024. Colleagues - Allison Cameron
Title: Table of Contents
Characters/Pairing: Allison Cameron, Ducklings, House/Cameron
Prompt 024. Colleagues
Words: 1229
Spoilers: None
Rating: PG
Summary: What makes her tick? And why is he so appealing anyway?
A/N: Last recycled fic, I promise! Everything else I post will be new! Originally posted on 10-13-2005, I got the idea for this after seeing the huge word prompt table at fanfic100. The look of all those individual words in the table appealed to me and I some how came up with taking the letters of Cameron's name and choosing words that described her or things going on around her. My husband read over this, but otherwise it hasn't been beta'd so.....
Table of Contents
A
Angelic
She was exhausted. The dark circles around her eyes marred her otherwise angelic face. Removing her glasses, she rubbed her forehead. The Diagnostics team had been hard at work on a case, and sleep just wasn’t a luxury she could afford. A patient’s life was at stake.
L
Love
When there was time to sleep, she was kept awake by her churning thoughts. She was in love with him. There was no denying it and no escaping from it. He was her boss and they saw each other almost every day. She had tried to remove herself from the situation, but he had sought her out and pulled her back into the fold. He needed her to challenge him and keep him in line. She needed him for all the reasons she shouldn’t.
L
Laxism*
She was knew it wouldn’t be like this, working for anyone else. Their team. It was unique and it worked. They dealt with laxism in most of their cases. Taking a risk often resulted in curing a patient. Learning to bend or break the rules, thinking outside of the box, finding the solution to the puzzle. The method and science behind their diagnoses didn’t always follow their initial argued assumptions, but it worked and that was all that mattered. This is why she couldn’t leave; she was part of the solution.
I
Intriguing
She was doing it to herself, really. Girls always fall for the bad boys. She found him vastly intriguing, and vice versa. He made her smile with his jokes, often at the expense of others, and she envied his quick wit. He frustrated her with his evasive behavior. Every time she made strides to figure him out, he would put up another wall. She couldn’t give him up though; he was her Vicodin.
S
Semantics
Despite her constant internal conflict, she managed to keep going. Work kept her moving forward. The survival of the patient was still hanging in the balance and here they all were, arguing over semantics. She often held her tongue while the boys butted heads, but this time it was just too much. She silenced them with her scream and for once they took her seriously. They ended up following her suggestion. She began to notice that he looked at her in a slightly different light after that.
O
Optimist
It just had to work. It was all there on the papers in front of her, and her suggestion made the most sense. She was in the lab studying the latest test results on the patient and hoping that her treatment was working. She was the optimist of the team, always wishing for the best outcomes and looking for the good in people. He had once accused her of needing a new charity case, but it really wasn’t like that at all. She just hoped she could offer him happiness, that he would be able to love again.
N
Naive
It was sweet of her to think that way. And naive. She was often accused of being a romantic, and that some day she would be in for a rude awakening. People chose to think that about her, and now she was slowly learning to ignore that. He had brought some cynicism and bitterness to her life, but she hadn’t let it consume her like it had him. He was teaching her so much more than how to be a better doctor.
C
Caring
She was checking in on their patient; something she did daily with all of the cases the team worked on. She was often the one they would confide in. Caring was second nature to her. She did it without much thought and usually considered others long before herself. He would often jump all over her about it, but for the most part she would roll her eyes at him. Her treatment was working and their patient was slowly improving, enough to where she would pop in for a check up several times a day. He watched her from the hallway, curious, but always leaving before she noticed him.
A
Atheist
The patient was Catholic. The subject of religion had come up during one of the many check-in visits during the course of treatment. She wasn’t going to lie and admitted to the patient that she was an Atheist. Surprised at first, the patient had welcomed a philosophical conversation while the IV was refilled. He had yet to meet the patient in person, but he still knew everything that went on in that patient room. He made jabs at her about her explanations to the patient about her beliefs, but she just waved him off. He was always trying different techniques to get a rise out of her.
