Author's note: Hi everyone, I just wanted to say thank you again for the continued feedback. Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Labor Day. Spoiler warning: brief mention of 'No Reason'.
Chapter Thirteen
"Where's House?" Cameron asked Dr. Cuddy worriedly as she stood over Chase, layering him with cooling blankets as he pulled away from her, mumbling deliriously. Within the past few hours, he had deteriorated rapidly as the disease progressed, stealing away his will to live. "We need help! Chase's fever is nearly 105 and he's incoherent. And Audrey needs someone to get in here and monitor her. I can't take care of both of them at the same time."
"Just try to stay calm, Cameron," Cuddy advised helplessly as she watched through the glass. "Wilson's suiting up to help you. And he's bringing in the drugs we think House said we needed."
"Think?" Cameron repeated. "What's going on?!"
"We aren't exactly certain what diagnosis House gave," Wilson explained as he tugged a protective suit over his shoulders and head. "The reception was horrible and then we lost him completely. We've tried calling back, but we haven't gotten a reply."
"What about calling Foreman's number?"
"We have, Cameron. House was using Foreman's phone. We tried both numbers. Foreman's is dead and House's just rings endlessly."
"This is a nightmare! We're still lost!" Cameron shouted.
"Not completely. House mentioned Interferon and Ribavirin so we know it's a virus," Wilson said lamely as he entered the quarantined room.
Hot tears filled Cameron's eyes as she tried to calm Chase, heartbroken when he reeled away from her touch, his body withering in pain as he fought to breathe. "Then maybe we should give it to them, we're perfectly capable of figuring out a proper dosage without House looking over our shoulder."
"Cameron may be right," Wilson seconded as he examined Audrey. "This girl is more dead than alive."
"No," Cuddy retorted firmly, "we're waiting. Ribavirin and Interferon are both incredibly powerful drugs, I don't want to risk being wrong about what House said and give them side effects they are too sick to handle."
Cameron shook her head angrily. "We can't wait! Look at him," she whispered as she pointed to Chase's brightly flushed face. "He's-he's-"
"Dying," House filled in plainly as he entered the hall with Foreman trailing behind. "And Chase and the kid look that way because they are dying. What a concept, huh? Why the hell is everyone standing around?" the diagnostician grunted as he came closer, rolling his eyes at Wilson. "Maybe you didn't learn this in Med. school, but I was taught that the medicine works better when you give it to the patient instead of having a doctor hold it ransom. And lose the medical spacesuit, they're not contagious."
"A-are you certain?" Cuddy stammered.
"Yes, it's Hanta Virus. Just because they breathed in contaminated air doesn't mean they're contaminating it."
"The rat disease?" Wilson asked, dumbfounded.
"Yes!" House replied angrily as he ripped away the bags of intravenous medication from Wilson. "Give me the damn drugs. Even a cripple can get them in there faster than a frozen idiot. What's the hold up?"
"There were problems with your cell phones," Cuddy reminded him.
"Yeah, Foreman's piece of crap died."
Foreman tiredly rubbed his temples. "Well, maybe we could have gotten through if you had bothered to take your cell with us!"
"And why would I do that?"
"Because you were working outside the hospital and would need a way to contact us!" Cuddy interjected.
House shrugged. "I never take my cell phone when I break free from here."
"Why?" Cuddy demanded.
"Because I find the thought of a large boil in the crack of my ass less annoying than pestering phone calls from any of you. Now should we focus on Chase and the kid or make more disgusting analogies?"
Cuddy sighed. "Chase and Audrey, naturally. How on earth could they pick up Hanta Virus? There aren't even any documented cases in Jersey."
"Well, then they're the first, because that's what it is."
"The bum Audrey said bumped into them had infected rodent droppings or saliva on his clothing," Foreman explained, "and when the dust and dirt flew into the air, they both breathed in it."
Cuddy chewed on her bottom lip nervously as the she paced the hall again, the sound of her clicking high heels echoing through the ward. "I know that's possible, but it's just not probable. We need to run tests. What if you're wrong?"
"We don't have time!" House yelled as he entered the room and limped to Chase's gurney. "We searched through the belongings of John and Jane Does at the morgue and found consistent traces of rodent infestation and all the signs match. By the time we run all the tests we need, it's going to be too late."
