DISCLAIMER: House belongs to Fox, not me.
AN. Hope you enjoy this, feel free to read and review, but praise and constructive criticism only please! House may be OOC, but the story needs it otherwise it's not any good.
I don't normally do this, but i just wanted to clear up a few things. Thanks for all your fantastic reviews, they make me happy. Especially to VisualIdentificationZeta, who's reviews are practical, ego-boosting yet right. I just want to make clear... i don't do breakups. (does it count as a breakup if they get back together?) anyway, my specialty is fights and near fatal accidents. Also, Cameron's husband may have been the love of her life, until she got with House. Just coz you have feelings for someone, you don't always realise how great those feelings are, until you're in a relationship. And sex on the first night together may be a little rished, but don't forget they've been having 'moments' for all this time. Lastly, i didn't realise so many people wrote Cameorn as having a gay brother. I think i've only read 1 or 2. I just remembered in Paternity when Hoouse asked if she was an only child, she hesitated and said "i'm not an only child" which seemed weird to me, because if someone asked me that, i say "no, i've got two sisters and a brother".
Enjoy! Let the Drama begin!
Chapter 9: Right Kind of Wrong
Chase and Foreman knew instantly something was amiss when they arrived in the office before Cameron. Although she and House were living together, that didn't stop her from arriving as always at seven-thirty. Sometimes House would be there too, usually sleeping in his office; but there were still many mornings when he would wander in around nine. So when Chase stopped abruptly in the doorway, and the two men realised the coffee pot was silent, the blinds were drawn and the computer off, it didn't take them long to realise this would not be a usual day.
"What's wrong with this picture?" Chase asked Foreman as they hung up their coats.
Foreman checked his watch, puzzled. "Cameron is late, isn't she? We haven't just shown up insanely early?"
Chase shook his head and moved to open the blinds and turn on the computer. "No... Do you think she's sick?"
Foreman sighed. "We're being stupid. She's allowed to sleep through an alarm or have bad traffic once in a while. I guess we're just used to her being here."
It was only perhaps ten minutes later that Cameron entered the office, headed straight for her desk and sat down to answer the pile of mail she obviously had collected just prior. She threw her empty starbucks container into the trash and began to type replies furiously, her mouth pressed in a tight line. House entered the conference room only moments behind her, hurled his backpack into his office and blasted his iPod, pointedly ignoring all three of his fellows.
Chase and Foreman exchanged worried looks over their newspapers, but neither was game enough to question the couple over their odd behaviour. An awkward tension filled the office, which was thankfully broken by the arrival of Cuddy, who pulled House's earphone out of one ear and dumped a file in his lap.
"House, case."
House sighed. "Not interested."
Cuddy raised an eyebrow at her diagnostician. "Not interested? Well, get interested. Twenty-two year old female presented to the clinic this morning. Complaining of nausea, abdomen pain and migraines."
House rolled his eyes. "She's pregnant. You're welcome."
Cuddy wasn't deterred. "No pregnancy. She's a junior partner in a law firm in Trenton, the migraines started after the building was fumigated last month, but she wasn't exposed."
"She's a young woman in a high pressure job. Stomach ulcer caused by stress," House replied and Cuddy shook her head.
"No ulcer. She also has severe rib pain, to the point she can barely move. Her GP asked her if she was on drugs, which she's not."
House sighed and turned off his iPod, and opened the file. "Fine, whatever. Goodbye."
Cuddy regarded him for a moment, before nodding and leaving the office and House went to the whiteboard, leaving Chase and Foreman to look at the file.
"Dr. Cameron, are you planning on playing doctor or secretary today?" he demanded of Cameron, and Chase and Foreman were shocked by his harsh tone.
Cameron simply glared at him coolly and took her seat at the conference table, taking the file off Chase. House scribbled the symptoms on the board and they had hardly begun to discuss possibilities when he capped the marker.
"Take a history. Run blood cultures, and x-ray her chest, CT her stomach. Go!"
Cameron immediately got up and went to do so, without even looking at House and Chase and Foreman immediately followed, not daring to argue.
Cameron was already at the nurses' station, using the phone to book the CT scan.
"What?" she asked as she noticed them staring at her in concern, after she'd hung up.
Foreman gestured towards the office. "Do you mind explaining what that was about?"
"What what was about?" she frowned and Chase snorted.
"You're kidding, right? For March, it felt like a blizzard in there!"
Cameron paused. "I felt fine. Maybe the heating's a little off. Just call maintenance."
Foreman sighed, shook his head. "Not the room temperature. You and House. What's going on?"
Cameron faltered. "What? Nothing."
Neither Chase nor Foreman were buying it. "Right. Cameron, what's happened?" Foreman asked gently and Cameron caught herself suddenly with tears in her eyes.
"No," she shook her head avoiding eye contact. "We have to do the tests on Sonya."
Chase met Foreman's gaze and sighed. "Alright. I'll get the history and blood cultures, you and Foreman get the CT and I'll meet you in radiology for the x-rays."
Cameron nodded and took off. Chase and Foreman exchanged a worried glance before separating. Cameron lasted until the three were taking a short coffee break in the cafeteria as they waited for the results of all their tests to come back; then she couldn't help herself from bursting.
