Chapter 5

House, Wilson, and the underlings stepped out of the taxis in front of the hotel. They went into the lobby and found their sleeping arrangements at the front desk.

"Apparently someone thought it would be fun to mix up the East coast and West coast hospitals," House told the gang as he learned that he had to share a room with Derrick Shepherd. Wilson was paired with Burke. Foreman with someone named George O'Malley, and Chase with another no-name called Alex Karev. Cameron was going to share with Isobel Stevens. "We're East Coast, man. Where's Puff Daddy when you need him?" House asked.

The doctors of Seattle Grace had beaten them there. Most of them were coming down the grand staircase of the hotel to meet them. All of the boys of Princeton Plainsboro noticed Izzie first. "Now that was what I was talking about," House told Cameron. "If you look like her tonight, like a model. We will so get free stuff."

Chase's eyes bugged. "She is a model," he exclaimed. "I remember seeing her half-naked on the cover of…" His words trailed off as he noticed that they were staring at him, snickering. "I read the articles," he countered.

"I call dibs," Foreman said.

"You can't call dibs on a woman!" Chase cried. "Especially that one."

Foreman motioned to Meredith. "Why don't you go for her friend?" he told Chase. "The one with stringy hair and attitude. I'm sure you could manage her a lot easier."

House chuckled. "Oh, here comes Pissing Contest #5,432. Who do you think will win?"

Cameron smirked. "Girl like her won't be able to resist Chase's winning smile."

House tapped his cane against the floor. "I've got a fifty that says Foreman has it in the bag."

"Why?" Cameron laughed. "Are you planning to insert another inappropriate race joke here?"

He gave a lopsided smile. "No," he said. "Remember what I told you about pretty doctors."

She glared a little at him. "That they're screwed up and damaged?"

"Exactly," he said proudly. "She's got double the damage. That chick must have paid for medical school through modeling, which means she must have been poor. Screwed up and poor. She'll go for the bad boy. This one's Foreman's."

Wilson interjected. "I'll bet a hundred they both go home empty-handed."

All this time, Chase and Foreman stared at Izzie, barely listening to the conversation.

……………………………………

George, Cristina, Meredith, Alex and Izzie walked down the staircase. "These are our roommates for the next week?" Izzie asked. "They look friendlier than we do."

"That's because we're not friendly," Cristina replied. "The guy with the cane is hot." The women moaned in agreement.

George stopped on a step. "What is it with you people and authority figures?" he beseeched with his puppy-dog face. Then he finally saw Cameron. He stopped again. "Whoa, who is that?"

"Bet's she's slept with at least one of them," Meredith said.

"Do you know how weird that sounds coming from you?" Alex asked. "Men are like Pringles chips to you."

"What?" she asked, slightly amused.

"If you have one, you can't stop." The group laughed as they continued to size the others up. "Damn, she is hot," Alex said of Cameron. "O'Malley, you don't have a chance."

George pouted. "Why not? Chicks like her find me adorably sweet."

Alex harrumphed. "Sweet does not get you laid. I'll show you how it's done."

Both groups finally conjoined. House was the first to speak. "Hi, I'm Dr. Gregory House. You must all be interns."

"Yeah," Karev said cockily. "Why do you say that?"

Cristina interrupted, stepping up to House. "I just want to say, sir, that I've always wanted to meet you. I'm so glad I have."

House's face scrunched to make his point. "That's why you're interns," he said. "She's a brown-noser, you really want to be tough, the blonde is too cute, the kid reminds me of Bambi, and that one," he said of Meredith, "is sleeping with her Attending."

George looked at him in awe. "How did you know that?"

House winced at his innocence. He was even more squeezable than Cameron, which he hadn't thought was possible. "Because each year, at least one of you screw-ups sleeps with an Attending. She's the only one of you that looks like she's addicted enough to drama to do so."

Meredith's jaw dropped. She thought she had seen everything when she met Bailey. Dr. House was as bad as Derrick had mentioned. She pointed to Cristina. "She's sleeping with one, too," she announced.

"Meredith!" Cristina cried. Meredith shrugged her shoulders.

Cameron interrupted by stepping up next to House. "Hi, I'm Allison Cameron. This is Eric Foreman, Robert Chase, and James Wilson. It's very nice to meet you," she said with a smile before she scolded House with a glare.

Cristina refused to give up. Addressing House again, she blurted. "You know, I call George Bambi, too."

