He fired the gun. The sound thundered through his ears. He was doing the right
thing and even if no one thought so, it wasn't their choice to make. None of them had to
live with the pain. He stood and waited for them to come. He was certain that they would.
They'd watched him like a hawk for two weeks now. He could still see those eyes, so
haunted, so sad but he had to do right. He had promised her after all. He loved her and
he wouldn't let her down. Some thought he was a hard man, views difficult to understand.
But he never wanted anyone too close and she had been his reason, for both of them.
He fired the gun again and looked at the bottle of pills in his hand. It made iteasier somehow. The gun went to his head. He could feel the cold steel, it would all be
over soon.
"NO!" House screamed from his place on the couch. Cameron who had been awake for a few hours had just come in from making coffee.
"House! House! Wake up! GREG!" This brought him out of the nightmare and as he sat up quickly the pain in his side made him grit his teeth.
She sat beside him holding onto him trying to sooth him.
"Get the hell off of me! Don't try to rescue me damn it!" And with that he grabbed his cane and marched off to the bathroom slamming the door.
Cameron didn't feel any urge to stick around with his temper in disarray. She grabbed the leash from the kitchen table, leashed up Lusha and quietly took her leave.
The shower felt good upon his skin. His leg didn't really hurt all that bad, but the
pain had shifted north to his temple. He played the dream and memories over and
over in his mind. The ache in his head seemed to be where the gun had been in his dream.
Then instantly he flashed back to Cameron and the look of fear on her face. When
he'd seen it there, he thought she was looking at him as if to judge him a crazy man. It
was Wilson's eyes in his mind. He became angry and stormed off. He took one last dip
under the showerhead and headed for his room to dress. After changing into some old
jeans and a navy blue T-shirt that read "Road Warrior USA" he sighed and moved to exit
his room. The cabin was abnormally quiet.
"Cameron?"
No answer. She was nowhere to be found. He wasn't sure if he was angry or
worried. After checking the backyard he decided to take the scooter down to Uncle
Cappy's. It was a logical place for her to go and he had now noticed that his Lusha was
gone also.
He started down the path. He loved his scooter. In a town as small as
Margaretville, you didn't need a car unless you lived up in higher regions of the Catkills.
And a motorcycle wasn't an expense he cared to have as he wasn't in town every
weekend. Still the little Buzzsaw had power and he wasn't the only to have one in town.
He quickly glanced in the window of Giovanni's and scanned it for signs of her.
He dare not enter alone. Uncle Cappy would certainly grill him. And he was in no
position to answer about her whereabouts, let alone his reasons for bringing
Cameron to his cabin. Not even he knew what his reasons were. So he moved on.
It was still early in the morning so most of the little shops were still closed, allowing him
to avoid the local busy bodies. He'd nearly given up hope when he realized he'd
overlooked his favorite spot. He rode down the short hill and then heard the familiar bark
of his dog. She was barking loud and fast. His heart began to pound in his chest. The lake
lay beyond the trees.
As he rounded the last of the trees, he saw her. She was sitting on a picnic table
throwing bread to the ducks in the water. Lusha stood next to her on the table,
barking out intimidation, but the duck's quacking seemed to be mocking her. He
parked the scooter and walked down to where she sat.
"Dognapping is a felony in some counties."
"Not if the dog comes of it's own free will when her owner turns into the Hulk."
"The muscular physique fits but even I don't eat that many green vegetables." He said taking a seat beside her.
"I-uh, I'm sorry. It was a rough dream."
"Same one you had in the car?"
"Oh that one? No I was just envisioning Keanu Reeves in a thong. Kinda scary coming from a guy that has no acting ability what-so-ever."
She gave him a "yeah right" kind of look and turned back to the ducks.
"Yeah it was the same one."
He waited for her to say something but she went on feeding the ducks.
"You lost the bet you know?"
"Yeah, I know. And I'm disappointed but fair is fair. So you better get me all the details of this marriage arrangement." She said a little bitterly.
"Bet's over Al. You can stop trying to be me. Is being married to me and kissing
me in front of those hairless chimps, really that bad? You didn't have a problem with it
when you thought I had cancer."
"I thought you were dying House. Is it so terrible for you to think that someone cared if you died? Don't you think I wanted to kiss you without tricking you?"
