A/N I have the day of school today (Yayyy) Because of the royal wedding so I can upload. I was gonna wait till my friend read this- she's kind of my beta except she doesn't have an account. Anyways I got bored of waiting for her so I thought I'd just post it. This was going to be two separate chapters but then they were both quite short so I thought I'd combine them. Anyway enjoy :)
Cameron lay on the bed. It wasn't her bed; it was an uncomfortable chemically clean hospital bed. It wasn't even a hospital bed anymore. The hospital they were working in had been out of use for years, it was just here for research now. The bed had probably had dying people on it at some point; it'd probably had dead people on it at some point. Cameron wasn't really sure how alive she was at the minute. Medically she was fine, but that didn't mean she was totally alive. She felt numb, unaffected by anything around her. She felt like she did when she was an intern- working 30 hour shifts. After the fatigue wears off and you don't really notice you haven't slept in 24 hours. You're just numb. The hospital lights were too bright. She'd snuck off to an old patient room to get some peace but the silence rang in her ears and the lights blinded her. She was glad when there was a knock on the door.
Wordlessly Thirteen stepped into the room, she walked over to the hospital bed and laid down as Cameron shuffled over. They didn't move for several minutes letting the monotone of their breathing fill the otherwise impenetrable silence and the numbness engulf their senses. Thirteen's hand found Cameron's and stroked it softly.
"Isn't this fraternising with the enemy?" Cameron whispered, scared to disturb the serenity of the room.
"It's not a war Allison" Thirteen replied in the same quiet hush as she sat up to get a better look at he friend. "Honestly I don't know why you don't both just grow up and have sex. Have you even had a real conversation with him yet?" There was a different atmosphere in the room altogether now. Cameron glared at Thirteen not sure whether to laugh, cry or challenge her.
"I have watched you get drunk and sleep with guys (I haven't actually watched you have sex, because that would be creepy, but I've heard you talk about it) and I've watched him do the same thing. You're the perfect couple. You brake up and both of you become whores." Cameron smiled wryly at this uncertain where Thirteen was going.
"Is this the way you deal with things. You go out, get drunk and get laid?" Thirteen laughed a little envisioning the nights they had spent together in bars.
"Once I got high" Cameron was talking more to herself lost in the vivid memory of meth, Chase and the first time they had sex.
"I love the crazy Cameron who teases people and acts like a bitch simply because she can. She's a lot more fun than the Cameron I first met when I was working for house. The one who wasn't quite over working in diagnostics, or for a certain misanthropist. The one who cared too much for everyone. The only thing is; now I'm not sure you care at all."
"Is that a bad thing?" Cameron looked down at her top, absentmindedly playing with the hem. "When you care too much you get hurt. No matter how much you care, you still can't fix the world; feelings just distract you from the truth."
"House? When did you get here?" Thirteen answered sarcastically
"I'm not House!"
"I love you Allison, God I do. You're one of my best friends, I'm just worried about you. I was worried about you when I worked here, now Chase is here…" Her voice trailed into silence as Cameron contemplated what she said.
"And Chase? Are you worried about him too? Her voice was harsh at first but then turned softer. "How's he doing?"
"He's seems like he's handling it worse than you, which probably means he's handling it better". Thirteen smiled sympathetically and wrapped her arms around Cameron.
"Wanna gat a drink?" Cameron asked playfully, returning the embrace.
Chase sat in the bar. It wasn't a good bar; there weren't many good bars around here. He'd thought that Las Vegas was meant to be full of casinos, bars and hotels, but they were in the middle of nowhere. The door swung open, disturbing the unspoken peace of the few drunks sat at opposite ends of the tiny bar. The noise sounded muffled in Chase's ears. He wasn't sure whether the alcohol was affecting his senses or if he just didn't notice things that much any more. He felt like he was trying desperately to hold the broken shards of his life together, along the way pieces had got lost and broken until the picture wasn't whole anymore. Now he was trying to put a puzzle back together when he only had half the pieces. It was like he didn't see the point anymore; so instead of working out how to fix it he just jammed the pieces together. Now all he had was a mismatched jumble of feelings, emotions and memories.
Foreman sat down next to Chase and ordered a beer, he didn't speak, but instead waited for chase to make the first move.
"Thought I'd be the last person you'd want to be with at the minute" Chase muttered half-heartedly in recognition of the older doctor.
"What are you talking about?" Foreman tried to sound light and friendly but they weren't emotions he did very well.
"Thought you would rather spend you're time with someone else; Taub's you're room mate, Thirteen's your ex" Chase answered for him.
"And you're my friend" Foreman finished.
"We both know that isn't true." Chase turned to look at Foreman for the first time since he'd entered the bar. "You just feel bad for the guy who's stuck working with his ex-wife." He raised his voice but soon quietened down when the few other customers all turned to look at him.
"Pity doesn't look good on you Foreman" Chase hissed maliciously, turning his back on the other man to drink his beer.
"Fine. I'm your ally in the Great War that is House's diagnostics team." Foreman was getting increasingly frustrated with Chase, It wasn't often that he tried to do something nice for someone else and he was getting it thrown back in his face. "Self pity doesn't look good on you Chase."
Silence ensued, their words hanging in the air like guns poised to fire, before Chase resumed speaking.
"That's what I told Cameron we were: Allies."
"Don't do that" Foreman tried to stop him but Chase carried on.
"It was all three of us to begin with, you always thought you were superior to both of us- but we didn't care. We drank together, and ate in that stupid restaurant down the street from the hospital. Of course everything changed when you got put in charge: we still drank together, we still ate together, you just thought that you were better than us and you showed it. I was the guy stupid enough to sleep with a girl when she was high, and she was the girl who was stupid enough to get high. So we became allies, it was me and her in the great war that is house's diagnostics team." Again, Foreman tried to speak but Chase carried on once more. "You know I think that's when we became friends. People who barely knew each other became colleagues, who became colleagues who'd slept together, who became allies, who became friends, which led to friends with benefits, which led to a relationship. Now we're back to being people who barely know each other again. And you still think you're better than me Foreman."
"Don't try and push away everyone who cares for you just because one person left" Foreman snapped back. He knew that this must be hard for Chase and that he'd had a few drinks but his patience was wearing thin.
"Yeah, except that one person is the only person I've ever loved. She's the only real girlfriend I've ever had. I watched my goddamn parents' marriage fall apart and I swore to my self that I'd never get dragged in. Somehow she managed to drag me in. I know that I should hate her, but I can't. I love her."
"Chase…" Foreman Started tentatively
"You should go" Chase slipped back into his quiet melancholic mourning, a sudden change from the heated eruption moments before.
"No, I'll stay" Foreman-while still concerned for this side of Chase-was more comfortable talking to him, rather than the angry, pissed off Chase.
"You don't like me. Never have, never will. You want me to share some more news?" Chase quoted foreman as he turned malevolent again.
"Fine, you want me to leave, I'll leave." Foreman placated. "But if you decide to stop drowning yourself in pity, I can be a pretty good drinking partner." Chase shot Foreman a dubious look. "Fine, I'm an OK drinking partner, but I'm better than nothing right?" Foreman got up and left slamming his chair down a little more forcefully than was appropriate.