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Chapter Seventeen: Global Cooling
Lisa Cuddy's Apartment
She awoke suddenly, with the feeling that someone was at her door. She threw off the covers and tumbling in the darkness, she went to answer the door. She had been right, Cameron was there, and she was just about to open the door herself with a key that she had given her. "Cameron," she signed. "What are you doing here?"
"Thank God you're okay!" exclaimed Cameron. She threw her arms around Cuddy.
Cuddy put her arms around Cameron, but was still confused on why she had just hugged her. She was okay; she had been sleeping, just like any normal night. Cameron must have been paranoid.
She stepped away from Cuddy, wiping away tears that were streaming down her face. Cuddy signed to her, "So, you're here in the middle of the night to make sure that I'm all right. What's going on?"
"There was a tornado, five actually…" Cameron stopped. She had been so worried about Cuddy that she had forgotten that she couldn't hear her. She could have kept talking, she could read lips, but Cameron had said it so fast that she didn't catch everything she had said. Cuddy had interpreted "There was," and "actually."
"Five tornadoes hit the area of Chicago," Cameron signed. "I just found out this morning, since I don't live in the city. I knew you wouldn't have heard any of the sirens, so I was glad to know that you were okay. The tornadoes passed your apartment building completely, along with some of the other buildings surrounding yours."
Cuddy stared at her in alarm. A tornado…five tornadoes had hit Chicago, and because of suffering from being deaf, she didn't hear the sirens. She could have gotten killed, but luckily, the tornadoes had passed her apartment. She knew the next time, she wouldn't be so lucky. She was starting to wonder if getting a cochlear implant would be a good idea now…
"Five?" Cuddy signed.
Cameron nodded.
That was strange, since they lived in the city, where tornadoes usually didn't hit. And five at once was also uncommon, but maybe she was wrong. She hadn't gone to med school to learn about weather.
"What caused this to happen?" Cuddy signed.
Cameron looked worriedly around the room and then signed, "I'll tell you about it later. Get your stuff together."
"Why?" signed Cuddy.
"You can't stay here, not in the destruction of the storm," signed Cameron. "We'll go back to my apartment, where Chase is waiting for me."
"What about the others?" Cuddy signed. They couldn't just forget about Foreman, Kutner, Taub, Thirteen, and Wilson.
"We'll call them back at my apartment," signed Cameron.
She was going to sign, "What about Paige?" but Cameron didn't know who Paige was. She couldn't just tell her, she had promised to keep Lindsay Monroe/Paige Hobson a secret. She turned away from Cameron, grabbing a suitcase, getting her clothes, and then threw them into her suitcase. Then she nodded to Cameron, to tell her she was ready to leave.
When she stepped outside of her apartment, she was surprised to see the sight. Her apartment was the only one that had been untouched by the tornado, while the other buildings on the block were either completely gone or partly damaged, missing floors or roofs. Debris covered the street, overcrowding the roads. There was even debris on Cameron's car, coming from driving through the streets.
She looked up to the sky, seeing that there were more storm clouds in the air, blocking the chances of seeing the sun that morning. Cameron walked over to her, after putting her suitcase in the truck of her car, and gave her an apologetic look. She opened the door for Cuddy and then walked around to the other side of the car, slamming the door shut when she got inside. Cuddy immediately got inside the car and closed the door.
They were sitting on the floor, around the coffee table. Cameron had gone into the kitchen to make some coffee for the three of them, while Chase and Cuddy waited in the other room. Chase and Cuddy didn't bother communicating with each other; Chase seemed to feel awkward around her. Though he also looked tired, which explained the reason why he didn't talk.
Cuddy gazed around the room. There was one couch, one lounge chair, and the coffee table she was sitting by. The TV in the room was placed in an armoire, still on even though none of them were paying attention to it. There were a few pictures and decoration items here and there, but otherwise, there wasn't much in the room.
She took a piece of paper and a pen from the table. Chase looked at her questioningly, but then went back to daydreaming about Cameron. She scribbled something on to the paper.
