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.

Also, there is no Hamilton intersection in New Jersey- that I know of, because I live in Australia, so I made one up.

Chapter 10: Time to think

Cameron stepped out onto the patient's front porch and inhaled a lungful of the crisp spring air. The home hadn't revealed much, but she had reported a few findings back to Foreman and Chase and now headed back to her car.

She sat heavily in the driver's seat, and sighed her head resting on the headrest. This was the first major fight between her and House, and she was actually surprised it hadn't happened sooner. It actually hurt her, she admitted to herself. It hurt that he felt he had to read her emails, and then had lied blatantly about it to her face. And that comment he'd made just before she'd left, clearly throwing it in her face!

And it was alright for him to be upset over her answers to the questionnaire, he wasn't the one that had had to deal with being 'advised' by friends and family about the sincerity of her feelings for him. Of course, this had only been before they'd actually gotten together, when she'd realised she'd fallen for her older, crippled, miserable boss but it still happened. Two days before, she and House had run into an old friend of her's from med school. When Cameron had introduced House as her boyfriend, the woman's eyes had widened in surprise for a moment.

Cameron knew that look of course. It was the 'why-him?' look, and she was sick to death of it. She started the engine and began the drive back to the hospital.

"Stupid cow," she muttered to herself, thinking of the woman she'd met. "What does she know about my relationship with Greg?"

She fell into her habit of comparing what people saw when they spotted her and House together, and what the reality was. Cameron was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't see the speeding car attempting to cross the intersection before the light turned red. She didn't hear the semi-trailer slam the brakes to swerve around the car, or the tyres lose grip on the still icy roads. Cameron turned her head just in time for her brain to process the semi-trailer smashing into the side of her car; and then all was lost.

*

Wilson had just finished his lunch when his pager sounded, AIMEE MCGREGOR IN ER. COME ASAP he read.

"Damn!" he swore, jumping up from his seat. He didn't even take time to throw his rubbish into the garbage before sprinting out of the cafeteria and hurrying towards the ER. He burst into the ER and headed towards Dr. Schafer.

"Hey, I got a page?" he asked.

Dr. Schafer nodded and grabbed a file off the desk and handing it to him. "Yeah, Aimee McGregor was brought in by paramedics about ten minutes ago. She was found by her neighbour in the bath with her wrists slit. One of the nurses that help out in oncology recognised her as your patient."

Wilson nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

Wilson sighed as he headed towards Aimee. Aimee McGregor was one of his most tragic cases. At only nineteen, she was estranged from her parents and had no other family. She had severed all contact with her family when they disapproved of her boyfriend, who had then gotten her pregnant. Throughout the pregnancy, she had suffered hip pain and severe symptoms. Tests after the birth of her daughter, revealed terminal leukaemia and Aimee was not coping with her diagnosis.

Now, Aimee was lying in bed, both wrists bandaged and a dead look in her eyes, that always chilled Wilson to the core, no matter how many times he saw it.

"Aimee?"

She glanced up at him, and it was a moment before she registered him. "Dr. Wilson."

"Yeah. Aimee, where are Paul and Sophie?" he asked gently.

"Paul took her to his mother's for the day," she replied quietly.

Wilson sighed and took her hand gently in his. "Why did you do it, Aimee?"

There were tears in her eyes as she answered. "I just wanted it to stop. I can't take it anymore, watching the baby... and Paul... knowing I have to leave and I'll never get to see my daughter grow up!"

Wilson nodded slightly. "I understand, Aimee. But Paul and Sophie don't deserve that. They deserve to say goodbye. They deserve you to fight for as long as you can..."

He was interrupted when Dr. Schafer approached him. "Wilson, we're going to transfer her to psych for 72 hours observation."

Wilson was startled. "Now? Can't you wait till her boyfriend gets here?"

Schafer shook her head. "There was a nasty accident on the Hamilton intersection. Casualties are on their way here, and we need the bed space."

Wilson nodded, and returned to Aimee. "Aimee, they're going to move you now. I'll come see you later ok? Paul and Sophie will be here soon, I promise."

Aimee nodded as two nurses helped her into the wheelchair, flashing Wilson a tiny smile, giving Wilson hope all was not lost yet. He was feeling immensely satisfied and about to return to his office when paramedics dashed into the room with a woman on a gurney.

"Wilson!"

Dr. Schafer's horror-stricken cry made Wilson turn, his heart in his throat. He headed towards her, but froze when he saw what had made her so shocked.

"Cameron!" he gasped, hurrying to get a closer look.

"What happened?" he demanded of the paramedics, who had handed a motionless Cameron into the care of Dr. Schafer and nurses by now.

"Semi-trailer crushed her and her car," the first replied. "Took us an hour to get her out of the car... not that there's much left of it."

"Was she conscious?"

"No, her pulse was barely there when we found her. She's lost a hell of a lot of blood... we didn't think she'd make it."

Wilson paled, and immediately turned and hastened towards the elevator. He dashed right past Cuddy without even acknowledging her, and burst into the Diagnostic's office panting.

House stared at him in bewilderment. "Ok, when did Wilson become a dog?" he asked Chase and Foreman.

Wilson regained some of his breath and ignored his friend's comment. "House, you've got to get down to the ER!"

"Why? Another patient? Haven't even officially finished this one yet," House replied.

He shook his head. "Not a patient, House. It's Cameron."

House froze and Chase and Foreman's jaws dropped. "What about Cameron?" House asked sharply. He hadn't even noticed until Chase pointed it out that she'd been gone for nearly two hours, but had decided she was somewhere cooling off.

