After the needle had shown muscle weakness in both of Abigail's arms, House had added a new symptom to the board: neuropathy.
"OK. So. What causes abdominal pain, vomiting, hallucinations, and sensory neuropathy?"
"Obviously this isn't syphilis," Taub responded.
"Oh, thank you, Dr. Taub! You see, I was really asking for what it's not. I was confused but now you have shed light on the darkness that is this diagnosis!" House replied, the sarcasm seeping from his every pore. Just then Thirteen's pager went off, followed by Foreman's and Taub's. They all glanced quickly at House, and when he asked nothing, they sprinted for the patient's room.

House, growing restless and again bored, grabbed his cane and headed for Wilson's office. He limped in without warning, and without knocking. Thank God he's not with a patient House thought as he layed back on the couch, waiting for Wilson to acknowledge his presence.
"Yes, House? Is there something you want to talk about?"
"Oh, nothing in particular. Just here to visit with my best buddy," House replied with fake cheer in his voice.
"Yeah, right. You're either here for a consult, which I assume you're not because you would have barged in here naming the patient's symptoms and demanding my opinion rather than barging in here and quietly contemplating. Which means you're here about something else. You're here about Cuddy." There followed a long silence in which House avoided any eye contact with his friend. Finally he spoke.
"Why do you think she gave me this case?"
"Oh, Jesus, House, really? She gave it to you because it's a mystery, it's a puzzle. It's what you love."
"Exactly. She's giving me what I want, enabling me."
"Yeah, so? She's always done that. That's what makes you two, well...you."
"But why? I mean, we've always had this thing going, but she gives me this case of a 16-year-old girl with who the hell knows what is wrong with her, just so she can connect with another poor human being while standing by my side trying to be all emotional so I'll get with her." Inwardly House smiled at the last portion of his comment.
"OK, let's say I played along with your 'In Cuddy's Pants' theory. If she were to give you a case totally for her self-benefit, which, by the way, she wouldn't, she might be doing it to teach you some humility. You know, to let you actually feel something for another human being."
House let out a quick sigh. "Well, I'm feeling something: hunger. And I need somebody to help me with that: you. Well, really just your wallet, but you can be the third wheel if you really want to," House said, feigning annoyance at the thought of eating lunch with Wilson.
"Fine. Let me just sign these few papers." When Wilson's flowing and somewhat girly signature was upon the pages, he and House left for the hospital cafteria.
"I'm thinking Mexican," House said zestily as the elevator door closed.

After a lunch spent in mostly silence with House pondering the case and Cuddy (not necessarily in that order of priority), House returned to his office to receive the update from his team.
"The patient was scratching at her feet and ankles, saying she felt like she had socks on that she couldn't get off," Thirteen informed him.
"When she got out of the bed she fell and couldn't get up," finished Taub.
"Why was she trying to get out of bed? Wouldn't help her get the 'socks' off," said House.
"She was paranoid. She thought she was in imminent danger, so she got out of the bed and fell down," stated Foreman.
"Hmm," House thought looking at the whiteboard. "Increased muscle weakness and 'sock feeling' equals increased neuropathy, and now paranoia," he said, scribbling the new and increasing symptoms on the board is his sloppy, all-capitals handwriting. "Test for hyporeflexia and call me with the results."

Thirteen approached Abigail's father. "We need you to help her sit up in bed so we can do a reflex test," she told him.
"What are you testing for?" he asked.
"Hyporeflexia. It is a condition of below normal or absent reflexes."
"What will this tell you?"
"Well, if she has it, it will give us a new symptom. Then we can come up with some new theories about her condition." When Abigail was sitting up, Thirteen hit both her knees with a reflex hammer several times, only to have a late response from Abigail. She called House. "Patient has hyporeflexia, what now?"
"Test for Guillain-Barré."
Thirteen reentered Abigail's room and approached her parents. We need to test her for Guillain-Barré syndrome. She tested positive for syphilis, and Guillain-Barré attacks tissues instead of foreign infections. We'll need to look for gangliosides."
"But...syphilis?" Abigail's mother questioned hesitantly.
"We know this is hard to hear, but right now we need to focus on testing for the Guillain-Barré," Taub responded. Both of Abigail's parents nodded a dazed "yes" and Thirteen and Taub went to run the test.