Chapter 3

AN. Anything medical in this chapter is completely made up. I have no idea if it could actually happen, but it sounded like something that would happen on the show.

DISCLAIMER: House is the creation of David Shore, not me.

House was in his office late the next afternoon, and the department was completely silent, a rarity. This was due to the fact that Chase and Foreman were not speaking to him; both because of the exhausted relief that came with the end of a difficult case, and their disgust at his treatment of Cameron the day before.

They had finally stumbled upon a diagnosis just before noon, getting there just in time to pull their patient back from the brink of death. As usual, it was a ridiculously simple diagnosis; the patient, who had an unfortunate habit of chewing her nails, had swallowed a sharp slice of nail which had torn a small hole in her intestines and allowed infection to spread through her body.

It was Foreman who suggested the idea, and now House sat in his office with Wilson, tuning out his friend's lectures on his behaviour of late and half wishing that Foreman had been wrong, so he'd have something to distract him from the bombshell of the previous day. Cameron had quit. Even now, it didn't seem real.

Wilson stopped mid-sentence as the office door opened and Foreman and Chase entered.

"What is it?" House asked them.

"We're heading off," Chase replied and House nodded in acknowledgment. As the two turned to leave, however, he suddenly spoke to Foreman.

"Good work with the diagnosis."

Foreman paused. "Thanks," he said warily, suspicious of his boss's praise.

"How'd you come up with that?"

Foreman half-glanced at Chase and then shrugged his shoulders. "Just lucky, I guess."

House raised an eyebrow, nodded thoughtfully but said nothing. Foreman turned to leave again, but House's next words stopped him in his tracks.

"It was Cameron, wasn't it?"

Foreman and Chase gaped at him incredulously. "How did you know?" Chase demanded.

House smirked. "Please. Cameron's the only one who gets into a conversation about our patient's bad habits and remembers that crap."

Foreman hesitated then confessed readily. "She rang and suggested it. Told me to take credit."

"How's her Dad?" Wilson asked in concern.

Chase grimaced. "He had to have double bypass surgery... and he went into respiratory arrest on the table."

Wilson gaped and House looked up, feeling more guilty than ever.

"He's okay," Foreman quickly added. "Just a reaction to the anaesthetic, but he hadn't woken up yet when Cameron called. She was pretty freaked.

"How long was he without oxygen?" Wilson asked.

"Only two minutes Cameron said. Apparently the doctor is a friend of her's from med school or something, so she was fairly up to date. He let her have access to the surgeon's report and everything."

They all turned to the door in unison as it opened again and Cuddy entered. Chase and Foreman took the opportunity to slip out the door as Cuddy, who had been caught up on the whole situation by Wilson, sat in the chair opposite House's desk and handed Wilson a large pile of papers.

"More sperm donors?" House asked and Cuddy glared at him.

"I'm not talking to you," she responded and promptly turned to address Wilson.

"These are all the resumes I could find to fill Cameron's spot. Did you want to start setting up interviews for next week?"

"Sure," Wilson agreed and House sat bolt upright in his chair.

"Excuse me? I'm not filling Cameron's spot," he said angrily.

"I know. Wilson is filling Cameron's spot," Cuddy retorted.

"Let me clarify- no one is filling Cameron's spot!" House glared at the Dean of Medicine who crossed her arms over her chest.

"Really? Give me one good reason why?"

"Because there's no spot to fill! Cameron's coming back," House said stubbornly and Wilson raised an eyebrow.

"Oh is she? So I missed the conversation where you rang her, apologised for forbidding her to go see her father in hospital, and then begged her to come back?"

House opened his mouth, couldn't think of a reply; so closed it again and settled for flipping Wilson the bird.

Cuddy shook her head as she stared at House in pity. "House, what the hell were you thinking? Threatening to fire her, because she wanted to go see her father in hospital?"

"We were in the middle of a case!" House protested and Wilson laughed.

"House, Cameron just solved the case- from Chicago!"

House sighed. "We were... we are, all tired and grumpy.... I was just frustrated."

"According to Chase and Foreman, you've been frustrated for the past three weeks, and taking it all out on Cameron," Wilson said lightly and House glowered.

"What do those idiots know?"

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "So, oh genius one- what are you going to do now?"

"Nothing," House said confidently. "She'll come back. She did last time."

"Because you agreed to go out with her!" Cuddy exclaimed in frustration.

"And look how well that turned out," Wilson muttered and House glared at them furiously.

"Do you think she'll come back?" Cuddy asked Wilson, who mused over the question thoughtfully.

"Actually... I don't," he admitted and the words made House's stomach drop.

"What?" he demanded.

"You've hurt her feelings before House, but nothing like this. I think Cameron's done, unless you can do some serious smooth-talking- and fast."

House gaped at them soundlessly for a moment, and for a moment experienced a sense of déjà vu. The last time Cameron had quit, during the Vogler incident, House had been so sure that her decision hadn't affected him at all. It had only been after a long list of interviews he'd realised that Cameron was irreplaceable. How had Wilson put it? "You had the perfect woman and you drove her away." Well, that was what he did best wasn't it?

"What do I do?" he asked Wilson and Cuddy, who both rolled their eyes at him together.

"Go to Chicago, you idiot!" they chorused and House nodded.

"Right."

By the time House arrived at his townhouse, however, the idea didn't sound so good. Go all the way to Chicago? Just for an apology? Surely it was just as good to call her... a text message even? House was halfway through dialling Cameron's cell number when he had a sudden memory of the look on her face as she'd quit and walked out. Unlike the first time she'd left, there was no tears, no emotion other than anger on her face. In that instant, House knew a phone call wasn't good enough. He was going to Chicago.

"Dammit," he sighed and hung up the phone, going to find the number for Newark airport.

He booked a seat on a flight leaving early the next morning, threw some clothes in a bag and tried to distract himself with the television. But he couldn't concentrate. Should he ring, and let Cameron know he was coming? No, that was stupid- it defeated the purpose of going to Chicago to apologise in person. Not warning her to his arrival gave her no opportunity to avoid him or prevent his coming. What was he going to say when he got there? House had never been good at apologising, he saw it as a sign of weakness. He tried to remember what he had said to her the last time he'd asked her to come back, but all he could recall was Cameron's condition for her return to the hospital- their date. And as Wilson had said, look how well that had turned out.