"Good afternoon Miss Edwards, I'm Dr. Chase."

The young woman was alert and sitting up in her bed, stunned as if she was seeing an apparition. "I was beginning to think you didn't exist. Dr. Randall certainly dropped your name a lot. I think he did it so I wouldn't believe that Doogie Howser was handling my care. Although you don't look much older."

"Sorry, I've been otherwise occupied. Did Dr. Randall explain the CAT scan?"

"Yes, he did that very we'll. He's a smart kid that will make a great doctor someday when he grows up."

"You don't remember anything unusual happening before you got sick?"

"Unusual? I live a very boring and very structured life. I would have remembered unusual."

"Maybe you tried a different type of food, ate at a different restaurant?"

"Nope, all the same. Besides, what sort of toxin or bacteria would exist to make me this sick so fast? Wouldn't there be some reported cases like this?"

"That's the problem, the possibilities are endless. That's what the tests are going to find out."

The woman nodded, actually satisfied with what she was being told. "Okay, I suppose that makes sense. So you basically show up for the important stuff while junior there gets all the menial tasks?"

"Yep, that's the way it works." Chase had to admit, he did like having a patient that could see through all the crap and still take it in stride.

"I'm a customer service manager. I know all about passing on the grunt work."

Chase got up and gave her a reassuring smile. "Dr. Randall is going to take you down to radiology. I'll be down there shortly."

"Great, can't wait."

------------------------

"You sure you don't want to tag along for old times sake?"

"Not in a million years," Foreman declared. "There's a reason why House always sent you to do the break-ins after a while. No one would suspect the baby faced white guy. So the CAT scan was perfectly normal?"

"Yep, not a thing wrong with the heart or brain. This woman seems too perfect. There's a deep dark secret hiding there and I'm gonna find it."

"Take your intern. Has he ever been on a search?"

"That's true, he would only be tried as a juvenile." Chase joked. "I've never taken him before because it's hard to train someone to know what to look for during an illegal search."

"Let him figure it out on his own. We had to. Besides, you'll be there to cover what he missed."

"Yeah you're probably right. It's always fun to show them things that med school never taught them."

Foreman laughed. He remembered the education from House all too well. "Have you been upstairs to visit House at all?"

"Nope, and I have no intention of visiting. He needs his space."

"I was thinking of dropping by, if anything to see how much being cooped up with nothing to do is driving him crazy."

"You'll have to let me know how he is then."

Foreman laughed again at Chase's pitiful resolve. "He'll find a way to bother you. When he gets bored and sets his mind to something, he's impossible."

"You mean the tons of pages and messages on my phone haven't been enough? I'll deal with him when the time is right. In the meantime, I've got some breaking and entering to do."

"Don't get caught and I'm not bailing you out." Foreman chuckled to himself as the distressed Aussie went on his way. He went back to his research studies. Still wasn't missing the excitement.

----------------------

"Why do we break into peoples homes?"

"We aren't technically breaking in since we took her key."

"We are searching her private property without her permission. I didn't go to law school, but I'm pretty sure I know the difference." Randall may have questioned the logic, but he knew his protests weren't going to stop his determined mentor.

"I've been doing this for three years and have never been caught."

"There's always a first time."

"Very good Randall. You are picking up on our department pessimism very well." Chase opened the door and they entered the apartment. "Anyway, Dr. House has always contended that everybody lies, so we search the homes of patients without their knowledge so we find what they aren't telling us. It has proven to be a very effective strategy."

"Illegal and immoral too."

"Yeah, that too, although the patients tend to forgive us when they walk out of the hospital breathing."

They did an initial scan of the apartment only to find a meticulously clean and orderly place. Too clean and too orderly. "So what are we looking for?" Randall asked as he saw nothing unusual at first glance.

"Anything that could cause a disease."

"Air does that."

"Not this air. You see the air cleaner over there. There isn't hardly any dust around either. We'll check the kitchen first."

Randall took time to admire the carefully placed organization of every item. "Not one thing is out of place. She must practice feng shui."

"More power to her. I don't have that sort of time." Chase opened the refrigerator to find it was very clean with only a few fresh vegetables and milk inside of it. He handed Randall the vegetables. "We always test for pesticides." The cupboards had a few cans of organic tomatoes and several jars of natural peanut butter. The kitchen counters were wiped down and disinfected as well as the sink. They opened the cabinet under the sink and found a perfectly clean area that showed no evidence of even a water stain. "We always check under the sinks for mold. Kitchen's clean, let's try the bedroom next."

They went into the bedroom where the bed was made and not scrap of clothing lied around loosely. "No one ever died from an unmade bed. Erma Bombeck called this behavior sick. I'd have to agree." Chase started going through the drawers.

"Should we be doing that?" Randall objected. "Her underwear and stuff is in there."

"The and stuff is what we need to know." Chase found searching the drawers to be easy since everything was neatly folded. "Hmm."

"What's so interesting?"

"That there is nothing interesting. There is not a piece of lingerie here anywhere. Even her underwear looks grandma-ish."

"You like looking at women's lingerie?"

"We have to determine how often she is having sex and if she has a boyfriend."

"Uh,"

"What is it?"

"She made me promise not to tell anyone, but she told me she was a virgin."

Chase wasn't sure if he was more shocked by his intern withholding info or the fact that a 29 year old virgin existed. "That would have been good to know."

"It wasn't relevant plus it looks like you wouldn't have believed her anyway."

