"To Have and Have Not"
Chapter Seven – "Having No Easy Answers"
By: purpleu
The hum and beeps of medical equipment were the only sounds in the dimly lit hospital room. The lighting matched House's mood… dark and melancholy. As much as he wanted to wish this was a dream… more like a nightmare… he knew it wasn't and there were some things he had to force himself to do. House grabbed a hold of the walker set in front of his chair, and tried to stand; the sharp pains in his back and legs wouldn't let him at first. He was sure that he would be able to have far less difficulty if only he had his cane, but it flew out of Ben's hands as the boy struck the ground at the accident scene and was now broken in two pieces. Wilson insisted he use the walker rather than another cane especially after Thirteen examined him in the ER. They said House would feel more secure with it, but all it did was make him feel more vulnerable and pathetic. He was banged up and bruised, with scrapes on the heels of his hands and knees, but no bones were broken; just his heart was. He looked across the room, and knew he had to make another attempt to stand. Two more tries later, and House was tentatively making his way over to two Geri-chairs set up side by side, and fully extended into a flattened position. He stood next to one of the reclined seats, and looked down; House reached out and brushed Ben's cheek with the back of his hand as the child lay sleeping. The boy squirmed and barely opened his eyes.
"Is Mom awake?" he asked in a sleepy voice.
"No… I'm just checking on you. A person with a head injury has to be monitored carefully in the first twenty-four hours. Had to make sure you were just sleeping and not unconscious," replied House, frowning as his fingers touched the bandage the boy had on his forehead. Ben gave a barely noticeable nod.
"I'll have to remember that when I'm a doctor," he mumbled. House looked down and away.
"I have no doubt you'll remember that and more when your turn comes," House noted.
"How's Elise?" House shuffled his feet and moved closer to the chair that held the little girl. Using the same gesture he used on her brother, he watched as Elise wriggled around, and tried to bat his hand away.
"Curly Top's OK," House reported. "She not awake, but she's responding to a stimuli." Ben looked over at his sister and smiled.
"She likes it when you call her Curly Top," the boy said. House dropped his head down, and managed a slight smile.
"Yeah, I know she does… just like you like being called Doogie." The child winced in pain as he moved onto his left side; the right side of his body had taken the impact of the fall from his mother's push out of danger.
"House… Mom's going to be OK… isn't she? I mean… please tell me the truth… she's not going to die… is she?" Ben's words were like yet another sucker punch to House's gut. The first blow was the realization of everyone's injuries at the accident scene…..
"Fraulein! Fraulein, can you hear me?" House heard Lydia moan in response, then scream as she tried to roll off of his leg and body. Despite the intense pain he felt, House quickly scooted forward and placed his hand under her head to prevent her from banging it onto the ground as she rolled over. It was then he saw that her hat was gone… and blood was coming from a wound in the back of her head. "Wilson!"
"Kids seem OK… scrapes and cuts… Ben scraped his forehead off the trailer hitch on the back of that car. It could have been a lot worse… " Wilson stopped as he saw the blood that was on House's hand. "Yours?" House shook his head and looked at his girlfriend who was now crying out in constant pain.
"Fraulein, I don't want you to move your head until the ambulance gets here; we need to get you on a backboard and put a C-collar on you." House heard the wail of sirens in the distance.
"Hi… my name's Mike, I'm an EMT," a man in his forties said as he knelt down by House, Lydia and Wilson. "Let me take a look at her."
"We're both doctors from PPTH," Wilson quickly said. "We've got her… can you double check the children?"
"Don't bother with guy in the car," another man said joining the group. "He's gone. I think he was dead before he even entered the intersection."
"I didn't even think there was a driver in the car," Mike noted as he stood up.
"Right now I couldn't care less about that bastard in the car," House said angrily. "Just check the boy and girl." Hearing House's voice, Lydia tried to open her eyes.
"Where… where are… the children? Where are Ben and Elise?" she managed to get out.
"They're sitting against the curb with Thomas," Annie said as she crouched down next to her husband. "There are two EMTs examining them, and James has checked on them. I think they're just sore from falling and from scraping their hands." She knew Ben had hit his head, but didn't want to worry her friend unnecessarily.
"They should have… been wearing their gloves," Lydia said weakly. She tried to move, but it only resulted in agonizing pain. "AAHHH! OH GOD! GREG, HELP ME!" Annie looked horrified to hear her friend in such pain.
"Greg… James … please help her!" she said as she tried not to cry. House felt a flash of helplessness, of inadequacy to handle the situation. He hadn't experienced that feeling since he hallucinated about trying to save Hannah in the ambulance after the building collapse. Quickly shrugging the feeling off, he shifted his position while still supporting Lydia's head, and began to assess her condition.
"Where's the pain coming from?"
"Down here," she said pointing to her lower abdomen and groin. House's heart stood still when Lydia identified the source. He looked up at Wilson, who was trying not to show any emotion in either his face or voice.
"A pelvic fracture?" he offered, not daring to say the other possibility to his friend. House nodded and looked around. He noticed Lydia was starting to shiver and wanted to get her covered.
"Take your coat off, fold it so it's relatively flat, and get it under her head," House ordered. Wilson quickly complied; once House's hands were freed, he removed his own jacket and placed it on top of his girlfriend. He pulled out his cell phone, and using the light on it, he checked the pupils of her eyes; they appeared slightly dilated. It was hard to tell for sure on the darkened street; the street lights and flashing red lights of the arriving emergency vehicles were insufficient. Lydia's breathing was labored, and her pulse was slow. Moving aside his jacket, he began to gently probe the pelvic area.
"No… no, don't do that!" Lydia pleaded as House examined the right side of her groin. She still whimpered, but had a far more subdued reaction to being touched on the left side. He removed his belt, and started to place it around her to stabilize the area.
"Mike, you get called out for this one?" a voice said.
"No, I was just heading to my car when the accident happened." House looked up and saw that the person who addressed Mike was their friend Slick, also an EMT. Mike had moved aside and Slick had his first look at the scene; his jaw dropped when he saw who the victims were.
