Chapter Seven
She awoke to the annoying high pitched tone of her cellphone, mentally noting to change her ringtone later. One eye first opened the first and the second took a moment to warm up before fully opening. Without moving her body she searched her nearby surroundings for her cellphone while wondering when she managed to get out of the tub, put on clothes and make it to her bedroom in her current condition. She found her found underneath the pillow beside her.
"Hello?" she mumbled into the speaker.
"Cameron?" It was Chase. "Are you okay, did you hear what happened?"
"What?" she said closing her eyes, really confused.
"Kutner's dead. He committed suicide last night," he said anxiously.
"What?" she bolted up into a sitting position without relazing about her ribs and sore body. "Ow!" she gasped.
"Cameron?" Chase questioned after hearing her gasp.
"No, Chase. I'm fine, it's- Kutner? I can't-, no. I don't believe it!" tears began to form in her eye.
"You don't sound too good, do you need me to come over?"
"No, no. I just- I need some time alone," she lied and hung up without another word.
Her vision blurred behind the puddle of tears that wouldn't roll down her face. She lay back down when her eyes released the tears that were being held hostage. She cried in because she was in so much physcial pain but mostly she cried because of Kutner. He was dead. Sure, she didn't know him on a personal level, though the old team took the new team out for dinner once. Mostly, she thought about how it takes nine months to break into this world and in a swift second you can be gone. She tried to count how many times Christopher had brought her within an inch of death before. And there, clutching her abdomen, she vowed to leave Christopher. She didn't know how but she knew she needed to.
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Darkness had fallen upon the Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Sitting alone in the dark of his office, House stared at his watch. The same one Kutner had given him as a Christmas gift, though the team had vowed not to get him anything, each one caved. House knew Kutner had given it to him out of fear of his job but he still considered it a nice gesture, though he'd never admit it aloud. His whole life had been about solving puzzles, looking for clues to solving mysteries yet he hadn't noticed anything different about Kutner. A soft knock at his glass door disrupted his thoughts and he looked up. Cameron slowly inched her way forward to the chair in front of his desk and nearly collapsed herself into it.
"What did he do?" his angered voice managed.
He noted the light bruised eye and how it didn't open fully. Her oversized sweatshirt and baggy sweatpants did little to hide her frail frame. Her movements were slow, due to bruised bones. Her self-esteem and her pride was gone. Cameron was barely recognizable.
"I'm sorry," was all she could choke out.
Genuinely confused he started twirling his cane, "for..?"
"If you weren't so busy trying to get me to eat, to leave Christopher, you would've noticed something was wrong with Kutner and he could've been saved-" she said as she lost control and began to cry.
"The only person I blame for Kutner's death is Kutner. Cameron, suicidal patients have an agenda of their own. I'm pretty sure Kutner didn't wait until he realized you had an eating disorder to make sure my attention was diverted in order to get away with it,"
"I started thinking about him. Kutner. His death, it made me realize how close I am. So, i'm leaving Christopher,"
House looked at her, smiling on the inside. She was on her way back, or so he thought. He remembered the camera he'd placed in her living room and mentally noted to grab the tape as evidence for the police. At that same time, he remembered Christopher was a police officer and if Cameron was going to leave him she'd need a safe place to hide.
Standing up, House grabbed his cane and walked towards her, "First things first, we need to take a picture of the bruises".
Her body stiffened, "What-, why?"
"It's evidence, Cam. Get up," He said as he lightly grabbed her arm to gelp her.
House brought her down to the clinic and had her go into one of the rooms and lie down while he talked to Cuddy. She was doing paperwork in her office by lamp light when he interrupted her.
"House!" she said suprised, "how are you holding up?"
"
I need you to give me a scrip for some pain meds,"
"No, House. Your vicodin habbit is enough for me to deal with, i'm not gonna add fuel to the-"
"It's not for me," he said pacing
"Oh, well who's it for? Your imaginary friend?"
"Ouch!" he said. "It's for-" he looked down and hesitated, "Cameron".
"What? What happened, is she okay?"
"She's in an abusive relationship. The guy's a real peice of work, he's left her whole body in black and blue. She's in pain for a while. She wouldn't admit it to anyone but she's finally asking for help-"
"She asked you for help?"
"Not in so many words. Look! Cuddy! It doesn't matter. She needs help, I happen to be here, you happen to be able to the dean of medicine, get her meds!" he started shouted and walked out.
