Chapter Thirteen - Wanderlust
The jeans and T-shirt were too big. Even with the belt she wore to its tightest notch she had still to pull them up and had been forced to turn up the bottoms three times for her converse to peek out. The black Quicksilver T-shirt was large and loose at the neck and kept sliding down her shoulder slightly so her bra strap was on display. The dark colour of the garments that were clearly not hers made her look paler and slightly washed out. She didn't care one iota for any of these fashion faux pas. The fact that the tall boy beside her had brought her something to change into that wasn't the hospital gown or the clothes Robyn had forced her into the day before, made her feel a million times better.
In fact, as she walked beside her companion and sipped at the bubbly liquid in her hand, she felt the best she had since before this whole saga had begun. The drink was cool and soothing. Zen had been sweet rather than grumpy with her and the tests were done now. She felt sure that House had insisted that only one of his team had come to deal with her that morning. She wasn't sure how to feel about it but was sort of grateful. It made it easier to deal with. She had felt groggy from the medication the nurse had given her and Cameron had been very kind and efficient. She glanced down to the taped gauze on her arm and considered the crazy Doctor. Why had he done that?
For a little while she had sat considering that and then growing Tired of bed she had asked the nurse if she could go for a walk with Zen. The woman had agreed so long as she stayed inside the building. That was fine. She was on the clock, counting down the small increments of time till her release.
As they walked along the corridor from the hunt for working vending machines (that had ironically started the whole thing off the day before) Arin couldn't help but smile.
Looking at her the boy returned the smile with one of his own. "I'm glad you are feeling better." He told her and leaned in for a kiss.
Arin returned the kiss and nodded. "I'm sorry about yesterday…" she stopped as he held a hand up. Apparently the explanation was unneeded a second time.
Looking down Arin considered the clothes she now wore and frowned at the streak of orange on the otherwise dark top, "ugh these plants are everywhere just now. They were in the mall, in here…" she dusted the pollen off of herself vigorously and shook her head at the smudge it left behind. Not enough for anyone but her to notice but it annoyed her nonetheless. She dusted her hands off and scowled at him while he laughed."What! What's funny?" She demanded but smiled.
"You," he told her, chuckling and putting an arm around her. "That's an old T-shirt, it's fine."
Together they walked back to the room pausing only to notice that Robyn was now alone, her mother off on a call somewhere with some sort of emergency at the designers she ran. Instead of going into Arin's room they both chose to go in.
Climbing up onto the end of her friend's bed Arin crossed her legs and made a face while Zen passed the girl a grape soda. "You'd have thought your parents would have brought you something else less hospital sheek than that gown." She teased.
Robyn made a properly disgusted face. "Apparently it's easier for the doctors to examine me in this and that it's rude to bring your own clothes in when they need to control the environment in order to promote healing."
Arin chuckled and zen laughed as he settled down in the visitors chair beside the bed. Robyn looked up at Arin sheepishly, "you're...not mad I told Doctor House about you are you Arin?" She asked.
Arin sighed deeply and looking at the pathetic puppy dog eyes of her raven haired friend. She relaxed her body language. "No," she said, a half truth, "I'm not mad."
Immediately Robyn brightened and began to babble about how lucky Arin was to be getting so much attention from some, as she put it "seriously hot" Doctors. Half paying attention Arin simply nodded along and let her do what she did best; gossip, neglecting to point out that she had only had the attention of the woman doctor today and thus, none of the 'hot' ones… unless Robyn had not told them something.
The elevator on the sixth floor binged and the doors opened to reveal the looming figure of one Doctor House. Clad in stonewash blue jeans and a rumpled green t-shirt, he limped out, turned to his left and headed down the corridor. His destination lay in the far east corner of the floor, where the hallway opened up onto a central nurses station with the patient rooms surrounding it. At present it was relatively quiet, had the apparent luxury of having had its air-con fixed and, best of all, resided five floors and multiple corridors away from Cuddy. In hindsight, he should have more of his patients housed here in 'limbo' as it was affectionately known as while the powers that be, namely attendings such as himself, decided if you were going home or for long term care in another area of the hospital. Ignoring the nurse who womanned the station and looked more interested in the latest cosmo quiz, he crossed over to his patients room and opened the door.