What's going on with the weather?
She pushed the paper over to Chase. He looked down at it, but didn't bother answering the question. She took the paper from him and wrote again.
Come on Chase, answer the question. Just because I can't hear a thing, doesn't mean you can't try to communicate with me. I'm still the same person.
Again, she handed Chase the paper and this time gave him the pen. He took the paper, quickly read it, and answered:
Global cooling
After she had read the paper, Cameron appeared in the room, carrying the coffees over to them. Cameron eyed the paper that she had been writing on, but didn't question it. Cuddy decided to ask her the same question she had asked Chase. "What's going on with the weather?" she signed.
Chase raised an eyebrow, as if he thought she hadn't trusted his answer. She did trust his answer; she just wanted to know if Cameron had a more detailed explanation, instead of just 'global cooling'.
"From all the news reports, the only thing I've heard is that this weather mess up has something to do with global cooling," signed Cameron. "And it makes sense, with all this rain and temperature drops."
"So what does this mean for us?" questioned Chase.
This time, Cameron answered Chase's question talking and signing. "It means that we could go into the next Ice Age. With the weather acting the way it is, it seems like that's capable of happening, not too far from now."
Cuddy stared at her, not wanting to believe the news. They had only been in Chicago for one year, after facing the tragedy of leaving New Jersey behind in the hurricane. Now might they possibly have to face something that none of them had gone through before? Then she was reminded of something, like this same exact thing had happened before. "'The Day After Tomorrow'," she signed. "That's what is going to happen to us."
"She's right," said Cameron. "That's exactly how this weather pattern is. The whole North Hemisphere might freeze, bringing in deadly snow storms."
Chase stood up. "You two are taking it too far. There's no way that's going to happen. That was a movie; this is just the weather acting up. I'm sure the weather will clear up by the weekend."
"Do you think a hurricane hitting and flooding the entire city of New York is just the weather acting up?" questioned Cameron. "Do you think that five tornadoes hitting Chicago and hurricanes flooding the state of Florida is just the weather acting up? To me, that sounds a lot like how the weather was in that movie."
"What I'm saying is that that was a movie," said Chase. "Things in movies aren't real."
"Not everything is," said Cameron. "But there are a lot of things in movies that are real and can happen. The weather in the movie could happen, and it has already happened. So I would prepare for the possibility of snow storms and freezing weather."
Chase shrugged. "If that's what you believe, fine. But in my opinion, I don't think anything like that could happen."
"Okay then," said Cameron. "It's probably a good time to start calling the others, to see if they're all right."
Chase nodded and reached to his cell phone on the coffee table. He immediately called Wilson, since he knew his number. Cuddy looked at him, feeling sorry for him, since he had to make all the calls and that no one agreed with his theory. She took a seat at the couch, knowing that the day would go on forever, and still tired, she closed her eyes, letting sleep get the best of her.
She awoke in a cold sweat. She was anxious, from what, she didn't know, but something told her it had to do with what she had found out about earlier, about the world experiencing the next Ice Age. Even though it would take time for this to happen, she couldn't stop thinking about it. Where would they go? Would they be able to survive? She decided her anxiety came from her worrying too much about the weather.
Besides her, Cameron was talking on the phone, to whom, she didn't know, but she was relieved to know that they had gotten a hold of the others. She could tell by the expression on Cameron's face that whoever she was talking to was all right.
Chase was also on the phone, pacing back and forth from the living room to the kitchen. She couldn't tell if he was doing that because he was worried or from being impatient, wanting to get off the phone. She wished she could help, but since she couldn't hear, it would be kind of hard to talk to the person on the phone. One, she wouldn't hear their responses, and two, talking for her wasn't something she did everyday, since she barely used her voice anymore. She remembered hearing her own voice before, but she highly doubted that she would ever hear herself again, or anyone else, since she didn't expect to recover her hearing again. Even if she did get a cochlear implant, there still could be a slight chance that her hearing would still be bad, and a person's voice may only sound like a whisper to her. But if she could at least hear something, she would be thankful.