"It may already be too late," Foreman whispered soberly, "you said the fatality rate is fifty percent or more."
"That's just a number," Cameron argued. "You can't always depend on numbers. We're doctors we know every case is different, even when they have the same illness. Besides, they're both young and have prior good health on their side."
House smirked as he observed Cameron's wishful expression. "And as a doctor you should know better than to rely more on hope than science," the cranky doctor quipped as he glanced at the immunologist and tossed Wilson a dosage of intravenous anti-virals. "Here give that to your new daughter," he ordered sarcastically as he began attaching the combination of Ribavirin and Interferon to Chase's IV.
"Wilson, wait!" Cuddy hollered. "House, is there any other way? They're blood counts are already plummeting and the combination of drugs could lead to Hemolytic anemia and dangerously low platelets counts. There have been severe personality changes and depression linked to these. And-"
"And none of that will matter if they're dead," House interrupted as he secured the IV bag and watched silently as the powerful medicine began to enter Chase's veins.
OOOO
"House!" Dr. Wilson said sternly as the doctor limped into the ICU, struggling to balance the large covered box he carried. "Where have you been the last four hours?"
"At home," House replied nonchalantly, "catching up on my soaps and porn."
"You should have been here with the rest of us waiting to see how Chase would react to the medication," Wilson berated.
"Why? It's not like I can change what will happen now. Did he or the kid have potentially fatal side effects? Though it might be hard to tell considering they were dying."
"Well, no."
"See? So there wasn't any reason to skip my guilty pleasures. So now I know the Aussie hasn't gotten any worse, the question is has he gotten any better?" House wondered as he glanced into Chase's room.
"Slightly, his fever has dropped and he isn't delirious anymore. But his lung function is still very poor he's struggling even with the increased oxygen. He's far from getting well, House."
"And the girl?" House inquired as he nodded to Audrey.
"Heart's doing better. But she's still leaning closer to death than life."
"That's depressing. Maybe Chase would perk up a bit if he didn't have a comatose roomie showing him what might be ahead. Why the hell did you bother moving them if they'd just end up together again? At this point, I'm considering attaching them at the hip."
"Cuddy said we needed to free up isolation just in case we'd need it in an emergency. So they were moved here and put in the same room, you know the ICU is always crowded. For Pete's sake, you ended up bunking with the man that shot you."
"Don't remind me. I suppose it's up to kind ole me to cheer Chase up with my gift."
Wilson's jaw dropped involuntarily. "Y-you got someone one else a gift?" he stammered in shock. "You mean, that's not your laundry hidden under the cloth that you were going to sneak in with a patient's?"
"No, I've brought Chase a friend to keep him company since his comatose buddy can't. Tada!" House exclaimed as he removed the cover.
Wilson blinked in confusion and horror as he stared at the rat scurrying around inside the metal cage. "Steve?" he exclaimed. "He's got the rat disease turning his lungs into mush and you brought him your pet rat?! Not to mention they don't even allow real flowers in the ICU, let alone rodents."
"You should know by now I can sneak in anything anywhere. Besides, you gotta' love the irony," House retorted. "You didn't really think I'd want to keep Steve after this whole Hanta Virus thing, did you?"
"No, but I never expected you to keep Steve at all considering that requires thinking of someone besides yourself."
"I think of others. I've lost sleep when Luke and Laura are on the outs," House quipped as he plopped down beside Chase's gurney. "Wake up," he demanded as he poked the young doctor's forehead.
"And people say your bedside manner is lacking," Wilson mumbled as he stepped into the hall.
Weakly, Chase opened his eyes and squinted at his blurry surroundings. "House?" he croaked, his words barely heard through the oxygen mask covering his mouth.
"Pity you're coherent, I was hoping if the delirium continued you might share secrets about Cameron's sex drive."
"Sorry to disappoint you," Chase replied wearily, smirking slightly when he noticed the caged rat for the first time. "Nice joke. You'll have to forget me for not laughing."
"I thought you could use a companion and I couldn't find any wombats or kangaroos lurking around."
"I prefer dingoes," Chase shared as he coughed roughly and struggled to catch his breath.
"You're supposed to be getting better," House said. "You know the way things work around here. I solve the case then the patient gets better and lives in awe of my brilliance for the rest of their lives, making me so invaluable to Cuddy I get to do whatever I want."