"It is relevant and...and you have a point there. There doesn't seem to be anything in here. The bathroom is all that is left."

The bathroom, just like the rest of the place, was sparkling clean, sanitized and didn't have a spot of dirt or grime anywhere. "Organic shampoo, we'll take that to test." Chase opened the medicine cabinet. "Vitamin C and Folic acid. Why would a perfectly healthy virgin want to take folic acid? We'll take these too."

Chase had never had so few samples from a search in his messenger bag before. He seemed rather disappointed as they headed back into the living room.

"Why are you so bummed out?" Randall figured a clean search was a good thing.

"We didn't find the hidden secret."

"Maybe she doesn't have one."

"Everyone has one. It just isn't here." Chase spotted the stack of mail on the kitchen counter hoping to find something there. "Even her mail is nothing but bills and junk mail. I don't see a computer, so she's probably not having a secret life on the internet either. We might have to check her workplace next." Chase took one more long look around, hoping to spot any other clue that he may have missed. Finally, he gave up in defeat. "Come on, there is nothing more to see here."

-----------------------------

Chase and Randall headed over to check on their patient. Chase was most curious as to why she would be taking Folic Acid as a supplement. The primary reason was for women that wanted to get pregnant, although it was often used as a preventative for heart disease, cancer, and depression. She was sleeping when they arrived. Chase gave her a slight nudge. "Miss Edwards?"

She only half opened her eyes and could barely get out a few words. "You're back," she wearily replied.

Chase didn't like the looks of the groggy response. He grabbed his light pen and checked her eyes. "Miss Edwards, are you in pain?"

"My stomach feels sick."

"What is it?" Randall asked feeling the same alarm as his mentor.

Chase noticed the slow reaction of the pupils and then checked the monitor. "She's severely lethargic. Her pulse is rapid."

Miss Edwards began to gag. "Grab the basin," Chase instructed Randall. He managed to get it under her mouth just in time for her to empty the contents of her stomach.

Chase started examining the abdomen next. He noticed the slight bloating. "What's her temperature?"

Randall put down the basin once since she had finished her puking and got her temperature. "99.9". His report was quickly interrupted when she started wheezing. Randall quickly grabbed the oxygen mask and placed it over her face. As he was putting it on he noticed yet another complication. "Her lips are starting to swell."

"She's reacting to the Pyrimethamine. We need to stop the dose now."

Miss Edwards started to calm down once she was able to take in the fresh oxygen. She then fell back into sleep. Chase checked her eyes again to make sure she hadn't lost consciousness and did one more check of vitals. He took in a sigh of relief when he figured out she was just exhausted.

Chase motioned Randall over to the far side of the room. "I want you to stay with her, make sure that there aren't other complications and that she stops vomiting. The drug should be out of her system in a few hours, we will see if the reaction clears up. I'm going to look into other ways to treat the toxoplasmosis. Page me if anything happens."

"I will Dr. Chase." Randall replied, more than ready for the assigned task.

Chase nodded and left the room. He hoped it was just a reaction to the drug. All those symptoms could easily be signs of other things, but the drug was the best possible explanation for now.

------------------------------

"Why if it isn't Calvin and Hobbes," Cuddy said as she entered the rehab waiting area.

"House was just apologizing to me. Come over here, you have to hear this. It will never happen again." Wilson was having too much fun with this moment.

"I swear it's the brainwashing they do here. I don't remember saying such a thing." House cheekily replied. He turned to Wilson. "I'm never cutting you a break again."

Wilson laughed. "I'll see you later House. Great talking to you."

House scowled as Wilson left.

"You actually apologized to Wilson?" Cuddy said as she took Wilson's place. "I suppose that took too much out of you to give me one as well."

"Yep, you're dead on there."

"So what was so important that I had to come and see you now?"

House tried his best to appear humbled. "Look, I need a favor."

Cuddy beamed a smirk of satisfaction. She liked being in a position of control. "You need something from me?"

"Stop enjoying this. Anyway, I'm going stir crazy here. I need to know what is going on with my department, but Chase is ignoring my pages."

"I just happen to agree with Chase. You need to focus on getting better."

"In order to get better I need to have puzzles to distract me. That will certainly suppress the urge for opiates."

"I don't know. Chase has a patient but I'm sure he doesn't need you getting in the middle of it."

"I promise to be good. I'll offer consultation and let him make the final decision."

Cuddy laughed at such an absurd comment. "What kind of idiot do you think I am? There is no way you will let him have the final say."

House broke out the puppy dog eyes and quivering lip that he had used on Cuddy many times before. "Come on, give an addict a break."

Cuddy hated herself for caving like a cheap rug, but it was pointless to argue. If she didn't allow it, he'd find another way. "Okay, I'll talk to Chase and ask him to share some details."

House offered a smile that mixed both fake sincerity with pleasure over pushing her buttons. "Gee, thanks boss."

Cuddy gave him the usual look of skepticism and uncertainty that this was a good idea as she got up to leave. "Just try to not be a pain in the ass while you are here. I have to deal with these people too."

"Me? I'm a model patient."

Cuddy left throwing him one last look of contempt before taking off to find Chase. This wasn't going to go over well, so she would have to play the boss card again.

a/n: The purpose of this chapter is to just build plot and momentum. Hopefully there is enough in here to keep you interested in more. Chapter three involves a differential and more House causing trouble.