"Crap! What the hell?"
"Possible pelvic fracture and a wound on the back of her head," Wilson said nodding toward House's bloodied hands. He looked up at Slick. "She's also pregnant." As if the shock of seeing his friends involved in the accident wasn't enough, the news of Lydia's pregnancy floored him.
"Need a backboard and a C-collar!" Slick yelled to the other two EMTs in his truck. "How far along is she?" he asked as he knelt down with his medical kit.
"Ten weeks," House answered without looking up. He was trying to concentrate on not showing the amount of pain he was in. "Pupils appeared to be slightly dilated, labored breathing, pulse was 60 right before you got here." Slick took out his stethoscope and began to take Lydia's blood pressure.
"She's 154/96. Need an O2 tank here!" Slick called out over his shoulder.
"We were going… to tell you… at Thomas' party," Lydia said. "Slick… please check on Greg; I can hear in his voice… he's in pain." Damn… even when she's barely conscious, I can't hide anything from her, House thought.
"I'm fine; just hit the ground hard when you pushed me. You know you could get a contract with the Jets or the Giants as a defensive tackle with that kind of power." Lydia weakly smiled.
"Lügner!" she replied. "Dir geht es alles Andere als 'gut'!"
"I've always been a liar and I've never been fine," House said trying to keep things light. He watched as Slick placed the oxygen mask over his girlfriend's face and started the air flow.
"Greg… the children are asking for you or their mother," Reverend Bell said as he approached the scene. Two co-workers of Slick's were now standing with the group, too.
"We've got the big rig with us," one of them said. "We can put the whole family in together." House dropped his head down when he heard the EMT use the word, "family." After a moment, he looked at Annie.
"Go tell the rug rats that I'll talk to them in a minute. I need to try to stand up." House felt all eyes on him as he shifted his position and grimaced in pain.
"Alright," Annie said. She was torn between staying near her friend, and going to the children, but she knew Lydia was in good hands. She stood and went back to the curb where an EMT was tending to the kids.
"Guys, I'm going to stay with these two," Slick said indicating House and Lydia. ""Go get backboards and stretchers for the kids. Let's get them loaded in and then we'll bring the adults in."
"Didn't know we needed two backboards," another medic said as he laid one set of equipment on the ground.
"You don't… just get me my cane," House said trying to push himself up from the ground and failing miserably.
"Distract her for a minute," Slick whispered to a co-worker, indicating Lydia. He came around and knelt by House's right side. "Look, I'll make a deal with you," he said to House. "Let me get you hooked up on a stretcher, and I'll tell Lydia it's department policy." House shook his head.
"I don't want to scare her any more than she already is. Just give me my damn cane!" he said with quiet intensity.
"I'm afraid it won't work very well," Bell said. He had gone over to the curb, reached under one of the parked cars, and pulled out the broken pieces of House's piano cane.
"House, if I have to worry about keeping you off the ground, I won't be able to take care of her and the kids properly," Slick said.
"Don't be a stubborn ass," Wilson said bending down on House's left. "For once, do it someone else's way." House reluctantly nodded.
"First stand me up and help me get over to the kids… then I'll agree to the damn stretcher. But don't do it until you're ready to put Fraulein on the backboard." He swallowed hard as he looked over at her. "At least she'll be in too much pain to pay attention to me."
"OK, but before we try this, do you think you broke anything? Did you hit your head?" Slick asked.
"No to both questions," House answered. "But I went down hard on my bad leg. It's going to take two of you to get me up." Slick, Wilson and Thomas exchanged looks; they knew he must be hurting if he had agreed to a stretcher, but requesting two people to get him on his feet was an even worse sign.
"Jo-Jo!" Slick called to a fellow EMT. "Give me a hand." He looked over and saw the C-collar was around Lydia's neck. "Stevie… when you're ready to put her on the board, let me know; she doesn't need to be aware of what's happening here."
"Don't think it'll be much of a problem… she's drifting in and out of consciousness." At hearing Stevie's words, House rolled to his left, and forced himself onto his knees; the action was so painful, he thought he was going to throw up. Instead of verbalizing how he felt, House held it in and moved over closer to Lydia.
"Fraulein," he said, gasping for breath from the pain. "Come on, hang in there… we'll get you to the hospital soon."
"Sir, I need you to move back so we can get her on the board," Stevie said. House looked up at Slick.
"Let's do this," he said. With Slick on his right and Jo-Jo on his left, in a matter of a few moments, House was standing; the pain so blinded him, he wasn't even sure exactly how he got that way. "Get me back to the kids," he directed after he caught his breath. Wilson and Bell followed behind the three men.
"Here comes House now," Annie said as she saw the group approach. She was kneeling on the ground between her niece and nephew who had both been placed on backboards. The stretchers for the kids were waiting on the sidewalk behind them.
"House… is Mommy OK?" Elise was sniffling like crazy. "I wanna go talk to her." The child broke down crying in great sobs. Annie stroked the child's forehead, but it did nothing to quiet her down. House had no patience for the outburst, but he manage to calm his attitude when he looked at Ben.
"Look… you want to help?" House asked. "Stop crying. Your mother sees you turning on the waterworks, and she's going to get really upset. She's kinda fond of you two, you know." Both children managed a smile as they picked up on House's effort not to seem too concerned. "Remember seeing the big ambulance at the street fair last fall?" House asked Ben. "They sent that out to pick us up, so we're all going to the hospital together."
"Really? That's the one that can hold six stretchers and had a mini-operating room," the boy said sounding impressed. "But… why do we need the OR?" he asked, fear creeping into his voice. House rolled his eyes.
"We don't need the chop shop… just the extra leg room," House said getting a little testy. He took a breath and continued. "I have to get onto a stretcher so I can join you on the ride. Slick and your uncle will be with us, too."
"House… is the baby OK?" Ben asked. House looked at the child, but then had to turn his head away.
