Chapter 53
After putting in a page to the team, House fished an 'everything' bagel out of the bag and started smearing cream cheese on it. Wilson had even brought lox, which immediately made House suspicious since Wilson didn't usually splurge on the smoked fish. House went on preparing his breakfast; when he finished, he sat back in the recliner to eat and wait for Wilson to drop the expected bombshell.
He knew his friend so well. After a little hemming, hawing and neck rubbing, Wilson blurted out: "It's all over the news."
With a mouth full of breakfast, House mumbled: "What?"
"The rescue. I caught in on the local news this morning and it's front page on all the papers."
Reaching into another bag, Wilson pulled out two newspapers and handed them to House. The Princeton Herald's headline was more reticent, simply stating that two kidnapped girls had been rescued but The Trenton Times' headline screamed: "PPTH Nursing Student Saves 2 Girls from Pervert Dad!" There was even a picture of Issy on the cover. House recognized it as the photo from her student ID.
House hissed: "Oh fuck."
Wilson gave a sympathetic nod. "It's all over the TV news too. I saw it on the local station and on CNN."
House quickly read both articles. The Princeton newspaper article mentioned Issy by name, but there was no photo. Her role in foiling the kidnapping was briefly discussed but the main focus of the article was the reunion of the children with their mother. The Times' article took a different approach to the story. That paper was much more tabloid-like and ran articles that leaned towards the more sensational side of journalism. House felt his blood pressure rise as he read. The article detailed how Isabelle Walker, a mere nursing student, had recognized signs of abuse in the girls and had taken them into the ER to be treated. She had been kidnapped and badly injured by the perpetrator until the police managed to rescue her. The article even revealed how Issy had used her cell phone to aid in her own recovery.
"Fuck. How did they get all this info? Did you talk to anyone?"
Wilson held up both of his hands in innocent protest. "Not a word, but I'd say someone in this hospital blabbed."
"Damn, Issy's not going to like this."
"Well, I know she likes her privacy, but she's a hero now. She's entitled to her 15 minutes of fame. Don't you think she'd want it?"
House shook his head. "You know all the stuff I told you in confidence yesterday? You think she'd want that to come out?"
Wilson nodded in understanding: "Good point."
House went on: "You can't say anything about her past. Not a fucking word to anyone, even Cuddy or my team. Don't tell anyone where she's from so that they can't go back there and dig up dirt. I only told you all that because I thought that she was going to die. Christ, I betrayed her confidence and I gave the consent to mutilate her. Fucking great boyfriend I am."
"You had no choice. You did that to save her life."
"Yeah, that's what Stacy thought too."
Wilson argued: "This was completely different. There were options in your case, but, with Issy, you had no choice. Issy was bleeding out. She had already arrested once. There was no point in attempting to save an organ that was beyond repair. Medically, you made the right call."
House hoped that Issy would see it that way, but he wasn't about to voice those concerns to Wilson. He slapped the papers onto the bedside table: "We gotta get Cuddy to try to find the leak. I can't have people coming in here and snapping cell phone pictures of Issy to sell to the press."
"Good point. Right now, we should only allow your team and handpicked nurses in the room. I'll call Cuddy and explain the situation."
"Just say we need to protect Issy's privacy. Don't give her any details."
"Don't worry, House. Believe it or not, I can keep a secret."
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The team arrived not long after House finished eating his bagel. Issy had been completely sedated since the surgery, but now Chase started slowly weaning the propofol so that she would wake up enough to respond to stimuli. Initially it went well. A pinch of her ear lobe produced a wince of pain. A request to wiggle her toes produced slight movement under the blanket. But the next down turn of the propofol dose resulted in an agitated response when Chase asked Issy to open her eyes. She struggled and grabbed for the mouthpiece. When House grabbed her hand, she struggled harder.
House tried to verbally calm her: "Issy, it's Greg. You're safe now. You're at PPTH. I'm here with you. You're intubated; that's what's in your mouth. We can't take it out just yet, so just relax and let the machine breathe for you. Open your eyes for me, Issy. You're safe now. It's safe to open your eyes."
Issy continued to struggle, so Chase had no choice but to turn up the propofol dose again until Issy calmed down.
