Married Life

Author's Note: Thanks again, for continuing to read this. The creators of House still haven't gotten back to me about owning the show. So, I still don't own it.

Chapter 13: Finding Lost Love

Cameron's POV

The blood still hasn't returned to my cheeks. Bailey fell asleep on my shoulder some time ago, and the cops are still trying to get in contact with the gunman in the building. A short time ago, 3 hostages (2 nurses, and one patient) were released. They were questioned, and they gave statements. Then, they went home to relax after such a trying and difficult day. Lisa was trying to get me to stay calm, but I just couldn't. How was she able to be so calm? Her husband was in there, too!

The first nurse, Andrea Harville, said that the gunman had come into the clinic and barged into one of the exam rooms. She heard shouting, and the rattle of the door being locked. Andrea was the one who got most of the people out of the clinic. When the gunman heard the noise from outside, he quickly unlocked the door and fired his gun into the air. They all stopped in panic, and did what the man told them to. They quickly locked the door, and sat down on the floor. She said that he brought an unconscious man out from the exam room. It was a blonde doctor. My heart seized when I heard that. Lisa looked at me, and placed a hand on my shoulder. I ignored it, and focused on Andrea. "What happened next, Andrea? Please.." I begged. She looked at me, and nodded while biting her upper lip. She then said that after a few minutes of shouting, he checked all the other exam rooms. House was sitting in one, with his iPod plugged in his ears and playing his PSP. The gunman had then dragged House out, and made him stay with the others.

He took all the phones he could find, and turned them off. Or shot them to bits. Which is what happened with House's cell phone. Robert's was probably still intact. Which was good because that little thing was expensive. She spoke about how after a few minutes, Robert came round and was pleading with the gunman to let the others go. Then she heard him say that he had a wife and child at home. So, he should have mercy on them and let them go. The gunman laughed, and placed the barrel of the gun against Robert's temple. Luckily, House mouthed off to get the pressure off of Robert.

Lisa's face went grey when she heard about the gunman beating House with the weapon a few times. Then, he turned back to Chase and struck him. That's when he let a few hostages go. The patient was in the clinic for a routine check-up after suffering a heart attack. As soon as he saw the gun, he went into shock and began to seize. So, he let them go.

She told us this about 30-45 minutes ago. Bailey is passed out, and part of me feels jealous that he can easily tune out all the stuff going on around him. And the other part is relief that he has no clue on what's happening. Audrey and Rachel are thankfully at home, but seeing as all of Robert's relatives and my relatives live far away or are dead, we don't get a lot of babysitters. Lisa is our babysitter, when she's not busy working herself. I laid Bailey down in the backseat of one of the nice officer's cop car. He should be safe in there, the officer had assured me. Now, with Bailey taken care of, I could focus on trying to locate my husband.

I twisted my wedding rings nervously, and listened to the officers as they called the clinic repeatedly. Once they said they heard breathing, a thud, groan and slam. They could tell the voice was a male, but more than that was sketchy. Finally, after what seemed like hours…the phone rang. My phone. I looked down, and saw it said 'ROBERT'. I looked up, and flagged the officers. They came over, and told me to answer it.

"Hello?"

Haggard breathing on the other end. "Allison…"

It was Robert. Tears threatened to cloud over my eyes. "Robert…it's me."

"He…I…He said to call our loved ones…because we might not make it out alive." he said, his voice choking up. I started to lose control, but tried to maintain my sanity. At least until I got off the phone.

"Allison, I love you. I love you so much. I love Bailey. You're the best mother in the world. That just adds to all the things you're great at. You're a great wife, doctor, confidante, and just plain old person in the world. Thank you for marrying me, and having my children."

"Robert…don't talk like that. We're gonna get you out. I promise. I won't leave you in there. I won't leave House, or the others either."

"House…is unconscious.." By the slowness of his voice, it sounded like he wasn't far behind him. It tooks him a long time to make just one sentence. I knew one little bump on the floor wasn't causing all that.

"I figured…but, honey, I swear. I won't leave you to die in there." My voice was fierce, and I meant every word. If I lost my life to save my husband's…so be it.

"I love you, Allie."

"I love you, Rob."

And then he hung up, and I cried for what seemed like forever. Finally, panting, I ran in to the hospital. And saw them standing in the clinic. The gunman was a younger-looking man, with red hair and blue eyes. He looked familiar. But, I couldn't place him. I looked around through the glass and saw a bunch of people laying on the floor. There was blood everywhere. Repulsed, I realized that some people had been shot..and killed.

The tear stains on my face felt awkward, but I couldn't afford to take the time to wipe them off. I held my hands up, as the gunman and I locked eyes. His eyes got a look that said, "I remember you!" and he held the gun up in my direction.

"Wait, please!" I cried. I shook with terror, realizing I couldn't find Robert through the glass. Where was he?

He stopped, the gun still pointing at me. "Why should I? You people didn't stop when my mother came in with just a cough, and left in a body bag. So, why should I stop?"