M
Manipulation
The team was in the Diagnostics conference room. She had given an update on their recovering patient, and now it was time to look ahead to the next one. She had made the coffee, and finished fixing him a mug. Handing it to him, her fingers lightly touched his. She met his gaze for a few seconds before dropping her eyes to the floor. She would never admit to manipulation. That was such a strong and ugly word. Instead, everything she did was subtle. Glances here and there, a touch that would last a little longer than it should, the things she helped with during the team’s differential diagnosis sessions.
E
Empathy
She understood people’s emotions, always offering words of empathy to patients and families. It made her feel better to interact with them and share hope. She checked on their patient one last time before discharge. He had watched her again, drawn in by the exchange between her and the patient. He stabbed his cane into the tiled floor and then walked back to his office.
R
Romantic
A small vase of red carnations decorated her desk. There was never an occasion, but periodically bright, pretty flowers were refilled into the vase. It brought a smile to her face when she saw them. She wasn’t ashamed of being a romantic. He rolled his eyes when he saw her putting the carnations into the vase. He had given up making snarky comments about the flowers long ago because it had ceased to annoy her. Once though, he had tucked a rose into the vase when she wasn’t there. It blended perfectly with the roses all ready there.
O
Order
There was usually downtime between cases, and this was no exception. Being able to pick and choose what they worked on was a luxury that most other departments didn’t have. She liked order; it helped bring stability and familiarity to the chaos around her at the hospital. He liked order too, and to a certain degree everyone on the team did. They each had their own routine, as much as being doctors would allow them anyway.
N
Next
She was sitting at her desk looking over emails and sorting his mail. He walked into the office and glanced at her. There was a moment of eye contact before he broke it this time. She didn’t know what to do next. Was it her move? Things always went back and forth between them like this. It was part of the routine and she cherished it. He was used to it and missed it when she wasn’t there. Eventually they would have to find out what this ‘it’ was, but for now they were toying with it. Both just along for the ride.
*Laxism is the belief that an unlikely opinion maybe safely followed.
Characters/Pairing: Allison Cameron, Ducklings, House/Cameron
Prompt 024. Colleagues
Words: 1229
Spoilers: None
Rating: PG
Summary: What makes her tick? And why is he so appealing anyway?
A/N: Last recycled fic, I promise! Everything else I post will be new! Originally posted on 10-13-2005, I got the idea for this after seeing the huge word prompt table at fanfic100. The look of all those individual words in the table appealed to me and I some how came up with taking the letters of Cameron's name and choosing words that described her or things going on around her. My husband read over this, but otherwise it hasn't been beta'd so.....
Table of Contents
A
Angelic
She was exhausted. The dark circles around her eyes marred her otherwise angelic face. Removing her glasses, she rubbed her forehead. The Diagnostics team had been hard at work on a case, and sleep just wasn’t a luxury she could afford. A patient’s life was at stake.
L
Love
When there was time to sleep, she was kept awake by her churning thoughts. She was in love with him. There was no denying it and no escaping from it. He was her boss and they saw each other almost every day. She had tried to remove herself from the situation, but he had sought her out and pulled her back into the fold. He needed her to challenge him and keep him in line. She needed him for all the reasons she shouldn’t.
L
Laxism*
She was knew it wouldn’t be like this, working for anyone else. Their team. It was unique and it worked. They dealt with laxism in most of their cases. Taking a risk often resulted in curing a patient. Learning to bend or break the rules, thinking outside of the box, finding the solution to the puzzle. The method and science behind their diagnoses didn’t always follow their initial argued assumptions, but it worked and that was all that mattered. This is why she couldn’t leave; she was part of the solution.
I
Intriguing
She was doing it to herself, really. Girls always fall for the bad boys. She found him vastly intriguing, and vice versa. He made her smile with his jokes, often at the expense of others, and she envied his quick wit. He frustrated her with his evasive behavior. Every time she made strides to figure him out, he would put up another wall. She couldn’t give him up though; he was her Vicodin.
