Eating Habits

Summary: Some teens have problems with bulimia, some with anorexia. This teen's disturbing eating problem is forced upon him by his parents. Will his parents' odd diet result in his death?

Disclaimer: I do not own House M.D. and take no claim to it whatsoever.

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IV
Breaking In
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The other doctors shrugged. "I'm going to find that out and then I'm going back to their house."

"Chase, you're not going back to that house. I'm not allowing you."

"I'm going. Who's coming with me?" In unison, Foreman and Cameron said they would go. House didn't even have time to get a comment in before they were all off.

"Chase what are you thinking?"

"That I want to kill that kid." He looked at Foreman. He would have laughed at the look on his face were it not for such an abominable pain in his arm.

When Jordan's mother was in view, Chase called her name and began questioning her. "Where does your husband work? We found a lot of meat in your basement. Is he a butcher?" She was silent. "If you are not honest with me, your son will die. I need you to be honest and you have to speak to me." He said very aggressively.

The woman looked genuinely fearful. "What happened to your arm?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"Stop changing the subject! If you don't want your son to die then answer my questions. If you don't care at all, then just leave!"

With fearful eyes, the woman turned and began to walk away.

"Are you kidding me!? You don't care if Jordan dies!? What kind of mother are you?!" He yelled before receiving a sharp slap in the face.

"You doctor don't dare tell me how I feel! I care very much about my son, but—"

"But what? If he dies you'll feel just the same? Look you stupid woman, tell me! Where does your husband work?"

With steam practically blowing out her ears, she gave in and said through clenched teeth "He works at the morgue, he does the embalming there. Happy?"

"Not yet. Do you work?" She didn't. "So you stay at home, do you make the meals? What would be a typical meal at your house?"

The woman looked very ill at ease and awkward. "Well, we, uh, we eat a lot of meat. Jordan doesn't really like fruits and vegetables and, um, his father and him are both extremely lactose intolerant and, uh, well, we, just really like meat."

Chase was becoming suspicious. "You're lying to me. What kind of meat do you eat?"

"Well, um, I try to vary it up a bit, mostly pork and beef but I like to throw in some bird or more exotic type of meat."

"That's good enough for now." Said Chase and signed for Cameron and Foreman to come with him.

"Wait, Doctor Chase! What happened to your arm?"

Chase paused and looked her straight in the eyes. "Your son, bit me and liked it. He's a cannibal." At the last word, the woman's eyes widened like golf balls. "Come on, let's go." He said and the two doctors followed him. "Foreman, are you driving?"

"Sure." He said as they ran to his car and jumped in before speeding off.

"What do we do if he's still there?" Asked Cameron looking back at Chase from the passenger seat. Chase shrugged his shoulders and winced at the pain in his arm. In his short moment of fury, he had completely forgotten about the pain, but then it was back.

"According to the woman, her husband should be at work right now. We look around the house in the windows and if we think anyone's home then we'll sneak in somehow. I'm not sure how, but we'll figure something out."

Cameron made the same sort of comment that Chase had about the condition of the house. There was no car in the driveway but they peeked in all the windows anyway. "Chase is that him?" Asked Cameron. Chase came over.

"It could be but he's not moving. It looks almost like a dummy. Foreman did you notice a dummy in a chair earlier?" Foreman shook his head no. "Let's not take the risk." Chase said before telling the others to search for a window that might lead to the basement.

"Chase, there's no windows leading to the basement but there are the bedroom windows and a few that lead into the kitchen and the bathroom." Cameron reported.

Chase stopped and thought a moment. "We could try to get in through the kitchen or through the bedroom window. The stairs to the bedroom are right off the kitchen. Same with the basement. The only thing about the basement is that the window leads right unto the counter and the sink. And when we were here earlier, the sink was stacked full of dirty dishes."

"Then the bedroom it is. Who's going and how are they getting up there? Cameron's the lightest." Foreman suggested uncertainly.

"I don't want her going in there alone if that man is home." Said Chase protectively.

"Well Chase you can't go, you wouldn't be able to climb up. I guess that leaves you." Cameron said, addressing Foreman.

Foreman was slightly fearful. He wasn't a good climber and doubted his abilities of being able to climb the side of a house. Seeing Foreman's uncertainty, Chase felt torn. He could very well climb up the house. He had had his share of monkey moments as a kid. The only thing was his arm. That dumb child was preventing Chase from saving his life.

"I have an idea." Said Cameron. "I can climb up there and make a rope or something to help you two up. Sound good?" Chase and Foreman agreed then they boosted Cameron up. It was a few minutes before Cameron sent down a rope ladder. She had found in Jordan's room a rope ladder in case of a fire.

Chase went up first with Foreman to back him up. When they were all in the room, Cameron folded up the ladder and put it back where she found it. "Okay, so how are we gonna do this?" Foreman asked Chase who seemed to be in charge of the entire thing.

Chase pondered a moment. "Well we've gotta get to the basement. So we'll go down the stairs, I'll sneak a peek around the corner and see if that's a real man or a dummy. Then we'll go to the basement. Sound good?"

Cameron and Foreman agreed and they all quietly snuck down the stairs. They felt like they were in a spy movie or a mystery TV show, where they had to sneak around the house to catch a killer. In a way, that was what they were doing. When they got to the kitchen, Chase told them to stay there as quiet and still as a statue while he snuck a look around the corner. Not being able to see the chair, he crawled on the ground to get a better look. He was relieved to see that it was just a dummy. He went back to the kitchen less fearful and told Cameron and Foreman that it was just a dummy.

They were still careful and quiet going down the stairs but were less stressed. "It stinks down here." Said Cameron. "How could they do anything down here? Do they do their laundry down here?" She moaned at the stench as Chase and Foreman went over to the door.

"You think that's gross? Get a sniff of this room." Chase said with a bit of laugh as Cameron stood by his side. As he turned the knob he found the door locked.

"You've gotta be kidding. It can't be locked. We need to get in there. I'll kick it down." Foreman said and instructed Chase and Cameron to move out of the way. With one big kick, Foreman knocked the door open. It hadn't actually been locked, it just shut very stiffly.

When they door was opened, Cameron, Foreman and Chase stood blankly at the horrifying sight before them.

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It doesn't matter what happens to you but what happens inside of you because what happens inside of you determines what happens through you!

- Margaret Gibb