked to Dr. Jacobs and he said the chances of what happened was like one in a million shot."

She looked at him anxiously. "Jim, what are the chances of me carrying the baby to full term?"

He looked at her confused when they stopped at a stop light. "The chances are very good. I made sure I asked him…"

"And what are the chances that I'd survive a natural delivery?" she asked, somewhat forlorn.

"Debra, your body accepted the heart very well and there's no reason not to think that you can't deliver a healthy baby and be okay yourself."

Debra mulled over what he said the rest of the way to the apartment. They went inside and Debra got into her sweats and met Wilson in the living room.

"You want some tea?" she asked, suddenly seemingly very tired.

"No, thanks. Debra, we need to talk."

She rolled her eyes, more so to herself then sat down beside him on the couch.

"Are you thinking of having an abortion? You are still in the first trimester and…"

Debra looked away to avoid his eyes. She had been considering an abortion, for the sake of the baby. There were just too many unknowns for her and she couldn't be sure if the baby would be born mentally competent.

"Yes, I have, but…"

"Debra, don't you dare!" Wilson barked then soon caught himself with his tone. He sure didn't need to upset her now.

"Jim, how can you say that? There's no guarantee the baby would survive, and with my heart I might not either."

"And there's no guarantee you and the baby won't survive. You can't…"

Debra's heart broke. She didn't want to hurt Wilson, not like this.

"How can I ask you to choose between the baby and me, if it came to that? I just can't do that to you."

"Who says I'll have to choose? You don't know the medical improvements they've made."

"No, I can't ask you to do that. I've already talked to the ob/gyn."

Wilson stood up and was livid. He couldn't believe she was doing this to him. But he did know she didn't want to hurt him; she chose what she thought was best.

"Debra, let's talk to him first, okay? First thing in the morning."

"Okay, fine, whatever," she said as she stood and headed for the bedroom.

She stopped, turned and asked, "Jim, I need you."

Wilson stood and walked to her and held her in a deep embrace. "I'm not going anywhere, Deb. I need you, too."

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