. Chapter 2
"So why the hell should I care about this case?" House asked as they stepped into the elevator.
"Because Cuddy will give you more clinic hours if you don't," Cameron replied, pressing the button for their floor.
"She's not going to give me more clinic hours," House said. The elevator opened, and they stepped out. House limped down the corridor, flanked by Cameron, Foreman, and Chase. "Because she knows that all I'll do is mess with their heads."
Foreman smiled despite himself.
"So, tell me about this patient. She's a teacher at an all-girls boarding school, right? I bet they get up to some kinky stuff there," House said.
Chase rolled his eyes while Cameron dutifully opened the file.
"All right. Patient's name is Jean Brodie; age thirty four; originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, and has been in the States for a year; profession: teacher; symptoms include dizziness, trouble breathing, nausea, and hallucinations," Cameron read aloud.
"Get an MRI with contrast, EEG, LP, and blood panel. Oh, and check for STDs," House ordered, heading into his office. He took a seat at his desk and began throwing his red ball against the wall. Cameron, Foreman, and Chase hurried off.
Cameron and Chase wheeled their patient to the MRI room and laid her on the table.
Jean looked inside the MRI machine, then up at the dark-haired man she could see standing next to her.
"The space inside is smaller than I thought," she said.
"Don't worry, Jean," the man replied, holding her hand reassuringly. "The doctors are going to take good care of you, right?" he said, looking at them.
"Once the Valium kicks in, you'll feel better," Chase said.
"And then we'll have some nice, warm milk when you're done," the man told her.
"I'd rather have more Valium," she replied.
"Jean," the man scolded her, amused.
"Let's wait just a bit, see how it goes," Cameron said. "Try to lie as still as possible." She pressed a button on the MRI machine and Jean reluctantly let go of the man's hand. Cameron and Chase entered the adjoining room to monitor the tests.
"Everything's normal," Chase said in surprise once the MRI was complete.
"Let's get her back to her room, then," Cameron said, and they wheeled Jean Brodie back to her room.
"All the tests were negative," Chase reported.
"Ethanol could have psychoactive effects," Foreman suggested.
"Idiot," House shot back. "Where would a boarding school teacher come in contact with ethanol? She doesn't teach science," he said.
"How do you know that?" Foreman asked.
House produced her purse.
"I should have known," Cameron murmured. House shuffled through their patient's wallet.
"Credit card, driver's license, thirty dollars in cash, school identification card, house keys, a copy of "Pride and Prejudice" – no science teacher would have that in her purse, and a photograph of a dark-haired man in front of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh," House said, laying each item out as he spoke of it.
"Could be a streptococcal infection," Chase suggested, ignoring the contents of their patient's wallet.
"Nope," House said. "Next guess."
"Haemochromatosis," Cameron said. "It's common among those of British and Irish descent."
"But she has normal iron levels," Foreman countered.
"Test for Creutzfeldt-Jakob," House said.
"Mad cow disease?" Chase said, incredulous.
"She was in Germany during the outbreak," House replied.
"And you know that because..." Cameron asked, trailing off as House held up her passport.
"I'm assuming that she doesn't carry that around with her," Chase said.
"And you would be right," House said.
"So you went to her house?" Cameron pushed.
"Nope. The headmistress of the school brought it over," House replied.
"I'm not going to do a brain biopsy on this woman," Chase said. "She hasn't had any seizures. She was in Germany years ago – it would have shown up by now if she did have it. I'm not going to do a potentially fatal operation to test for something she doesn't have."
"Suit yourself," House said, leaning back in his chair. "Go search her house, then."
"Fine," he replied huffily.
An hour later, he had returned. "There's nothing there – all her food is organic, even organic meat. It's not Creutzfeldt-Jakob."
"Go talk to her anyway," House said. "Ask her if she ate any meat when she was in Germany all those years ago. It does have an incubation period. Cameron, Foreman, go with him."
They nodded and left with Chase for their patient's room.
"You've already done everything," Jean said.
"We may have missed something," Foreman replied patiently.
"I just want to go back to Marcia Blaine. I'm sure I'm fine now," Jean stated.
"Jean, the doctors know best," the dark-haired man from the photograph said. He was sitting in a chair at the foot of her bed.
"You had some serious symptoms. The hallucinations, the nausea..." Cameron said.
Jean interrupted her. "If I have them again, I'll come right back, okay?"
"If you have one while you're driving..." the man said.
"You can drive me. Make sure I take it easy," Jean replied, smiling at the man.
"Who can?" Foreman asked.
"Teddy can," Jean replied, looking at Foreman confusedly.
"Who's Teddy?" Cameron asked.
"My lover," Jean said coolly.
"He's here?" Chase asked.
"What are you talking about? He's right there," Jean said, pointing to where Teddy was sitting.
All three doctors looked over to where she was pointing – there was no one there.
