AN – So this idea for another House fanfiction has been plaguing me for a while and I finally decided to get on and write it. This is quite a dark story (trigger warnings are in the footnote so as not to spoil the plot), so read at your own discretion. This may turn into a multi-chapter fic depending on the feedback I receive, so let me know if you want more. Hopefully I'll have an update for my other House fic (Scars) soon, as Chapter 6 is in the making – keep an eye out for it!
XXXXX
Wilson would never know for sure what precipitated the events of that afternoon. It may have been the result of their latest case, it may have been just House being House and going too far, he couldn't say for certain. The one thing he did know was that the consequences were very, very bad.
It started out with nothing too out of the ordinary; another interesting file crossed House's desk, piquing his curiosity and sending his team whirling into action. After the usual run of theories and trial diagnoses, none of which were met with any success, it once again fell to House to make a last-minute genius deduction and solve the case, saving the patient. Only they stumbled slightly when it came to that last part. House managed to finally fit the puzzle pieces together, but he was too late to stop the condition from permanently damaging the patient's organs and eventually claiming her life. Wilson knew the feeling of failure would bring a bitter taste to House's mouth, and he wasn't surprised when the diagnostician stalked out of work early that day, but he never expected it to escalate to anything more than a few days of sulking. He desperately wished House would stop proving him wrong.
XXXXX
It was late by the time Wilson had finished his paperwork. He was heading out of his office, already fantasising about getting home to his welcoming bed, when the darkened outline of the diagnostics room caught his eye, and his thoughts drifted to House. The man had had an awful day, coming so close to saving that young woman only to have his victory snatched away from him, and Wilson sighed as he realised that he really should stop by House's apartment to check on him. While he wanted nothing more at that moment than to go home and get some sleep, he knew how destructive House could be, and it wasn't in his nature to ignore it and leave House unsupervised. Running a hand wearily over his face, he trudged out to his car and let his instincts take over the steering as he wound his way through the streets towards House.
The night had fallen fully by the time he pulled up outside House's apartment complex. Shivering slightly as he got out of his car, he quickly made his way through the entrance to the building and straight to House's front door, where he gave a couple of sharp knocks. He waited several minutes, knowing it could take House a while to get to the door, but there was still no answer, so he knocked again, calling out softly, "House? It's Wilson." Again, he was met only by silence, at which point he started to get a little worried.
Wilson glanced down at his watch, but the time revealed that it was still early enough for House to be awake, and there was no tie on the door or any other indication that the diagnostician was… otherwise occupied, leaving no explanation for the man's absence. Wilson could feel his pulse begin to race slightly as he reached out and rattled the doorknob, annoyed when it refused to grant him access to the apartment. He knocked yet again, louder this time, before glancing around the dimly lit hallway for any sign of a hidden key. His spare key had been left at home, and he cursed himself now for not remembering to put it together with the keys in his pocket. Without it, all he could do was search blindly for another one beneath rugs and behind flower pots, scouring in every conceivable location in case House did in fact leave one out there. The relief that washed over him when he spotted a flash of silver underneath the corner of the carpet was immense, and he quickly tugged the key from its hiding place and slotted it into the lock. Twisting the door handle, he burst into House's living room, eyes immediately scanning the apartment for his best friend.
As he moved further into the room, he could see a shoulder appear over the back of the couch, so he stepped closer, feeling a sense of reassurance sweep through him as he saw House sleeping peacefully on his sofa. He hesitated for a moment, not wanting to wake the man up when he looked so content, but he knew that he and House needed to have a proper conversation so that he could assure himself that the diagnostician wasn't going to do anything reckless when he woke up.
He moved over to the couch, placing a hand on House's shoulder and shaking him gently. "House, wake up," he said quietly, repeating it with more volume when House didn't stir. "House," he warned, wondering if his friend was pretending to stay asleep to avoid talking to him, but he realised that House was too still to be feigning slumber. Concern began to rise in him as he hurried round to the other side of the couch to face House directly, and after a moment of studying the man's face, that's when he saw it. House wasn't breathing.
