Please Forgive Me

Chapter Seven

When House and Wilson arrived back at the apartment the next evening, they found Cuddy sitting quietly in their couch, waiting for her two doctors to return home. As they turned on the light, the look on her face told them that she wasn't just irritated by their quick disappearance, but angry.

"I see that you're mad," House said callously as he looked right at her, while Wilson glared at his friend as he took both of their bags they had travelled with and set them down on the floor beside the couch, then took a seat in the chair across from the woman. "Was it because I didn't call to say we weren't going to be in today?"

"You didn't call her?" Wilson asked House with surprise. "I told you that I was going to call Cuddy before we left and you said that you already had. I should have known better than to trust you."

The genius smiled as he too took a seat across from the woman, who still hadn't said a word to them, and then he replied, "Yeah, you've got no one to blame, but yourself. When will you ever…?"

Lisa suddenly interrupted, "Enough! Where the hell were you two today? I know that I told everyone that they could have some time off, but you not actually letting me know that you're taking time off is not okay. I believe that I've made myself clear on that, a number of times. Where were you?"

"We were… invading Cameron's privacy," Wilson answered nervously.

"You went to Chicago so you could break into her home?" Cuddy asked sternly as she looked between her two friends. "Let me guess, House put you up to this, didn't he?"

House smiled while he responded, "Actually, it was Wilson's idea. I'm a real bad influence."

Jim shrugged and then replied, "He's right, it was my idea. But only because I had a feeling it was what he was already thinking. We only did it because we wanted to see if we could find anything that might help the police to find Cameron."

"And did you?" their boss asked again worryingly. "Was there anything in her apartment that indicated she might have known she was in any danger?"

"No," the narcissist answered curtly. "She had no idea. Something tells me that whoever did take Cameron, took her because she was a victim of circumstance. But he also knew her."

Wilson looked at House in confusion as he responded, "I don't understand. How do you know that?"

House sighed, then he replied, "Oh, because she was unaware that she was being stalked, because there have been no threats made against her, and because there have been no calls to Chase or to the hospital demanding ransom money."

"And the reason why you think this guy knows her?" Cuddy stated.

"Well, now seeing as this guy has chosen to stalk Cameron, there had to have been a reason why he chose her," the genius answered smugly. "I'm guessing he was a patient of Cameron's while she was still working at Princeton Plainsboro, a patient who became obsessed with her while she treated him. That means this began back while she was working in the ER."

Wilson waved his hands as he objected, "Whoa… Come on, House. That's an awful lot of speculation, even for you. We don't have any reason to believe Cameron was even being stalked."

House glared at his friend as he responded, "Think about it, Jimmy. Does it not seem strange to either of you that she was kidnapped on the one night she happened to return to the hospital? This guy was waiting for the perfect opportunity to take her. Why not do so when the people here would simply believe that she went back to Chicago. If it wasn't for Chase leaving the hospital when he did, we never would have known she was missing until days later, the same as anyone who might know her from her new home."

"It makes sense," Wilson replied in agreement. "So we have a theory, but we're still no closer to figuring out who her abductor is."

"Perhaps going through her old files might help you if you're so positive this theory of yours is right," Cuddy answered with a smile as she looked over at her most talented and troublesome doctor. "You came up with this wild idea, so you get to do the dirty work to try to prove it. Feel free to enlist Foreman, Thirteen, and Taub to help you, seeing as none of you will be of any use to me until Dr. Cameron is found."

As their boss walked to the door to leave, House called out to her arrogantly saying, "For your information, I was going to do that anyway!"

Lisa sighed in frustration and responded, "Yeah, I know. I'm going home now. And next time you both get the idea to fly to another state on a stupid whim like you had last night, try asking for permission. I might have agreed to reimburse you or even pay for the plane tickets myself. Cameron is my friend too. I may not like that you broke into her place like House does with his patients, but I know you did it for a good reason. Goodnight, boys."

At a bar downtown…

"I thought we might find you here," Foreman said calmly as he took a seat on the barstool beside Chase as the Australian tossed back a shot of alcohol, while both Taub and Thirteen sat down at Chase's other side. "Do you really think drinking is a good idea right now?"

"No, not really… no," Chase replied in frustration as he motioned to the bartender for another. "But seeing as I wasn't there for Allison last night when she needed me, it doesn't matter. She's gone. And now it isn't just because she can't stand to be with me anymore either."

Thirteen placed her hand gently on the back of his shoulder as she answered compassionately, "The police are going to find her, Chase. What happened to Cameron, isn't your fault."

Taub nodded and responded, "Thirteen's right. The only person to blame for her abduction is the bastard who took her."

"You of all people know just how strong she is," Foreman continued in hope of trying to reassure his colleague that she'd be alright. "And she's stubborn as hell. She won't let this beat her. Come on, buddy, It's time to get you home."

"Back to an empty apartment I once shared with my kidnapped ex-wife?" Chase asked angrily as he threw the latest shot glass in his hand against the wall in front of him, causing it to shatter. "Why would I want to go back there? There's nothing there for me anymore."

The bartender came around the bar and grabbed the Australian by his shirt in order to kick him out of his bar until Foreman and Remy took over for the man, leading Chase out of the pub themselves, with Taub right behind them. The blond struggled against them at first, but then finally settled down and let them guide him to Foreman's car.

Chase spoke up again as he asked, "Do you really believe they'll find her?"

Thirteen nodded and said, "Yes, we do."