Chapter 7
"Find anything yet?" House called over the intercom in the OR observation room. Anything that they find could be a vital clue for a complete diagnosis.
"You asked us that five minutes ago, and no, nothing yet. Although we've drained the hemorrhage, we still don't know where it came from. When we've found something, you'll be the first to know," Foreman said without looking up. He, Cuddy, and Wilson had been operating on Cameron for over an hour, and still had not found the source of the bleeding.
"Hang on. I think I found something," Wilson called out. Sure enough, there was a one-inch hole along the top-most section of her small intestine. "House! I found an ulcer along her duodenum, about an inch long. It appears to have perforated. That's what caused the hemorrhage. You're going to have to tell Chase, because we obviously can't," Wilson looked up toward the balcony.
"Alright, I'll tell him. Just make sure we don't have to go back in and repeat this later. And don't forget that chest tube either!"
"Got it. Do you know where Dr. Chase is at?" Cuddy asked one of the nurses.
"He was outside the OR a little bit ago, but he left. I can go look for him if you don't need my assistance."
"Don't bother. House will find him. I hope."
"I think I know where he is. Call me when you're done." House then left to find Chase.
Sure enough, Chase was where House looked first. "Thought you'd be up here, instead of down there. I would have done the same thing if I was in your position."
"Yeah right. Knowing you, you wouldn't care less if it was your best friend. Sorry. I'm wreck right now."
"Don't be sorry. Listen, I came in here to tell you what they found."
"What was it?" Chase then turned to look at House, who had taken a seat in the pew behind Chase.
"It was a stomach ulcer that perforated, which caused Allison to hemorrhage." A moment later, House asked the one question that Foreman should have asked Chase after Cameron had been admitted: "Why did Cameron take herself off the Dibala case? If you don't want to explain the reason why, that's fine."
"Dibala accused Allison! He… accused her of putting an air bubble into a syringe that had medication in it for his IV. He threatened her, House. I watched the whole thing happen, and I didn't do anything to stop it!" Having said that, Chase put his head in his hands, and started crying again.
"Don't you even start blaming yourself for what happened. No one, not even yourself, is at fault for what happened except that it did." House reached forward and squeezed Chase's shoulder. A few moments later, House's cell phone went off; it was Cuddy.
"Yeah, Okay. We'll be right there." He then stood up, and patted Chase on the shoulder. "Come on, surgery's over. She's going to be fine." Chase sniffled and stood up as well, and followed House who would take him to Cameron, in ICU.
Wilson had just exited Cameron's room down in ICU when House and Chase walked up, Chase almost running into the room. Wilson had to hold Chase back before letting him in.
"Allison's okay. We located the ulcer, and closed it up. But… she's not out of the woods just yet. There's still a chance for recurrence, which is why we have her on Misoprostol to prevent anymore from showing up, and causing more damage."
"Her breathing? Did you put in the chest tube?" Chase asked, tears still in his eyes as he looked at his wife, who was very pale, and still on oxygen.
"We did. The inflammation was caused by a blockage of pus. We're draining it now before her lungs collapse. Seeing that Allison's just come out of surgery, the draining is going to take time. Unfortunately, she still has a fever, but there appear to be no signs of septic shock, which is good. Her breathing is still a question though: until she can start breathing on her own again, we're going to keep her on oxygen round the clock." Chase nodded, letting it all sink in. "Robert, we're going to find out what caused this, I swear it. Go on in, she needs you now." Chase walked in, and sat down next to Allison, carefully taking the hand where her wedding ring resided, and kissed it. Cuddy and Foreman quietly left the room, and moved to stand next to House and Wilson, who watched the scene in front of them.
"If we don't find out what caused all of this soon, it's going to ruin Chase, for good," Foreman said, breaking the silence, not looking away. With tears in her eyes, Cuddy did the same thing.
"Which is why we're not going to let that happen. We're going to figure out what this is, tonight." House looked at her, and then beckoned them to follow him up to Diagnostics.
"Nurses, if anyone, and I mean anyone, goes into Dr. Cameron's room without hospital identification, contact security and Diagnostics immediately!" Foreman alerted the nursing staff in the ICU. We almost lost her today. We're not going to lose her again!