I keep second guessing myself when it comes to this story... I don't know why, but I get so nervous when I write the main draft, I get even more nervous when I type the draft, and I can finally relax when I post the chapter... Then I get worried about the reviews! I don't know, I guess I am a naturally nervous person... Well, please read and enjoy and review!

Fire

There was a natural panic as an alarm was set off, alerting all who were in the building that there had been an accident; there was a fire in one of the hospital record rooms. Emergency vehicles screeched to a halt outside the building, rescue workers running down to where the explosion had taken place. It was an isolated part of the building and there had been so structural collapse, just a combustion that had brought in part of a dividing wall and a bit of ceiling. There was no danger to those in the building who had not been near the room when the accident had happened. Soon, after the threat was over to others in the hospital, rumors started to fly, rumors that there were two people injured, one of them in serious condition. Once it was found out what her name was, someone had the state of mind to find Dr. House.

House had stood up when he heard the explosion and felt a slight rumble several floors beneath him. He had been torn between going to see what he could do and to find out what exactly had happened, or to stay in his office and let someone get him. Did he care, really? If there was any danger, the alarms would not have gone off already, a calm voice over the intercom asking patients to return to their rooms and for doctors to come to the accident site for any assistance they could give the workers.

The glass panes had rattled, but had not broken.

He had been halfway out of his office, standing in the doorway, when a young man ran up to House, face flushed with the effort of running to his office from across the building. It was the young intern House had assaulted and the man shook in House's presence, glancing nervously at the cane House held. The words tumbled out of his mouth, none of them clear enough for House to understand except one thing. She had been there...

A thousand thoughts flashed through his brain as he followed the intern to the crowd of doctors and nurses who were not hustling patients back to their rooms. She had been there, in the record rooms, when the explosion occurred. Some janitor, obviously, new and unable to read the no smoking signs, had lit up and accidentally dropped the match into the bucket of chemicals he had. House could ring the janitor's neck. He could hear his bellows of pain all the way from where he was in the hallway. Getting closer, the doctor could see the janitor being taken from the rubble, babbling about what he had done, being placed on a stretcher. It was apparent that his leg was broken and he was suffering from minor scrapes and bruises, but there was nothing wrong with his voice.

As the doctors rushed him to a different part of the hospital, House pushed his way to the front of the crowd. He was still in there, the workers digging her out from under the piles of burnt paper and bits of plaster and glass. Everything was wet with water from stopping the blaze that had threatened to consume everything it could touch. There was no fire now other than the fir in House's eyes, the cold, intense fire that he and he alone could muster.

He saw them throw aside a large chunk of plaster and push away charred paper to reveal a hand. It was a hand smudged with soot and burned from flame and chemicals, but a hand nonetheless. They unearthed her, not fast enough for House, and placed her on a stretcher, also, a doctor taking her pulse. Her announced to the small group of helpless and horrified nurses and doctors that she was alive, but her pulse was weak.

House looked carefully at her as they prepared to cart her away to another part of the hospital, to intensive care, probably, where House could not see her. Her beautiful hair was now tangled and covered in dirt. Her clothes were tattered and filthy, her lab jacket hanging in strands, the hem burnt away. He could barely see the fabric of her shirt rise and fall with her breathing.

As she was rushed away, people started looking at House. His usual indifferent face was now full of horror and anger. Doctors rushed away, going to their patients, nurses pushing away those who still remained at the edge of the rubble, watching the workers dig through materials. One nurse approached House, but stepped back as she saw his expression. It was frightening. Seeing the doctor angry or sarcastic was uncomfortable, but not unusual. The medical legend was in shock. It was obvious that he did not know what to do. The sight was heart wrenching.

Noticing he was being looked at, House snapped out of his stupor and, ignoring the startled nurse, limped down the hallway where they had taken her, leaving rescue workers cleaning the remains of the ruined record room.

The next chapter might be the end, I am not sure, yet... I wanted to do one or two more, but I figure that I should wrap this one up and start explaining things! Thanks so much for reading and I look forward to reviews! Thanks!