House scanned the room and swore under his breath when it became apparent that Kiddo had vanished; he even checked the bathroom. A glance at the chair he had spent hours occupying the previous day told him that she had either procured some clothes or they had a naked girl running wild around the hospital. Leaving the gown where he found it, House made his way back out and to the nurses station. A quick bang on the counter with the handle of his cane soon got the woman's attention.
"Where's my patient?" House demanded, not giving her the chance to get over her shock.
The nurse blinked in confusion. "She's...in her room. I saw her ten minutes ago." She stammered.
"No," he declared with a roll of his eyes, "I was just in there. Try again."
The nurse quickly looked through the paperwork she had that showed patients being taken for scheduled tests or appointments. She looked up. "I assure you Doctor House. She was back in her room. I saw her with the boy. She asked to go for a walk earlier but they were back ten minutes ago."
"Great, so you just let a patient who is supposed to be under observation go for a constitutional. What kind of crappy service is Cuddy paying you for." In normal circumstances, House would probably not have been too bothered, unless of course the patient was in a life threatening condition. However, those patients generally stayed put because they were too sick to get out of bed. Unfortunately, Kiddo would be walking out the front door at 2pm, regardless of the state of her health.
As the young woman stammered her apologies, an older man in nurses scrubs, who glared at House in a manner that said he had dealt with him before, approached. He placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Doctor House, if you are going to be rude to my staff I will be forced to call Doctor Cuddy. Now, your patient asked Doctor Cameron if she could stretch her legs this morning and Doctor Cameron said she could after breakfast, so long as she stayed inside the building and had someone with her, orders which we and her followed." He pointed in the direction of Arin's room.
"Perhaps if she isn't in her room, I would suggest you try her friends across the hall. I'd see no reason why she can't be allowed to visit there. Now if you'd like me to put out a call for your missing patient then by all means I will do so, but I'll remind you that you are the attending physician. It's your job to know where your patient is as much as it is ours." He nodded his head with the final word and crossing his arms waited for House to respond.
"Yeah, and if you had followed the instructions left by the attending, he wouldn't have arrived here to find out that she is not where she's supposed to be," House barked as he cast both individuals a dark glare. "So sure, call Cuddy. See how well she reacts when she discovers her nurses are not following the attending's instructions."
Calmly the nurse ignored him and said "do you want me to look for you Doctor? And if she's not there put out a call?"
"Prft," House scoffed. "You guys can't be trusted to follow basic instructions. How can I expect you to do something as difficult as look inside another patient's room." With that, House stormed off towards the mermaids room. If he did not find Kiddo in there then he'd… He laughed internally at the idea of him calling Cuddy to complain about the nurses. That really would make it opposite day. Instead he'd have his lackies go find her and bring her back. While he slipped off to the changing rooms to do something evil like swap the female nurses diet pills with the man's protein supplements.
Arin absently scratched at her right shoulder under her neck and pulled the T-shirt back up into place. Zen's and Robyn we're laughing about something while She was considering her reaction to House the night before and how calmly she had been able to suppress it for a while with Cameron that morning. Well almost, after the female doctor had left she had locked herself in the bathroom and had a small meltdown to herself.
As she considered this, movement caught her eye and she looked up and watched the aforementioned diagnostician enter her room across the hall and look around. As he went to look at the bathroom she quickly got up and closed Robyn's blinds.
It wouldn't buy her much time, but it was a few minutes to psyche herself up. She climbed back onto the foot of Robyn's bed and got comfy. When she realised that both her friends were staring at her. "The light was annoying me," she explained then realised this did not make them look away. She must have missed something else. "what?" She asked.
"Oh come on Arin, he sat with you for like five hours...are you telling me you didn't notice." Robyn rolled her eyes.
