AN: Helias and MoonlitPuddle – this chapters for you, for being my first ever reviewers…enjoy!
Disclaimer: House belongs to David Shore, not me…any medical mistakes are Wikipedia's…or some other random website...
Chapter 2
"House!" Lisa Cuddy calls down the corridor of PPTH at said doctors retreating back. It doesn't take her long to catch up with him
"What did I do?" he asks innocently. Too innocently Cuddy thinks.
"Nothing. And that's the problem. You haven't had a case in over a month!"
House shrugs. "Nobody had interesting diseases."
Cuddy sighs. "I should fire you…" she mutters. "Anyway. This should interest you." She throws the file at him.
House takes one quick glance at the preliminary diagnosis. "Heart failure." he says "Boring" He throws the file back.
"Did you even look at the rest of it? The patient's 22, with no history of heart disease. No-one can figure out what's wrong with her" Cuddy thrusts the case file into his hands and marches away.
House stands still for a minute, and then says, loudly enough for Cuddy to hear "PMT,"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"So what do you reckon we're doing today?" Chase asks. He and Foreman have been playing cards for an hour now
"Playing cards" Foreman replies, still tired after three coffees. "Maybe doing House's clinic hours if we're really lucky.
"Maybe we'll get a case today," Cameron says.
"You've said that every day this month." Chase mutters, concentrating on his cards.
"But today, the lovely Dr. Cameron is right" House's voice makes all three of them jump.
House sees the card game, which Chase and Foreman are trying to hide. "Gambling on the job," He shakes his head in a holier-than-thou way. "I love it,"
"We're not-" Chase begins "Never mind. You said you had a case for us?"
"No. What's the differential diagnosis for a 22-year-old female with heart failure?" House asks, scribbling 'Heart failure on his whiteboard in big letters.
"There could be a million reasons for that," Chase complains.
"And if you keep whining I'll make you research them all" House says.
"She could have OD'd" Foreman suggests
"Ok, run a tox screen" House scrawls 'OD' on the board.
"Anorexia can cause heart failure if it gets far enough" offers Cameron.
"Great, feed her up and send her to a counsellor." House writes 'anorexia', and turns back to the team. "Come on, what else?"
There is silence for a few seconds as they think. Chase chews his pencil, Cameron fiddles with her hair. Foreman stares out the board as though it might contain some inspiration. Then:
"Hypertension?" Asks Chase, still chewing his pencil.
"High blood pressure." House comments. "Unlikely, but you could start her on ACE inhibitors if you like" he notes it on the board.
Foreman snaps his gaze from the board "Coronary artery disease could cause heart failure," He says.
"But that takes decades" Chase contradicts. "It could be a simple heart attack, caused by a clot."
House shakes his head "About as likely as lupus," he says. "OK, I think that's enough differentiating. Go, my minions, and run your tests. Do a blood test, an angiogram, and EKG, and an MRI just to be sure. And get her history."
The three stare at him for a second, as if asking what he is going to do. "Flee." he says. "The green light is on in my office...Wilson has food" House gives his ducklings a slightly manic stare. He hears them muttering about drugs as they leave.
AN: here is chapter 2…as promised…review if you like…Next chapter will either be more diagnosing or some personal-y stuff…or both…I don't mind and I haven't written it yet…so tell me what you'd prefer…hope you're enjoying reading this as much as I am enjoying writing it…
PS: Any comments on my characters would be appreciated…I'm sorta new to this…
Smiles,
-CBT
