Author's Note: Not really a cliff-hanger in this chapter (well, nothing that we didn't know already!) purely so I don't give chaoskir a heart attack! Hope you still like it – let me know, please! All the lovely reviews for chapter 18 made me happy, and then this chapter magically appeared…Enjoy! x
Wilson held onto Cuddy as she scrambled closer and closer to the edge of the canal searching franticly for House; he stared at the fading ripples in the water, his mind screaming at him that he had to save his best friend. 'You can't leave him to die...not here, not now'
After pushing Cuddy in the direction of the small rescue team as a distraction, he hastily pulled his jumper off and was fumbling with his shoes when a strong hand grasped his shoulder. "Don't even think about it son" came a familiar tone.
Wilson shot round and recognised the owner of the voice; it was the elderly man who was handing out harnesses at the top of the verge. "But, he'll drown!" he protested angrily; he was feeling the strongest emotional attachment to House now, more than he ever had before... and it hurt to think of him dying alone in this miserable canal.
"That's what I'm here for" the old man grinned, producing the smallest rebreather Wilson had ever seen from his belt hook; "This'll give me three minutes to find your...friend" the man gave Wilson another quick scan with his curious eyes before pulling his uniform off and heading towards the waters edge. "Peters – start counting" he ordered sharply before diving nimbly into the water.
"Yes Sir!" came the obedient reply from one of the athletic rescuers who was holding the brightest torch that Wilson had ever seen in his life, in the general direction of the submerged ambulance. He dropped to his knees and strained his eyes desperately seeking out the mysterious diving man.
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The diver glided through the water, following the misty light that was casting itself over the rear of the ambulance. He circled the vehicle looking for a way in; it didn't take him long to find the windowless frame, even in the murky depths of the filthy water.
He pulled himself in, glancing around urgently looking for the injured man; luckily the emergency light was still glowing steadily, casting a red tinge on everything around it.
Moving the gurney slightly to gain access to the other side of the van, the diver was surprised to feel something grab at his arm; it was the patient, and he was using an O2 mask as an underwater respirator... 'Interesting idea' he acknowledged, impressed with the notion that this guy seemed smarter than his usual patients.
House felt an overwhelming urge to smile at his saviour, but decided against it as the facial movement would probably break the effective seal he had formed by pressing the mask tightly over his mouth and nose.
He focused on the diver as he signalled that they would ascend together but House would have to take a deep breath and leave the O2 mask and canister behind. There was a slight flaw to the plan however.
Trying to take a deep enough breath to stop himself from passing out wouldn't be easy for House with his ribs in the state that they were in; unfortunately, he wasn't too sure how to let the diver guy know this piece of information...so he simply nodded and took a breath. 'This guy better be a fast swimmer...' he thought as he wrapped his arm around the other man's waist.
As the diver dragged House from the corner of the ambulance by the scruff of his neck, he felt his rebreather getting weaker and weaker; he ultimately determined that roughly 3 minutes had now passed since he had dived into the canal – the light flashing on and off on the surface of the water confirmed this.
House's kidney was screaming at him, daring him to cry out in pain and lose what little oxygen he had left. He managed pretty well until the diver inadvertently struck the area with his knee as he kicked furiously to get them to the surface. House choked out and panicked as he struggled to keep from inhaling water; he could feel himself fading, within 10 seconds he was unconscious.
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The diver emerged, quickly gasping for air then locking his sights on his target – the bank. His muscles burned as he used his energy to literally drag the taller man to safety; he could feel that his patient was no longer conscious and it spurred him on harder.
Wilson rushed over to the waters edge, keeping out the way of the rescue team who were throwing ropes into the water to drag their leader out. He heard Cuddy choke back a sob as they both realised with pitted stomachs that House was unconscious, possibly dead; Wilson quickly turned her away from the sight, momentarily forgetting that she was a doctor, and that this was the second time she'd seen him apparently die.
Two strong rescuers dragged his pale, limp body from the water and kneeled down beside him, taking vitals in an attempt at assessing whether or not he was worth trying to resuscitate – he'd been under for at least seven minutes. The diver was unable to let them know about the O2 mask until he'd caught his breath.
