Chapter 52

The longest day of House's life continued well into the evening as he and Wilson sat in the gallery above the operating room and watched the activity below. Cuddy had expressly forbidden him from being in the OR and he chose not to fight her on this. His diagnostic skills were not needed down there, and if the worst happened, he didn't want to be there for it. Up here, safe in the gallery, he could almost pretend that he was watching Chase operate on some stranger as opposed to the woman he loved.

They had performed a head CT before taking her into the OR. Everything looked normal, registering a collective sigh of relief amongst the team. Now they could focus on her other injuries.

Issy's ulna was fractured in two places and the radius in one, so it was decided to call in an orthopedic surgeon to reduce the fractures and splint the arm. After a few days, when the post-op swelling decreased, the arm would then be put into a cast until the bones had healed. Chase paged Dr. Lane for the Ortho consult. He was a fairly new member of the staff and had not yet had a run-in with House. Lane was surprised to see Issy on the table; he remembered the pretty nursing student from her rotation on the Ortho floor and was appalled to hear what had happened to her. He quickly agreed to the consult, and with Kutner's assistance, reset her broken arm.

The wounds on Issy's chest were so numerous that Taub scarcely knew where to begin. The thin white scars from his previous repair could barely be seen now with these new injuries. With Thirteen assisting and keeping an eye on Issy's unstable BP, Taub stitched up Issy's chest wounds as quickly as possible. A couple of them were quite deep and it took some time to close them. The job was not as pretty as Taub would have liked, but in the need for haste, he closed her up, already planning to 'beautify' her later when she was stable enough to withstand more surgery.

Chase and Foreman had the unpleasant task of dealing with Issy's most critical injury. The broomstick had penetrated through the cervix and lodged itself deeply into the uterine wall. Fortunately it had not perforated the uterus so the damage was localized to that organ. They tried to figure out a way to repair the damage, but as soon as they touched the stick, the wound began bleeding again.

Thirteen called out: "Her BP's 65/45."

Chase cursed: "Damn it. Hang another unit of blood. Foreman, try to clamp off that bleeder."

The doctors worked feverishly to try to stop the bleeding and save her uterus, but when her BP bottomed out at 55/40, Issy went into cardiac arrest. The tension in the operating room increased dramatically as they struggled to get Issy's heart beating again. House buried his face in his hands; he couldn't bear to watch the struggle taking place down below. He felt Wilson lay a comforting hand on his shoulder and for once, he did not shrug it off.

++++++ HOUSE MD +++++++++++++

Issy looked down at her feet. She was wearing black Mary Janes and little white ankle socks. How strange, she hadn't worn such items since she was a small child. Why did she have them on now? Then she looked at her dress. It was a yellow sundress with a little duck pattern decorating the hem. She remembered owning such a dress when she was 5 years old. What was she doing in these clothes now?

She looked around; it was her old street back in Akron. Old Mrs. Yancey was pruning her roses in front of her white two-storied house with the gingerbread trim. Amazed that she was alive after all these years. Issy shouted 'hello' and waved but Mrs. Yancey didn't seem to hear her.

Issy slowly walked on down the block. Mr. Hippler was in his driveway, carefully washing his drop-top baby blue Caddy like he did every Sunday afternoon in the summer time. When she said 'hello' to him, he turned around and smiled at her. "What are you doing out all by yourself, young lady? Your daddy'll be looking for you."

She opened her mouth to remind him that her Daddy had left a long time ago when suddenly she saw him across the street.

"Daddy!"

She screamed and ran after him. Like Old Mrs. Yancey, he didn't seem to hear her and kept walking away. Issy kept running and despite the fact that Daddy was merely walking, Issy never seemed to be able to catch up to him. When Daddy reached the corner, he turned away from her and kept walking.

"Daddy, no! Don't go! I can't cross the street by myself. Come and get me."

He turned to look at her, his expression sad. He gave her a wave and started to walk away.

Issy was in a panic. "No! Daddy! Come get me. I want to go with you. Don't leave me here all alone again. I don't want to be alone; I want to be with you."

He turned again, but this time he spoke: "You're not alone anymore. You have him. He will take good care of you."

Issy sobbed: "But I miss you Daddy. Please, please take me with you."

He shook his head. "No, cupcake. You can't go with me. It's not your time. Go back the way you came. Go back to him. He loves you and he'll take care of you. You'll take care of each other."

