The Anniversary

Set between Forever and Who's Your Daddy

Anita Mathews giggled as her boyfriend kissed her neck.

"Stop it! It tickles." She squirmed as he slowly moved his mouth downwards, licking a path towards her breasts. He hooked her panties with his little finger and slowly pulled them off. He looked at her and grinned.

"Better?"

"Mmm." She replied. He heard a splattering of moisture on the floor. He looked down and saw a pool blood.

"Oh Jesus, Annie! Are you having your period?"

She looked down. "That doesn't look like…" A sudden wave of pain caught her across her midriff and she wrapped her hand around her abdomen. She let out a muffled cry. The waves of pain came faster and faster, and she collapsed moaning and writhing

"Annie. Annie! Oh God." She heard distant movement, her boyfriend dialing for an ambulance, then the world of pain closed in around her and she fainted away.

Cameron jumped as a stack of files slammed in front of her on the glass table. She looked up into House's acerbic, hauntingly clear eyes. He fixed her with that look he always gave her, the look which tore her nerves to bits and then ate the bits for supper. "Differential diagnosis for staring into space?"

Gathering up her shredded courage, she retorted sarcastically as she flipped the medical file quickly. "Catatonia?"

House narrowed his eyes at her, leaning on his cane with both his hands. "Right. But since you're obviously not catatonic, I take that you were wool-gathering. Differential diagnosis for that?"

"I was thinking." She sounded defensive. Chase and Foreman looked at her in curiosity.

"Thinking of what?" He had his interested face on now, and Cameron groaned inwardly. He studied her face and tilted his head. "Hmm."

He abruptly turned to the rest of the team in one swift motion, hooking his cane onto the board and picking up the whiteboard marker. "Patient presents with," He scribbled out two words efficiently, turned his head and raised his eyebrows. "Symptoms galore…" He capped the marker and grabbed his cane from the board. "Woman in her mid-thirties, has severe abdominal pain, irregular vaginal bleeding and…. "He screwed his face up. "Ah, I lied when I said symptoms galore."

"But that's simple to diagnose. She must have had… a miscarriage." Chase said, his head tilted and his long blond locks falling over his eyes.

"Right. Except that she's on birth control."

"What sort?" Foreman asked.

"IUD and the pill." House said, looking at his team, his eyes narrowed and waiting for them to start throwing out ideas.

Foreman tapped his chin with grasped hands, "A pelvic infection? Common with IUD."

"Could be a side effect from the pill. Breakthrough bleeding?" Chase asked.

"Or…she could be pregnant." Cameron pointed out. "IUD or the pills could cause the bleeding, pregnancy the pain."

Chase leaned his head back to look at Cameron. "It's highly unlikely that a woman on birth control pills and IUD would get pregnant."

"Highly unlikely doesn't mean it won't happen." Foreman said, raising his eyebrows.

"Still, the odds are…"

"Look, it's a possibility, okay?" Cameron snapped. Chase widened his eyes and leaned away from her. House raised his eyebrows and blinked.

"Wow, you scared Chase! Amazing." Cameron shot him a venomous glare. He ignored it and continued. "Do a blood test for pregnancy, and swab for an infection. You two break into her house." He waved his cane in the general direction of Chase and Foreman and walked towards the door.

"To look for what?" Foreman protested.

"Anything fun." House said, and with a final raise of his eyebrows, he pulled the door open and walked out. The three younger doctors sighed and started to gather their things.

House poked his head into Cuddy's office. "I need Cameron's personnel file."

Cuddy looked up from her paperwork, and slammed down her pen on her desk, which had scraps of paper littered all over it. She propped her chin with her hand and blinked. "Why?"

"Because…I need it." House slipped into her office and propped his cane in front of him.

Cuddy rolled her eyes and stood up, bracing her palms against the desk. "Why do you need it?"

"Payroll check, that kind of thing. You know, boss-like stuff?"

Cuddy narrowed her eyes. "Right. You're not getting it till I have a valid reason." She sat down, picked up her pen again and started to return to her work.

"I need…to check something."

"That's not a valid reason." She continued writing busily.

"Could we pretend it was one, and you give the file to me?"

"No!" She looked up and glared at him. "This is one of your… psychotic schemes again, isn't it?"

House looked thoughtful. "Yeah, I think so."

"Get back to your case, House. Unless Cameron's file is somehow relevant …"

"It is."

"How?" She threw out her hands, exasperated.

