Chapter 55
Issy's O2 sats remained stable during her hour-long nap. When she woke up, she immediately tapped the mouthpiece, indicating her desire to have the tube pulled.
Chase cranked the bed up to a 45-degree angle and readied the nasal cannula that Issy would use for supplemental oxygen.
House grabbed the tube and asked: "Are you ready?"
Issy nodded.
"Blow out hard as I pull the tube."
House pulled the tube out in one fluid motion. The procedure sent Issy into a short coughing fit. House quickly held a pillow to her injured ribs while Chase attached the nasal cannula.
Once she had stopped coughing, House asked: "OK, now?"
Issy nodded.
"You can talk now. Say something."
Issy croaked out: "Water, please."
House chuckled: "Profound first words. Let's start you with some ice chips and see how that goes."
Wilson left the room and quickly returned with a cup of ice chips and a spoon. He handed the cup to House, who immediately spooned up a chip and placed it on Issy's tongue. It was so cool and refreshing that Issy moaned.
"Been there, know that gross dry feeling. If you can keep down a few of these, I'll see that you get some Jello for dinner tonight."
Issy managed another word: "Orange?"
House made a face: "If you insist. I'll take cherry for me."
Issy gave him a weak smile and opened her mouth again, a silent plea for more of the ice. House fed her five or six more chips before she dozed off again.
Chase said: "She'll probably sleep a lot today. I'll write an order so that she can have morphine every four hours for the pain."
House said: "Make it every three hours, just in case. I want her to be comfortable."
Chase nodded in agreement: "She seems rather stable at the moment. Do you want me to stick around?"
"No, you can go, but keep your beeper and cell phone handy, just in case."
"Of course. Page me if you need anything. When do you want to tell her about the other injuries?"
House let out a small sigh. "No sooner than I have to."
++++ HOUSE MD +++++
After Chase left, House sent a text to Foreman and Taub updating them on her condition. Foreman replied, stating that he'd be there in a little while to perform a neuro exam and Taub merely asked if he was needed. House told Taub that he wasn't needed, but to check in tomorrow.
Foreman arrived in the late afternoon. He performed as much of the neuro exam as he could considering that Issy could not get out of bed yet and her left arm was immobilized in a splint. Her pupils were normal and reactive to light. Her smile was equal on both sides and she could raise both eyebrows to the same height. Foreman handed her a card to read and each eye performed the task equally well. Wilson held up an eye chart on the far wall and again Issy's vision was the same in both eyes.
He checked her hearing and her reflexes. Everything was normal. Then he sat on the side of the bed and held up his finger.
"Touch my finger with yours."
Issy did as instructed.
"Now touch your nose."
Foreman had her repeat that several times with her eyes open and then with her eyes closed.
"You are doing great, Issy. There are a few other tests that I'd like to do, but they will have to wait until you can get out of bed. As of right now, my professional opinion is that you have not suffered any brain damage from the head trauma."
Issy asked: "Did I have a concussion?"
Foreman shook his head: "No, the CT scan was normal, but you were unconscious for a while, so we were concerned. We believe that your arm took the brunt of the beating."
"I remember trying to protect my head. I curled up in a ball and wrapped my arms around my head."
Foreman nodded: "You did the right thing. Your arm has a bad break, but it should heal without any complications. A broken arm is better than a head injury any day."
Wilson probed gently: "Issy, do you remember much about what happened?"
A look of pain crossed her face and House silently cursed Wilson for asking that question. "You don't have to talk about it now, Issy. Just get some rest. Do you need some more morphine?"
Her answer was a whisper: "Not right now. I'm just so tired."
House answered calmly: "That's OK. Just sleep."
Issy's eyes fluttered and then slowly closed.
House shot an angry look at Wilson and jerked his head towards the door. All three doctors headed out to the hallway. When the door was shut and House was certain that Issy couldn't over hear them, he lit into Wilson: "What the hell were you thinking? Asking her if she could remember anything?"
Wilson shrugged: "I thought if you knew how much she remembered, it might make it easier on you to figure out how to tell her about her injuries. I mean, if she remembers."
House held up his hand in a 'stop' gesture. He hissed, keeping his voice low so that people in the near vicinity could not overhear, but his anger came through loud and clear. "You think if she remembers getting raped by a broomstick, it will be easier for her to learn about her injuries? I hope she doesn't remember. I don't want her to have conscious memories of getting raped or slashed with the knife."
