Chapter 5

After being unconscious for several hours, Cameron was finally, but slowly, coming to. As her vision very slowly became less fuzzy, she could somewhat make out the two figures in front of her, talking. Moaning, she hazily watched as both figures moved to either side of the bed. The person on her left carefully took her hand in his, and very gently began stroking her forehead and hair; she moaned again.

"Allison, can you hear me? Allison?" She slowly opened her eyes, and was met by the face of her husband, still etched with worry.

"Robert?" Her voice was not only raspy, but muffled as well.

"Shh, I'm here. Don't try to talk. You're very dehydrated, running a high fever, and your blood pressure's extremely low. The only thing I want you to do right now is rest." Just hearing his wife's voice made him smile, knowing that the worst had passed, for now. "You also have an oxygen mask on to help you breathe better, so only talk when you need to." She nodded, as he kissed her hand that he was holding.

"As I was saying before, Allison's blood pressure's still really low, and since she's still dehydrated and now running a fever of 103 , we're going to keep her on IV fluids, as well as the oxygen. If all goes well and she steadily improves in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours, we'll let her go home." Foreman was not only her colleague and friend, but a doctor as well, and he was not going to take any chances with whatever Cameron had.

"What about the chest pain from earlier. Do you think it might be connected to Allison fainting?"

"So far, I think it's unrelated. But the only way to know for sure is through a chest x-ray." Just as he finished explaining to Chase, Cameron began coughing again. No sooner had Chase carefully taken off the mask, and with Foreman's help had managed to sit Cameron up, the coughing stopped, only to be replaced with her struggling to breathe.

"Great. First the coughing comes back, and now she's hardly breathing. What's next?" Foreman then raced to the phone to call Cuddy. Once Cameron was lying down again, Chase had just repositioned the mask back on when she scrunched up her face in pain. Chase had spoken too soon: the chest pain had come back.

"Is it the chest pain again?" Cameron nodded weakly, and Chase looked at Foreman with fear in his eyes.

"Okay, let's get her down to radiology. I've already notified Wilson and Cuddy. They're going to meet us down there." As they were ready to move her, House walked in, casual as normal. "Allison's chest pain came back. We're taking her to radiology."

"How bad is it?"

"We won't know for sure until we see those x-rays. We're going to need an extra set of hands to move her."

"You're right. Nurse! Help Chase and Foreman move Cameron downstairs. I'll be in Diagnostics. Page me when the x-rays come back, and I'll meet you down there."

Stepping out of the way and watching the small group run to the elevator, House walked back to Diagnostics. Going up to the board, he picked up the eraser, took one final look at the Dibala case written on it, and erased it. In it's place, he wrote one of the names he never wanted to see written. Writing "Allison Cameron-Chase" on the pristine white board, he began jotting down her symptoms. Once finished, he walked out to the balcony, looked up at the stars, and asked God to help him cure his friend.

Down in radiology, Cameron had made little improvement. Although the pain had subsided to a dull throb, she was still not only lightheaded and running a fever, but was starting to experience a stiff neck as well as pain in her back. She also found it hard to stay awake.

"Almost done Allison. Hold on for just a few more seconds, then we'll give you something for the pain, okay?" Wilson got a small nod from Cameron. "Okay, that's it. Very gently now: one, two, THREE." Once all four doctors had carefully and methodically moved Cameron back onto her bed, Chase immediately moved to her side to comfort her, as Cuddy injected some pain medication into the IV, after replacing the mask.

"Okay Allison, you should feel relief here in a sec." Turning to Foreman, she commanded him to page House to have him meet them in the lab. "In case we have to do anymore procedures, we're going to keep her down here. When we know for sure, we'll tell you. Call us if she makes any change," turning back around to Chase. Before leaving, she lightly touched Cameron's arm in reassurance. Following Cuddy out, Wilson squeezed Cameron's hand while Foreman patted Chase on the back. Once they left, Chase leaned forward and kissed her temple, which was now turned toward him and gently stroked her head, Cameron struggling to stay awake.

"Don't fight it sweetie, don't fight it. Don't worry, I'll be right here when you wake up." Before long, she had fallen asleep.

"I've never seen her so sick before," commented Foreman once they were out of earshot.

"I don't think anybody has, except for Chase maybe," added Wilson. Both walked up to Cuddy, who now held the x-rays in her hands. "Hopefully the x-rays will tell us more and maybe, just maybe, it'll be good news." Unfortunately, the look on Cuddy's face was anything but what they wanted to see.

"I wish it was but it isn't. From what I'm looking at, it's not good at all." Foreman and Wilson both looked at each other, then back at Cuddy.