Chapter 11: How Low Can You Go
10:30 am, Present Day
Looking over the equipment, Sarah feels sure that everything is covered. House had been unyielding in his need for a complete examination of Chuck. Casey was called on to help, both in bringing over some items from castle and as blocker to prevent any disturbances. No one at the hospital could know what was happening for the safety of Chuck's cover. Her hope was, with diagnosis in hand, they could convince Beckman to supply a CIA doctor to take care of any treatment. Naturally, they couldn't go to any of his regular doctors, or even Ellie, and just hand over a note saying what Chuck was suffering from.
Looking at the clock for the hundredth time this morning, she is rewarded to see it is finally time to place the call. After typing in the up link information, she awaits a response. The blank screen is maddening and her mind wanders. It has been a struggle to keep her hopes in check since the first conversation with Dr. House. To say he is confident would be an understatement. Sarah was leaning more towards egotistical if she had to give it a name. He had requested every scrap of medical data on Chuck be transmitted to him. Then, go on and on complaining about the impossibility of the job with all the black ink covering various parts of his history. On some level though, Sarah could sense his desire to solve any riddle and that is what made dealing with him bearable. If it brought Chuck back to her, she would do anything.
The screen flickered to life and with it the grizzled countenance of one Dr. Gregory House appeared. She took a moment to assess the man. Unshaven and looking older than expected, he stared back at her with a different kind of appraisal in his eyes. "Am I lucky enough to be examining you today Agent Walker?"
Rolling her eyes, "Considering the patient records say you are diagnosing a male, I would hazard a guess the chances are very slim."
"Can never be too careful dealing with the CIA. Get my hopes up that I will be examining some poor, sick man and then pull the bait and switch. All to trick me into closely inspecting every inch of some hot female CIA operative. Never let it be said I won't sacrifice for god and country."
"Your desire to serve the public interest is duly noted. Now, would you like to see your patient?"
"Only if it will get you to stop flirting with me. I am flattered but maintaining a long distance relationship is so draining." As Sarah brings the web cam over to Chuck. "Start right at the top Agent Walker and then we will work our way down. Get in close and shift his hair to help me see along the hairline."
Glad to have House getting down to business, she complies with his instructions. Sarah slips her fingers through Chuck's hair, turning it this way and that while aiming the web cam. Memories of how it used to feel give her a moments pause. Even his curls have gone lifeless with the ravages of illness.
"Is there a problem Agent Walker? I really want to be done before my program starts. Cynthia is going to confront Marcus, force him take responsibility for fathering a baby with her sister. But she doesn't know that Marcus is not really the father. Her sister was sleeping with Donovan, Cynthia's husband, and he is the one."
"If you stop talking right now, I will do my best. And come on, Donovan? He was in South America trying to help with an Ebola outbreak at the time. It has to be Santiago, the attractive house boy, pool cleaner, family lawyer.", sighing. 'Did I just say that. I am never setting foot in a hospital again.'
"Where to next?" Sarah cuts in before House can respond.
Back to the task at hand, "Okay, forehead...looks good. Right ear....around behind. Left ear....nothing there either." He keeps up a running commentary while providing directions for Sarah.
She does her best to remain detached and professional. Telling herself he is just another mission that needs to be completed. Fingertips slide over his chest, House directing her to push or pull at every bump and freckle. So far, Dr. House has been satisfied with the examination. He orders her lower, spending a little time on the stomach. "I've seen enough here, you can move on Agent Walker."
She sidesteps and aims the web cam at one of Chuck's legs, starting a slow pan.
"Are you a lesbian, Agent Walker?"
Completely surprised at the question, Sarah drops the web cam and scrambles to recover it from between Chuck's legs. "What kind of question is that?"
"I assume you attended high school and would have some basic knowledge of biology. General anatomy tells us that after the stomach, hips and pubic region would come next. You skipped right to the legs and totally bypassed a free show of the fun bits. I was just putting two and two together.", finishing with a smug smile.
Holding back a choice curse word or two, Sarah takes a deep breath. "I did not think there would be any reason to look there and so, wanted to respect the patient's privacy."
