Disclaimer: See prologue
House had gotten his daughter and Wilson to Princeton Plainsboro without incident.
He parked the car in his usual handicapped parking spot silently thanking whomever that it was so close to the hospital entrance.
He got out of the drivers seat and opened the back door for Wilson who managed to carefully step out of the car with Liz in his arms. House shut the door behind Wilson.
"Let's go." House led the way into the hospital and found Cuddy waiting for them in the lobby.
She took one look at Liz. "How is she?"
House was having trouble to form a complete sentence so Wilson stepped in.
"We don't know. Where should I take her?"
Cuddy nodded, brining herself back to the moment. "Follow me. I have a room set up upstairs, right next to House's office. Do you want a gurney?"
Wilson shook his head. "No thanks. This'll just be easier."
They followed Cuddy into the elevator and then to the private room she had reserved for them. Wilson placed Liz on the bed gently pulling away the quilt from her room and covering her with the hospital blankets.
"Where's Chase?" Questioned House.
Cuddy thought for a moment. "Probably upstairs. You actually haven't gotten any cases while you gone so I put him to use upstairs."
"Page him. He's on the case." House didn't wait for Cuddy to answer. He grabbed an IV line from a nearby cart and went about setting it up in Liz's forehand with a cool bag of saline to combat the dehydration. At the same time Wilson got oxygen going via nasal cannula.
"Are cooling blankets nearby? I want to be prepared."
"I've grabbed a few. They're right next door if you need them. House, relax. She'll be fine. She probably has strep throat that got little out of control. We'll get her on some antibiotics and she'll bounce back."
Before House had a chance to respond Chase entered into the room. "You paged me Hou…" His eyes fell on the bed.
"Liz? What's going on?"
Again, Wilson answered for House. "Liz has some sort of infection. She's got a possible pulmonary edema and a high fever. She was delirious back at home for a bit but she's been out since the car ride.
Chase grabbed a needle and began drawing blood for labs. "I guess I'll just run everything to get started. I'll also schedule her for a chest film."
House took a seat on Liz' bed. He gently stroked her cheek frowning as he felt the unnatural heat radiating off of her. He glanced at the monitor. 102 degrees; better than before.
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Liz felt a cool pressure on her face extinguishing the first that burned within her head. She moaned and parted her dry, painfully cracked lips. She opened her eyes to see cool blue orbs full of worry glancing down at her.
"Dad," she croaked. Speaking sent her into a fit of coughing which ended in a fit of wheezing.
House stood up and lifted the head portion of the bed up so Liz could breathe easier.
"How are you feeling there kiddo?"
"Ugh. Almost as bad as I felt the last time I ate your cooking."
House cracked a smile, at least she had the energy to joke.
"What happened?"
House sighed. He sat back down on the bed. "Well, you gave us a little bit of a scare. We came in to check on you and you were having a tough time breathing. You also spiked a bit of a fever which caused you to become somewhat delirious. But we should have you on the road to recovery in no time."
Liz smiled to comfort her dad. She knew he was nervous. He wouldn't look her in the eye. She knew he didn't like being out of control like this, especially when she was involved.
Before Liz had a chance to respond Chase walked in with lab results in hand.
"Hey Liz, you're up! How are you feeling?"
Liz could feel herself blushing. Great, not only did a gorgeous Chase get to see Liz at her worst, sick as a dog, but he was also her doctor! Could this get any worse?
"Oh, Hi Chase. Not too bad. Just trying to hold dad together."
What a cheesy joke. At least it managed to lighten the atmosphere somewhat, especially when House gave Liz a playful tap on her head in mock shock to that comment.
"Well I've got the lab results back. Definitely an infection, white blood cell count is through the roof. Unfortunately, the tests trying to figure out what is causing the infection came back inconclusive. I think a chest film would be then next step."
"I've got confirmation on transport coming down in thirty minutes to take her up." All eyes turned to Wilson as he reentered the room.
"How stealthy Wilson. I didn't even notice you leave."
Wilson just rolled his eyes.
Chase continued. "Any other symptoms besides sore throat, fever, chills and headache?"
Liz sighed. "Loss of appetite, nausea, sensitivity to light, sore swollen neck…" She let her sentence trail off. Wow, she really sounded like her dad.
"I want an LP Chase. Just to rule things out."
"House are you sure?" Wilson interjected before Chase could say anything. "There are other tests we could do before subjecting her to that. You know she's allergic to the local."
House knew all to well. He remembered the call he had received from his ex. Liz had been brought to the emergency room with a wound that needed suturing. The doctor had given her a local anesthetic in the form of an injection. Within sixty seconds Liz's throat had swelled shut and she broke out in hives. She was kept in the hospital for 2 days after epinephrine had restored her airway and the other symptoms had cleared.
"She's my daughter!" House had exploded. "Damn it. I don't want anything to happen to her. You know you would do the same thing if you were in my position. Do it after the chest film."
Chase didn't argue. He knew better.
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An orderly entered Lizzie's room. Chase followed him as both men wheeled Liz upstairs.
"We'll be back soon House. Try to relax."
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And true to his word, Liz and Chase returned not long after they were gone.
"Not one problem. I should have the films soon. I'm going to grab and LP kit and then we'll get started."
"How'd it go Liz? Cool huh?"
"Not really dad." Liz was grumpy. She was quickly becoming exhausted and her dad shouting at Wilson hadn't helped. She rubbed her forehead. She could feel a headache coming on. And her chills were returning which meant her fever was rising again.
'Whatever,' she thought to herself. She was too tired to care.
She was just beginning to let her eyes shut when Chase entered the room again. She groaned silently in her head.
"Ok Liz, I'm going to have you role over onto your side there. Your dad can sit by your head. From what I've heard, he's great at holding hand."
Wilson laughed.
"Now curl your knees up to your chest. Can I trust you not to move? I'm going to have Wilson right here just in case but can I trust you?"
"Yeah," Liz whispered. She pulled her knees up curling her back.
"I've also brought some anesthetic cream to help. It's not as strong as the injection we give, but it's better than nothing."
Liz felt cool air on her back as Chase moved her shirt up. She shivered as he disinfected the area.
"Try to relax. I'll try to finish as quickly as possible."
Liz tried to hold back tears. She felt her dad grab her hand with both of his as Chase put the needle to her back.
And then intense pain clouded her mind and she heard herself cry out.
"Shh, I've got you." She heard her dad whisper in a surprisingly tender voice.
"Please stop. No more. It hurts. Please." Forget trying to hold back tears, Liz was crying uncontrollably at this point.
"Please. Take it out. It hurts so bad."
House looked over Liz to see Chase's progress. The needle was fully inserted and Chase was just now collecting fluid.
He hated seeing Liz like this, but he felt the test was necessary. She could somehow have meningitis and House didn't want to take a chance with anything. If going through a little pain meant saving his daughter's life, than so be it.
"Take it easy kiddo. Chase is almost done."
By this point Liz had exhausted herself. The crying had stopped and she was just staring ahead of her gripping her dad's hands with her life. Something didn't feel right. She needed to sit up. She really needed to sit up.
"Dad. I need to get up. I'm…I don't feel right."
"Just one more minute. Let's get the needle out before you move."
The feeling was becoming more intense.
"Dad, you don't understand. I really need to get up."
House check on Chase's progress again. Then needle was being removed. Finally it was completely out.
"Ok Liz. You can move. Liz?
Liz wasn't responding to her dad. She tried to say something but before she could even get out a syllable her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she began seizing."
"Suction!" House screamed.
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