Allison dragged herself into work that morning. Her whole body ached; she felt miserable.
Her day had begun with one lousy event after another. First, she had woken up at five-thirty only to not be able to fall back asleep. She'd missed her typical morning run- the pain in her abdomen and lower back forced her to skip it. After nearly falling in the shower and taking the entire curtain off the hanger, Allison had realized that her cat had puked beside the bed. Hairball. Wonderful. If only the adversity had ended there. Oh no. A morning would not be complete without at least three drivers cutting her off on the way to Princeton Plainsboro. So, there she was: more than half asleep and coffee-deprived, staggering into the hospital. And to add, she'd forgotten her Midol.
"You look like hell." Foreman greeted as the brunette slumped down in her seat.
"And you're fifteen minutes late," House added. "No coffee makes me sad." He sighed, mockingly.
Cameron got up from the comfortable chair and began the coffee machine. She lacked the energy to comment on either of their jests. She stood with her back to the team, pouring a cup of fresh coffee. While it was fresh, it was also hot. And it didn't feel good when it landed on her blouse- a thin, white, décolleté with an emphasis on thin. It scorched her skin and she jumped back. "Damn it!" Her voice was angrier than she had meant it to be.
"Are you alright?" House approached her side quickly.
She brushed him off. "Fine. Just a little coffee. I'll go change." Cameron approached her locked with frustration. She checked her watch: 8:45 A.M. Only. How could this day get any worse? If only she'd known.
Now in a peach t-shirt, Cameron rejoined her colleagues. Her outfit felt better but gained attention from the three men.
"You look- comfortable." Chase commented.
"Mmhmm." She didn't care what they thought, no matter how unprofessional she looked.
House gave her a confused look. "Casual Mondays now, Dr. Cameron?"
"Yup." She replied without looking up from the documents.
"Okay..." House paused before going back to their case. "We have a twelve-year-old boy with night terrors, aphasia..." He listed off symptoms one by one as Foreman and Chase gave their input. Cameron drowned them out, the pain in her stomach only increasing. She waved it off as basic period symptoms, but they felt weird. And as a doctor more than anyone, she knew to never ignore things that felt off. The body is amazing. It serves as a warning system. Regardless of everything she knew, Cameron continued her day as she normally would.
House knew. It was no secret. He mentally kept track of all the female's periods but it wasn't that hard to figure out. Cameron grabbing her stomach, munching on chocolate, crying the day before when House rescued a frog from a park pond (after Cameron had all but got down on her knees and begged him to). god, he was getting soft. He had something very special planned for her tonight. Take her mind off the pain just let her enjoy her evening.
The young doctor stood against the hospital wall, one hand on her stomach. She was less than relieved when House came to her side.
"Ally." He felt bad for her, how awful she must feel. Poor thing.
"I'm fine, Greg."
"Is it normally this bad?"
Of course he had to turn everything into a case. "Yeah, sure. It's cramps. I'm used to it."
House called her bluff. "I've never noticed you in this much pain."
"Because you've never noticed me."
"Bullshit."
Cameron's cheeks reddened. "I'm sure I have." After her time leaning over, she stood back up. Only to stumble into the gracious doctor's arms. House grabbed her. They didn't even say anything. Neither had to. House guided her to the lounge. Cameron's body was shaking.
"You have a temperature, Allison," House informed her. "I want you to drink a lot of water, okay? Do you have any pain medicine?" Her face was pale. House got down closer to her level. "Have you eaten today?"
Cameron began crying. She couldn't place exactly why. It was probably a mix of the pain, the sweetness of House, and the hormones. They just gushed from her eyes like waterfalls.
House placed a hand on her shoulder and another on her cheek. "I'm gonna get you a heating pad. And that pain medicine. You're gonna feel better soon."
Oh, her aching ovaries. And not just from the period. Her heart was doing leaps for House. She'd never seen him act this sweet. He was a total babe! She loooooved him. "Oh, Greg!" She reached her arms up for a hug. House met her on the couch and kissed her forehead. The sweet thing finally smiled.
A male nurse tried to come into the lounge, but House stopped him. "Sorry, lounge is closed."
