So I should be studying for my chem final. But I decided to post this instead. Send good luck/go study! comments if you would like. They might help.

Jess

ps - spoilers for Birthmarks

Chapter 13: An Update On The Other Characters and Hospital Gossip

Cuddy watched carefully on Monday as Cameron entered the ER. One of the ER nurses – one known for not gossiping – had let her in on Cameron's injuries from a few nights ago with a casual 'just thought you should know'.

And now Cuddy knew, and was watching for any signs of injury. But, besides looking tired and thin there was nothing for Cuddy to note.

A nurse went up to her and the two began talking, Cameron throwing her head back in laughter, but that was all.

Her pager went off and Cuddy glanced at the words House 911 from Wilson before sighing. She would catch Cameron later and discuss the fact that she had never felt the need to report the assault to anyone.

Cuddy stepped into Wilson's office and was surprised to see him sitting there with a woman. He had paged her a 911 while with a patient?

Wilson let out a smile when he saw her. Things were still tense between them, but she was glad that his relationship with House had been repaired.

"House is going to need some time off." There was no time for niceties, Wilson had decided. Also, if he cut to the chase, their relationship was less strained seeming.

"Why?"

"Blythe called me. John died." Cuddy glanced at the patient, uncomfortable with talking about House in front of her.

The woman sensed this for she turned to Wilson with a grin.

"I'm going to go hijack Blondie's car so I'm on time. Tell House that if he damages my baby, I'll break his face. And he already has that coming anyone. So, actually, tell him he breaks my car, I break his leg. I'm already breaking his face."

Wilson let out the lightest bit of a snort. "He'd rather that then go to the funeral, T."

"Send him to Blondie then, or Alice. They're the good talkers. I'm the one with the one-liners and the magic tricks."

"And the really bad plans."

'T' laughed, a full, throw your head back, body convulsing laugh.

"That was all your idea Jimmy." Cuddy was watching them impatiently, and Tina caught it, for she smiled slightly before giving Wilson a quick hug around the waist.

"I'll talk to you later."

"Later," Wilson echoed, as he watched her leave. His attention returned to Cuddy when he could no longer see the woman. "John died, Blythe called." He repeated.

But Cuddy couldn't let go of what she just saw. "Patient?"

"Very good friend." Wilson replied. "We're friends right now. And she makes me laugh and smile. And no, she's not a patient; she's a cousin of a doctor."

"The one whose car she's going to steal?"

Wilson just smiled at her tone. "Something like that." Before any more questions could come, Tina skidded back into the room, breathless.

"I forgot." She was holding two envelopes in her hand. "One for you, and one for House. From that night with the storm." She tossed them to him and Wilson just barely caught them. He took the one that had his name on it and put it in his pocket. Houses' he left on the desk to presumably give to him later. "There's a really good one of the two of them in there, so please, feel free to corner him with it. That's what I'll be doing to AJ." And then without another word she was gone.

"Whose cousin?"

But Wilson evaded the question. He knew that the moment he breathed the name Cameron she'd make assumptions. And while Cuddy had at one point been a dear friend, besides the whole House thing, he didn't want her to make the assumptions. Because then she'd feel the need to say something. And, at the moment, there was nothing to say. Except that they had gotten involved where they maybe shouldn't have, and were playing with fire.

"I think I'm going to the funeral as well, so I'm going to need some time off."

Cuddy nodded. "Blythe called you, not him?"

Wilson shrugged. "If she had called him he would've been out of the state and in hiding faster then you could blink. He has no desire to go to a funeral of a man he hates. We're going to need time off." Wilson smirked, he couldn't help it. "And some security guards to block the escape route."

Cuddy nodded, even though Wilson was joking. "Do you want me to wait in here, just in case? If he's in his office and you are too, this is the fastest escape for him."

Wilson wanted to point out that he could just lock the door from the balcony, but Cuddy was trying to be helpful, so he nodded.

He stood up from behind his desk "I'll go get him. We could always do something, where you try and get him to leave the hospital and I pick him up in a car and just start driving."

"He would recognize your car."

"I took Tina's in today, my car is dead. That's why she went to take her cousins." Wilson moved towards the door. "I might see you in a few. If not, I successfully corralled House and we are on our way to the funeral. Blythe called me before I made it to work, so I swung by and grabbed both of us appropriate clothes."

