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megalony · 3 days ago

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Conditions Of The Heart

I've been having a lot of fun switching between fandoms, and this is my first imagine for Robert Chase from House MD. I hope you will all like it.

Please let me know what you think.

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Summary: (Y/n)'s been having health problems and symptoms that intervene with her work on House's team, but he doesn't think it's serious. Chase is the only one who believes her and tries to help.

Enjoy.

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"Again?"

Why did he have to say it like that? Why did he have to make a big announcement? As if (Y/n) was doing something wrong or making am embarrassment of herself and he wanted the whole hospital to find out.

A deep frown set in (Y/n)'s features as she stared across at House like she was trying to burn holes through him with her dark glare, but her expression did nothing to waver his expression. His brow raised and that quirk in his lips remained set in a playful expression that was just dying to egg her on and see how many buttons he could press.

House's expression aggravated (Y/n) to no end and she couldn't help but let it show on her face in the form of a deep scowl.

It wasn't as if House let them have thousands of breaks during the day, they were lucky if they managed to get ten minutes off for a lunch break.

All (Y/n) was asking for was a few minutes to go downstairs to the clinic.

The first time she'd asked to go down to the clinic, House had been equally surprised and a little worried. It wasn't like (Y/n) to want to go and get checked out, and he hadn't noticed anything wrong with her or any visible symptoms. The second time a few days later when (Y/n) went to the clinic before going on shift, House had been very curious and (Y/n) knew he'd gone to look at her notes to find out what was wrong.

The third time he hadn't really been bothered since it was close to the end of her shift and she didn’t look too good. But now this was the fourth time and she had barely been up here in House's office for an hour and she was already asking to go down to the clinic to get checked out.

Did she not trust the team to go over her symptoms that were clearly persistent? Was this just a ploy to get a break from House and their newest case? Was she even going down to the clinic or was she going to take a break?

House had seen her notes. The doctors and nurses that had examined her each time hadn't found any underlying cause for her problems and symptoms. If House didn't know any better, he would guess that they were just rising symptoms of panic.

(Y/n) was a doctor, she was in one of the most prestigious teams in the best hospital in the country. She should know by now and be able to diagnose her symptoms as mere tools of anxiety. She didn't have to keep running down to the clinic to be assessed like this. She was disrupting House's team and his methods.

"You’ve been here an hour, you really want to go see Johnson that badly?" The teasing tone to House's voice made a fire spark in (Y/n)'s eyes and had adrenaline coursing through her already aching chest.

He knew she was in a relationship with Chase. It was one of the things House liked to poke fun at because the couple worked together- on House's team no less- and he liked to spark trouble and cause friction because life was a game.

But House also knew that most of the times that (Y/n) had gone to the clinic to ask for a check up or for help when her symptoms flared up, she bumped into the same colleague.

"House…" (Y/n) trailed off, not having it within her to start an argument. She just needed him to understand.

This wasn't a ploy to get out of trying to diagnose their current patient. This wasn't (Y/n)'s way of getting a well earned break or going to get something from the canteen. And this certainly wasn't her trying to sneak off to have a fling with another doctor. She wasn't well and she wanted help.

Being assessed by her own team wasn't something (Y/n) wanted. She wasn't very close with Foreman or Cameron so it would feel awkward if either of them tried to help her. And Chase was her partner, it would reflect badly if it was him assessing her and writing in her notes. Plus, they were currently working on a case. It wasn't the time for someone to take a break and assess (Y/n).

"You've been down there three times, and they said there isn't anything wrong. Wait 'til lunch." The tick of his head and the way House looked her up and down showed that he didn't want to be totally unreasonable.

But he couldn't see anything in her notes that suggested a problem. Elevated heart rate. Dizziness. Breathless. Blood pressure slightly higher than usual.

All symptoms of anxiety and specific symptoms that House would expect to find in the people who worked on his team. He was surprised (Y/n)'s symptoms weren't more frequent or harsher with the kind of strain this job had on them and the deadlines they had to find diagnoses for their patients.

After all, House only took special cases where a diagnosis was hard to find and usually, the clock was ticking on their patients.

