A/N: Wow, the number of reviews surprised and really just made my day! You guys are great! But alright people, you wanted it so here it is! Aren't you glad I updated so soon? I know I am, even if it meant putting off my homework even more, but be forewarned—this chapter is 1,618 words of… pain and suffering. So if you can't handle it, then I wouldn't suggest reading this chapter. The fact that this chapter was so easy to write must mean that I'm a bad person. Oh well, it sure makes for a good story. Okay, that's enough of my ranting; you don't want to read that. Please read and review to fuel my desire to write more!
Disclaimer: Is this really necessary after twelve chapters? Go ahead and try chapter seven; see where it'll take you, just for kicks.
Within the very second after the shot was heard everyone's lives seemed to move in slow motion.
One might suspect that in certain life altering situations time would become panicked and move more frantically in a blurred fashion reaching the point to where images become distorted and you can't distinguish your right hand from your left if you held them in front of your face. But how can your entire life flash before your eyes in mere seconds? It can't. That's why everything was moving as if someone had recorded this moment and was now replaying it in slow motion.
Cuddy darted towards the boy as if she were being chased by a starved cheetah, her mind focused completely and utterly on retrieving the deadly weapon from the boy's grasp. She was within arms reach of the boy when the petrifying shot was heard.
Lives were occasionally lost in the operating room and it was always a tragedy when they were. But operating rooms were constructed for the commendable purpose of saving lives. This was the moment Cuddy would forever remember as the time where she couldn't save a life.
She couldn't save the boy because arms reach is as far as she got.
The barrel of a gun jerked back forcefully from the intensity and power of the released bullet which exited the gun as if it had been shot out of a cannon rather than a gun, being followed a short distance by a brief sprinkle of gunpowder.
A chilling scream exited Cuddy's lips against her own will and the look of surprise, astonishment, fear, and finally pain flashed across her face before she fell heavily onto her knees and lay on the cold floor of the OR.
A soft wisp of smoke drifted lazily up from the barrel of Michael's gun and the look of surprise and even fear that had resided on Cuddy's face moments ago were now evident on Michael's features. He, along with the others, were shocked to the point where they couldn't even move. So they simply stared at Cuddy's form on the ground.
She was clutching her shoulder in a gesture of immense pain, but surprised everyone when she raised her head up from the ground to look at the boy. She extended her arm out to him despite the pain as if to say, 'give me the gun,' but upon the sight of the blood on Cuddy's hands the boy backed up in staggered steps with a look of pure horror and dread on his young face. He was shaking his head in denial and appeared as if he was about to cry.
Cuddy's eyes widened as the boy once again lifted the gun to his temple and closed his eyes tightly.
"NO!" Michael's scream tore everyone from their petrified state of motionless. But the boy's grip on the gun didn't falter.
Cuddy's eyes left the boy and fell to the floor where her hand once again found its way onto her injured shoulder. She didn't want to watch this. Instead she watched the growing puddle of blood beneath her as her body jerked from the wave of a sudden onslaught of pain that overtook her body.
House's eyes had not left Cuddy's form the entire time and he couldn't care less about the boy. In fact, that boy was the reason Cuddy was in her current state of pain. Or more immediately—Michael was the true cause of her pain.
House was the first to regain his feet as he jumped from against his position on the wall and propelled himself as fast as humanly possible towards Michael. House moved as if his right leg wasn't even there. The anger he felt towards Michael outweighed his pain tenfold and he threw himself at Michael with all his force. Michael's attention was still focused on the boy as House's body came crashing down upon his, taking him out and landing on the floor.
This action did not go unnoticed by Michael's men and they immediately turned the aim of their guns onto House, who was now on top of Michael, throwing forceful jaw-breaking punches into Michael's quickly bruising and bloody face.
The gunmen's backs were now turned to Wilson, Foreman, and Chase. They didn't hesitate a moment as they each threw themselves at the gunman in front of them.