"How many days are you going to need off?"

"Two?" Wilson shrugged "Four at the most I think. I'll keep you updated. The funeral is tomorrow, so we have to get there first."

"Okay." Cuddy nodded. "Call me from the car then."

She waited until Wilson disappeared from sight until she grabbed the envelope that was for House and opened it.

Cameron sighed and rested her head against the wall for a minute. Her break had been nice, her few days of extra sleep had been even nicer, but her date with House, while not having ended as disastrously as she had thought it would, was bad.

"Blondie!"

Use to hearing her cousins trill at the hospital now, Cameron looked up.

"What's up Tina? And in an extremely nice way, why are you here?"

Tina laughed. "Jimmy's car broke down, and I had to drive him here. And he needs my car, so I need yours."

"And what were you doing at Jimmy's place?"

Tina didn't even flinch. "I wasn't at his place. But I live closest out of me and you, so when he called and asked to borrow my car, I said yes."

Tina pulled Allison as far away as she could from the nurses and explained the situation in a hushed tone.

"So," she concluded brightly "can I have your keys?"

"They're in my locker, here." Cameron scrawled her combination and directions to the locker. "You're picking me up after work?"

"Yeah. How late is your shift?"

"Only until ten tonight."

"Sweet, let me know if anything changes."

"Okay. Have fun at school," Cameron teased, sounding just like a mother.

"Don't tease, I love my job. I'll catch you later."

"House."

Wilson was standing in the door of his office, a frown on his face.

"Wilson," he deadpanned back. "What's up? The threesome isn't for a few more days. Unless you want some pointers." House wagged his eyebrows suggestively. Wilson let the chuckle bubble out of him before turning serious.

"Can I talk to you privately?" House followed obediently, but scowled.

"This better not be about the other night. Because the second part of that night was so he-"

"Greg."

He paused. "Now I'm concerned."

"You're mother called me this morning."

"Well, you're momma was at my apartment this morning, and she -"

"House!"

"Present." House raised his hand and settled into his office chair, picking up the red gray ball he kept there.

Wilson sighed. "As I was saying, Blythe called me this morning, you're father – House, I'm sorry. He's gone."

House stared blankly for a moment.

"He's dead?"

"Are you okay House? I know it's a lot to take in."

House shook his head and stood up. "I just never expected to outlive the bastard. I always thought of him as a cat with nine lives. When's the funeral? I'm assuming my mother called you first so I wouldn't cut and run?"

"Tomorrow. I'm going with you. We're driving."

"Can I have some time?"

"You're not allowed to cut and run."

"You can follow me if you want, you stalker." House hauled himself to his feet and took out his PSP. "Proof that I'll be back here soon."

Wilson knew he was serious, so he watched House leave the room before turning on the game. Super Mario Brothers. Perfect.

Cuddy flipped through the pictures for a third time, and still couldn't contain her astonishment.

The pictures looked pretty professional from her point of view.

And some of them were just – wow.

There were about twenty five pictures in all most of House and Cameron. Cameron was 'Blondie' and that alone was shocking.

There were four pictures that Cuddy really liked. She knew that she shouldn't be snooping, but it was interesting, and she couldn't help it.

The first picture was of Cameron. She was staring at the camera, the softest hint of a smile on her face, a bit flushed from the weather.

The second was of the four of them. Cameron and House were sitting on a pair of lone swings, both seeming caught in mid-laugh. Wilson was laughing as well, one arm out, holding Tina's shoulder. The woman was slipping it seemed, but she was still turned towards the camera, a bright smile on her face. Cuddy guessed that she had been trying to get into the picture, but that the ice and snow had made it difficult. All four were soaked with snow and little white patches decorated them and the picture.

The third picture had House and Cameron. They were walking down the street, the lights hitting them just right. Houses' cane was in mid swing, and the lens was slightly blurry from the snow. So, while it appeared that Cameron was reaching for House's hand, you couldn't be sure.

And the fourth. Well, it clearly displayed what House and Cameron had together. She was sitting in the snow and House was sitting on a swing. He was using his cane to hold the swing steady and Cameron was looking up at him. He was amused; you could see it in the way his eyes crinkled. Cameron's hand was full of snow, and she had a bit of a gleam in her eyes. House was playfully pushing some hair out of her face.