She looked fine to House. She wasn't about to keel over or struggling for breath or in any visible pain or agony. She could carry on working until lunch time and if she still felt like she needed to be seen, then she could go on her break.

A defeated huff left (Y/n)'s lips and she turned, briskly walking away from the coffee station in the corner of the office.

What good would fighting him do? It would only prove to make herself feel worse and give House a sense of glee at some retaliation. And if she went he would only hold it against her or make her stay later to make up the most time.

Her fingers began to shake around her cup of coffee and as she walked around the table, she kept her eyes glued to the floor. Making sure to ignore the sympathetic look on Cameron's face and the blank stare Foreman gave her because he expected that answer from House.

The cup in her hand clattered down on the glass table with a thud that sent shivers down Chase's spine.

He winced and sank his teeth down into his lower lip as he watched his partner pull out and sink down into the chair beside him.

The pen in Chase's hand began to tap against the textbook laid out in front of him but his head angled to the right so he was looking at (Y/n). The scrutinising look in his pale blue eyes was clear; he was trying to see what symptoms she was feeling.

He knew what she had been experiencing. She told him of the infrequent palpitations she felt and how it made her lightheaded. And the bouts of breathlessness that made her feel like she was going to pass out and starved her lungs of oxygen.

But each time she went to the clinic, her symptoms faded or eased, they never lasted long enough for anything to show up on any tests and her symptoms weren't severe enough to admit her for further testing.

It felt like Chase was the only person who believed that something wasn't right but there wasn't much he could do either when the symptoms were sporadic and he could only assess her when they were at home or away from work. Officially he wasn't allowed to be her doctor.

A soft "Okay?" passed Chase's lips and he leaned in close and curled his hand around (Y/n)'s wrist while she slowly circled the pad of her finger around the rim of her cup.

She shrugged. Did it truly matter if she wasn't? Did it make a difference if she didn't feel well or if she felt uneasy? Did it matter if she was furious and upset and embarrassed that House had told her to suck up and keep working? She couldn't change any of it, so did it matter?

She continued to stare at her cup rather than drink it and with a sigh, (Y/n) leant to the left until her cheek was resting on Chase's shoulder.

Right now, she didn't care about being professional like she was usually so worried about. It didn't matter whether the team saw her being affectionate or close with Chase, it wasn't as if their relationship was a secret, nothing could be a secret in this place.

"Alright, so what theories have we got? Give me something good." House stood in his usual spot near the whiteboard, a pen behind his ear, a coffee in one hand and his cane in the other.

He looked around the table, but only Foreman seemed to be paying any attention to the task at hand. Cameron was drifting off, constantly looking in (Y/n)'s direction like she felt sorry for her, and Chase was annoyed. He wasn't going to answer or make any effort when House had just dismissed (Y/n) like that. And (Y/n) had all but given up trying to act interested.

With a sigh, Chase slouched back in his seat and parted his knees to the side. He still had (Y/n)'s head resting on his shoulder and every few seconds he turned and pecked the top of her head while his hand let go of her wrist and slid down to rest on her thigh instead. If any of the team noticed the affectionate touch, they didn't comment.

For a while, that was how their morning was spent. Chase barely chipping in with conversation, (Y/n) giving abrupt ideas that House contemplated and put on the board. And Foreman and Cameron rummaging through textbooks and trying to link all the patient's symptoms together.

There was still tension in the air and a thick atmosphere around them, but they were all trying to get on with their work to make it easier.

(Y/n) wasn't sure how much time passed as they all went through ideas and notations and delved into theories. But she knew that this time, her symptoms weren't fading like they usually did.

The tightness in her chest was starting to become overwhelming and it was causing that familiar breathlessness that made her throat burn and felt like her trachea was closing up. And her heartbeat was becoming more noticeable, each thump was bashing against her ribs and thundering beneath her skin and it caused a deafening ringing in one ear.

It was getting harder and harder to hold the tears at bay and carry on as normal.

She barely heard House giving out his usual orders, demanding for Cameron to give the patient an ultrasound and Foreman to go and run some blood samples. And she wasn't sure what he asked her and Chase to do, only hearing a few words here and there which she pieced together to assume he said that the 'love birds' can run a test together. The specifics had gone in one ear and out the other with the constant ringing she was hearing.

