Chapter 14. Wet and Wild
House and Cameron walked to the back room of the clinic, their shoes squishing and their clothes dripping on the linoleum floor. "I need to catch my breath before we start collecting what we might need," Cameron said.
House nodded and placed the lantern he'd brought along on the counter. He peeled off the old raincoat, and left it in a heap on the floor. "Sit down before you fall over," he told Cameron, indicating a straight-backed wooden chair.
She did as he suggested, then she let him dry her hair and face with a towel he found on the back counter. She was too out of breath from the walk over to argue.
"We should have taken my car," he said regretfully.
"We can take mine for the trip back," she said. "It's parked out back."
House nodded and began to look around for the atropine and anything else they might need.
"I think there's some atropine sulfate in the cabinet in the corner," Cameron said, standing again and removing her coat, then hanging it on a hook. It had been worse than useless and hadn't kept her clothes dry at all. She began to tremble.
House couldn't help noticing. "Do you have any dry clothes here?" he asked her. He didn't even know where she lived.
"I've been here three days now, gone through everything I have...wait, I think there's a sweater in one of my desk drawers." She went to the desk in the little lab, and pulled out a misshapen hand-knit sweater. She sniffed it but then shrugged. "At least it's dry and warm." She put it on over her damp top and joined House in his search for meds and reagents. They opened cabinets and pulled out drawers, putting what they found on the counter.
Cameron found a large plastic bag and they filled it with all they'd collected. She lifted her coat off the hook where she'd left it, but hesitated putting it on. It would only make her wetter and colder. She tossed over her left arm. "I'll hang this up back at the motel. Maybe it'll dry in a week or so."
House carried the lantern and his cane, and gave the bag of goodies to Cameron. She smirked at him, leading the way to a door at the back of the lab, that House hadn't noticed before. It led to a back parking lot. There was one car in it. He barely recognized it as Cameron's Accord. A tree lay across the roof, a tree that had completely crushed the car. They stood there staring at it as the rain continued relentlessly. Cameron appeared to be in shock. House pulled her back into the clinic.
"It was just a car," House said, then saw the look on her face and realized it was the worst thing to tell her.
"This coming from a man who won't give up his ancient sedan!" she cried bitterly.
He put down the lantern, and rested his hand on her shoulder. He wanted to tell her the car could be fixed, and if not, she could get another one. But he didn't. Instead, he said, "It's been a rough few days."
She looked into his eyes and saw something she'd glimpsed only a few times before, compassion. "I...I guess I'm overreacting," she said, shivering again. He shrugged but his arm slipped around her. She found it calming. "We'll have to walk back to the motel," she said.
"Swim is more like it," he said, eliciting a faint smile. But neither of them moved. As if it was the most natural thing in the world, his lips settled on hers. He closed his eyes at first, to better savor the taste of her lips, but then he opened them again and stared into her eyes, full of longing.
Her lips parted, inviting his tongue to play with hers. Then, abruptly, she pulled back. "House, we can't do this. Not now."
His face clouded over. "Fine." He let go of her. "Let's get out of here." He picked up the lantern and started to walk toward the front room.
"House!" Cameron rushed to catch up with him. "I didn't mean...it's just that..."
"I get it!" he said angrily, without looking back.
"Now who's overreacting?" she shouted after him.
He turned his head, then waited for her to catch up.
"House, let's just make it through this storm and getting our patients well," she said. "You and I have a lot to talk about, but I, for one, want to do it without any distractions."
"Distractions? Don't you mean your overdeveloped sense of duty?" he asked resentfully, but he nodded and added, "This isn't over."
"It's just beginning, I hope," she said.
He visibly relaxed as they walked out the front door of the clinic. Cameron locked up and put her wet coat on after all. Then they began their trek back to the motel. Is there a lull in the downpour? House wondered. It's definitely not as intense as before. But he knew that, if they were now in the eye of the storm, it would pick up again before it was over.
When they reached the motel, Cameron carried the new supplies into the room House had been sharing with Pete. The old man smiled at her and said, "You're sure a sight for sore eyes!"
"You have a thing for soggy women with wringing wet hair?" House asked him, and he laughed.
"What've you got there?" Pete asked.
"House probably told you we think the mosquito spraying caused your ailment, so we're going to test the blood samples we took earlier to help confirm that," Cameron replied.
House brought over the vials from the mini-fridge and helped her prepare the samples for testing. It would take a while for them to see the results, but they were both already convinced of what they'd find.