A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, and it's nice to see some new readers. We hope you'll continue to enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: (because I forgot last time) Hughville and I don't own House or any of its characters. They belong to Fox and David Shore.

Chapter Two

After a long shower and a thorough delousing, Allison was clean and settled in a bed upstairs where she waited for someone to come see her. She expected the good looking older man she saw in the clinic, but what she got instead was a young, blonde, blue-eyed doctor with an Australian accent and perfect white teeth.

Jesus, are all the doctors in this place good looking? she thought to herself as he looked over her chart and then smiled at her.

He saw her when she was admitted and whisked away to be cleaned up per House's orders and she looked like a ragamuffin. So he had a better look at her. She was beautiful. Her long blonde hair was braided and it lay like a silk rope over her shoulder. There were dark circles under her eyes and she was pale but her eyes shifted between green and blue. He felt an immediate attraction to her.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Chase," he told her shifting his weight and glancing around the room. "I work for Dr. House in Diagnostic medicine."

"Allison Cameron," she rasped before she launched into a coughing fit. Chase poured her a glass of water and quickly took out his stethoscope to listen to her lungs.

"I'm going to take you down to x-ray. I don't like the sound of your lungs." He left the room and returned with a wheelchair. Allison was still coughing, but had grabbed a tissue. When she pulled it away from her mouth, there was a generous amount of green pus.

"Ah crap," Chase said as he took the tissue and put it in a sample cup. "How long have you been like this?"

"A few weeks," she sighed, clearly out of breath. Her ribs hurt from coughing so hard and she couldn't stop shivering.

"Are you cold?" Chase asked as he grabbed a blanket off the bed and wrapped it around her.

"Yes. Thanks."

"We won't be long in x-ray. Then I'll bring you back and get you comfortable."

"You're very kind. Thanks, Dr. Chase," she wheezed.

After her x-ray, Chase returned Allison to her room, gave her a round of antibiotics, a cough suppressant and made sure she was comfortable before leaving her in the care of the nurse on duty.

"You're an idiot," House hissed at Chase. "She has a pleural effusion and her lungs are filled with God knows what. And you felt she was okay so you went home."

"She was fine, stable and comfortable..."

"She has pneumonia! She is most certainly not fine and you were supposed to stay and monitor her. Not pawn her off on the nurses. Did you even read her chart? Cast those pretty eyes over my notes?"

Chase didn't have anything to say at that point, and couldn't, as House was already limping away. He drug his feet as he followed.

Allison slowly awoke when she heard movement in her room, and opened one eye when she noticed the handsome older doctor from the clinic checking her pulse.

"Good. You're awake."

"I'm cold," she shivered. He took out a thermometer and placed it in her mouth for a few moments before checking it.

"You have a fever. I'll get you something for that. As you suspected, you have pneumonia, and a pleural effusion. We're going to need to drain the fluid from yourlungs. We can put you out or just give you a local. Which do you want?"

"Put me out, please," she croaked. "I know how painful that is."

"Alright. I'll be back later with Dr. Chase."

A nurse entered a few minutes later with several IV bags. She inserted an IV port in the back of Allison's right hand and then hooked up the bags. She unraided Allison's hair and ran a brush through it. Lifting her head, the nurse put an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. Soon Allison floated away as the medication worked its way through her system. Once she was out, the nurse inserted a catheter and hooked the bag on the side of the bed.

House and Chase entered after the nurse left.

"Hold her up," House instructed.

Chase pulled on a pair of surgical gloves then lifted Allison up and supported her head. Her hair fell over his arm and he fought the urge to stroke it.

House also put on a pair of surgical gloves, opened the back of her hospital gown and frowned. "Jesus, she's like a skeleton. Did you weigh her?"

Chase looked at him and then away.

"You are useless," House ground out as he swabbed Allison's back. He picked up a large bore needle and carefully inserted it between two of her ribs. As he began to drain the fluid, he looked at her back. "Did you do a thorough physical exam like I ordered?"

"The nurses bathed her and removed all the lice," Chase told him quietly. "They even combed all the bugs and eggs from her hair and braided it. Looks like someone brushed it today."

House grunted and pulled the full syringe out. He tossed it on a tray and snapped off his gloves.

"Well, how wonderful for her that she's clean and someone brushed her hair. Go home and don't come back until I call you. I have to decide whether or not to fire you," he told Chase as he pulled on another pair of gloves.

Chase swallowed, laid Allison down on her bed, and pulled the blankets up over her. Slowly he walked out of the room.

House flipped back the blankets and moved to the end of the bed.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Someone bring me a pen light!"

"You bellowed?" Wilson asked as he came in. He handed his pen light to House. "You can't fire Chase."

House ignored him and began to examine Allison's toes and feet. He moved up her legs shining the penlight over her skin. He lifted the hem of her gown.

