One Day At A Time
Prologue
Disclaimer: I only own my character Elizabeth(Lizzie). All other characters are nott mine.
Note: I'm not a doctor nor am I really familiar with any medical processes etc, therefore don't hate me for any inaccuracies.
Prologue:
The room was quite. It smelled of sterile air and commercial grade disinfectant. Funny that the smell now felt so foreign and unfamiliar. The past few days had been hell. He was in and out of the hospital, and that wasn't including when he was there for work.
He looked from her to the silent teenager sitting motionless in a chair next to the bed. 'What now,' House thought to himself.
His ex-girlfriend and mother of his daughter lay in the hospital bed, tubes now disconnected and monitors off. Her body was cold and he skin void of color. House was still trying to process the complete chaos of the past few days.
Laura, his ex-girlfriend had come into the emergency room a few nights ago complaining of an ongoing fever, chest pain and a racing heart. She had been supposedly been fighting off the flu for the past week and a half and attributed the symptoms to that. But despite rest and fluids her symptoms had worsened. When she could barely catch her breath and stand on her own she had her newly licensed daughter drive her to the emergency room of Princeton Plainsboro Hospital.
After running a simple CBC it was clear Laura was very ill. Her white blood count was through the roof and her racing heart rate only slightly improved with fluids. The ER doctors decided it would be best to admit her, clearly the woman's body was fighting something. Now they just needed to find it and treat it.
Laura was started on broad spectrum antibiotics in an effort to combat the still unknown infection. Things held steady for a few hours and House was notified of his ex's admittance. He immediately put Chase on the case so he could keep a closer eye on the happenings.
Around 4 am Laura worsened. She spiked a fever of almost 105 and began seizing. Her heart started having arrhythmias and she was no longer conscious. It was clear that the treatment was not working. More extensive testing was ordered to try and locate the source of the infection more quickly. Things were not looking good.
House found out how bad things had become when Chase walked into his office with a single paper in his hand.
"We found the infection. It's rare. It's been hiding in her heart. We've already started her on the appropriate antibiotics. Unfortunately we won't know the full damage done to her heart until we get a chance to scan it later. House…," Chase took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "She slipped into a coma. We don't know if and when she will wake up." With nothing left to tell the older doctor Chase quietly exited the office.
House sighed. He knew his daughter Elizabeth would take this hard. She and her mom were very close, she lived with her mom all the time, not House. She saw him from time to time but they didn't have the same relationship. They were more like buddies than anything else. But it was always known, though not always said that he loved her dearly and she loved him back.
He picked up his phone and dialed the familiar number. Jessie was at home. House had made it clear that Jessie was to continue going to school while her mom was hospitalized. She was a high school senior and House didn't want Jessie to miss out on any part of her last year.
A sweet female voice picked up. "Dad? Any news?"
"Hey Lizzie. Do you think you could drive yourself over? Your mom isn't doing to well, it might make her feel a little better. If you don't feel up to driving let me know. I'll have my personal chauffer Wilson come get you." House had attempted a lame joke to try and lighten the mood. Even using her favorite nickname, Lizzie, didn't make thing any easier.
Elizabeth chuckled quietly. "I'll head over in a few minutes. I just need to get some things together."
House exhaled. "Alright Kiddo. See you soon." He hung up and grabbed his cane to make his way to Laura's room.
To be honest, she looked terrible. House swallowed back a lump that had formed in his throat. Even though they were no longer together, he still cared for her. They got along as friends but the more intimate relationship between them just didn't work out. Of course, they decided on that course before Laura found out she was pregnant. But once she knew she told House. He promised her he would be there for her and their child and he wanted to be a part of their lives. So the two of them decided to stay in homes nearby and keep a strong friendship. And that was how it had been ever since.
House grabbed a chair on the opposite side of the room and sat down. Lizzie would be arriving soon so he pulled out a medical journal hoping to keep his mind off of unpleasant thoughts.
He had finished an article on robotic sperm and was halfway through a case study when a shadow in the doorway caused him to pause and look up. A smile briefly passed his lips.
"Hey Kiddo," was all he could get out.
