Chapter Two - The Second Stage

Cameron was staring into space, trying to comprehend what her mum was telling her.

"When did you find out? What's the name of the oncologist? Where is the..." Cameron broke off, finding a usually easy word so difficult to say now that her little sister had been diagnosed.

"Whoa! Slow down! We found out just then and you're the first one I called. The oncologist's name is Dr. Eliza Chisholm. She said that it was a very aggressive type of brain cancer." Cameron's mum, the voice on the phone, told her.

"Can I talk to her?" Cameron asked, trying to hold back the tears as she was scared that House would see and hear her crying, because the only thing between her and House was the glass wall separating the conference room and his office, where he was currently sitting, sneakered-feet up on his desk, bouncing his oversized tennis ball.

"Sure, just wait one minute."

"Thanks Mum, I'll talk to you later." Cameron replied.

"Hey Alli!" Cameron's attempts to hold back the tears failed as soon as she heard her little sister's voice. The sister that she played with, fought with, cried with. Her only sibling. The one that helped her get through her husband's cancer before his best friend had come along. The one that she had told confidently the -isms of House, his annoying little pranks, and, most importantly, how she felt about him. The one that, as soon as she'd had a bad day, would always pick up the phone and talk for hours on end, no matter what time of day or night, no matter whether she was working or eating. The one that was always happy, always cheerful, always smiling. That sister. Her sister.

"Hey... You ok Millie?" Cameron asked, trying not to sound like she was crying, trying not to sound like her voice would fail her any moment.

"Maybe the question you really should be asking is, are you ok yourself?" Millie asked, instantly.

"I'm not the one that's...sick" That term was going to take some getting used to. Cameron thought.

There was a pause as each sister contemplated the situation.

"I have a plan, ok? I'm going to fly over there, first thing tomorrow. I'm going to bring you back here and Wilson is going to talk to you, after I go and talk to him, right now." Cameron said, breaking the silence. She paused again, taking deep breaths as she waited for her sister's reply.

"Hey, slow down, don't give yourself a heart attack. Let's go through this brilliant plan of yours. First of all, what are you going to say to House? You can't just say, hey boss, I'm going to Canada to get a cancer-ridden little sister of mine. Second of all, no offence, but how will you be able to get a flight to Vancouver and back on such short notice? It's not like you own a plan or are part of a mafia. Or are you?" Millie asked. She smiled, knowing her sister wouldn't see it but feel it, and waited just as she had done before, for her sister's reply.

"Shut up Millie." Cameron said, happier now that her sister could make jokes. "The flight will be easy, I can do that on the internet. But House is something totally different. I have no idea how to interact with him, and when we do it always leads to him teasing me about some sexual thing between various male co-workers and me..." Cameron's voice trailed off.

She glanced at House who was still occupied with the oversized tennis ball. How someone could be so interested in a piece of sphere-shaped rubber covered in fluff was beyond her.

She got up slowly, with the phone glued to her ear, thinking about how to approach House and what to say.

"So, what are you gonna say?" Millie's voice rang through the phone.

"I have no idea, I'll end up making it up as I go and then bursting into tears. That will end up with House teasing me but I won't take any notice. So don't worry 'bout me." Cameron lightened the situation a little.

"Bye Millie, I'll call you after I talk to House and Wilson, OK?"

"Sure, bye." And with that, both sisters hung up.

Cameron walked around to the door of House's office, knocked and then entered. House had finished with the tennis ball and had switched to twirling his cane around his fingers.

"Ummm, House?" Cameron said, her voice wavering in fear.

"What?" House replied, with his usual short, blunt manner.

"Can I take tomorrow and Wednesday off, please?"

"Only if you tell me exactly why you are going, where you are going and what you plan on doing."

"I can't." Cameron felt her voice wavering and she knew that the conversation needed to end soon or she would need a life raft to save herself from drowning in her own tears.

"Then no day off." House replied, not regretting his bitterness in the slightest.

"House, leave her alone. Can't you stop being an $$ for a while?" Chase interrupted, as Cameron felt her cheeks turn pink at the thought of Chase 'saving' her. She couldn't help but be embarrassed by his 'knight in shining armour' action, although she couldn't say that she didn't appreciate it. She also wondered if Chase had heard the phone conversation and at that thought, tears stung her eyes.

