Of Chlorine and Colds.
A collaboration between myself & @blesser-in-disguise <3
Fandom: H/ouse MD.
Word Count: 1k for part 1!
Part 1/?
Of Chlorine and Colds.
•
Cameron was already in the room when Chase entered that morning, which wasn’t all that surprising — she was usually the first person there. And, she usually greeted him with a smile and a small sentence or two, only this time she was busy at the sink stirring a hot mug of what he assumed would be coffee. His bag hit the chair with a thump, and the brunette startled behind him.
“Oh!” She hadn’t noticed him walk in, seemingly in something of a trance. Huh. Also unusual.
“Is there any coffee left for me?” Chase questioned, stretching his arms above his head amongst a yawn.
“Oh, uh… it’s tea, sorry. Want me to put on a pot for you, though? Oh, and can I borrow your honey?” She asked, politeness forefront as usual. Her voice sounded a little… off?
“Yeah, of course. I’ll do the coffee.” He moved to stand beside her at the sink.
“Thanks.” she smiled, reaching up for the bottle of honey as he filled the coffee machine with water.
Chase stole a glance at her as she squeezed a generous amount of honey into the cup and stirred it in. She always looked beautiful, even in the mornings, which Chase couldn’t fathom, feeling like his exhaustion showed on his face for at least the first few hours of wakefulness. Today, though, there was an unusual tension to her face, like she was thinking hard about something. Probably the case.
Cameron finished stirring her drink and walked away to sit down at the table. Chase pressed the button to start the coffee machine. It hummed loudly to life and he watched it drip into the pot blankly, too tired to even think about getting a cup out before the coffee was done brewing. Chase opened the cupboard as the humming stopped, just in time to hear Cameron-
“-Tshhoo!”
“Bless you.” he said automatically, still reaching for a mug.
“Thanks.” Cameron responded. Chase hesitated. She never sneezes. In their time working together, Chase had seen Cameron sneeze about the amount of times that he thought he probably sneezed in an average week. Which was a lot for a single person in a week, but not a lot for a coworker you’d worked with (and even briefly slept with) for a significant amount of time.
Chase turned, fresh cup of coffee in hand, intending to check in with the immunologist, but being immediately (as was so frequently the case) interrupted by his boss.
House pushed the glass door open violently, limping in with Foreman on his heels looking frustrated.
“She is not responding to the treatment, people!” House smacked the whiteboard with his cane, making everyone else flinch. “We are starting from scratch.”
The three diagnosticians all sighed, Chase and Foreman joining Cameron at the table to brainstorm new ideas for what could be ailing their patient.
The discussion was mostly Chase and Foreman suggesting things, House shooting them down, Cameron flicking through pages of notes with a frown, House being extremely theatrical about the patient’s ‘impending demise’, Cameron quietly sniffling, and Chase giving her sidelong glances that House would probably describe as ‘puppy dog eyes’ or something equally humiliating, if he’d noticed.
Finally Foreman came up with an idea that House deemed ‘worth testing for’ and was allowed to leave to collect what he needed from the patient. After five more minutes of the two remaining members of the team trying and failing to come up with another potential diagnosis, House dismissed them to “investigate the scene of the crime” which just meant breaking into their patient’s house to collect samples of anything that looked like it might make someone sick.
“Okay, I guess we’re off to look for mould or gas leaks or lead paint again.” Chase stood up, watching House make his way down the corridor to annoy Wilson.
“I should have thought harder. I’m sure there’s an explanation for these symptoms.” Cameron closed the file frustratedly, and grabbed her bag.
“It’s alright, I’d rather be snooping round some lady’s house than getting yelled at by House.” he smiled at her, expecting a laugh in response.
“Yeah, me too.” Cameron didn’t meet his gaze, rubbing at her temple with a pained look.
“You okay?” Chase asked tentatively, as they made their way to the door.
“Just tired.” she smiled.
“Same. When this case is over, I’m going to sleep for a week!”
Cameron laughed a little, “Then you’ll be our next case.”
•
They walked through the parking lot to where Chase had parked his car this morning, squinting in the sunshine. Despite the presence of said sun, it was still a little chilly outside, and Chase pretty much always felt colder than anyone else. He tugged his jacket tighter around himself, reaching for the car door handle. He turned, expecting Cameron to be directly beside him, yet she was a few paces back, frozen on the spot.
He frowned, watching as she shook her head slightly and sniffled, before jogging to catch up with him.
“… you alright?” He questioned, eyebrows raised.
“Yeah!” She moved to climb into the passenger seat. “Just… though I was gonna sneeze. I didn’t.” The brunette shrugged, and smiled at him. She was weirdly endearing sometimes.
Moments after he started up the engine, Cameron ducked delicately into the elbow crook of her soft beige coat. ‘Hhh’ddShhiew… -TsHhoo!’ Sniffling twice afterwards, and reaching into her pocket for a tissue.
“It came back,” Cameron hummed, blinking a few times.
Chase’s brow creased. That was a clear sign she was getting sick. The only time she ever really sneezed in general was with a cold, but sneezing a double? That was a sure fire tell.
“Bless you,” he murmured, concentrating on driving out onto the road. “You sure you’re okay?” He stole a glance sideways at her. Her nose was a little pink now. It matched her blush.
She glanced back at him, head tilted slightly. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.” Her smile was convincing, but he would touch back on this subject later, when he didn’t have to concentrate on finding this patient’s house. And, well, breaking into it.
•