"We'll try again later, House. She's too agitated at the moment."
House nodded, hiding his disappointment. It was Issy's birthday and he really wanted her to wake up today. At least her neurological responses had been appropriate, lessening the possibility that there had been brain damage from the beating. Foreman wouldn't be able to do a full neuro exam until she woke up, but so far that part of her recovery was looking positive.
Promising to check back later, the other doctors headed off to their duties, leaving House alone with Issy. Once he was safe from prying eyes, he bent over and kissed Issy's forehead again. "Next time, we try this, I want you to open your eyes for me. I wanna see those big baby blues of yours. Today's your birthday and I got you a little present. Be nice to get it today, right on your birthday, wouldn't it? I can make Chase sing 'Happy Birthday' to you if you want."
He kissed her forehead again, sighed and touched his forehead to hers. "Just wake up for me, baby. I miss you."
One more kiss and House plopped back into the recliner. Reaching through the bedrails, he grabbed her right hand and then fell into a light doze.
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Wilson came back at lunchtime with an offering of a dry Reuben, fries and a Coke. Surprisingly for House, he found his appetite had returned and he scarfed the food down. Wilson munched his tuna fish sandwich and made some small talk about his patients, knowing House wasn't really interested, but doing it just to have some conversation in the quiet room.
After they had finished eating, Wilson said: "I spoke to Cuddy. The nurses have been instructed about the need for privacy. Issy has a strict confidentiality note on her file now. Anyone accessing her medical records without due cause can be subject to termination. No visitors are allowed without express permission and only you or Chase can give that."
"Yeah, but what's to stop a nurse or lab tech from walking in here and snapping a photo of her to sell to the highest bidder?"
"Your ongoing presence in her room, I suppose. Are you ever going to go home and perhaps shower? You've been in those same clothes for more than 24 hours now."
House huffed: "That's not even close to my record."
Then he sighed: "I don't want to leave her. I don't want someone coming in here while I'm gone."
Wilson glanced at his watch: "I don't have another patient until 2:00. Why don't I stay here with her while you hit the showers in the locker room?"
House thought for a minute and then nodded. A hot shower would feel good on his aching leg and he knew Wilson would watch over her. House grabbed his bag and started for the door. "Don't let anyone in. No reporters and no cops. If you get paged and have to go, don't leave her until I get back, or get Chase or Taub up here."
Wilson picked up the remote and aimed it at the TV. "I'm not going anywhere, House. I'll be right here with Issy when you get back."
Satisfied with his answer, House gave him a nod and headed off to the locker room.
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The hot water felt wonderful. He could have spent an hour under the spray, but he didn't want to leave Issy for too long. He washed his body, shampooed his hair and spent an extra five minutes just enjoying the hot water before reluctantly turning it off. Between the hot shower and the clean clothes, he felt somewhat revived as he headed back upstairs.
As House approached the ICU nursing station on the way back from the locker room, he heard the unit clerk say: "I'm sorry, ma'am. We have strict orders to not allow any visitors without permission from her doctors."
"Well, let me talk to one of her doctors. She saved my daughters' lives and I really want to thank her."
That got House's attention. He turned to see who the voice belonged to and saw a tall woman dressed in a gray suit jacket and skirt. Two young girls flanked the woman, each one gripping a hand. The younger child was also clutching a teddy bear and had her face pressed into the woman's jacket.
Shit!
House realized with a start just who they were. These were the girls that Issy had risked her life to save. They were so young; the little one so tiny, it made him physically sick to think of anyone doing that to such a small child.
The woman continued arguing with the unit clerk and House felt it was time to step in. While he could understand the woman's need to speak to Issy, his girlfriend was in no shape to receive visitors at the moment.
As he approached the desk, the unit clerk's eyes widened with fear and she took an involuntary step backwards. Normally, House would have been amused by such a reaction, but not today.
"I'm Dr. House."
The trio wheeled around and looked at him. The younger girl let out a squeak and then buried her face back into her mother's jacket. The older one was bolder. After giving House a close scrutiny, she pointed her finger at him and said: "I saw you. You were in the ER yelling at Dr. Cuddy after he took her. You said that Issy's your girlfriend."
House responded in a gentle tone: "Yes, that's right. Issy's my girlfriend."
