A Serious Misstep (Abandoned Me Pt. 9/??)
A Serious Misstep (Abandoned Me Pt. 9/??)
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Pairing: House/Cuddy and Cameron/Wilson eventually
Rating: PG - 13 (eventually R/NC-17)
AN: We've skipped forward a few weeks. :) We'll be back to Cuddy and House next time. Right now it's time to stir the pot a little.
It was a good sign and Cameron knew it.
She’d convinced him to come out for coffee with her, instead of their now almost ritualized lunch every second day. It was progress - every little thing was progress. After the funeral, she’d started talking to him - not expecting any response. She brought the latest hospital gossip, news about his patients, ER stories. Even a few ‘duckling’ stories, smirking somewhat proudly that instead of going to Foreman, they’d come to her since their confidence in Foreman’s diagnosis was even less than normal on their latest case.
She didn’t mention House, not wanting to bring up something that would upset the balance they’d found. When he started contributing to the conversation - even though it was somewhat stilted, when she’d returned to the hospital - no one or thing had been able to stop her from feeling good - not even the plethora of injuries that had extended her twelve hour shift into a sixteen hour one.
Now they were actually out. Out of the apartment he’d shared with Amber. Out amongst the living instead of the in between world she’d been visiting him in for the past few weeks. She smiled slightly as Wilson insisted on buying them their coffee and lunch and they settled in a window seat.
She knew she had to skip over some of the more funny stories, since they had to do with calling Cuddy in on the weekend for a consult and her arriving in jeans, a white blouse tied off at midriff and with a serious case of helmet head - which of course had sparked new life in the Cuddy and House sleeping together pool. Of course, she had reservations - which she couldn’t voice knowing that she’d be accused of jealousy - when in fact she was worried about Cuddy more than House. She’d seen the look that had been on Cuddy’s face when occasionally she brought House to the hospital - she knew the look intimately and she couldn’t help wondering what would happen when his memories came back. Shaking herself out of it, she focused on Wilson again. “So Kutner has moved on from almost killing himself with defibrillators...”
“I’m almost afraid to ask what now… Did he stick his finger in a light socket?” Wilson asked warily. A slight amusement showing in his expression that didn’t reach his eyes unfortunately.
Cameron took a sip of her coffee. “Not quite that stupid.” She smirked. “He broke another MRI. I think Cuddy was almost in tears.”
“Not again - I thought the one, you guys broke was bad enough.” Wilson shook his head incredulously.
“He was playing with a steel ball bearing that he found.” She held up her hand in an okay symbol to demonstrate how big the thing was. “God knows where, and he carried it into the MRI room when the patient started to loose it in the machine while it was still on - didn’t give the others a chance to shut it down. So the ball bearing rips out of his pocket, smashes into the MRI machine. They’re just lucky that the patient wasn’t hurt.”
Wilson shook his head. “Did Cuddy fire him?”
“Not yet… I think she’s trying to convince Dr. Hadley not to leave…” Cameron looked down into her coffee.
“Why?” Wilson frowned. “I mean why would Thirteen leave?”
“Huntingtons.” Cameron shook her head. “If the rumour mill is to be believed - her mother had it. She tested herself.” Cameron knew she didn't have to elaborate on why - feeling a kinship with the other doctor - remembering her aids test that House had tricked her into, then read the results of ahead of time. "She's positive."
“Damn…” Wilson shook his head then fell silent - there was little to no chance of a false positive with a Huntingtons test. It sounded like their neat little world was coming apart at the seams - the accident and Amber had only been the beginning. He couldn’t help himself as he voiced the question. “How is he?”
It was obvious to Cameron who he was asking about. She chewed her lip and tried to decide on the best way of breaking it to him. “There are … problems.”
“What?” Wilson asked, his voice not showing any emotion - forcing himself to shut down to a point to deal with the fact that she was once again in the forefront of his thoughts.
“He has retrograde amnesia - given there hasn’t been any progress towards regaining his memories, Foreman thinks it’s not post traumatic.” Cameron said softly.
“Dissociative?” Wilson asked, uncertain how to take the news.
Cameron nodded. “He doesn’t remember anything after college. Dr. Cuddy has been staying with him since his mother is still on a tour of Europe.”
Wilson’s eyes darkened and narrowed. “Wait a minute. You mean House can’t remember anything that’s happened. Amber, me, Stacy… The infarction?”
Cameron shook her head slowly, wondering if this wasn’t the right track to take. “So all he remembers is a time when he and Cuddy…” Her name was practically spat out. “And she’s letting him.”
“She’s not letting him anything, Wilson.” Cameron was shocked at the anger in the normally gentle man’s voice.
“If she hasn’t yet… She will.” Wilson scowled, knowing that without the anger and guilt to hold the pair apart, Cuddy would fold faster than Chase trying to bluff House. “Damn it… He gets to forget everything and he gets Cuddy back.” His fist slammed into the table. “It’s not fair… It’s not right…”
Cameron watched somewhat in shock as Wilson stood abruptly and stalked out of the coffee shop, leaving her with the sinking suspicion that she’d allowed him to take a very wrong step.