Chase pushed forward in his seat and tossed his pen down onto the table while he watched Cameron go to make herself another drink, and Foreman seemed to be making notations and little pointers again.

"Ready to go down to the lab?" He moved his hand from where it had been comfortably moulded against (Y/n)'s thigh so he could loop his arm around the back of her shoulders. But the slight shake of her head that he got in response took him by surprise.

He was even more surprised that (Y/n) leaned into him so affectionately considering the rest of the team were still in the room.

Chase felt (Y/n)'s hand resting on his thigh but her nails were starting to puncture through his trousers until they were piercing the skin. And she dug her chin down into his shoulder with her face tucked into the crook of his neck. It allowed her to lean into his chest while he tightened his arm around her shoulders, suddenly worried and on red alert.

"I- I don't feel right," Her voice strained slightly which Chase picked up on right away, causing his eyes to narrow as he looked down at her.

Her breathing was changing again. No longer controlled or placid and calm, but shallow and somewhat strained breaths that implied she wasn't getting enough air. And she was starting to tremble which in turn was making Chase tremble and caused shivers to scratch down his spine and throughout his nerves.

"What's wrong?"

"My chest hurts," (Y/n)'s voice sounded lighter than air this time, a mere whisper on the wind that Chase strained to hear despite having her lips hovering near his ear.

But when he glanced down and realised her free hand was rubbing over her chest, his complexion paled. This wasn't right. There was something wrong with (Y/n) and Chase was going to find out what it was, no matter what House said or did.

(Y/n) let her eyes close when she felt Chase's hand on her shoulder and how it glided up towards her neck. She wasn't sure what he was doing until he splayed his fingers out on the side of her neck, and she suddenly felt his index and middle finger pushing down on her pulse. He was silently counting her pulse without anyone else realising.

She knew he sensed it. The fluctuation in her heartbeat and she knew he tensed at the same time her chest quaked when she had a palpitation.

"Come on."

(Y/n) understood Chase's pretext and the hidden meaning behind his very few words.

House had given them a task, and Chase was going to use that as cover so he could get (Y/n) into an exam room and run some tests of his own. He was going to find out what was wrong, and House didn't need to know. They couldn't deal with an argument right now, as far as the team knew, they were going to run the tests they had been told to do.

It was comforting to feel Chase's hands on her skin when the pair of them got up, and (Y/n) was glad Chase was so close behind her. She wasn't sure how long she could keep herself upright when every limb was starting to tremble and her legs felt unusually weak and shaky.

They made it five strides towards the door to the office before (Y/n) stopped in her tracks, causing Chase to bump into her.

"Babe-" Whatever Chase had been ready to whisper suddenly fell upon deaf ears when (Y/n) stumbled.

Her quaking knees gave way and her wavering body plummeted backwards into Chase's chest and her head whacked into his shoulder, sending his body jolting to the left.

A groan tumbled past Chase's lips and his eyes went wide in their sockets as he grappled to bind his arms around (Y/n)'s waist, letting her weight crash into his chest. His knees ached as they tried to deadlock to hold them both up before he gave in and carefully moved to kneel on the floor, easing (Y/n) down with him as she was slumped back against his chest.

Shivers coursed up and down Chase's spine when (Y/n)’s trembling hand wavered to press to her chest as her breaths turned to strangled gasps.

"I could use some help!" He spat angrily, looking over his shoulder to find House staring at them both incredulously, much the same as Foreman. With Cameron being the only one to rush into action to try and help.

"C- Chase…" (Y/n) gasped, hardly able to get his name to pass through her lips from the shortness of breath the pain caused. Neither of them were sure what (Y/n) was asking of him, but Chase didn't seem to mind.

"Hey, come on, try and take deep breaths for me. Deep as you can." There was a slight edge of panic in Chase's voice while his left arm curved around (Y/n)'s waist and he pressed his palm down against the middle of her chest. Trying to feel her chest rising and falling just in case she was starting to breathe into her chest cavity, although he highly doubted that as a possibility.