"He read my emails," she exclaimed suddenly.
Foreman frowned. "He read your emails? Why would he do that?"
"I don't know!" Cameron replied wearily. "But when I asked him about it, he denied it. Completely... he looked me in the eyes and lied. I-I just can't believe he did it! It's a complete violation of my trust! I don't go around snooping through his computer... and even if I did, I certainly wouldn't lie about it!"
Chase was horrified. "It doesn't make any sense. I mean, we all know House likes knowing everything... but, you don't read each other's emails if you're in a relationship! It's like, the ultimate rule... along with don't sleep with their best friend."
Cameron gave a slight smile. "I'm covered there. My best friend's a male, remember?"
Foreman squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Don't worry. Just give him the cold shoulder for a few days, and he'll never do it again."
She smiled. "It's not that I'm worried he'll do it again. It's that he did it, and lied about it. Does he really not trust me so he has to read my emails?"
Chase hesitated. "I just have one question... if he read your emails... then why is he mad?"
"Right Kind of Wrong!" House announced, striding into Wilson's office, startling him.
Wilson stared up at him friend in utter confusion. "What?"
"Right Kind of wrong," House repeated as he sat down. "It's a song, Jimmy," he clarified, rolling his eyes.
Wilson shook his head. "I don't know it."
"Good lord, Wilson! Didn't you ever watch Coyote Ugly?" House demanded.
"No, was I supposed to?"
House sighed. "Forget it. You can't understand unless you have a clue of pop culture."
Wilson stared after House as he left as quickly as he'd arrived. He tried to return to his work, but found his friend's behaviour seriously worrying him, the last time he could remember House acting so strange... had been before he was with Cameron. Horror-struck, Wilson immediately turned onto Google, and typed in Right Kind of Wrong.
He read the first result listed. "Right Kind of Wrong... Leann Rimes... used in Coyote Ugly, starring Piper Perabo... lyrics..."
He hastily followed the link and read the lyrics, before leaving his office and heading next door. "OK, Right Kind of Wrong. What about it?"
House looked up at him, sighed and tossed his oversized tennis ball into the air. "Allison got this questionnaire from Jason... and she filled it in."
"Ok," Wilson said, trying to follow.
"Question nine; which song best defines your relationship with your partner? She answered, 'Leann Rimes, Right Kind of Wrong.'"
Wilson, having just read the lyrics suddenly came to a realisation, although not the one House had hoped. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "Well, that makes sense."
House startled. "What? How does that make sense?"
"Well, you are her older, formerly crippled ass of a boss. I'd be surprised if people didn't try and talk her out of being with you at first."
House glared at Wilson. "Not helping!"
"So, why does it upset you?" Wilson asked.
"Because... that's the best song that defines our relationship? A song that says, people say you're bad for me but the sex is good, so I'll stick around?"
Wilson gaped. "It doesn't actually say that?"
"It's implied!" House snarled.
Wilson went to make a comforting comment when something occurred to him. "Wait... how did you know what song she picked?"
House hesitated. "Well, she was on her laptop... and she went to the bathroom and it was open..."
"You read her emails!" Wilson exclaimed in fury, realising where he was going.
"I just happened to see... I didn't hack into her account or whatever," House said dismissively, but Wilson merely glared at him.
"And then what happened?"
"Well, she came back from the bathroom, and... Asked me what I was doing."
"And you said?"
"Nothing."
Wilson closed his eyes in shock. "You said nothing?"
"No, I said 'nothing'. As in, 'I'm doing nothing.'"
"So, you invaded her privacy, and then lied to her about it?"
"What was I supposed to say?" House demanded.
"How about... 'I was just seeing what you were doing?"
"Yeah, because that wouldn't piss her off," House replied sarcastically.
"It's better than lying!"
"I forget, is lying better or worse than cheating?" House asked innocently and Wilson glared at him, then stormed out.
He hadn't been gone long when Cameron, Chase and Foreman returned with the results. "Her tox screen showed high levels of oestrogen," Cameron said emotionlessly.
House sighed. "Gee... what would cause high oestrogen in a woman?" he asked sarcastically.
"She's not pregnant," Chase interrupted.
House sighed. "Foreman, check the home. Cameron and Chase... do an MRI and a LP, just to rule out infection."
They left obediently and Foreman glanced at Cameron in sympathy. "You want to go do the home? Get some air, some space?"
Cameron smiled gratefully. "Yeah, ok. Thanks."
She pulled off her lab coat and collected her bag and coat. As she was heading towards the elevators, House appeared in the hallway.
"Hey! Where are you going?"
"Check the home," she replied, turning.
"No, I told Foreman to check the home," House replied slowly.
"Yeah, well I'm going instead."
"Why don't you do what I told you to do, and Foreman can do what I told him to do?" House called angrily as the elevator came. "Or does that fit in with your whole 'I don't care what other people think, I'll do what benefits me' attitude you apply to everything else?"
It was a low blow, and Cameron stared at him icily. "Because I need time to think," she answered and the doors closed behind her.