"Notice what?" Arin asked slightly testily,
"Doctor House," Robyn said exasperatedly as though this was the obvious topic of the last few minutes conversation. She coughed and rubbed her chest. " I mean, like, He was so nice and charming and he smiled. I mean, like, he's a proper silver fox. I mean...let's be straight he's not like a hottie hot or anything but he's got that kinda rugged older man vibe. You are honestly telling me you didn't notice?"
Arin pulled a face. "Honestly, I'm not sure the version of him you got was the same as the one I did. Besides, I think I prefer him for his mind," she said.
"Ew." Robyn stated wrinkling her nose. Her expression turned to one of horror however and she pressed her hands to her mouth. Staring at the doorway.
Arin didn't turn but closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath. Round six...ding.
House opened the door to the mermaid's room and was bombarded with her high-pitched prattle before he even had a chance to get a visual. Apparently, she considered him a silver fox, who knew? However, Kiddo's response that she prefered his mind was far more interesting. Stepping inside allowed him to see all three friends, with the one of interest sitting cross legged on the foot of the bed. He took in the baggy quicksilver t-shirt and the ripped blue jeans that had been rolled up several times. Not naked it would appear. He gave a quick glance in the direction of the boy. His clothes, House suspected on surveying how he had attired himself. An amused smile played on his lips as his brain automatically provided something witty.
"Oh look, he was a sk8er boi, she's going to say see you later boi, for she's going back to her own room."
"Afternoon House." Arin said with a slight shake of her head as though she didn't find him amusing. She didn't turn to look at him. Suddenly there was swift movement from under the covers and Arin doubled over for a second holding her stomach. "Ow!Robyn, what was that for?"
Robyn for her part glared at her friend. "You can't, like, just refer to him by his last name like that. It's disrespectful and rude," she hissed as though he wouldn't hear her. She was slightly breathless.
Zen scowled darkly at House while Arin moved slightly looking uncomfortable now. "I'll thank you not to kick me if you don't mind," she said still rubbing the offended area. She did look up at House then. "What can I help you with?"
"If you'd been paying attention, you'd have heard me say that your going back to your own room," House said before turning to look at the boy. "Kids these days, don't listen to anything you say."
Arin sighed and looked at the panicked look on Robyn's face. It was the same one she used when her grandmother found her report card. "Relax Robyn.." Arin said seriously. "He's not going to get you into trouble. He's not even your doctor."The raven haired girl nodded and looked at the boy as if for reassurance.
Arin frowned. "Breathe Robyn," she said and the girl took a wheezy breath in as if she had actually been holding her breath.
"Oh relax, Princess. How could I possibly get you in trouble?" he said in a soppy tone that he knew would melt one girl and ice over the other.
Zen looked mildly annoyed at House's response to Robyn. Arin made a gagging sound but the raven haired girl seemed to be drinking it in. She put a hand up to her chest and smiled at him. Then she started to cough and Arin stood from the bed.
Zen poured some water into a glass choosing to ignore House while Arin went to the bedside table. She moved the glass of water Zen held out to their friend and handed the girl an inhaler. "Breathing before water, Zen," she said quietly and watched as Robyn thankfully put the inhaler in her mouth and pressed it.
House stood back and watched the contrasting approaches to the mermaid's predicament playout. On one hand, the idiot villager who probably thought enlightenment meant burning more candles, and on the other, the practical witch that knew half her craft resided in the brain and the other...well that was in the brain too. If this was the haplass oaf society had lumbered her with, then no wonder she coveted his brain. It must have represented a metaphorical gold mine. Full of intellectual stimuli and more metaphor.
Turning back to House while Zen once again offered Robyn the water Arin said "you're upsetting her. She's scared you're going to get her in trouble for us being in the room and you're making her panic."
"Don't worry little mermaid, it's only Kiddo here that's in trouble," House said before pointing towards the door with his cane. "Room. Bed," he added
One hand on the back of her neck and the other over the place Robyn had kicked her Arin rolled her eyes and moving past his cane took a step towards the door. "Come on then." She told him.
Zen, satisfied Robyn was sipping water now, spoke quietly to her a second, his eyes on House then moved to follow.
"Where do you think you're going, Sk8er Boi?"