The child asked eagerly: "Is she OK? Can we see her?"
Trying to find a balance between the truth and dumping too much information on a young child, House said in a hesitant tone: "You can't see her just yet. She's been hurt and she needs some time to get better before people visit."
Her lip trembled: "Dad hurt her, didn't he? Is she hurt bad?"
House nodded: "Pretty bad."
"Is she going to get better?"
"She will but it will take some time."
The lip trembling worsened. "If I hadn't brought Maddie to the hospital, Issy wouldn't have gotten hurt. This is all my fault."
The word exploded from House's mouth before he could stop it. "No!"
It seemed as if the entire nursing unit froze at House's outburst. The mother's eyes widened and she put a protective arm around her older daughter.
Inwardly cursing himself for his overreaction, House beckoned them over to a waiting area, a short distance away from eavesdropping employees. He waited until they all had taken a seat, the younger girl sitting on her mother's lap.
Looking at the older child, he could picture Issy at that age, thrust into the adult world long before she was ready for it. She squirmed on the seat next to her mother, trying hard to be brave and grown-up, but the reality was that she was still just a child. He racked his brain for a memory and it came to him. Cuddy had told him that the older girl was not quite 12 and that her name was Abby. She was the same age that Issy had been when her stepfather started raping her. Although a part of him was glad that Abby's dad was dead and couldn't hurt anyone anymore, another part of him regretted the fact that the man would not get the punishment that he deserved, a long jail sentence and the abuse that most pedophiles received from their fellow prisoners. If anyone deserved that retribution, this bastard certainly did.
In a gentle tone, House said: "Abby, this is not your fault. You are not responsible for what happened."
The child sniffed: "But if I hadn't left Subway and brought Maddie here, Issy wouldn't have gotten hurt."
He wanted her to really understand why it wasn't her fault so he decided to take her through it step by step. "What made you decide to bring Maddie to the ER?"
"She was bleeding and it wouldn't stop."
"Did you tell your dad about it?"
She nodded. "He said it was normal, a sign of becoming a woman. But I didn't bleed that much when it happened to me. And it hurt when Maddie peed and that didn't happen to me either."
The mother made a strangled noise in her throat and then buried her face in her younger daughter's hair.
Although aware of the woman's pain, House continued on: "Your sister was hurt and bleeding. You thought she needed a doctor and you thought your dad wouldn't take her so you brought her to a hospital. That was very smart of you. If you hadn't brought your sister here, who knows what might have happened to her. She could have gotten worse without medical care. You did the right thing."
Tears pooled in Abby's eyes and her lower lip trembled. Desperate to prevent a real crying jag, House quickly said: "Issy, it's not your fault. You are not responsible for what happened. You're just a child and he was the adult. He's the one responsible."
Belatedly he realized that he had called the child by the wrong name. "Abby, I meant to say Abby. It's not your fault, Abby."
The child leaned against her mother. They sat in silence for a few minutes. House tried to be patient, knowing that Abby needed some time to process everything that he had said.
Finally Abby asked: "Is Issy mad at me?"
House's jaw dropped slightly at her words, but he quickly recovered. "No, definitely not. Issy is not mad at you. She is very happy that you are back with your mom again."
"Even though she got hurt?"
House nodded: "Even though she got hurt."
"Can I see her, please?"
The child's tone was desperate and House thought he understood her need. Abby desired an absolution that only Issy could give. He was going to have to let them see her, but it wasn't going to happen today.
"She's sleeping right now. When are you going back to St. Louis?"
The mom answered. "We'll stay as long as necessary. My girls really need to see her and I need to thank her."
House nodded: "Call the nursing station tomorrow afternoon. They'll find me and I'll see if she's up for a visit."
"Thank you Dr. House. You have no idea what this means to us."
I think I have a pretty good idea.
Everyone stood up. House nodded a 'good-bye' and turned towards Issy's room. After two steps, he turned back and addressed the girls' mother: "By the way, did you speak to Dr. Stone?"
She nodded: "Yes, we all did."
House locked eyes with her and said: "Good. You should find another Dr. Stone when you get back to St. Louis."
Her smile showed that she appreciated his concern: "We will, Dr. House. We definitely will."