"Hey Dad," she replied awkwardly. She really hadn't spent enough time around him to get that real father-daughter relationship. Elizabeth made her way into her mother's hospital room and sat in a chair next to her mother's bed and diagonal from her father. She grasped her mother's hand searching for a sign of life.
House studied his daughter. She was a perfect balance between him and Laura. The young girl had dark curly hair, reminiscent of House's own waves in his younger days. Her large gray eyes were striking against her dark hair and pale skin. And contrary to what many may have thought, she did not inherit her father's height. She was a tiny 5 ft, maybe 5'1" on a good day. But what she lacked in height she made up for in personality…she was a true spitfire, very feisty and brilliantly sarcastic like her father. Strange though since she hadn't really been around him long enough to pick it up…must be more genetic than he thought.
Trying to ease the awkward atmosphere House questioned his daughter. "So…how was school? Any exams?"
Lizzie shook her head and laughed. House always asked about her exams. Checking to see if she inherited his brilliant mind?
"School is…school. Not too bad, but no piece of cake either. I had two exams, one in AP Biology and one in AP English. I'm sure I passed."
Lizzie didn't go to public school. Her father wanted her to have the best future possible, as well as her mother. Even though the area had great schools they decided to put her in a private school; Princeton Day to be exact.
"Good to hear that. You just let me know if you have any trouble with your biology. English…well you might want to ask someone else."
Lizzie just laughed and shook her head. "K."
Another shadow loomed in the doorway. This time two heads turned to look. It was Wilson.
"Hey Elizabeth. How are you?"
She stood up to hug him. "Hey Uncle Wilson. I'm doing Ok. It's good to see you." Even though she wasn't related to Wilson and she wasn't the closest with her dad there was an immediate bond between Wilson and Elizabeth when they met. Lizzie didn't know what it was, but something about him just made her so comfortable, and she trusted him so much.
Just as they finished their hug the monitors surrounding Laura sung wildly. Lizzie turned around frantically and House rushed over to the bedside. He checked the stats before shouting, "She's crashing. Get a cart in here!"
Looking around with wild eyes he spotted Elizabeth. "Wilson, get her outta here!" Wilson grabbed Elizabeth by the shoulders and lead her from the room.
"But I want to stay!" She protested.
"Really Liz, it's better if you don't. Who knows what they may have to do. Someone will come out to get us when they're done. Come on, lets go sit over there."
Liz allowed herself to be pulled away from her mother's room by Wilson. Her heart was beating wildly and she couldn't focus. They sat on the cold hard seats for what seemed like hours, but in reality were mere minutes.
She was staring down at her hands, examining the uneven fingernails created by the stress of yesterday's biology exam when she heard the familiar uneven gait of her father. She looked up; the instant she saw him, her face fell.
Really, her entire world fell.
She darted upright and ran straight past House into her mother's room. It had cleared out quickly considering all the people that had been in the room moments ago.
She looked at her mother, almost expecting her to start breathing again, for color to return to her cheeks. But the monitors were off, tubes were disconnected and wires severed. It really was all over.
"My god," she whispered her shaking hand covering her mouth. She moved closer and grabbed a chair that had hastily been pushed out of the way, sliding it next to the bed. Again she grasped her mother's hand. But this time it was different. It was cold, almost unrecognizable from the hand she just been holding.
'So this is what death looks like,' she thought. She couldn't stop staring. And that was how House found her.
"Lizzie, I…" he didn't know what to say next. She stood up, her face now also void of color except for red eyes full of unshed tears.
She slowly walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his midsection letting her head rest against his lower chest. House hugged her back, cradling her head in his hand, placing the other hand on her back. He could feel her shaking with silent sobs. All he could do was stand there, supporting her.
Elizabeth pulled back slightly, craning her head up to look at him. "Dad, what happens now? She's…I'm…" tears stole her voice before she could finish.
"I'll work everything out Liz. You just leave it to me."
Something moving near the door caught his eye. It was Wilson. Thank god.
"Wilson, can you take Lizzie to my office? Grab her a blanket so she can lie down on the couch. I have some things to take care of."
Wilson put a protective arm around the small girl and led her down the hall in one direction, House heading in the other.
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Next chapter up soon.