"I don't know yet," he answered honestly.
"Are you OK, House?" Elise asked. House managed to smile slightly; even the midst of all that was going on, the child was worried about him, too.
"Hunky-Dory," he replied.
"Babe… are you up to driving the car back over to the hospital?" Wilson asked his wife.
"Yes… yes, no problem," she said meekly. She looked into Wilson's face, trying to get some sort of clue as to how Lydia was doing, but he kept his poker face on even with her. House went to ask Bell if he could handle driving the van, but didn't see the reverend. Finally, he saw that Lydia had been lifted up on to a stretcher, and Bell was standing beside it, with his hand on Lydia's forehead.
"Come on, House," Slick said gesturing back over to Lydia. "Time to put you on a stretcher." House nodded, and this time was able to move by holding onto Slick only. When they were close enough, House grabbed a hold of the railing on the stretcher that held Lydia while Slick and Jo-Jo readied his. He got there just in time to hear Rev. Bell say, "Amen." House twisted his face into a smirk.
"Really?" he said in a mocking tone. "Like that's going to help?" Thomas removed his hand from Lydia's forehead and looked at his son.
"I don't know whether it will or not; but at this point, I will accept help from any and all sources," Bell said. "Under the circumstances, I'd think you'd want that, too." House didn't respond; he took his keys out of his pants pocket and handed them to Bell.
"Can you take care of bringing the van over to the hospital?" Thomas nodded.
"Greg… I know you're hurt… but how badly… really." House looked at his father.
"Better than when the building fell on me… but I guess that's not saying much." Rev. Bell reached out and touched House on his arm.
"Hang in there, son. I'll see you in the ER" Thomas then left to make his way through the maze of emergency equipment and police cars to get to the van. House looked behind him, and saw that his stretcher was ready for him.
"Need help, sir?" Jo-Jo asked, extending his hand. House shook his head and waved the offered hand away. He gingerly sat down.
"House, I told the police where we're taking you guys," Slick said coming over with a uniformed officer. "Right now, they're trying to figure out what the deal was with the driver of the car."
"Dr. House, did you see the vehicle at all before you were struck?" the officer whose name tag said "Dillon" asked. House shook his head.
"The car didn't hit me or the kids; we were knocked down when my girlfriend body slammed us out of the way. If she didn't do that, all four of us would have sailed through the air." Officer Dillon looked down at his notes.
"And I understand that… there's a baby involved; Ms. Strohman is pregnant?" House watched as Lydia was taken over to the ambulance, and placed inside along with Ben and Elise.
"Yeah… at least I'm hoping she still is."
"We've got to move him out," Slick said stepping in. "Got to get the lady to the hospital ASAP." The officer nodded.
"Just one more question… were you all in the crosswalk?" House looked annoyed.
"Yeah… and some jackass was illegally parked in the crosswalk at the curb. That's what the boy hit his face off of." Dillon shook his head.
"Already have an officer writing him a ticket for that. Take care… we'll contact you if we need any more info."
"Lay down, House, so I can buckle you in," Slick directed as the policeman walked away. With a great deal of effort, House swung his feet up and laid his head back on the pillow. He looked to his left, and saw Wilson was standing there.
"Thought you were in the ambulance," House said.
"I was. I re-assured the children… Lydia's not conscious at the moment, so I came back to check on you."
"We're ready to take him over," Slick said to his partner. He and Jo-Jo rolled the stretcher toward the massive rescue unit; once they got there, he used the lift platform to raise House into the truck. Ben and Elise were to the front of the patient transport area, Lydia had been placed on the same side as Ben's stretcher; Slick moved House opposite Lydia. "I figured you would want to be able to keep an eye on her," he said, locking the wheels into place.
"Thanks, Slick," Wilson said as he sat down on the bench seat near House. Their friend nodded.
"I'm going to check on the kids," he said. Pausing for just a moment to tell the driver they were ready to pull out, Slick now stood between Ben and Elise.
"Hi, Uncle John," Elise said calling him by his real name. "I'm scared."
"I know, honey. Just take it easy and let us take care of you and Doogie… everything will be OK."
"Doogie?" Jo-Jo asked. "You mean like Doogie Howser?"
"Yep," Slick said. "Gotta keep an eye on this one… in another few years, he's going to be taking our jobs away from us and more. He wants to be a doctor."
"Oh… so you're going to take after your dad," said Jo-Jo. House and Wilson both turned their heads at the comment; House and the child made eye contact. It took only a moment for Ben to respond.
"Yes, I am," Ben replied with a smile. Wilson looked back at House to see his friend's reaction to the statement, but he had merely turned his head away, and looked over at Lydia. Stevie, the other EMT had hooked Lydia up to machines that would monitor her vitals as they made the trip to the hospital. House took note of the numbers and saw they were getting worse.
"Dr. House, she's trying to say something, but I think it's in a different language," Stevie said. House tried to lean over to better hear her, but with the oxygen mask on Lydia, it made it difficult. Frustrated and angry, House rapidly undid the restraints that were holding him on the stretcher, sat up, then lurched forward toward his girlfriend.
"House, get back on the stretcher," Wilson ordered.
"Dr. House… please sit down," Stevie said from the head of Lydia's stretcher.
"Sure… right here is… pretty good," House said and plopped down on the bench seat near his girlfriend. Panting from his effort, he reached over and removed the mask from Lydia for a moment so he could better hear her. Wilson had come over, and sat next to House.
"Vater unser… im Himmel… geheiligt werde… dein Name…" House looked upset to Wilson as he replaced the mask on Lydia's face.
"What is she saying?" asked Wilson. House stared off straight in front of him, refusing to make eye contact. "House… what… "
"The Lord's Prayer," House said softly.
"I… I didn't think you knew any prayers," replied Wilson. House scoffed.
"My mother took me to church when I was a kid; it's probably what made me turn out the way I did. Besides… I've heard Fraulein say the prayer once before." House turned to his friend. "Back when you got shot and we weren't sure if you were going to make it." As if his words weren't enough, when House turned to face him, Wilson became scared; he saw something that he never expected nor ever saw before from his friend.