Zen scowled at him. "I'm going with her," he said defensively nodding at Arin who had now walked into the hallway and was opening the door to her own room. She disappeared inside.
"Guess again," House replied as he moved out of the room. "You're going to stay here and be Sebastian to her Ariel." He pointed his cane towards the mermaid and, because he knew an argument would be forthcoming, said, "I'm her attending and I get to dictate when she can have visitors. And since she's about to have a consult with said attending, you can either swim in the hallway or join Ariel in her little grotto."
Zen frowned at him. "You know calling her a mermaid isn't funny. She nearly drowned in that fountain." He spat at House. Robyn began to cough again causing the boy to glance at her. His expression softened and he moved back to her bedside. "Sorry...just...calm breaths ok. You and Arin and I will be out of here by this afternoon. Don't worry." He said reassuringly as he sank back into the chair. He glared at House again as if demanding that the older man hurry the hell up.
House watched him go and brought out his phone to call Cameron. That kid was not going anywhere today. "Great sea king Triton," he said the moment the dial tone cut out. "Your little mermaid is still having fantasies about walking on the surface."
Cameron sighed on the other end of the phone. "Acute inflammation, cough and wheezing?" She asked.
House smirked when he heard the response. Who knew that Cameron gained the ability to figure out his metaphors while pissed off at him. "Well done. Now you'd better make sure she stays under the sea."
"I'm on my way up. I know it's a mountain to ask of you but since you're obviously there, is there any chance you could make sure her breath sounds are equal on both sides and let me know so I can organise a nebuliser treatment?" Cameron asked.
"Nope, since you guys all chose the clinic over dealing with our patient, I just happen to have my hands full. Enjoy." House hung up the phone and limped over to enter the Kiddo's room.
Arin stood inside her room and leaned against the wall looking out the window at the people walking back and forth. Robyn's room didn't have windows and was smaller than hers. And for the first time Arin realised that the thought of spending the night there rather than here made her feel claustrophobic, as though her throat was closing. She coughed and swallowed to rid herself of the sensation.
The area above her left hip ached where Robyn's heel had made contact. She rubbed the spot guessing that the girl hadn't meant to kick her as fiercely as she had. The strict upbringing of Robyn's family meant that any time adults were involved Robyn reverted to a frightened school girl, and acted as such. No doubt she was trying to correct what she perceived as a lapse in Arin's social protocol. She could hear his cane on the floor get closer and let out a slight shudder. Shields up, go to red alert.
House entered the room and gave his own patient a wolfish grin. "So, now that we are alone..." He let it hang in the air as he closed the door behind him and drew the blinds shut. "Let's get down to the business of your test results and the matter of just how rare that little body of yours is."
Arin continued to look out of the window, effectively ignoring him. "Well, since the rare is your thing I'd hate to disappoint you." She said evenly still holding her side. Inside she suppressed a shudder. He was easier to deal with this time but still…
"First and foremost," House began, sitting back down in what was becoming his usual spot. "You have AB- blood." He stopped to see if she would react.
"Ok." She said with a quick glance at him. "I take Bio. I know what blood types mean. So?"
"Good, then you'll know you have the rarest on the 's interesting and something you should know in case you're ever in an accident or something." It was not strictly true, but he had deliberately tabled the intellectual bait.
"In the united states maybe, on the planet. Doubt it." She said looking back out of the window her position unchanged. "Besides I thought Rh-null was the rarest on the planet? Anyway I assume you have more than that since typically you don't test for blood type."
That's my clever girl, House thought. The question had not been a gimmie and showed that she must have done a certain degree of study into the field to know about Rh-null. Perhaps he'd feed her more veiled medical questions just to see how deep she had dove. "True. Only about fifty people on the planet are Rh-null. Though no known cases in the US. How are you feeling today?"
Arin sighed and scratched the back of her neck with the hand not holding her left hip. "You're stalling...why?" She asked turning away from the window to look at him, her expression questioning as her eyes roved over his face looking for an answer. Carefully she walked to the bed and sat down on the foot of it facing him in the chair. She made a slight face of discomfort as she sat.