S
Semantics
Despite her constant internal conflict, she managed to keep going. Work kept her moving forward. The survival of the patient was still hanging in the balance and here they all were, arguing over semantics. She often held her tongue while the boys butted heads, but this time it was just too much. She silenced them with her scream and for once they took her seriously. They ended up following her suggestion. She began to notice that he looked at her in a slightly different light after that.
O
Optimist
It just had to work. It was all there on the papers in front of her, and her suggestion made the most sense. She was in the lab studying the latest test results on the patient and hoping that her treatment was working. She was the optimist of the team, always wishing for the best outcomes and looking for the good in people. He had once accused her of needing a new charity case, but it really wasn’t like that at all. She just hoped she could offer him happiness, that he would be able to love again.
N
Naive
It was sweet of her to think that way. And naive. She was often accused of being a romantic, and that some day she would be in for a rude awakening. People chose to think that about her, and now she was slowly learning to ignore that. He had brought some cynicism and bitterness to her life, but she hadn’t let it consume her like it had him. He was teaching her so much more than how to be a better doctor.
C
Caring
She was checking in on their patient; something she did daily with all of the cases the team worked on. She was often the one they would confide in. Caring was second nature to her. She did it without much thought and usually considered others long before herself. He would often jump all over her about it, but for the most part she would roll her eyes at him. Her treatment was working and their patient was slowly improving, enough to where she would pop in for a check up several times a day. He watched her from the hallway, curious, but always leaving before she noticed him.
A
Atheist
The patient was Catholic. The subject of religion had come up during one of the many check-in visits during the course of treatment. She wasn’t going to lie and admitted to the patient that she was an Atheist. Surprised at first, the patient had welcomed a philosophical conversation while the IV was refilled. He had yet to meet the patient in person, but he still knew everything that went on in that patient room. He made jabs at her about her explanations to the patient about her beliefs, but she just waved him off. He was always trying different techniques to get a rise out of her.
M
Manipulation
The team was in the Diagnostics conference room. She had given an update on their recovering patient, and now it was time to look ahead to the next one. She had made the coffee, and finished fixing him a mug. Handing it to him, her fingers lightly touched his. She met his gaze for a few seconds before dropping her eyes to the floor. She would never admit to manipulation. That was such a strong and ugly word. Instead, everything she did was subtle. Glances here and there, a touch that would last a little longer than it should, the things she helped with during the team’s differential diagnosis sessions.
E
Empathy
She understood people’s emotions, always offering words of empathy to patients and families. It made her feel better to interact with them and share hope. She checked on their patient one last time before discharge. He had watched her again, drawn in by the exchange between her and the patient. He stabbed his cane into the tiled floor and then walked back to his office.
R
Romantic
A small vase of red carnations decorated her desk. There was never an occasion, but periodically bright, pretty flowers were refilled into the vase. It brought a smile to her face when she saw them. She wasn’t ashamed of being a romantic. He rolled his eyes when he saw her putting the carnations into the vase. He had given up making snarky comments about the flowers long ago because it had ceased to annoy her. Once though, he had tucked a rose into the vase when she wasn’t there. It blended perfectly with the roses all ready there.
O
Order
There was usually downtime between cases, and this was no exception. Being able to pick and choose what they worked on was a luxury that most other departments didn’t have. She liked order; it helped bring stability and familiarity to the chaos around her at the hospital. He liked order too, and to a certain degree everyone on the team did. They each had their own routine, as much as being doctors would allow them anyway.
N
Next
She was sitting at her desk looking over emails and sorting his mail. He walked into the office and glanced at her. There was a moment of eye contact before he broke it this time. She didn’t know what to do next. Was it her move? Things always went back and forth between them like this. It was part of the routine and she cherished it. He was used to it and missed it when she wasn’t there. Eventually they would have to find out what this ‘it’ was, but for now they were toying with it. Both just along for the ride.
*Laxism is the belief that an unlikely opinion maybe safely followed.