The text came just as House was leaving Stacy's with the rat, Steve McQueen. He loaded the crate holding Steve into the back of his car and headed to Cameron's apartment. All her text said was that it was an emergency and she needed to see him. House was concerned about Cameron since their HIV infected patient coughed blood in her face. Though it was more likely she wouldn't contract the virus, there was still the slim chance she could. House didn't relish the thought of losing his best doctor to AIDS.
House parked in a handicapped spot in front of Cameron's apartment building. It was a chilly night but not so cold that he couldn't leave Steve in the car. House grabbed his cane, locked up the car and made his way up to Cameron's apartment. As he stepped off the elevator, he could hear music coming from her place. He rapped on the door with his cane and waited. The door swung open to reveal Cameron, gold veined hair floating like a wind tossed cloud around her, cheeks flushed and eyes so dilated House knew immediately that she was higher than a kite.
"Oh, you've been a naughty girl, Cameron," he told her as he walked past her into the apartment. "You got into the patient's bag of goodies, didn't you?"
Cameron slammed the door and locked it. She circled House like a lioness sizing up her prey. House had to admit she looked damn sexy in her skin tight jeans and cleavage baring tank top. She grabbed his jacket and tried to pull him in for a kiss. House dropped his cane and grasped her arms, trying not to focus on the fact that her smooth skin covered firm muscles.
"What did you take?" he asked, holding her back.
"Come on," she purred. "I see the way you look at me. I know you want me."
"Not like this."
Cameron whirled out his grasp and began stalking around the apartment. "Then get out and I'll call Chase. He won't turn me down."
House went into the kitchen, found a glass and filled it with water. "Probably not. But I know you and you'd regret it."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his bottle of Vicodin. Shaking two out into his hand, he held them out to Cameron along with the water.
"Take these," he told her. "I'd give you Ativan if I had any but this will have to do."
Cameron snatched the pills and dry swallowed them, staring defiantly at House.
"Oh, you're so tough," House mocked.
Cameron ran her hands through her hair. House approached her and gently tilted her head back. "I may be a misanthropic ass but I am not going to take advantage of you," he told her. "When we have sex, it will be because we both want it and we're both aware of what's happening. I'm sure if you'd called Chase instead you would be in bed with him right now. I won't do that to you."
Cameron's lower lip trembled and her eyes filled with tears. "I'm tired of being good."
House smiled slightly. "Being bad is not all it's cracked up to be." He looked at her carefully. "The fact that you're good keeps me from being even more of an ass than I am."
Her eyelids drooped and she began to slip down toward the floor. House slid his arm around her shoulders and started to guide her toward her bedroom. He made it to the hallway when she went completely limp. Grunting slightly, he lifted her in his arms and slowly made his way to her bedroom. He dropped her on the bed and pulled the comforter over her. He limped to a chair in the corner and sat down, massaging his leg. Cameron weighed next to nothing but carrying her still put a strain on his leg. Fishing his pill bottle out, he downed two Vicodin and sat back. He remained in the chair, watching Cameron, until the first faint rays of sunlight slid across the carpet. House got up, checked Cameron's pulse and pupils, and then he quietly left her to sleep. In the living room, he picked up his cane and let himself out.
The early morning sun made him blink as he left Cameron's apartment building. House looked at his watch and decided he had time to go home, take a quick nap, shower and arrive at work at his usual time. As he started his car, he glanced back at Steve McQueen in his cage. The rat tilted its head.
"I didn't," House told it. "I wanted to but I didn't. Stop judging me."