His other hand moved to press back to the side of her neck while her head pushed down into his shoulder, tensing and writhing as she was clearly trying to remain in control despite her pain. And Chase tried his best to hide his wince and keep his shoulder tense beneath her head.

He hated how her features scrunched up in pain and she was almost froffing at the mouth from each ragged breath she gasped for.

(Y/n)'s heels bashed and scraped into the floor and she flopped into Chase's chest like a fish out of water, desperate to stop her suffocation. She closed her eyes and clenched her left hand down around Chase's thigh to try and ground herself.

But she was taken by surprise when a softer pair of hands took hold of her left hand. It was Cameron. She quickly attached a pulse clip to (Y/n)'s index finger before she pressed her stethoscope in her ears and pressed the end down into (Y/n)'s chest.

Cameron's lips formed into a concentrated pout but there was apprehension in her eyes. Especially when she saw that (Y/n)'s lips were becoming chapped and slightly discoloured on the inside. Tears were falling from her eyes like a stream when the pain in her chest felt like she was continuously being stabbed.

"Lungs are clear but there's muffling in her chest. I count at least three palpitations."

Lifting her head, Cameron looked up towards House who seemed to be observing them like they were performing a practical exam that he was going to grade. His eyes were narrowed and both hands were curled around his cane that was pressed down in front of him, allowing him to lean forwards and observe them more intimately.

"Lips are pale, she's not getting enough oxygen. Find a room and get her on oxygen and a dose of Atenolol. ECG should confirm an arythmia."

Chase fought the urge to roll his eyes or grunt in annoyance. Now House believed that something was wrong, all it took was for (Y/n) to collapse with breathing issues for them all to realise that she wasn't faking or trying to get out of work. She had a real health issue that no one had bothered to try and assess or work out.

"I can-"

"I've got her." Chase's words were snappy and to the point, cutting Cameron off before she had the chance to offer to help (Y/n) up.

A soft "Up we go," passed his lips as he switched his arms so one was around (Y/n)'s lower waist and the other slid beneath her knees. He pushed up to his feet, wincing at each shallow breath (Y/n) took which fanned against his throat as she tucked her face into his neck again.

He could feel her tears soaking into his skin and her trembling was surging through his blood and making him want to shake too.

He turned his head so his lips could press against (Y/n)'s burning temple and he had to concentrate so his hands didn't dig too harshly into (Y/n)'s skin and inflict any further unnecessary pain onto her.

When Cameron held open the office door, Chase hurried out, not caring that she and House were both following behind him. They could wait back in the office for all Chase cared. He needed to go and get (Y/n) set up in one of the empty rooms and get her on oxygen and medication to stop these symptoms from reoccurring.

This wasn't the first time (Y/n) had felt these symptoms, but it was the first time Chase had known her to collapse and suffer so much from them. Hopefully it was something as simple and treatable as an arythmia or maybe angina. He didn't want to think of there being any other serious problems; not for (Y/n).

Up until now, no one could find anything wrong. Hopefully this was it.

***

Tilting her head down, (Y/n) stared down at her thighs where her hands were beginning to tap out a rhythm. She didn't have to look up to see that Chase wasn't happy. The way his foot was repeatedly bashing against the floor was making the bedframe rattle and she knew instinctively that he had his arms folded tight over his chest.

House however, was a different matter. He looked unimpressed with his fingers twitching around the handle of his cane and his other hand was gripping the end of the bedframe.

"I need you both back to work. She's fine."

Pursing her lips, (Y/n) angled her head to one side and finally looked up towards her partner just in time to see Chase's nostrils flare and his lips curl into a grimace.

The palpitation she had suffered yesterday was most likely from an arythmia, but there was no single test to diagnose it. Angina was ruled out because (Y/n)'s cardiovascular blood vessels weren't constricted or tightening or weakening.

For an arythmia they had to monitor (Y/n), check each time she had symptoms or problems like yesterday and go from there. Either medication or trying to locate the section of the heart causing the issues and freezing it was their best course of action. None of which could be done within the next few days, they needed confirmation of this diagnosis.

But Chase wasn't so easily swayed. He didn't want (Y/n) to just go straight back to work. Yesterday had been different, it had been the first time she collapsed and he didn't want it happening again. She needed to rest and be monitored and they had to keep checking her heart to note the symptoms and changes.