Hunger gripped at her stomach, and she wished that some food would appear in front of her, like someone would serve a nice breakfast in bed. The last time she had eaten was the day before, and that had been lunch. She had totally forgotten about making dinner last night, since she had gotten home so late. She eyed her coffee she had barely touched, knowing it would help quench her thirst. But even the need for water didn't make her move. She slouched down, wanting to fall asleep again.
Cameron was looking at her, the phone now in her hands. She had obviously finished her call. "Are you feeling all right?" she signed.
Cuddy nodded. She looked to see Chase enter the room again, but this time, he stayed where he was, gripping the phone in his hand. "I just heard from Wilson. He says he's all right, but mad about the whole tornado thing ruining his house."
"What about the others?" Cameron asked. "Did he hear from anyone else?"
"He said he heard from Foreman and Taub, and says they're all right too," replied Chase. "He didn't say anything about Kutner and Thirteen though."
"I just talked to Kutner," said Cameron. "He's fine. But I heard nothing on Thirteen."
"Thirteen?" signed Cuddy.
Cameron nodded. "Do you have her number on your cell phone?"
Cuddy reached into the suitcase she had brought, pulled out her phone, and threw it over to Cameron. "Look under contacts," she signed.
As she did that, Cuddy closed her eyes. She kept telling herself to eat or drink something, but she was still too tired to move from the couch. She knew this worried Cameron, but tried not to imagine the look on her face while she slept. Instead of feeling the control of sleep taking over her, she felt a light tap on her shoulder, and had to open her eyes. She saw Cameron pointing to the phone, worried because she hadn't gotten an answer from Thirteen yet.
Cuddy rolled her eyes. Thirteen was probably fine too; she just didn't want to answer her phone, because she was too busy helping the others around her. Or her house may have not even got hit by the tornado, and she was still sleeping, only because she wasn't a morning person. That was probably wrong though, she thought, because Thirteen would always be at the hospital bright and early, almost at the same exact time she would arrive.
After Cameron had tried to call three times, she expected that Thirteen wasn't still sleeping. She was in trouble. Cameron stood up from the couch. "We need to help Thirteen, to see if she's all right."
She turned to Cuddy and signed, "Do you know where she lives?"
Cuddy took the piece of paper she had been writing on earlier and quickly wrote down the address. She then lay back on the couch, closing her eyes. This reaction had worried Cameron; she could just imagine her glancing at Chase, asking him, "Do you think she's all right?"
Of course she wasn't all right, but she didn't want to tell Cameron that. She needed rest; that was all. Once she felt fully rested, she would accompany the others to Thirteen's apartment, since that was probably what they were going to do. She opened her eyes again, to see that Cameron was talking.
"She's fine, there's no way that's coming back again…"
"Are you sure?" asked Chase.
Cameron turned to her. "Cuddy, are you feeling pressure in your ears or do you feel like you are going to get sick?"
She couldn't take it anymore. She felt like she was a patient, when she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She knew what Cameron was thinking, that she was beginning to develop the symptoms of Meniere's disease again. She shook her head.
"I'm not sick," she signed. "I'm not getting Meniere's again. I just haven't eaten much; actually the last time I ate was yesterday. I haven't drunk anything either, expect a little bit of coffee. I'm dehydrated and hungry. All I need is something to drink and eat and then we can go to Thirteen's apartment."
Cameron immediately walked towards the kitchen, forgetting that Thirteen had not answered the phone three times. When it came to a time in emergency, she would always help Cuddy first rather than the others around her. If she hadn't been deaf, she would be sure that Cameron would have told her where she could find food and make herself a snack, while she and Chase went to Thirteen's apartment.
"Cereal?" signed Cameron.
Cuddy nodded. She didn't care what she ate, even if she didn't like it. Anything that would satisfy her hunger would be fine. Soon that wish came true as she was served a bowl of Frosted Flakes and had a new cup of coffee. She watched the soundless TV—at least for her it was—while Chase and Cameron discussed something.
