House was numb as he made his way slowly down to the recovery room, his limp far more pronounced than usual but he didn't even seem to notice the pain. All he was aware of was the deep ache in his heart. The pain he felt when Stacey left not long after his infarction was nothing compared to how he was feeling now.
He soon found himself outside the recovery room, looking through the glass door and seeing Cameron in the bed at the far end of the room. He was relieved to see there was no one else in the room and so, after taking a deep breath and preparing himself for the sight of her, he entered and slowly made his way down to her bed. Even though he had tried to ready himself the way she looked still caught him off guard and he found himself with a lump in his throat at the sight of his beautiful Allison Cameron lying in a hospital bed. His cerulean eyes took in her appearance; her usually flawless ivory skin was dotted with cuts and bruises, she had a bandage wrapped tight around her head and as House studied her he was mildly relieved to see the surgeons did not have to cut her hair. His gaze travelled down to her left arm, which was now encased in a cast and was resting on a pillow. His eyes flicked downward to her left leg, which was fully encased in a blue fibreglass cast and was elevated to avoid too much pressure being put on it. He looked back up towards her torso, mentally imagining what he would find if he were look: a bruise across her body from the seatbelt doing its job as well as bruises where her ribs are along with a bandage around her midriff from where the surgeons had to repair the internal bleeding. He sighed heavily, having never felt more helpless in his entire life.
He pulled his gaze away from her when he heard voices outside, before hearing his other two ducklings enter the room and coming to stand at Cameron's bedside, Foreman on her left, Chase on her right. Chase picked up her limp hand and clasped it tightly in his before looking at House and in a trembling voice asking him "how is she? What happened?"
House found himself clenching at the sight of Chase touching his Allison as if they were in a relationship, but he thought about Allison and forced himself to calm down before replying in a voice devoid of emotion: "she's in a coma. She was in a car accident."
Chase sniffed dramatically and tightened his grip on Cameron's hand, causing House to tighten his grip on his cane. Foreman said nothing; he just looked sadly at his injured friend and colleague and silently willed her to wake up. The silence between the three men in the room was deafening and just as House was about to make a comment a nurse quietly came up to him and said in a gentle and tentative voice "Dr House? We will be moving her up to ICU in a few moments."
Instead of snarking at her, House merely gave her a slight nod and she left as quietly as she had entered, and once she shut the door to the recovery room behind her, decided against telling the other nurses that the misanthropic Dr Gregory House does have a heart after all.
The remaining two ducklings and House watched as she was moved from the recovery room up to the ICU. They waited restlessly before being told they could see her and all of them jumped at the opportunity. Despite the fact that she is in a coma, the three men still enter her room quietly, as if afraid to disturb her. House can't help but feel slightly perturbed as to why Chase and Foreman were there but he quickly pushed that feeling to the back of his mind as he focused his gaze on Cameron, his eyes softening as he does.
After an extended period of silence from the three men Foreman breaks it by asking "has her family been told?" Like House, he hated feeling helpless and was itching to do something without seeming indifferent.
In a sad voice Chase replied "she has no family. Both her parents are dead and she is an only child."
Silence stretched throughout the room again, but it is soon broken by Chase's pager going off. He looks down at the message and scowls "I have to go and do clinic duty." He moves away from Cameron, giving her one last lingering look before disappearing out the door. Foreman hovered, unsure of what to do before his mind is made up for him by House telling him "go join him" in a tone of voice that suggests he shouldn't argue. Foreman merely nods his head and bolts out the door, leaving House and Cameron alone.
House pulled the chair that was in the corner of the room right up to the right side of her bed so he could hold her hand, his thumb rubbing her knuckles gently. "Please wake up Cameron," he chokes out before leaning down and resting his forehead on her hand, too scared to touch her anywhere else lest he hurt her. At this point he didn't care who saw him, he just needed to see her beautiful eyes and her dazzling smile again and he was prepared to stay at her bedside for as long as it took.
A/N: review, you know you want to!