"She's not fine, she has a heart condition-"

"That we can't diagnose without further symptoms and tracking. Do you feel fine?" House's attention turned to (Y/n), who didn't look too pleased about being talked about as if she weren't in the room with them.

Her hands began to glide up and down her thighs more vigorously and her eyes glanced up at Chase again. It was clear by his expression that if she said no, he would stick by her. He would stand up to House and make sure that she got another day or two or three on observation and an ECG to constantly check her heart rhythm.

But (Y/n) didn't want to be a burden. She had been okay since her episode yesterday morning. No more palpitations or shortness of breath, no more gasping for air. Being on oxygen for an hour and having beta-blockers had done the trick.

As long as she got to stay on observation and keep taking medication to try and ward off any further symptoms, (Y/n) would be okay.

She worked in a hospital, if she had any issues or fainting problems again then she was in the best place for it to happen.

Staying in this room as a patient was only going to help if something went wrong or she had further symptoms. Her chest was still aching and there was the odd pain but it was nothing serious and the monitors didn’t show anything. (Y/n) couldn’t sit here forever and wait until some sign appeared for what was causing this. For all they knew, it had stopped for good now.

When Chase locked eyes with (Y/n) he let out an irritated sigh, feeling anger boiling up inside of him when he realised he wasn’t going to be able to stop her from coming back to work.

"If she has any other symptoms or issues, you let her come back for observation."

"Fine. You'll be observing her and buzzing round her like a fly anyway." House waved his hand in Chase's direction before he turned and hobbled out the room.

It wasn't as if (Y/n) would be working away from the team or somewhere where they couldn't keep an eye on her. She would be with the team almost all the time, and when she went home she would still be with Chase. He could supervise and observe her to his heart's content. If she had any symptoms she could get back on an ECG and House would let Chase run any tests he liked.

But he wanted the whole team back on their current patient, back to doing their jobs that they were paid for. There was no use in (Y/n) sitting bored in here when she could be back with the team who were the most qualified to keep an eye on her and check her symptoms anyway.

Turning to the right, (Y/n) swung her legs over the side of the bed until her toes were just barely scraping the floor. And before Chase could utter one word, her arms were wrapped around his torso and her face was meshed into his sternum, breathing in his scent.

It was comforting to feel his hand on the back of her neck, his fingers tangling into her hair while his other hand roamed up and down her back in soothing circles.

"Are you sure you feel okay?"

"I feel better, I promise."

Chase leant down to kiss the top of her head while his thumb stroked up and down the back of her neck, causing shivers in his wake that he could feel soaring through (Y/n)'s skin.

"I'm keeping an eye on you," He murmured softly, the smallest hint of a smile tracing across his lips when (Y/n) angled her head back and looked up at him with that lazy grin that sent his own heart into a frenzy.

"I'm counting on it."

His lips were warm and sweet and his hand shifted to cup her neck, as if making sure she didn't move her head and try to break their kiss that was beginning to steal all the air from (Y/n)'s lungs just like her palpitations had done yesterday.

"So what does this do?"

(Y/n) fought as hard as she could to control her expression and steel her system. When she contorted a smile onto her face, she knew it wasn't as convincing as it should have been, and it wasn't as if she was about t give bad news or perform life-saving surgery.

But it wasn't the patient she was trying to protect. It was herself.

One week of a few meager symptoms and no collapsing or fainting at work. One week of Chase observing her and watching her like a hawk to no avail, because nothing else happened. After that one week, House seemed to believe that (Y/n)'s symptoms wouldn't flare up again and were either control or simply aggravated panic and therefore nothing to worry about.

It had been two weeks now since she had collapsed and her symptoms were simply flaring up in spates. A bit of a flush here and there, some breathless moments, the odd palpitation. Nothing serious enough to warrant another wave of panic or any further tests. Not that (Y/n) wanted any tests when they never seemed to prove that anything was wrong.

It was hard to keep smiling and reassuring the patient when she didn't feel like she was okay. She felt uneasy. The vein in her neck was throbbing like it was ready to explode. Her heartbeat was suddenly well aware in her chest. If anymore of her symptoms flared up she wasn't going to be able to perform this procedure.

