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Chapter 58
It was a cold, snowy Tuesday morning when Bryan Cameron's plane landed at Newark Liberty National Airport. As he waited patiently for the plane to taxi to the terminal, the anxiety he had managed to push aside during the flight was coming back, along with the sick feeling that was churning in the pit of his stomach.
Finally, he felt the plane come to a stop and it seemed to take forever before they finally let him and the other passengers exit the plane. He ignored the smiling flight attendant that wished him a nice day as he exited.
He hurried across the terminal, dodging all the people who insisted on getting in his way and took the escalator down to the lower level to collect his luggage where he knew he would have to wait again.
After waiting twenty minutes, he finally saw his two green bags roll past him. He stepped in, collected the two bags and made his way out into the cold to catch a cab. As he waited at the curb for the yellow taxi to pull up, the cold wind whipped against his face and he found it hard to believe that it was the beginning of Spring. He piled his things into the back seat and tried to relax as the driver hurried through the busy streets to the hospital. At least the taxi driver seemed to be in a hurry, which improved his mood some.
As the cab zipped through the heavy traffic like a mouse being chased through a field, he let his mind wonder back to the phone call he had received the night before from House. He was still in a daze and couldn't digest the fact that his little sister had been kidnapped. He could hear the emotion in House's voiced as he did his best to explain what had happened with Allison but nothing made sense to Bryan. Why anyone would want to hurt Allison was beyond his scope of thinking. After his conversation with House he immediately called the Jersey police to ask why they had not notified him yet of his sister's disappearance. He was transferred to Detective Hodges who explained that he was going to notify him first thing in the morning about the situation. Needless to say, the detective's answer did not please Bryan Cameron and he was grateful that Dr. House had taken it upon himself to call and give him the news himself.
Now, less than twenty four hours later, he was in a city with thousands of people he didn't know, hoping to find answers that would help him find his sister. It was going to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack and he didn't know where to begin. He knew the police were only going to give him limited information.
He let out a long breath when he felt the cab slow down to turn into the hospital parking lot. Bryan handed the driver a twenty and dragged his bags onto the sidewalk. He stood outside and stared into the glass doors of the hospital for a minute before going in to meet the man he knew his sister was in love with.
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Wilson's morning hadn't been going well. He was late getting to the hospital because his car wouldn't start, which caused him to be late for his 8:00 o'clock appointment, which pushed his 9:00 a.m. appointment, that he had forgotten about because he didn't put it into his date book, to 9:30. It was now 10:30 and he was anxious that he hadn't heard from House yet. It wasn't like House to not find a way to annoy him at least once before lunch. However, nothing was normal right now and that was why he wanted to make sure his friend was okay. Wilson quickly signed off on one more report before pushing the stack of unfinished paper work to the side. He quickly walked next door, where he found House sitting at his desk, staring at his computer screen.
House heard someone come in and glanced up.
Wilson didn't miss the dark circle underneath his eyes. "Did you get any sleep last night?" He asked with concern.
House looked away and didn't answer.
"Never mind. I know the answer." Wilson moved across the room and planted himself in a chair. "Have you heard anything?
House just shook his head no.
"Maybe you should have stayed home today." Wilson suggested.
House gave Wilson a smirk. "And why would I do that?" He asked, shrugging his shoulders slightly.
Wilson raised an eyebrow. "Because you obviously didn't get much sleep last night and because you are worried about Cameron."
House leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh. "I am worried about Cameron, just like everyone else is but it doesn't warrant me to stay home. Cameron is just a colleague."
Wilson cocked his head to the side. "Ri-ight. Cameron's more than just a colleague and you know it. Did you forget the conversation we had last night? The one where you told me that you have feelings for Cameron."
House leaned forward, placing his forearms on his desk and gave Wilson an 'I don't know what your talking about' look.
Wilson gave him one of his famous eye rolls. "Look, if you want to play the 'I don't care game' so everyone around here won't know that you care for Cameron, that's fine with me but we both know it's bull. All anyone has to do is take one look at your face and know that you have feelings for her and there's nothing wrong with that. It's okay for people to know you're capable of caring for another human being."
