Hugh Laurie stars as brilliant but caustic New Jersey medic Dr Gregory House in the fourth series of the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning medical drama. In the season finale, House and his team struggle to save Amber’s life following the bus crash. As problems in her heart begin to affect her other major organs, House agrees to Wilson’s request to cool Amber’s body in order to buy time for a diagnosis.

Following the revelation that Amber was involved in the bus crash that left House with partial amnesia (see last week’s episode, ‘House’s Head’), the doctors race against time to save her life. Wilson and House rush to Amber’s bedside where they discover that, having been found without identification, she has been treated as a ‘Jane Doe’. Despite losing her kidneys in the accident, Amber emerged from surgery in a stable condition – only for her heart to begin racing out of control. “Whatever’s doing this to her heart, it isn’t from the crash,” her doctor says.

House is convinced that he recognised a symptom in Amber prior to the crash, but cannot remember what it is. He persuades Amber’s doctor to transfer her to Princeton Plainsboro Hospital, but she suffers a cardiac arrest in the ambulance. House is about to shock her back to life when Wilson stops him by claiming the defibrillation could result in brain damage. He begs House to put her into “protective hypothermia” by cooling her body, thus slowing the progress of the illness and buying them time to diagnose her. “This is not a solution. All you’re doing is pressing pause,” House warns him, before agreeing to the procedure.

At the hospital, Amber is transferred to intensive care where her body temperature is gradually lowered. The team runs a differential diagnosis and Kutner and 13 are sent to search her apartment for clues. House, meanwhile, struggles to recall the events prior to the crash. He knows that he met Amber in a bar, but cannot remember why. Is it possible that he had romantic designs on his best friend’s girl?

The discovery that Amber was taking diet pills prompts House to wonder if they are behind her illness. But this theory is ruled out when Chase notices that Amber is jaundiced – indicating her liver is failing. “Liver failure means whatever this thing is, it’s spreading despite the fact that she’s frozen,” Foreman says. Against his better judgment – and that of his team – House agrees to Wilson’s demand that they lower Amber’s temperature even further. He then comes up with a new idea when he finds a rash on the small of her back – but once again gives in to Wilson’s wishes and delays warming her up until the diagnosis is confirmed.

Convinced that House is letting his friendship with Wilson cloud his judgment, Foreman takes matters into his own hands and goes to see Cuddy. “House is going to kill the patient,” he says. Cuddy agrees and the pair begin to bring Amber out of her semi-frozen state, until they notice that her brain waves are slowing down. “Well done!” declares a furious Wilson. “We still don’t know what it is, but you’ve just let it spread to the brain.”

With Amber’s symptoms now affecting her heart, liver and brain, House seems no closer to a solution. Wilson then hits him with an extraordinary request – he wants him to undergo “deep brain stimulation” to jog his memory in the hope of remembering the symptom that he saw. This involves sending electrical jolts through the brain – but having just survived a bus crash and a heart attack in rapid succession, House is in no shape for such a procedure. “You think I should risk my life to save Amber’s?” he asks Wilson. House agrees to do what he can to help his friend – but can he find the clue he needs to save Amber’s life?