"The woman is completely crazy." Foreman began after everyone had taken a seat in the conference room.
"That's an understatement." Chase sighed taking a sip of his coffee and leaning back in his chair.
"Chase, I'm surprised at you. A man of the church turning his back on a fellow believer? Not very Christ like." House looked out the window watching the snow fall and to his joy, the protesters began to thin out in front of the hospital.
"What if she's not lying?" Cameron began. Suddenly all eyes were on her and every eye brow was raised.
"You actually believe this woman's daughter is possessed by the devil?" Foreman laughed.
"Of course not, but…"
"Cameron, I'm surprised at you. A woman who believes everything that comes out of her patient's mouth? Not very Cameron like." House limped to a chair by the side of the table and began to spin his cane.
"But," she emphasized this, rolling her eyes, "there may still be a problem. What would make a woman believe that her daughter was possessed by the devil?"
"What mother doesn't think their kid is possessed by the devil? The minute she starts wearing more black instead of pink, starts listening to cds with explicit lyrics. A woman as… religious as Beverly is probably didn't see any other alternative." Foreman continued, feeling bored out his mind and aching for a real case.
"Addison has been thought of as evil since she was an embryo. My parents didn't think that about me until I was at least five." Suddenly House's eyes looked different. There was a slight twinkle to his eye now, the kind of look he got when he was working on an interesting case. He was quiet for a moment and the others looked at each other wondering what was about to happen.
"What are you saying?" Chase couldn't take it anymore.
"Maybe Cameron's got a point." There was more silence in the room. But Cameron seemed the most dumbstruck. Usually she would have had to battle it out a bit more before her way was even considered. Just then the silence was broken by the sound of three pagers going off. Everyone jumped slightly and then fumbled to stop the beeping. Chase looked down at the number.
"It's Beverly, she's spiked a fever."
The team rushed down the hallway to the only vacated room in the wing. Nurses were already running to the room carrying needles.
"Get away from me!" Beverly was screaming. Her hair was wild around her face, sweat pouring down her forehead and cheeks. She was lashing out at anybody who came near her. Wendy stood next to the bed looking completely taken a back.
"Stop Beverly, please," she tried, "they're just trying to help."
"I don't need their help, you stupid bitch!"
"Was that a curse word I just heard?" House entered the room calmly, watching the chaos in front of him with almost a satisfactory look on his face.
"You'll burn in hell, the lot of you! You are accosting a missionary of God!" Beverly was screaming so loud that a vein was beginning to pulse out of her forehead. A nurse carrying a sedative advanced foreword out of the crowd.
"Keep away from me damn it!" Beverly's arm came back and with one swift moment dug her fingernails into the nurses arm, making her wail in pain. Chase rushed in and grabbed Beverly's drenched arm, using all of his strength the pry her out of the nurse's arm. "The devil will send his multitudes to bring down the souls of the benevolent and his army will come in the form of man and beast and all creation!" She spat at him over the nurse's cries.
"What's her temperature?" House asked continuing to remain calm.
"104.3" Another nurse yelled over all the noise.
"I think that's enough to make her delusional, don't you?" House limped forward, and before anyone could stop him, made a fist and punched Beverly squarely in the face. Suddenly everything became silent, Beverly sunk back into the pillows on her bed. The hand that was dug into the nurse finally released and she was suddenly surrounded by others trying to help her. Chase felt as though he had run a marathon as he stepped away from the bed and sat in the chair beside the window. Wendy gapped at her unconscious friend not knowing whether to feel relieved or furious. House simply stood shaking out his hand, lost in deep thought. There was a case here, finally after weeks an agonizing dry spell he had a case.
"You punched out another patient." Cuddy sat behind her desk, not even wanting to look up at the team in front of him. She kept her head down, resting in her hand, pretending to paperwork.
"Is this meeting because boys aren't supposed to hit girls or because you wanted to inform us that the nurse shortage around here was going to get even more severe? Let me just say up front that I don't do bedpans and peach isn't my color." Cuddy's eyes finally rose from the paperwork and glared at House.
"This woman was brought into the hospital and detained here against her will, then to top it all off, one of our doctors accosts her. Not to mention the fact that all this occurred on the very day that every hospital in this state is being scrutinized. Your timing is impeccable." Cuddy sighed and rose from her chair, folding her arms and leaning against her desk.
"She has a daughter." Cameron spoke up after a few moments of silence.
"Great, that means I can add one more angry phone call to the quickly growing list of ones I already have."
"If Beverly's condition is due to an environmental issue, her daughter may be at risk. The fever was making her delusional and she was placing health care workers in danger. We could use that as our official position on the issue couldn't we?" Cameron stood firm in front of Cuddy's desk, now mirroring her stance of folded arms and rigid legs. Cuddy watched Cameron for a moment and silently cursed House for all of the "training" he was giving his team, especially his training of cutting through red tape. After a few moments, she rolled her eyes and crossed back behind her desk, picking up the phone.
"You have one day." As the team was leaving through the door, they could hear Cuddy on the phone with the local newspaper, clearly returning a call that she had received earlier and Cameron could swear that she could hear her own words being said to the person on the other end.