CHAPTER TWENTY
Around 9:00 the next morning, Wilson was packing up his bag after he'd taken his shower. House was quietly snoring on his bed, his left foot hanging over touching the floor and his right sprawled out on the bed. He was holding a pillow in his arms on top of him, like it were a giant teddy bear.
House was jolted awake by Wilson ramming his knee into the mattress making it shake hard enough to wake him up.
"I don't wanna go to school." He whined as he rolled over and clutched the pillow tighter.
"Come on. A.J's gonna be here in an hour to take us back. Get your butt moving!"
"I've got the bike, remember?" House mumbled.
Wilson had indeed forgotten House rode his bike and felt defeated, but this time, only this time. "Fine. But check out is noon." He said as he walked out of the room.
House lay in bed a moment, listening to the silence that he enjoyed so much. He thought about doing some more gambling, but after the almost $20,000 he'd won the night before he didn't want to lose it all. Well, if he did, at least he would have gotten the rush from the unknown, which he thrived on.
He told himself just five more minutes then he'd get up and leave. He'd give the gang a head start and then catch up with them. He was sure he would. There was no doubt in his mind.
Wilson met up with Cuddy in the lobby, where the others joined them a few minutes later.
"You're not going to believe this! Rog got Isabella's phone number!" Foreman teased.
"Oh, it's really no big deal." Rog said.
"Guess you can tell House 'you the man' now." Chase teased. "He's gonna be so mad. Where is he, by the way? Getting some last horse racing bets in?"
"I left him sleeping." Wilson told them. "I feel sorry for his mom having to get him out of bed when he was a kid."
A.J. met them in the lobby and they headed out for the van and piled in. Chase and Cameron sat in the back so she could lay her head on Chase's lap; Rog and Foreman sat in front of them; Wilson sat in front of them and Cuddy sat next to her brother. As they drove West on Rte. 40, everyone filled A.J. in on the little adventures they'd had the past few days and everyone had some more laughs.
Except Cameron wasn't laughing because she was worried about what lay ahead of her involving her treatment for her anorexia. But she knew she had Chase with her and he'd help her. He never failed to before. Even her mom told her Chase was a good catch and not to let 'that one' go.
Shortly after the gang left the Taj Mahal, House put on his helmet, secured his overnight bag on the back of the
bike and headed home. He was grateful for the two hours he had on his bike before things settled down again at PPTH.
As Cameron lay in the back next to Chase she had just dozed off in her thoughts when suddenly she felt a hard impact on the left side of the van. She was thrown to the right side head over heels over Chase because she wasn't wearing her seat belt; she couldn't in the position she was laying. Her head hit the side and she could still feel her body being jerked about.
There were sounds of breaking glass, metal grinding against metal and moans and groans from those sitting in front of her then everything grew black…
House was beginning to get excited about seeing little Charnie again. He was looking forward to her 1st birthday, although he didn't want a big gathering, he knew he'd have to invite Wilson, Sarah and Charlie. Maybe he'd have it at their place because he didn't want his apartment to be messed up…
Just then his attention was drawn on a large van in the middle of an intersection with a yellow Hummer melded into the side of the van. He heard sirens from a distance so he didn't bother to stop. There was smoke coming from the engine of the Hummer and the driver wasn't moving. Metal shards and strips of vehicle were scattered across the road as people pulled over and got out of their vehicles to see what they could do to help.
As he drove by the van he looked at the driver's side. The man was slumped over the steering wheel, blood pouring from his ear and long black curly hair resting on right shoulder. But it couldn't have been the man's because he could clearly see he had short, dark brown hair.
As he rode in front of the van he saw several other bodies in the back, not moving. And he looked at the passenger more closely as he slowed down…it was Cuddy, her head on her brother's shoulder…and she looked…bad. As he stopped completely and got off the bike he raced to the van, the passenger side where Cuddy was slumped in the front seat. He reached for the door handle but it was too hot to the touch and he cursed out loud.
He looked in the back seat and Wilson was belted in with his chin slumped to his chest. He also was not moving.
"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" He screamed but no one came toward him.
He took a few steps to the back of the van and saw Rog and Foreman, whose body was twisted and mingled with metal. From where he stood he couldn't tell where his body started and where it ended with the metal. Then he saw Cameron, who had her eyes open and looked at him. She was lying on the floor, her arms and legs in very unnatural positions.
"Cameron! They're coming! Just hang on!" He screamed to her. She smiled at him then her eyes closed.
"MAN! Get away from there! It's gonna blow!" He heard someone holler at him but he wouldn't leave. There was no way he was going to leave them in there.
The sirens of the rescue vehicles grew louder as House tried harder to get in the van to get Cameron out. Suddenly he smelled gasoline but he didn't think twice about it. He tried pulling at the door handle harder and harder but it was no use.
"WILSON!"
"CUDDY!"
"CAMERON!"
"CHRIST, NOOOOOOOOOO!" House cried out, pounding on the glass and fighting back tears he felt come to his eyes.
"CAMERON! HOLD ON. THEY'RE HERE!"
"Greeggggg…" He heard from a distant, almost ghostly.
He felt a tug pull at his shoulder and forced him back away from the vehicle but he tried fighting them. Then he felt someone else pull at his left shoulder…
"NO! I WILL NOT LEAVE THEM IN THERE!"
"Greegggg…" The soft, eery voice was heard again.
Just then House saw a puddle of something shiny, and flames were now coming out of the Hummer, right in the middle of the van.
"The gas tank is leaking and it's gonna explode…now GET BACK!"
"NO! NOOOOOO!"
Flashes of the times he'd had with Wilson ran through his brain; pictures of Cameron when she dressed up for the Casino Night Charity Night; Chase and his father; Foreman when he almost died…Cuddy, Rog…he couldn't live without them. He hated living and working with them but he didn't know what he'd do without them.
"I'm sorry…so sorry…" House whimpered as he gave into the pulls from the two firemen who held him back and stood watching the flames get higher and spread to the puddle at the back of the van.
There was a little fizzle then a huge POP and the back of the van lifted about three feet off the road and…
He felt his brain being taken away from that horrible scene and suddenly felt the warm, naked body that lay next to him. The whole dream was so real, so vivid, that he wasn't even sure who it was that lay next to him.
"Wilson…Cameron…was still alive in the van and…" House started to mumble as he became more awake and aware of his surrounding.
"Gregggg! Wake up!" The voice said again.
His eyes flew open as he looked at the woman next to him and dropped his head back down on the pillow, closing his eyes trying to forget the nightmare.
"Oh, that was a bad one." He said as he wiped the sweat away from his forehead.
"Honey, I think you should change your pain medication." She said, rubbing her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
"No, no. I'm just stressed from work. It's fine."
"No, it's not, Greg. If you don't do something about that I will."
"Oh, and what are you going to do, leave me?"
The woman sat up in bed, looked at him seriously and said, "I think it's time, Greg." She crawled out of bed and went to the bathroom, not closing the door behind her.
He felt bad what he was putting her through but he didn't want her to leave. He got up and walked to the bathroom door, leaning against the frame.
"I don't want you to go." He simply said.
She washed her hands, turned and looked at him, saying, "I'll leave this weekend." Then walked past him, grabbed a blanket and walked out into the living room. She wrapped the blanket around her and flopped down on the couch.
"Cameron, please, please don't do this……"
THE END
Hear No Evil was a continuation from another story. That story is entitled Epilogue to Hear No Evil, which will be posted soon.
The continuation of this story, Hear No Evil, will be continued and is entitled Speak No Evil.
Please let me know if I've confused anyone else. Sorry about that, folks.
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