Alright, so personally I think this chapter kind of sucks - blame it on writer's block - but it does introduce alot, so it's necessary. As for what's wrong with Captain Reed, let's pretend that it's possible, even though I have no clue if it is or not. Thanks to everyone for the reviews, it's great to have the support, and thanks to kenmoresq for the bit of info, never know if it might be used...anyways...on we go. Read, review, and don't forget to enjoy it.
"Good morning." Cameron quietly states, waking Elliot. The cardiologist opens her eyes and sits up straighter in the chair, slightly disoriented. Cameron holds out a cup of coffee, which she eagerly accepts, cautiously taking a sip.
"Thanks."
"No problem." Cameron pulls a second chair over to the same side and takes a seat. "How's he doing?"
"No change."
"We'll figure out what's wrong with him." Cameron assured the younger doctor. "Where's Mackenzie?"
"Claire came by late last night and took her to their place. But we have more important things to discuss," Elliot's voice turns mischievous and her grin devious. "How was your night?"
Cameron ducks her head and fights a losing battle to keep the blush down. Elliot grins from her seat.
"That good huh?"
"NO! I mean, yes, it was wonderful. But not in the way your mind seems to be thinking. House would say we stayed firmly at first base. But it was amazing."
"Leave it to Greg to ruin a romantic evening with sports metaphors."
"Actually, not one sports metaphor came out of his mouth last night."
"Impressive."
"Very." Cameron agrees. They fall silent for a moment, but are startled by a voice emanating from the bed.
"Please, don't stop. Listening to mindless girl talk is oh so entertaining." Elliot jumps to her feet and rushes to her husband's side; he's currently facing them with his eyes open. Elliot moves, still holding his hand, so Cameron can check his stats. "So you're Greg's new girl."
"My name's Dr. Cameron. How are you feeling Captain Reed?"
"Like I got hit by a truck. Did anyone catch the license plate?"
"I'll check with the MPs." Elliot gets out through happy tears, which Jason reaches up to smooth away.
"No tears, Ellie. I'm alright."
"Let's wait until Greg clears you before we say that."
"Alright. How are my men?" Elliot dips her head in the attempt to avoid answering. "Elliot? How are they?"
"Corporal Bell and Staff Sergeant Palmer didn't make it. The rest of the men are going to be fine. Most of them were superficial wounds and third degree burns, they were treated at the base sickbay. A few had to be flown to Germany and Italy. But nothing too serious."
"How's Mackenzie taking this?"
"She's alright at the moment. She's with Claire and Chase." Cameron finishes her check and moves to leave.
"I'm going to get Foreman and Angie."
"Thatcher?" Captain Reed questions, "What's she doing here?"
"What's the last thing that you remember?"
"Colonel Little giving us the orders. It's been a few days since then, hasn't it."
"Yeah, like 7 days."
"What happened?"
"Let's wait until Foreman gets here."
Cameron strides into the conference room to find Chase and Angela sitting at the table going through books.
"Angie. Captain Reed is awake, I've paged Foreman."
Thatcher quickly jumps to her feet and follows her sister out the door. They meet up with Foreman just outside the room and enter together.
"Good morning, Captain."
"Commander. Seems I've got a week that I don't remember."
"Which is why Dr. Foreman is here. He's diagnostics' neurologist."
"Nice to meet you, Doctor."
"Likewise, let's get started." Foreman quickly runs through the necessary tests while the others stand in the corner observing. They all hold their breaths while Foreman has him try and put the pictures in order to tell a story. Captain Reed hesitates for a moment before shakily moving them around. Foreman doesn't say anything, just collects the cards and gives him a tight smile before motioning the others out of the room. Elliot gives her husband a quick kiss before following them.
"What is it?" Elliot demands once the door is shut. Foreman hands the cards over to allow Reed to see the order. "So they're backwards."
"Has he ever done things right to left instead of left to right?"
"No. Left side first is a fact of life in the Marines. He'd never do something right side first." Reed sighs and rubs her forehead, glancing into the room. She smiles reassuringly at her husband before turning back to the others. "So what now?"
"I'd suggest an MRI-"
"But he's got a metal plate in his skull." Reed interrupts.
"Right. Let's get another CT. Maybe something has shown up that was hiding before."