Footsteps from the balcony startled her and she looked up to see Wilson standing there. "I knew I forgot those."

Cuddy was speechless, so she jumped on the defensive. "I didn't know House and Cameron were seeing each other."

Wilson merely plucked the photos from her hands and raised an eyebrow.

"They're not. House and I will be leaving shortly." And before Cuddy could get another word in edge wise, before she could wave the pictures at him and ask well, then what do you call this? He was gone.

"When Ron died, how did you feel?"

Cameron looked up to see House and sighed inwardly. She was suturing a little boy who had slipped and cut his chin open.

"Give me a minute." She smiled at him – another little boy who could've been Jake's twin. She still saw him everywhere she looked. After three more stitches, a lollipop, a hug from the little boy and a half filled chart, she turned to look up at House.

"Coffee?"

"I gave Wilson my PSP; I'm not leaving the hospital. And the cafeteria sucks."

"I'll make it. Your office?"

House nodded and Cameron called out to one of the nurses that she was taking fifteen minutes as she quickly finished the chart and signed her name with a flourish.

"Let's go."

Foreman set down his coffee and turned to Chase.

The two of them were extremely bored, both for some reason, having light case loads.

Chase was doing a crossword, feet propped on the table in the lounge and Foreman picked up the next copy of JAMA.

"If Cameron was here sorting House's mail it would be just like old times," Chase commented, not looking up from his crossword.

"You two are okay then?"

"We broke up almost ten months ago."

"I thought it was nine."

"Things were going downhill since the bus crash, really. It just took another month for us to call it quits."

Foreman nodded. "We should page her from the ER then, if you don't care."

Chase shook his head. "I don't, but I overhead the nurses talking. She was last seen going on break about two minutes ago with the one and only House."

"House?" Foreman was speechless. "House?"

Chase shrugged. "She loves him. No matter how much of an ass he is."

"And you're okay with that?"

"First of all Foreman, she's my ex-girlfriend. But before that, we were friends. So, if he makes her happy, then yes. I'm happy for her. Second off, I have a girlfriend. I love her. I don't have anything to be jealous of."

Foreman nodded in understanding and picked up the magazine again. He thought of all that had happened in the past months.

If Cameron was down there if would be like old times. Some of it. They were all still playing their parts, but Foreman had a feeling that life would be different. Somewhere along the line they had all grown up.

Chase wasn't just a daddy's boy. He was a caring man, a doctor who was good at what he did. Going strong in a relationship and confident in the OR, there was a sense of determination around him.

Foreman wasn't House. He had found out how not to be. In his second month of dating a woman that he had met while helping out at a homeless shelter (part of his plan to not be House) he was, while maybe not ecstatic, content with life.

And Cameron – well, she was less naïve. She still loved and lost and got hurt, but she had grown up in Foreman's eyes. She was older, more mature. And she was damn good at what she did.

Yes, Foreman mused, if she showed up right then, it would have been just like old times. The two of them teasing her and laughing about House, but there would be an undertone to it. The undertone of sibling fights and laughter, of trust that had been built and grown over years.

Wilson could see how Cuddy mistook the pictures as a fact that Greg and Allison were in a relationship.

He hadn't looked through his pictures, but looking at the ones that were Houses, he had to say he was really impressed.

Tina was a great photographer. But, the picture that Cuddy had held up, the one that was proof the two were in a relationship, wasn't the one that Tina had been referring to.

Anyone could smile and brush hair out of someone else face. The one Tina was talking about was one of the last pictures. Cameron had slipped on some ice, landing nicely on her butt in the cold weather.

House had hobbled over almost immediately, even as Cameron had stood up.

"I'm fine House."

"Are you sure? You're holding your wrist funny."

Cameron looked at her arm, and realized that she was cradling it.

"It doesn't feel like anything but a sprain at the biggest. I caught myself on it."

"Still."

House gestured towards a ledge that was around some trees. Using his cane he brushed some snow off.

"Let me see."

Cameron sighed, but obliged and climbed onto the ledge.

House leaned over and picked up her wrist, pushing up layers of fabric. Cameron had bent her head slightly down, to tell House that she was fine, and House had looked back up at her.

