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House awoke due to the sound of high pitched whimpering and the trembling beside him. He opened his eyes, aware of the beginning sunrise casting a light hue over the area. Cuddy was sitting beside him, tears on her face, and shaking. House sat up and turned toward her.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
Cuddy clutched onto her arms and shook her head. "I don't feel well."
House's eyebrows drew together. "How long have you been shaking?"
"I don't know." Cuddy gave a shrug before a shiver ran down her spine.
"You should have woken me up," House told her.
"I didn't want to bother you," Cuddy replied.
House frowned and placed his hand to Cuddy's forehead, which burned against his skin. He then turned her face to get a better view of her stitched up cut by using the fire glow and the morning light. The area around the cut was swollen and red.
"Damn it," House cursed and then noticed the red discoloration to her neck.
Cuddy squirmed away from House as her shaking increased for a few seconds. House leaned forward and pulled at the collar of her windbreaker and the shirt underneath. He examined the skin underneath, which only further proved his theory by the spreading of the red rash.
House forced Cuddy to lie down on the airplane seats and lifted her clothes to reveal her abdomen and back, where there were light streaks of pink that ran under her skin due to the rash. House covered her back up.
"Is this like Singapore?" Cuddy asked him.
"No," House answered quietly.
Cuddy sat up and groaned. "It feels like Singapore."
"No," House told her. "It's real this time."
"I'm really sick?" Cuddy asked.
"Yeah," House answered. "You have an infection."
"The needle." Cuddy brought her hand to the tender area around her stitches.
"The needle was clean," House said. "It could have been anything. Maybe even walking around with the cut open for so long."
Cuddy squeezed her eyes shut as another set of shivers coursed through her body. "Make it stop. I want to stop shaking."
"Just rest, okay?" House tried to ease her back down.
"I can't." Cuddy forced herself to remain sitting upright. "I have to help people. The woman with the brain thing."
House frowned. "Cuddy, she died."
"What?" Cuddy shook her head and then looked around. "No... she's over there. I'll show you."
Cuddy tried to get up, completely ignoring the pain in her left ankle. House pulled on her to keep her down.
"Stay," he spoke as gently as he could. "You're delirious."
"Everything all right over there?" Mark's voice called out to them.
"No," House called back, his focus still on Cuddy.
Mark made his way over to House and Cuddy after watching the struggle between them. "Can I help?"
House glanced up at Mark. "You can wake up MacGyver and tell him we crashed where no one is looking for us."
"Wake who?" Mark's eyebrows drew together. "And what?"
"Dave," House clarified. "And our plane would have crashed in the ocean if we were flying to Newark. We must have went off course." House gave a nod to where Dave was sleeping. "Now, wake up MacGyver and figure out how we're going to get rescued because she needs medical treatment now."
"Are you fucking serious?" Mark stared at House "And you brought this up now because she's dying? What about the two we already lost?"
"Don't take me being an asshole out on her," House replied. "She's only been trying to help everyone since she came to, the least you could do is try to help her now that she needs it."
Mark looked over to Cuddy, who was trying to hold back her shaking as her face grew even paler. He let out a sigh.
"I'll wake Dave," Mark said and made his way toward the sleeping body.
House watched Mark walk away and then brought his eyes to Cuddy. "How are you doing?"
Cuddy swallowed hard as her stomach wrenched inside of her. "I'm going to be sick."
"Cuddy, you haven't even eaten anything," House told her.
Cuddy dry heaved over the edge of the seats, bringing the acidic taste of gastric juice mixed with saliva into her mouth. She spat at the ground before going into a coughing fit. House reached for the bowl of water and brought it to her.
When her coughing had subsided, House offered the water to her. Cuddy took a drink from it and handed the bowl back. She leaned her back against the plane cushions as tears fell from her eyes. House set the bowl aside and then helped Cuddy into resting on the seats again. He wiped the tears from her face.
"I don't want to be here," she said as she looked up at him.
"I know," House replied.
Cuddy closed her eyes and tears slipped from them. "I want to go home."
"It's okay." House brushed the hair from her face.
"No, I want to go home." Cuddy opened her eyes and locked them with House. "Please."
House gave a nod. "We'll get rescued."
"Promise?" Cuddy asked.
"Yeah," House answered and then diverted his eyes.
"What do you mean we crashed off course?" Dave called out as he stormed over to House and Cuddy with Mark trailing behind him.
House shrugged. "That's exactly it."
"Then where are we?" Dave demanded.
House reached for his stick. "I don't know."
Dave's eyes went to Cuddy. "What's wrong with Lisa?"
House forced himself to his feet. "She's sick and going to die if we don't get her to a hospital."
Dave brought his eyes back to House. "I don't know how I can help with that if I don't even know where we are."
"So, then what do we do?" Mark looked from Dave to House.
Dave let out a sigh. "We're going to have to tell everyone." He looked to House. "Are you sure we crashed off course?"
"If we didn't, wouldn't rescue have come by now?" House asked him.
Drawing in a breath, Dave looked over to the other survivors who were still asleep. His eyes lingered on the man with the broken leg. Dave turned back to House and Mark.
"We need to find a way to contact someone," Dave told them. "Maybe we could go out, try to find a signal on the cell phones with battery life still left. Or explore the wreckage for anything that could get us noticed. Flares or something."
"We're going to need food, too," Mark added.
Dave gave a nod. "Okay."
"I can take Jon with me and we can look for any high places to try and get a phone signal," Mark offered.
"Yeah," Dave agreed. "That's good. Jon needs to get away from here and get some space from this. We'll get Chris and Bill to dig through luggage for food and I'll go into the plane."
House cleared his throat. "Anything I can, uh... do?"
Dave and Mark both stared at House, not believing that he had just volunteered himself to their service.
"I could use someone with me in the wreckage if you can get around with your leg." Dave gave a small shrug.
"I can," House replied.
"Okay." Dave looked to Mark and then back at House. "I'll go wake the group."
Dave turned and left with Mark walking alongside of him. House looked down at Cuddy, who was breathing rapidly as she was spread out on her side. House knelt carefully down beside her, trying not to hurt his thigh.
"Hey..." House placed his hand on her shoulder.
Cuddy opened her eyes and looked at him.
"Things are going to be all right," House assured her. "I'll get you home."