"This allows us to remove the clot in your artery."

"No kidding, f-from all the way down there?"

"Blood vessels are like subway systems, this one goes right up to your lungs." At least her words seemed to comfort the patient and make him grin. He couldn't see the nerves hiding behind her eyes and he hadn't noticed that (Y/n) wasn't feeling her best right now.

Closing her eyes, (Y/n) took a moment to hold her breath and see whether it would make a difference or settle her system at all.

At least the patient wasn't panicking. (Y/n) would become a blundering mess if he didn't think she was capable or that she was too unnerved to do this minor surgery.

Out of all the strange symptoms and complications their patient had developed, no one had expected a blood clot to be one of them. Now they had changed his medication and were getting the clot from near his lungs.

To do that, they were inserting a tiny wire through the artery in his left leg which would go up through his system and reach the blood clot that was still partially blocking his blood vessel near his lung. It was a simple procedure, but (Y/n) had to steel her nerves and hold steady. Moving too fast or shaking as she inserted the wire could rupture the walls of his blood vessels and they couldn't have that happening.

"Just try and stay still, this won't take long."

(Y/n) flexed her fingers to try and rid the tension from her muscles and keep enough control so that she didn't start shaking. A doctor and any surgeon had to have steady hands, (Y/n) couldn't fall into trembles now.

She didn't realise she was holding her breath until her chest began to ache and she realised it wasn't one of her usual symptoms.

Her eyes focused on the wire she was steadily threading through the patient's thigh, watching it slither up his leg before she looked up to the monitor opposite her to make sure she was aiming the right way. Taking the right blood vessel. The right subway to get to the station that held the blood clot.

Chase was stood on the opposite side of the bed, his eyes watching her eagerly while his hand held the ultrasound over the patient's lower chest, right over his lung so they could keep check and make sure there were no other problems arising.

Chase noticed. He could see the signs (Y/n) was trying to hard to cover. He could see how her gaze kept flitting down to her hands and how she was putting all her concentration into keeping them steady, something she never had to think about doing on a normal day.

He noticed her throat tightening and her breaths increasing every now and then, despite this being a far more routine procedure compared to some of the surgeries they helped out with from time to time.

He watched with quirking lips and panic flooded eyes when (Y/n) uttered "Got it," but she sounded breathless.

Sweat was glistening on her brow and Chase could look no where else but at his partner. He watched her elbows resting on the bed as she tried to extract the wire from their patient's thigh without any sudden movements or ruptures. His fingers twitched and tightened around the ultrasound wand he was holding that he wasn't paying much attention to anymore.

"You're all done." The same breathlessness tore through (Y/n)'s chest and prevented her from trying to smile.

She was giving a patient good news. The clot had been extracted and his procedure was done. But (Y/n) was shaking as she placed a gauze patch over the incision and stepped away from the table.

She glanced across at Chase, giving him a brief look which he seemed to understand. He muttered "Let's get you back to your room." with a smile that could fool anyone and he paged for a nurse while (Y/n) started to retreat from the room.

The latex gloves seemed like she was peeling away a second layer of skin, the scrubs felt like they had been tied with sailor's knots at the back to keep her in a body suit like this.

Ripping them off was ten times harder than it should have been and (Y/n) shakily stuffed them into the waste bin on her way out the room.

She wasn't sure where she was heading, or where she was supposed to go now. House would probably want them back in his office so they could try and find the right diagnosis for their patient after this new development in his case. But (Y/n) didn't want to go back into the office yet, not when she was feeling like this.

The seats lined against the wall in the corridor seemed like a safe bet. (Y/n) plonked herself down in one of the chairs and slumped forward until her arms were flopped on her thighs and her head hung down, hoping to clear the dizziness that was ebbing away at the back of her mind.

"Hey, you okay?"

(Y/n) raised her head just enough to see Chase stood beside her, his head dipped to one side to look down upon her while he reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder.

"Palpitation," she mumbled, closing her eyes when she felt his hand immediately move from her shoulder to press against the side of her neck.