Foreman interjected: "You know, it is very possible that she didn't have a head injury at all. She could have passed out from the pain. And while that is disturbing, it's better than having a head injury."
House gave a quick nod. "Her body was on sensory overload so her brain shut down. And since she was found with her arms curled around her head, and there was a small head wound, naturally we suspected head trauma. Losing consciousness from the pain fits."
Foreman went on: "Neurologically, I think she's going to be just fine. She just needs some time to heal from her other injuries. Want me to check back tomorrow?"
House shook his head: "I'll page you if I need you. You can't do the rest of the neuro exam until she can get out of bed and I don't expect her to do that tomorrow, Monday at the earliest."
"Alright. I'll see you on Monday, if I don't hear from you tomorrow."
As Foreman walked away, Wilson let out a sigh. "Are we OK?"
House squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and then said: "Yeah, we're fine. Just don't do that again. Don't ask her anything. Let her bring it up on her own. I don't want to force the issue with her."
"How are you going to tell her about the other injuries?"
Before House could respond, one of the nurses waved to him. "Dr. House, you have a phone call."
He didn't really want to take the call, but he didn't want to dodge the girls' mother forever. Plus Issy really wanted to see Abby, so he limped to the desk and picked up the phone. Mrs. Cooper was very understanding about Issy's condition and yet anxious about her daughter's state of mind. House finally agreed for them to come by tomorrow afternoon. He figured that by then, Issy should be up for a short conversation.
House returned to Issy's bedside while Wilson went out to get dinner. This time Wilson brought deli sandwiches and potato salad for the two of them and a container of chicken broth for Issy. Ignoring his growling stomach, House slowly fed Issy until she managed to consume half of the container. Satisfied with her intake for now, he let her rest while he ate his Reuben and a small container of potato salad.
Before leaving for the night, Wilson scored a couple of containers of Jello, cherry for House and orange for Issy. As House fed her the contents, he teased her mightily about her choice of flavor.
"I don't know how you can eat this stuff. Orange is so lame. Cherry is da bomb."
Issy smiled; they had had this conversation about flavors many times before. Greg always preferred cherry or strawberry while Issy preferred the citrus flavors. "You have to admit that it works out better this way. We don't have to fight over the last cherry Popsicle in the box."
House conceded her point. "True, but I would be willing to share. With you."
"That's so sweet of you."
He grumbled as he ate his cherry Jello. "I'm not sweet."
"Yes, you are. You're feeding me and taking really good care of me."
"You gotta get your strength back. If I didn't feed you, you'd have to wait for one of the nurses to find the time to do it. I didn't want your soup to get cold waiting for one of them to show up."
"It's still sweet of you."
House grumbled under his breath that he was not sweet, while Issy merely smiled at him. They had had this particular discussion numerous times before.
There was a lull in the conversation while House finished his Jello. When he tossed the container into the trash can and claimed his 'two points', Issy piped up.
"Greg, what else happened?"
His eyes shifted away from her. "What do you mean?"
"What aren't you telling me? My belly hurts."
He quickly interrupted her: "Maybe you ate that soup too fast. You want some morphine?"
"No, I don't want any drugs just yet. I want to know why my belly hurts and why the skin on my chest feels so tight. I have other injuries that you haven't told me about yet, right?"
He nodded, still not looking her in the eye.
"Please tell me."
"Issy, it's. They're."
He paused, unable to go on.
Issy said softly: "These injuries are really bad, aren't they? That's why you don't want to tell me."
He sighed: "Yes."
She reached for his hand and he clasped her small one between both of his. "I need to know. It's harder not knowing and imagining the worst. You are going to have to tell me sometime. Besides if you were the one injured, you'd be demanding to know what had happened."
She was right. If the situation were reversed, he'd be making a big ruckus until he found how what had happened to him. All he needed to do was to open his mouth and explain to her the extent of her injuries, just as if she was any other patient. The only problem was that she wasn't any ol' patient; she was the woman he loved and he hated to be the bearer of this horrible news, especially since he had been the one to consent to the operation. He floundered for a while, wondering where to start and then considered that Wilson's idea might actually have merit.
"What do you remember?"
Issy grimaced: "He dragged me into one of the motel rooms. Then he used that knife to cut my clothes off. He tried to rape me but."
She held up her fist with her forefinger extended. After a minute, she let the extended finger droop down.
