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Chapter 31
Lisa Cuddy rounded the corner just in time to see her assistant purposely bending over in front of House to pick up a file, giving him a wonderful view of her perky, young breasts. When Lisa saw the look on House's face, she sighed loudly causing the two to look in her direction.
"Christy. I need that report done before you leave today." Lisa said as she walked past the small desk.
Christy sat back down. "Yes, Dr. Cuddy." She answered and gave House a seductive little smile.
"House. In my office." Cuddy said as she stood in her doorway.
House followed her into her office and shut the door behind him. "Before you say anything, I'm innocent."
"I'm sure you are." She said and tossed him a tissue. "You might want to wipe the drool from the corner of your mouth." She said sarcastically.
A smile tugged at one side of House's mouth.
Lisa shook her head. "Were you coming here to see me or just conviently passing by my assistant's desk?"
"I do believe it is she who is trying to seduce me. I'm just enjoying the attention. I was actually coming to see if you were free for a drink later."
Lisa stopped and stared at House. She didn't bother to hide the look of surprise that was clearly all over her face but the surprise instantly turned to skepticism. "What do you want?"
"I just told you."
"I find it hard to believe that you're asking me out for a drink for no reason. How's your patient?"
"No change and no answers. Can't friends go out for a drink or have dinner together?"
"Of course they can. You don't have any idea what this guy has?" She changed the subject again feeling a knot begin to form in her stomach.
"Not yet. About that drink."
Cuddy stopped fidgeting with the stack of papers on her desk and stared at House again. She had been planning to ask Wilson if he wanted to go to dinner but maybe going with House would be a better idea. She really needed to talk to him. She wondered if Wilson ever told him that they had gone out Saturday night.
"It's a yes or no question." House pushed.
"Okay. I'll bite. Where would you like to go?"
"Across the street is good unless you want to go somewhere else."
"No, that's fine. I'll meet you there after work?" Lisa asked, suddenly feeling a little out of her element.
"I'll see you then." He smiled slightly and walked out. As he passed by Christy, he couldn't help himself and gave her a little wink when he walked by causing her to let out a little giggle.
**********
House returned to his office to find his team sitting at the long glass table waiting for his presence. He immediately walked to the coffee pot to pour a cup of the coffee that had just finished brewing. "Okay. Start talking. What's new?"
"Nothing, other than the symptoms he came in with have only worsened." Taub said.
House took a sip of his coffee and walked over to the board and began to write the symptoms down again. "Did we ever talk to any of his friends or co-workers?"
"I talked to two co-workers and both said that he pretty much kept to himself. They didn't think he had a girlfriend and he hadn't been acting unusual other than he had been away for a few days. Probably because he has been sick."
"But we don't know for sure if that is why he was gone." He paused and wrote something on the board and stood back and stared at the symptoms. "Dr. Cameron, what would you suggest?"
Cameron was startled that he had addressed her but answered immediately. "We should find out where he was the few days he was gone and what he was doing. We also need to find someone who knows him better than his two co-workers."
Remy shot Cameron a look. "I talked to several people and only found two who seemed to know something about him. He works at a large firm."
House stopped writing. "Is he an attorney?"
"Sort of. He's studying for the bar." Remy answered.
House started writing again. "Cameron's right. Taub, take lover boy and go to his apartment or house and see what you can find. Talk to some neighbors. Someone has to know something about this guy."
Kutner blushed again when House called him lover boy and ignored Taub's curious look.
"Thirteen, you keep a close watch on him and wait for his sister." House glanced at his watch and saw that it was almost four. "Okay, that's it. The three of you," He points to Thirteen, Taub and Kutner, "are on watch tonight. Notify me of any changes."
"What about Cameron?" Taub asked.
"I don't know Taub. Why don't you ask her yourself."
Cameron looked at Taub. "I work in the ER tonight."
Taub nodded his head and the three of them left the room.
House was staring at his board and could feel the weight of Cameron's stare on him.
"Did I forget something?" He asked her.
Cameron walked over to stand beside him. She waited until he looked at her before she spoke. "I just wanted you to know how enjoyable my first day has been. I had forgotten how fun you can be." She said sarcastically.
"I told you this was going to be fun."
She gave him a smirk and left.
House watched her leave before going into his office to wait for five o'clock. He rubbed his unshaven chin and stared out the window. He wasn't really sure why he had asked Cuddy out for a drink other than he wanted to think about something other than Cameron and Wilson's little escapade over the weekend. Why it bothered him, he wasn't sure but it did and Wilson's little speech earlier was hanging in the back of his head like the diseases he tried to cure. There was something about how the two of them just fell into bed with one another. He could believe Wilson would do that but Cameron never seemed like the type of person who would just jump into bed for a one night stand… unless it wasn't a one night stand, he thought and that was what was bothering him. He wasn't sure if he liked the idea of Wilson dating Cameron. Was it possible that he was jealous of his best friend tasting something he never had the courage to do himself?
He sighed heavily and glanced at his watch. It was a few minutes before five. He put on his black leather coat and gave Thirteen a quick call on her cell to let her know that he was leaving and to reaffirm that if anything changed with the patient, to give him a call. As he was taking the elevator down to the lobby he decided to take a detour through the ER. As usual, it was full of people. He casually looked around until he found the attractive blonde immunologist, talking to one of the many patients she was going to see tonight. He slowly limped towards her.
"You might want to check on your other patient sometime tonight." He said quietly.