To anyone else it might have looked like a loving touch, but his middle and index fingers were feeling her pulse. His eyes narrowed as he felt her heartbeat, seeing that it wasn’t that much of a difference in rhythm but those little jumps and skips were there.

Chase brushed his thumb over the back of her neck when (Y/n) slumped against his front with her head pressing into the middle of his lower chest.

A sigh rumbled past his lips and he shifted his hand from her neck so his arm was loosely draped around the front of her chest, hugging her close as he leant down and buried his nose in her hair. He took a few slow breaths as he closed his eyes, feeling (Y/n)'s hand curl around his forearm like she was pinning him in place to ensure he didn't move one foot away from her.

He briefly opened his eyes at the sound of footsteps and Chase turned his head ever so slightly so he was still smothered against (Y/n)'s head, but he was able to glance down the hall.

Two nurses were wheeling their patient in the opposite direction, presumably and hopefully back to his room.

A peaceful silence enveloped them both as (Y/n) leaned into Chase who was wrapped around her like a comfort blanket. She found herself tapping her foot against the floor out of nervous habit, but her hands suddenly latched tightly around his arm and she tensed against him. Her chest seized and tightened as she doubled over with a gasp that caught Chase's full attention.

His lips parted, the question of what's wrong on the tip of his tongue until he felt the way (Y/n)'s chest seized and shuddered. Without thinking twice, he pressed his palm down against the centre of her chest before he fumbled to reach up to her neck and feel for her pulse.

Her heart was spasming. The palpitations and uneven rhythm were more prominent than last time.

This wasn't good.

"Up. C'mon, let's get you in the exam room." The urgency in Chase's voice made (Y/n)'s stomach churn and twist itself into knots and she whimpered in his arms. Clinging to the arm that was bound around her front while his other arm slid around her waist so he could help her up from the chair.

It felt and probably looked more like Chase was dragging her than walking with her, but (Y/n) was starting to flag in his arms. If he wanted to get her into a room to be checked out, heaving her there himself was the only way.

The couple stumbled into the new vacant room their patient had not long been in and (Y/n) reached one arm out to grasp the bed and lean against it when her knees started to tremble.

Her lips parted in a silent gasp and tears began to trickle down her features as that familiar suffocating feeling overwhelmed her and it felt like her heart had turned into a boom box. Each uneven beat was thundered against her ribs and pulsed through her blood and nerves and it hurt. It hurt to feel and notice each thundering beat of her heart that had her shoulders coiling inwards like her chest was trying to break itself in two.

She didn't quabble when Chase lifted her up and sat her down on the bed, and when his hands found her shoulders and he pushed to ease her down, (Y/n) didn't fight him. But she did coil her knees up near her stomach. Laying flat somehow didn't feel right. She wanted to curl up into a ball. Bringing her knees up and wrapping her arms tight around her waist was the closest she could get to the fetal position.

A pitiful cry along with a broken "Oow," left her lips before she snapped her eyes closed.

And when Chase's hand rested on the base of her chest, presumably to try and keep her still and to calm her down, (Y/n) grabbed his wrist until her nails were scraping against his skin.

Chase fumbled for the pager strapped to his belt, trying to compose himself and hold in his panic just long enough so he could type a message which he sent to all the team. Instructing them of an emergency which they needed to come down to the exam room to help with.

"Alright, alright babe. I'm gonna do an ultrasound, okay?"

(Y/n) nodded while her neck pushed out and she shoved her head back until she was almost tearing through the flimsy pillow beneath her. She could barely open her eyes enough to see a blurred image of Chase hovering over her.

She didn't care what he did or how he tried to help, she just wanted him to do something to ease her pain and terror.

With one hand clenched around his wrist, (Y/n) fumbled to whack her other arm out above her head towards the wall behind the bed. As soon as she grasped hold of the oxygen mask hooked there, Chase leant over and turned the oxygen machine on. (Y/n) didn't care about the wire wrapping and tangling around her arm because once the mask was over her lips, she was getting some form of help. Just enough oxygen to get through her system and keep her going considering she seemed to be suffocating. Again.

"Okay, okay…" Chase muttered a few other things to himself that (Y/n) couldn't make out, but she knew he was just trying to stay composed and walk himself through this.

