Wilson choked back a cry as he watched the ambulance plunge into the canal; the cop with him was sympathetic enough to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder – although he wasn't too sure why this stranger was getting so emotional about someone else's peril.
"What – They have to – to do something!" Wilson exclaimed falteringly, panic taking over his whole body; "They have to get in there!" Before the cop could stop him, he was barging past the road block and sprinting over to the rescue team, keeping a close eye on the disappearing ambulance in the canal.
He was immensely relieved to see the first members of the team connecting their harnesses up, ready to start their descent. He was less pleased to see the steady, slow rate at which they were going however.
"Get me down there" he ordered an important looking man who seemed to be in charge of distributing the equipment. Wilson only hoped he would fool the old guy into thinking that he was supposed to be down there.
"Excuse me?" the man replied agitatedly, looking around for someone else to handle the pushy civilian.
"I'm a member of the medical team" Wilson lied diffidently, secretly hoping that his lie would get him a harness and a way down the bank; "I need to be down there."
The man looked him up and down, taking note of the doctor's name tag and coat, but not believing for one second that this guy was a member of Jersey's elite rescue squad.
"Harness up – and follow that guy" he said in a hushed tone, pointing to another man in a harness who was about to lower himself down the muddy bank; 'Hell if this guy wants to break his neck to save people, then he's okay by me' he thought approvingly as he handed the heavy harness to Wilson.
Wilson gulped nervously as he stood, harnessed up, ready to follow the athletic looking guy below him. He often wondered to what point being friends with House would put his life in danger...the answer was at his feet, literally.
"Shit – House, you better not die after all of this" Wilson muttered as he slipped down the first couple of metres of bank; the blinding spotlights weren't helping him in seeing where the best footholds were at all.
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Both House and Cuddy were helplessly thrown apart as the front of the cab started filling with water at an alarming rate; the weight of the engine was pulling it down first, leaving the rear to flip up dramatically, momentarily stunning both its occupants.
House reached out blindly; he grabbed the first thing he could get his hands on, which happened to be the legs to the gurney. The emergency lights eventually kicked into action, sending a warm red glow through the van.
He felt a stinging on his arm; looking down and letting his eyes adjust to the artificial light, he found free flowing blood running from the crook of his elbow to his wrist; the IV line was nowhere to be seen, viciously ripped out by the movement.
"Cuddy?" he gasped, squinting to find his companion in the messed up ambulance, he saw her struggling to get up as the van tilted even more – until it was almost vertical.
"House!" she cried, urgently scrambling over to him; he winced as she placed her hands over his injured side – 'yep, I'm not a mirage…' he thought miserably as he attempted to slide up the wall into a standing position. 'There's got to be a way out…' he thought as he quickly surveyed the grim situation; the fact that Cuddy's optimism seemed to have been transferred into his own head could only be considered a good thing right now…
"When I smash that window – get out" he ordered, purposefully avoiding eye contact with her; she nodded, partially in shock. He grabbed a small metal rod from the gurney, holding the point end out; Cuddy watched in disbelief as he painfully clambered up onto the upright gurney, stretched in agony and swung his arm across to smash the glass.
Fortunately, the window came out in one sheet; House gingerly pushed it outwards and clambered unsteadily back down to the floor…which actually was a small partition separating them from the front and no longer the floor.
Big black circles danced in front of his eyes as the pain in his right hand side magnified and threatened to overwhelm him completely. 'Fuck...now you've done it' he thought desperately. He curled over in agony, catching sight of the water flooding into the front of the ambulance; "Go - now!" he choked out directly, shoving Cuddy clumsily towards the gurney.
She needed to get out before the water reached the window, or else she'd have no chance swimming out with a broken wrist; he only hoped that the rescue teams had gotten down to the embankment by now and could help her out of the water.
"What about you?" Cuddy asked, not letting go of his arm for fear of him falling.
"I'm right behind you" he said sincerely, putting as much false enthusiasm into the statement as he could, in addition to pushing her towards the gurney with a little more urgency. 'Please go…'
Cuddy made her way carefully up the side of the gurney, hissing as she caught her hand on a stray piece of glass stuck in the window edge; she looked back to House, who was holding onto the bottom of it, reassuringly nodding her on.
She jumped clear of the ambulance, spluttering as she furiously paddled one-handed towards the shore; she squinted against the harsh spotlights that were trained on the area, still managing to reach her hand out to fumble for the bank. There was plenty of urgent shouting and movement at her emergence from the canal; relief washed over her as she saw men abseiling down the steep bank to help them.
To her complete surprise, Wilson was there taking her hand and dragging her out of the water; he whipped off his coat and wrapped it round her shoulders, trying to hide the fact that he was shaking just as much as she was, from the physical exertion of climbing down the embankment.
"Where's House?" he asked, urgency evident by the volume of the question; Cuddy paled remembering his last words...I'm right behind you.
"House!" she yelled, turning to where she'd just swam from; but the ambulance had gone, and in its place were a few large bubbles, tauntingly breaking the surface.
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House collapsed as soon as he heard Cuddy splash into the water outside; he had surprised himself by being able to stand firm for that long in the first place. He felt the cold water seeping through his sweats, if he didn't die of internal bleeding now he could drown instead… 'Just. Fucking. Great'
He widened his eyes in an attempt to keep them open, it didn't help with his drowsiness when everything around him kept blurring under the flickering red emergency light. Dragging over the portable O2 mask and canister, he fought desperately with his hands which were shaking from a combination of cold, fear and his now ever-present internal bleeding problem.
He lent his head back against what used to be the roof; formulating an escape plan from 'impending doom' was much harder in real life than in the films. 'I'm pretty sure if you were in a film right now, you would at least have kissed Cuddy' he thought regrettably, 'and she would have been wearing less...so much less'
His adrenaline fuelled energy reserves had been drained from his aching body completely; he couldn't stand, he couldn't swim and he could barely stay awake. 'Now would be a good time to find religion' he thought miserably, 'because it'll be a miracle if this works...'
He closed his eyes as the water cascaded through the windowless frame; in his last ditch attempt at survival, House pressed the O2 mask firmly over his mouth, determined not to give up yet as he became completely submerged under the cold water…
TBC
Author's Note: Worst cliffhanger I've ever written...and for that I do apologise (I really do feel guilty - hehe) On a serious note - I have to thank everyone who reviewed in the last chapter – that was amazing, you guys really did make me smile! Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter just as much? lol x