Chapter 8. All Through The Night

House wasn't sure he'd be able to sleep after the nap he'd taken earlier, and the dinner Mo and Linda brought over at six. The day's events had given him a lot to think about. But the steady drumming of the rain on the roof lulled him into a dreamless slumber. That is until the wind began rattling the windows, and a crash of...something...woke him.

He glanced at the illuminated dial of the clock on the pine night stand next to the bed and saw that it was just past three in the morning. Otherwise, it was pitch black, inside and out.

Pete seemed to be asleep, although his breathing was more labored again.

House turned over and tried to fall asleep again, but the phone rang. It took a few seconds to realize it was the room phone. He picked it up quickly, hoping it hadn't woken Pete.

"Dr. House? It's Chrissy," the young female voice said. "I think Pam's worse again, and now she has a rash."

"Who's that?" Pete asked groggily.

House covered the mouthpiece with his hand and replied, "Chrissy. She's next door with another patient. Pam something." Then he responded to his 'helper'. "I'm coming right over. What kind of rash is it?" he asked, reaching for the raincoat. He was beginning to think of it as his.

"It's on her neck and fingers, and maybe other places, too," Chrissy told him.

House suspected that it might be an non-allergic reaction to the antibiotic, but he wouldn't know for sure until he examined the girl. Before he left, he brought Pete another decongestant and a glass of water.

"Take this, and go back to sleep. I'll go check on Pam, and be right back," he told the old man.

"Sure, doc."

House opened the door to go outside and was immediately pelted by the wind-driven rain, and bits of debris. He braved it, immediately closing the door behind him. As he walked next door, he could see some of the wreckage caused by the storm. He knocked on the door, and Chrissy quickly admitted him.

"It's getting worse out there, isn't it?" she asked. "I heard a crash a while ago. I...I think that's what woke me, and then I saw that Pam was struggling to breath. I gave her the inhaler. I hope that's OK."

"Yes, that was good. Let's see that rash," House said, limping toward the girl in the bed. Her breathing wasn't great but she wasn't gasping for air. He saw the rash on Pam's neck and fingers immediately, even in the low light of the room. "Are we working on emergency power?" he asked, looking at the lamp.

"Yes, I think so," Chrissy said. "That lights usually much brighter. So what's the rash?"

"It's a reaction to the Amoxicillin."

"I thought she wasn't allergic to it."

"She has allergies but it's not an allergic reaction," he said. "We'll stop the antibiotic and it should go away. I don't think it was helping, anyway." However, he made a mental note to ask Cameron if any of the other patients had a rash. "Whatever the initial problem was, it's affecting the respiratory system, even though the bronchi looked OK. Probably environmental. Let's just continue the decongestant to keep her airways clear. She might need an antibiotic later to prevent bronchitis or pneumonia, but for now we'll just keep her breathing."

"OK," Chrissy said.

While he was there, he checked Pam's heart and blood pressure. The pressure was low, but it had been before, too, and it wasn't in a dangerous range.

"Are you two going to be alright here the rest of the night?" he asked. Chrissy might be competent, but she was awfully young.

"It'll be morning soon. Mom said she'd come over with breakfast, and maybe help, too. I doubt I'll have school tomorrow, rather today."

"Yeah," he said. "Well, I'm going back to Pete. I'll see you both in the morning."

He made his way back to the other room, walking close to the building. The storm hadn't helped the situation here. The treatment they'd started for the patients seemed to be helping, but that wasn't enough. He knew he wouldn't rest until he found out what had caused their illness in the first place.

Pete was sleeping again, snoring even, although his breathing was shallow. House tried to get back to sleep too, but found himself making a list of things to ask Cameron in the morning. Eventually he drifted off.

When he woke, it was six thirty. It was still dark outside, and would probably stay that way. The wind and rain competed for his attention. But that list was still running through his head, and before he thought it out, he'd picked up his phone and called Cameron.

"House, you better have something good," she said, sleep slurring her words.

"Good morning to you too, Buttercup."

"Whatever happened to the doctor who never showed up at the hospital until ten?" she groaned. "What time is it?"

"It's six thirty and I've got some questions for you. I'm hoping that you have the answers," he told her.

"Shoot," she said, struggling to get her brain in gear.

"Do either of your patients have a rash?"

"A rash?"

"That's what I said. Do they?"

"They didn't," she said, sounding puzzled. "Give me a sec and I'll check." She was only gone about twenty seconds. "No."

"So, Pam's the only one."

"A reaction to the Amoxycillin?" Cameron guessed.

"That's what I think. I'll continue the decongestant and antihistamine for her and see whether that's enough."

"Yes, I'm almost sure it's not an infection. Maybe something environmental," she speculated.

"We're definitely on the same page. OK, two things we need to establish. The first is whether they've all been in the same place at some time in the last few days."

"Right. And the second?" Cameron asked.

"Is the cousin from Baltimore..."

"...Harry..."

"...a smoker?"

"You said they were affected because their lungs were already weakened, and you think that's what might have weakened Harry's."

"Yeah," House confirmed.

"OK. I'll ask him when he wakes up. But I'm not about to wake him to satisfy your curiosity," she insisted.

Without missing a beat he asked, "Did you lose power over there?"

"Was that one of your questions?"

"Yes. We're running on Zach's generator. How are you doing?"

"Well, thanks to someone's foresight, we're managing with the lantern and flashlights. The space blankets came in handy too, since it's gotten cold with the heat not working," she said.

"Guess my money wasn't wasted, then."

"What else did you want to know?"

"What are you wearing?" He could almost hear her roll her eyes when he asked that.

"If that's all, I'm going to try to get another half hour's sleep."

"Chrissy said that Mo would be bringing us breakfast," he told her. "I'm sure someone will bring some over to you."

"Thanks, House." She sighed. "I'll talk to you later."