Chapter 24
"Are you gonna be okay, Daddy?!" shouted Abby. Auddy looked at her as if to say, 'Are you kidding.' Alysa continued to giggle at her ignorant sisters. As always, House continued with his story without answering any of their questions.
House was laying in his hospital bed when Stacey ran into the room.
"Oh Greg..." she sat down by his bedside, "Are you okay?!"
"Well," he started, "You were there..."
Dr. Mathiessen walked in. "Hi, I'm Dr. Mathiessen." She introduced herself to Stacey. "You were with House when this happened? When his leg started hurting?"
Stacey nodded. "Everything was fine, and then, nothing was fine... He just got a shooting pain in his leg." She looked back at her boyfriend. Was he going to be alright?
Dr. Mathiessen wrote down notes in House's chart. "Thanks," she said without looking up. She walked out of the room, "I'll let Cuddy know you're here."
"Greg," Stacey said grimly, "What's wrong with you?"
House stared down at his leg. "I don't know."
Stacey was discouraged. House ALWAYS knew what was wrong...
"It'll be okay," he said.
She forced a smile while one, maybe two, tears slid down her face.
Dr. Mathiessen walked back in. "We're going to need to insert a catheder," she said calmly.
"Shouldn't I be getting an anesth-" he was cut off by shooting pains 'down there'.
"We're worried about allergic reactions today," she winked and exited the room.
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The night found House asleep in his bed, peeing blood, urine, and waste. Mathiessen just stared at him through the glass wall. She had no idea what was wrong with him. All she knew was that for some sick reason he could handle a catheder and no anesthetics, he had trauma somewhere, and that his kidneys were shutting down. How in the world did this relate to his leg?!
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Three days later, after a lot of pain, Mathiessen walked into House's room. She apologized. She had no clue what was wrong with him, at all.
House did, know, however. Cuddy walked in and stood beside Mathiessen as House began his explanation. "Mioglobin is toxic to the kidneys. Muscle death leaks migolobin."
Mathiessen's head shot down. Of course! How did she miss that?!
"Dr. House," started Cuddy, "I'm so sorry. I'll personally look over your case from here on out." She glanced at Mathiessen who now left the room, chin down. How did she miss an infarction?! House noticed this, but didn't comment.
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After plenty of tests, Cuddy finally confronted House.
"The infarction has caused muscle death."
"Duh."
Cuddy frowned, "Because of the extent, we can go in and remove the clot, but we may need to remove the leg."
"You're not taking my leg."
"House... I..."
"It's my leg. Just get the clot and get out," retorted House.
Cuddy frowned and walked out of the room, followed by Stacey.
"Once he's under..." began Stacey, "I get to make his decisions, right?"
Cuddy stared at her.
"I mean, I'm his proxy..."
"Yes, technically," said Cuddy, "but he's made it clear that --"
"I don't care!" said Stacey, "He's not going to die because he's too stubborn to remove his leg."
"There is... a middle ground..." said Cuddy biting her lip.
"Greg's not big on middle grounds."
"I know..." finished Stacey.
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The next day, after enduring a chemically enduced coma, a cardiac arrest, a near-death experience, and surgery on his leg, House woke up. He was happy to see his leg, but very unhappy at how it looked. Along his thigh was a large scar.
"Stacey!" he shouted, and she walked in the room with coffee.
"Greg...!" she sat down, excited to see him awake.
"What did you do?" he said bluntly, sadly, and surprised.
"Greg, I thought it was best..."
"What?"
"You still have your leg, but now there's no risk... I..."
"I'll be in pain the rest of my life!"
"Greg... I..."
House didn't respond to anything she had to say. Over the next few weeks, he barely even saw her, talked to her. Every time he did see her, he expressed anger until she'd finally had enough. He'd pushed her away for too long. She couldn't take it. She left, leaving Greg alone to deal with his leg forever more.