Cameron glanced his way as she continued to assess the young girl that was sitting on the bed before her. "I had already planned on it. Are you leaving?"
"Yep. How late do you work?"
"Midnight."
"I'm glad I'm not you. You're going to be tired."
Cameron moved around the bed to look at the back of the girl. "Nothing we haven't all done before. Are you meeting Wilson?"
"Nope. I'm meeting Cuddy for a drink."
Cameron paused with what she was doing but didn't look at House. She didn't want him to see the surprised look on her face. "Oh."
House saw the odd look that quickly crossed Cameron's face. "Is that a problem?"
Cameron looked up and shrugged her shoulders. "No." She lied.
He started to walk away but stopped. "Why did you tell me about you and Wilson?"
Cameron stopped and moved closer to House. "I don't know. I figured he would have already told you. Why? Is there a problem?" She asked with a smirk on her face.
House looked down at the sassy look on her face. Her eyes were sparkling, her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail and her slender arms crossed in front of her. He couldn't help think how cute she was standing there, looking at him like that. "Nope. Definitely not a problem."
Cameron's smirk turned into a smile. "Enjoy that drink." She said and turned her attention back towards her patient.
"I will." House answered and continued to watch her for a minute before leaving to meet Cuddy.
**********
Cuddy was already sitting at a small table to the back of the room when House joined her.
"Starting without me?" House asked, noticing the drink in her hand. He quickly ordered a scotch from the waitress and sat down across from her.
She gave him a smile and took another sip of her drink. "I wasn't sure how long you were going to be. I'm surprised you left the hospital not knowing what's wrong with Jeremy Atkinson."
He looked at her curiously. "Who?" He moved his arm so the waitress could sit his drink down.
A small laugh escaped Lisa's lips. "Your patient."
"Oh, him. That's why I have a team, so they can stay and I can leave."
They sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes, both looking around the room, which wasn't too crowded.
Lisa cleared her throat and finally spoke. "So, why did you ask me out for a drink?"
"No reason, really."
She nodded her head.
"Why did you accept?" He asked.
"To find out what you're up to."
"I thought you accepted because you like me."
Lisa was clearly stunned at his comment and wasn't exactly sure how to respond. "I'm one of the few people who are willing to tolerate you."
House placed his drink to his lips and almost drained the glass with one swig. He watched Lisa closely, noticing how she was avoiding his stare. "Did you know Wilson and Cameron slept together over the weekend?"
She looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Really. And where did you get that piece of information?"
"Cameron blurted it out this morning then Wilson confirmed it. I never imagined those two together." He said more to himself than to her.
Lisa tilted her head to the side and stared at him. "Does it bother you that they slept together?" She asked taking the last sip of her drink.
"Why would it bother me? I just find it interesting." He lied.
Lisa took a deep breath. "You know, we can order another drink here or we could go back to my place and have a drink there."
It was House's turn to be surprised. "Is that an invitation for a drink or for something else?"
Lisa was surprised at how at ease she felt asking him to come home with her. "Why don't we have a drink and go from there."
House thought for a moment but decided he was just in the mood to do something insane. "Why not." He said and tossed some money on the table for his drink and put his leather jacket on.
Lisa stood and did the same.
They looked at one another.
"Lead the way." House said and followed her outside.
Before Lisa got into her car she turned and looked at House who was putting on his helmet. "See you there." She said with a smile.
A few minutes later, House was slowly following Lisa Cuddy down the street wondering what in the hell was he thinking.
**********
Cameron managed to walk out of the hospital at 12:05. She couldn't believe how tired she was. She hoped Cuddy found a replacement for her soon because she wasn't looking forward to doing this for too long. As she approached her jeep, she saw something on her windshield and at first thought it was a flyer of some sort then realized it was a white envelope. A chill, not caused by the cold air, ran through her. It had been several weeks since she had last received a note and thought it had stopped. She glanced around and quickly grabbed the envelope. Once inside her jeep, she locked the doors and hurriedly pulled out of the parking lot. She didn't want to stick around and open the envelope there. All she wanted to do was get home as fast as she could. As she drove down the street, she kept glancing in her mirror to see if anyone was following her. Twenty minutes later, she pulled into her parking lot, looked around before hurrying into her apartment. She quickly shut and locked her front door, turned on the light, tossed her bag and purse, along with the envelope onto her dining room table. After hanging up her coat, she went over and picked up the long white envelope. Unlike the others, this one had her name on the front… her first name. This shook her up some. She carefully undid the seal and pulled out the white piece of paper that had neatly typed print on it. She took a deep breath and read the words.
Sweet Allison, this will be my last letter to you for a while. I'm afraid my words are not showing you how I truly feel. I will have to find a different way to let you know how special you are to me. Please know my Love, it will not be long before we are together, forever. Until then.
Cameron stared at the note with her mouth open. Is this real? She said out loud. She hadn't really taken the other notes seriously but this one scared her and she wasn't sure what to do with it. The best thing to do would be to take it to Cuddy in the morning and go from there. After all, it did happen on hospital grounds. She placed it back into the envelope and placed the envelope in her bag. As she proceeded to her bedroom to get ready for bed, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her. She locked her bedroom door and crawled into bed with her cell phone lying next to her. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to get very much sleep tonight. Cameron closed her eyes and tried to think of something other than the note so she could fall asleep. The last thing she remembered was House reaching for her and how safe it had made her feel. After that, she fell into a deep sleep and slept straight through the night.
