Please Forgive Me
Chapter Two
As the nurse appeared and asked if he was okay, Chase just turned his head and stared at her blankly for several seconds until he suddenly snapped out of his shock, bent down to pick up Cameron's things from off the ground, and swiftly took off running back into the hospital. As soon as he entered the lobby again, he paused to look around the large room while everyone inside turned their heads to stare at him quizzically. He simply ignored them as he burst into Cuddy's office and found that the Dean of Medicine was speaking with Wilson and Nurse Smits while she was finishing packing up her things before going home for the night herself.
Upon seeing his distress, Cuddy walked around from behind her desk as she stepped toward the younger doctor and asked, "Chase, are you alright?"
He ignored the question as he asked in return, "Did either of you see Allison shortly after the lockdown ended?"
"Allison?" Wilson stated in confusion. "You mean Cameron? She was here tonight?"
"Did you see her?" Chase asked again curtly.
Lisa shook her head as she answered, "No, we never knew she was here in town. What's going on, Chase? What's wrong? Are those her things you're holding?"
The Australian set the things on Cuddy's desk and sank down onto the couch beside Wilson as he hung his head and covered it with his arms in frustration, then he finally muttered, "She's gone. Somebody's taken her."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa… talk to us," Cuddy immediately responded as she knelt down in front of her employee and placed her hands gently on his knees out of concern. "What do you mean, somebody's taken her?"
"I watched her leave the hospital a half hour ago," he replied somberly as he looked up again and into the woman's eyes, then looked between Wilson and the nurse. "But when I finally left myself a few minutes ago, I found her car still here in the parking lot. And when I called her, I heard her cell phone nearby. Her phone, her purse, and her keys were on the ground on the driver's side. I need you pull up the surveillance footage of the parking lot to find out what happened to her, please."
House walked in just then as he asked callously, "To find out what happened to who? Was Marilyn Monroe abducted by aliens? And by Marilyn Monroe, I mean Dr. Cameron. Marilyn Monroe is who I always saw before me when she was here."
Cuddy walked back around her desk again and began to do as Chase requested, while Wilson stood up from the couch as he stared at his friend coldly, then he answered, "This is no joke, House. Cameron was kidnapped about thirty minutes ago."
"Why the hell would you think that?" the genius doctor asked, now with what seemed like genuine concern, at least with the most concern the man was capable of showing for those he cared about, upon seeing the seriousness on their faces. "Were you on the phone with her when it happened?"
"I found her things lying on the ground on the driver's side of her car," Chase responded as he leaned back while Nurse Smits motioned to his wife's purse on the desk. "She was taken, I know it."
Cuddy kept working on her computer and then finally spoke up again saying, "The footage is up. I'm almost to the time she would have left the hospital. Janice, could you please go and make a call to the police? Tell them to get here straight away."
As Smits walked out, Chase immediately stood up and ran around the desk, while House and Wilson rushed over as well, and when they all stared at the screen, they watched helplessly as a man dressed in a leather jacket, gloves, boots, and a black knit cap wrapped his arm around Cameron and held her in place while he knocked her unconscious with a cloth they knew was covered with chloroform, then picked her up and carried her off out of view of the cameras. The man did a good job at keeping his face hidden even though he didn't bother to wear a mask.
As the footage ended, Chase quickly grabbed the mouse away from the Dean and zoomed in as far as he could on his wife's face, seeing the fear on her face and the fight within her fade as she lost consciousness. That was all he could take as Chase stood straight and stormed from the room, though not before punching a hole through the office wall on his way out. Cuddy lowered her head sadly and put her head in her hands, while House simply stared at the Australian as he left. Wilson looked between his friends, then followed after the younger man so that he wouldn't be alone, or try to do something stupid so long as he was this angry.
Foreman, Taub, and Thirteen walked inside the office a few minutes later as their team leader said, "We just saw Wilson out in the lobby trying to console Chase. What happened? Is he okay?"
"No, he's not," House replied sternly as she looked over at his diagnostic team. "Cameron's been abducted. And I don't mean by aliens."
"You can't be serious?" Taub stated with surprise.
Remy looked out at their distraught friend through the glass windows and noticed the hole in the wall, then asked she nervously, "Why would anyone want to kidnap Cameron? She may be a real hardass when it come to her morals and the rules, but outside of that, she's one of the most sincere and real people I've ever known."
Cuddy sighed and then answered, "This bastard's motive for kidnapping Cameron isn't for us to figure out. What's important right now, is for us to speak with the police when they arrive and to be here for Chase. He will undoubtedly continue to fall apart the longer that she remains in that man's hands."
"Maybe it is important for us to figure out why this guy took Cameron," House responded sardonically. "You know, so that we can actually find her. Because we all know that the feds won't do diddley."
"I don't know how you're going to figure that out, but go right ahead if this new puzzle of yours will help you to focus on your job," Lisa replied as she glared him, then looked between everyone else still in the room. "Let me know if any of you need some time off. I have a feeling this is only going to become harder for all of us to cope with."
Nurse Smits came back in and stated, "The police are on their way. Let me know if you need anything, even if it's just coffee."
Horse watched her leave again, then asked, "How long has she been here? I had no idea we had a human coffee maker working here. That's so cool!"
"Leave her alone, House," Cuddy called out in frustration as he followed after the nurse, as did the rest of his staff. "House? House!"