Children, Go Where I Send Thee

December 7, 2007 – 8:16am (Friday)

Foreman and Adler had reached the turning point in their case. Adler had run a blood test to check for Wilson's disease, and while doing so, she noticed jaundice and edema. She thought Wilson's was still a possibility, though, so Foreman ran a CT while she processed the blood test. While running the CT scan, Foreman noticed that the baby's shrill crying had finally started to quiet down, but only because he was losing his voice. And what's worse, he was starting to have palpitations. This was getting out of control. Neither Foreman nor Adler cared what Wilson or Cuddy said anymore. They were out of ideas, and so were Chase, Ray, and Whitner. They were out of options. It was time to call House.

House: Here we go again.

Foreman (puts on speakerphone): House, he's dying.

Adler: He's got multi-system failure.

House: Which systems?

Foreman: Are you serious?

House: No, I'm just asking to waste time.

Adler (sighs): So far? His liver is failing, his heart isn't beating regularly, he's having seizures, and he's still on a respirator. He still has a fever, and we can't get his white count up.

House: Wow, you guys really screwed up.

Adler: You know what's wrong with him, don't you?

House (hesitant): He's got Tropical Sprue.

Foreman (confused): Tropical Sprue would explain the bronze skin, the anemia, the diarrhea, and the weight loss, but not the other symptoms.

House (sighing): Tropical Sprue is a malabsorption disorder. Baby is born with the inability to absorb nutrients into his body. It causes malnutrition, folic acid deficiency, and macrocytic anemia. The malnutrition covers the fatigue, weight loss, and low white count. The folic acid deficiency covers the palpitations, glossitis, fainting, jaundice, and it even explains why he won't shut up. The macrocytic anemia explains the edema, vomiting, abdominal pain and cramping, loss of voice, and the seizures. Did I get them all?

Adler: That still doesn't explain the fever.

House: Tropical Sprue is usually the result of an infection.

Foreman: We gave him antibiotics.

House: Give him whatever you want; his immune system still won't be able to fight off the bug.

Adler (confused): But Tropical Sprue is usually found in tropical countries, hence the name. What kind of infection could have done this to him?

Foreman (reading notes): Mom went to the Caribbean while she was pregnant.

Adler: But what about the premature birth and blue skin?

Foreman: The premature birth probably caused the blue skin and the malabsorption disorder.

Adler (sighing): So what do we do?

House: Keep him on the antibiotics. Start him on 100 mcg IM/SC Cyanocobalamin and 5 mg/kg Iron Sulfate.

Adler: We'll let you know how he does.

Foreman: Talk to you later.

House (rolling eyes): Yeah, I'm sure.

Line Closes

Foreman and Adler hung up the phone on House's desk and went to start Baby Boy Tobey on the treatment. Hopefully they hadn't caught it too late. If he'd already developed macrocytic anemia, folic acid deficiency, and malnutrition, then his chances were pretty slim.

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House hung up his cell phone and placed it back in his pocket. Regardless of what Cuddy and Wilson told him, he did answer his phone if he thought it was important (probably why he always ignored Cuddy and Wilson's calls). Cameron walked into her bedroom to find House returning his cell phone to his pocket.

"How's your patient?"

"Dying."

Cameron frowned. "I'm sorry. Did they figure it out?"

"No," sighed House. "I did."

Cameron fidgeted uneasily. "You should cut them some slack, you know. Adler's new, and Foreman's trying to manage the department himself."

"They should still be able to diagnose a simple malabsorption disorder."

Cameron sighed as she took a seat next to House on her bed. "He had a malabsorption disorder?"

House nodded.

"How far advanced?"

"He's in multi-system failure. He's already showing symptoms of folic acid deficiency, macrocytic anemia, and malnutrition."

Cameron frowned. "Did they start him on the treatment?"

House nodded again.

"He's not going to make it, is he?"

House shook his head, and Cameron's frown deepened. A tear came to her eyes, and House didn't miss it.

"Are you okay?"

Cameron wiped the tear from her eye and nodded. "I just came up to tell you that my aunt and uncle are here."

House rolled his eyes. "The ones with the twins? What were their names Marsha and Lionel?" House remembered their names, but he sensed that Cameron needed a little cheering up.

"Matt and Lily." She smirked at him.

House stood up from the bed and walked downstairs, Cameron right behind him, to the smell of bacon and eggs. She still seemed a bit depressed, but hopefully he could find a way to cheer her up (and find out why she was depressed).

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Chase had received a call from Foreman and Adler informing him of their patient's diagnosis. Needless to say, Chase wasn't exactly happy with the news. He needed to find a distraction from all the complications in his life, and he couldn't think of anything better than swimming. Sure, it was past 10:00 at night, but the night couldn't be clearer. The air outside was warm and the pool water was cool. So, he put on his swimming trunks and invited Katie to join him in the pool. It wasn't long before Carly had joined them as well.

"What's wrong, Robbie?" Carly immediately sensed something was wrong with her brother when she walked into the backyard.

Chase frowned. "I just got some bad news on our patient. It's okay though, why don't you come and swim with us?"

Carly smiled as she jumped in the pool with Chase and Katie.

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Katie as she pushed a piece of Chase's hair aside.

Chase nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." He sensed that Carly wasn't exactly in the best of moods either. "What's up with you?"

Carly frowned. "I just talked to Mom. She's not going to let me go to Princeton."

Chase rolled his eyes. "That's ridiculous."

"Tell me about it," she sighed.

"You know," said Chase. "Before I became a doctor, I wanted to be a priest. I was in the seminary and everything."

"You were?" Carly had been so young, and she didn't seem to remember this.

Chase nodded. "Dad didn't like it at all. He always wanted me to be a doctor."

"You should have stayed in the seminary," said Carly confidently.

"And you should come to Princeton," retorted Chase.

Carly stared into the depths of the swimming pool, deep in thought. She had been thinking all day long about how she could possibly move to Princeton and go to school, but no ideas coming to her mind. She only hoped that she would figure out a plan before it was too late.

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The roast beef that Wilson had cooked wasn't as delicious as he had planned it to be (hey, they were leftovers by the time Cuddy got home). So, to make up for dinner, he decided to make everybody a special breakfast: his famous Macadamia Nut Pancakes.

Everyone was seated at the table, including Riley in his high chair, as they awaited their breakfast. Cuddy had poured everyone a glass of orange juice, and the pancakes were almost ready.

Mrs. Cuddy smiled politely. "Those pancakes smell delicious, James."

Cuddy grinned. "If you think they smell delicious, wait until you taste them!"

Mrs. Wilson smiled. "I'm glad to know my son still enjoys cooking," she said. "You know, I was the one that first taught him that recipe."

Cuddy chuckled. "I have a feeling his are a little bit different than yours though."

Mrs. Wilson was confused. "What do you mean, dear?"

Cuddy glanced up at Wilson as he added his secret ingredient, Jimmy Snacks. Nobody noticed but her. "He has a secret ingredient, but I'm not allowed to tell you what it is."

Mrs. Wilson laughed and looked up at her son. "Oh, is that right, James?"

"I have no idea what she's talking about," claimed Wilson, though everybody knew he was lying.

Finally, the pancakes were done, and Wilson placed them on the table. Everybody quickly grabbed some of the silver-dollar slices of heaven.

Cuddy tried to feed Riley his bottle of breast milk with one hand while she ate with the other, but it didn't seem to be working out. So, Wilson took over the job of feeding their son. "Thank you," mouthed Cuddy with a gleam in her eyes.

Wilson didn't respond to her, but everyone at the table noticed the twinkle in his eyes as he grabbed the bottle from Cuddy's hands.