Please Forgive Me

Chapter Nine

"It looks like one of her patients, Blake Danoff, was pretty handsy while she treated him for a fractured cheekbone," Taub stated upon coming across the file of a man in his late twenties who fell against the sidewalk and hit the side of face after getting drunk enough to be completely wasted. "Cameron mentioned that this guy and his friends were all pretty plastered and tried flirting with her, though she wasn't bothered by them at all, until this Danoff guy suddenly grabbed her by her neck when her back was turned to him and shoved her against the wall as he tried to kiss her until two other nurses ran over to pull him off of her. His friends only cheered him on."

"Cameron is nothing if not thorough," Chase responded sadly as he stared at the file Taub was currently reading. "She even took a picture of each of her patients for the records. We all should be doing so too, but most of us don't bother to take the time. She never told me about this guy or his friends."

Wilson looked at his friend as he replied, "She probably just didn't want to worry you."

House tossed his ball into the air above him, then caught it again as he answered from his office, "I was under the impression she probably didn't tell you a lot of things. If you guys come across any patients who are possible suspects, put their files in a separate pile and move on to the next one. If I happen to agree with you, then we can discuss them like we would our own patients. Capiche?"

"House, you do realize this would go a lot faster if you came over here and actually helped us read through these?" Thirteen responded sternly.

"I do, but as I said earlier, Cameron's notes are a snooze fest," the narcissist replied smugly. "You guys work for me. Chop, chop. That means, if I tell you all to do the dirty work, then you need to do it, preferably without complaining about it, or you're fired."

Foreman glared at the man who's gotten him more stressed out than any stubborn, foolish patient of theirs ever could, and answered, "You won't really fire us. You may say the words often enough, but we all know that you're all talk. Otherwise none of us would still be here. You can't function well enough without a team and you abhor change."

House responded, "You got me, but you know that I can make your lives a hundred times more miserable than I already have."

"I believe you," Taub replied in frustration.

Four o'clock in the morning came around and all of the doctors were exhausted, but no one was ready give up, as they all were worried about Cameron and were willing to do whatever it took to see if they could help the police along in their investigation into her disappearance. By that time, House had actually picked up a few files to read through them himself, having grown bored from the long silence that had fallen over the colleagues, not to mention the fact that he did actually care about Cameron, even if he refused to admit it to anyone.

"Hit me!" the genius shouted suddenly in order to break the silence, managing to startle everyone.

Wilson glared at his friend as he asked wearily, "Hit you? Hit you with what?"

House scoffed and then answered, "Why, the patients of Cameron's whom we might consider a suspect of course. The pile's clearly grown since last night. Tell me about them. Wow me."

"Jillian Marshall, thirty-five year old woman whose seven year old child was treated for third degree burns on her dominant arm," Foreman began first, scanning the file while he spoke. "Patient became angry at Cameron after she…"

"Boring!" the narcissist interrupted curtly. "Next."

Foreman glared at House as he retorted, "But Miss. Michaels punched Cameron in her face when Cameron discovered that the burns might have been done to the poor kid in order to try to cover up signs of physical abuse. It turns out, Cameron was right. A few days later, the woman came back into the ER and threatened Cameron because her daughter was taken away from her by child services because of a call Cameron made to them. Cameron states that this woman was pissed."

House nodded, then looked at Foreman as he responded, "Do you really believe that the person who abducted Cameron the other night was a woman?"

"Miss. Michaels could have hired someone to take Cameron for her?" Thirteen replied in her former boyfriend's defense.

"I think if this woman really wanted to make good on her threat against Cameron, she would have just killed her or at the very least, had her beaten up," House answered firmly. "It isn't this woman. Next."

Wilson picked up one of his files he was reading as he continued, "Carl Burton, brought in to the ER after a car accident that ended up killing another person, a young prostitute simply trying to cross the street until the patient hit her with his car because he was drunk, then crashed into the side of an old building in front of him while trying to avoid hitting the woman."

House looked at the oncologist quizzically as he asked, "Why does he stand out to you above the others? He sounds like a drunken moron, but a kidnapper?"

"That's because you didn't let me finish," Wilson responded. "Cameron mentioned that this guy became infatuated with her during the three days he was here being treated for his multiple, though fairly mild injuries compared to those she saw on the prostitute, who had died instantaneously."

"Infatuated how?" Chase asked worryingly.

Wilson looked at his friend as he replied, "Cameron said that this guy kept calling on the nurses and asked them to find her so that he could speak to her, but not about anything concerning his treatment or any medical advice. She mentioned that he eventually began to look at her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable, even reached out to run his fingers along her arm until she pulled away from him and left the room. Cameron called the cops on him after learning how he ended up there while he was in a drugged state, but he ran before they could arrive. After work that night, she noted that she saw this guy watching her from the distance, until he noticed that she saw him and quickly disappeared."

House took the file from Wilson as he spoke up saying, "Sounds promising. Who's the next lucky contestant?"

"Ryan Carter, thirty-two year old who's sister died on the operating table while Cameron fought to save her, but failed," Chase answered in frustration. "Allison says that he threatened to kill her for killing her sister, and eventually had to be escorted out of the hospital by security when another doctor saw the man corner her against the wall."

"Then he would have just killed her, not kidnap her," the genius doctor responded quickly. "But then again, he might have wanted to make her suffer. We'll keep him in the pile for now. What's next?"

Thirteen replied, "Perverted teenage boy, Peter Kay, who said he wanted to take Cameron home with him so that he could quote, '…cut her open in order to see what made her what she was, as she is the epitome of the perfect woman with the perfect body,' end quote. How sick is that?"

House nodded and answered, "That is perverted. Definitely make sure he stays in the pile, then put them all on my desk. I'll study them closer tomorrow after I finally get some decent sleep. I suggest you all do the same, especially you, Aussie. Sleep off the booze in your system, then come talk to me. I might have an idea to help Cameron. And for God sakes, don't be stupid and tell anyone else about what we talked about earlier. Too many people already know as it is. Smell you later."