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House stared down at Cuddy. She was on her back on the airplane seats, her breathing rapid. The sun was up, but the air was still cool. House lifted his head and took a look around, taking in the moment, the situation.
The little boy, Joshua, was being led by the woman with long brown hair into the woods. House couldn't recall the woman's name, but he heard her mention taking the boy to the stream. The recent widow was sitting in front of a fire, staring at the flames as tears slid down her cheeks. House hadn't heard her speak once.
Mark and Jon were still off on their adventure with the cell phones. Dave was helping Bill and Chris to find food and any medications from the wreckage around the plane. The man with the broken leg was sleeping fitfully and, thinking of Cuddy's words, House had slipped him a few more Vicodin to try and help.
The exploration into the airplane had been somewhat fruitful. Dave recovered a flare gun with three flares. He also found a walkie talkie with battery power left, but it didn't pick up any signals. House, on the other hand, had been digging through suitcases, but he couldn't find anything useful. He managed to recover two flashlights, but they wouldn't serve as any help to Cuddy.
House turned his attention back to Cuddy. He knelt down carefully beside her and set his walking stick aside. House reached two fingers out and felt Cuddy's pulse, which was much faster than it should have been. He then examined the stitched cut on her face, which had swollen to a larger size.
"How is she?"
Turning slightly, House looked up to see Dave standing behind him. "Not well."
"What's wrong with her?" Dave asked. "She was fine before."
"She has sepsis," House answered.
Dave noticed the red color on Cuddy's neck which further expanded underneath her clothes. "Is she going to die?"
"She'll go into septic shock." House's voice was hard, emotionless. "Have multiple organ failure."
Dave's eyebrows drew together. "How... how long?"
"She has a fever and a high heart rate," House said. "She hasn't had any urine output which means her kidneys are already failing." House turned and looked up at Dave. "And she's having trouble breathing. It all depends. A day. Maybe."
"When Mark and Jon get back, we'll make a new plan," Dave told him. "We'll see if there is a good place to shoot off the flares. We'll figure something else out."
"Yeah." House looked back at Cuddy.
"Do you have family, Dr. House?" Dave asked, finding that House wasn't as bad as he first seemed. "Wife or kids?"
"No," House answered.
Dave brought his eyes to Cuddy. "What about Lisa?"
"No." House shook his head.
"Jon lost his wife and three kids in the crash," Dave said. "I don't have anybody. I can't imagine losing the one you loved like this, you know? That woman, Annalise, has been taking it hard."
"Yeah." House just wanted Dave to shut up and go away.
"Hey, we found some things," Chris announced as he approached and brushed some dark hair from his eyes.
Bill followed behind him, a shirt tied together with the found items inside. He dropped the shirt to the ground while Dave and Chris knelt down to untie it.
"Any medication?" House asked.
"Cough medicine, indigestion stuff, and Advil," Bill counted off the medications as he pulled the bottles from his pocket.
House let out a sigh, none of the drugs all that helpful. He extended a hand. "I'll take the Advil."
Bill handed the bottle of Advil to him.
"We found granola bars," Chris said. "And a few bottles of water. And peanuts from the plane."
Bill looked around. "Mark and Jon aren't back yet?"
"Not yet." Dave stood to his feet. "We'll pass out the granola bars. There's enough for everyone to get one." Dave picked up two and extended them to House. "Here."
House took the two bars and gave a nod. "Thanks."
Chris gathered the remaining items and carried them over toward Annalise and the man with the broken leg while Dave followed after him. Bill remained by House, his eyes on Cuddy.
"She doesn't look well," Bill commented and wiped sweat from his balding head.
"She isn't," House replied.
"I'll pray for her," Bill assured House and went to join Dave and Chris.
House watched Bill walk away before turning back to Cuddy. He tore open one of the granola bars and scooted closer to Cuddy. Gently, he shook her shoulder.
"Cuddy..." House tried to wake her.
Cuddy's eyebrows drew together, but she kept her eyes closed. "Are we home?"
"No," House answered her.
Cuddy opened her eyes and squinted against the bright sun. She turned onto her side, facing House.
"I have some food," House told her.
House tore off a piece of the soft granola bar. Cuddy stared at him, a frown on her face and slightly confused.
"What?" she asked him.
"Here." House pushed the piece of granola bar into her mouth.
Cuddy spit the food from her mouth and it bounced along the seat until it landed on the ground next to House's leg. House looked from rejected piece of food to Cuddy.
An expression of annoyance crossed over his face. "What the hell did you do that for?"
"I don't want it." Cuddy turned onto her back and closed her eyes against the sun.
House frowned at her. "You have to eat."
"No, I'm fine," Cuddy replied. "I just want to go to bed."
"Cuddy." House nudged Cuddy with the granola bar. "You need to eat this."
"No," she whined. "It's dry. My mouth... No."
"Please," House asked of her. "For me."
Cuddy let out another whine. House placed the granola bar back in its wrapper and set it on the airplane seats along with his granola bar. House opened the Advil and shook two pills into his palm. He lifted the bowl of water and extended both the pills and the water to Cuddy.
"Take these then," he told her. "They'll take your fever down."
Cuddy forced herself to sit up as she opened her eyes. She took the pills from him and put them in her mouth before taking a drink from the bowl.
House took the bowl from her and set it on the ground. "Now, will you try to eat?"
He picked up her granola bar and extended it to her. Cuddy shook her head as she bent over and threw up the water and the Advil. House stared at her a moment.
"Okay..." House said. "Eat this and then take the Advil."
"Sorry," she mumbled an apology to him and took the granola bar.
Cuddy bit into the granola bar and chewed it. She felt nauseous still and she just wanted to spit it out. Cuddy stopped chewing. She couldn't bring herself to swallow so she took another bite of the granola bar.
House watched her, but Cuddy didn't seem to take notice. Now, her mouth was full of granola, none of which Cuddy was planning on swallowing. She looked over to House, the last bit of her granola bar in her hand.
"You gonna swallow it?" House asked and Cuddy shook her head. He kept his eyes on her. "You need to eat something."
Cuddy shook her head again. Her mouth was too full and she felt her stomach lurch. House saw the warning sign.
"Cuddy, swallow," House commanded of her.
She felt her stomach heave and she leaned over the seats as she began to cough. House let out an aggravated sigh as Cuddy spit out the granola.
House decided to forgo the food and set out to get Cuddy to take the Advil again. Cuddy sat back against the seats as she wiped her mouth with her windbreaker sleeve. House shook another two Advil from the bottle and placed them in Cuddy's hand. He then offered the water to her.
"Try to keep them down."
Cuddy placed the pills in her mouth and washed them down with water. House took the bowl from her as she rested down on the airplane seats and curled up on her side. House set the bowl down and examined the cut on Cuddy's face again. She flinched away from him.
"When are we getting home?" she asked him quietly between heavy breaths as she tried to keep her nausea at bay.
"Soon," he told her just as quietly. "We're going to get home soon."