"Hey, quiet." Bill called out to the men around him who were talking. He could have sworn he heard music coming from one of the cars that he was surrounded by.
Bill Dwyer and the rest of his team had been out working on this scene since 5 am, when the snow finally stopped. The meteorologists were forecasting another 6 to 8 inches to add to the 7 that was already on the ground. The emergency department had called all able bodies out to help clear the scene before the new snow came. They were there mostly to find bodies. There were still 4 people who were unaccounted for. The 3 that had been found earlier were dead. Bill wasn't expecting to find anyone alive.
"What is it?" Ed Binder came up to his partner. He took a step closer and tripped.
Bill turned to catch him. "You okay?"
"Something's buried here."
"Probably some scrap metal." Bill stated, but again he heard the music.
Both men looked at each other. "Cell phone." They both said as they bent down to uncover what they hoped was a body.
Starting where Ed tripped they uncovered a leg. "We got a body." Bill called. Soon the men were joined by other crew to help them retrieve the body.
It took close to an hour but finally the man was ready to be loaded on to a stretcher. The thing that took so long was the fact that his upper body was under the car.
"It's the doctor." The EMT said as he took a look at the frozen face he was loading up into the ambulance.
"Doctor?" Another tech asked trying to see if the man was still alive.
"Yeah. The one who was missing. Helped the school bus."
"He's the one? Doesn't look old enough. Crap. There's a pulse. Let's get him out of here. Princeton Plainsboro. Call ahead. Tell them that we have their doctor."
House and Cuddy were at the bay doors when the ambulance pulled up. "30 year old male, found buried in the snow, under a car." One of the techs started to ramble off as they made they're way to an empty room that had nurses, another doctor and an empty bed already for Chase.
"Get warming blankets, warm saline, I want a core temp." Cuddy ordered as Chase was being hooked up to monitors for his heart and oxygen levels.
"What?" House asked the tech over the din, not sure he heard correctly.
"Third degree burn to his back. Be careful."
"Roll him." The ER doctor ordered wanting to look at the burn. "Okay, lets warm him up first. Then we can deal with the burn."
"Are you nuts? Start him on penicillin. It will kill what ever infections that are asleep." House butted in.
"If we don't warm him up then he'll die. He can't stay at this temperature much longer."
"86 degrees." A nurse said pulling out a thermometer from Chase's rear end.
"Think about it. There are all these bugs that got into that burn." House pointed to Chase. "The cold is keeping the buggers asleep. Kill them while they are asleep. It's easier. Just being here, inside, in dry clothing will warm him up.
The nurses had paused waiting for one of the doctors to give them direction. The ER doctor stopped too, looking at Cuddy for her to make the final decision. "Listen to House." She finally said after a few seconds of silence.
Those three words were all that was needed to get the activity started again the room.
Eric Foreman stood outside exam room 2, waiting for the patient to leave. Once the door opened, he slipped inside and closed the door behind him. He had already informed the nurse's station that Dr. Cameron was done for the day.
He didn't know why he was the one here, waiting to talk to her. It should have been one of the ER doctors or even House. But he figured it was fates way of making him pay for what he'd put her through in the past. At least the news wasn't horrible. "Cameron?" He called.
She turned. "Robert?" She questioned as her hand when to her mouth.
Foreman moved closer. "They found him." Cameron's knees seemed to give out on her. Foreman wrapped his arms around her and led her to the exam table to sit down on. "He's alive."
"Alive?" She pulled back from him. "But how?"
"I don't know." Foreman took a deep breath. "He's in critical condition. He's hypothermic. Body temp was around 86 when they brought him in. There's frostbite on his fingers and toes. There is also a large area of his back covered in third degree burns. He's up in the burn unit."
"Have they started to warm him up yet?"
"No. House was there when they brought him in. His theory is that by him staying cold it will make it easier to kill any infection."
"Being they are probably dormant because of the cold." Cameron finished the thought, acknowledging that it made sense in theory. "Can I see him?"
"I was sent to bring you up."
Cameron smiled a bit. Foreman couldn't help but grin back. He knew he was smart when he had her be the one to make medical decisions for him when he was sick. She cared but she was still able to think medically.
"House is up there already and Cuddy wants you off the clock for the rest of the day." Foreman explained as they left the room.
At that Cameron grew indignant. "Does she think I can't do my job? I've seen how many patients so for today, without knowing where my fiancé was."
"You're right. No one doubts your abilities as a doctor. But where would you rather be?" Foreman had expected this argument. The time waiting outside the exam room had been spent coming up with a convincing argument.
It seemed to have worked, as she instantly backed down. "Sorry."
"It's okay. Let's go see Chase."
