Chapter 1 - Not Enough

Set in the episode Last Resort, Season 5. During the episode, House has to treat a patient while under a hostage situation. While in the CT room they manage to the get the gun away from the assailant, but what happens next? An alternate plot line for the events inside the CT room.

I'd also like to point out that this story includes a quote at the beginning of every chapter. I've related each one to the contents of each chapter, but it's up to you to decide what they really mean. Or you could just ignore it.

" The tragedy of life is in what dies inside a man while he lives - the death of genuine feeling, the death of inspired response, the awareness that makes it possible to feel the pain or the glory of other men in yourself. "

Norman Cousins

They were in Cuddy's office, Jason was sitting in the chair across from House, who was standing. House was piecing together the solution in his head, when suddenly:

"You have lung cancer." House said.

"I need proof." Jason replied.

"Of course you do!" He said sarcastically.

House thought for a minute, then limped over to him. He put his left hand right underneath Jason's jaw line on the right side, feeling for a nodule.

"Feel that. Right there." House moved his hand from Jason's neck.

The assailant placed his fingers on the nodule, making sense of it.

"If it's cancer, there must be a test." Jason replied, still feeling the lump.

"You just did it."

"What about an X-ray or something?" He rasped.

"Good idea! Oh, damn! Looks like I left my CT machine in my other pants." House replied, slapping his pockets sarcastically.

"How many hostages do you think it would cost me for a trip to radiology?"

And then they were all tied together in a circle, and the lunatic with a gun was in the middle of a human shield.

They walked painstakingly slow to Radiology, all the while, House's leg was sending sharp stabbing pains through his thigh and back. He pushed through.

Once they had made it, Jason walked over to the observation room.

"If you need anything in here, get it now."

So House set a computer on a trolley and rolled it out of the room near the CT machine.

Jason had already laid down on the machines carriage.

House didn't mention that the gun was going to mess up the scan, he waited.

Thirteen pressed the button on the machine and the scan started.

The gun shook as Jason's hand trembled.

As the scan finished, House wrote on a piece of notebook paper, and handed it to Oliver, the red haired boy and one of the younger hostages.

"Hold this." House said.

"Show me the tumour." Jason said, sitting up.

House looked down then turned the monitor around to show him the scan. The image was all static and streaked. "Starburst artifact occurs because the metal from your gun is ruining the image. Show him the paper."

Oliver showed him, it said Starburst.

"We need the gun." House said.

Jason stood up threateningly, "You're not getting the gun." He said.

"Then no scan."

Jason thought for a few minutes, then, defeated, handed House the gun. The immediate release of tension in the room was undeniable. Two of the hostages rushed out of the room.

Jason got pack on the scan's carriage again.

As the scan completed, House let out a strained breath.

"Show me the tumour already."

A pause before House replied.

"There isn't one. I don't know what you have." House said quietly.

Jason laughed, it was a menacing laugh that couldn't be seen as anything other than angry.

"So... it's over." Jason rasped quietly, seconds passed.

Then, suddenly, as House stood up, Jason shoved the trolley with the computer towards House, sending him sprawling on the ground along with the gun. Jason lunged for it and pointed it at House's chest. House stared, bewildered.

Jason put a hand to his head, agitated, "I knew you couldn't do it, I- I knew it!" He paced. "I put all my faith in you doctors and not one of you could solve my case, not even the great Gregory House...Now I'll go to jail, die not knowing…"

His eyes were wild, you could see the anger, sadness… the defeat. He finished, "...and you can die not knowing with me."

Then there were three loud bangs.

Sitting in the lobby, a startled Lisa Cuddy took in a sharp breath, suddenly worried.

"What's happened? What's going on?" She jumped up, worried.

Bowman, the officer in charge replied, stepping in front of the Dean, "Dr. Cuddy, please take a seat and let us handle this."

Suddenly Bowman was listening intently to his mic. "Send officers in, now!" He turned to Cuddy with a sad look in his eyes.

Her heart stopped.

Thirteen threw her sickly body to it's knees beside House.

"House, House stay awake."

House was taking in labored breaths, blood began dripping out the side of his mouth. Jason's body lay across from him, one bullet hole in his temple.

Thirteen shoved the body off of him and began pressing her hands on the bullet hole in House's chest, it had hit his right lung, the other one had managed to hit his stomach about 4 inches below the initial one, due to Jason's trembling hands.

"Help! We need help!" Thirteen was yelling as House began choking on his own blood. His body was jerking with the attempts of getting air into his blood filled lungs. She turned him on his side to keep the blood from building up in his throat. This got a strangled moan from House, who was gripping Thirteen's shirt with a blood smeared hand.

Officers were rushing in and a group of paramedics had been called in as well.

House's vision was going black and he couldn't breath, then Lisa was there, tears in her eyes. The paramedics were working as fast they could, but he just couldn't breath. He was gasping by the time they were wheeling him into the ambulance headed for Princeton General.

To be continued...