(no subject)
Author: athousandsmiles
Title: Pearl's House 5/10
Rating: Now rated M to be safe
Genre: angst, romance, au, supernatural
Summary: Cameron tried to shake off the feeling of being watched and made quick work of searching the place for anything unusual. Problem was, everything there was unusual.
A/N: Written for the weekly challenge at hughvillefics for the prompt New Year's Eve. Unbeta'd
previous chapter
House drove them directly to the hospital and led Cameron straight to the clinic, pointing her toward the exam table and pushing up her sleeve so he could draw blood. Amused, she let him do what he needed to do, and then drew blood from him as well. In the doorway, Wilson stood befuddled, having just caught up with them.
"I would've done that for you," he said, glancing from House to Cameron and back again.
"Run the tests," House answered, thrusting the vials into Wilson's hands. "There's an MRI machine with our name on it."
Cameron followed him to the MRI control room, leaning against the wall with her arms folded across her chest as he fired up the computer.
"Ladies first," he said, passing her a hospital gown. "Suit up."
She shut the door to the hallway, and changed right there in the room, House swiveling around in his chair to watch. "You do know there's a screen in the other room you can change behind?"
Shrugging, she gave him a coy smile and replied, "You've already seen me naked." Turning her back to him, she waited, indicating he should tie the back of her gown for her. And she waited and waited a moment more, before turning her head to find him staring at her ass.
Looking up at her, he began tying the gown and said, "Wonder what an erection looks like under an MRI. I think we're about to find out."
"I'm going to MRI your other head," she joked, "so that mystery will remain unsolved."
The word mystery seemed to freeze them both for a second, and all traces of humor were sapped from the room. She wished she hadn't said anything, and somberly left the control area and laid herself down in the MRI. Only a piece of glass separated the two rooms, but she couldn't see him from inside the tube, and the clack clack clack of the machine seemed to drown out the world, making her feel isolated and alone.
His voice came over the speaker just when she felt the beginnings of what she could only diagnose as a panic attack. "Relax Cameron, you're just about done. And then you get to see me naked again. Lucky you."
"I can't wait," she said, smiling. Lying still, she took a few deep breaths to slow her frantic heart rate, aided by the sound of him humming some tune into the microphone. A few bars into his song, she recognized the melody and it started her heart racing for new reasons as she recalled the lyrics.
Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa?
Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art.
Moved by the words of the song and words he'd said to her years ago, all she wanted was to feel his arms around her, to assure him she was real and warm and not just lobby art to be admired from afar.
"Okay Cameron, you're done," he said, and she emerged from the machine and went into the other room, right into his arms, causing him to stumble back in surprise as he grabbed hold of her.
"Oh look, I've got my own groupie," he quipped, holding her against him. "You okay?"
She nodded, blinking up at him as she tried to compose herself and explain, "Sorry... I just... that song.."
"Not a fan of Nat King Cole?"
"No... I love Nat King Cole," she said, chewing on her bottom lip in nervous uncertainty. "It's just I feel..."
"I know," he said, pushing her hair back off her face. In his eyes was an understanding of her need to be close to him, her need to keep that connection. "I get it. But at some point we're both going to have to get over this clingy phase. You know that, right?"
All she could do was nod and pull away, mollified by the fact that he was feeling the same thing. She handed him a hospital gown, and began pulling on her sweats, while he stripped off his. When he was naked, he pulled the gown on and turned, waiting for her to tie it up for him as he'd done for her.
"Try not to ogle me too much," he said, turning to look back at her.
"I'll try to control myself, but it's such a stunning ass," she joked, as she finished the knots.
He seemed to be struck speechless for a moment as he turned to look at her, and she could just about read his thoughts as he wondered how she could find him attractive. All she could do was smile up at him.
"Alright, I'm going in," he finally said. As he got to the door, he turned and added, "Talk to me."
