Author's note: Sorry for the delay, I've been a bit under the weather this week. I hope you like the chapter and where the story is going (and how they're starting to come together). Thanks for sticking with it- let me know how you like it, please. Your feedback is always greatly appreciated.
Cameron's fingers flew as she quickly braided her long ponytail. Completely out of character for her, she was running late. Her electricity had gone off at some point during last night's rain storm, leaving her somewhat behind this morning. Normally she woke up five or ten minutes early every morning before her alarm went off, but that was not the case today. Today, she had overslept by a full thirty minutes.
She tried to tell herself that she could be an hour later than usual and she would still arrive at work earlier than House. And, that with just weeks left before leaving, it wasn't as if she could get reprimanded--or worse, fired. But, she liked the peace and quiet of the office early in the morning. For almost two years she'd committed herself to coming in first out of everyone in the office and now she didn't want to be late, no matter how many weeks she had left.
She raced through her apartment, room by room; making sure everything was turned off while picking up as she went along. She had just made it to the kitchen to pour the freshly brewed coffee from the pot into her travel mug when the phone began to ring. Cameron eyed the clock on the stove and then quickly looked back at the phone. She didn't recognize the number on the caller id. Let the machine pick it up, she thought to herself, under her breath.
She didn't hear her outgoing message nor did she hear the shrill beep signaling the caller to leave a message. What she did hear, as she slipped on her rain coat, was the deep, handsome voice of someone familiar.
"Dr. Cameron? Did I miss you? Let's see, it's almost quarter after seven in the morning, your time. I wanted to call and let you know I'm back in the states for a while and I'm going to be in town on business. I wanted to talk with you about…"
Cameron interrupted his words as she scooped up the phone and jabbed at the 'talk' button. "Sebastian! Hi. How are you?" she asked, breathlessly.
"Well, good. I see I didn't miss you. Good morning," his voice was light, but on his end of the line his face was beaming.
"Good morning. I was actually just walking out the door. I'm running a little late-- long story," she stammered. "When are you going to be in town?"
"Ah, if all goes well, by sometime later this evening. You still owe me dinner. I was hoping we might be able to get together so I may collect it-- that is if you haven't gone off and thrown it all away for that bastard House yet. You haven't, have you?" he asked, only half sarcastically.
Cameron giggled softly under her breath. "No, nothing like that. And, yes. I would love to see you. Will you call me when you get in? I should be working until 5:30, maybe 6:00 tonight at the latest. Can I give you my cell number?" she asked, staring at the clock as she rattled out the ten digit number to him.
"It's really great to hear your voice, Allison" he said, softly. "I'll call you when I get in. Don't let House work you too hard today".
"I won't," she said, as a smile turned up the corners of her mouth. "Bye". She stood quietly wrapped in her thoughts for a moment with her hand still on the phone as it rested in its cradle before she turned towards the front door and headed off to work.
Cameron had started to think that he week was beginning to look up. Her drive into work was picture-perfect as she made every traffic light. Even with the light rain, she managed to walk through the doors of the hospital only ten minutes later than she normally did. She stopped to collect the Diagnostic department's mail from the main desk in the lobby, slowly flipping through each envelope as she waited patiently for the elevator to arrive.
The elevator bell dinged and the thick metal doors slid open quietly as she stepped inside, pushing the number '4' button as others selected their own floors. She pulled three envelopes from the stack she held tightly in her hand, immediately shoving the rest of the mail under her right arm. All three envelopes were addressed specifically to her, exactly the way she had sent out her resumes using her full name, Dr. Allison C. Cameron.
The first had the insignia for Johns Hopkins; the second from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and the last contained only her name and the words 'Department of Physician Recruitment' and a Pennsylvania address underneath it.
The doors to the elevator had just started to close when they were interrupted and pushed open again by the rubber tip of a cane. House stepped into the elevator standing beside her as he eyed Cameron and all the mail she held tucked into various spots on her body.
"You're late and you have mail," he said, flatly. "I assume the ones in your hands are interview letters for you and the ones shoved under your arm are job applicants for me?"
Cameron removed the letters from under her arm and shuffled them together with the three that were in her hand, completely unruffled by his comments.
"And, you're early. Get a ride in to school from mommy this morning?" she lobbed back.
A small smile snaked its way along the corner of House's mouth. "Nope, late night with a professional. It's always so hard to get back to sleep afterwards," he said sarcastically, as she closed her eyes to avoid showing him her displeasure at the image his words conjured up.
House's eyes followed her as she stepped out of the elevator ahead of him and walked briskly towards the office door leaving him several feet behind. Once inside, she began to flip on the overhead lights as well as the small lamp on her desk and her computer. She carefully pulled the three envelopes addressed to her back out of the stack and set them on the side of her computer.
A minute later, House rounded the corner of the conference room table on a direct course to his office. Thankfully, he left her undisturbed to her work until the smell of freshly brewed coffee lured him out of his darkened sanctuary.
"So what are you really doing here this early?" she asked, as she watched him empty several sugar packets into his coffee.
