DISCLAIMER: House and its characters are the property of FOX. No
infringement intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Written for the House Femslash Ficathon,
with sinandmisery's prompt "Exam Room". The fic is set during the ep
No More Mr Nice Guy, but there are no major spoilers. Thanks to my
fantastic betas, chantarelle and carpesomediem.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Come Away with Me
By Babydykecate
Thirteen is just about to turn on the light in the exam room when she notices a blonde curled up on the exam table.
"Cameron?" she asks curiously.
The blonde jerks awake, staring up at her with sleepy eyes. "Uhh… maybe?" Cameron replies cautiously.
"You're not sure if you're Cameron?" Thirteen asks with a teasing smile as she walks over to Cameron. As she gets closer, she notices that Cameron looks absolutely exhausted. Her eyes are red and puffy, her dirty hair is haphazardly pulled back, and her scrubs are wrinkled and smudged with blood. She still looks beautiful, Thirteen thinks, before pushing the thought aside.
"I know I'm Cameron," she replies, rolling her eyes. She lowers her voice, "I'm hiding."
Thirteen raises her eyebrow.
"It's been so crazy with all the nurses on strike. I just wanted to shut my eyes for a little bit. And I couldn't handle Chase continuously asking me if I'd slept with House …" Cameron rambles, her eyelids drooping every so often.
"So you hid in the exam room," Thirteen finishes for Cameron.
Cameron nods. "I can't decide which is worse- the fact I once wanted to sleep with House and can't admit it, or the fact that my fiancé asking about it annoys the crap out of me…" she sighs.
"So you didn't…?" Thirteen trails off.
"No," Cameron replies with a sigh, "Can you actually imagine House shutting up long enough to have sex?" she says skeptically.
"Only with Wilson," Thirteen jokes.
Cameron chuckles. Her eyelids start to droop again, so she leans her head on her hand and closes her eyes.
Thirteen considers leaving the room, thinking Cameron might have drifted to sleep. Then she hears Cameron mumble something and moves closer to her again.
"What did you say, Cam?" she asks softly.
"Everything he does drives me crazy…" she repeats.
"House?" Thirteen guesses.
"No. Well, yes, but… I was talking about Chase," Cameron replies, her exhaustion making it hard to focus.
"Oh," Thirteen says, not knowing what else to say.
"His jealously, his immaturity… the way he acts like a petulant child half the time. I just find myself staring at him, trying to remember why I'm with him," Cameron admits sadly.
She opens her eyes and turns to look at Thirteen. "What do you do when you fall out of love with someone? When every moment you're with them, you feel like you're drowning?" Cameron asks Thirteen.
Thirteen looks into her eyes. "You leave," she replies simply.
Cameron looks like she might cry. "It's over," she says, more to herself than to Thirteen.
"Look, Cameron, your shift's over. You're exhausted. You need sleep. Preferably on something softer than an exam table. I understand if you don't want to go home to Chase. I have a pretty nice couch. It's got to be better than an exam table. If you want it, it's yours for tonight," Thirteen offers with a smile.
"I can't have Cuddy finding me in here," Cameron jokes.
"Exactly," Thirteen grins. "I'll go grab my things. Don't get caught while I'm gone," she says with a wink, before leaving Cameron alone in the exam room.
Cameron knows she has to call Chase, even though she doesn't want to hear his voice. With a small sigh, Cameron pulls out her phone and dials the familiar number.
"Chase?"
"I'm going to spend the night at a friend's," she tells him before he can launch into a lecture about her not calling sooner.
"What? No I'm not hiding anything," she replies defensively. She hates always having to explain herself to him.
"Will you stop asking about House?" she asks sharply. She can't believe he asked again.
"No! Of course I'm not spending the night with House!" she snaps, offended.
"Chase, I'm not cheating on you with anyone," she says with a sigh. She's quickly losing her desire to defend herself and continue this fight.