"Because I have to check something in it, and if I don't, I won't be thinking of anything but what I'm supposed not to be thinking about instead of what you want me to think about and then the patient's screwed."

"What?" Cuddy asked, confused.

"Oh, just give it to me!"

"Absolutely not!"

House sighed. "Alright, alright. Remember the article Foreman 'stole' from Cameron?"

"Yes..?"

"Foreman wants to write to the journal and admit he stole it."

"What?"

"He wants to surprise her, so he needs her credentials. And stuff."

Cuddy's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Why didn't he come and ask me for it himself?"

"Because…he's busy with the patient."

Cuddy shook her head. "I have a meeting to prepare for. I don't have time for this, and I don't believe you. If Foreman needs it, Foreman comes to me. You, out." House sighed and walked out of her office.

Cuddy sighed and continued her work.

Cameron smiled reassuringly at the pale woman on the hospital bed and her anxious boyfriend who was holding her hand.

"We're drawing some blood samples to determine if you're pregnant."

Anita frowned. "But how can I be pregnant? I mean, I'm on the pill and I've had an IUD implanted."

"The IUD and the pill are not 100 effective, even when used together."

"But if she's pregnant, why is she bleeding?" The boyfriend asked.

"We think it could be a side-effect of the IUD."

"Oh. Okay."

"I'm also going to swab you for infection. IUD might have caused your uterus and fallopian tubes to become infected."

"So you're not sure what I have."

"No. But we'll find it, and we'll fix it."

"Thank you." The boyfriend said.

"You're welcome." Cameron smiled, slid the glass door open, and walked out.

Cuddy walked out of her office, busily reading from a thick manila folder, and frowning. She didn't notice House sitting in a corner of the clinic waiting room. He followed her with his eyes as she walked out of clinic and out of sight. He narrowed his eyes and smiled triumphantly.

"This house is really clean." Chase said, looking around the immaculate flat.

"I guessed it would be."

"What do you mean?"

"I figured that a girl who uses two methods of contraception would have a really clean home. You know, being really cautious and all."

Chase scoffed. "Trying to emulate House? You'll never succeed."

Foreman chuckled. "Why would I want to emulate that guy? He's a nutcase."

"Yeah, well, not really relevant right now. I think we should be looking for marijuana or pot. House won't be happy till we dig up some dirt."

"My point exactly. That guy's a freak."

They dug around the closets and tables for a while in silence.

"Hey, Foreman."

"Yeah?"

"You're back on talking terms with Cameron, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Is it me, or was she really edgy today?"

"Yeah, she seemed a little distant today. Why?"

"Think she's okay?"

"She'll be fine, Chase." Foreman emerged from the room with a packet of pills. "And I've found the patient's birth control pills."

Wilson pushed the glass door open.

"Busy reading." House called out from behind his chair in the office.

"Reading what?" Wilson walked forward and peered over his shoulder. "Is that… Cameron's personnel file?"

"Hasn't anyone ever told you it's rude to read over shoulders?" House looked up at him and raised a sarcastic eyebrow.

"Yeah, and stealing a personnel file is acceptable." Wilson sounded incredulous. "I can see your logic."

House turned around in his chair. "I didn't steal her file. Cuddy gave it to me."

"I thought personnel files were confidential. Why would Cuddy give it to you?"

"Because I needed the file."

"That doesn't sound like good enough reason for Cuddy to give it to you."

House glanced up at Wilson. "Promise you won't tell?"

Wilson put his hands on his hips. "Okay?"

House put the folder beside his mouth and whispered loudly "I stole the file. Cuddy refused to give it to me."

Wilson sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hand. "You know, ever thought that the reason why they call them personnel files are because they're personal?"

"Ohhhhh. I thought that it was because they were about personnel. Guess I must have failed in etymology."

"You're…"Wilson let out a breath with a pffft. "Incorrigible. What did you want Cameron's file for, anyway?"

"I wanted to check something."

"What?" Wilson was exasperated already.

"This." House pointed to a line on the file. Wilson read it.

"Wait. You mean it's…"

"Yep."

"How'd you even know?"

"I suspected. The file confirmed it."

"Yes, well, I suppose you had a reason for suspecting it."

"Every year, this date, she takes a day off. She applied this year too, but Cuddy didn't grant her leave."

"Oh. And how's Cameron holding up?"

"Well, she scared Chase during a differential and he peed in his pants. I'd say she was feeling a lit-tle testy." House replied.

