Broken Past

Chapter 1

Dr. Allison Cameron walked into Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital ready to start her day like any other. She walked past the nurses' station and nodded a hello to Nurse Langley, who was the head nurse in the clinic. Cameron will never tire of the antibacterial smell that seemed to mix with the smell of food being prepared in the cafeteria down the hall. Today she would be more aggressive and stand up for herself against Dr. House. Yes, she may have a slight crush on him, but it's mostly the fact that she wants to help him. She has always felt the need to help those who cannot help themselves. That's why she is where she is today. It also may stem from a situation that happened several years ago. But she didn't want to think about that. Not today, not anytime soon. As Cameron gets off the elevator and starts to walk towards the conference room that connects to House's office, she notices a woman standing outside the door.

Cameron walks up to the stranger and smiles, "Hi, if you're looking for Dr. House, he won't be in for a couple more hours. My name is Dr. Cameron; is there anything I can help you with?"

"Dr. Allison Cameron?" She asks as Cameron nods her had wearily.

"Yes...and you are?"

"Hello, I am Ms. Lauren Golding, I am with the New Jersey Child Protective Services. Is there somewhere we can talk privately?" The woman asks looking around.

"Um, yeah just through here." Cameron ushers her into the conference room and they sit beside each other at the glass table.

Cameron is very curious, intrigued, and a bit on edge for whatever Dr. Golding is about to say. She puts her hands in her lap as she nervously starts to shake her leg. All she can think about is the aroma of citrus that infiltrates her nose that the social worker seems to have bathed in.

"What is going on? Why do you need to speak to me?" Cameron asks nervously.

"As you know, you gave birth to a girl on April 28 1998. As of this past April, she is now 6 years old. We have read your file on the adoption process and are aware that you were adamant on having a closed adoption, and did not want to know anything about the child and vice versa. A serious situation has come up that is very important, and that is why we are here. We understand that you work for the world's best diagnostician?" She finally stops talking as Cameron is staring at her; mouth gaped open like a fish.

"What? Wh-what? You violated my terms of the agreement. I can sue you, you know?" Cameron rages as the words have settled in her mind. "Yes I work for Dr. House and yes he is the best. What does that have to do with the little girl?"

"A few weeks ago the family that adopted her got into a bad wreck. She was the only survivor. As we were waiting to find somewhere for her to go, she fell ill. At first it was thought she was traumatized or depressed. But as the days went by, she got worse. She fell into a coma yesterday morning. We came here to talk to you since you are the only living relative. Adoption or not, you are all she has left. We also wanted to talk to you about some medical history that seems to be missing from her file. And since you work with the best diagnostician in the world, we thought it best to bring her here to get the best medical attention." Dr. Golding looks in her bag and pulls out a blue folder filled with a stack of papers. She hands them to Cameron.

"Dr. Cameron, we understand if you don't want anything to do with her, but please help us figure out what is going on so we can save her life. In the folder is everything the adoption agency had on you, your husband, and your daughter. On top is a letter of understanding between you, the agency, and my office about what is going on. If you will please sign it and take a look at the papers and the information the doctors have provided from the past few weeks, we can get started."

Cameron sits there in utter shock, disbelief and anger. Disbelief that her daughter is here in the hospital she works in. Shock that something so horrible has happened to her at such a young age. Anger that she has to be involved after everything she went through to start over. Not anger at the little girl, but anger that feelings she buried deep down long ago, are starting to come up again.

Just as she was about to go through the papers, the door to the conference room opens up and Dr. House limps in. He eyes her and Dr. Golding suspiciously. Startled, Cameron jumps up and tried to hide the file behind her, but in her haste she bumps into the chair and drops the file on the floor. The papers fly all around the three of them.

House bends down and picks up one lone paper and reads the first line, "Biological mother: Allison Cameron signs of her own free will and sane mind to relinquish all parental rights to a baby girl on April 28, 1998." He looks up at her in disbelief.

"Well, that explains the stretchmarks on the tops of your breasts when you bend over. Not that I was watching." House remarks sarcastically and a little smartassy. "Want to tell me what the h-e-double hockey sticks is going on here?"