He pressed his hips into the side of the bed so he could lean over her and a flicker of a grin pulled at the corner of his lips when he moved both hands to (Y/n)'s shirt. He locked eyes with her when he pulled and undid the buttons on her shirt until it was completely undone and he could see her bra. Unfortunately he didn't need to take that off.

(Y/n) barely felt the gel he squeezed onto her chest which was trembling and jutting up and down with infrequent breaths and gasps that were causing her throat muscles to tighten and constrict.

She had had an ultrasound two weeks ago after her other flare up of symptoms. But by the time she had been put on oxygen, an ECG and had her beta-blockers, the ultrasound was useless. Her symptoms had simmered down and her heart had been back to beating normally. The scan showed nothing amiss.

But Chase was hoping that doing a scan now, while she was actually suffering her strange variety of symptoms, that it might flag up something.

"Try and stay still babe, take a deep breath for me."

Chase's voice was lulling, almost as if he were putting her under a trance and (Y/n) nodded when the ultrasound was pressed down on her chest. It felt like he was trying to imbed it into her ribs, but she knew he was just trying to get a good look at her heart.

She took as deep a breath as she could manage, pushing her chest up and shifting from left to right as it became harder and harder to stay still when all she wanted to do was shake and writhe in agony.

"Breathe out."

With his right hip pressed against the bed, Chase had his right elbow resting on (Y/n)'s stomach as he moved the sonogram a little so get a better image. His left hand reached out for the monitor and he zoomed in a few centimetres.

(Y/n) wasn't sure whether the furrow in his brows and the slight pout of his lips was a good sign or not. Something had caught his eye or come to mind, that much was clear.

"Shallow breaths, start panting."

A whimper left (Y/n)'s lips and she brushed her cheek against the pillow while her hands clenched into fists and pushed down into the bed.

"Please baby, I know it hurts but I need you to try." Chase's expression turned to one flooded with sympathy. He knew she was in agony and he knew breathing was a struggle, but he had to see her heart rhythm changing and panting would use more oxygen and make her heartbeat increase.

(Y/n) tried, she panted as much as she could but it didn't feel like she was actually taking in any oxygen from the mask. Although she was sure she must have been because Chase leaned so close to the monitor that she feared he might end up putting his head through it.

"We got your 911… what are you doing?" Cameron's hands clung to the door handle as she paused in the doorway, unsure whether to step over the threshold or not when she wasn't quite sure what they were up to.

"Blood's leaking into her left ventricle. I need a better image, but the mitral valve looks loose."

Chase looked like he was panting, his jaw loose and eyes wide as he stared at the team as they flooded into the room.

An ultrasound wasn't such a great way to view the heart, but from what he could see, there was blood flowing back into the heart. Valves were like doors that closed after the blood pushed through to the next chamber of the heart, but if one was loose the blood could leak back and that caused a whole lot of problems.

Clearly this wasn't happening often enough for this to be visible on the scans they had done, and it wouldn't be prominent or visible on an ECG monitor.

If this was the right diagnosis then (Y/n) would need keyhole surgery to strengthen the valve and ensure this stopped happening. They had to stop this before it got any worse.

"I'll book a CT scan." Foreman held his hands out at his sides like he was giving some kind of apology for not believing anything like this could have been the cause. And he backed out of the room to give them some privacy and get the scan sorted. The sooner they diagnosed this, the sooner they could get (Y/n) to surgery and prevent it from happening again.

"Let me check your blood pressure, then we can find something to control the symptoms." Cameron's voice was soft and oddly quiet but her smile was comforting as she rounded the opposite side of the bed to Chase so she could try and help (Y/n).

(Y/n) was sure that her tight grip had left indents on the oxygen mask she was moulding against her face, but right now she didn't care. She inched the mask down her face just enough so that she could tilt her head back and look up at Chase when she realised he had put the sonogram away and was back to leaning over her.

His fingers softly carded through her hair and gently fluttered along her temple, but it was that calming smile and those ruby red lips that made (Y/n) feel a surge of adrenaline and shivers running down her spine.

And when she felt his lips attaching to her temple in a wet kiss, she leaned into the touch and hummed.

"You're gonna be alright now. We can fix this."

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