TBC

Chapter 6

They all headed to their rooms. There was to be a meet and greet at 6:00 that evening. The doctors wanted to be showered and presentable by then.

"So you work with Dr. House? You choose to?" George asked as he grabbed clothes from his suitcase.

Foreman addressed him from the bathroom while he shaved. "Yeah, sounds crazy and unstable, doesn't it?" he replied, laughing.

George's big blue eyes looked up. "Does he ever make you cry?"

Foreman laughed harder. He knew this kid wouldn't survive Gregory House, but he had the feeling that he could in a couple of years. "He tries to make us weep. Doesn't usually work. He's really good at making you feel like crap though."

George digested his comments, realizing he never wanted to work for the man. "What about you, O'Malley?" Foreman asked. "What's it like to work with Burke and Shepherd?"

The younger doctor retuned to his state of puppydom. "Burke is great," he replied. "He even let me stay with him and Cristina for a while. The guy's a great surgeon."

Foreman stopped using the razor and peaked his head out the bathroom door. He smiled, saying, "So what about Shepherd. Do they actually call him McDreamy?"

George gazed at him in awe. How did he know that already? What was it with these people from the East Coast? he thought. Putting his head on his hands, he said with a sigh, "Yes. He's the attending that's with Meredith Grey."

Foreman's eyes went wide. "Meredith Grey," he repeated. "She's not any relation to—"

George nodded. "Yep. That's her mother."

It was Foreman's turn to be impressed. "No wonder you hate him. If she's anything like her mother…"

George shook his head. "It's not that," he interrupted. "I…liked her for the longest time."

Foreman caught on. "And she didn't even see you because of McDreamy." Foreman had to choke the name out. He teased his coworkers, but Seattle Grace must be another world. It certainly wasn't anything like PPTH. For once, he was positive he had made the right choice to stay.

"So Allison," George said. "Is she seeing anybody?"

…………………………………

Chase stepped out of the shower. He was excited about the meet and greet. It would mean another chance to see Izzie Stevens. After Allison had introduced all of them downstairs, the Seattle doctors had introduced themselves as well. When he shook her hand, volts of electricity pounded through his body. Her hand was warm and feminine, but strong. Chase knew that she must be the same way: warm, strong, and completely a woman.

"Dude," Alex said from the bedroom. "You're from Australia? You should have stayed. I hear the chicks are a lot hotter down under."

Chase's forehead crinkled. "Dude, I came to practice medicine," he retorted. "Plus, I don't see what you have to complain about. You're here with three of the prettiest women I've ever seen."

"Yeah, well," Alex said almost bitterly, "two of 'ems sleeping with our superiors and the other is still grieving for her dead fiancé." He tossed a towel down on the floor.

"Izzie?" Chase asked. When Alex nodded, he cursed under his breath. He hoped that he could compete with a deceased boyfriend. "What is it with all the attractive doctors? They really are all damaged."

Alex looked towards the door as Chase left the bathroom. "Do you mean Cameron?" he asked, disappointed but seeing a ray of hope. If her lover was dead, that meant she was single.

…………………………………

Allison Cameron placed her red dress in the closet. Her stomach was doing flip-flops. After the meet and greet, she was going on her second date with House. She knew that he did not do well on familiar ground, so she was afraid to see what he would do in LA.

"You really have a date tonight?" Isobel Stevens asked as she slipped her skirt over her thighs.

"Yes." Cameron rechecked her makeup in the mirror. It was the third time in the last ten minutes.

Izzie smiled at her. She remembered being that nervous. She could recall her butterflies with Alex, but they didn't compare to the twists her heart made when she had looked at Denny Duquette…

She shook the thought out of her mind. "Who are you going with? An old friend from LA? Dr. Wilson or Chase maybe?"

Cameron stopped reapplying lipstick. The tube almost fell from her hand as she chuckled. "Not even close," she replied as she thought about how weird it would feel to date either one of them. Taking a deep breath, she answered, "I'm going with House."

Izzie choked on the sip of water she had just taken from her glass. "House?" she exclaimed. "Why?"

Cameron shut her eyes. She went over and sat down on the bed. "He hides behind all of his bluster and sarcasm," she said. "Greg House is the best man I've ever met."

Izzie just stared back at her. She was almost positive that she could find a better one by throwing a rock at a mini-mart.

TBC