"Are you saying that he tried but couldn't get an erection?"
Issy nodded. "He got really angry after that. He found a broom and started beating me with it. I curled up into a ball and tried to protect my head. It hurt so badly. Then."
Her voice trailed off. After a few minutes, House gently prompted her: "Then?"
She shook her head. "I remember him pushing my legs apart and then there was this intense pain. I think it made me black out because I don't remember anything else."
Issy looked at him and said plaintively: "What did he do to me?"
House's voice was edged with pain as he explained: "He used the broomstick to do what he physically couldn't do. He raped you with it. It was still lodged inside of you when they brought you to the ER. The damage to your uterus was severe; you were bleeding out. There was no choice but to do an emergency hysterectomy. I'm so sorry."
Issy shook her head back and forth in disbelief. An emergency hysterectomy? Well, that explained the belly pain. She probably had a huge incision on her abdomen from the need to perform that procedure. She looked back at House and was surprised by the intense look of pain in his eyes. And he apologized? He never apologized. And why would he now, for something that wasn't his fault?
"Greg, it's not your fault. That bastard is the one who did it to me. There's no need for you to be sorry."
If anything, the pained look of House's face intensified. "I gave the consent."
"I don't understand."
"You were unable to give consent and as you have no emergency contacts, Cuddy asked me for it."
"She wanted you to give consent cuz you're my boyfriend?"
"Yeah, I mean, it really doesn't have any legal standing, but she figured that I would know what you wanted done, so she asked me to give consent for the procedures."
She looked at him blankly, not really comprehending what he was trying to say. "OK."
House's face screwed up in pain, remembering the observation room and Chase's words. "Issy, I had to be the one to tell Chase to remove your uterus. I gave consent for your hysterectomy."
"But you said, it couldn't be repaired, right? That I was bleeding profusely?"
"That's right. You were on your fourth unit of blood. The team was having trouble keeping your blood pressure up. You coded on the table. There were the other injuries to be dealt with and Chase thought that if he took the time to try to repair your uterus, that you might not make it through the surgery. The other problem was that your cervix was beyond repair and even with an intact uterus; you'd never be able to sustain a pregnancy to term. So I told him to yank your uterus and save your life."
He pressed his lips together and waited. Issy merely stared at him with questioning eyes and then finally asked: "OK."
"OK? I made a life-alternating decision about your body without your permission and that's all you say?"
"Greg, you just said I probably would have died without the surgery. What other choice did you have? Besides, I told you a long time ago that I never planned on having kids anyway."
"I know, but you're young. You still had time to change your mind. So I didn't really want to make that decision for you."
"I understand that, but you really had no choice. You did the right thing."
Tears came unbidden to House's eyes. In a choked voice, he said: "I thought I had lost you, then you came back. I couldn't lose you again. I told Chase to do what he had to do, just make sure that you didn't die."
His sweet words caused tears to pool in her eyes and Issy's lower lip trembled with emotion. "I'm right here, mon trésor. I'll be here as long as you want me to be."
House sat on the edge of the bed and cupped her face between his two hands. "I want you with me for as long as you can put up with me."
He bent down and gently kissed her lips, his tears flowing freely now. They ran down his cheeks and dripped onto Issy's face where they mingled with her own.
+++ HOUSE MD +++ HOUSE MD +++ HOUSE MD +++
"It's her, I'm telling ya."
The woman shook her head. "I don't think so."
The couple had been watching CNN for the last three hours straight, watching and rewatching the news clip about the nursing student hero who had rescued the kidnapped Cooper girls.
"What the hell is a matter with you, woman? Are you so drunk that you don't recognize your own daughter?"
The woman sniffed: "She's been gone for ten years. How can you be so sure?"
The man smirked: "They said her name is Isabelle Walker. Plus I'd know that face anywhere. It's our Issy, I'm telling ya."
"And so what if it is? We haven't seen her in ten years. Not a phone call or a post card. Not even on Christmas."
"Doesn't matter. She's still our Issy. I bet there's a reward for saving those brats. If there is, I want a piece of it. She owes us that, and if she knows what's good for her, she'll give it to us."
The woman took another gulp of her rum and coke before speaking again. "She's not going to want to see us or share that reward with us. She's long forgotten about us."
"She may have forgotten about us, but I haven't forgotten about her. Get up! Pack yourself a bag. We're going to New Jersey."