House had tears trickling down his face…
"House… you didn't answer me. Please tell me Mom isn't going to die." House had gotten lost in thought recalling the accident, and had failed to respond to Ben's question. He glanced over at the numbers on the monitors that were reporting Lydia's status, then turned to the child.
"We won't know anything for sure for at least twenty-four hours. Between her head injury, the fact that she lost a lot of blood from the pelvic fracture and Chase having to operate to stop the bleeding… it leaves us walking on eggshells for a while."
"And the baby?" House closed his eyes.
"Same thing; we're playing a waiting game," he said finally looking at the child. "Enough talk… lay back down and get some sleep."
"You promise you'll tell us when Mom's awake?" House managed a slight smile.
"I promise," he told the boy. Ben laid down and House pulled the covers back up on him. He paused for a moment, looking back and forth between both children. He hated to lie to the boy, but he felt it was the best thing for now; Lydia had been placed in a medically induced coma, and wasn't waking up any time soon. House had been afraid that if he told the children that fact, that they would become even more fearful, and he wanted then to rest and stay as calm as possible. He concluded, however, that come the morning he would have to talk to them about the situation; for the moment, sleep was the best thing for them. House let out a deep sigh. If there was anything that could be gleaned from tonight's events, it was this… that he loved and cared about Ben and Elise even more than he thought he did. And that went for their mother as well. He could admit to being deeply in love with Lydia before this, but after what happened tonight, his feelings exponentially exploded. And it scared the hell out of him.
Needing to get off his feet, House slowly made his way back across the room to his Geri-chair by Lydia's bedside. Grimacing and groaning as he sat down, House slowly regained his composure, and reached out for his girlfriend's hand through the bed rails; it felt overly warm to House. Looking at the clock, he saw that the aides would be coming by in a few minutes to take vitals; he could see then where she stood. House was glad to sense warmth radiating from Lydia's body. With all of her injuries that were revealed after they got to the ER, House wasn't sure if she'd ever feel that way to him again…
"Damn! All four of them hurt?" Chase asked as he, Thirteen, Taub, and Foreman made their way down the hall to the ER.
"Yeah. According to the text Wilson sent, House and the kids didn't see the car coming, but Lydia was walking several feet behind them and did," Foreman said, looking at his phone. "She ran forward and pushed them out of the way, but got hit herself. Wilson said he spoke to one of the EMTs who told him that luckily the car was moving, but not speeding and it veered off to the left slightly before hitting Lydia. It didn't hit her full on, but you could see the impact mark of where her head hit the windshield on the passenger side." The four of them exchanged glances as they turned a corner.
"It doesn't matter how slowly it was going, Lydia was still hit with a 2 ton car," Chase said grimly. "What are everyone's injuries?"
"Let me see… the kids have bruises and scrapes, with Ben scraping his head of the back of a car, House is banged up and bruised... " Foreman stopped walking, and looked at the team, who also stopped. "House needed two people to get him on his feet, and he went down hard on his bad leg. Wilson said he's never seen him in such pain."
"What about Lydia?" Taub asked as they continued toward the ER.
"Blood coming from a wound on the back of her head, possible pelvic fracture… and she's ten weeks pregnant." Again the team stopped and turned to Foreman in shock. "Wilson says they were going to tell everyone at Thomas' birthday party on Saturday." Foreman shoved his phone back into his pocket, and all of them had the same instinct; they took off and ran. Bursting through the ER doors, they saw they got there before the ambulance did.
"Where the hell are they?" Chase asked.
"The accident happened about fifteen, twenty minutes away from here," Foreman said. "Given that there's still rush hour traffic… "
"I'm just glad I decided to stay here and work on some things," Thirteen said.
"Yeah, and that Taub and I went to a bar near here to grab a beer," Chase noted. Foreman eyed the two up.
"And that bar was probably located in a strip club. How much have you two had to drink?"
"Don't worry, we didn't even get to finish our first beer," reassured Taub. Foreman looked to his right and saw a PA approaching them.
"Dr. Foreman, got a call from the crew of the 'Big Billy' rig. We've got… "
"I know exactly what we've got coming in. Dr. Wilson sent me a text." Foreman then related the events of the accident as Wilson had sent them to him. A group of nurses, PA's and doctors began to gather around as Foreman spoke. The ER was rather slow, so some staff members were free to listen. "The children are banged up with a possible head issue for the 8 year-old boy, but no life threatening injuries based on the assessment from the field. Same is true for Dr. House; Ms. Strohman, however was hit by the car. Bleeding from an injury on the back of her head, possible pelvic fracture, and she's ten weeks pregnant." An audible gasp was heard from several of the women who were standing nearby.
"Some of us had taken our break with her the other day," one of the PAs said. "We saw her in the cafeteria looking really pale. She said she wasn't feeling well and asked if she could sit down for a moment at our table. She said it was a virus."
"Yeah, a virus called pregnancy," Thirteen cracked.
"We're going to handle them when they come in," Foreman announced, "But we're going to need some help. First, I need someone to call Dr. Collins; she's Lydia's OB. I'd also need someone to get ahold of the pediatric resident on call and have them come down. Then, we may need a hand with Wilson, his wife and House's father; all three witnessed the accident, and I'm sure they are in shock. Plus Annie Wilson is four and half months pregnant and Rev. Bell is almost eighty and was just released from here this morning. We'll let you know as we need people… I have a feeling our biggest problem will be getting House to let us treat him."
"The ambulance is coming into the bay," someone announced. Various people were pulled away to other patients, but a small group stayed near the team. The oversized rig filled the entire bay; it was imposing and added to the mood of impending doom in the ER. Finally, the doors on the ambulance swung open.
"House, don't be an idiot… get back on your stretcher!" the team heard Wilson yell. House was holding onto the railings of Lydia's stretcher, Wilson behind him, and Slick on the other side.