On his way back he had paged Wilson, who'd been comfortably sleeping. House knew Wilson wouldn't be able to ignore and 'S.O.S. bring camera' page, even if it was from his eccentric bestfriend, who's known to lie to make things work in his own favor. While House gave Cameron some medication to help ease some of the pain, the physcial pain anyways, Wilson walked in with his camera. He nearly dropped it when he saw the state Cameron was in.
"Cameron!" he ran to her side, "House what did you do?"
"I didn't do anything, it was her good for nothing boyfriend!" House said innocently with his hands in the air from the corner.
"I'll be okay, Jimmy. Thanks,"
"Now, get out Wilson! I have to take what could be construed as inappropriate pictures of Cameron in her underwear. Oh if only this were under different circumstances," he said as he pushed Wilson out of the room, locking the door.
House turned to look at Cameron and nearly froze. The way the dim light hit her face, the shadows and bruises combined and she looked like a broken china doll. He opened his mouth to speak, but before words could escape his mouth Cuddy barged through the door with a bag full of medicine in liquid and pill form as well as syringes. Her jaw dropped as she looked at Cameron. Cuddy rushed to Cameron's side and House still stood frozen by the doorway.
"Cameron? Sweetheart, you need to lie down," Cuddy said gently.
Cuddy thought about how Cameron had been the person new doctors aspired to be. How she always had time for every patient or doctor no matter how tired she was or how busy she was. Cameron slowly lifted her feet, with Cuddy's help and laid against the bed. She let out a gasp and a grunt as she felt her body connect with the cushion, which to her was zero comfort.
"We need to knock her out-" House started, finally out of his daze.
"No!" Cameron yelped, "No!"
"He's right. You'll be in less pain if we just knock you out for a few hours and monitor you closely," Cuddy added in as she opened her bag.
"You'll put me to sleep and i'll wake up with a feeding tube," she looked at House. "It doesn't matter to you if it's against my will, House, i've seen you do worse!"
She called him on that. He had planned on knocking her out and inserting a feeding tube. He mentally scratched that plan in his head and thought about a new one.
"Cameron," he said gently, in that voice he used that night in her apartment, "I promise you that if we knock you out the only thing we're gonna do is make sure you're not in pain. Cuddy's my witness and you know her, she's all about morals and ethics and feelings blah blah. So I promise no feeding tube and if I break that promise you can take my game boy".
She cracked a small smile when she heard him say she could take his game boy. Reluctantly, after a few more minutes of begging, Cuddy and House had convinced Cameron she needed to be knocked out before she went into shock from her pain. After Cameron's eyes were closed, they put her on a gurney and moved her into a more comfortable room than a clinic room. Her vitals were monitored closely as Wilson, House and Cuddy sat in her office deciding on a plan to get Cameron's boyfriend out of the picture.
"We could go to the police. We have the pictures of her bruises-" Wilson started.
"No, he is the police. Any cop in the area will look the other way once we say his name which will get back to him and get her into more trouble," House added.
"She needs to stay with someone he doesn't know. She could stay with me!" Wilson offered.
"He could easily find out that we helped her and track any of us down. He knows she use to work with me, he'll ask around and find out that you're my friend and that she let's me get away with anything in the hospital," House tapped his cane.
Cuddy began making a list of sorts for Cameron for when she woke up. A list of contacts she could get in touch with for abusive relationships and eating disorders. A list of help groups within the hospital. A potential list of places she could stay and so on. House and Wilson bounced ideas of each other as Chase knocked on the door. Cuddy motioned for him to come in.
"Hey, sorry for interrupting, I thought maybe I could help".
"Of course!" Cuddy said as he sat down.
"We're thinking of places Cameron could stay where her boyfriend wouldn't be able to find her," Wilson filled him in.
"What about a hotel?" Chase suggested and they all looked at him. "Yah, I mean i'll get a hotel in my name and she could stay there and we could rotate keeping an eye on her. She's not gonna be crazy for the idea, but we need to her hidden long enough so we can get her boyfriend a concrete room".
"I think the Brit's on to something!" House exclaimed.
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a/n: thanks for all the reviews and the messages telling me to write again. i had chapter seven written already, i must've thought it was posted already otherwise i wouldn't intentially of made you guys wait for a few months. so glad you guys are loving the story!!!!