"Oh God," he muttered, immediately kneeling down in front of House, his hand going straight to the man's neck to feel for a pulse. He let out a shaky breath as he felt how weak and erratic it was; it was present, but only barely, and he knew that he didn't have much time. He glanced around the room for any clues as to the cause of House's condition, trying to work out what he was dealing with, and his heart sank when he saw the empty bottle of Vicodin on the table. Picking it up, he checked the label to find out when it had been prescribed, dismayed to see that it had only been filled that afternoon. House had swallowed a whole bottle in one go.
Before he could think, Wilson had his cell phone out of his pocket and pressed to his ear, his fingers having dialled 911 before he could process it. "911, what's your emergency?" came the operator's voice from the other end of the line, but the steady tone did nothing to soothe Wilson's rattled nerves.
"This is Dr James Wilson," he explained as calmly as he could muster. "My friend has overdosed on Vicodin. I found him in his apartment. He's comatose, he's stopped breathing and his pulse is very weak. I need an ambulance to take him to Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. I should be able to keep him alive until they get here, but he's in bad shape."
"Okay, sir. Can you give me your location?"
"221B Baker Street. And hurry."
"Thank you. The ambulance is on its way," the operator informed. Wilson didn't hear anything she said after that, as he was already hanging up the phone, knowing his attention was needed elsewhere. He dragged House as carefully as he could off the couch and onto the floor, crouching over him so that he could provide mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and deliver some much-needed oxygen to House's lungs. House would probably mock him for it later, but he didn't care. If he didn't do this now, House might not be alive later to make fun of him.
After the first couple of breaths, he sat up and returned his fingers to House's carotid to check his pulse, but panic began to grip his chest when he realised that it was gone. His other hand flew to House's wrist, desperate to pick up his heartrate somewhere else, but he was met with the same result. The diagnostician's heart had stopped.
"No, no, no!" cried Wilson as he instantly straddled House's torso and began administering CPR. "Don't you dare die on me, House! I'm not going to let you die!" He continued the chest compressions as hard as he could, his arms beginning to ache with the effort but refusing to give up on his friend. After what felt like an hour, the sound of sirens started to blare through the street outside, and Wilson felt a huge relief knowing that House would be getting some proper help soon. Within minutes, the paramedics were hurrying into the room through the open door, spying their patient immediately and rushing over to help. "He's in cardiac arrest," informed Wilson quickly, prompting one of the paramedics to extract a defibrillator from his bag.
"Sir, please move aside," he instructed Wilson as he knelt down next to House. Wilson did as he was asked, watching in stunned silence as the EMTs ripped House's shirt open and placed the defibrillator paddles on his bare skin. "Clear!" the paramedic called, and Wilson flinched as a pulse of electricity arced across House's chest, making his entire body convulse. The air filled with tension as the medic clamped his hand around House's wrist, before pronouncing thankfully, "he's back. Let's get him intubated and take him in."
Wilson assisted the medics in the following stages of the process, holding House's head back as they slipped the breathing tube down his throat and taking over the rhythmic contractions of the airbag as they loaded him onto a gurney and wheeled him off towards the ambulance. He helped them connect the tube to the onboard ventilator once they were safely inside the vehicle, then sat opposite House as they sped off towards the hospital, one of House's hands firmly grasped within his. He couldn't stop the feelings of anger rising whenever he looked at the man's face; he looked so peaceful, so serene, yet he had caused so much chaos and distress. It wasn't fair. Yet Wilson knew it wasn't really anger, but despair, sorrow. He cared about House more than he could say, but he was on the verge of losing his best friend for good, and he found himself struggling to cope with that. As he pictured House slipping away from him, the last of his emotional dam came crumbling down, and he buried his face in his hands and wept.
So what do you think? I've got a lot more I want to write for this idea, so I should be back with another chapter at some point, but please leave me reviews and give me your thoughts and feedback, they're my motivation to write.
Trigger warning for this story: suicide attempt – possibly successful (ah the suspense), very dark themes. Don't like, don't read. Also a great deal of House!Whump, which is kind of my style, plus some HousexWilson coming up in future chapters (maybe). Tune in next week for more!