Author's note: This is it! The last chapter!! There will be an epilogue then this will be done. Please, if you've been reading this but haven't reviewed, give me your opinion. I know there were many things that I messed up in this story, but I do hope it was entertaining. I have a bunch of thank you's to make in the epilogue.

CHAPTER 32

Robert and Eric were in the back of the ambulance with Allison. She had, amid protests, allowed herself to be put on a gurney and taken to PPTH in the ambulance. Robert was trying to get House back on the phone but the infuriating man wouldn't answer. He felt dread building in the pit of his stomach. He'd worked with his boss long enough to realize that if Sera had been okay, House would have made some crude joke or comment. The lack of snark worried him…a lot. He sat next to Eric, chewing on his thumbnail and willing the ambulance to go faster.

Eric held onto Allison's hand as the ambulance drove on. He leaned over and said to her, "Allison, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry he was able to get to you. I…" Allison cut him off. "Eric, it wasn't your fault…" Eric put a finger over her lips to silence her.

"Shh, let me finish. Over the past few months, we've just started to get back on an even keel. When I heard you screaming on the phone, all I could think about was the incident with the article, what I said to you afterwards, and what I did to you when I was sick…" Allison interrupted again. "Eric, don't…" She stopped when she saw the look he gave her.

"No, I need to say this. I know we've covered it already and I know you forgave me. But I really just need to tell you again. You are a special and valued friend to me and I don't know what I would have done if this situation had turned out differently. I regret that I hurt you, I apologize for putting you in danger those months ago when I was sick, and I'm really sorry that I wasn't able to prevent what happened to you yesterday."

Eric squeezed her hand gently. Allison started crying again and leaned her cheek against his hand. Robert, watching them, rolled his eyes and muttered, "Good Lord" before flipping open his phone and trying to call House again. He saw that they had arrived at PPTH and were pulling into the ambulance bay behind another ambulance that had just arrived.

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House pulled his motorcycle around the ambulance and parked off to the side of the Emergency Department entrance. He unclipped his cane and hurried over to the ambulance. His heart stopped when he saw the ER doors burst open and a group of doctors and nurses rush over to the vehicle. As the EMT's pulled Sera quickly out of the ambulance, House noticed that the knife was gone. He pushed his way through the other medical personnel to get to the gurney. "What the hell…!" House started shouting at the EMT, who cut him off as they all hurried into the building. "She crashed on the way in…we had to remove the knife to get her back, but apparently it had nicked an artery…she's bleeding internally, we've got to get her transfused!"

They reached one of the trauma rooms and headed in. House hung back, letting the other doctors into the room. He saw them all rushing around Sera, and in the few moments he looked at her before the door swung shut, he swore he saw Sera open her eyes and give him a wink. The door closed all the way and he shook his head, doubting what he had just seen. House heard footsteps running up behind him and turned to see Robert approaching him, his face pale.

Robert had just hopped out of the ambulance in time to see Sera being whisked quickly into the E.D. and House rushing after her. He had been about to run after them, but had to stop for a precious moment to help Eric down. He left the neurologist with Allison and sprinted after House and Sera.

"House, what's going on? How's Sera?" House looked at Robert's panicky face and turned and slowly started walking towards the physician's lounge. His leg was throbbing from all of the activity over the past day and especially from his little semi-sprint into the E.D. just now. Although his leg was ten times better than it was before the shooting and the ketamine, he had definitely been overdoing it over the past 24 hours. Robert followed him. He wanted to jump on House and shake him until he spilled the info about Sera, but the intensivist could see how pronounced House's limp had become and had seen his grimace of pain when he turned towards the lounge. So he bit down on his questions and followed his boss.

House went into the lounge, which was thankfully empty. He sank into an armchair with a sigh and pulled out his cell phone. "I'm going to call Cuddy down here so I don't have to repeat myself." Robert glared at him and stalked over to the door. "Well, I'm going to go find out for myself what the hell is going on since you won't tell me!" He jerked open the door.

House sat up. "Damn, I don't feel like chasing after this boy right now", he thought grumpily before shouting, "Robert! Stop!!" Robert stopped just outside the door, more from the deeply ingrained habit of listening to House rather than any real desire to follow his order. He turned back to the older man and said, "Well?"

House gestured for him to come in. Robert did, albeit reluctantly. "Look, Chase, Sera is in critical condition. You do NOT need to distract anyone by barging in that room demanding answers. I know you want to know everything that went down. I also know that Sera's best friend also wants to know. I was there when it happened and it wasn't particularly a joy ride, so I'd rather not have to repeat myself. Let me call Cuddy and she'll be running down here in her stilettos and bouncing boobs faster than you can say "two dollar hooker". I'll explain everything, okay?"

Robert hesitated a moment then nodded. As House dialed the number, he said to Robert, "This might be a good time to call in a favor from the big guy, you know." Robert looked at him in confusion and House rolled his eyes and pointed up. Cuddy apparently answered the phone, because he began to speak quietly into the phone. His words left Robert feeling more anxious than he already did. If House of all people was telling him to pray, then things were worse than he thought. He sat down on another chair in the lounge and proceeded to follow his boss's advice.

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"Apparently, she crashed on the way in, so they had to remove the knife to revive her. The EMT said that an artery was nicked…I don't know if it happened when they removed the knife or if the damage was done when Dumas stabbed her. They were going to give her a transfusion, since she was apparently bleeding out. I saw Hopkins headed towards her room. He'll probably want to do a thoracostomy. That's it…that's all I know." House leaned back in the chair. It had been surprisingly difficult telling the story. He didn't realize the horror he had felt when he saw Sera get struck with the knife until he had to retell the story to his equally horrified audience. The room was pretty much full. He had called Cuddy, who had Wilson and Donna in her office with her. On the way down, they ran into the FBI agents, who came with them. Eric had come in a few minutes into House's story. House had paused when he entered, raising an eyebrow at him. Eric had simply said, "Allison's okay." House had nodded and continued his story.

