Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter seems short. There's more coming. And, please…I'm not in the medical profession, so I apologize in advance for any faux pas in the diagnosis of their patient. Hope you like it and thanks for the feedback.

Ten minutes after walking out of the conference room, House pulled up a chair at a table in the corner of the cafeteria and let his thoughts fall, as his gaze did, to his coffee. From overhead, a plate with a sticky bun and a chocolate frosted doughnut fell flatly on the table between House and his coffee. Working without speaking, Wilson began dragging a chair noisily across the floor from the neighboring table to sit across from House.

"I've got a patient in twenty minutes. Talk quickly and keep the embellishments to a minimum," he said covertly.

House lowered his head as if in pain. "Budget meeting?" he asked

"Oh, you have no idea," Wilson shook his head, slowly.

Rolling his eyes slightly at Wilson, House finally said quietly, "Cuddy made me give Cameron notice from her fellowship. Oh, and I ended it with Lisa last night".

"Oh…Kay," Wilson dragged the word out as he stared confusingly at his friend. "So the fact that you're not hiding in your own office drinking coffee tells me you're not ok with at least one of those decisions".

"And, I saw Cameron naked," House threw out into the conversation.

"What? Where? Does she know you saw her?" Wilson's voice was elevated to almost a squeal.

"Shhhh. Jeez, you're embarrassing yourself," House said, as his eyes squeezed together as if in some unbearable pain. "In the locker room yesterday and yes, she knows".

"Hmm. I see," Wilson recovered. "Well, this better be damn good, House. Please tell me that seeing Cameron didn't have anything to do with breaking it off with Cuddy. Did it?"

"No!" House said quickly, before dropping his head down towards the table and then looking away quietly.

"You're lying".

"I never lie," House replied, returning his gaze to look directly at his friend.

"Well, that's a lie. We could go on like this for an hour," Wilson said, firmly.

House began drumming his fingers nervously on the table. "She overheard Cuddy and I talking about her fellowship yesterday in the elevator. We didn't know she was there," he said, looking embarrassingly at Wilson.

"How could you not have seen her in the elevator?"

"Trust me," House said, giving Wilson an annoyed expression. "Look, it's a long story- do you want to hear this or not?"

"Right, sorry. Go on".

"Anyway, I followed her into the women's shower to talk and after a few minutes, she just stepped out of the shower and picked up her towel-- completely naked".

"Ok, well there's no way that's the entire story," Wilson said, rubbing his eyes. "But in the interest of time, let's come back to that. What happened with Lisa?"

"Come on, you know me," House began, incredulously. "We were on borrowed time ten minutes after we first slept together".

Wilson was annoyed, but not shocked by the bluntness of House's confession. "Right, well no doubt you've hurt her," he said, flatly.

"She'll find another job soon," House replied quickly, as if lost in thought.

"Not Cameron! Lisa" Wilson shot back, as his displeasure was quickly replaced with a look of enlightenment that flashed across his face.

"Oh, oh! You are so screwed, my friend," he said, grinning foolishly.

"Great. Thanks for your support- top notch as always," House shot back annoyingly, as he stood to leave. "Don't you have a dying patient to see?"

"House," Wilson said, seriously. "Do you know what you're doing?"

And with that, House looked back silently at Wilson for a moment, before turning and walking away.

"I'll never live to see forty," Wilson said to himself, rubbing the back of his neck and shaking his head in exasperation.

When House returned to the office, Foreman and Cameron had both gone to go check in on their only patient. Lois Proctor was a fifty two year old mother of three that had been admitted several days before suffering from debilitating stomach pain, rapid weight loss and every GI disturbance known to man.

Labs were still pending, but House was fairly confident she had contracted a nasty but common parasite. It was a simple case and if all went well, they might be able to discharge her in a week.

House poured himself a fresh cup of Cameron's coffee and walked back to his desk. "Wilson was right. I'm lying my ass off".

He might have gone on another couple of months with Lisa before figuring out it wasn't going to work. But, after seeing Cameron, it suddenly didn't feel right. He felt guilty he couldn't stop thinking about Cameron and guilty he had hurt Lisa and all that guilt pissed the hell out of him.

