CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO – The Next 24 Hours
A moan escaped his lips as he fought to take a breath, but to him it sounded more like a muffled groan, or was it that his ears were just ringing so loud all sound was distorted? With his eyes closed he mentally took in what body parts he could feel and which ones he couldn't feel.
All ten fingers and all ten toes moved – check.
Wrists and ankles work – check.
Head – tight, hard to move, hurt.
A sharp pain shot through the back of his head and migrated down his shoulders into his back. He realized he had the worst headache he'd ever had in his entire life. He tried to swallow but something prevented him from doing so. He tried to open his eyes but they wouldn't move. He moaned again, this time louder than he'd done before.
He felt something on his forearm but couldn't tell what it was. The pressure would intensify then something let out a brief hiss, the pressure released and all was back to feeling like a forearm should feel. It dawned on him that it was the automatic blood pressure cuff that took his pressure every five minutes.
He heard his name being called yet it sounded so far away. Slowly the voice became louder and he fought with all his might to respond.
"Don't swallow. You have a breathing tube in. Don't try to talk," the voice said. To House it sounded like a chipmunk, but the more they spoke the voice became more recognizable. Wilson. It was Wilson.
"Try to open your eyes, House. Come on, you can do it." That second sentence ticked House off, though he didn't know why. 'Oh, I remember. Stuart Little…no, Tony Little, that weight lifter guru guy, as annoying as he is…GET OUTTA MY…'you can DOOOO it!'
"House, open your eyes. Move your fingers again if you can hear me." That was a second voice, one which he recognized right away. It was Cuddy.
Slowly he wiggled his right thumb then kept it at the 'thumbs up' position, indicating he was okay. He moaned again and started to choke. Cuddy immediately removed the tube from his throat and wiped his chin of a little blood from the back of his throat (that was normal).
"Greg, get some sleep," Cuddy told him as she lovingly rubbed his left cheek.
He wanted to ask how Kathi was but he still couldn't talk. He remembered something strange regarding seeing her in some weird, 60's acid hallucination but he shrugged it off to all the drugs he'd taken.
He still hadn't opened his eyes. He tried to smile. He thought he had smiled, but he didn't. He slowly drifted off to sleep again.
HOUSE MD HOUSE MD HOUSE MD
Down the hall in the I.C.U., Kathi was also hooked up to monitors that kept track of her vital signs, but was on many more than House was. She'd come out of the surgery in one piece, although worse for wear. Her blood pressure had stayed at a lower reading than the doctors cared to see it, yet her bleeding was under control. She was still out from the anesthesia which was acceptable to her doctors.
Her condition was critical, but guarded. The next 24 hours would determine exactly how she would be.