He got in and she started the machine, keeping an eye on the computer in front of her. Leaning into the microphone, she said with a little laugh, "I'd sing for you, but I have a terrible singing voice." She paused, wondering what to say, and then out of nowhere she found herself telling him something she never thought she'd share.
"You know how I met my husband? I took an art class once, with a friend. We were working on still life, and they had this guy scheduled to come in to model, except he was late. So we were sitting there waiting and waiting and finally, he came rushing through the door and our teacher was so annoyed she just ordered him to hurry up and strip and stand on the little platform so we could get started. He was... so adorably shy about undressing in front of us, but he did it. He was so beautiful, I couldn't take my eyes off of him. And he... kept staring back at me too," she said, chuckling. "Well, just as class was about to end, another guy came rushing in, apologizing for his tardiness. Turned out Chris thought he was rushing into anatomy class. He told me later that he never would've stripped under normal circumstances, but... he really wanted to meet me."
By the end of her story, she was both laughing and crying, and House was done with his MRI. When he returned to her side, he looked down at her with a twinkle in his eye and said, "I'd have preferred a story about you getting naked, but... I can't say I blame the guy."
"Did you ever do anything crazy just to meet a girl? she asked, as he got dressed again.
"I joined the cheerleading team in college."
"You were a cheerleader?"
"Briefly. But if you ever tell anyone, I'll deny it."
Laughing, she asked, "And did you get the girl?"
"If by get her, you mean sleep with her, then yes. Turns out, though, that joining the team was unnecessary. She was easy. And not really worth the effort. Come on, let's do the EKG and EEG."
The other tests went quickly; the results of the MRI, EKG and EEG were all normal. They only had to wait for the blood work. While they waited, House checked the computer and Cameron checked the files in his office, the lab records and the room in which Pearl had been a patient. Just as Wilson said, there was no record of Pearl Cottin in any of the PPTH files, and their blood work revealed two relatively healthy individuals with no reason to hallucinate.
For the first time in two days House and Cameron parted ways, each going to their own home with more questions than answers, and for Cameron, an aching loneliness like she'd never experienced.
continue
Title: Pearl's House 5/10
Rating: Now rated M to be safe
Genre: angst, romance, au, supernatural
Summary: Cameron tried to shake off the feeling of being watched and made quick work of searching the place for anything unusual. Problem was, everything there was unusual.
A/N: Written for the weekly challenge at hughvillefics for the prompt New Year's Eve. Unbeta'd
previous chapter
House drove them directly to the hospital and led Cameron straight to the clinic, pointing her toward the exam table and pushing up her sleeve so he could draw blood. Amused, she let him do what he needed to do, and then drew blood from him as well. In the doorway, Wilson stood befuddled, having just caught up with them.
"I would've done that for you," he said, glancing from House to Cameron and back again.
"Run the tests," House answered, thrusting the vials into Wilson's hands. "There's an MRI machine with our name on it."
Cameron followed him to the MRI control room, leaning against the wall with her arms folded across her chest as he fired up the computer.
"Ladies first," he said, passing her a hospital gown. "Suit up."
She shut the door to the hallway, and changed right there in the room, House swiveling around in his chair to watch. "You do know there's a screen in the other room you can change behind?"
Shrugging, she gave him a coy smile and replied, "You've already seen me naked." Turning her back to him, she waited, indicating he should tie the back of her gown for her. And she waited and waited a moment more, before turning her head to find him staring at her ass.
Looking up at her, he began tying the gown and said, "Wonder what an erection looks like under an MRI. I think we're about to find out."
"I'm going to MRI your other head," she joked, "so that mystery will remain unsolved."
The word mystery seemed to freeze them both for a second, and all traces of humor were sapped from the room. She wished she hadn't said anything, and somberly left the control area and laid herself down in the MRI. Only a piece of glass separated the two rooms, but she couldn't see him from inside the tube, and the clack clack clack of the machine seemed to drown out the world, making her feel isolated and alone.
His voice came over the speaker just when she felt the beginnings of what she could only diagnose as a panic attack. "Relax Cameron, you're just about done. And then you get to see me naked again. Lucky you."
