disclaimer: I do not own House. FOX does.
Scene 1 : An apartment building. The TV is running while the doorbell rings. A woman (30) rushes to open it. Another woman is standing there.
Hanna: Hey stranger! Welcome Back! (they embrace enthusiastically) I brought some Chinese food, seeing how you might not have gotten any in Sudan (holds up bag)
Gina: So great to see you…(coughs about 3 times)…
Hanna: Are you alright there? You didn't get some crazy illness in Africa, did you? (follows Gina into the kitchen)
Gina: No…it's just a little cold I probably got on the plane…planes are breeding grounds for microbes…
Hanna: There goes that epidemiologist talk again…you have a lot of guts, going to some random country like that and researching on the new crazy tropical disease of the week.
(Gina laughs gently but touches her stomach in discomfort)
Hanna: (laughs) What now, is it the plane food?
Gina: (disoriented, vision is blurry) I need to sit down…(goes in to sudden seizure attacks…Hanna tried to restrain her, but is thrown off)
(Hanna hysterically shrieks and panics)
OPENING CREDITS
( Scene 2. House is limping in the corridor, Foreman catches up to him and hands him a file)
Foreman: We have a 32-year old woman, Gina Mackenzie, admitted last night…patient was said to have abdominal pain, blurry vision, nausea, and cough. She had trouble breathing and is currently hooked up to a ventilator.
House: She real good looking, or something?
Foreman: What? (House walks on, Forman follows him) She's on her way to severe Tachycardia, heart rate is at 95 resting now and rising. (House pauses too look at Foreman, then walks on) She's an epidemiologist, working with the Ebola virus for the past 5 months in Sudan.
House: She has Ebola. Done.
Foreman: Her blood tests are normal; there are no signs of hemorrhaging or fever anywhere. Besides, she works for the CDC, who have set up about a billion procedural barriers before the virus can actually be transmitted during research. Something else is making her sick.
House: Do you know the patient?
Foreman: Does it matter? Yes.
House: You are a self centered, complacent creature. You don't do anything unless it selfishly will reap you benefits. Now, either the patient has a rocking body or is an old flame from college. I'm guessing the latter, cause let's face it, she's an epidemiologist (childish snicker). Did I tell you that joke where a cripple, an epidemiologist and a neurologist walk into a bar…(Foreman sighs, walks away)
(Cut to the interior of the office. We see nausea, seizure, high BP, stomach pain, and cough written on the white board)
House: So we have a patient who works with Ebola, has some symptoms of Ebola, but doesn't have Ebola. Oh and who got "jiggy with it" with Foreman in college.
Foreman: (ignoring House) Her tox screens came back and they were clean. Her blood count is normal.
Cameron: (looking at the chart) Her motor skills are slightly impaired.
Chase: It could be due to the seizure…
Cameron: But the dizziness and nausea point to a neurological disorder.
House: (Fake cheery) Isn't this just perfect? Mr. Neurologist here can save Princess Ebola from the evil strange disease that endangers her future.
Foreman: She also shows signs of hypertension and high blood pressure.
Cameron: She could have Friedreich's ataxia…the symptoms are heart disease and blurry vision
House: Good. Anyone else…Chase, you look like you want to say something. Or is that the look of smoldering jealousy?
Chase: The high BP and nerve damage point to a viral infection.
House: (claps) What a concept! A person working with viruses HAS a virus!
Foreman: There are over 400 viruses that fit these symptoms.
Chase: Well, we have to think geographically. Sudan itself is a hotbed of exotic diseases.
Foreman: She was in the capital city the whole time and never stepped foot into the underdeveloped portions of the country. The only contact she's had with the virus was behind an inch thick layer of latex gloves.
House: What do you think it is, Dr. Love?
Foreman: It's a parasite. It would explain the weight loss and the symptoms of nerve damage.
Chase: She lived in Sudan for the past 5 months…of course she'd lose weight from the lack of proper nutrition.
House: Or the lack of greasy American potato chips. Chase, administer a blood smear test to test for parasites. Dr. Love, observe her for any signs of brain damage. Cameron, get me some coffee. (Foreman sighs. House gets up and leaves).
Chase: How serious were you two?
Foreman: What do you care?
Chase: I don't know…we just don't hear that much about you.
Foreman: I would have married her.
Cameron: (looks up) Why didn't you?
Foreman: Because I knew it would have ended anyway. We were headed separate directions.What's the point of putting myself through all that trouble of a marriage just to see it fall apart? What we had was good, but it had to end.
Cameron: People don't get married just because it's practical…They do it because they're in love.
Foreman: Who, people like you? Married to a dying man who basically damaged you emotionally for the rest of your life. Who made you into an emotional basket case that's clinging onto the hope that one day a cynical, misanthropic cripple would turn around and say "I love you too." (Foreman turns around and leaves)
Chase (to Cameron, who looks appalled): That was harsh.
Scene 3. A hospital room. Gina is on the bed, hooked up to an IV drip, tubing, and a ventilator. Foreman enters.
Gina: (Smiling weakly) I knew you worked here.
Foreman: (Crouching down next to her) You got some pretty heavy disease, you know…
Gina: Yeah, I know…I do study these things for the living…High BP, loss of motor skills, high BP…do you guys think it's a parasite?
Foreman: It's a possibility. Or an encephalitic virus.
Gina (Laughs gently): there are over 400 of those…(Foreman gently brushes strands of hair off her forehead. Gina smiles) It's really good to see you…I wish it wasn't like this though…
Foreman: Me too…don't worry…we're going to take care of you…Dr. House is one of the best doctors I know…
Gina: Oh …(beeping increases) The lights…turn them off…I'm burning!
(Foreman checks her forehead)
Foreman: (yelling) Nurse! She's burning up! Her BP is rising. (Gina vomits) I need ACE inhibitors, stat! (Nurse runs over, injects Gina)