Disclaimer: I don't own House and I definately don't own Brian's Song
House was never much of a caring man… not for years. He had been once. He had a daughter named Megan. Oh he loved her more then he ever thought it was possible to love anyone. His life changed when she died.
Brian was in a really good mood. He just found out that he was in remission and he was back in his game. His family was by his side. Nothing could go wrong. He apparently had never heard of Murphy's Law #1… when something can't go wrong—it does
"So," House said to his team, "What is the fascinating case we have for today"
"I think this is going to take a little longer then a day to solve," Cameron told him, "It's a 3-year-old girl. She was brought in after collapsing in school. Tests revealed that she has embryonal cell carcinoma."
"Nice," House whistled.
His wife, Bunny was his nickname for her was out shopping. The girls were at school. His phone rang.
"Yellow," he said cheerfully and as soon as he heard what the nurse in his daughter's school had to say his smile disappeared. His 3-year-old had collapsed at school.
Cameron threw House a look.
"Here's where it gets interesting. Family history revealed that Kristi… the child is not the only one in her family with this illness. Her father recently went into remission… like 8 months ago from the same illness unlike her mother and her two older sisters"
"Cool," House said, "A two for one special"
What seemed like decades later but was probably only a few hours Brian and Bunny were waiting in the waiting room. Bunny was pacing and Brian was trying to stay calm. After all she could have collapsed for any number of reasons. The news that they heard was the last thing in the world they would have expected to hear. The door opened and Dr. Wilson walked in.
"You know," Cameron said, "one more comment out of you and I don't care that you're my boss, you are so facing the wrath"
"Exciting," House leered.
Megan was three when she died so House found making jokes helped him cope.
"Now I have a question," House said, "if we know what the problem is, why are we involved in the case."
"As a personal favor to Wilson," Cameron said, "He thinks if anyone can save this child our team can"
Wilson introduced himself and Bunny recognized the look on Wilson's face. It was the same look Brian's doctor had when he told them about his cancer.
"Because of your history," Wilson explained, "we ran an ultrasound of your daughter's heart and we found a large tumor in the chest cavity. We'll need to do a biopsy to confirm but it is likely that your daughter is suffering from the same disease that you were suffering from. I'm so sorry"
"Has a biopsy been done," House asked, "to make sure that this really is what's happening?"
"Yes," Cameron replied, "The tumor is in the chest cavity and after getting a piece of it out, it has been determined that the child has embryonal cell carcinoma"
"What stage," House asked
"Stage 3," Cameron answered, "it must have been growing for awhile before the symptoms showed up.
"I would imagine so," House said
Bunny felt raw. He was sorry? He couldn't possibly understand how she felt. Her husband had just beaten this terrible disease and now she might lose her youngest child to this illness. No amount of 'sorry' could be acceptable.
"When did her father get sick," House asked
"He was diagnosed 3 years ago. He underwent surgery and P.H.B. therapy in order to recover," Cameron shared, "After 2 years of P.H.B. therapy he had six months of chemo and then went into remission. It was a very difficult road for the whole family."
"When did he go into remission," House asked
Brian held his sobbing wife as he sobbed too. He couldn't help feeling guilty about his daughter's illness. After all, if he hadn't gotten sick she wouldn't have gotten sick. It was genetic. The worst part was the knowing.
"He went into remission six months ago," Cameron answered
"How large is the child's tumor," House asked.
Cameron showed him the ultrasound.
"DAYMN," House joked, "they ought to charge rent for that space it's so big"
"HOUSE," Cameron snapped, "What did I say?"
Brian had been through everything his baby was going to have to face. He knew first hand about the side effects of the various treatments. When he was going through chemo and P.H.B. and all the other treatments he had to go through he thought his life was hell. He would never want to go through it again. Now he found himself longing to be able to go through it again only to keep Kristi from having to suffer from it.
"You told me not to make jokes," House said
"One more time," Cameron threatened, "and I will teach you a lesson using your own cane"
House half sneered half laughed.
"That sounds like fun," he said
Cameron sighed in frustration.
"Linda and Gale are watching the other girls," Brian said by means of making general conversation.
"Do you think we should tell them," Bunny asked
"No," Brian said emphatically, "We don't tell them until there is something to tell. Let them be children for as long as they can"
"It's not fair," Bunny sobbed.