Foreman tackled the man in front of him who plummeted to the floor, his gun sliding out of his reach, but the man outweighed him greatly and threw Foreman off of him easily and went immediately to retrieve his gun. Foreman didn't let him though and reached out to put the man in a chokehold from behind him, leading him to the far end of OR and effectively away from his gun.
Chase opted to go for the legs and literally swept the man's feet from under him as he fell to the ground and onto his back, dropping his gun as well. Chase immediately sought ownership of the gun, but had to reach near the man to get it. The man took hold of Chase's outstretched arm and twisted it forcefully. Chase let out a bloodcurdling scream of pain as he felt the bones in his arm snap painfully. The man then proceeded to toss Chase about five feet away from him as he made a move to stand and advance towards Chase's limp body.
Wilson decided to throw the back of his elbow as hard as he could into the man's temple. The man's level of surprise led him to practically throw his gun out of his grasp. It landed with a clack of metal somewhere near House and Michael. Wilson didn't give the man much time to react more than a grunt of pain before he forced his fist into his nose, effectively breaking it and reached out to the man's head, pulling him down far enough to force his knee into the man's face multiple times.
The close proximity of this attack turned the advantage from Wilson to the man, who was obviously much larger than Wilson. The enraged man encircled his large arms around Wilson's body and squeezed tightly, stopping Wilson's legs and every other part of his body from moving. The man then lifted Wilson high up into the air and slammed him powerfully into the wall behind them. Wilson released a scream of agony as he felt every muscle in his back burn and throb from the impact against the hard wall and he now lay helplessly on the floor, writhing in pain. The man's face was bleeding profusely and he wiped at his nose. The sight of his own blood fueled his rage and he went to Wilson's form hunched near the wall to take out his anger.
Michael was taking quite the beating from House, who never seemed to be running out of energy as his fists continued to meet his face with the impact of a car crash. House wasn't thinking clearly and the doctor in him telling him to stop before he caused brain damage to this man was silenced. Michael's arm fell limply down beside him, but felt something cool and metallic grace his fingertips. He grabbed the object thankfully and lifted his arm up with what was left of his energy. He brought the object down and into House's face hard and House recoiled painfully as he felt the delicate bones in his face shatter like glass. Michael pushed House off of his own body and stood up uneasily. He stumbled a few times and tried to focus his vision as House lay sprawled out on the floor.
Even through Michael's blurred vision he could tell that things were not going according to plan. The amount of blood flowing freely from his broken nose was making him lightheaded and he fell to the ground.
Foreman's grip had loosened around the man's neck from exhaustion and he was now at the mercy of the enraged man before him. Wilson and Chase were still helplessly taking beatings from their gunmen as well.
"STOP! …Stop this…please!" Cuddy's weak voice was pleading desperately almost the entire time to stop the scene before her. She never in her wildest dreams would have ever imagined that this could possibly ever occur in her hospital. Despite her efforts her words went unheard over the commotion around them all and she looked again towards the boy, whose eyes were still drawn closed tightly. He was shaking from fright and obviously knew what was going without the aide of sight. He could hear the screams of pain all around him. A small tear exited the closed lid of the boy's eye and another deafening shot rang out through the now blood soaked walls of the operating room.
This silenced the commotion all around them as everyone who could still move turned to look for the source of the shot.
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The panic among the occupants of the hospital's lobby was frenzied and uncontrollable by the gunman desperately trying to maintain order. This was the second shot they had heard.
Cameron became worried as soon as she had watched House and Cuddy leave Cuddy's office with their armed escort in the direction of the operating room. She now watched the panicked faces all around her and knew that she had to do something.
She stayed low and against the wall as she sneaked away from the lobby slowly but surely. The commotion was perfect for her to go unseen and she successfully managed to eventually get far enough and slip around a corner unnoticed.
She stood up on shaky legs and practically started to run down the empty hallway in the direction she had seen House and Cuddy leave earlier, following the sound of the gunshot that still sat heavily in the air.
A/N: Oh my, what will happen next? I wrote this all before breakfast. So let's say, your reviews are like breakfast. They fuel my energy for the day thus helping me to write more chapters for you! Please review!!!