"Which medical school is your degree from? I thought I was the doctor here, and it should be my call as to what is or is not relevant. It's a safe bet you've seen a man before. Our patient is in a coma and I would never tell. The only reason has to be you don't want to look." He takes a short pause, contemplating. "Or.....you want to look, but not under these circumstances. Agent Walker, does the patient ring your bell?"
Ignoring the question, "Fine, whatever you need doctor." She sets the camera down and grits her teeth to keep steady. 'Hold it together Walker, just another day, another mission. You've never been shy to get naked with someone when necessary. Chuck is nothing more than a mark for seduction. Seen it all before.' Proud of herself, she strips down his boxers with barely a tremor in her fingers. Taking up the web cam again, "Ready Dr. House. What do you want to see?"
House gives a little whistle, "Either he has recently been in a deep REM state, or he's happy to see you, Agent. One can never tell with a coma patient." He gives her a moment with the comment before feeding her further instructions.
Taking her time to not betray anything to this jerk of a doctor, she does everything he asks. Back and forth, Sarah makes sure the camera gets a good view of the entire region. The silence lengthens until she starts to worry he has seen something. "Dr. House, is there a problem?"
"No, no problem. I was just giving you two some time together."
Sarah sees red and turns the web cam on herself, eyes on fire and voice dripping venom. "You listen to me and you listen very carefully. If this patient dies because you are screwing around with your infantile delusions, I will find you and I will kill you. Do I make myself clear Dr. House?"
"Very clear Agent Walker. Have you been in love with him long? I didn't think that was looked on favorably in your line of work." Having satisfied some inner need only he knows, House becomes all business and cuts through any reply Sarah may have. "Back to work, we have an exam to finish. One leg at a time, all the way down. I want to see everything, even between the toes. Get to it Agent, our patient is not going to wait long in his condition."
Pushing down burning anger, Sarah rushes to fulfill his orders. He speaks in short, clipped sentences. She moves quickly to keep up. Very soon, she steps back and looks to the laptop. "Now what Dr?"
"You are going to have to be very careful. We need to get him over on his side and check out his back. I would prefer if you had someone to help. Surely, I don't need to tell you what could happen if we disturb any of the equipment."
She surveys Chuck and all the monitors. Her first motions tentative, arranging some of the tubes to allow for moving him. Once confident there is enough slack, she places the camera within reach. Eyes darting to everything connected as she lifts him inch by inch. With one hand, Sarah keeps him balanced on his side. She reaches for the camera and starts to sweep back and forth, starting up by his neck. Swallowing back a whimper at the site of nascent bed sores, she makes sure House can see it all.
"Wait! There! Go back, go back!", startling Sarah with his outburst. "Agent Walker, right shoulder blade.....lower....lower....there...hold it."
She glances to the laptop, House leans in very close to the camera as he studies the screen. "Isn't that just a pimple or bedsore? It really doesn't look any different to me."
"Another example of why I am the doctor and you're not. Did any of the geniuses out there even look at the patient? That is not a bed sore, pimple, wart or any other little skin blemish. What we have here is exactly what I was looking for. A bug bite. Old and possibly a little infected. It all fits."
Impatiently, "What fits doctor? Do you know what's wrong? Is there a cure?"
"I will answer your question after you answer one of mine. Was our patient in Africa about two or three months ago?"
"Dr. House, I am not cleared to discuss anything beyond his medical records."
"What is more important, Agent Walker? Keeping something secret that I already suspect or giving me what I need to confirm the diagnosis. I will make it easy for you. There are two options. One, you can tell his next of kin they are free to plan how to spend his death benefits. Two, you can tell me what I want to know and we can save his life. Think about it, but don't take your time."
Her decision already made before she has Chuck laid back down, Sarah says, "Yes, he was in Africa."
"That wasn't so hard. I wish I could say he will be fine, but unfortunately, the cure for what he has is deadly in it's own right. You need to get him on it as soon as possible to have a chance. Tell his doctors to treat for African Trypanosomiasis, commonly, African Sleeping Sickness. Your boyfriend was bitten by a tsetse fly. I would guess you noticed some flu-like symptoms, changes in his behavior and other neurological symptoms. The parasites he picked up from the bite love to hang out in the brain, heart and liver. The treatment is toxic and he is very compromised at this advanced stage. Therefore, time is of the essence, I would get on it. Good luck Agent Walker. If you will excuse me, my show is starting." The signal stops abruptly and leaves her staring at a blank screen.
