Matthew Lawson practically ran down the hallway, paper pressing down on his midsection, and a small container of tablets in the other, eager to escape the hospital as fast as he could.
Lis stared back after him and then glared at House. "It's become obvious to me that you don't have a very good bedside manner," she said, accusingly.
House stared back down at her, "You get that." He told her in a careless tone, he then grabbed a file from the increasing pile at the nurse's station, and announced loudly. "Now, next patient to be called to my chamber of death is Diana Bridgestone," A larger woman stood up and calmly walked to the exam room.
House sat down at his chair. "I'm going to, for once," he grinned at Lis, "follow protocol, and announce that I have a work experience student and ask if you would mind if she sits in on the consult?"
The woman nodded, "That's fine." She then turned to beam at Lis, who automatically smiled back.
House glanced at the file, "Pain in the hip."
"Yes," the woman nodded, indicating with her hand where it was on her own body.
Even though House had a good idea of what it was, he thought he should let his little prodigy figure it out.
The woman lifted her shirt and laid down on the bed. House motioned Lis toward the woman. Lis moved shyly, however, there was a small spring in her step as she realized that she was going to be part of the diagnosis.
"Lis, place your fingers on the hip joint." Lis did as she was told; she placed two small, dainty fingertips on Diana Bridgestone's hip. "Gently prod the joint, you should be able to feel the bursa," he moved her fingers over the area. "Right there. Don't move it too much, though. I've already gotten three lawsuits this month."
"It feels okay," Lis mumbled.
"That's because it's the wrong hip," Diana responded.
House rolled his eyes, "Well, of course it's the wrong hip! How else is she going to compare the two? Duh!"
Both women glared at him. House promptly ignored that and spoke to Lis again. "The other hip, now."
Once again, Lis placed her two fingertips on Diana Bridgestone's hip bone and pressed gently.
"It's a bit-" she began, before jumping back as Diana groaned in pain.
"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, a shock of horror crossing her face.
"It's okay, love," Diana replied, wincing a bit.
"Um, I'm sorry to break up this little apologizing party, but I have a patient to diagnose and my student is withholding critical information. Care to share, Lis?"
Lis straightened herself, "It felt swollen, and I'm guessing, fairly tender."
House nodded in encouragement, "Any ideas?"
Lis paused to think for a moment, her eyes suddenly looking distant for a moment, before an idea brought her back to reality. "An inflammation?"
"Which means?"
"Umm…something is inflamed??"
House nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. "Pretty much, an inflammation is a biological response to a foreign body. It creates swelling around the affected around the area..." As he explained it further, he was glad to see Lis was actually listening to what he said, taking it all in, unlike some of the College prac students that he'd had over the last few years.
He asked her another question, "What was the area of the hip?"
Lis stared at him, confused.
"What was the area I mentioned before?" he repeated.
"Um…the Bursa?"
"Correct. Which means?"
Lis paused for a moment, to place all the puzzle pieces together in her head. "She has an inflammation of the hip Bursa?"
House nodded once more, "What's the name given to inflammation?" he pressed, intrigued to see how much she knew.
"-itus…" she drew out the word, as if she wasn't too sure about the answer.
"Therefore meaning….?"
"She has Bursitis?" Lis announced, still in an unsure voice.
"Congratulations, you've just diagnosed a patient."
Lis started to smile as she realized what she had just done. Even though she knew that she'd correctly diagnosed Diana was because House kept giving her information, and then getting her to put in the blanks, she still felt a wave of achievement wash over her.
Diana Bridgestone interrupted the moment of euphoria, "So I have Bursitis?"
"No, you have the chicken pox," House countered sarcastically, writing out a referral form. "Go get yourself so physiotherapy, and lay off dance classes for a few weeks."
Diana looked confused, "How did you know?"
House smirked as he answered. "The short and skirt that you are wearing indicates that you just came from work, the is no dampness on your head that would indicate sweating, meaning that you drove, but only somebody with feet problems, such as blisters from high-heeled shoes would wear their faded, worn-out joggers to work."
"You are so cruel, sometimes, Dr House."
Mentor and student walked down the hall to the open clinic, ready to announce their next patient.
"And you are too nice."
Lis stopped, and moved to the side of the wall, to let the other people in the hall pass freely through. "I'm not too nice. I'm not a pushover," she glared at him.
House snorted, "Oh, please. You like puppies, The Wizard of Oz and long walks on the beach."
"Do not," Lis stared up at him through her glasses, defiant of his ruling.
House nodded, "Yes you do. Your goal is to go Turkey and rescue all the orphaned dogs. You sing along with Dorothy and the little munchkins as she begins her journey on the Yellow Brick Road. You have a pair of ruby slippers that you would wear and click your heels together three times, you firmly believe that the director's son didn't hang himself in the background of the Oz set. And EVERYONE likes walks on the beach."
Lis looked down, slightly embarrassed and beaten. "My mom did have these red sparkly shoes…" she admitted.
