Ruined Part 6

That night after work, Cameron went to House's place. He hated cooking, so she had decided to make him dinner. She had shown up at his door with a couple bags of food, and he'd stayed out of her way - for the most part.

House couldn't help but going into the kitchen to bug her as she made chicken and a few other things.

"Check out what I got for Steve." He said excitedly, almost like a child. He Carried Steve into the kitchen, inside a plastic hamster ball.

"Ohmigod." Cameron laughed and rolled her eyes. "You're starting to scare me with that rat."

He put Steve on the floor and let him roll away into the living room. "Well, you bought him a rat-sized Santa hat."

Cameron gave an 'oops, he remembered' smile and turned back to the stone to stir a few things.

House went up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "What smells so good?"

"Chicken, rice and corn."

"I wasn't talking about the food."

Cameron could feel his smile against her cheek.

House turned her around to have her facing him. She smiled and wrapped her arms over his shoulders as he leaned down and began to kiss her.

Steve rolled into the kitchen like speed racer, bumping into all of the floor cabinets before circling around and bumping into House's foot and ankle.

House grumbled, annoyed, as he picked Steve up and took him into the living room. "No more rat-ball tonight." He told Steve as he lowered him into his cage.

The doorbell rang just as House was closing the cage. "I'll get it." He called to Cameron. He limped to the front door and opened it to find Wilson standing there.

"You are gonna kill me." Wilson said slowly.

House looked hard at his friend and narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Obviously it wasn't good. He stepped aside and Wilson came in. He didn't offer to take Wilson's coat because he knew dinner was almost done and his empty stomach was first priority at the moment. "What happened?" he asked.

Wilson had taken a seat in House's armchair. He watched Steve run around his cage for a minute, and then looked up at House. "Stacy knows about you and Cameron."

House leaned on his cane, taking in what had been said. "And how did Stacy find out?"

"Because... I told her." He saw the anger form on House's face. "She practically forced it out of me! You know she can tell if I'm lying."

House nodded slowly. "You were right. I'm gonna kill you."

Wilson winced and closed his eyes. "Make it quick."

House sat down heavily on the couch, thinking.

Wilson peeked to make sure House wasn't about to bash him with his cane and relaxed a little.

Cameron came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a small towel. "Oh, hi Wilson." She glanced at House, then looked back to Wilson. "Do you want to stay for dinner? I made chicken."

Wilson had almost accepted when House answered for him.

"He's not staying."

"Ok. Well... everything will be ready in ten minutes." She smiled and went back into the kitchen.

Wilson didn't even try to complain about missing a home-cooked meal.

"Ok, I'm not gonna kill you." House looked up from staring at Steve's cage. He had been trying to figure out how to fix everything.

"What are you gonna do about Stacy?"

"Nothing." House shrugged.

"... what about Cameron?" Wilson didn't like the sound of where House's thoughts were going.

"I'm not gonna tell her. And neither are you."

"But -"

House rolled his eyes. "If I tell Cameron, she'll just get all worked up again. She doesn't need to know." He paused. "And if Stacy keeps her mouth shut, then everything should be fine."

"In theory." Wilson added.

"You underestimate my damage control abilities."

"No. I fairly estimate you ability to do the right thing." Wilson stood up. "Enjoy your dinner." He said and quickly left.

Cameron came out of the kitchen again, with plates and silverware in her hands. "Dinner's ready."

House pulled himself off the couch and set his small dining table as she brought out the food.

That night, House had trouble sleeping. Despite having Cameron lying naked in his bed as a distraction, he couldn't help but worry about what Stacy might do. She'd already made House's life a living hell, but now that he was moving on with Cameron, he wouldn't put it past Stacy to try to make Cameron's life just as miserable.

House reached up and rubbed the ball of his hand into his eye, trying to get Stacy out of his head.

Cameron rolled over and cuddled up to his side, laying her arm over his waist and hooking her leg over his good leg.

Being a man, and even more, being House, his mind went straight to the naked woman lying right next to him. House reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a vicodin from the bottle that sat there. He dry swallowed it and rolled back over to Cameron.

He lifted her chin up gently and kissed her a couple times.

She smiled through the last kiss. "Mmm." She sighed happily.

House ran his hands under the covers and set them on her lower back.

After they made love, he happily drifted off to sleep.

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House tried not to be in a foul mood the next day at work, but after misdiagnosing their new patient for the second time, he was really starting to get annoyed. He was on his way back to his office when the unfortunately familiar form of Stacy sidled up beside him. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and tried to quicken his pace.

"Still haven't received those forms I gave you." She said, almost smugly.

