An obstetrician, two NICU doctors, one anesthesiologist, three nurses, and one uninvited guest walked together to an operating room where Cameron and a nurse-anesthetist were waiting.
"Remember," one of the NICU doctors told the team, "we need to get the baby on that respirator immediately or we risk brain damage."
"I'll yell 'go!' the second I begin to lift her out of the uterus," Sarah said. Just before they entered the OR, she turned around to the uninvited guest who, despite his scrubs and surgical mask, was easily recognizable by the limp that had forced him to cling to the wall as he'd headed down the hallway. "Dr. House, you need to leave."
"You need a good diagnostician."
"If we don't immediately spot the problem, I'll call Dr. Foreman."
"I said you need a good diagnostician."
"We don't have time for this," the anesthesiologist said. "With her low BP I can't keep her sedated for more than half an hour."
"If you don't leave," Sarah threatened, "security's taking care of this for me."
"No need." The Dean of Medicine had been observing from the far corner of the hallway. "Dr. Kishore, will you come here for a moment?"
Sarah shuffled her way over to Cuddy. "I don't have time for interpersonal problems. I have a patient."
"You can have two fewer students next semester and my permission to stab him in the eye with a scalpel if he causes any trouble in there."
"This is completely ridiculous." Sarah threw up her arms and went back to the spot where House was standing. "Dr. House, you can come in because one of my bosses says I have to let you in. Just know that if Allison goes into a dangerous arrhythmia, I have no ethical qualms about killing you."
House nodded and followed Sarah into the OR.
Cameron stared glassy-eyed at her doctors and nurses. She was lightly sedated but feeling almost no pain.
She heard Sarah's voice behind the curtain that was keeping her separated from her lower half. Sarah was saying something about a laparatomy, and Cameron recognized, through her haze, the two NICU doctors she'd spoken with the night before. Four nurses, one anesthesiologist, and one man who was obviously Greg House.
He stood closer to Sarah than to Cameron. "The uterus is intact," Sarah said, and the room went blurry. When she was able to see a bit more clearly again, House was standing over her, his blue eyes staring out above the surgical mask.
"House?" she asked, just barely able to feel the tears that were stinging her retinas.
"Stay calm. Dr. Kishore is stitching you up."
"The baby didn't cry."
"You knew she wouldn't be able to take a breath on her own. But she's already on the respirator."
"How – how many seconds between the time when –"
"Stay calm," House said, his voice ringing with frustration. "If your heart goes haywire, Dr. Kishore's going to stab me in the eye with a scalpel."
She realized he was holding one of her hands in both of his, rubbing her palm with his latex gloves.
"Heart rate's normal," a nurse said. "BP is 85 over 55, occasional extra heartbeat, normal sinus rhythm."
"BP's low," Cameron heard Sarah say, "but the patient's not at risk of a dangerous arrhythmia right now. Let's get her to recovery."
"Good," Cameron said, drifting off, "House can keep his eye." She squeezed his hand tightly.