Wilson rolled his eyes, just as Chase and Foreman walked in. House shut the file and dumped it on the table behind him. He unhooked his cane from the chair and brought his legs off the table.

"Well?"

"We out what type of pills she was using."

"Progesterone-only. Yeah, yeah, she told us. Anything else you found?"

Cameron pushed the door open and walked in. "She's pregnant."

House unscrewed his bottle of Vicodin. "Cool." He tipped out a pill, popped it into his mouth. "Go tell her and do an ultrasound. We need to see where the IUD is in comparison to the fetus." The three of them walked towards the door. House said in a low undertone. "She'll probably want to abort the baby."

Cameron turned, opened her mouth and her eyes filled with tears. She spun on her heel and walked out of the room quickly. House followed her movement down the passageway with a tilted head. He frowned. Wilson looked at him.

"What?"

House blinked once, squinted at nothing in particular, and turned to Cameron's file again. He started flipping through the medical section. Wilson sighed and threw up his hands.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Chase, this is Dr. Foreman."

"Oh, hello," said Anita, who was eating her lunch.

"You're pregnant."

"Oh God, no." Anita said in dismay. She put down her fork. "I'm not ready for a child." Foreman applied gel to Anita's abdomen, and prepped the ultrasound machine.

Chase shrugged "I'm afraid it's true. You don't have to keep the baby; you can either abort it --"

"No!" Anita's boyfriend said. "No, if Annie's pregnant, we'll keep the baby. Right Annie? We said we wanted children."

"In time, Patrick, not now." Anita said unhappily. "But abortion--?"

"Well, if abortion's not an option, you can also carry it to term and have it adopt--"

"Chase." Foreman's voice cut in with the soft but urgent tone that they used when something was seriously wrong. Chase looked up.

"That's impossible."

Cameron stood on the roof of the hospital, leaning over the ledge, looking out at nothing at all. Tears cascaded down her face. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. She swiped at them with an angry hand. Why did I even come to work today? She exhaled through clenched teeth.

"Nice view?" House said from behind her.

"Go away." She said in an unsteady voice.

"Snappy, aren't you?" He walked forward and leaned over the edge. He shot her another of his keen questioning glances, which she avoided determinedly.

"So… How did it happen?"

"How did what happen?" She said, her jaw clenched tightly, determined to reveal nothing."

"Your medical records show that you had about three months of pre-natal care. But after the day your husband died…"

Cameron straightened up and turned head to look at him. "How did you get my medical records?"

"Your personnel file."

She shook her head in anger and disgust. "You're unbelievable. You stole my personnel file?"

House looked heavenward. "Why does everyone accuse me of stealing whenever I have classified information?" Cameron tilted her head and continued staring angrily at him, her lips compressed tightly. He sighed. "Yes, I stole it."

"Fine, since you want to know that badly," Cameron snapped, baring her canines as she spoke in an increasing volume, "I fainted when the nurse told me that my husband was dead, and the fall killed my baby. Is there anything more you want to know?" She burst into a flood of tears and covered her face, leaning on the ledge. House looked down at her with something like compassion. He stroked her shoulder and said in a soft voice, "I'm sorry." Then he left the roof. Cameron looked up, sniffed once and willed the wind to dry all her tears away.

"What do you mean, the baby isn't there?"

"I mean we scanned her entire uterus. The baby isn't there!" Chase said.

"Interesting." House said, squinting in air. "Ideas?"

"Chase could have been right the first time round. A miscarriage could explain all the symptoms. If she was pregnant, and miscarried recently, there still would be high amounts of progesterone, estrogen and hCG in her bloodstream when we tested it. We could test it again in 24 hours. If she miscarried, then it should have gone down by then." Foreman suggested.

House nodded. "Okay."

Foreman blinked. "You're agreeing with me?"

"Yeah."

House limped out into the hallway. He turned as he exited the room. "You two can go have a lunch break or whatever."

Chase and Foreman exchanged a look.

"That's not like House." Chase said in a befuddled tone.

Foreman frowned, "Yeah. Something's up."

Cameron dabbed her eyes with a tissue and peered at her reflection in the mirror. Other than being slightly red-rimmed around her eyes, she looked normal. Just get back to work. It can't be that hard, can it? House already knows. Sighing, she started to reapply her make-up.

"Dr Foreman!" Cuddy called from the door of the clinic. Foreman turned.

"Yeah?"

"Do you still want Cameron's personnel file?"

Foreman blinked. "Why would I want it?"