House sighed with annoyance and abruptly stood. He walked to his window and looked out. The gloomy day certainly fit his mood. He fished into his pocket for a vicodin and quickly popped it into his mouth and swallowed. He was angry but not because Wilson or anyone else knew he was worried about Cameron but because he hated waiting and not knowing.
Just then, Cuddy walked in with a file in hand. She could tell by the look Wilson was giving her that maybe this wasn't the best time to talk to House but she proceeded anyway. "I have a case." She said in her authorities voice, trying to sound normal.
"Give it to Foreman. They need something to do." House said before she could tell him anything about the case.
"You need to do your job." She said sternly. "It will help keep your mind off of things."
House shot Cuddy a look. "What is there to keep my mind off of?"
Cuddy looked at Wilson curiously.
"We are playing the denial game." Wilson informed her.
Cuddy lifted her chin. "Nothing new there." She stepped closer. "Well, if there is nothing to keep your mind off of, then you can take this case." She tossed the blue file onto his desk.
House glanced at the file as it landed on a stack of papers. A light tap on his door drew his attention away from the unwanted file.
Cuddy and Wilson also turned to see a tall man standing in the doorway.
House took one look at the man's face and knew he was Cameron's brother.
"I'm looking for Dr. House." Bryan said in a deep voice.
"I'm Dr. House." House answered and began to limp towards Bryan.
Bryan stepped into the office. "I'm Bryan…"
"Cameron's brother." House interrupted.
Wilson and Cuddy were both surprised and watched as House shook Bryan's hand.
"Come in. How was your flight?" House asked.
Bryan gave a slight smile. "It was good, I guess, under the circumstances."
House gave a an understanding nod.
"I wanted to stop by here first to meet you and to also pick up the key to Cameron's apartment, if that's alright?"
House stared at Bryan and couldn't get over how much he looked like Cameron. He had the same green eyes. "Sure." He answered and retrieved a gold key out of his pocket and handed it to Bryan. "Do you know your way to Cameron's place?"
"Yeah. I've been there before." Bryan glanced around House at Wilson and Cuddy.
Wilson saw that Bryan was looking at him and stood to introduce himself. "Hi. I'm James Wilson and this is Lisa Cuddy."
"Hello." Bryan shook Wilson's hand. "Allison has mentioned both of you."
"I'm sorry for what you must be going through right now." Lisa said sincerely.
"Thanks." Bryan answered softly. "I just hope Allison is okay." He looked down at the key he was holding in his hand.
House saw that Bryan was hesitating, like he wanted to say something else.
"You can stick around here for a while, if you want." House suggested trying to figure out what was on Bryan's mind.
"No. I want to get settled. I'm supposed to meet Detective Hodges this afternoon around four." He paused. "I was wondering if you would go with me." Bryan said directly to House.
Wilson and Cuddy watched House for his answer.
House didn't hesitate. "Sure. I can do that. Do you need a ride?"
"No. I'll take a cab."
House nodded. "I'll meet you there."
Bryan was relieved that House agreed to go with him so easily. "Thanks. Is four okay?
"Four works." House confirmed.
"Great. Thanks." Bryan said with some relief. "I guess I better go and get settled." He turned and looked at Wilson and Cuddy. "Nice to meet you."
"If you need anything, please let us know. We care for Cameron, I mean Allison, very much." Lisa said.
"Thanks. I appreciate that." Bryan answered. He said a quick goodbye and left.
As he left the room, House couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with a sense of sadness. Damn! He mumbled.
He saw that Wilson and Cuddy were staring at him. "What?" He snapped. "He's Cameron's brother. I had to be nice." He said with sarcasm but Wilson and Cuddy both knew he was down playing the compassion he had shown.
"Give Foreman the case." He told Cuddy again.
Something in his voice made Cuddy decide not to argue this time. She picked up the blue file and made her way to the adjoining room and handed it to Foreman.
House watched while Cuddy explained the contents of the file to Foreman.
Foreman glanced up at House and nodded as if to say he understood.
Wilson stood next to his friend. "Are you okay?"
House sighed. "Not really."