A little stunned, she shakes her head to clear it. They have an answer, after all this time, an answer. She brings up her watch and starts talking rapidly. "Casey, get the General right away. It has nothing to do with the Intersect. He has Sleeping Sickness from the Africa mission. Tell her we need a doctor, any doctor she can cut loose to start the treatment. He won't need to know anything about Chuck at all. And Casey, hurry, Dr House says the treatment is dangerous. If Chuck gets much weaker, it will kill him trying to save him."
To help with the wait, Sarah gets Chuck dressed again and arranges his blankets. Giving his hand a squeeze, she looks at him and daydreams his eyes open and a smile on his face. 'Don't worry Chuck. Keeping you safe is my mission and I never fail at a mission. Hurry up Casey.'
Casey surprises her, arriving very soon with a CIA doctor from the local office. He rushes him into Chuck's room. Without wasting time for words, the doctor opens up a case and pulls out syringe and vial. With a practiced ease, he draws back the plunger to fill the syringe, taps out any bubbles and injects the contents into Chuck's iv tube.
Satisfied, he turns to address Casey and Sarah, "He is going to need injections every 12 hours for the next 4 days to complete the course of treatment. To make it easier, I can train the on-site agent so we don't need all the sneaking around." Sarah steps forward. He emphasizes the need to be careful with the toxic cure and then goes over all the proper procedures. Repeating them until he is certain she has it down.
As the doctor checks over Chuck for any negative reactions to the treatment, Sarah walks close to Casey. "I'm surprised Beckman made her decision so quickly."
He shifts and looks uncomfortable, "Well, I haven't actually told her yet. You said it was urgent so I grabbed the first doctor I could find. Sometimes, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission."
"Major Casey, if I didn't know better, I would say you cared."
"Just doing my job, Agent Walker. No reason to be insulting."
When the doctor is ready, they sneak him from the hospital. Sarah hides the case and sets an alarm to remind her of the treatment times. Feeling good for the first time in a long while, she pushes her chair back against Chuck's bed. She sits with her legs curled under and takes hold of his hand. Tracing up and down his fingers, she relaxes into a light sleep.
Turning over, she finds herself in Chuck's room. A place she wasn't sure could exist for her anymore. The familiar posters on the wall and shelves of books and games were like a balm to her nerves. Best of all, she wasn't alone. Under the covers with her was Chuck. Warm and welcoming as he slipped his arms around her. The lack of any clothing set her heart to beating faster. They melted together for the first of many kisses. His lips were so alive on hers, raising the temperature of the room at a rapid pace.
Breaking for air with the glitter of tears in her eyes, "Oh Chuck, I have missed you so much. I thought you were going to leave me. Leave me all alone."
"Shh, Sarah, you will never have to be alone again." Smiling into her eyes, he returns to her lips with increased passion. She blames her needy responses on the mission enforced celibacy. Much too long for a young and vital woman to be expected to endure. Sex, that would be easy. She could find that any place and any time she wanted. What frustrates her is the knowledge of what she needs and sex is not it. It used to be, once upon a time. Thinking back on the nights with Bryce, they were always good. He was both an energetic and accomplished lover. 'Accomplished, ha! A kind word for well trained.' He knew the seduction school handbook backwards and forwards. But, was she really any different. Performers in a well rehearsed play, they satisfied each other without touching anything real.
In that regard, Chuck was no Bryce. She could imagine him as all inspiration and eager to give. Yes, he might make the occasional misstep, but would be fearless to learn her song. Chuck made love to her. It was so very, very different and the only way she could describe it. There was no play book. The progression of A to B to C did not exist for him. He saw her as a unique individual and made it his personal mission to discover the melody of her soul. Deep, deep down she wanted to be known. 'Doesn't everyone?'
Lifting from her lips for a moments breath, "I love you Sarah."