House quickly did a cursory vaginal exam.

"No sign of sexual assault," he commented as he pushed her gown up higher and rolled her on her side.

Wilson picked up her chart and began making notations.

"She's got bite marks on her lower back," House told him. "Look like rat bites. We should test her for hanta virus. I want an LP, blood cultures, CBC, chem 7, electrolytes, urinalysis, bone scan...oh, hell, let's test her for everything. We have no idea how long she's been homeless. She used to be a doctor."

Wilson wrote rapidly on the chart. "Is that why you're so interested in her?"

"Oh, don't start," House sighed as he rolled her onto her back and shone the light in her mouth. "She has some sores in her mouth."

"She's beautiful," Wilson commented. "She's smart if she was a doctor. And she's trapped here. Just your kind of woman."

"Pupils are equal and reactive," House said. He ran his fingers through her silky hair as he examined her scalp. "She's got lice bites, too. Damn. How does a doctor end up on the streets?"

"I take it that's a rhetorical question?" Wilson asked as he put the chart on the end of the bed.

House pulled the covers up over her and adjusted her oxygen mask. He pulled his gloves off and tossed them on the tray with the needle and the other pair of gloves.

"Have a nurse come in here and clean up. I'll be back."

Wilson sighed and watched him limp away. Walking over to Allison, he reached out and smoothed her hair.

"You're lucky," he whispered. "House doesn't usually care this much about someone he just met."

House returned thirty minutes later with a stack of medical journals. Entering Allison's room, he was relieved to see that it was clean and she was still out. He sat down in the chair beside her bed and began to read.

Allison awoke slowly. She could breathe easily and didn't feel an overwhelming need to cough. She was warm and comfortable. She also needed to pee. Slowly she pushed the covers back and sat up. Looking down, she saw the catheter tube. With a sigh, she drew the covers back up and laid back down.

A nurse entered. She smiled when she saw the Allison was awake. Allison smiled back.

"Good morning!" the nurse chirped happily. She was tiny with long black hair, large brown eyes and freckles across her nose. "I'm Lucy. Doctor House said you can have clear liquids. You've been out for a week and he doesn't want to overload your system. We've been feeding you through a nasal tube but he took that out last night. You must be pretty special for him to stay with you the whole time. He's downstairs talking to Doctor Cuddy but he'll be back, don't worry! Everything's going to be okay!"

Allison stared at her with wide eyes as she flitted about the room talking. When she finished, Allison was sitting up, the room was tidy and the bed table was placed in front of her. An orderly entered with a tray and Lucy took it from him. She put it down on the table and uncovered everything. There was hot tea and clear broth. For the first time in a long time, Allison wasn't starving. She picked up the tea and sipped it.

"Thank you, Lucy."

Lucy beamed at her. Then she sobered.

"Do you know Doctor House? You know, from when you were a doctor?" she asked as she leaned in toward Allison.

Allison shook her head.

"Was he the doctor I saw in the clinic?" she asked as she picked up the cup of broth and drank a bit.

Lucy nodded. "He usually only takes cases other doctors give up on and he almost never sees his patients. Everyone is talking about you two."

Allison smiled faintly.

Lucy smiled again. "Well, if you need anything the buzzer is right here," she told her indicating a button on the enclosed rail of her bed. "I'm days and Chuck is nights. I'll be in later to bathe you."

Before Allison could answer, she was gone.


House gripped his cane with both hands and stared at Cuddy who sat at her desk looking at him impassively.

"She can't go back on the streets. She was a doctor. She can get her license renewed if you let me work with her. She can fulfill her CME requirements here. You've done it before for other doctors!"

Cuddy leaned back and put her feet up on her desk. Her skirt slid back revealing her thighs.

"Why her? Normally you don't care about anyone except yourself. Is it because she's pretty? Because she is very pretty," she smirked.

"She diagnosed herself. She's an Immunologist. I could use one on my team. Jenkins is nearly at the end of his fellowship and wants to move to Texas. Putting Cameron in his place would save me from having to interview anyone." House paused and tapped his chin. "I've always wanted to do something more interesting when it comes to interviewing morons to work for me. I could hire about forty and slowly whittle away at them until I find the one I like best. I could find another guy and keep the sausage fest going."

Cuddy narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

"How long have you know me? I never dare. I just do," he said silkily with a slight smile.

Cuddy stared at him for several minutes. House waited. Then she sighed. He tried not to smile in triumph and failed.

"Fine," she said. "Allison Cameron can work with you. But you have to document her hours and make sure meets all the requirements."

House turned and started to leave.

"Where is she going to live?" Cuddy asked as he put his hand on the door handle. "I'm not paying her a stipend for an apartment and living expenses."

House opened the door and looked over his shoulder. "Oh, you let me worry about that. You just make sure she gets paid a normal salary." He limped out and left the door wide open.