Cuddy's eyes widened, and then she let out a breath of air. "House." She snarled, and stalked off towards her office, leaving Foreman to stare at her back confusedly.

House stepped into the room and kicked the door shut with his good leg while regarding at the plump, middle aged man sitting on the exam table.

"So, what seems to be the problem?"

"I don't feel so good." The man said in a quavering voice.

House raised his eyebrows. "Well, your pants are loose, so I'd say you lost weight."

"Ahhhhh, yes… and I don't feel like eating these days."

House grabbed the patient's arm, and pointed to the small red spidery marks on them. "These new?"

"Ahhhhh, yeah I think so."

House sat on the chair and rolled over to the table. "Your problem is your liver. You have cirrhosis."

"Ahhhhh, the liver? Um, um, is the liver important?"

House narrowed his eyes at the patient. "Well, only if you want to live." He scribbled out a prescription. "The liver is like the security system of your body. It makes sure none of those nasty terrorists chemicals are allowed to sneak into your bloodstream. The liver is the coolest organ in the body, 'cause it knows how to regenerate. In fact, there was this pregnant woman who had her baby implanted in her liv--" House trailed off in midair. He frowned. "Hmmm."

Then he stood up and limped out of the door quickly.

"Doctor! Doctor! You mean I'm pregnant?"

House turned around, gave the patient a look, and then stalked off.

"Clue: this condition is very rare, only occurring in 1 out of 20000 pregnant women." The three younger doctors sat around the table, looking confused. House raised his eyebrows at them. "Not good enough? It covers the bleeding, the pains, and the hormone levels."

"A miscarriage?" Chase asked doubtfully.

"No, obviously not, you idiot, otherwise I wouldn't be asking you to re-diagnose it, would I?"

"Another clue?" Foreman asked.

"The fetus develops where it is implanted. Sexual Reproduction 101. The fertilized egg undergoes repeated divisions to form a blastocyst which implants itself in the nearest friendly surface. In one case, it implanted itself in the liver, and the baby grew there--"

"An ethopic pregnancy?" Cameron cut in, uncertainly.

"Bingo."

"But ethopic pregnancies only occur in cases of …problematic fallopian tubes, right?" Chase asked.

"Pop quiz: What sort of contraceptive method prevents implantation in the uterus?"

"IUD." Cameron said, comprehension dawning.

"Go scan her fallopian tubes and find out where the kiddo has implanted itself, and prep her for surgery."

The three doctors packed up their things. Chase and Foreman walked out, but Cameron paused at the door.

"House?" House looked up from wiping the whiteboard. "About just now. I'm sorry I yelled at you."

House smiled in a semi-amused manner. "I'm not sure I didn't deserve it."

Cameron laughed a little and started to pull the glass door open when Cuddy stormed in, with fury written in every line on her face.

"You stole the file!"

House made a face. "Oops."

"Dr. Cuddy." Cameron said. Cuddy looked at her. "He told me about already. I'm fine with it."

Cuddy's eyes narrowed. "Don't protect him, Cameron, it's not worth your time."

"He had a reason to read the file."

"Which is?"

"Personal, for me. I'd prefer not to tell anyone."

Cuddy looked heavenward and sighed. "Fine." She extended her hand. "Give me back the file." House held it out and Cuddy snatched it. "The next time, no matter what Cameron or Foreman or Chase says, you steal another file, I'll fire you. No buts." She punctuated her statement by pointing the file threateningly at House, and then walked out, holding it tightly with one hand. Cameron smiled at House.

"You owe me one." And then she, too, walked out. House stood in the middle of the room with a small smile tugging on his lips.

The couple embraced when told the news-- the fetus in the right fallopian tube would have to be removed. Anita wept on her boyfriend's shoulder, and he rubbed her back soothingly. Foreman and Chase looked on somberly beside their bed.

Cuddy observed as the cabinet with the personnel files have new, numerical locks fitted onto them, and frowned at no one in particular.

Cameron stood at a grave in the early evening, staring at the headstone for a while, reading the engraved letters on it. Finally she sighed, her breath fogging the winter air, and she placed a perfect rose on the ground, with a tiny rosebud attached. She smiled, sadly, and then she left.

House, who was wearing his motorbike jacket, and Wilson, who had taken his doctor coat off and replaced it with a thick overcoat, met in the lobby and they walked out of the hospital doors together. Curious, Wilson asked a question and in response, House smirked and walked off. Wilson stared at his retreating back for a few seconds before shaking his head, laughing, and walking off as well.

END