The beeping of an alarm clock jolted House out of his dream of floating in a gondola surrounded by a river of Vicodin. He groaned and slammed the off button. He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. His mouth tasted like death.

Slowly, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, supporting the right one with his hands. He winced. This maneuver went better some days than others. Unfortunately, today was not a good day. House looked out the window of his bedroom to see that it was raining in sheets, coming down on the window and the ground and on his leg, making it throb incessantly.

He tried to stand, but his leg gave out from under him and he grabbed the dresser in order not to fall on his ass. Slowly, he lifted himself from his stooped position and grabbed his cane from its spot against the wall. With a death grip, he limped heavily to the kitchen to get his pills. These were the days when he was glad he lived alone.

(LINE BREAK)

Foreman walked into his office at 10 in the morning. Too early. House had been dozing in his chair with his feet up after a night of drinking and watching wrestling with Wilson. Foreman walked behind him and jolted the chair. House opened his eyes.

"Well, that was rude," he said in mock surprise.

"Got a case."

"Shoot."

"30-year-old female. Hepatosplenomegaly."

"Great," House said sarcastically. "You've got me hooked! Tell me more."

Foreman ignored his sarcasm and continued. "She also has nystagmus. Says she's never noticed it."

"So you've brought me idiopathic nystagmus in a drunk?"

Foreman sighed heavily. "Weren't you the one that always stresses Occam's razor?"

"Yes, but I also stress House's razor. The explanation that lets me go back to sleep is most often the correct one." House put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, leaning back in the chair.

"She doesn't drink," Foreman informed, putting his hand heavily down on House's desk to wake him up.

"Mmhm. And Cuddy doesn't have amazing breasts."

"She wasn't lying, House. She doesn't drink, doesn't do drugs, and doesn't smoke. I checked her teeth. No staining. Her arms have no scarring. No singeing of nose hairs, no dilated pupils, no weight loss, nothing. Alcohol alone wouldn't cause her to have this much swelling."

House sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to get Foreman off his back if he didn't tell him to run something. "Whatever. Just run a tox screen."

"She doesn't do drugs!"

"Over-the-counter drugs could cause it too. Just do it."

Foreman sighed. "Okay. But it'll be negative."

"Five bucks."

They shook on it.

(LINE BREAK)

After Foreman left, House decided to take a walk. His leg was throbbing, and he needed it not to spasm. He limped down the hall, passing orderlies and nurses and patients and all the other lost souls who ended up at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. He could see Dr. Riggin through the research lab window. He had always thought Riggin was a show-off, with all his fancy drug trials and research. The only time he'd done a trial was in medical school when he helped his professor develop a new drug to combat Alzheimer's, and he'd only done it for class credit. Doctors needed to figure out how to use the medicines they already had before making new ones. He pushed through the door and into the lab.

"What are you curing this time? Toxic mold? Super-AIDS?"

Riggin smiled, but it was strained. He didn't like House any more than most of the people at the hospital, but he hadn't yet done anything to piss him off, so he supposed he should at least try to keep up his streak. "Hello, Dr. House. I'm doing a trial to regrow muscle. It'll help repair injuries quicker."

House froze. "Is it working?"

"On the mice it's working splendidly!" Riggin said as he injected another mouse. It squealed.

"Any side-effects?"

"Well there's been some cramping...why are you interested in this?" Riggin ventured.

"No reason. Thinking of doing a trial myself," House lied.

"Well, I wish you luck! I have to get back to work now, and I'm sure so do you."

House nodded and forced something like a smile. He needed to get his hands on this drug.

MEDICAL GLOSSARY:

Hepatosplenomegaly: Enlargement of the spleen and liver with many causes.

Nystagmus: involuntary eye movement.

Singeing of nose hairs, dilated pupils, weight loss, teeth staining: symptoms of drug and nicotine use.