A/N: So it has been a loooong while since I wrote anything worth posting here on Yikes. And furthermore, this is my very first House, M.D. fanfic! (I won't lie, I am very nervous about screwing this up. VERY nervous. Especially with the whole writing witty!House and creating some sort of medical case that will prove to be slightly interesting... argh!)
This is all taking place POST season 3 finale. Season 4 is said to open with Chase out in AZ with Cameron. So I took that and put my own spin on things.
Yes. This is going to be House/Cameron. Maybe some hints at Wilson/Cuddy.
Thanks for reading!
Tommorow Comes Today
by Sour Pickle
"It just wasn't working out for me, Robert."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Allison Cameron mentally gave herself a sharp smack upside the head. How could she have been so careless with her choice of words and phrasing? About to attempt a stammering recovery, her coffee partner Robert Chase saved her with his usual lack of insight.
"I know, Allison. I know it was never a job you were comfortable with. I can't blame you for quitting or finding another position elsewhere. I do hate to see you go though."
He trailed off and looked over her shoulder at the many people handling luggage, hurrying to their planes.
Allison used the moment to release the tense breath she has been holding. If he had caught her insensitive slip of the tongue she would have felt truly awful. It was only a month ago that she had ended their relationship with a shockingly similar line.
"This move… this relationship… it hasn't been as it should be Rob. It hasn't been working. I'm so sorry." Those were the exact words she had used. Rather, those were the first words in a long, long string of discussions and tears. And then it was over.
But it wasn't just a relationship she had chosen to end. It was a happy, stable, year long relationship. After 'the series of events' (as she termed the experiences) that lead to his being fired and her quitting the last job, the two threw resistance to the wind, jumped into each other's arms and onto a plane headed west. West to Banner Gateway Medical Center in Gilbert, Arizona to be much more precise.
Running one hand through her light auburn hair, the young immunologist gazed down into the froth of her latte.
Thirteen Months. It had been thirteen months since she first arrived in Arizona and reported to her new job. Those months had been filled with hundreds of hours working at Banner Gateway's ER, Clinic, and feeble attempt at a Diagnostics Department that had recently been developed. She was determined to do anything in order to stay busy. This proved to be a task that was much harder than she first expected.
There was no department head of diagnostics at this hospital. There was no true office either. The department was comprised of six doctors with six different specialties that only met when opinions were needed on a perplexing case. Cameron and Chase were two of those six. And over the course of the thirteen months they were there, the Banner Gateway Diagnostics Department met a grand total of sixteen times. Four of those sixteen cases ended up being lupus too. Needless to say, Dr. Cameron was out of element, stressed and annoyed by her surroundings.
All that aside, Cameron never truly connected to BGMC anyways. She found herself feeling bored, confined and stunted. It was as if she was being kept away from something big and important. Something that she needed in order to keep herself sane.
Blowing the foam in her mug, she marveled at how similar her reasons were for leaving her job, the state and for leaving Chase.
She smiled easily at him as he excused himself for the restrooms. As she watched him disappear into the throng of bustling people running around the airport, she considered how things had evolved between herself and the Australian doctor. If there was something Allison was happy for it was that Chase had been understanding when she broke the romantic relationship they had. She was also glad to see that Chase hadn't resorted to reminding her that he still liked her every week on a certain day. Even though she knew he did still care.
While dating, she and Chase had been the golden couple around BGMC – seemingly perfect for each other in every way imaginable. Two young, brilliant, up-and-coming doctors with great work ethic. Not to mention the fact that they both "won out in the gene pool of attractiveness". At first, Cameron blushed and paid little mind to the attention and the 'oohing' and 'awwing' nurses they would pass while walking down the hallways. But after a while, she grew tired of the never ending gossip. Not a day passed that she didn't hear about the supposed marriage and whether or not she was pregnant with his child. Needless to say, it didn't make it any easier for them staying together.
However, it wasn't as though their relationship was a doomed or constantly in trouble. Anyone could see they were perfectly sweet and well matched for each other. Conversation always flowed easily and both were always naturally affectionate with the other.
But to Cameron, affection was one thing and passion was something entirely different.
The countless nights she spent dreaming only to be woken by her own tears proved that point easily.