"I'm fine… just get this thing down so we can get her in there!" House barked.
"I'm not moving the lift until you go lay down," Slick said, indicating the controller. House reached out and grabbed it out of his hand.
"That's OK, I can figure out how it works." Within seconds, the platform was lowering the three men and Lydia down to the ground.
"You remember asking me why everyone thinks House is a jerk?" Wilson asked Slick. "Now you have first-hand knowledge of the fact." Slick rolled his eyes, but said nothing. As the lift came to a rest on the ground, House looked up and saw his team there.
"I got an initial description of things from Wilson," Foreman said approaching the ambulance.
"Pelvic fracture seems to be on the right side, left is sensitive but the real pain is from the right. She's going into shock," House reported. "I didn't get a look at the head wound. Her pupils appeared slightly dilated; too hard to tell for sure in the lighting that we had."
"Readings in the truck were 95 on the pulse, 115/70 BP which is a drop down from in the field. Respirations are 22 and labored, O2 sat is 96," Slick reported as they moved Lydia's stretcher out of the truck and into the ER. "Where are we taking her?"
"Bed seven," Chase said. "It's closest to pediatric room one."
"Pediatric resident's been called," Taub told House. He nodded, then glanced over his shoulder at the bay doors to see that the children were right behind them. They got to bed seven, where two big orderlies were waiting to take Lydia off the stretcher and onto the bed. The transfer went smoothly.
"Now comes the hard part," Slick said grimly. "Let's get her off the backboard."
"Roll her to the left," House said from the end of the bed. "It will still hurt like hell. But it's the lesser of the two evils."
"I can hear… every word you're… saying, you know," Lydia said.
"Yeah, I know; now's the time to call me all those names you've been holding back on. Believe me, they'll flow easily." Chase and Thirteen stepped forward, and working together, they were able to make the move quickly; however, that didn't stop Lydia from screaming in pain.
"AHH! NOOO! GREG HELP ME!" she cried out. "Sadistischer Arsch!"
"Yes, but I'm your sadistic ass," House replied. Lydia began sobbing. "I'm right here, Fraulein," House said trying to swallow the lump that came into his throat despite his teasing. "My team is taking care of you." He looked over at the pediatric room; luckily, the kids were already inside with the door closed when their mother shrieked in pain.
"Lydia… it's Thirteen. We've got you; Chase, Foreman, Taub and I are all here," Thirteen said, putting a blood pressure cuff on Lydia's arm.
"Yeah, I'm the bastard's who's going to be poking your arm in a minute," Chase said as he readied Lydia's other arm to draw blood and set up an IV.
"Use two large bore IV needles and start her on saline," House said. "She needs fluids."
"We know that, House," Taub said as he came over with two warming blankets, and laid one down. "We all went to medical school."
"Some of us paid more attention than others," House quipped in reply. Taub had to walk around House to get the second warming blanket on Lydia. Chase took note of it, and decided to step in and say something.
"House, you have to get out of the way," he said concentrating on getting the IV's into Lydia after handing off her blood draw to a nurse. "There's a chair directly opposite the bed. Go sit down before you fall down." Daggers shot from House's eyes as he addressed Chase.
"I'm not going anywhere," he said firmly. "I'm staying by Fraulein. Look in her employment file… I hold the dual roles of her doctor and her boyfriend."
"Which is the worst thing possible right now," Foreman said as he removed the C-collar. "Or do you want a repeat of what happened earlier in the week with Thomas?"
"It was you who said being too emotionally involved with a patient is the worst kind of medicine," Taub pointed out, transferring Lydia from the ambulance's oxygen tank to the hospital's source.
"And you're going to try to tell me that you all aren't emotionally involved with her, too?" House said angrily.
"We are," admitted Thirteen. "But we're not the father of her baby." The four team members looked at House; he closed his eyes, and turned his head away.
"Come on, House," Slick said, taking the C-collar from Foreman. "Have a seat. Don't make them worry about you; let them take care of Lydia."
"We're going to tell you everything that's happening and what we're doing," said Thirteen. "If you want to offer an opinion, or make a judgment call, you'll be right here. Besides, I assume you're her Health Care Proxy." House said nothing, but mentally berated himself for not filling out the form sooner. Hopefully, no one will ask to see it, he thought. And if anyone has a problem that there isn't one, they can…
"House, I've got to go with my crew and get our equipment back. My shift ended at seven, so after I change out of my uniform, I'm coming back here," Slick said. "I'm going to call Scotty and Misty and let them know what's happened, too," he said referring to his nephew and his nephew's girlfriend. As he spoke, Slick slowly walked backward toward the chair; House caught on to what he was trying to do, and with Slick's assistance, followed begrudgingly.
"That may not be necessary," Wilson said as he walked over with a wheelchair in tow. "I saw a few local news trucks at the scene, and just got a news update on my phone; it's all over the local media."
"Sure… 'Pregnant woman gets mowed down by an a-hole driver; two kids and well-known doctor also hurt.' They're probably cursing us out that it didn't happen soon enough to make the six o'clock news," House groused. "Someone around here better learn the phrase 'No Comment' really fast; because if they come anywhere near me… "
"Don't worry, House," Wilson said. "The media relations department will take care of everything."
"Slick, we're ready to head out," Jo-Jo said with Stevie standing behind him. "Good luck to you and your family, Dr. House." House turned his head away, and simply nodded.
"Be right there, guys," Slick said. The two EMTs left, and Slick turned back to House. "Hang in there; I'll be back as soon as I can." Slick went to leave.
"Slick?" House said. "Thanks. I know it's just your job, but… " Slick turned back.
"House, as soon as I saw who was involved in the accident, it became a hell of a lot more than just my job," he said with a sad smile. "I'll be back." House watched him disappear in the maze of people in the ER. The department had gotten busier in the short time since they arrived. He looked to his left and saw Wilson holding on to the handles of the wheelchair.
"Your Tin Man hip giving you trouble?" House asked.