"I've been busy. Dying patients are more important than your pointless paperwork." He grumbled, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

"What else is more important?" She asked. "Maybe... Dr. Cameron?"

House stopped walking abruptly, just a few steps from his office. He turned to glare at her. "This might sound familiar, but I'll say it anyway. My personal life is none of your business."

Her eyes hardened.

"So quick to forget about Mark, I see."

"I haven't forgotten about Mark. You know that better than anyone." She said, her anger and jealousy seeping into her voice.

"I do. I also know that you secretly want me to stay available, just in case things with your husband don't work out."

Stacy glared at him for another moment, and then left.

He didn't think of this as a victory against her. He knew he wouldn't win until she left the hospital for good.

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Cameron felt like she'd been exiled to the clinic, having one hypochondriac patient after another. People had bombarded the clinic after another 'in-depth' story about the bird flu had aired on basic television the night before.

Chase, who had been brought down to help with the overflow of patients, came up beside her as they both prepared to take another patient. "This is ridiculous." He commented to her quietly.

She gave him a look that told him she agreed and she went off to exam room two. After somewhat calming another bird flu worrier, she left the room to take another patient.

Assuming it was Chase who came up beside her again, she kept writing in the last patient's chart and said, "Do you want to get Foreman and go to a bar after work? I think I'm gonna need a drink by the end of today."

"Aren't you going to Greg's?"

Cameron looked up to see Stacy there, smiling like a cat that swallowed the canary. "Um... why would I go to Dr. House's?" She hastily looked away and handed the chart to a nurse.

"I heard you've been spending a lot of time with Greg. Even that the two of you are seeing each other."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Cameron took another chart and looked it over. "And I don't know what business it would be of yours." She looked up just to see Stacy, still smiling. She set down the new chart for another doctor to take. "Excuse me."

Cameron broke away from Stacy, her heart beating faster than she thought possible. She quickly left the clinic and met Chase at the elevator.

"What's wrong?" he asked as they stepped into the empty elevator.

As soon as the doors closed, she asked "Did you tell Stacy about me and House?" She didn't yell; she was too shocked to be angry.

"No, why?"

She closed her eyes for a moment to try and pull herself together. She could tell that he was being honest. "She just told me that she heard about us."

"What??" He put his hand on her arm. "Cameron, I swear I didn't tell her."

"I know." She sighed. She was quiet for the rest of the elevator ride.

Now that Stacy knew, it probably wouldn't be long until the rest of the hospital found out Cameron had some thinking to do.

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Cameron hadn't felt as nervous as she did then since before she had started dating House months before. Now, she was waiting for him to come to her apartment. She was almost dizzy from all the pacing she was doing.

Lily had perched herself on the back of the couch, watching Cameron pace. Lily had almost been stepped on a few times, so she'd picked the place farthest away from Cameron's feet.

Cameron froze when she heard the knock on her front door. She opened it and, as expected, there was House.

He stepped inside and waited as she closed the door and turned around. The look in her eyes made him realize that she knew about Stacy.

She walked around him and sat down on the couch. "Stacy knows about us."

House sighed and bent his head down. "I know." He said quietly.

She looked up at him in surprise. "You know?"

He nodded, almost wanting to kick himself, regretting that he never told her. "Wilson told me."

She stood up and started to pace nervously again.

"Please unclench." House sighed. "Maybe she won't cause any problems." He knew he was grasping at straws.

She didn't relax at all, but reached up to wipe the newly forming tears away from her eyes. She knew what she had to do and it was killing her on the inside. She turned to face him but could barely look him in the eyes. "I think... we should stop this." She said quickly before she could chicken out. "We can't do this anymore."

House stood there, staring at her in disbelief. "Why? Because I didn't tell you that Stacy knew about us?"

She didn't answer, but began to cry a little more. She put a hand up to her forehead, trying to think through all the emotion and heartache that was already hitting her.

"Is that why?" House asked again, a little louder than before.

Cameron went to let out a breath she'd been holding, but it came out as a sob. "Everyone will find out... no one will respect me as a doctor if they know that I'm sleeping with my boss."

"It's more than just sleeping together." He argued.

"I know that. But they won't think of it that way." She continued to cry.

"Allison," he stepped closer to her.

"I'm so sorry, Greg. Just... please go."

House stood there in shock for a minute, and then nodded and left.

The door slammed behind him.

Now that Cameron was alone, she collapsed onto the couch and let herself cry as hard as she could. She cried enough to make her head and eyes hurt, but she still couldn't stop. She curled up and laid her head on the arm of the couch. She pulled down a heavy blanket from the back of the couch and pulled it over her.

She lay there, trying not to cry and wishing House would call her to try and make things better.

For Cameron, that night felt like forever.



Ruined