The nurse questioned back, "What? My lunch is in there."
"I said, it's closed. Get lunch somewhere else and fuck off." He was gaining on the shorter man. His unnecessary threatening worked, and the nurse left without much protest.
"You didn't have to do that." Cameron felt like it needed said, but she secretly adored that he protected her privacy.
"I did."
She muttered a, "Thank you," before drifting to sleep. Her body's need was taking over.
House wrapped her in the blanket and wiped the hair away from her eyes. Even in this miserable state, she looked pretty. House didn't think anything could make her look unattractive.
While Cameron rested peacefully in the hospital lounge, Foreman, Chase, and House worked on their case.
"The patient has dysartharia." Foreman stated.
"Great job with diagnosing a symptom," House noted, sarcastically. "His speech disorder is not his diagnosis."
"His IQ tests were above average, so that rules out an intellectual disability. It must be neurological."
"YOUR DAD DIDDLES YOUR MOM." House yelled at the child who sat upright in the hospital bed.
The boy didn't seem to be phased by such lewd news. He just tilted his head and said, "What?"
House spoke up, "Did you hear what I said?"
"I'm sorry, can you repeat that? I didn't catch it." The boy was being honest.
"Interesting," House took note, "Hearing loss."
House had to approach his girlfriend slowly. Cameron was curled up in the fetal position, on the verge of screaming. Her pain was excruciating. These cramps were not normal, never before were the spasms so debilitating that she couldn't walk. But now, she would be lucky to be able to move. House's presence in the room went unnoticed until he was right beside her, grabbing her hand. "I want you to be checked out."
"It's j..just c..cramps-" Bull fucking shit. 'Just cramps' didn't make a normal person scream.
"No, they're not. There's something wrong, Allison." He noticed something that made him gasp internally. There was blood soaking her pants, the flow exceeding what the sanitary product could hold. House didn't want to embarrass her. Gracefully, he picked her up. Ignoring protests from his leg, he carried her to a bathroom. Luckily, a door in the back of the lounge led to a wet room. It was convenient for the both of them- he didn't have to fumble with shower curtains and she could clean up with enough room. House started a warm bath. He'd seen her naked before, but this was different. It wasn't sexual. She was vulnerable. He couldn't help but remember the day he found her in hospital bathroom with a towel around her bleeding body. That day had been traumatic for her and he could guess that this only reminded her again of the worst day of her life. He carefully avoided looking at her, bare. His back was turned as she soaked. He would have left if it wasn't for Allison's assurance that she wanted- no, needed- him there. She was comfortable in his presence; she was safe.
The bath did a wonder on her. Her stomach was still in knots, but at least the convulsing had lessened. Even with the small progress, House still wanted Cameron to get an examination. Her symptoms were abnormal and needed attention. Of course she insisted she was fine, but finally consented to an MRI and pelvic exam.
House had to lift her onto the table. Her body was frail. He had Cuddy perform the pelvic exam. Things had been rocky with the two women in weeks past, but the older doctor empathized. Cuddy also suffered in this field for years.
Cameron winced as Cuddy applied pressure on a very sensitive area. Taking in all the symptoms, Cuddy worried greatly for the young woman. There was something she thought it could be- something that would break her. But, it was a likely diagnosis. She extracted blood from her upper arm. She finished up the exam, helped Cameron up, and sent the blood to the lab. When she left the room, Cuddy called House to talk with her privately.
"What's wrong with her?" House asked. He grew more concerned when Cuddy didn't answer right away, but stood with a fretful look over her face.
"House," she started. "All I ask you is that you monitor Allison. I have a feeling she's going to be needing you more than ever before."
"Did you find something?"
She avoided his eyes and stared down at her feet. "Just please," she placed both hands on his shoulders, "Remember what I said." Cuddy walked out of the room.
House wondered what in the hell happened in there- what did Cuddy know? Did she have cancer? Some rare bleeding disorder? He had to know. He wanted to pry but remembered what Cuddy said: he decided to simply be with Cameron instead of questioning.
Hours later, Cuddy stared down at a test result that make her heart drop to the floor. Cameron's hCG levels were low. Too low. She wasn't on her period, she had a miscarriage.