Her Daddy turned, walked into a bright white light and disappeared.

Issy screamed her heart out, but he didn't come back. She picked up the hem of her dress and wept into the soft fabric. When she had finally cried herself out, she looked around again. Mrs. Yancey and Mr. Hippler had disappeared. There was no one to help her. Issy had no choice but to walk back the way that she came.

+++++++++++ HOUSE MD ++++++++++

They had to shock her twice before she went into sinus rhythm again. While Taub returned to stitching up Issy's chest wounds, Thirteen hung the fourth unit of O neg. Chase and Foreman returned to the bloody mess that was now Issy's uterus, but after a quick exam, Chase shook his head.

Over the microphone, Chase called out to House: "The damage is severe and the cervix is completely shot. Even if I could repair the uterus, she would never be able to sustain a pregnancy with this type of damage to her cervix."

House picked up the phone and yelled back: "Yank it then. It serves no purpose anymore. Get her off the table before she arrests again."

He slammed the phone back down and buried his face in his hands. He tried to console himself with the fact that there was no choice in the matter. The blood loss was too great and a hysterectomy was the only way to save her life. She had told him that she never planned to have kids, but she was young, plenty of time to change her mind on that subject. She'd be 26 in just a few hours, assuming that she survived the surgery. The Tiffany box containing the heart pendant was hidden away in the top drawer of his desk. He intended to give it to her tomorrow, assuming that she regained consciousness by then.

When the surgery was over, the team bypassed the Recovery Room and took Issy straight to ICU. They had intubated her for the surgery and a ventilator was breathing for her, keeping her O2 sats at 98%. The decision was made to keep her on the ventilator overnight and try to wean her in the morning.

Chase, Taub and Lane each gave a concise report to House on their individual part of the surgery. After Lane gave his report, he reached into his pocket, pulled something out and handed it to House.

"I'm not sure if it can be repaired, but I thought Issy may want it back anyway."

House stared down at the item in his hand. It was Issy's watch, the one that he had given her for Valentine's Day. She wore it on her left arm and the watch face had been smashed along with the bones in her arm. He felt a pang in his heart, remembering her delight at receiving the gift, and quickly stuffed the watch into his pocket, nodding his thanks to Lane.

One by one, the other doctors drifted away, promising to check back in the morning. Wilson made a futile attempt to get House to go home, but the older man simply shook his head.

"I'm not leaving her. You, on the other hand, can go to our apartment and grab a few things."

House quickly rattled off a list and Wilson jotted down the items, wondering at a few of them, but knowing better than to question House about them, especially with the state of mind he was in. Better to just bring him what he wanted and keep his questions to himself.

After shooing Wilson out of the room, House picked up his cell and called his favorite poker-playing janitor. "Lou? House here. I need you to go to the OB doctors lounge and transport one of the recliners to ICU room seven."

Like everyone else in the hospital, Lou knew what had happened to Issy and wanted to help in any way that he could. "Gimme ten minutes Doc and I'll be there."

House closed the phone. His arms itched to hold her, but he barely knew where to touch her. Her left arm was in a splint, she had stitches across her chest and from pubis to belly button. An IV was in her right arm and the lower half of her face was covered with the intubation mask. Finally he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. His emotions almost overwhelmed him at that point, and he probably would have given into them except for the knowledge that Lou would be arriving any minute. He still had to squeeze his eyes tightly shut to prevent the tears from forming. He quickly kissed her again, and even though he knew that she couldn't hear him, whispered in her ear: "I love you, Issy-belle."

He collapsed back into the straight-back chair, his left hand claiming her right. His other hand moved to rest lightly upon her thigh. His eyes glanced back and forth between her face and the monitors while he waited for Lou and Wilson to arrive with the items he needed to make it through the night.

++++++++++ HOUSE MD +++++++

Lou arranged the chair close enough to the bed so that House would be able to reach out and hold Issy's hand. After the janitor left, House sank into the chair with a groan. His leg ached from the stress of the day and he dry-swallowed two Vicodins before gently picking up Issy's hand and holding it in his own.

Wilson returned about 45 minutes later. In addition to the requested items, he had also stopped by the deli and picked up a dry Reuben for House. Two beers were also hidden in the bag and House gratefully popped one open. He wasn't really hungry, but knew that he needed to eat. He managed to swallow about half of the sandwich before giving up. There was no problem with downing both beers.