House looked at Cameron and her pink-tinged cheeks and tear-stained face and assumed that it was a problem within her family. He concluded that, judging by how she hadn't stopped Chase from defending her, there was going to be some fireworks between the two very soon, and he smirked at the thought.

"Fine. But if I let you go now, you have to tell me when you get back. I can't be bothered to quiz you about your personal life at the moment. But who's gonna make me my coffee?" House said and the smirk wiped off his face when he realised he would have to put up with prettyboy-coffee or funny tasting neuro-coffee for the next two days. Damn! House thought.

Cameron walked out of House's office and started heading towards Wilson's, when she realised Chase was following her.

"Thanks Chase. For... You know." Cameron said, without making eye contact or even looking at his face.

"Welcome. Now, tell me what's up and how I can help." Chase probed her.

Cameron hesitated. When she looked up, she saw how he looked like he actually cared and she decided to tell him.

"My little sister just got diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer. I'm flying up to Vancouver tomorrow to get her and I'm hoping that Wilson can help her." Cameron couldn't believe that she told him, because last time something happened in her life and she told him, she ended up having drug-induced sex with him.

Chase was taken aback. Cameron never mentioned her personal life to him and he didn't know she had a sister. He never thought to ask about her family. Immediately, he regretted not asking her about her family before.

"I've got to go and talk to Wilson. Thanks again, Chase"

"Wait. After you talk to him, meet me in the lobby and we'll go get a drink and talk. No sex this time. Ok?"

"That sounds good. I'll be about half an hour, meet you down there at 7?" Cameron was somewhat relieved to have told someone, as if the burden was off her slightly. She headed to Wilson's office and hoped he would help.

Wilson's Office

"When she gets here tomorrow, I'll take a fresh MRI of her head and go over her options with the both of you". Wilson told Cameron as she held back her tears.

"We'll be here by 4 tomorrow afternoon." Cameron said.

"That's fine. See you tomorrow." Wilson started to pack up his things as he got ready to go home to... Not much really.

Cameron started to leave but stopped. "Oh, and Wilson? Thanks for everything."

Cameron went back to her desk, took off her lab coat and headed down to the lobby to meet Chase.

Later

"Are you ok?" Chase asked finally, after letting Cameron lean on his shoulder for the past 10 minutes.

"Yes. No. I don't know." To Chase, Cameron sounded frustrated. Scared, even.

"I better go, I've got a lot of stuff to do." Cameron lifted up her head and looked Chase straight in the eyes.

"Hey, Cameron?" Chase said as Cameron started to leave. "Do you... Do you want me to come with you?" Chase hesitated, not sure what her reaction was going to be.

"But what about House? You can't just leave! House'll go mad and if he finds out that you're with me, we'll both be teased for weeks. Not to mention the prospect of him firing you and possibly me. I couldn't do that to you."

"Cameron, really. Do you want me to? I'll just take some sick leave, really, I can." Chase was insisting now.

"I don't know. Ok, I'm going to go home and call you in about an hour. Is that alright?" Cameron didn't sound sure.

"That's fine. Come on, I'll walk you out." Chase noticed that Cameron had relaxed a little since they had left the hospital.

"Chase, thanks. For everything." Cameron looked small, overwhelmed and scared and Chase hated it.

"That's it. I'm coming with you tomorrow, there's no way you can do this alone." Now Chase was determined to help.

"You're right, I don't think I can, but are you sure?" Cameron sounded relieved but still slightly overwhelmed. "I think... Thankyou, really."

"I'll organise the tickets when I get home, ok? You just get ready and get some sleep." Chase tried to calm her down.

"Sure, just try and get some early flights and call me when you've got them." Cameron was relaxing and this made Chase feel better in spite of the situation.

The 10 minute drive to Camerons' house seemed to continue forever, like a never ending pathway to something deep, dark and unknown. Meanwhile, the 20 minute drive for Chase went very fast, a personal record, on account of him speeding the whole way and even he wasn't sure why.