House watched her movements and did not fail to notice the way she held her hip or the wince of pain she tried to hide when she sat. It must have been a rather forceful kick she'd received for it still to be hurting. "And you're deflecting. You didn't take the Ativan, yet you seem calmer today. Crazy intrigues me."
She glared at him and he smiled holding a hand up. "I mean it in an endearing way, you don't act the way teenage girls are supposed to act. It's interesting." She didn't bite, he sighed and added. "Well, on top of your rare blood type we can add your rarer iatrophobia."
"Let's not talk about that," she said and waved her hand in a 'next' gesture. She scratched her neck again and offhandedly rubbed her right forearm while she waited.
House tilted his head slightly. Had she been scratching her neck more than was socially acceptable? It couldn't be a nervous tick as he would have observed it the previous day. He kept his eyes fixed upon her in case she should do it again. "Of course one of my lackies thought you were faking and could put your temperature and heart rate up and down at will. Bit of a lame party trick if you ask me."
"Yeah," she scoffed, "If only." She muttered, the intensity of his gaze on her was too much, like a flood light. She blinked and looked away from him with a slightly awkward cough. "That it?" she asked the floor between them.
It seemed that either the bait had not been tasty enough this time or that she had eaten her fill. Although… he thought for a moment… could he have put her off due to the fact that he was now observing her more closely?
Arin raised her eyebrows at him expectantly and rubbed her forearm across her knee. "You know this suspense isn't helping my heart rate right?"
"Do you think you have a problem with your heart rate?"
Her breath caught, and she stiffened. She continued to look at the floor between them, "Will you hurry up and tell me what your stupid tests showed already."
"Getting a little antsy in your pantsy are we?" House asked, deliberately poking for a response.
She scowled at him then. "House," she said in a tone very reminiscent of one Dean of medicine. She rubbed the back of her neck again and then put the back of her hand on her forehead as though she were a southern belle about to swoon.
House almost burst out laughing. Had she deliberately tried to sound like Cuddy? As if that was going to work. Cuddy used that tone with him on a daily basis and it never got her any more than a witty remark at best. "Did you know that there are actually some cats that are allergic to humans?"
Arin stared at him. "And 60% of the human brain is fat. Which is why you can literally call someone being a total dick a fathead." She countered. Before he could respond she held a hand up and continued. "Here, let me use that in a sentence…'Doctor House is currently exhibiting the example of being a fathead." She looked pointedly at him. A slight flush was starting to spread across her pale features. Made more noticeable by the fact she wore a black shirt.
House tilted his head. She had actually just called him an idiot. Today was getting weirder by the hour. What would be next? Wilson pranking him? Cuddy doing something unethical that caused him to shout her name in an indignant manner? He shuddered at that last thought. Time to take a swipe at something more sensitive. "There was once, still is for that matter, a popular myth that humans only use about ten percent of their brain power. Einstein even attributed his intelligence to the fact that he was able to use more than said figure. Of course we've since proven the whole thing to be hocum. Regardless, the fact remains that some of us are just a darn sight more intelligent than the rest." He paused to examine her facial expression.
Arin sighed and rubbed her forearm with another awkward cough, then rubbed her throat wincing as though it still hurt. "You're stressing me out." She told him. "What's your point?"
"Do you want the Ativan?" he asked, she shook her head and he added, "my point is, could you imagine being one of those people who have a high intellect, but choose to dumb themselves down to the level of mermaids and crabs. I know it would drive me insane. Leave me craving the mind of another intellectual." House looked pointedly at her when he finished.
Arin watched him. Her breathing was quiet but her chest rose and fell slightly faster than was normal. If he were watching her respirations he would notice, she knew. She stared at him and swallowed, her words slow and careful. "I'm sure that a lot of people find themselves in a myriad of situations that requires them to act in a certain way." As he watched her she grew more and more awkward. Finally she sighed. "Look...if you've got something to ask why don't you just try you know...asking?" She shrugged then scratched her neck and shoulder again uncomfortably.
House watched her chest rise and fall more rapidly. She hid it well, but he knew her respiratory rate had increased. He had half a mind to pull out his stethoscope when he saw her scratch at her neck again. There was something wrong and he knew it. Abandoning his inquiry into her social camouflage, he rose from his chair and made a b-line directly towards her.