"I told you. I couldn't sleep".
Cameron eyed him suspiciously. "Your leg bothering you?"
"No. Not my leg. So, anymore prospective candidates?" he asked, changing the direction of the conversation abruptly. Cameron shifted in her chair. "I've only opened a couple. I'll bring them in to you in a few minutes. Don't forget you have three interviews the day after tomorrow starting at 9:30".
More than annoyed by her unwavering helpfulness in finding her own replacement, House nodded as a declaration of understanding to her question before moving quickly back to the safety of his office.
The morning progressed rather quickly. She had received three interview offers which she planned on contacting on her lunch hour. And, Foreman had returned from his last Rehab session, proudly announcing that Cuddy had officially cleared him for full time hours and clinic duty once again.
By 4:00, Cameron had just finished clinic duty herself and was signing her last chart when her name rang out in the waiting area. "Dr. Cameron. When you're free, could you step into my office for a moment, please?" Lisa Cuddy commanded, before turning away.
A few minutes later, Allison Cameron knocked softly on the glass and wooden door that led to her boss's impressive office. "Dr. Cameron, come in," she said, as she quickly signed several papers her secretary held out for her. "Can you give us a moment, Megan?" she asked, softly as she handed the papers back to the young woman.
Lisa extended a graceful hand, motioning for Cameron to sit in one of the two chairs in front of her desk. "So, House is on track with the interviews for his department, I hope? Any problems I need to know about?" she asked, as she sat down and began to shuffle papers around on her desk giving the appearance of being extremely busy.
Cameron stiffened at the presumption of the older woman. "Ah, yes. He's got three set up for Thursday and was reviewing several new candidate packets when I left to go do clinic duty," Allison said politely, hiding her displeasure with the conversation. "But I'm sure he's told you all about that," she threw in, as her fingers picked angrily at one of the buttons on her lab coat. "Is that all? I've got some more charts to finish up before I go," she lied casually, as she began to rise from her seat.
Lisa Cuddy eyed her subordinate with great interest as if impressed with her uncharacteristically steely demeanor. "Sit down, Allison. There's something else I wanted to talk to you about," she said, firmly.
"Starting now, I'm excusing you for all future clinic duty while you're still with us," she said, as she casually tossed her pen out of her hand and leaned back slightly in her chair. "I've cleared Dr. Foreman to come back full time and he'll start picking up clinic rotations tomorrow. Since there are no new cases in the department, House shouldn't have any reason to complain," she explained flatly, as her fingers laced together and rested on her desk.
"In lieu of working in the clinic here, I'd like for you to assist a visiting physician at the Women's Health Clinic on the college campus for the upcoming week. Dr. Charles will be here tomorrow to organize and oversee a week-long TB screening and free clinic and I want you to be one of the full time on- site doctors assisting him and his team. Think there'll be any problem with that?"
"Sebastian Charles?" Cameron asked, as she tried to piece together the bits of information from her call with Sebastian this morning and this conversation with Cuddy.
Cuddy bit her lip slightly so as to contain a wry smile threatening to make its way across her mouth. "One and the same. He made an offer to me to organize it months ago before being discharged-- as a thank you, of sorts, for us saving his life. It's being funded in part by his financial sponsors as well as the hospital. It'll run one week starting this Monday and then when it's done, you can go back and wrap things up in the Diagnostic department," she said awkwardly, as she waited for some sort of reaction from Cameron.
"I don't have to tell you how TB is making a dramatic reappearance in this country, especially in women and children. I know you've read all the literature. This is just one of the acts of good stewardship for the hospital".
Cameron's head reeled between thoughts of working alongside Dr. Charles and having to disconnect so abruptly from her normal routine before her fellowship ended. "Don't look so thrilled yet," Cuddy threw in, as if reading Cameron's thoughts. "This is not going to be a picnic".
"We're expecting an extremely high volume of walk- in patients seeking screening and treatment, which is why for a week; I'm rerouting the majority of all critical cases that usually go to the Diagnostics office to other physicians within the hospital. Along with a handful of other doctors on staff, House and Foreman will also be giving Dr. Charles a few hours of their time," she said, almost victoriously.
Cameron looked quizzically at Dr. Cuddy. "Does House… know about this yet?" she said, dragging out the last few words carefully as if saying them aloud would spontaneously cause something disastrous to happen somewhere up on the fourth floor.
"I haven't had that pleasure yet," Cuddy said, sarcastically, as her eyes pored over the younger woman. "So for the moment, this will just be between you and me".
"Ok, that's it," Cuddy said, dismissively. "Dr. Charles will pull a meeting together when he gets here tomorrow to go over all the particulars".
Cameron nodded her head in understanding. "I'm actually having dinner with him tonight if he gets in on time," Cameron said, as she scanned Cuddy's face for her immediate disapproval.
"Great. Well, then I'm sure you two will have a lot to talk about," she said, nonchalantly as she went back to her paperwork, thereby dismissing Cameron.