Wilson didn't even know where to begin. "There was an accident-"

That was all he got out before all three men dashed out of the office, and didn't even wait for the elevator, storming the stairwell in their haste to get downstairs. House was the first to reach the ER, and the first sight that greeted him was the crowd of people around a bed closest to the door. He moved to the right and caught a glimpse of glossy, dark brown hair matted with a dark substance that was undeniably blood. House froze and stood rooted to the spot as Chase and Foreman recognised their colleague and friend.

"Oh, god!" Foreman whispered, staring at the crowd fighting to stabilise her and prepare her for emergency surgery.

Chase was ashen, but collected himself quickly. "I'll go scrub in and assist with her surgery."

"I'll call her family," Foreman added and they both hurried off again.

In a daze, House stared at the wall opposite as Cameron was wheeled past him on her way to surgery and found himself walking in a ghost-like state back towards his office. He hadn't been there long when a sober-faced Cuddy and Wilson appeared in the doorway, their faces grim.

"What's the prognosis?" House asked them dully.

Cuddy glanced at Wilson before answering. "A semi-trailer swerved to avoid another car. It skidded and crashed into Cam- Allison's car, crushing it."

House didn't appear to have any reaction so she continued. "She has a moderate head wound but the swelling should subside without surgery."

"So what does require surgery?" House asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

Cuddy's voice wavered as she replied, "She severed an artery in her left arm, but Dr. Sanders thinks they can save the arm. House, her heart, lungs and liver were severely crushed. There's a lot of damage... she may not survive."

House was perfectly silent and still, and after a moment Cuddy left, glancing at Wilson helplessly.

"What do we do?" she asked Wilson when they were out in the hall.

"We wait," he replied sadly.

"Not about Cameron. I'm worried about House, he... he's not even reacting!"

Wilson hesitated. "He didn't expect this. He and Allison have been fighting, and now she's fighting for her life."

Cuddy sighed heavily. "This is just awful... if she dies,"

"We can't think like that," Wilson cut her off. "Come on, we'll get some coffee and wait. Chase will know more when he comes out."

Chase left the operating theatre and let out a soft moan, burying his face in his hands. The surgery had endured for four hours, and they had nearly lost her five times and given her countless transfusions. They had managed to save the arm and repair her organs, but she would have a long recovery... 'If she recovers', Chase thought to himself. He had never seen so much damage in a patient before, and the fact it was Cameron made it that much worse.

He took a deep breath to steady himself and then entered the waiting room, to find himself facing a swarm of people. Cameron's entire family was there, save Hayley and her husband; Jason and his wife Jasmin, one of Cameron's closest friends; and of course, Foreman, Wilson and Cuddy, along with half a dozen nurses.

"How is she?" Amanda demanded, her voice hoarse from crying.

Chase sighed. "She's alive. That's the best news we have right now. We saved her arm and repaired her crushed organs... she lost a lot of blood. We just have to wait now."

Chris's face was pale as he processed the news. "Can we see her?"

He nodded. "Yeah, sure. Just so you're warned... she's on a lot of machines right now."

"But she's not as bad as she looks, right?" Jason asked, who seemed the most visibly shaken.

Chase grimaced. "I wish that was the case."

He took Amanda, Marcus, Chris and Kym into see her then, and Amanda looked as though she was going to faint at the sight of her daughter, but Marcus gripped her firmly. Cameron was deathly pale with a large bandage on her head. She was on a respirator and there were tubes attached to monitors from every part of her.

"Oh, my baby girl..." Chris whispered, stroking her hand tentatively.

Kym couldn't take her eyes off the surrounding machines and finally shook her head. "I can't... I'll wait outside."

"How does she look?" Jake asked his mother when she returned to the waiting room.

Kym sniffed. "She looks dead."

Dan's jaw dropped. "What? Kym, she can't-"

"She does. I can't even describe it... all I could think was if that was Jake or Hayley..." she began to cry and Jake embraced his mother.

"Allie's strong, Mom. She'll pull through."

"Can we see her?" Bryan asked, speaking for Erin, Ben and himself.

Kym shook her head. "I don't think so, sweetheart. Not yet."

"Mom!"

Kym turned from her protesting children to see Hayley and Tyson hurriedly approaching. "I'm so sorry we're late. We had to take the kids to Tyson's parents and traffic was awful. How's Allie?"

"You can see her yourself," Marcus answered for Kym as he, Amanda and Chris returned.

"Me too!" Jason said quickly.

He, Jasmin, Hayley, Jake and Dan made the trip down to the recovery room and all simultaneously froze at the sight of Cameron.

"Oh my god!" Jake finally got out and he cautiously approached the bed, eyeing his stepsister as though she was made of glass.

Hayley felt as though she couldn't decide whether to vomit or faint, and settled on crying as she viewed the machines giving her step-sister life.

"I just keep picturing her as that tiny little eight-year old girl we met. Remember, Jake?"

Jake smiled fondly. "She was so shy, and had, like, five books stuffed into her knapsack."

"She remembers everything she reads," Jasmin smiled at the memories, and Jason stifled a sob.

"You can cry, Jase. We don't judge," Dan told him.

Jason laughed dryly. "Allie does. I shed a few tears during one episode of Buffy and she never lets me forget it."

The five stayed there for another few minutes before leaving, and Foreman, Wilson and Cuddy made to replace them.

"Wait, where's House?" Hayley asked them, realising he wasn't there.

Foreman hesitated. "In his office, I think. He's been there since she came in."

Hayley's eyes narrowed in anger, and as Foreman headed in to see Cameron, she took off down the hall to confront House.