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It was the middle of the night. '1:50 a.m.'
House had lost a patient that day. A fat embolism. There was nothing he could do. She had been trapped beneath the rubble long before she reached the hospital.
He blamed himself anyway.
The woman reminded him too much of his own medical trauma. The infarction. The pain. The feeling of losing control over his own body.
Earlier, he had given Cuddy a book as an engagement present. He told himself it was nothing, but the truth was harder to ignore. He loved her. Maybe he always had.
Lucas was with her now, and House hated that part most of all.
KRAK-SHH-CHINGGG!
The mirror slammed against the rim of the bathtub. Glass exploded across the floor, scattering in every direction.
Mayfield flashed through his mind. Rehab. The hallucinations. The months he spent trying to separate reality from fantasy. He had imagined a life with Cuddy. A perfect one.
Then she fired him.
He had been clean for a year after rehab. One year.
Tonight, that wasn't enough.
Behind the shattered medicine cabinet sat two unopened bottles of Vicodin. He thought to himself, 'No one would even come.'
Suddenly the door creaked. Who was it?
It was Cameron, She was worried from the start when House had to leave for the case. How the hell did she get in?
She stepped into his apartment. It smelled like stale coffee, old books and alcohol. The light was dim, long shadows casting on the floor from outside the bathroom. House sat on the bathroom floor. The shattered mirror lay against the rim of the bathtub, surrounded by broken glass.
A single pill rested in his palm.
One bottle of Vicodin remained hidden in the hole behind the medicine cabinet.
The other was clutched tightly in his hand.
Cameron stepped in, leaning on the door frame.
"Why are you here?" He whispered..
"You lost a patient. Im so sorry.."
House let out a bitter laugh.
"You came all the way because of that?" He scoffed.
Cameron hesitated before answering.
"You know I like you right-?, i know about the engagement present you gave Cuddy, she tossed it somewhere."
House paused. Cameron stepped closer and lowered herself down to his level. "Don't take the pill." For once House was speechless. "May I-?", This was the only time He allowed anyone to see him this vulnerable. No one has ever seen him like this, not even Wilson. Cameron's hand hovered over his palm, waiting for him to say anything at all. Nothing. She took the pill and the bottle in his hand. She stood up, tossing it onto the side and stepping out.
Before she could exit, House called out to her.
"Wait.." Cameron looked back.
"I-" he swallowed hard
"I like you..." Cameron froze, she never expected to hear him say that. The silence was deafening.
"Y-you do?" Cameron murmed
House let out a tired sigh.
"Yeah." He said quietly "I do.."