That was when the picture was taken. Tina had snapped a shot of the two of them and later made it black and white. It was the two of them, just looking at each other. She had cropped out the way that House was holding Cameron's arm. If Wilson hadn't known them the way that House was looking at Cameron with such affection would have made him sure that they were a couple in love.

Now, he wasn't so sure what they were.

The Ducklings 2.0 all gave her question looks when she walked in. Although they were 'friends' – 'frienimies' if she was in high school, that didn't mean that they hung out at work. He would maybe sit with her if she was having lunch with Wilson, but that was all.

"When Cam is here, you don't touch the pot." House pointed at the coffee pot. "Maybe eventually one of you will learn how to make this stuff."

"I'm not coming in to make you coffee."

"Pity coffee?" House offered. "For a while, until I get over my mourning stages?"

"What are you mourning?" Taub asked, with a raised brow. Cameron already knew, due to Tina, and House had blurted out my dad is dead on the elevator ride up.

"I have a heart, contrary to popular belief." House jabbed Cameron with his cane. "Tell them I have a heart."

"House, if you had a heart, a lot of the doctors in this hospital wouldn't be in counseling and the number of nurses would be higher. Everyone would be happier. So, no. No heart for you. And what you really want to do is throw a party."

"A party? Like a birthday party?" House paused, contemplating. "Do they have death-day parties?"

"I don't think so." Cameron shrugged. "But I never had a chance to celebrate."

Ducklings 2.0 were watching with interest. Cameron handed House his red mug and took a mug of her own before walking towards his office.

"Why didn't you celebrate?"

She waited until they were in his office with the door closed to reply. "I may have gotten rid of my abuser the day he killed himself, but Jake was gone and so was Linda. What did I have to celebrate?"

"You were alive."

"I didn't want to be." The confession was matter of fact, no flinch involved.

"But," House persisted, going back to his original question, "when Ron died how did you feel?"

Cameron sighed and then held back a snort. He wanted to talk about feelings? "I felt relief; there was a rock at the bottom of my stomach that lifted. But I can't tell you how to feel House, for multiple reasons. Our situations in some parts were similar, but you're a grown man and I was an abused ten year-old about to go back into the system. At least at Ron and Linda's I knew what to expect. The system was uncharted territory. "

It didn't matter how many scars they shared or how many bruises matched on the inside and the outside, their situations would never be the same.

"Is it wrong to be happy he's gone?"

"As wrong as it is to be sad. They're your own emotions House. I can't tell you how to feel."

"You've tried before." Cameron didn't react, but House pushed. "Do you like me? Do you? How do you feel about me?" He fluttered his eye lashes for effect, adopting a high, girly falsetto.

"Stop it House." Cameron's voice wavered. "Stop." He's reacting because his dad died. Pretend it doesn't matter, chin up.

"What do you suggest then Doctor, if you won't talk to me?"

"To go lie on someone else's couch and ask them questions about how you should feel." Cameron replied, an edge to her voice. She wasn't going to let herself get mocked by him when she was trying to help.

Cameron set her coffee cup down on his table, sending coffee sloshing violently over the edge. It spilled down her arm, turning the white skin an increasingly bright red, but Cameron didn't notice. "I'm not your mother House, or your father for that matter. Go find Wilson and complain. But leave me the hell- what are you doing? Don't touch me." For House had strode over to her and was holding her arm.

"Jesus Christ Cameron, you spilled down your arm. You burned yourself."

"Oh," she replied. "Ouch."

"You didn't feel that?"

Cameron shrugged. "Pain doesn't hurt. Not when it's all you've ever felt. Tina mentioned I don't get cold to you once. I don't really feel heat either. I trained my body when I was little. It still damages me, but I don't feel the effects of hypothermia as much because my body was used to being kept outside for long periods of time. If it's hot enough or cold enough, then, yes, I'll feel it, and it will hurt. But that felt like I dipped my hand in hot water."

House shook his head, his early anger forgotten outweighed by concern. "You do realize this means I have to take you to clinic, right?"

"I can take myself."

"I'm the only competent doctor out here. I'll fix you up."

"What's the point of fixing me up? You already broke me. As long as I'm pretty enough to be art work I'm fine."

Her response was startling, but House didn't let go of her arm.

"Clinic. Now." He repeated, sounding so much like Cuddy that she didn't protest.