One ring, two, three: Robert Chase flopped over onto his back and groped around in the darkness for his cell. Finding it amongst his miscellaneous work items, he flipped it open. "Yeah, this is Chase," he said. The voice that met him on the other end was panicked.
"Chase, it's Foreman. Rachel from the ER just called me. Cameron is there," he said, his words assaulting Chase's still groggy brain. He reeled momentarily before Foreman started to talk again. "I'm on my way there," he said, hanging up the phone. Chase sat, horribly stunned, for another second, before launching out of bed to get dressed.
HCHCHCHCHC
One ring, two, three, four, five, answering machine: House buried his head under his pillow, attempting to block out the voice across the room. It took only a second to realize that the voice wasn't a prank call. "House, answer your phone, dammit. HOUSE!" Wilson's voice screamed at him from his answering machine. Rolling over, House picked up the wireless receiver next to his bed.
"What in God's name do you want? It's almost two in-" he said, before being cut off.
"Allison Cameron is in the ER. She's been shot. You need to come in," Wilson said, his voice cluing House in to the severity of the situation.
"I'll be there in ten minutes," House said, hanging up the phone. House groaned, before rolling out of bed to dress.
HCHCHCHCHC
One ring. Cuddy picked up her phone in a dazed stupor. "Cuddy," she said sleepily, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.
"Cameron was shot. I'm going in right now." House said quickly, before hanging up the phone without another word. Cuddy sat up, and dangled her legs over the edge of her bed, before leaving the warmth of her sheets for good.
HCHCHCHCHC
Hobbling hurriedly into the ER, House saw Chase and Foreman immediately. Standing on either flank of Rachel, they were both pestering her for information. Spotting House, Chase hurried over.
"House, they won't tell us anything," he said, his voice annoyed. House hardly acknowledged Chase as he continued walking, past triage, past check-in, and past curtains 1-9.
"Doctor House, where are you going?" Rachel called, not expecting nor receiving any response. Chase and Foreman watched House's retreating form, before returning to their badgering.
House turned the corner to Trauma 1 just as they wheeled Cameron out. Stopping to allow them to pass, House grabbed Dr. Okinama's arm. Okinama turned and looked at House, his features melting quickly into pity.
"It's not good, Greg," he said, before jogging to catch up with his team. Standing in the hallway, alone, House felt a wave of nausea roll through his body. The bile rising in his throat was hardly suppressed as Li's words echoed in his ears: "It's not good, Greg." Breathing deeply, House turned to go talk to Chase and Foreman. It was going to be a hard night.