"I'll give Claire a call and let her know that she and Chase can bring Mackenzie by." Cameron tells Elliot.
"Better make it after the CT."
"By the time that they get here, it will be over."
"Thanks Cameron." Elliot returns to the room while Foreman and Thatcher go to schedule the CT, and Cameron returns to the office to call Claire.
"DADDY!" Mackenzie comes barreling into the room, looking like the five year old she is, and jumps up onto the bed, throwing her arms around her father, who returns the embrace like he hasn't seen her in eight months (and let's admit…he hasn't).
"Hey, peanut. I missed you." After a few moments, Mackenzie pulls away to stare at her father, but not too slow…he doesn't get the chance to wipe away the tears that had begun to fall. She does it for him.
"Geez, Dad. You'd think you hadn't seen me in 8 months."
"Eight months, 9 days."
"You don't have it down to hours and minutes?" Captain Reed looks at the watch on his daughter's wrist and does a quick mental calculation.
"Nineteen hours, 32 minutes."
"Seconds?"
"Now that's pushing it."
"Are you gonna be okay, Daddy?" Mackenzie's voice has lost it's usual confidence and leaves her sounding like a scared 5 year old.
"Yeah. My doctors just did a scan of my brain to figure out what's wrong. They'll find something eventually."
"I don't think so." Mackenzie's voice has taken on a mischievous tone. "Let's face it… no one really knows what's wrong with the brain's of Marines. They might as well just discharge you now with the instructions for us to make you comfortable." She sits back and waits for her father's reaction. Before she can react, he reaches over to pull her across his lap and starts tickling her. "Eek! No, Daddy, sorry! I didn't mean it! Please stop!" The tickling abruptly stops and she sits up, catching her breath. "Geez, you're a pushover, Dad. Dad?" Mackenzie finally looks up and sees that her father is leaning back against the pillow, breathing deep. Mackenzie leans forward and puts a hand to his face, noting that he's covered in a fine layer of sweat. She immediately jumps off the bed and runs out of the room toward the Diagnostics office.
Bursting in, she looks around for her mom or House, but only finds Chase. She runs up and pulls on his hand, distracting him from his crossword
"Please help me, something's wrong with my dad." She drags him out of the room and into her dad's room. From down the hall, Cameron and Thatcher notice Chase being dragged into a room and rush over to help. Arriving at the room, they find Mackenzie cowering in the corner, while Chase is getting out the supplies to intubate the Captain. He looks up and sees the women.
"He's in respiratory arrest. Give me a hand." Cameron pushes her sister over to help while she goes to Mackenzie and picks her up, carrying her out of the room, soothing her all the way.
"Okay, duckies, what's new?" House limps into the office at his usual time and tosses his bag into his office before returning to the table, noting the serious faces that they all have. "What happened?" Chase is the first to speak.
"Captain Reed woke up…and went into respiratory failure two hours later."
"We managed to get a CT in before, Foreman is getting the pictures now." Thatcher speaks up. "I'm no neurologist, but his symptoms match up to every part of the brain, not one. He's having reasoning problems, which are controlled by the cerebellum, but he doesn't have any problems speaking or forming words or with his memory. Vision is controlled by the midbrain; the pons controls breathing. The only thing he's not having a problem with is his medulla oblongata."
"That's a good thing, because if he were, then we'd have to declare him brain dead." House writes the new symptoms on the board while Elliot quietly speaks up.
"I won't be accusing, but you might want to get a JAG representation now, Commander Thatcher."
"I've already done that." Thatcher gives her a small smile. "We'll figure this out, Dr. Reed."
Foreman bursts in at that moment and immediately puts the films on a light board. "Got 'em, but they're clean."
"They can't be," Cameron gets up to take a look. "He wouldn't have a machine breathing for him if they were clean." She stands there staring at the scan , not allowing anyone else a clear view. "What's that?" She speaks up suddenly. She points to a small area in the middle of his brain, steeping aside so Foreman can get a glimpse.
"It looks like a lesion, but we would have seen it." Thatcher comes up behind them.
"And it's no where near where I operated." Cameron is thinking hard, and quickly goes to Cpt Reed's file and pulls out the CT scan that he had done in Italy, when the CT was down on the Kitty Hawk. She puts it up on the light board next to the new one.