"He's still breathing!" came a shout of disbelief from one of the four-man rescue team as he gingerly rolled the patient onto his side in the recovery position, being sure to keep his airway clear; "his pulse is barely there though – and it's elevated" he added, his fingers barely able to register anything through the patients cold, soaking wet neck.
"Get that helicopter down here – now!" another man shouted, his urgent tone jolting everyone into action. Cuddy was given a harness and was assisted into it by a young rescuer who offered to carry her up the steep bank over his shoulder.
"Helicopter can't land here – power lines" the diver yelled across to the rest of the team as he pointed to some overhead lines; "We've got to get him up there" he pointed up the bridge, which was free of any obstacles. "Someone get me a stretcher down here - now!" Three of the team scrambled up the bank to sort out the transportation of the patient, leaving Wilson, a young rescuer and the diver alone with House.
"Monitor his vitals and strap him up, ready for the climb" the boss diver ordered; "You – you're a doctor, right?" Wilson nodded in reply, keeping his eyes on House. "You monitor him and he'll strap him up" he demanded, knowing full well that Wilson wouldn't hesitate in helping out.
Wilson carefully made his way over to where House was sprawled keeping his eyes firmly planted on his best friend for fear of missing something; getting closer, he winced as he saw the blood trailing down from the crook of House's elbow and pooling in the mud below.
Cursing, he ungracefully slid the rest of the way down the bank, yanking his tie off in the process. 'He can't afford to lose any blood right now…' he thought as he kneeled beside the ailing diagnostician and gently wrapped the tie around the wound; he was stunned when he felt a flinch at his actions.
"House?" he gasped elatedly, putting a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. The young rescuer was catching supplies being thrown down the bank, so Wilson kept talking, "Don't worry; we're getting you out of here soon-"
House agonisingly groaned in response, 'Wilson? What the hell is Wilson doing here?' he thought perplexedly, 'Oh shit…you're dead' he concluded, panic causing his breath to come in short gasps as he tried vainly to open his eyes.
"Whoa! Calm down – House! Listen to me, they're airlifting you out of here – just hang on…breathe for me" Wilson desperately tried to calm his friend down.
'Oh fuck…okay, maybe you're not dead – besides, Wilson wouldn't be a very good candidate as a guardian angel, too many cute angels to distract him' House's brain was whirring franticly as usual, 'Okay…you're wet, freezing and can't feel any pain – but you're not dead; definitely not dead...probably in Hypovolaemic shock, but still not dead – just breathe and keep awake; c'mon you idiot, you do it everyday of your bloody life – breathe and keep awake…'
"C-Cuddy?" House gasped after a minute of willing himself not to pass out again.
"She's fine – just got a fireman's lift up the bank by some young, good-looking emergency rescue person; I think she secretly enjoyed it" Wilson laughed nervously, keeping his hand on House's shoulder.
"You're freezing" he stated, pulling the small blanket tighter around the other man's body; "probably not doing you a lot of good wearing those drenched clothes, huh?" he asked rhetorically, testing to see if he could tear through House's flimsy t shirt.
When they'd pulled him out of the water, they had laid him out on a groundsheet and thrown a blanket over him; these were the only supplies they could safely carry down the steep bank – 'Gotta stop him from getting colder…' Wilson thought worriedly as he imagined the damage being done from House's muscles tensing up over his ribs as he shook uncontrollably.
Luckily, House's earlier fever had forced him to don the oldest, thinnest t shirt from his collection; Wilson was able to rip through it with no problems at all. He tore it off quickly, not wanting to keep his patient's body exposed to the cool air for longer than absolutely necessary; he must have sucked in a shocked breath at the sight of House's bruised flesh though because he looked up to find him, eyes closed tight in concentration, frowning slightly and trying to talk.
"That b-bad, huh?" House struggled with the words as his mouth frustratingly refused to listen to his brain, the cold slowing the communication process.
"You'll be fine once they get you to hospital…" Wilson replied quietly, not wanting to lie to his best friend by telling him that it was okay now, when it clearly wasn't. The ugly bruising was dangerously fresh and it was an unwelcome indicator of possibly more internal haemorrhaging…
TBC…