Now I knew where he was from, he was the son of a patient that died from terminal lung cancer. The diagnostics tested her forever, but it was too late once we found out what it was. She was going to die, regardless of what we did. So, with the consent of her husband, we pulled off her life support and let her die peacefully.

"Landon, you don't have to do this. Maybe if you calm down, we can talk about it." I said, pleading with him. "Your mother was a wonderful lady, but she had terminal lung cancer. She would have died regardless of us taking out the life support." I said, looking into his eyes.

His eyes softened, then iced right over. "You think I care? You still took my mother from me. I can't kill Death itself for taking my mom, but I can kill you and everyone else in this hospital!" he said, his voice rising with excitement and fury.

"Landon, please. These people…they have friends, families…"

"Doctors don't have families. They work all the time."

"But, they do. All of them. Including Dr. House."

"Yeah right. People don't change their habits. House couldn't feel anything then, and sure as hell can't feel anything now."

I swallowed all the harsh things I wanted to say, and started talking to him.

After 40 minutes, he and I were both crying and he slumped to the floor in hearty, uncontrollable sobs. "Okay…okay…I'll let them go.."he moaned, as he continued to cry. I flagged in the officers, who immediately broke down the doors to the clinic and handcuffed Landon. They took him away, and quickly went to rescue hostages. I ran in, looking for Robert. I found House, his forehead was all bloody and his cane was laying next to him…also covered in blood. Landon must have hit him with the cane too, I realized. I then helped them load him onto a stretcher and they took him to the ER on the other side of the building. I helped load patient after patient, but no Robert. I looked everywhere..until I saw the closed exam door. My heart pounded furiously as I tried to open it. It wouldn't budge. I slammed my fists hard on the wood, calling Robert's name. I heard something in there, but I couldn't decipher what exactly it was.

I grabbed the emergency ax, and started hacking away at the door. When I finally got inside, I saw my husband shivering on the ground. My heart sank, as I saw the true horror and what exactly that man…no that monster had done to Robert. Robert's face was all bloody and gashed open. I ran over to him, and checked his pulse. It was there, but very faint. I screamed, "GET A GURNEY OVER HERE!" and they practically sprinted one over to us. I helped Robert get on it, and wheeled him myself to the ER where everyone else was.

Afew hours, and countless interviews/reporters/statements later, we had 3 dead patients, 2 dead nurses, and 5 patients and doctors in critical condition. House and Robert were on the critical condition list. House had a fractured skull, broken jaw, broken cheekbone, and one of his ribs punctured a lung. Robert had a concussion, broken arm, broken leg, crushed eardrum, and internal bleeding. They immediately wheeled Robert and House into surgery. Robert's lasted forever.

After getting House stabilized, and lecturing him, Lisa went home. She took Bailey with her, seeing as I'd be spending my time walking from room to room in the ICU. I was starving, but couldn't eat. I wanted to be here when Robert woke up. One of my nurse friends, Joyce, came in and scolded me. "Come on, Allison. You have to feed that baby at some point." I nodded, and realized she was probably right. "Can you keep an eye on him?" I asked, my voice weak from the stress.

After eating, I came back and saw Joyce. She was sitting with him, and mumbling something to him. She saw me, and smiled wanly. "Has he woken up?" "No, but he was stirring." I walked over, and sat down in my chair. "Rob? Come on, honey. We need you to open your eyes. Come on, sweetheart." I said, exhausted.

When I figured that Rob wouldn't be waking up for a while, I sent Joyce on her way and went over to House's room. His face was bandaged, and he had stitches where his ribs were. He was awake, though. He refused to take any sleep meds. He didn't want to "become dependent" on them, and have to go back to rehab.

"What are you still doing here? Visiting hours were over 3 hours ago." he said, his voice deeper than normal. I stood in the doorway, and bit my lip. "Oh, you're here with Chase." "And you. But, Greg, he IS my husband." I said, looking out the window to his room. He was still asleep. "I know this. But, Cuddy's my wife and you don't see her hanging around here." "You made her leave." "That's beside the point. Who's watching the baby?" "Lisa. She's keeping Bailey for the night. In return, I'm going to check in on you from time to time." I added. I sat down on one of the chairs and looked at House. He was looking down. "What happened to him in there, House?" "He kept wailing on him. I don't know. I was unconscious for most of what went on in there." he said, uncharacteristically mellow. "I'm glad you're safe." I said, looking into his blue eyes. "Me too." I rolled my eyes at his pathetic attempt at humor, and sighed. "Did you think about anything while you were in there? You know- some people have flashbacks, some hallucinate, some piss themselves, and some just think about all the things they wanted to do but didn't." "I thought about my daughter." he said, honestly. I nodded, that made sense. He lived for Audrey. Even if he didn't say so, I knew. New parents knew that about other new parents. They could smell it on another, but couldn't on themselves.

He loved Rachel too, but Audrey was special. She was born of his blood and love for Lisa.

We talked for a while, then just sat in the silence. "You should go check on Chase." he finally said. I nodded, and went back to Robert's room. He was still asleep, I thought.

Until I heard this, "Hey…there…beautiful…"