Arin blinked at him, "what?" she asked as her eyes tracked his movement around the bed.
House ignored her and stretched out a hand to push her head aside. His eyes fixed upon the spot where she had been scratching. "Hold still," he commanded.
She froze in place as he looked at her neck and then squirmed slightly under his touch. The skin he could see without the voluptuous T-shirt covering her was red and covered in scratch marks. "What?" She repeated.
"Either you got into a fight with a cat, or you've been clawing that one spot on and off for at least an hour. Now, lose the shirt."
Arin turned her head to look at him. "Uh no," she said with another obvious flush of embarrassment. Apparently the 'it's ok to get naked in front of the Doctor' message hadn't been taught to her as a child, no surprises. She rubbed her forearm again.
House rolled his eyes. He seemed to have done this more with this one kid than his last ten patients combined. "Aside from the fact you look more like a Vans girl than Quicksilver, I need to see how far that rash extends… honest."
Arin looked at him, her expression showing some part of her was almost desperately trying to convince her brain to trust him. She heaved a sigh and shucked the shirt over her head in as fluid a motion as she could. It got caught as she tried to pull her hands and head through it at the same time. "Well this is great." Her mumbled tone said from inside the folds as she sat in a soda stained white bra. "Little help."
While the sight of the girl stuck with a t-shirt half over her head amused him, it did not help him examine her. Grudgingly, House took hold of the black material and hauled it up over her head. "Now sit still," he ordered, as though his act of assistance merited complete compliance.
Arin came free of the attacking cotton poly blend coughing as though she had inhaled it. Her eyes watered slightly, she made a fist and coughed into it looking at him. She nodded.
Pushing her hair out of the way, House looked at the full extent of the rash. It started round the back of the neck, continued over her shoulder and down both arm and chest. He reached over, took a pair of gloves from the dispenser and pulled them on. Running his fingers over the spot in her neck that she'd clawed, he applied pressure. A frown formed on his face and he reached over to the tray and picked up her tumbler of water. Pouring the contents back into the jug, he motioned to press it against the rash.
Arin looked down at her chest and made a slight noise of concern seeing the skin, realising what he was doing she sat upright her spine completely poker straight. She waited in silence staring straight ahead, a frown forming on her features as she waited for him to finish his examination. Her chest and throat felt tight. " That wasn't there earlier." She said hoarsely at him.
"The funny thing about rashes is that they spread like.." he paused as he placed the glass against the rash and watched it disappear. "...well, rashes. Sorry, the facts and the metaphor are one and the same in this case. The good news is that my team was completely wrong when it comes to your diagnosis." He set down the glass and pulled out the in ear thermometer he had procured for dealing with her today.
Arin swallowed hard and looked at him. She appeared to be holding her breath, a feeling of trepidation evident in her expression.
He ignored her and stuck the device in her ear. When it beeped he removed it and checked the display; 100.6°F. "Move your head up and down then from side to side."
"House?" she asked looking at him for some form of reassurance. Her heart beat hard in her chest to the point that she could hear it in her ears as she struggled to keep the rising fear in check.
"When I'm doing the doctor thing, you're supposed to do as you're told. Now, go like this," he said and demonstrated the head movement. "You get the diagnosis and chatter bit after I'm done."
She turned back to face the front. Her throat was dry and it hurt to swallow. She did as he asked and moved her head up and down as he had and then turned it from side to side. Looking back up at him she raised her eyebrows expectantly. "I thought you weren't going to patronise me?" She asked.
"And you weren't supposed to act like an idiot," he replied, casting up the other half of their agreement. However, the increasing hoarseness of her voice had begun to give him cause for concern. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his stethoscope. In the silence he was sure he could hear a wheeze in her breathing. He could only hope she didn't go schitzo on him this time. "Take a deep breath," he said as he pressed the device to her lungs.