"And it's not on this one." She turns to the others. "This is the one that was done in Italy, when he had the concussion. It's clean. So if it wasn't there before, and it's not anywhere close to where you operated, how did he get it?"
"What if he always had it?" Reed speaks up from the table, causing the others to turn and face her. "Hear me out. He was an active kid, what if it's the result of a head injury that he received as a kid, but it never presented any problems. But when you drained the fluid resulting from the crash, you also drained some of the fluid that's supposed to be there, causing the pressure on it to lessen and causing the lesion to become visible." She turns to Foreman. "Is that even possible?"
"I've never heard of it, but I suppose that it could be possible."
"So why are you still standing here?" House cuts in. "Go do what you have to do to diagnose and correct it."
"I don't know what there is to do. Surgery could remove the lesion."
"Then go schedule surgery." House limps away into his own office taking a seat and putting in his earbuds.
"Is it just me," Chase speaks, "Or does he almost seem happy?"
"There was a definitive absence of sarcasm just now," Foreman supplies. The two men turn toward the three women to get their opinions.
"Don't look at me," Thatcher speaks, "I've spent maybe three total hours in the room with him…he seems the same." The men look to Reed.
"He's my uncle guys, I've seen all sides to him, so I don't separate them…he's just Greg to me." And that leaves Cameron, who manages to control her voice.
"I-" House's voice cuts in from his office.
"Why are you still standing there? I know I told you to leave."
The team quickly scatters in various directions, though Thatcher hangs back a bit, staring after Cameron.
Angela finds her sister on the roof a few hours later and silently goes to stand beside her.
"Hey, so are you up for having me around for a few more weeks?"
Cameron snaps her head up to face her sister. "I'll never complain about having you around, but why?"
"Kitty Hawk is doing battle maneuvers, no unnecessary traffic to or from the ship. My CO already called Dr. Cuddy and loaned me here until they're done with."
"And when will that be?"
"Nine days. Think you could handle having a roommate? Or will I have the place to myself while you and your new boy toy have sleepovers every night?"
Cameron returns the impish grin that her sister is throwing her way. "No, we won't be having sleepovers every night. We have yet to have even one sleepover."
"Is he blind or stupid? Because any guy that would turn you down-"
"There has been no turning down. We've both agreed to go slow."
"Just because you work in the same hospital, doesn't mean that you work in the same department, so it's not like you'd see him every day and allow things to get weird."
"Right." Cameron returns her gaze to the horizon so her sister won't see the lie in her eyes. "It's just that there are other complications to our relationship, and neither of us want to jeopardize it. It's nice actually…to go slow. David died before I could really get to know him. All that I really knew about him was the 'first date stuff' as you would have put it. I knew that he didn't want his life artificially extended, but I never really knew how he felt about dieing. I actually didn't know how he felt about a lot of stuff."
"Did you love David?"
"Yes…but I don't think that I was in love with him."
"Are you in love with this new guy?" Cameron remains silent for such a long time that Angela begins to feel like she's trying to come up with a way to change the subject. Finally Cameron raises her head and looks her sister straight in the eye.
"Yes. Yes, I am." Cameron laughs softly. "I've known him for three years, and I can't think of a time when I wasn't in love with him."
"And what prompted this? You've been hiding these feelings for so long. What made you realize that you could have this relationship?"
"He invited me to a family wedding. Someone introduced us as boyfriend and girlfriend, and he didn't deny it. And I guess that I made the first move. I just told him that any relationship between us would be worth any risk that he was afraid of. Promise sealed with a kiss." The sisters share a smile.
"I'm happy for you Ally. Out of all of us, you've been through the most, and you've always managed to come out on top. If there's anyone that truly deserves happiness, it's you."
"Thanks, Angie." The pair lean their elbows on the wall and stare out over Princeton before Angela breaks the silence.
"Oh yeah, Alex is going to be here tomorrow."
"Figured. We've never called anyone else when we've needed legal counsel; and for you it's a win-win."
"You gonna warn this new guy to stay away?"
"Haven't decided. You'll both be here on Saturday, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Hospital fundraiser. You guys never pass up the opportunity to embarrass those around you."
"Well then, let the games begin." The two laugh and bump shoulders while staring out at the horizon.