"Hadley, the ten year old with the fractured tibia was moved to Peds, right?" asked the head of the ER.

"I took her fifteen minutes ago," Remy assured him. She shuffled some papers littering the nurses' station, then held up a manila folder. "File?"

"Oh, of course. Thank you." The flustered doctor was already rushing off. Rain always brought in plenty of car accidents, and tonight's storm was no exception.

Remy took a breath and rubbed her temples. She could barely see straight, but it was just a headache. She closed her eyes and tried to convince herself it couldn't be a side effect of the new drug - she'd been in this third clinical trial for almost six months. New symptoms wouldn't just pop up now. Not this time, she thought. No one here to sabotage this in the name of love. Suddenly the doors from the ambulance bay burst open and she jumped, glad for the distraction.

"Male, early fifties, no ID," barked one of the paramedics wheeling the stretcher. Another who was dabbing the man's face with antiseptic gauze moved to the side, giving Remy her first glimpse of the man's face. She fought the urge to gasp - the angry red burns left almost no skin behind. "In and out of consciousness, incoherent. We found him off I-425 by a motorcycle with an exploded gas tank."

"BP is dropping, heart rate 60," a nurse called as she set up the machine.

"Rem, a little help," gasped the EMT pushing the stretcher in. Stephen was one of her closest friends at the hospital.

Remy quickly began chest compressions, keeping his blood circulating. "Any major bleeding?" she asked, not wanting to make it worse. At her voice so close, the man's eyes opened for a moment. The pain snapped them shut quickly, but he struggled to see again.

"Nothing major, just the burns." Suddenly he began to gasp silently, mouth opening and closing.

"Breathing trouble!" she called.

Another nurse checked his oxygen stats, then pushed Remy out of the way for a moment to listen to his chest. "It's not lungs or throat. He's just in pain."

"He's got third degree burns over his head, neck, arms, and one leg; of course he's in pain," snapped another paramedic.

"We need to stabilize him before giving him anything," Remy pointed out. "We don't have his records." The nurse nodded - she knew as well as anyone that he could have an allergy, or a reaction with something he was already taking. "Damn! Will you hold him down, Stephen?" He was squirming and thrashing as she tried to insert his IV. "Listen, I need you to lie still." She addressed him directly, not expecting a response from someone in so much pain, but surprisingly he stopped moving immediately. As soon as she got the needle in, though, he reached out and seemed to be trying to speak. All she could hear was rasping breaths, but she could guess what he wanted. "We'll get you something for the pain in just a moment," she tried to assure him.

Remy turned away as another nurse handed her a morphine bag. She quickly inserted the tube into the port, hastened by the man's scratchy whispers. Then she heard it, and froze. "Thirteen..."

"We're getting you some meds right now," Stephen told him. "Just try to relax."

"Thirteen." Louder this time, and crystal clear, although she still stood facing away from him.

Stephen heard it too. "Thirteen what?" But the patient's eyes focused past him on the doctor's back.

Again, "Thirteen." Finally she turned, and with sudden urgency, stepped close to the bed. No...you IDIOT! Riding a bike in this weather, going too fast, slid off the road, no ID...She couldn't be sure, until he opened his eyes once more. Though the rest of his face was burned beyond recognition, the ice blue orbs were unchanged.

"You idiot!" she said, out loud this time. Stephen looked up, shocked by her outburst. "What the hell were you doing on your bike tonight, and way up here?" Then a thought occurred to her. "Is your goddamn leg okay?" She whipped back the sheet and tugged up the hospital gown he'd been covered in at some point during the chaos. How had she not seen this when they cut off his jeans? Fresh burns covered the old scar, and by the looks of it the fire had eaten away new flesh in some places.

"Leg's fine..." he breathed, then his head dropped back to his pillow.

"House!" Monitors began to beep around her and nurses rushed over, but his eyes opened again.

"Amber," he rasped as they prepared to intubate.

What? "No, it's Thirteen. Stay with me, House."

The nurses moved in, but he pushed them away. "Amber." He was insistent, almost scared.

"Cutthroat Bitch?" Although some would think the name was a disrespectful way to refer to a dead person, House's ex-team knew Amber would consider it an honor.

House nodded slightly as his eyes rolled back and closed.

"Remy? What the hell is going on here?" Stephen was bewildered, but she ignored him, cursing to herself. Think. She tried to take herself back to the days as House's duckling. Think, Thirteen. Anything Amber could have to do with this...Wilson? Why wouldn't he just say Wilson if he wanted me to call him? Unless he meant something about Amber's death. He thinks we won't be able to save him? But he's not unidentified anymore like she was...there's no mystery here, just a bike crash. Amber died in a bus crash...but not really IN the bus crash. Her eyes widened as the realization swept through her. Amber would have been fine, except for the drugs she took right before impact. Amber died because no one knew her kidney damage left sky-high amounts of flu medicine to rampage through her body. Oh God, House...

She blinked, looking at Stephen. "We need to get him on dialysis." Grabbing the nearest nurse, she repeated her order.

"Why?" they asked, almost in unison.

"He's a burn victim. His kidneys could be damaged from the crash, but he'll be fine for a few hours till we stabilize him." The nurse looked exasperated.

"He's a drug addict," she said, not taking time to explain how she knew. "Vicodin. If he got his fix before he got on that motorcycle - which believe me, he did - it'll kill him because his kidneys can't filter it out." Stephen and the three nurses who were listening by this time stared almost blankly. "Do it!" They snapped into action, not willing to counter the attending doctor.

Praying she was right, Remy backed out of the chaos and leaned heavily against the nurses' station. As soon as she was sure her orders were being followed, she took a step backward, then turned and bolted down the stairs.

Please review! Next chapters under construction =)