"No, if you want to get over to the kids, you're going to need this." House rolled his eyes.
"Just get me another cane and I'll get myself around this place," groused House.
"We'll give you a walker after someone examines you," Chase said coming over.
"I don't need… "
"House, shut up and don't argue!" Chase snapped. "I don't give a damn if you want to fire me for insubordination… we're trying to save Lydia's and the baby's life! We don't need to have you be a hindrance to that!" Emotional tension was obviously running very high; not only was House shocked at Chase's outburst, Wilson's jaw dropped, too. House looked up at Chase with a blank expression.
"How bad is she?" he managed to get out, convinced that bad news is what prompted Chase's outburst. He knew the ramifications of all the possible injuries Lydia had sustained; he wasn't ready to accept the possible outcome from them.
"We're going to do a cranial MRI. The head wound itself isn't too bad, neither big nor deep, but since the accident report says the indentation of her head into the windshield glass was sizable, the MRI is necessary. We've cleaned the area… had to shave just a quarter inch perimeter around the wound to properly sterilize and clean it, but with the way Lydia wears her hair, the spot will actually be covered."
"Good thing she looks good in hats," noted House.
"Lydia looks good in anything," Annie said as she came over and stood beside Wilson.
"On a positive note, as much as she's in extreme pain, the fracture appears stable. She's responding well to the treatment for shock, which leads me to believe that the internal bleeding isn't too severe," Chase continued.
"Knowing her, she's being a stubborn Kraut," noted House. "No way will she give into anything."
"I'm going to approach dealing with the bleeding laparoscopically," Chase said. "I think it's the safest way for Lydia and the baby."
"Laparoscopy… that's the surgery where you go through the belly button, isn't it?" Annie inquired.
"I see living with a doctor has rubbed off on you," House said.
"Yes, to your question, Annie. I'll make an incision at the navel, two smaller ones on the sides, then insert some CO2 and a camera. I can see what's bleeding and close it up," explained Chase.
"And that's safe for the baby?" Annie asked.
"Safest thing for both Fraulein and Unser Würmchen at this point," said House.
"'Our wormy'? It's a good thing for you Lydia taught me after I became pregnant that it's actually an affectionate term," Annie said. She looked down at him. Annie had seen him in pain before, seen him down and upset; but the look on his face, and dullness in his eyes frightened her.
"How is she?" she asked hesitantly.
"Responding well to treatment," House said. "But she's not out of the woods yet." He looked over at the bed, and saw Thirteen holding a small instrument in her hand. He recognized it as a Doppler transducer, the device used for listening to a baby's heartbeat. House began to try to struggle to his feet.
"Whoa, where do you think you're going?" Wilson asked as he grabbed ahold of House's arm.
"Gonna go listen to my kid sing to me in Morse code," he replied. There were a few tense moments as Thirteen moved the instrument around Lydia's stomach; then came the sound they all wanted to hear.
"Baby's heartbeat is good and steady," Thirteen said with a smile.
"For now," House said cautiously.
"Greg… " Lydia was trying to talk, but speaking so softly, she could barely be heard.
"Get me up near her head," he said to Wilson. The two moved around the foot of the bed and up the side, until House could bend down near Lydia's face.
"I'm right here, Fraulein," he said leaning his ear down close to her mouth.
"Ben… Elise… where are… they?" his girlfriend asked.
"They're in pediatric exam room one. You're in the ER at the hospital."
"The baby… is the baby… OK?"
"Put that on her again," House directed Thirteen. Thirteen brought the transducer over and began to run it over Lydia's belly again. "Turn the volume all the way up." The thump-thumping sound was clearly heard by anyone nearby. "That's short stuff you hear." Lydia managed a slight smile, then reached out for House's hand.
"Greg, please… take care… of the children… please don't let me die."
"Thing One and Thing Two are fine, and my team is working on you to make sure you are, too. Right now, I got to step back and let them do what's needed."
"Why aren't… you doing… it? Are… you OK?" House hesitated for a moment, then came up with a comeback.
"Come on, Fraulein, you know I'm never hands-on with my patients," he replied. The edges of Lydia's mouth seemed to curl upward for a second.
"I thought I'd… be an… exception." House smiled; at least her sense of humor was still intact. He leaned in even closer than before so he could whisper in her ear.
"You are an exception, Fraulein… to so many things I've had happen in my life." House then raised his head, kissed her cheek, and stood up so as to move away from her bedside. He normally would have been uncomfortable with anyone, especially his team, seeing him display affection toward his girlfriend; but right now, House didn't give a damn. He looked up and saw Taub and Foreman were wheeling over a sonogram machine to the foot of Lydia's bed.
"We want to get a quick look at the baby's position before we keep going," Taub said as began to enter Lydia's admission data.
"Dr. House!" He turned to the direction the voice came from, and saw Dr. Collins rushing over.
"Where is… " She looked to her left and saw Lydia on the gurney. "How is she doing?"
"Stable for now… just heard the baby's heartbeat a few minutes ago." Collins smiled.
"Thank God. I heard about the accident on the radio, not thinking anything of it; then got the phone call to come over. I was shocked. What course of treatment is needed for her injuries?" Foreman related their plan while Chase started the scan on Lydia. House nudged Wilson into moving over so he could see the screen as well. After talking to Foreman, Dr. Collins moved into a position that allowed her a view. "That looks pretty much what we saw in the office on Tuesday. Do you agree, Dr. House?"
"Yeah, that little mass is the kid." He narrowed his eyes. "Move it around so we see the placenta." Chase moved the scanning wand into several positions, but had no luck.
"It would be unlikely that the placenta could be seen," Collins noted. "After you've finished treatment on her, and she's stable, I can do an internal sonogram, but that's still not going to reveal much." She looked at House. "Your concern is placenta abruption?" House never took his eyes off of the screen, but nodded his head. "Right now the placenta is too small to be seen unless you get extremely lucky; the usual time for it to be seen is twenty weeks." She took a card out of her pocket, and began to write on it. "There are two residents here who work directly with me; Miller and Shaw. Either one of them or myself are always in the hospital. These are their beeper numbers. I'm going to speak with them now and bring them up to speed on Lydia's condition. We'll be checking on her several times a day, but if you have any concerns at any time, call us." She started to hand over the card, then pulled it back. "Oh, and this is my personal cell number if you need it; I never shut it off."
