Ch. 2
"It is probably just the flu that is going around. Confusion, no appetite and tremors are symptoms" said the nurse as she took James' blood pressure and pulse.
"He also has arrhythmia, which is.." she started, only to be interrupted by Logan.
"Irregular heartbeat" he said.
"Yes, which isn't uncommon for the flu, but we will know more when the doctor comes do.." she was cut off by a door slamming open behind her.
"Okay, anyone who is not physically attached to the patient please clear out" Gregory House said, pointing to James, "and seeing as though he is not a conjoined twin that means everyone" he finished when nobody had moved.
Kelly, Gustavo, Carlos, Logan, Kendall and Kendall's mother, who had met the boys at the PPT Hospital, reluctantly shuffled out of the room. House closed the door behind the nurse, turning to look at the boy on the table.
"So mister rockstar, what drugs have you been taking" he asked, tipping James' chin up to look in his eyes. James nearly choked on the water he had been drinking.
"WHAT" he said in surprise, "I don't do dru-drugs" he stuttered out.
"Yes well judging by your tremors and eyes, I say you also don't do the truth" he threw out as if he were swatting at a fly.
"How, HOW DARE YOU" James screamed.
Outside, Dr. Cuddy and come to check up, as usual, on House when she and the group who had left the room heard him yell. She made to open the door when it was yanked open from the inside, a visibly weak but angry boy tumbling out.
"I, I wanna leave" James said, trying to push past the others.
"What is going on" Cuddy whispered to House, who just shrugged and muttered detox.
"Could you just hold on, we'll be right back" Cuddy said, dragging House away. "What do you mean, how do you know detox" she asked.
"Look, he isn't the first rockstar to walk in here, saying he is sick when in reality he is just itching for drugs" he said.
"Yeah, not unlike a certain doctor I know" she said.
"Woah, attitude… is it that time of the…" he started, cutting it short at a glare from the woman before him.
"Of course not" he started, "I would have known last night" he winked at her as she rolled her eyes and walked to the group, most of whom were either trying to keep James standing or from leaving the hospital.
"He said, he said that I was taking drugs" James said, pointing to House.
"I'm sorry, he can be a little… blunt sometimes" Cuddy said, putting a hand on the boys arm, "look, what he meant was, your symptoms are similar to those in drug rehab. We are just making sure there aren't any prior.." she was suddenly cut off by Logan.
"Look, we understand, and we spend a lot of time with him and we can tell you he does not do drugs" he finished, the rest of the group nodding. Carlos looked to the doctor with his infamous puppy dog eyes.
" James would never do drugs, none of us would, I mean it's stupid" he said. Kendall looked at his friend with a smile. He hoped Carlos would always keep his innocence, especially when it kept him oblivious to such things as drugs. He knew for a fact the other three of them had been pressured into using drugs in the past. Logan in caffeine pills when he had been up all nights studying for PSAT's and James in pot the first week they had been in LA. Then there was himself, who had once been talked into using steroids back when he was trying to make a traveling Hockey team, but it had only been that once and they had all learned from those mistakes. He didn't think anyone needed to know about one time over a year ago.
"Well then, why don't we get you back into the room and we will find out what's wrong" Cuddy said with a smile before turning to House, her smile replaced by a quirked eyebrow, "and you, please try not to be so close minded, you know not all teens and stars are druggies" she finished before turning to accompany the group into the room.
House started to follow behind the group into the room when he heard a crash. Pushing past the group, he looked down to see the young boy on the floor, Cuddy looming over him as the rest of the group stood stock still. The boy was shaking on the floor, eyes rolled back, arms and legs tense, but that wasn't what bothered House. No, it was the foam and blood coming from the boys mouth that bothered him. The boy was still seizing when Cuddy ran out, calling for an orderly to help hold the boy and get him into a room.
This wasn't going to be as easy a case as he thought.