"Look, maybe I'm not coming home tomorrow either." She doesn't want any of it anymore- his blonde hair on the pillow next to her, the fights every night, the kisses that feel like control and taste like bitterness.
"Yes Chase, it's over." She finally said it. She wishes it felt like a relief, but she just feels hollow.
"Goodbye."
Tears fall from Cameron's eyes, and she curls up on the table again. That's how Thirteen finds her- curled up half asleep, her cheeks wet with tears.
"You told him?" Thirteen asks as she helps Cameron off the table.
Cameron nods. Thirteen just puts her arm around her and helps her to the car. Cameron naps against the car window the entire car ride, the rhythm of the car finally allowing her to relax.
"We're here, Cam. Time to wake up," Thirteen's voice stirs Cameron.
"Do I have to?" Cameron mumbles stubbornly.
"You're not sleeping in the car. I'll carry you if I have to…" Thirteen warns.
Cameron's eyes pop open. "I'm up," she says as she stumbles out of the car.
Thirteen nods and puts an arm around her waist to steady her.
Thirteen quickly unlocks the door to her apartment. She leaves Cameron on the couch while she hunts for an extra pair of PJs.
She's not at all surprised to find Cameron sprawled on the couch passed out when she gets back.
"Cam, wake up," Thirteen says she shakes Cameron's shoulder.
Cameron grumbles incoherently.
"I'm not letting you sleep in blood-stained scrubs, Allison Cameron," Thirteen's voice is stern.
Cameron sits up and puts her hands over her head like a child. Thirteen smiles and pulls the dirty scrub top over Cameron's head. Her fingers hesitate at the shirt underneath it, but it's almost as dirty as the scrub top. She pulls off the second shirt and the scrub pants, honorably diverting her eyes from Cameron's exposed skin. She quickly dresses Cameron in the PJs and lays her down on the couch.
"Goodnight Cameron," Thirteen says as she tucks Cameron in. She's startled to feel Cameron's lips brush against hers. The kiss is brief. Thirteen barely has time to press her lips into Cameron's before they're gone, leaving only a tingling in Thirteen's lips as proof.
"Goodnight," Cameron replies with a soft smile, her eyes still shut.
Thirteen just stands there in shock. After a minute she finally manages to pull herself together and head to her own bed. She lies in bed, thinking over the moments where Cameron's lips meet hers. Cameron was half-asleep… she'd just broken up with Chase… surely the kiss meant nothing. But what if Thirteen wanted it to mean something?
Thirteen sighs, trying not to think about how her heart had raced when Cameron kissed her. But it is still the image of Cameron smiling with her eyes closed that Thirteen falls asleep to.
Thirteen is awakened by the sound of pans clanging together. As she makes her way to the kitchen, she's not prepared for the image that greets her. Cameron is making breakfast.
"Good morning," Cameron says cheerfully.
Thirteen nods sleepily.
"I'm making eggs and pancakes. Oh… and there's coffee too," Cameron says pointing to two steaming mugs.
"Thank God," Thirteen replies. She cradles the mug in her hands as she watches Cameron cook.
Cameron looks so happy cooking. Thirteen is by no means a morning person, but this time she doesn't mind being woken up at so early.
Thirteen's not exactly sure how it happened. Cameron had been sleeping on her couch for a week. Thirteen hadn't said anything about Chase, and neither had Cameron. Thirteen also hadn't said anything about Cameron getting her own place. She liked waking up to Cameron cooking. She loved it when Cameron fell asleep against her when they were watching a movie. The one problem with the whole thing was that Thirteen was falling for Cameron.
She wasn't surprised when she came home one day to find Cameron dancing. She wasn't even surprised when Cameron made her dance with her.
What did surprise her was that she couldn't stop herself from kissing Cameron. That Cameron didn't hesitate to kiss her back surprised her more. Most surprising of all was that no one slept on the couch that night.
The End