"I appreciate it," House said gratefully, placing the card in his shirt pocket.
"Nice to meet you all," Dr. Collins said as she left.
"We're done here," Chase said as he wiped off Lydia's abdomen. "I already told them to prep O.R. number two, and I got Carson to do the anesthesia; he has the most experience with pregnancy of anyone on call." He looked over at House. "She'll be in good hands. Taub is going to scrub in with me."
"You're probably going to tell me there's no room for me in the OR, so I'll be watching from the observation deck," House said. "Make sure you keep the mic open so I can hear what's going on."
"House, no one is going to leave you out of anything," Wilson said. "Right now, I'm taking you over to the kids so you can talk to the resident taking care of them. Now get in the chair; after you talk to everyone, you're going to let Thirteen and me do a quick exam on you." He saw his friend open his mouth to protest. "I'll have you up to the observation room before anything starts… as long as you cooperate." Chase and Taub had started to unhook Lydia from ER equipment, and readied her to go to the operating room. As they moved the gurney forward, her eyes fluttered open.
"You have some internal bleeding, Fraulein. Chase and Taub are going to do a laparoscopic procedure to find out what's leaking and glue you back together," House said leaning over to her. She gave a small nod.
"Ich liebe dich, Greg," she said holding out her hand. House took it in his.
"Ich liebe dich, auch, Fraulein." He then took a few steps back to allow his two team members to start wheeling her away.
"Come on, House," Wilson said quietly. "Let's go see the kids." House eased himself into the wheelchair and allowed Wilson to take him to pediatric room one with Annie following along; he wasn't happy about his mode of transport, but he had to admit, it was the fastest way to get around at the moment. As they arrived at the door to the room, a man in blue scrubs stepped out. He looked at both men, then took a chance on which one was House.
"Hi, Dr. House… I'm Dr. Jensen from pediatrics. I've examined the children, and both are in good shape, all things considered. I did a neuro exam on both of them, and they passed with flying colors. The wound on Ben's forehead is more of scrape than a cut, but I'm still going to bandage it to keep the dirt out. Elise appears to have sprained her ankle; I see no need for any sort of support bandaging at this point, but as she starts to become mobile again, we can address it if there's a problem then. Who's their pediatrician?"
"Lewis from Princeton Pediatrics," House replied.
"Great. I'll notify his office so he can visit them on his rounds."
"They'll be staying with their mother in ICU, room two. I'm going to get a couple of Geri-chairs placed in there; no way will they be happy unless they can be with her after all of this," said House. Jensen looked surprised, but said nothing about the arrangement.
"They've been asking about her constantly, but the older gentleman that's been with them has done a wonderful job of keeping them calm." House's mind flashed back to his childhood; he was about six, and had badly skinned and scraped his knee. He recalled Bell holding him on his lap, his arms wrapped around him, making jokes and comforting him.
"I'm not surprised," was his reply.
"I'll go arrange for transport up to ICU," Dr. Jensen said. "It won't take long to bandage the boy's wound. Oh… allergies to any medicine?" House shook his head.
"Great. I'll be back in a few minutes." The man hurried away, and Wilson looked at House.
"Want to do this?"
"No," House replied. "But I have to. Let me push myself in… might scare them a little bit less." Wilson stepped back and House propelled himself forward.
"Well, look who's here!" Thomas said. "I told you House would visit soon."
"Why are you in a wheelchair?" Elise asked, her voice quivering.
"Because even though I can walk, it hurts like crazy. So I got myself a chariot," House said as he popped a wheelie. The girl giggled at the sight.
"How's Mom?" Ben inquired. House knew Ben would be the tougher of the two to pull the wool over on, but he also recognized that the boy could be a great ally in the situation.
"Your mom is heading to the OR. Chase and Taub are going to a procedure to stop the internal bleeding she has going on. She also has a pelvic fracture, but with time, that will heal on its own. They had to shave a little bit of her hair to clean the wound, but the rest of her hair will hide it."
"Oh, good," Elise said. "I thought she'd look like The Rock or someone like that." The child's innocence amused House.
"Dopey, no way would Mom ever look like The Rock… she's too pretty," said Ben. "So Mom's head just has the wound?"
"Don't know that yet. After the surgery, she's going to have an MRI to check and see if her brain got scrambled or not." Elise, having no understanding was unconcerned, but House saw the fear in Ben's eyes. "My guess is that there may just be some bruising, maybe a little bleeding. Nothing we'd have to put another hole in her head for."
"Mom doesn't have any holes in her head," said Elise.
"Yes, she does… she's dating me," replied House. He looked at Ben, and saw the boy had his head tilted to the side with a 'Really, House?' sort of look on his face. For that matter, so did Reverend Bell.
"Can we talk to her?" Elise asked.
"No, she's already on her way to the OR, but I did talk to her a little bit. She kept asking me about you two; I told her you were terrorizing the ER."
"We were not!" protested Elise.
"Funny… she believed me right away."
"She did not!" the girl insisted.
"Easy, Curly Top… she knows you better than that," House said. The girl smiled, and wrapped her arms around herself in a hug. "When can we see her?"
"You two are going to have Geri-chairs in her room. Remember where we had the Rev holded up while we took care of him? That's now your mom's room."
"And ours," noted Elise. Glancing at Ben, House saw the boy was still trying to process the information about his mother's medical condition. He wanted to stay to talk to the child more, to reassure him, but House had to keep moving so he could observe Lydia's procedure. He still had to subject himself to Wilson's and Thirteen's inspection. "Will we be able to talk to her then?" House dropped his head down.
