Yawning with a wince as his jaw clicks, Chase offers a grin to Grace who shudders visibly at the sound before accepting her offer of the TV remote as she informs him she needs to get going. She's already gotten changed out of her scrubs; pristine as usual, in spite of their last patient springing a leak, as she rarely gets much closer to the mess than an arms-length while handing over the requested instruments. Chase chuckles as he watches her pull on her coat. He makes a show of checking the clock above her head and she blushes lightly as she appears suddenly flustered.
"Sean's just gotten back from base, and the fact that I'm working the graveyard shift after two months apart hasn't exactly gone down well."
She explains, receiving a frown as it's on the tip of the blond's tongue to advise his young attendant that she should have mentioned this to him earlier as he would have helped her sort it out - married to a marine or not, he'd help Grace sort most things out, especially since she's started doing her hair the way he likes - but a low buzz in his pocket distracts him, and he simply offers her a shooing gesture along with a conspiring wink.
"Go. What's fifteen minutes unaccounted for to your superior?"
"Hopefully something he won't tell HR about..."
She smiles, and he mimes the act of zipping his lips shut before looking down at his phone.
A.C. - 10:46 AM:
Can you come meet me when you're done? Carpark x
He massages his brow as he really hopes whatever Cameron wants isn't going to take long, before pushing himself up and slipping from the staff lounge to the men's locker room to change; following Grace's lead in cutting his shift a little short. Ditching his scrubs and pulling on a thick winter sweater and hat, he splashes his face with cold water from the basin while wondering what it might be the blonde wants to speak to him about. There had once been a time when receiving such a text from her would have been a hell of a lot more promising, but that ship has long since sailed. Nevertheless, his response to her request to meet remains the same as it has always been as he heads down the hall to go and pick up two coffees from the canteen; one with cream, one black.
He imagines she's messaged him because she's either upset or angry about something, so he orders a piece of ginger cake as well, which he wraps in a napkin.
Strolling down the hall towards the elevator, he's caught by surprise when a gruff voice yells after him; raised in alarm.
"Chase! Get yourself scrubbed up and into OR2, now! We have a stabbing victim that needed surgery about ten minutes ago! Go!"
Mason orders, halfway through donning a fresh set of scrubs as he hurries towards the theatre room.
"Fuck."
Chase sighs, jogging back towards the locker room to change for surgery, leaving the coffee and cake in his hands on the counter beside the sink.
"Fuck."
Cameron hisses, breathing into cupped hands before rubbing them vigorously together in an attempt to regain some of the feeling in her fingers. She sits in her car with the engine running to keep the windshield from misting over and alternates her gaze from the double doors leading from the hospital to the car park, and the ominous grey sky visible through the wide gaps in the concrete; wrinkling her nose as it begins to snow.
"Where are you?"
She grumbles, checking her phone with a sigh as she has yet to receive a response from Chase. She's been waiting for a little over half an hour, and with the clock reading 11:15, she knows the blond should be off work by now.
"Come on..."
She urges, but she knows there's any number of reasons Chase has failed to show up, and she sighs as she brings up her contact list. Giving the surgeon a quick call, she's unsurprised when she's met with his voicemail service, as - save for a couple of moody spats when they'd been sleeping together - it has never been in his nature to ignore her on purpose. Scrolling down, she pulls a face as her finger hesitates over the direct number to House's team - still saved under 'work' despite having handed in her notice what feels like a lifetime ago - before she travels back up through her contacts and suffers a similar moment of uncertainty as she stares down at the entry for Eric Foreman.
"Chase!"
She groans, although she knows she shouldn't be irritated with the man himself, but rather the awkward situation she's landed herself in. If she calls Foreman to let him know Chase hasn't come out to join her, he'll tell her to come back until either Chase or House show up. Should the former happen, then all will be well - save for suffering Eric's inevitable annoyance at the delay - but if it's House that walks in on their hesitation to act, she has a fairly good idea of some of the comments he might make towards her opting to wait for one of the boys to act as her chaperone.
"It wasn't even my decision..."
She mutters irritably; not thrilled at the prospect of taking a stroll down seventh, but deeming Wilson and Foreman's recent reaction to the suggestion a little overdramatic. She would hardly consider herself to fall into the same character profile as Lordes Martinez, save for the two of them sharing the same reproductive parts, and while she can fully appreciate that this alone might not make her the most sensible choice for their little reconnaissance mission, she doubts it will be an excuse that will save her from House's disdain, which, in all honesty, is something she dreads far more than spending an hour or two on the rough side of town. She has endured just about all she can tolerate from him these past few days, and while their last encounter had been less toxic than any other suffered since their Grand Mistake, she isn't sure that she trusts him not to somehow throw that in her face along with any of his more usual remarks as to her sensitivity and privilege. She would hope - really hope - that he wouldn't do such a thing, but he has surprised her unfavourably a number of times this week, and she doesn't want to instigate another argument or outpouring of venom that will further damage the both of them.
I don't damage you on purpose...
"No, maybe you don't, but you're still amazingly talented at it!"
She sighs, glancing back out at the gunmetal sky where the snow has begun to fall with purpose.
"Crap."
Offering the hospital doors one last hopeful look, she puts her car into drive and makes her decision; knowing she'll get an earful from Foreman when she reports back, but supposing she'd rather deal with his irritation than House's spite.
"Where have you been?"
Cuddy asks as she catches up with House in the hallway. He frowns, looking down at his watch which reads 1:30 PM and offers her an irritable grunt.
"Getting some sleep. Dr Wilson's orders. Or was that not allowed?"
"Actually, I was asking because you look better than I've seen you in days. I second his opinion."
The Dean shrugs, and House rolls his eyes as he bites back with a small smirk
"Just remember, you can look, but you can't touch. I'm off to see what the kids are up to... Don't you go watching me walk away."
A snide chuckle at this as Cuddy branches off towards the ER, and House pulls an apple from his pocket - taking a large bite - as he comes to a stop in front of the elevator.
"Hold it!"
Comes a voice from behind him, and he turns to spy a rather exhausted-looking Chase hurrying towards him.
"Going up?"
House asks as he uses his cane to keep the doors from closing, and the surgeon nods as he slips into the elevator while running a hand through his hair.
"I'm going where you're going; I need to apologise to Cameron."
"Hm, quite the onslaught of grovelling she's received lately."
"Huh?"
"Never mind... What did you do?"
"Nothing, that's the problem. I got a text from her asking if I'd meet her once I got off my shift, but we had an emergency come through which killed that plan. I didn't get a chance to message her back, so I just hope she wasn't sat waiting in her car too long."
"Well, she'll have been on her break, she doesn't get off until later. I'm sure she managed."
House growls, and Chase shrugs as he agrees
"I'm sure she did too, but I figured I'd check she was alright before heading home to pass out."
"Did she give you any reason to think she might not be alright?"
The greying doctor asks, and Chase frowns as he catches a note of something he can't quite place in House's tone.
"She just asked me to meet her, that's all I know."
The blond reiterates as he leads them out of the elevator and towards the DDX room. Opening the glass door, he allows House to limp past him before entering himself.
"Hey."
Foreman grunts, looking up from his notes - Clinic hours thankfully fulfilled - and greeting both men with a nod of his head.
"Coffee?"
House enquires as he heads towards the corner.
"Still hot."
Foreman replies, before looking back up at Chase with a small frown.
"Where's Cameron?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing."
Chase shrugs.
"What do you mean?"
Foreman demands, glancing up at the clock with a sense of alarm.
"What do you mean?"
House interrupts from the corner.
"Where should she be?"