After ascertaining that House was OK for the night and promising to return in the morning with bagels and coffee, Wilson went home to catch a few hours of sleep.

House set up Issy's I-Pod with the speakers and set it to 'shuffle'. He wasn't sure how much sound would penetrate her sedated mind, but he preferred that it should be music as opposed to the constant beeping of the monitors. Once the machine was set up, he stretched out in the recliner and managed to doze off to Lucinda Williams asking 'Are you Alright?' The irony was not lost on him, but he was too tired to think about it.

Friday May 30th, 2008

When he woke in the morning, he noticed that someone had kindly thrown a blanket on top of him. He rubbed his face for a moment and then realized that he was not the only one awake. One of the nurses was there, checking Issy's vitals.

His sleep-filled voice sounded grumpier than usual: "How is she?"

The stocky nurse with close-cropped brown hair actually smiled at him before replying. "She's been stable all night. O2 sats are 98%, BP is 110/75, pulse 78, urine output around 300 ml. Good color, no visible signs of blood."

He grunted his thanks and after flashing him another smile, she left the room. House struggled to his feet, his leg hurting more than usual after the night spent in the recliner, and limped to the head of the bed. He gently stroked her hair for a moment and then kissed her forehead. "Good morning, baby. After Wilson get here with my coffee, we'll see if you're stable enough to wean off the sedation. I want you to wake up. I need to see your eyes. I need to hear your voice."

After planting another quick kiss on her forehead, House limped into the bathroom to take care of business. A glance in the mirror told him that he looked like shit, but he cared less than usual about his appearance. Issy's condition was the only thing that concerned him at the moment, that and getting a cup of coffee.

As luck would have it, when House stepped out of the bathroom, Wilson had appeared. Naturally he was pressed and combed and didn't look like he had slept in a chair all night. On a normal day, House might have teased him about his nattiness, but today was not a normal day. The only thing House cared about was the large latte that Wilson was handing to him.

He took a big swallow and sighed: "Nectar of the gods."

Wilson gave a half-hearted chuckle: "Thought you could use the grande size today. How did the night go?"

House took another sip of coffee before answering. "Issy slept like a log. Vitals were stable all night. Once the team gets here, I want to try to wean her off the propofol. Once she's alert, Foreman can give her a thorough neuro exam. With any luck, we can get her off the ventilator today."

"Can't wait to hear her voice again?"

Wilson knew him too damn well. House huffed: "You know as well as I do that patients on vents for more than 24 hours are at increased risk for VAP."

Ventilator-associated pneumonia was a serious concern, but not the primary reason that House wanted her weaned off. Wilson was right, but House would never admit that to him.

His friend opened his mouth to respond, but before he could get a word out, there was a knock on the glass sliding door. Without waiting for a response, the detective walked into the room.

House narrowed his eyes at him. "How the hell did you get in here?"

The detective shrugged: "I'm a cop. Flash the badge and you can get into just about anywhere. How is she doing?"

"She'd be doing a lot better if your people had found her faster."

Surprisingly the cop agreed with him. "You're right. If we hadn't lost them in the industrial section, we might have prevented this. And if she hadn't been so smart with her cell phone, we wouldn't have found her until it was too late."

Suddenly the coffee was burning a hole in his gut. House didn't want to think about what might have happened if Issy hadn't thought of a way to tip them off with her location.

"Thought she might want this back."

House looked up to see that the detective was offering Issy's cell phone to him. Nodding his thanks, House took it and set it on the bedside table.

"When do you think she'll be able to answer some questions?"

House frowned: "What kind of questions?"

"We need a statement from her, detailing what happened from the time he put the knife to her throat until."

The detective let that sentence fade away, but House wasn't about to. He spat out: "Until what? You need to know how much of the torture that she can remember? The bastard is dead. Why the hell does Issy need to relive that experience? Is it just so you can close out your paperwork? You know what happened here at the hospital. You heard quite a bit of what happened in the car and you can see the damage he inflicted on her in that damn motel room. There's nothing she needs to tell you. So get the hell outta here."

The detective glanced at Wilson, perhaps hoping that the other doctor would be more reasonable, but Wilson merely walked to the sliding glass door and pulled it open, his message clear.

Pulling a card out of his pocket, the detective laid it on the table. "I need her statement. Call me when she is able to answer questions."

House snarled at his retreating back. "When hell freezes over."