"Where's House?" Chase asked as he, Cameron, and Foreman entered the hospital room in which Wilson was sleeping twenty-seven minute and fifty-four seconds after House and Cuddy had left.
"With Cuddy at her ultrasound," Cameron replied, setting the equipment she was holding on a sterile tray next to Wilson's bed.
"Cuddy's pregnant?" Foreman questioned, doing the same.
"Yep. It's the talk of the hospital," Cameron confirmed. "I thought everyone knew. It's Princeton's biggest scandal since House and Wilson got together…officially."
"Did any of the rumor spreading nurses happen to mention who the father is?" Foreman continued.
"Why guilty conscious? Or are you jealous? Chase asked jokingly.
"I'm curious," Foreman replied defensively.
"They don't know for sure, but they've got quite a pool going," Cameron explained.
"Whose in the lead?" Chase questioned.
"Wilson's got the most votes. House is in second."
"Of course," Chase rolled his eyes.
"Why do you say that?" Cameron wondered aloud.
"Think about it. If you wanted to have a baby with no commitment required, who would be the first person you'd ask?" Chase dramatically indicated Wilson with his arms. "Your gay best friends!"
"The assumption that there would be no strings attached because they're gay is extremely faulty logic," Cameron replied. "Being gay does not hinder their ability to love a child that they fathered."
"All right, I'll give you that, and I'll put fifty dollars on House as the father," Chase smirked.
"What? Why?" asked the now confused Cameron. Chase put up one finger before answering.
"Gay best friend," he began, then raised his second finger as well. "Hates kids."
"More like hates everyone," Cameron argued.
"This conversation is getting way too weird for me," Foreman interrupted. "Can we just get this done so we can start as soon as House gets back?" Chase and Cameron said nothing but continued preparing their equipment. "Thank you."
Meanwhile, House was in the best mood he'd been in for weeks. He was practically skipping down the hallway, humming a tune he couldn't name. It was catchy though, so he didn't mind. He'd have to look up the name of the song later. When Wilson was better.
"So I hear Dr. Fairy's back as a patient again," House heard a masculine voice say from the room he was walking past.
"Yep. I guess he should have stuck with the ladies. This homo thing isn't working out too well for him," it was a woman's voice this time. House stopped to listen, peering around the doorway to see two nurses inside arranging a bed for an incoming patient. Cringing, House immediately recognized the woman as the clumsy nurse from the hallway who'd nearly run him down all those weeks ago.
"You don't have to tell me. How many times is the guy gonna have to go to the brink of death before he figures out how unnatural and disgusting he is. I mean, doesn't he realize God's trying to tell him something?" the male nurse asked. The woman gave a short laugh.
"I doubt it. Super Gimp probably brainwashed him or something. Everyone knows what a bastard that man can be." It was the man's turn to laugh now.
"Yeah, I almost feel sorry for the faggot. But he had it coming. Messing around with another man? I tell ya, Lucy, things like that should be illegal." House could feel the anger rising in his stomach, but he held still. This conversation was too interesting to interrupt just yet.
"I hear ya, Joe. It gives me the creeps every time I see one or the other of them – especially if they're together. I can't stop thinking about all the sick things they must do to each other. It's enough to make a person want to vomit." The man House had cleverly deduced was called Joe laughed again. House's anger level rose another notch.
"I know. Can you imagine what their parents think? How embarrassing for them!" Clumsy snickered at that as they finished their work.
"Come on. It's feeding time for House's pet," she smirked and headed toward the door.
"Yeah. Maybe if we're lucky the queer will leave through the back door instead of the front this time," Joe laughed at his own wit as he turned to join her. He was closer, so he beat her to the door. But as Nurse Joe stepped out of the room, he suddenly felt his jaw come into contact with something hard and full of kinetic energy. Nurse Clumsy let out a yelp as Joe hit the floor, clutching his hands to his face.
"What the hell are you doing?" she yelled, kneeling to check on her friend.
"Being queer I guess," House shrugged, doing his best to mask the pain in his now throbbing right hand.
"Jesus, House! Are you insane?" Joe shouted, spitting a decent amount of blood onto the floor.
"You have to ask?" House asked sarcastically. Joe and Lucy simply stared at him angrily. "Hey, give me a break. I've come down with a serious bout of homosexuality. Don't get too close! You don't want to catch it!"
"You're a sick bastard, House!" Lucy spat. House snapped. Had this been what Wilson was talking about before? Had the oncologist been hearing such conversations from the beginning? Was that why he was so preoccupied and worried all the time? Bending over as Joe began to get to his feet, House grabbed the younger man's shirt color, pulled him to his feet, and slammed him against the wall.