Every dream she had featured her far away from the oppressive heat of Arizona. Instead, she would be floating on crisp autumn breezes with thousands of brilliantly red leaves. All winds would point her directly to one city in New Jersey where should would gently land just outside the doors of her past. Glowing happily as she lightly tread over the threshold of Princeton Plainsborough Teaching Hospital, the earth would shift suddenly beneath her as that pair of impossibly blue eyes would suddenly delve into her core, taking all her breath away in an instant. This was always where she would gasp and startle herself into consciousness, tears running down her cheeks. Night after night it was the same thing.
All this as Chase slept blissfully unaware next to her.
It took more than two months of these dreamed experiences before she woke up one night with startling and piercing clarity: This was definitely not where she belonged. She was confined and stunted in more ways than one. And after much prodding from her psyche, she knew exactly what was missing out on: Her true home.
On that night of discovery, Cameron immediately called Dr. Lisa Cuddy, Dean of Medicine at PPTH and pleaded with her for some sort of position at the hospital. It was time for her to go back home. And although Cuddy was thrilled to hear this, she might have been a bit ticked off having been phoned at 3:30 in the morning by a near frantic Cameron.
After hanging up with Cuddy and being assured that she would most definitely be welcomed back with open arms, Allison could do nothing but sit on the couch and turn all of it over in her mind.
The young doctor was positive this was the right move for her. To her, Princeton Plainsborough was the definition of comfort and home. It held opportunity, familiarity, and perhaps most importantly, it held another chance at what could be.
It was the possibility of that 'chance' that got Allison to break up with Chase. She couldn't keep pretending. It wasn't fair to either of them.
And so, Dr. Allison Cameron broke up with her long-term boyfriend, tied up any and all lose ends at Banner Gateway Medical, put in her notice, and one months after her epiphany of sorts, she was packed for the move and waiting to board her flight.
Seeing Chase sliding through the crowds toward her, Cameron got up from her table to the airport's café and walked towards. Walking slowly along the aisles of uncomfortable chairs, they slipped into an easy, companionable silence. Cameron could tell that letting her go back to Jersey was far from easy for him.
He suddenly stopped and turned to her with. She studied his guarded expression carefully and waited for him to speak.
"…You'll do great over there, Allison. I mean, it's not like you don't know the place at all, right?" he laughed and glanced nervously around the plane's gates as Cameron's flight started to board. Seconds of relative silence seemed like hours as he opened and closed his mouth, looking for the right words to say.
"It's going to be fine, Rob. All of it. You know how badly I need to do this. And this is the perfect place for you! You're absolutely thriving out here," she said lightly as she fixed his collar and attempted to catch his eyes with hers. And it was true; Chase was doing extraordinarily well for himself out in Arizona. Cameron couldn't picture him anywhere else at this point.
"Yeah," he drawled, shoulders slumping a bit. She grinned a glowing, closed-lipped smile and drew him in for a final, strong hug.
"Just… be careful. With him and all," he muttered softly into her ear. She rubbed his arm and nodded.
"He won't be an issue. I won't let him be. PPTH is where I need to be. It's my home, Rob. I let him drive me… let him drive us out once. I'm not going to let it happen again." She drew back and looked pointedly into the Aussie's worried, love filled eyes. Although she had eventually told him about her dreams, she was careful not to mention those blue eyes she always met. He didn't need to hear something like that from her.
"…it's my chance, Rob," she finished with a whisper.
The young man nodded and sighed. "Fine, fine. And I'll be wishing you the best the whole time. You're one helluva doctor and probably won't be needing my prayers but… you never know. Just remember, if you ever need anything at all, I'll be here."
She laughed. "All the way out in Arizona?"
"Exactly," he answered with a smirk.
A beat of semi-awkward silence passed before an announcement from above called her section of the plane to board. Chase moved quickly and placed a light, lingering kiss on her cheek.
"Be careful, Allison," he said then backed away, watching as she gathered her carry-on bag and head for the gate. With a short wave and one last tear-filled glance backwards, Cameron went aboard the airplane that was taking her back to New Jersey. Back home.
Back to her chance.
A/N: ...ehh?
oh and PS: House, M.D. and all of its characters do not belong to me. Just covering for myself...