"Celeste"-Chapter Four
Here's chapter four...enter Dr. Cameron!!
Title-"Celeste"
Rating-PG-13
Pairing-House/Cuddy
Warnings-None
Spoilers-"Who's Your Daddy?"
Summary-She wants his help. He needs hers.
“Celeste”-Chapter Four
Wilson had been right: Cuddy was going to be just fine. At Wilson’s insistence, after being discharged, Cuddy took three days off, all of which were spent at home worrying that someone was going to do something stupid, like fire House or worse, promote him. Her absence was noticeable, as was House’s change in attitude and no one noticed the latter more than Cameron.
Standing outside House’s office, Cameron weighed her options: she could approach House and hope to have different results from every other time she had tried that option or she could walk away now and tend to something that would ensure that someday, she could have a comfortable life. Sighing, Cameron chose the first option, pushing the door to House’s office open, and clearing her throat to announce her arrival. House sat with his back to her, his chair swinging back and forth slightly as he pushed off the desk and floor with his cane. He stopped moving with her innocuous throat scratch. Without turning, he acknowledged her.
“Yes, Cameron? How can I torment you today?” he asked, his voice lacking any kind of conviction. Cameron looked down at the floor, wringing her hands. She was silent for a moment too long. Spinning in his chair, House fixated his eye on Cameron’s pitiful form. “What’s going on, Dr. Cameron? Did the Aussie still your cookies again? Or was that your cherry he stole?” House immediately regretted his latter snark, even going as far as to wince in unison with Cameron.
“I, uh, just wanted to see if you were okay or needed anything” she said, not looking up. House sighed and smiled lightly.
“No, Allison, I’m fine.” Cameron looked up, surprised to hear her name uttered within the sanctity of his office. Her mouth registered her surprise, betraying her and turning upwards into the tiniest smile. House smiled slightly in return, tensing his chin and brow.
“House” she said, her voice almost a whisper. “I never meant to hurt…I’m sorry” she uttered quickly, turning on her heel to leave. She had almost crossed the threshold when he spoke again.
“She was pregnant” he said, the words sounding foreign even to his own ears. Cameron stopped, her body jolting. Her hand clenched around the door handle, her death grip loosing only slightly with House’s voice. “She was no more than two months, because that’s the last time she had intercourse. The child was a miracle of the two percent margin that comes along with the Pill. I guess nothing in life is 100%” he said, shrugging. Cameron had turned around to face him, her hands shoved deep in her pockets. She nodded.
“It’s not unheard of”. The silence in the room was deafening. “Was the child yours House?” House scoffed slightly and shook his head no.
“Not this time” he said, taking time to annunciate each word. Cameron cocked her head to the side. House decided, reluctantly, that she could be trusted. “Dr. Cuddy approached me indirectly about being a donor several months ago. I agreed, and after three failed attempts, we ceased…she ceased trying. She had been off the hormone therapy that goes along with IVF for two months and back on the Pill for less than that when she met Dr. Freeride, slept with him, and suddenly had Baby Cuddy. We got in a huge argument over it, because I felt guilty that I couldn’t be of more “assistance” than I was” House finished, keeping eye contact with Cameron the whole time. Surprisingly, Cameron was shaking her head no.
“House, you weren’t guilty that you couldn’t help, you were crushed that it wasn’t yours”. Her face contorted into a sort of pitiful grimace as she finally vacated the office. Watching her go, House was suddenly very aware of the vengeful pain in his leg. Grabbing his pill bottle from his pocket, he swallowed one Vicodin dry, and returned to his spinning, mulling over Cameron’s very true words.