Arin took the breath, then paused as the air didn't come easily. She shook her head as he made eye contact with her and moved the device to another part of her chest. She did so, wheezing inwards. This was worse, it forced the air left in her lungs out but she couldn't then get a breath in to replace it. Just like yesterday. The feeling was the same but this time it was more intense.
"Lift up your chin," he told her as he listened to her breathing. Short gasps now. Internally he swore. Externally he said, "try again."
She coughed as the pressure began to form a tight band across her stomach and neck; the breath in made a whistle sound now.
"You're having an asthma attack. I need you to relax," he said letting the bell drop and pushing the ear pieces back around his neck. He moved to the door.
She could hear House calling for help at the now open door. Her heart thundered as he came back into view with an oxygen mask. He pressed it to her face as she tried to swallow, feeling as though a lump had formed in her chest. "Can't…" she barely whispered, "can't...breathe."
"Hey! Look at me…" he said sternly and locked eyes with her, " you're ok. Try to relax."
She tried and shook her head as nurses rushed in with a cart. How could she possibly relax! Was he stupid? Part of her mind screamed at him but the other part tried to do as he said, trying to make her breathing calm and not erratic.
House moved, abandoning his job of holding the mask in place. He clicked his fingers at the nurse for a syringe. "Hey, Kiddo,look at me," he said again as he reappeared at her side. He took hold of her arm and swabbed at it with something cold. "I'm giving you epinephrine," he explained, pulling the cap off of a small syringe with his teeth. She winced as the tip bit into her flesh. "It'll open your lungs and help you breathe." He pressed the syringe and then removed it once empty, handing it off to one of the nurses.
Peripherally he could see the boy and the mermaid with Cameron in the hall as the female doctor kept them from rushing in. He ignored them, and pulled the stethoscope back up into his ears. Dropping to one knee in front of her, he lifted Arin's chin and listened. "How do you feel?" he asked.
Arin shook her head slightly, wheezing still as the air came in and out like she had been held under water. She was pale, sweat covered her in a sheen and her eyes were unfocused. She felt dizzy and the sort of sick she associated with rollercoasters. She swayed slightly, the room spun and her eyes closed. She was aware of a sensation of falling, falling what seemed like a long distance until something caught her and her sense of equilibrium shifted again entirely. She felt drained and sick.
House caught the girl as she fainted and began to push her back. "Cameron," he said, seeing the young Doctor now in the room. He stood, bracing the kids body against his own. "Help me move her back."
Cameron moved forward and did so, looking quizzically at her boss as the older, greying doctor kept hold of the teenager and positioned himself so he was sitting opposite her but still able to keep her upright as she came back around. She was about to suggest that they lie her back when Arin's hand seized part of House's arm.
The girl clung to the arm of her saviour as he held her upright. He frowned and then motioned for his fellow to pass him the discarded Oxygen mask which he then brought up to her mouth and nose. She weakly, instinctively, pulled back but he pressed it to her and held it in place.
Arin could taste the air, it was a weird sensation. Her head felt fuzzy, she had a vague idea that she was in a position that she didn't want to be in, and that she should move.
House shot Cameron a warning look as if daring her to comment but continued to hold the girl. After a few seconds of this, he tilted his head, clearly listening to the girls now calming breathing, he moved the tips of his fingers down the arm she held onto and pressed them against her wrist. "Too fast…" he muttered to no one in particular and glanced at Cameron again. "Get me 0.5ccs lorazepam," he said, his voice steady and low, the sort of tone Cameron had only heard him use the one time when Wilson had developed a bad migraine. He was using the chemical name and gave a quick glance to the girl in front of him as if he were waiting on her reacting to it.
Confused again, Cameron did as he bid. The lone nurse, still in the room shot her a look but had the sense to make herself scarce now that the danger seemed to have passed.
Arin was aware of the cold sensation on her skin again, and then another pin prick like a bee sting. It briefly called for her attention but a wave of woozy calm seemed to wash over her and she gave up protesting, closing her eyes and letting the oxygen sweep in and out with each breath. She went limp and felt the thing holding her brace her slightly more and then tilt her onto her side into the cool texture of the cotton bed sheets.
"Good girl," a far away voice said but she may have imagined it.