All Rodents' Eve - Part Five
The best is yet to come, but I probably won't have it done until Wednesday. Hopefully this will tide people over until then :)
Cameron’s trip to the children’s ward went perfectly, and of course Steve was the hit of the party once all the parents were convinced that he was clean and disease-free. The little rat spent time with each child and loved the attention. Just as she’d promised, Cameron watched over the proceedings very carefully and made sure that Steve didn’t eat anything he wasn’t supposed to and didn’t make any bold escape attempts. She personally thought that Steve was probably thanking his lucky stars that he’d been domesticated and wouldn’t even think of running away. After all, she’d lost him once herself and he’d quickly come back on his own.
After an hour of fun, Cameron scooped Steve up from the last child’s lap and held him up to receive a rousing ovation from his new-found fans. She was grinning from ear to ear. Sometimes her job and the patients involved left her feeling a certain sense of sadness about life in general and it was nice to be open and cheerful. True, all of the children in the room were suffering from serious illnesses, but they were all happy, at least for the moment, and there was no need to pry secrets out of them or dispel their notions of innocence. It was very different from her daily experiences in diagnostics. Yes, they almost always cured their patients, but often at the expense of their privacy and her faith in humankind. Her steps felt lighter as she walked down the hall and entered the elevator.
House was sitting at his desk, video game in hand, when Cameron entered his office.
“Well you were gone long enough. I suppose you let Steve eat even more of the poison that’s already running through his veins,” he said.
Cameron let out an aggrieved sigh. “You’re not going to drop the poisoning thing, are you?” she said as she pulled Steve from her pocket and carefully deposited him on the desk.
“Nope,” he replied and then set his game down and let Steve climb into his hands.
“Where are the others?”
“Let ‘em go early. No cases, and I was tired of watching them play paper football. They really suck at it.”
“You could have gone home too and just left me a note.”
“No way. I can’t trust you to make Steve wear his seatbelt.”
Cameron smirked and crossed her arms while House lifted Steve up and relocated him to his cage.
“Sooo…” she said slowly.
“Is this where you weasel an invitation outta me?”
They didn’t usually talk about what their plans were, they just sort of ended up at the same place at the end of the day. Cameron fidgeted for a moment before House’s steady gaze caught hers and held.
“I need someone to hand out candy,” he said gruffly. “That sounds right up your alley, and there is the matter of that costume.” His eyebrows waggled suggestively.
Cameron’s smirk grew into more of an indulgent grin.
“I’ll just run home to get changed,” she told him.
House nodded and stood up, grabbing his jacket in one hand and Steve’s cage in the other.
“Sounds good,” he said, cane making soft thumps as he limped to the door. “Bring something for tomorrow too,” were his last words before quickly exiting.
Apparently she would be spending the night.
It was only a matter of a few minutes before Cameron had her computer shut down and her things gathered together. Her apartment was on the other side of the campus and she drove slowly because she thought that some kids would be out early. She did see a couple in costume, but they were being hustled into cars and she guessed that they were off to some party or trick-or-treating at the mall, which was a phenomenon she still couldn’t quite understand.
She could remember the Halloweens of her youth when groups of friends would go running through the rural neighborhoods, knocking on doors, eating themselves sick and playing harmless little pranks. There was just something about gathering candy in a brightly lit mall that just seemed wrong. She wondered what House had done for Halloween as a child. She had a feeling that his pranks had been much more serious than tipping over garden gnomes.
Her apartment was freezing when she walked in, but she didn’t bother turning up the heat. She couldn’t recall if it had seemed so cold the year before, but then remembered being curled up on the sofa while rat-sitting Steve, and then the lonely weeks that had followed. She moved quickly as she changed her clothes and tossed another outfit into her gym bag. She was locking up and back on the road again within fifteen minutes.
“Hurry up, hurry up,” House admonished her when he opened his door and rushed her inside.
“What’s the big deal?”
“Don’t you hear the little urchins? They’re right down the street. If you were any later, I might have had to answer the door myself.”
“They’re children, not demons. I think you could have managed,” she replied, shrugging off her coat.
“You say that now. You haven’t seen them yet.”
Actually she had seen them on the corner when she’d pulled onto his street and they’d looked quite adorable in their little costumes. She had a feeling that House was, as they say, protesting just a bit too much. She knew that he actually liked kids… or at least didn’t dislike them as much as most other people. The bags of candy she’d brought over the day before, were spread out on the counter and she rummaged around for a big mixing bowl and dumped everything into it just as the first knock sounded on the old wooden door.