As she watched the weather report, which said there was more rain to come for Chicago, she thought about where in the world House was. She turned to look at Chase and Cameron, who were practically arguing with each other now, and to get their attention, she had to use her spoon to bang on the cereal bowl. Obviously she had done it loud enough, because both Chase and Cameron were staring at her, with the expression of, "What is it that you want?" on their faces.
She simply signed, "Do you have a computer?"
Cameron walked away from Chase and showed her where her computer was. Before she could leave, Cuddy signed, "Please stop fighting with him. You two make too much of a great couple to break up over what to expect of this upcoming storm."
Cameron shrugged. Then she signed, "What do you need the computer for anyway?"
"You'll see," signed Cuddy. She turned on the computer. She looked at Cameron again. "Do you have MSN?"
Cameron nodded and opened it up for her. She was surprised to see House's username there. "You talk to House?"
"He has sent a few messages to me," signed Cameron.
She quickly signed in and sent a message to House. She didn't expect him to answer, but when he did, she smiled. He had sent a message saying, I got your email, Lisa. No questions, I see. And I do support your decision, if that's what you want. But about Thirteen…that's going to be a hard one to figure out…
She turned the computer monitor away from Cameron, so she couldn't see what he had wrote. She could feel that she was blushing, but she tried to ignore her embarrassment. She wrote: I'm glad you got the email. But now, I have to tell you something. Chicago…it was hit by five tornadoes this morning…thank God the tornadoes missed my apartment, but I never heard anything, I couldn't Greg, and when I found out about it, I was so scared.
So you're telling me that you for sure want the cochlear implant? He answered back.
I don't know yet, she replied. But that's not what I want to tell you. What I need to tell you about is what's going on with this weather.
Yes…?
Global cooling, she answered. You've seen 'The Day after Tomorrow', right?
Yes
Well, that's what's happening. The temperatures around the world are slowly decreasing, and soon we might be in for the next Ice Age. The entire Northern Hemisphere might freeze, just like what happened in the movie.
Cuddy looked up from the computer. Chase had now entered the room, and he was standing besides Cameron. She turned the monitor away from them even more. When she looked at her message again, she realized House hadn't answered yet. It wasn't long before he did.
Lisa…to tell you the truth, I had already known that. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, I could have saved you from getting stuck in the storm. But I've been so busy lately, I now just got a break from working, and I was just going to tell you about the discovery of global cooling affecting the earth.
Don't be sorry, it's not your fault at all, she replied. Are you all right though? Have you gotten affected by the storm?
I'm fine, Lisa, where I am right now hasn't gotten affected by the storm.
But where are you, Greg?
Where I am is where I am. I'll be fine Lisa, promise me, and I'll keep you updated on this storm, okay? I'm sorry, but I have to go…one of my employees told me we have a problem.
Wait, Greg, don't go…I need to know where you are. And what are you doing, to benefit both of us?
Remember…he answered. No questions…
Seriously, answer me!
This time, he didn't answer. He left her staring at the conversation she had with him. He would never tell her where he was, or at least give her a clue. She turned the monitor back to its normal position and, if they wanted, allowed Cameron and Chase to look at the conversation. But they didn't move from their spot, they just looked at Cuddy, like she knew what to do next. And she did.
"Let's go to Thirteen's apartment," she signed. "We need to make sure she survived the storm."
With that, they headed for the door. She was surprised no one had questioned her judgment, especially Cameron, who would usually consider a second thought, worry about her instead. She had been wrong earlier. Cameron didn't always think about her first in a time of emergency. When there was a time of emergency, she would let Cuddy take the lead and decide what to do, just like she had done now.
No one has heard from Thirteen…is she okay? And where actually is House? In the next chapter we will finally find out about House!
A/N: The weather might sound unbelievable, and I know that most of this stuff wouldn't happen in real life. But that's how the weather was in the movie, and I wanted the weather to be like how it was in the movie. Hope you liked this chapter!