"I can't wait," she said, smiling. Lying still, she took a few deep breaths to slow her frantic heart rate, aided by the sound of him humming some tune into the microphone. A few bars into his song, she recognized the melody and it started her heart racing for new reasons as she recalled the lyrics.
Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa?
Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art.
Moved by the words of the song and words he'd said to her years ago, all she wanted was to feel his arms around her, to assure him she was real and warm and not just lobby art to be admired from afar.
"Okay Cameron, you're done," he said, and she emerged from the machine and went into the other room, right into his arms, causing him to stumble back in surprise as he grabbed hold of her.
"Oh look, I've got my own groupie," he quipped, holding her against him. "You okay?"
She nodded, blinking up at him as she tried to compose herself and explain, "Sorry... I just... that song.."
"Not a fan of Nat King Cole?"
"No... I love Nat King Cole," she said, chewing on her bottom lip in nervous uncertainty. "It's just I feel..."
"I know," he said, pushing her hair back off her face. In his eyes was an understanding of her need to be close to him, her need to keep that connection. "I get it. But at some point we're both going to have to get over this clingy phase. You know that, right?"
All she could do was nod and pull away, mollified by the fact that he was feeling the same thing. She handed him a hospital gown, and began pulling on her sweats, while he stripped off his. When he was naked, he pulled the gown on and turned, waiting for her to tie it up for him as he'd done for her.
"Try not to ogle me too much," he said, turning to look back at her.
"I'll try to control myself, but it's such a stunning ass," she joked, as she finished the knots.
He seemed to be struck speechless for a moment as he turned to look at her, and she could just about read his thoughts as he wondered how she could find him attractive. All she could do was smile up at him.
"Alright, I'm going in," he finally said. As he got to the door, he turned and added, "Talk to me."
He got in and she started the machine, keeping an eye on the computer in front of her. Leaning into the microphone, she said with a little laugh, "I'd sing for you, but I have a terrible singing voice." She paused, wondering what to say, and then out of nowhere she found herself telling him something she never thought she'd share.
"You know how I met my husband? I took an art class once, with a friend. We were working on still life, and they had this guy scheduled to come in to model, except he was late. So we were sitting there waiting and waiting and finally, he came rushing through the door and our teacher was so annoyed she just ordered him to hurry up and strip and stand on the little platform so we could get started. He was... so adorably shy about undressing in front of us, but he did it. He was so beautiful, I couldn't take my eyes off of him. And he... kept staring back at me too," she said, chuckling. "Well, just as class was about to end, another guy came rushing in, apologizing for his tardiness. Turned out Chris thought he was rushing into anatomy class. He told me later that he never would've stripped under normal circumstances, but... he really wanted to meet me."
By the end of her story, she was both laughing and crying, and House was done with his MRI. When he returned to her side, he looked down at her with a twinkle in his eye and said, "I'd have preferred a story about you getting naked, but... I can't say I blame the guy."
"Did you ever do anything crazy just to meet a girl? she asked, as he got dressed again.
"I joined the cheerleading team in college."
"You were a cheerleader?"
"Briefly. But if you ever tell anyone, I'll deny it."
Laughing, she asked, "And did you get the girl?"
"If by get her, you mean sleep with her, then yes. Turns out, though, that joining the team was unnecessary. She was easy. And not really worth the effort. Come on, let's do the EKG and EEG."
The other tests went quickly; the results of the MRI, EKG and EEG were all normal. They only had to wait for the blood work. While they waited, House checked the computer and Cameron checked the files in his office, the lab records and the room in which Pearl had been a patient. Just as Wilson said, there was no record of Pearl Cottin in any of the PPTH files, and their blood work revealed two relatively healthy individuals with no reason to hallucinate.
For the first time in two days House and Cameron parted ways, each going to their own home with more questions than answers, and for Cameron, an aching loneliness like she'd never experienced.
continue