Now he was exhausted. He looked around the room. Lisa was being supported by Chase, who himself looked like he was about to faint. Everyone else looked both shocked and saddened by everything that had happened. David was plain ole' mad. He had been pacing during House's story, but when he got to the part where she coded in the ambulance, he had punched a good sized dent right in the wall. Fortunately, it was drywall, so his hand didn't really suffer any damage, other than a few scrapes. David had seemed slightly abashed when he saw Mitch frowning at him. The younger FBI agent was now sitting on the sofa, leaning forward, a bandage on his hand, and his head being supported by his hands.

House looked over at Mitch. "Any word on Carmela?" Mitch shook his head. "I have every agent here in Princeton looking for her. I don't know how she got so far with the injury she apparently sustained." House put his head back and closed his eyes. "She's always been tougher than she appeared." Mitch had no response for that and the room became quiet, everyone lost in their thought while waiting for news on Sera.

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The events of the previous hours began to take their toll as one by one the occupants of the room drifted off to sleep, with the exception of Mitch, Robert, and House. Robert was leaning back on the sofa, Lisa's head in his lap as she snored softly. He felt a gaze on him and turned to see House staring at Lisa. He smiled softly and pulled his jacket up around Lisa's shoulders. "She loves you, you know", he said softly. House snorted. "Yeah, right. No one loves me." Mitch spoke up from his position in a chair by the door. "If you believe that, you're an idiot." House glanced over at Mitch then back to Robert. "If she loves me so much, why doesn't she say something?" "Why don't you?", retorted Robert. "It's obvious that you feel the same way. Or are you scared that she might actually make you happy?" House was about to give a scathing reply when the door opened and Dr. Hopkins walked in.

The sound of the door opening, while not loud, had the effect of an alarm clock. Nearly everyone woke up immediately and got to their feet. Eric leaned over and gave David, who was sprawled in the chair next to him, a tap to wake him up. Within seconds, everyone was up and crowding around Dr. Hopkins. Lisa spoke first. "Ian, how is she?" Ian Hopkins sighed and shook his head slightly. Robert felt his heart drop to somewhere near the soles of his shoes.

"It doesn't look good, Dr. Cuddy, everyone. Basically, the knife lacerated a brachiocephalic branch of the aorta, leading to hemothorax. That was a very good call you made, Dr. House, to leave the knife in. Had it been removed, she'd be dead now. We did a tube thoracostomy, using two tubes, and withdrew 1200 ml of blood right away. We repaired the damage to the blood vessel and some other minor lacerations and evacuated the hemothorax. All indications are that the chest injury will heal just fine, provided we stay on top of things, continue with CT scans to monitor clots and keep an eye out for infections to prevent empyema."

Lisa asked what they all were thinking. "So what part of that doesn't look good?" Ian looked down. "We lost her twice, brought her back both times. Because of the hemothorax, she became severely hypoxic. She also went into v-tach. The last time she left us, we had difficulty bringing her back. A lot of difficulty. She wasn't getting any air…at all. After 3 and a half minutes, I was going to stop, but… I had to try one more time." Hopkins rubbed his hand over his face, hating what he was going to have to say. "She was without oxygen for just under 5 minutes. She's alive, but I don't know what condition she'll be in when she wakes up…if she wakes up."

Robert spoke up. "What do you mean, if she wakes up?" Dr. Hopkins looked at Eric. "We have her hooked to an EEG. She kicking out TWs." Eric blanched and House bit his lip, looking down. Mitch looked around at all of the doctors. "What?! What the hell are TWs?" Eric put a hand on Mitch's shoulder and told him. "TWs are triphasic waves. That indicates that she may be in a coma."

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Four hours later, Robert was in the room with Sera. Everyone had been taking turns in the room with Sera, but the ICU doctor finally had enough and kicked everyone else out, including Dr. Cuddy. Robert had given them the key to Sera's place and sent them home to get rest, although he doubted they'd go. They, like he, were determined to stay until Sera opened her eyes. He picked up her hand, which normally looked so skilled and capable and now looked delicate and frail. He kissed the palm of her hand and brushed some of the hair out of her eyes.

"I guess we all underestimated what that sshole could do, didn't we? He won't be able to bother you any more. You can finally go back to being Serenity. I've come to love Sera a great deal, and I'm positive I'll love Serenity, too." Robert stopped for a moment when the tears threatened to choke him up. He held her hand up to his cheek, letting his tears fall over her fingers. "You are, without a doubt, the strongest, bravest, most intelligent and beautiful woman I have ever known." Robert became choked up again. "I don't…I don't know what I'll do if I lose you. My…life….it was empty…before I met you, I wasn't whole. You…you have become my everything and I can't…can't…" Robert couldn't go on and he laid his head on the bed and wept.

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House watched from the doorway of the room. As soon as he had seen the ICU doctor go into another room, he had made his way back to Sera's room. He could see Robert's shoulders shaking and knew he was sobbing. He watched Sera carefully. If this were a movie, this would be the part where she lifted her hand and placed it on his head. Minutes passed and there was no movement from the bed. House watched for a few more minutes and sighed. Apparently, Chase's God wasn't passing out miracles today. After watching them for another 5 minutes, he realized that Chase had gone to sleep with his head on Sera's bed. He quietly went into the room, snagging a blanket from the closet in the room. He gently placed the blanket over Chase's…Robert's…shoulders. He let his hand rest on Robert's shoulder for a moment then turned around and made his way down the slightly dimmed halls of the ICU.