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Chapter 15

Cameron was staring at her ceiling when the annoying beep of her alarm started going off. She had already been awake for an hour. With her head filled with recent events, sleep had managed to elude her most of the night. The situation with Chase had her really upset and the fact that he hadn't returned any of her calls from last night, told her that he wasn't going to move past this easily. And of course last night with House at the restaurant didn't help either. She wasn't sure exactly what had transpired between her and House but she would not allow her heart to rule her head this time. She had made a promise to herself the night she handed House her resignation letter. She promised to let everything she felt for him go and she hasn't looked back. It was the only way she could move forward, which is what she thought she had been doing with Chase, until now. Now, she wasn't sure about anything except accepting House's offer. She couldn't explain it but she knew she had made the right decision.

She glanced at the clock on her nightstand and pulled herself out of bed and hurried into the shower. She wanted to get to the hospital before her shift started so she could speak with Lisa to let her know of her decision. She smiled. She was happier than she had felt in a long time even if the consequences of her decision turned out to be greater than she had anticipated.

Forty-five minutes later, Cameron entered the hospital doors and took the elevator straight to Lisa's office. She noticed Lisa's young assistant wasn't in yet. She took in a couple of deep breaths and knocked on the door.

Lisa smiled when she saw it was Cameron and motioned for her to come in.

"Good morning Lisa."

"Hi Allison. You're here early."

"I wanted to talk to you before my shift started."

"Please have a seat." Lisa said and motioned to one of the chairs.

Cameron sat down and Lisa walked around her desk and sat in the chair next to her.

"I suppose you here to tell me you have accepted House's offer." Lisa stated with a smile.

"Am I that predictable?" Cameron asked a little embarrassed.

"No. You are anything but predictable." Lisa reassured her.

Cameron smiled. "Well, I'm here to officially let you know that I will be leaving the ER and accepting House's offer to work in diagnostics again." Cameron was so excited she could barely control her voice.

"I have to admit, I didn't think I would ever here that from you again. Are you sure you are ready for this again?"

Cameron let out a little laugh. "I better be, I accepted the job. I understand that I am to start on Monday and if you haven't found a replacement by then, I will be working in both departments."

"Yes. I'll try to find someone quickly. I am in the process of compiling a list of candidates right now." Lisa reached across her desk and grabbed the list of names.

"By starting a list, you must have presumed I would say yes."

"I wasn't sure but I took the chance and got a head start."

"Is Mark Brice on your list?" Cameron asked.

Lisa scanned the small list of names. "Yes, he is. Do you recommend him?"

"He works and plays well with others." Cameron said smiling. "I think he would be a good candidate."

"I will call him this morning and set an appointment." Lisa puts down the piece of paper.

"When do you want to go over my paperwork and salary?" Cameron asked.

Lisa smiled. "Like I said, I like getting a head start on things." She reached across her desk and picked up a file with Cameron's name on it. "I have already put a file together for you." She handed it to Cameron.

Cameron opened up the file and scanned the contents. "Wow. The salary is pretty generous."

"Well, it is House you are going to be working with, not to mention you're going in for your second round of combat. Certain members of the board do recognize that. I believe it's an appropriate amount. Besides, the hospital is lucky to have you." Lisa said sincerely.

Cameron took the pen Lisa was holding out to her and signed all the documents making if completely official. She closed the file and handed it back to Lisa.

"Thank you Lisa."

Lisa looked at Cameron curiously. "For what?"

"I know there wasn't room for another person on House's team."

Lisa smiled. "Ahh. House and I were creative. You are not on his team. You are his assistant, which it wasn't hard to convince the board that House needs an assistant. However, you will also be responsible to help him out with his lectures, which you know he hates doing and his budget planning, among all the other things I'm sure you are going to be doing. He's having a tough time with the new team and I'm sick of him whining. So, hopefully, his plan will work and you will keep him out of my hair."

Cameron laughed. "I'll do my best."

They both stood and gave one another a hug.

"Good luck Allison." Lisa said.

Cameron said goodbye and walked out. She saw Christy, who was now sitting at her desk and gave her a warm smile. The smile was not returned.

Lisa closed her door and couldn't deny the sadness she felt. She was happy for Cameron but she couldn't help but wonder what was really behind House's motives for asking her back. Lisa knew she needed to resolve this… thing that was between her and House before she went crazy. However, she wasn't exactly sure how to do that. When it came to House, nothing was ever easy. She decided that by the weekend, she would find a way to confront him and find out what was going on in that head of his. With that decision, she sat back down at her desk and started working on the list of candidates that would be a good choice to replace Cameron.