"I know all that. That was then. We're here and it's still the same story, just a
different location. So what do you want from me? You want some cheap, tawdry
roll in the hay? I can oblige that. But don't ask me to look into your eyes the next
morning and find that you've fallen in love. Love is for all intents and purposes, pathetic."
"Then why did you bring me here?"
"Because, if you'd have stayed back in Jersey, you'd have become one of them. The wonderful not-so-Disney version of the Ogre Hunters."
"Then tell me why they're hunting you, House. How can I take your side if you won't tell me?"
"I don't need you to take my side!" And then more quietly "I just don't want you to take theirs."
"Fine. I'll drop it because you won't tell me anyway. But I want to at least know what I'm going back to. I want to know what I'm to expect when I get there. And I want to know that whatever happened, I can still trust you."
"When have you ever trusted me?"
"When have I ever NOT trusted you? I don't always agree with your methods or your discord, but I never thought there was a time when you couldn't fix something."
And then she looked up at him and there was the faintest trace of tears in her eyes.
"This is how it started last time."
"What started?"
He moved to kiss her and would've succeeded if Lusha hadn't started barking and
taken off. House looked back in the direction of his scooter and saw his Uncle Cappy and
Aunt Virginia walking Norris and Trivett towards them. Norris was a brown boxer and
Trivett was a black lab.
"Corrado, look! It's my Bambino! He's home!"
Cameron laughed as the 4'10" woman wrapped herself around House.
"Who's dis?" She said sounding like she was from the Bronx.
"Uncle Cappy, Aunt Virginia this is Dr. Allison Cameron. She's my fiancé."
"Oh thank you Jesus! You hear that Corrado? Greg's getting married! See all the extra time I spent in church this year paid off. My little man's getting married. And she's beautiful and knows how to smile."
"So dat's why you came, uh? You didn't tell me you's were getting married yestaday!"
"Yestaday, whata you talkin' about yestaday? He was here and you didn't tell me? Aw the things you're gonna do for me when we get home." She said shaking her hand up in the air like she was waving to herself.
"Aw come on my little spicy marinara. I told Greg here I'd keep it a secret and I'd bring you to da park this mornin'. I fed him good, I promise."
She turned back to look at House and then she nearly exploded with happiness.
"Da fireworks. You gonna get married under the fireworks. But this is Saturday. We got a lot to do. I can't be ready by Monday, Bambino. Oh I know! We'll move the celebration to next weekend. Monday the whole town will be here for the picnic and you can have your engagement party!"
She moved over to Cameron leaving Uncle Cappy, House and the two male dogs
with them. Virginia went on and on about how her little Greg loved fireworks even as a
boy. She went on and on and Cameron who was in danger of fight or flight when she
mentioned the wedding, suddenly felt at ease.
"Are you psychic or just lucky?" House said quietly to his uncle, keeping an eye on Cameron.
"I saw you head down here on the bike. I was at the butcher buying ground beef for the meatballs. Your aunt was headed this way with the boys, so I just left Joey running things and walked her down."
"Good cover."
"Ah Greg when you get married, you learn two very important things. The first is there ain't no love like it and the second is duck and cover, in that order. I'm happy for ya's. I love that Allison."
"Not as much as Aunt Virginia."
After an hour of getting Aunt Virginia to stop talking Cameron's ear off; and
another hour of her giving her favorite nephew a decade's worth of affection, his
aunt and uncle made their way back up the hill.
"Getting married next weekend? I thought I was already your wife according to our stakes?"
"My aunt woulda skinned me if I'd gotten married without her there. She's wanted this for so long and her 40th wedding anniversary is in two weeks. Look we get married and we'll be back the following Monday to have it annulled. Agreed?"
"All right fine, but I'm not changing my last name to House and there better be a lock on my room."
"Afraid my Banana Republic is going to meet your Last Mango in Paris and create a little Juicy Fruit?"
"Yeah and create a baby coconut. My eyes and your hard, fuzzy little head; and that is what we call a Jamaica Mistaka!"
"Maybe so but I fear that you've slept with too many old-timers. You probably couldn't stand the hike up Mt. Gregory. Better leave that to the experts like Cuddy and Stacy. "
Cameron tried to hide her surprise but his smirk told her she'd done a poor job.
She was beginning to wonder if she had a minor case of Stockholm syndrome. He
walked back to the scooter and she looked down at her furry faithful companion.
"I know what I'm doing. Don't I?"