With her heart bursting, "Chuck, I lo.........." And then her dreams turned to ash. Only able to watch, a helpless puppet to her nightmare, Sarah reached under a pillow for her gun. She placed the barrel to his forehead and pulled the trigger. So warm, his blood was so warm as it sprayed over her. His eyes are what broke her, filled with sadness at the rejection of his love. He kept reaching for her, calling her name. Sarah started to thrash in her need to escape from what she had done once again. Screaming, she awoke to find Ellie leaning over her.
"Sarah, Sarah, wake up honey, it's only a dream.", Ellie looked down on the distraught woman and spoke in her most soothing doctor voice. "That's it Sarah, just a dream You're safe and Chuck is fine. He is still with us."
Trying to speak, Sarah croaks out, "I'm okay." Hearing her voice, she wonders how long she had been screaming.
Getting some water for Sarah, Ellie rambles, "They could hear you down at the nurses station. I was on duty and they called me, thinking it would be good for you to see a friendly face waking you up. You were screaming about Chuck leaving you, not wanting to be alone, telling him not to die. I am only saying this as a friend, you have spent every day here at his side. The strain can be too much for anyone. Maybe you should spend a day at home."
Sarah takes a long drink to calm herself. "Thank you Ellie. I appreciate your concern. We both know the next few days might be all he has. I need to be here for him to wake up to or be here so he does not pass on alone."
"Whatever you say, Sarah. But if you need a friend to sit with or talk to, you know who to call." With that, Ellie gave her a kiss on the forehead and hugged her close. "I have to get back to my rounds now, but I can stop by later."
"That would be nice, Ellie. And I am sure Chuck would appreciate your visit.", bravely smiling.
Two Days Later
Sarah's good spirits were slipping away. The treatments had been administered like clockwork, but no change was visible so far. Ellie had brought a couple of Chuck's favorite books in and they were all taking turns reading to him. She found it hard not to smile at the different voices Morgan would use. So animated as he embellished on the already heroic tales of elves and men. Not content with simply departing from the story, he was renaming characters and creating a whole new mythos.
"There we were, Sir Chuck of BuyMoria and his faithful manservant Morganus the Grimes. Evil had fallen on the brave citizenry of our fair land. Emmitus of Milbargeron, a truly evil sorcerer with plans of conquest, had his eye on the throne. Biggus Mikus, the rightful ruler, was taken in by the silver tongued wizard and turned from his loyal followers. Too dangerous for any one man to defeat, a fellowship would be required to ensure the downfall of Emmitus. Sir Chuck gathered to him the greatest heroes BuyMoria had ever known in a bid to free the realm. His call was answered, they came from far and wide. Lesterolas the elf, Jeffli, a dwarven warrior of some renown. And there was..umm..Anna, super cool ninja chick that breaks from canon but must be included."
Fully into his story, Morgan is on his feet. Fighting alongside Chuck and friends to put down the threat to all of BuyMoria. Sarah watches, not sure what is really going on, but entertained nonetheless. He continues until Nurse Bannon informs him visiting hours are over. Taking his leave, Morgan gives a salute to Sir Chuck and his Lady Sarah.
The quiet returned, she wonders if Chuck knows how much his family and friends care for him. Inside, she knows they would do the same for her. She is not sure why she deserves it though. If they knew the things she had done, the things she might have to do, would they be so eager to include her?
A noise demands her attention. Sarah leaps to her feet and is instantly at Chuck's bedside. There is a moment of panic as she watches him convulse and make choking sounds. Desperate, she starts pounding on the call button. "No Chuck, stay with me. You're supposed to be getting better."
The door opens as a nurse looks in. Surveying the scene quickly, she turns and yells for a doctor and the crash cart. Sarah feels the nurse grab her and pull her away from Chuck. With a loud bang, the door flies open. One of the attending doctors rushes to Chuck, he takes one look at what is happening and starts to disconnect the respirator.
Sarah screams, "What are you doing! He needs that to breathe!" She slips free of the nurse and tackles the doctor, pinning him to the wall. "I won't let you hurt him, he isn't dieing, he isn't."
"Sarah!!", Devon's strong voice cuts through the room, "You have to let him go so we can get Chuck off the respirator. He's trying to breath on his own and fighting against it."
Releasing her hold, she regards Devon with hopeful eyes, "So, this is a good thing?"
Devon assists the other doctor while beaming a smile at Sarah. "More than good, it's awesome."