"No kid… not for a while." House turned to Thomas and Annie. "Can you two go with them while I keep an eye on Fraulein?"
"Piece of cake," Bell said. "Speaking of which, the youngsters said they were feeling hungry, and truthfully, I think Annie and I could stand something to eat, too. After all that's happened, I'm not subjecting them to hospital food. I was thinking of running over to the deli and getting some sandwiches."
"That'd be fine… keep it light, though. Grilled cheese, soup… something like that," said House.
"We'll bring back something for you, too, sweetie," Annie said to her husband. "Do you want anything, Greg?" House shook his head.
"Thanks, babe," Wilson said. "And now, kids, it's time for me to make House disappear. Thirteen and I are going to double check and make sure he's OK; then we're going to see how things are going with your mom." Wilson had taken hold of the handles and began to back the wheelchair out of the room.
"House… how's the baby?" Ben asked.
"Still don't know for sure… but I saw the new minion on a sonogram, and its heart said hello to me," answered House with a smile. "See you." Wilson backed the chair out, and went back to cubicle seven, where Thirteen was waiting.
"This won't take long House," she said drawing the curtain around the three of them. "I just want to clean up the wounds on your hands, and see what condition your legs and back are in." She quickly worked in silence, removing some debris that had lodged in the wounds, sterilizing and bandaging them. While Thirteen did that, Wilson unbuttoned House's shirt to loosen it, so he could check for swelling on his friend's back.
"Under any other circumstances, I'd be enjoying your ministrations to me immensely," House quipped. "It's a shame we don't do this as often as we used to." Wilson merely shook his head and ignored the comment. He began to probe the muscles on House's lower back. "AH! Damn! I told you I'm not into that kind of stuff. At least not on the receiving end."
"You have some swelling down here," Wilson said. "In your neck and shoulder area, too. I'll get you a fast-release ibuprofen tablet from the pharmacy. Six hundred milligrams should help."
"I'll take two," said House. Thirteen was finished with his hands.
"OK, House, drop your pants," she said. House smiled.
"You've been waiting to say that since we met," he said as Wilson helped him to his feet. Thirteen rolled her eyes.
"Please… I saw your junk when we took care of you after the crane collapse," she said dismissively.
Oh, you may have misunderstood the tattoo I have down there; it doesn't say 'TINY', it says 'TICONDEROGA NY." House had dropped his pants to his ankles, and both Wilson and Thirteen examined his legs.
"You're scar wasn't compromised at all," Wilson noted, "It just looks like you scraped your knees and shins." Thirteen nodded in agreement.
"I'll get some dressings," she said exiting the cubicle. House turned to watch her leave, then turned to his friend.
"Some habits never die," Wilson noted. "Still using sarcasm as a shield for dealing with things." House looked away.
"Yep, I've just learned to be a bit more selective on when and where I use it. Besides," he said looking back to Wilson. "It's the only way I'm going to get through this." Wilson nodded as Thirteen returned. The two quickly bandaged House up, then the three of them made their way to the OR observation room.
"You've got Big Brother watching," House said into the microphone. The anesthesiologist was just about to administer sedation; it was awkward watching Lydia so exposed in front of his team and others, but he quickly shook the feeling off, concentrating instead on what Chase was doing. Wilson hung back by the doorway to the observation area, wanting to afford a little privacy to his friend. Chase and Taub worked quickly, removing the blood and finding the source of the bleed.
"It looks like there's a nick in her spleen," Chase said. "We should be able to close with glue and mesh." House breathed an audible sigh of relief.
"Good news," said Foreman, who had joined Wilson by the door.
"Yeah… but we're not out of the foxhole yet," House observed. Foreman and Wilson exchanged glances; they knew he was right. The all-important MRI was next. After giving Lydia some time in recovery, they took her down to Radiology, and into the MRI room. Chase and Foreman moved Lydia as gently as they could from her gurney to the table for the machine, while Taub and Thirteen set up the test. House and Wilson hung back, with House making sure he was in a position to see the screen as the test progressed. Foreman took a seat, and began the test.
"Slight swelling and bruising in the visual cortex," Taub noted. "Not severe, but it's there."
"She opened her eyes in the ER, but made no comment on seeing or not seeing," said House. "We won't be able to know for sure until she wakes up." Foreman continued the scan, going region by region in the brain.
"She shows classic coup/contra coup bruising," Chase said. "There's brain swelling in the occipital and frontal cortex. "
"Move it up and to the left," House said. Foreman did as requested. House leaned forward for a better look "No bleeding, just bruising."
"It's a lot better than it could have been," remarked Taub. In a little while, they had finished the test; House, his team and Wilson all moved into the room that housed the machine. Thirteen hit the buttons on the side of the machine to slide the table back out. The five people on their feet all looked uncomfortable, silently trying to figure out who should broach the next subject.
"House, you do know that it would be best for Lydia if we placed her in a medical coma. It'll give the body… the brain especially… a better chance to heal properly. And it won't hurt the baby," Thirteen said. House looked off to his right, avoiding any eye contact.
"Best for her, but not for the kids and me," he said grimly. House paused. "Put her under when she gets up to her room. I want to give the kids a chance to at least say something to her, even if she can't respond. I'm not going to tell them I agreed to this until tomorrow."
"You know you're not making the wrong decision, House," Thirteen said. He looked up at her.
"Try explaining that to a four- and eight year-old…..."
"Excuse me, Dr. House… I have to take Lydia's temperature," the nurse said. House moved his feet out of the way. Recalling all that happened, both at the accident scene and in the hospital, had exhausted House. He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and try to get some sleep, if only his brain would let him. "She's 99.4. Doing well," the nurse noted as she wrote down the other vitals displayed on the screen. "Take care." The nurse left, leaving House alone again with the machines constant noise, the kids sleeping, and Lydia in a coma. He leaned over, put his face into his hands, then finally turned his head to look at his girlfriend.
"Please, Fraulein… don't leave me. The thought of trying to live without you scares the hell out of me."