Cameron’s trip to the children’s ward went perfectly, and of course Steve was the hit of the party once all the parents were convinced that he was clean and disease-free. The little rat spent time with each child and loved the attention. Just as she’d promised, Cameron watched over the proceedings very carefully and made sure that Steve didn’t eat anything he wasn’t supposed to and didn’t make any bold escape attempts. She personally thought that Steve was probably thanking his lucky stars that he’d been domesticated and wouldn’t even think of running away. After all, she’d lost him once herself and he’d quickly come back on his own.
After an hour of fun, Cameron scooped Steve up from the last child’s lap and held him up to receive a rousing ovation from his new-found fans. She was grinning from ear to ear. Sometimes her job and the patients involved left her feeling a certain sense of sadness about life in general and it was nice to be open and cheerful. True, all of the children in the room were suffering from serious illnesses, but they were all happy, at least for the moment, and there was no need to pry secrets out of them or dispel their notions of innocence. It was very different from her daily experiences in diagnostics. Yes, they almost always cured their patients, but often at the expense of their privacy and her faith in humankind. Her steps felt lighter as she walked down the hall and entered the elevator.
House was sitting at his desk, video game in hand, when Cameron entered his office.
“Well you were gone long enough. I suppose you let Steve eat even more of the poison that’s already running through his veins,” he said.
Cameron let out an aggrieved sigh. “You’re not going to drop the poisoning thing, are you?” she said as she pulled Steve from her pocket and carefully deposited him on the desk.
“Nope,” he replied and then set his game down and let Steve climb into his hands.
“Where are the others?”
“Let ‘em go early. No cases, and I was tired of watching them play paper football. They really suck at it.”
“You could have gone home too and just left me a note.”
“No way. I can’t trust you to make Steve wear his seatbelt.”
Cameron smirked and crossed her arms while House lifted Steve up and relocated him to his cage.
“Sooo…” she said slowly.
“Is this where you weasel an invitation outta me?”
They didn’t usually talk about what their plans were, they just sort of ended up at the same place at the end of the day. Cameron fidgeted for a moment before House’s steady gaze caught hers and held.
“I need someone to hand out candy,” he said gruffly. “That sounds right up your alley, and there is the matter of that costume.” His eyebrows waggled suggestively.
Cameron’s smirk grew into more of an indulgent grin.
“I’ll just run home to get changed,” she told him.
House nodded and stood up, grabbing his jacket in one hand and Steve’s cage in the other.
“Sounds good,” he said, cane making soft thumps as he limped to the door. “Bring something for tomorrow too,” were his last words before quickly exiting.
Apparently she would be spending the night.
It was only a matter of a few minutes before Cameron had her computer shut down and her things gathered together. Her apartment was on the other side of the campus and she drove slowly because she thought that some kids would be out early. She did see a couple in costume, but they were being hustled into cars and she guessed that they were off to some party or trick-or-treating at the mall, which was a phenomenon she still couldn’t quite understand.
She could remember the Halloweens of her youth when groups of friends would go running through the rural neighborhoods, knocking on doors, eating themselves sick and playing harmless little pranks. There was just something about gathering candy in a brightly lit mall that just seemed wrong. She wondered what House had done for Halloween as a child. She had a feeling that his pranks had been much more serious than tipping over garden gnomes.
Her apartment was freezing when she walked in, but she didn’t bother turning up the heat. She couldn’t recall if it had seemed so cold the year before, but then remembered being curled up on the sofa while rat-sitting Steve, and then the lonely weeks that had followed. She moved quickly as she changed her clothes and tossed another outfit into her gym bag. She was locking up and back on the road again within fifteen minutes.
“Hurry up, hurry up,” House admonished her when he opened his door and rushed her inside.
“What’s the big deal?”
“Don’t you hear the little urchins? They’re right down the street. If you were any later, I might have had to answer the door myself.”
“They’re children, not demons. I think you could have managed,” she replied, shrugging off her coat.
“You say that now. You haven’t seen them yet.”
Actually she had seen them on the corner when she’d pulled onto his street and they’d looked quite adorable in their little costumes. She had a feeling that House was, as they say, protesting just a bit too much. She knew that he actually liked kids… or at least didn’t dislike them as much as most other people. The bags of candy she’d brought over the day before, were spread out on the counter and she rummaged around for a big mixing bowl and dumped everything into it just as the first knock sounded on the old wooden door.