"Now you listen to me! You can say anything you please about me. You can hang up a poster and throw darts at it for all I care! But you may not, under any circumstance, utter one more negative word about James Wilson!" House gave the man a little shake every now and then as he spoke, effectively keeping his undivided attention. "He is more of a man than you will ever be! And a better one too! Now I can't think of anything more despicable than a person like you who sneaks around behind people's backs, cursing them and wishing them dead! And you say we're the evil, disgusting ones! Try looking at yourself in the mirror once in a while! That is, unless you're too afraid of what you're going to see."
"House, let him go!" Nurse Clumsy yelled in his ear, pulling on his right arm. House ignored her. He wasn't finished yet.
"Now you can go and tell all your little Neanderthal-brained buddies to lay off, or so help me I will hurt you all so bad you'll curse your mother for ever being whore enough to conceive you!" House gave Joe one final slam into the wall before letting him go, backing away with a wild look in his eyes. Joe and Lucy watched him wearily as they slowly began to move away, unsure whether the doctor was finished.
"Go on! Get out of my sight!" he shouted, moving toward them as if to hit one of them again. Lucy let out a small yelp and she and Joe took off down the hallway.
Coming back to his senses, House noticed the crowd that had gathered around the scene for the first time. Staff and patients alike were staring at him through disapproving eyes. Some of them were muttering aversely and shaking their heads. Others were watching him with wide eyes full of a mixture of fear and disgust. It was too much right now. He couldn't handle this. Poor Jimmy. This had been what he was talking about – what House had dismissed as the younger man's paranoia. Wilson was too polite to say anything. He would have let them do or say anything as long as it kept things civil. And House had ignored him when the man had come to him for help. That was it, he needed to get back to Wilson's room. He'd been gone long enough. Jimmy needed him now.
"Haven't started all the fun without me, have you?" House announced, acting like his same old self, four minutes and thirty-seven seconds after his violent encounter in the hallway.
"We were just going to wake Wilson up. We need his consent to do an LP," Cameron explained.
"Still thinking autoimmune?" House questioned, stepping further into the room. Chase and Foreman exchanged a look.
"Right now, it makes the most sense," Cameron continued, oblivious to her colleagues' reactions.
"I agree. Wake him up. He'll consent," House told her, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed.
"Dr. Wilson?" Cameron whispered, gently shaking the sleeping man's shoulder. Wilson didn't budge. House rolled his eyes.
"Wilson!" he shouted, startling the three other doctors. Wilson's eyes shot open immediately. "You see? That's how you do it." The ducklings each gave House their own scathing look.
"God, House, do you always have to be so loud?" Wilson asked, sounding pitiful.
"Would I be me if I weren't?" House smirked. Wilson grinned back slightly.
"Dr. Wilson, we need for you to content to an LP. We want to do a protein CSF test," Cameron interrupted. Wilson groaned.
"Fine, but can it wait until I go back to sleep?" Wilson questioned, only half joking.
"Sorry. No," Cameron grinned. Chase held out the papers and a pen, and Wilson signed with a shaky hand.
"Okay, let's get you on your side," Cameron spoke in her "dealing with patients" voice. With a lot help from her and House, Wilson managed to get on his right side. Chase did the honors of unhooking the back of his gown so as not to embarrass either him or Cameron. "Now, I know you know the drill, so let's get your legs up toward your chest as far as they can go."
Cameron tried to reach down and pull his legs up, but House grabbed her wrist. Looking up at him, he shook his head and she stepped back. Pulling his chair over a bit, House grabbed Wilson's legs as gently as possible, bent the sick man's knees, and pulled them slowly up toward his chest. Looking over, he saw Wilson's eyes focused on his face. Not knowing what else to do, House gave him a small smile. Wilson grinned back nervously. He was not looking forward to this.
"Okay, put your chin down toward your chest," House told him. Wilson complied, but House could feel him shaking slightly. He was scared. Of course he was scared! They'd just done this! All these painful, grueling tests had already been done to him at least once before, not even a month ago. He knew what he had to look forward too. Tentatively, House brought up his free hand and placed it on top of Wilson's head after making sure the ducklings were too busy to notice. He watched as Wilson closed his eyes at the contact then bowed his own head.