"It's getting so hard," Chase panted, grimacing as he heard the crackling vibrating through his lungs. "I can't believe there was a time I took breathing for granted. I feel like I'm drowning."
"Makes sense, you basically are."
Chase lied silently for a moment as the blunt truth sank in. Ever since he had seen Audrey deteriorate before him, he knew that he might die. But now for the first time as he fought to even take a simple breath and felt lingering pain that not even morphine could take away, he actually felt like he was dying.
"House, I can't go on like this much longer."
"Just chill out. Your brain's functioning well enough now for you to know there are other options left if the medicine doesn't start working faster. Thoracentetis again, a medically-induced coma, a-"
"I know," Chase interrupted, "I'm just not sure I want them."
House rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Oh, come on, I know you're sick, but stop sounding like a patient. You're still a doctor, think like one."
"Right now I'm a patient," Chase said, drawing in a raspy breath between each word, "and for the first time I can really relate to the people I've treated here in this ward."
"Duh. We all know Audrey is basically living your life minus the luxury, penis and Australian address."
Chase's green eyes shifted to the gurney lying beside him as he stared Audrey's ashen, lifeless body and the machines pumping life inside of her. He quickly forced him to look at the fluttering lines on Audrey's heart monitor to see proof that she was truly still alive.
"It's more than that. I saw myself in Audrey even when she was physically healthy. This is deeper. When I first started my training in intensive care, I thought I was immuned to death after losing my mother and growing up with a physician for a father, I knew it was just a part of reality. But my first day of training I met this girl that just shook up everything I thought knew. I can still see her face," Chase said as he recalled a pale, round face full of freckles, dark eyes and the bright pink bandana that had been draped over her head.
"Oh, great story time," House commented dully. "Dr. Chase fell for a pretty patient."
"No, she was a child, only eleven and in her fourth relapse of leukemia. I had seen elderly people who were tired of fighting, tired of pain and ready to go. But she was the first child I saw who didn't want to live anymore."
"She may have only been a kid, but she had lived through enough strife to last a lifetime," House replied logically.
"I know that, but she hadn't lived through much of the good life can bring. A first school dance, getting a driver's license or finishing high school; I never understood how anyone could settle until now. Now I understand firsthand," Chase said, pausing suddenly and moaning in agony when the heaviness in his chest once again worsened and sent thrashing waves of pain through his body.
"Chase!" House shouted as he struggled to get to his feet and watched as Chase's chest fell up down rapidly in his desperate attempts to take in air. "Someone get in here and help!" he ordered as the code blue alarm sounded.
Quickly, House threw off the oxygen mask strapped to Chase's face and slapped his cheek as his eyelids fluttered heavily. "Stay with me!" he demanded. "You don't get to die on me; I'm not done with you yet."
"House, what's going on?" Dr. Wilson asked when he ran into the room.
"He can't breathe on his own anymore," House replied, swearing as Chase's eyes rolled back as he lost consciousness. "Get an intubation tray over here."
"Oh dear Lord, he's cyanotic," Wilson panicked as he gazed down at the blue tint covering Chase's lips as he wheeled the kit over.
"Funny what lack of oxygen will do to you," House retorted sarcastically as he grasped a laryngoscope blade. "Tilt his head back. I can't do it and keep my balance."
"Maybe I should do this. House, you rarely ever touch a patient let alone intubate."
"Shut up and do it! We can discuss it when he's not dying!"
With a sigh, Wilson lowered the head of the bed, tossed aside the pillow and tilted Chase's head back. "Can you see the cords?" he asked worriedly as House began sliding the tubing through Chase's mouth.
House nodded briefly as he continued. "Yeah, I've passed them and in the trachea," he explained as he stepped back. "Bag him."
Quickly, Wilson attached the Ambu bag and began pumping. "He's stabilizing," he whispered in relief.
"Good. I'll go order one of the nurses to send in a respirator."
"Yes, only a respirator," Wilson murmured sadly.
"Yes, only a respirator," House repeated mockingly. "But I guess we could set him up for dialysis for the hell of it."
"That's not what I meant. I meant a respirator is all Chase has agreed to. He spoke with me earlier and told me if a respirator isn't enough to save him, he doesn't want anything else."