Let the count down begin. Actually it already began, I just forgot to put it in the last chapter, sorry. By the way, 'walk on water' was hour 1, House/Cuddy conversation was hour 2 and the blood drawing was hour 3.

Disclaimer: House MD is property of David Shore and Fox TV, only the plot is mine.

Haunted

Chapter 5: The Key

Hour 4

Foreman and Chase sat in the lab running test after test on the newly acquired blood from Dr. Cameron. Thankfully the fever and rash were the only two symptoms that had presented thus far. All of the tests were coming back normal, no abnormalities at all were found. There was nothing to present to House. Foreman wasn't sure if it was a good sign or bad but Chase new it was bad. No new symptoms meant no new information and no new information means they were still at square one.

"You need to take it easy on her." Foreman remarked as he waited for the Epstien Barr results to come back.

"What?" Chase looked up from the microscope at the neurologist.

"Back there, telling her she is going to die. She doesn't need to hear that right now."

"Foreman, she injected herself with a disease because she feels guilty about a little girl's death and is seeing her. She's a doctor, she should know better then to listen to a hallucination. Cameron should have said something." He waved Foreman off dismissively and returned his attention back to what he was doing.

Hour 5

Cameron lay with her eyes closed trying to sleep but she could not find a calm center. What had she been thinking injecting herself? It was a foolish move but she had to help Lily. She hoped House could find the answer within the next forty three hours, if he didn't she would be just as dead as Lily. Sighing she opened her eyes and sat up and checked the rash on her feet, it had spreed and was now about a quarter way up her calf. It itched like crazy but Nurse Brenda had been kind enough to leave her a tube of hydrocortisone to help.

Cameron reached beside her to grab the tube off the table but what her hand landed on was warm and slimy. She drew back with a muffled scream as she looked up to see a twelve year old Lily sitting on the edge of her bed in a little white night gown. Blood and maggots oozed out of the open soars as the familiar smell or rot drifted into Cameron's nose.

"I had a bad dream." Lily said as she wiped away a tear that fell out of her eye, with it a chunk of rotted flesh exposing the bone. Cameron recoiled farther into the bed as Lily moved to sit Indian style next to her. "I dreamed that I got sick and the doctor couldn't help me and then the doctor got sick and no one could help her either." Tears started to fall out of Cameron's blue eye's as she trembled while Lily reached out a maggot infested rotted hand and stroked her hair. "Where did your hair go? It was so pretty. I wish I had hair like that." Lily then laid her head on Cameron's shoulder as she twirled her fingers through a strand of her hair, if not for the catheder she would have pissed all over herself.

"You're shaking. Are you cold?" The girl giggled as she brought the blanket around the two of them and cuddled into Cameron's side. "Don't worry, you'll forget everything else when the pain starts." Cameron felt her stomach bunch into knots as a wave of nausea washed over her, there was nothing in her stomach to through up so she painfully dry heaved as Lily patted her back comfortingly. "There, there, it'll all be over soon. You won't feel pain any more when you are like me." The girl soothed her, petting her hair as continued gag.

"Do you want me to tell you a story to help you go to sleep? Once upon a time there was a fair maiden in a far away castle. Alison was the most beautiful of all the women in the kingdom and all the men sought after her hand. Her father, the King, would only allow the most skillful knight to wed his only daughter though she was in love with the stable boy. Her father would not allow it so he locked her away in the highest tower in the castle as he held a great tournament to find the champion to marry his daughter."

Cameron began to rock back and forth as she cried, Lily's hand still smoothing her hair gently as she told the story. "One the third day of the festival Alison sat in the window of her tower watching as the contest waged on. A single tear fell from her eye as she watched her beloved Roland cross the courtyard to give a fresh stead to the gallant Sir William, the brave knight who was favored to win the tournament. As the tear fell down off of her face to the ground a fairy god mother appeared.

'Why are you crying child?' She asked as wiped away a second tear.

'Because my love and I cannot be.'

'Perhaps I could help unite you with your love.' The fairy godmother told her of a magic potion that would allow them to be together but only for two days. After two days Alison's skin would melt away and her beauty would fade, on midnight of the second day Alison would fall asleep never to wake again."

"Stop! Please stop!" Cameron cried as she buried her face in her hands crying histaricly as she tried to shake away the smell and the feel of Lily's hand on her hair. More hands came, Cameron began to scream as she fought against the hands that were forcing her down.

"Haldol!" She heard a familiar voice call in a thick Australian accent. She opened her eyes to see Chase, Foremen, and two nurses trying to calm her. Before she could speak she felt the wait of unconsciousness come upon her as the haldol took effect.

Hour 6

The team was sitting around the white board in the diagnostics lounge watching as House paced back and forth attempting different tricks on his yo-yo. His last try at around the world nearly cost his intensivist an eye. "We're missing something some where." He said to himself as he continued to pace. "But what."

"We know what it's not, so what are some other possibilities?" Foreman asked as he poured his third cup of coffee for the day.

"Could be bacterial." Wilson suggested as he crossed his arms.

"To fast, viral maybe?" Chase took the pencil out of his mouth and tossed it aside as he gave a glance at the white board.

"No. What about Erdheim-Chester?" Foreman threw out as he stepped over the yo-yo as House was 'walking the dog'

"Are her systems shutting down?" He asked his neurologist.

"No."

"Then it's not Erdheim-Chester. It's time to put your thinking cap on and come up with something useful." A key, there had to be a key somewhere, but what was it.

"What about the rash?" Chase asked after a moment of thought.

"What about it?"

"It starts with a rash that ascends then the rash becomes..."

"Legions." House stopped with the yo-yo and went off into his own little world. The rash, that was the key.

"The disease seems to progress with the rash as it goes from legions to necrotization." Chase continued as he stood and walked to the white board. "The symptoms get worse as it spreads and once the necrotization kicks in its only a matter of hours before death."

"So, maybe if we stop the rash we stop the progression of the disease." House looked slightly relieved as he picked up Lily's file from the table. They had treated the rash but i was resistant to all treatments, so how could they stop it? Then it clicked. "Amputation."

"What?" The other three doctor's said in unison.

"We did every treatment known to man to fix the rash on Lily, nothing stopped it. If we amputate her legs the rash won't be able to spread any farther. Then maybe we can stop this disease from killing her."

"She'll never consent to that." Wilson stated matter of factly as he put his hands on his hips.

"She won't have to." The eerie smile on House's lips suggested that he knew something that the rest of the team didn't.

Tbc.