"All right, Dr. Wilson, this is going to be a little cold," Chase said as he prepared to sanitize the area in around the third and forth lumbar vertebrae. Wilson nodded his understanding and didn't flinch once the younger doctor began. "Now, I'm going to inject the local anesthetic into your spine. It'll probably sting a little, but we both know it's better than feeling the next needle." Chase was trying to lighten the mood, but in reality he was making Wilson sick to his stomach thinking about what was to come. He hissed when the drugs were injected. He hated that feeling. It was light someone was holding a torch to his spine. House tightened his grip a little more.
"I don't have to tell you what's coming next. Just try to stay as still as possible," Foreman instructed. Wilson nodded his understanding. "Here goes."
Wilson bit his bottom lip as Foreman began inserting the needle. His body wanted to stiffen, but he resisted. It was slow going, and James started to shake visibly harder. Gruffly, he pulled one hand up to grip House's wrist, his nails digging painfully into the older man's skin. Something was wrong.
"Wilson? What is it? What's happening?" House ran his hand through the younger man's hair.
"My chest," he wheezed. "I can't…breathe…I…" Alarms began screaming around them, and Wilson started to panic. House and Cameron's hands held him still.
"Don't let him move!" Foreman yelled.
"The paralysis reached his lungs!" Cameron yelled back.
"He still has a needle in his spinal cord! Get some oxygen!" Foreman ordered. Cameron worked at lightning speed, rushing a portable oxygen unit to House then scrambling to call the code.
"Wilson! Wilson, look at me!" House commanded, using his right hand to direct the frightened man's gaze to him. Wilson was sucking in rapid, deep, futile breaths, barely fogging the oxygen mask with each pitiful exhale. "I know it hurts, but you've got to stay still. The needle is still in your spine. You've gotta hang in there a little longer until we can get it out. Do you understand?" He never stopped the caresses of his lover's hair. Wilson wheezed painfully, his eyes full of fear and begging Houses to help him.
"Hang on, Jimmy. Just a little longer. You can do this. Come on," House began chanting softly, not knowing what else he could do. He didn't care that the other three were seeing. He couldn't care less what they thought of him at that moment. Wilson could be dying. Again. And he wasn't sure he could fix it this time.
"What are you waiting for? An invitation? Get that out of him!" House shouted at Foreman, his patience dissipating to zero.
"You know it's not that simple, House! I'm almost through!" Foreman shouted back. This was getting ridiculous. Wilson was making piteous sounds in his throat now, the effort to breathe becoming more and more difficult with each passing second. House could see a slight bluish tinge forming on the sick man's lips. In an attempt to keep himself as calm as possible, House lowered his face to the top of James' head and began whispering again.
"Come on, Jimmy, stay with me. We've got this. I'm right here. Everything's gonna be fine. Do you understand me? Everything'll be all right."
"House!" Chase suddenly yelled. House's head shot up, and he turned his head to look at the Australian. Chase, however, was staring at Wilson. House moved his gaze downward to do the same.
"Son of a bitch! He's not breathing! Foreman, get that thing out of him now!" House commanded. He felt as if he might throw up. Wilson was still conscious, but he wasn't getting any air. The younger man was beyond terrified, staring up at House with desperate tears streaming down his cheeks. Oh God, he must be in hell.
"Almost there!" Foreman replied, sounding almost panicky himself.
"Now!" House screamed.
"I'm out!" Foreman announced, raising his arms above his head to show it was all clear.
"Get him on his back!" House instructed Chase. The blonde did as he was told, ripping the oxygen mask from Wilson's pale, discolored face.
House grabbed a breathing tube from its package as the other three worked around him. The alarms were still shrieking, making his head pound harder with each passing moment. Sprinting back to James' bed, House tilted his head back and slid the tube expertly into his lungs.
"Bag!" he yelled before he had even finished. Cameron was way ahead of him, standing ready with one in her hand. House had it attached in seconds and began pumping life giving oxygen into his lover's lungs. Looking down, he could see his own hands shaking from the fear and adrenaline. Damn. Whatever this was, it was winning. This couldn't be happening again. They had too much to look forward to. House hadn't even gotten to tell him that they were having twins. Wilson would have loved that. Wilson will love that! He had to believe that. Looking around the room, he knew he was the only one who did.
"Don't just stand there! Someone go and get me a respirator!" House demanded. Cameron started slightly then took a step to the side.
"It's right here," she told him, pulling the machine up behind her.
This was going to be a long night.
Thanks for reading, everyone! Sorry it took so long to update. I have no excuses, but I'll blame my excessive schoolwork anyway and stupid minor medical problems anyway:) Chapter 20 should come a lot sooner than this one! In it, we meet Wilson's parents and see more of House's soft side. Skippy!