"Mrs. Proctor's labs are in," Cameron said firmly, from the opposite side of the desk, pulling him out of his thoughts. It's Giardia Lamblia. Foreman's getting her started on some Metronidazole and Paromomycin," handing him the woman's file. "We found a slight abscess on her liver, which we can watch for a couple of days but she should start to respond favorably to the treatments within the next twelve hours".

House stared at Cameron's reflection in the window he was now facing. "Great". "Go give her the good news and tell her to be more fastidious about washing her hands and be pickier about where she eats out".

Cameron stood frozen in place before his desk. "Right. I'll let her know," she said quietly, as she slowly started to leave.

"Cameron," House's voice resonated from over her shoulder, causing her to turn around to now face his back yet again. "About yesterday, the elevator and everything. I'm... that was a mistake. You didn't deserve that," he said, finally turning in his chair to face her. His eyes held hers for a moment before she dropped her gaze to his desk.

"Ok, thanks," she said softly, turning to leave.

A wave of frustration rose within him. "Would you stop that?" House bellowed. Are you going to get mad? Stop acting like this hasn't hurt you. You can't be that nice".

"Fine, it hurts," she said, angrily. "I suppose that makes me pathetic, right? Let's just try to get through this like grown ups, House. It'll be easier on everyone".

House nodded once in agreement before looking back at her face. "May I ask where you're inquiring for work?" he said softly, almost regrettably.

"Well, I don't think Yule will still think too kindly of me, but there's an Associate Director of Immunology opening at New York University Hospital and a staff position down at Johns Hopkins. I might scrap the whole thing and just move back home and see what I can get close by my family".

"What about here?" House asked.

Cameron passed him a disapproving look. "I'm not aware of anything I'd be suited for and given recent developments, I don't think I have much of a future here. It's probably best to just get a fresh start".

There is silence between them as House sits quietly, fingering his prized red and grey ball.

"What about Chase?" Cameron asked, breaking the quiet of the room.

"What about him?"

"It's just that….it's going to have to be different with him," she said, awkwardly. "It's not exactly easy for him to…."

"What are you saying, exactly?" House said. His eyes pulled up at the corners as if the entire exchange caused him pain.

"I'm trying to tell you that he's going to need a little more special treatment ending his fellowship than you gave me. He's different than me. He's different than you. Things affect him more. He's alone," she said sadly, her voice dropping.

"Oh, he's a big boy. You of all people should know that," he said, mockingly. He can take care of himself. Doesn't need me to play Daddy and make it all better".

"No, that's exactly what I'm saying. He's going through a lot right now and could use your support or at the very least, your empathy," she said, defiantly. Her arms crossed over her chest, her fists clenched against her sides, her knuckles white.

"Hey, he's not the one that got shot. That would be me, over here, remember? Why does everyone seem to forget that?"

"Fine. Yes, you were shot. No one is forgetting that. You were badly wounded, but you recovered. You're healing and your leg is better than it was before. Chase is still wounded. His father's death, you being shot. He's struggling with his faith, his future, everything" Cameron's voice was low as it trailed off.

"Leave it to Chase to work all of the angles," House said sarcastically, before dropping his gaze over her face as if he was actually considering Cameron's words.

"All I'm saying," Cameron began again. "Is that you could stand to take the time to go see him. Talk to him. I know he would never admit it, but he thinks of you like a father. Despite everything, he trusts you".

"Wow," House responded, somewhat startled by the possibility. "I've really got to rethink getting those Botox injections and Pilates lessons".

"Ok. Father figure. Doesn't have to mean you're physically capable of siring him," she frowned, disapprovingly.

House stared at her for a few seconds before he responded. "Great. Thanks for the advice. Makes the exit interview less awkward, don't you think?"

"He's at the…" Cameron started, before getting cut off.

"I know where he is," he said flatly, dropping his gaze from her eyes to his desk as he began to shuffle papers indiscriminately about his desk.

"Right, well think of this as one last favor to me. You owe him," she said, flatly.

"You mean I owe you, right? That's what you really meant to say. The noble, self-sacrificing Cameron. Bartering away her last gold coin to help someone down on their luck".

"No" she said, coldly. "You don't owe me anything. We're even". And with that she turned and walked out of his office, his eyes following her until he could no longer make out her shape.