"Ghosts of the Past"
Chapter Ten – "Chasing Away Demons"
By: purpleu
"Were those his exact words?" House asked.
"Verbatim," the nurse replied.
"Page Drs. Foreman, Chase and Hadley; tell them there's an emergency with Dr. Cuddy," House directed. "If they ask what's wrong, tell them it involves Stein." House turned to his right and saw Lydia and Thomas standing in the doorway of Alvie's room.
"He's trying to sleep," she said. "At least he appears to be; I only get incoherent responses from him. What's up with Stein?" She had heard House ask the nurse to call the other members of his team and knew he must have had a good reason for such an extreme reaction.
"Bare bones answer is he's threatened to come back here and kill Cuddy."
"What?" Lydia exclaimed.
"Dear Lord!" Thomas said.
"His exact words were he's coming to finish what he started. His next step will most likely be to contact Mama Cuddy and see what info he can get out of her," House observed.
"You're not going to tell her what this man plans on doing, are you?" Thomas asked. "It will upset her terribly."
"Then it's a good thing you're here to render aid, comfort and minister the hell out of her," House said. "She's got to help us play this out."
"What are you planning on doing?" Lydia asked.
"Give Stein a false sense of security so he'll come back here to visit Cuddy. When he makes his move, Chase and Foreman will escort him into the lounge. A few pointed questions with the answers recorded on my 007 equipment, and we'll nail him to the wall."
"Greg, that won't be admissible in court unless you inform him he's being recorded. And you're going to have to call the police on the matter," said Lydia. House winced.
"I'm hoping his ego will outweigh his common sense and he'll be willing to spill the beans without much prompting. As far as getting involved in filing charges… it's the last thing I want after what those other bastards did to me," House grimly said, recalling the surgeons he turned in for malpractice and who exacted their revenge on his leg. "Unfortunately, we have no other choice. The fact is we're going to re-establish Cuddy's health back up to a lousy level from the pathetic one it was in when she came here. She's then going to leave and go to a much more appropriate and safer facility than the one she was in. Problem is, there's no guarantee that Stein won't follow her. We've got to take him out."
"What is this man's obsession with harming Dr. Cuddy?" Thomas asked. "Arlene had indicated to me that the families were close, that he cared for her like a daughter."
"Cuddy's mother said something that may hold a clue to all this. I won't know for sure until I find out a few more things about the old guy," House said looking in toward Cuddy's room. He saw Taub speaking to Mrs. Cuddy, then leaving her and coming out to them.
"So what's the story with Stein?" Taub inquired. "I saw that the nurse was very upset, and I tried to talk to her; but she only wanted to speak to you." House related the details of the call and the fact that the team was going to be coming up to the hospital.
"Wilson will be back here in a little bit; as the head honchos around here, he and Foreman will have to handle the security part of this," noted House.
"That's a good idea, under the circumstances," Taub said. "I think Cuddy's doing well enough that she doesn't need a doctor in there constantly; the nurses can handle it. But I wouldn't trust Stein. All that needs to happen is one code blue in this section and attention will be drawn away from Cuddy leaving her vulnerable to Stein." House nodded, then turned to Lydia.
"Can you get on the registration file from the computer at the nurses' station?"
"No reason why not."
"He's come up here without a chart," House said to Taub as he gestured toward Alvie. "But he'll have a nice thick one within a short span of time. Get his vitals and an IV started; basic saline for now until we get lab work on him which is another thing that needs to be done. Metabolic panel, CBC with differential, check IgG and IgM antibodies and blood gases. He's had a chest x-ray which read clear and his EKG was good."
"The printout of the EKG is on his tray table," Lydia said.
"Get him set up," House said to Taub. "You go in there to keep Grand Master Rap calm while Taub works on him," he said to Lydia. "After that, officially get him signed-in, and then come into Cuddy's room as soon as you can; I'm going to need help dealing with her mother, I'm sure."
"Greg, do you want me to take Rachel into the lounge and keep her occupied?" Bell asked. "I really don't think it would be a good idea to discuss things in front of the child. Of course, I'm just trying to minister the hell out of her," Thomas said with a smile. House looked down and away from Bell; he didn't want to show his amusement at Bell's choice of words.
"The last thing I need is for Cuddy Junior to ask 'why' so much that I tell her to pick another letter," House remarked. "Bring her to the lounge; one of the rug rats should be joining you before too long."
"I'll start on…what's his name?" Taub asked pointing to Alvie's room.
"Juan Alverez. AKA Alvie, King of Rap and pain in my butt," House replied.
"So… he's your former roommate," Taub said. "But is he a friend?" House let out a sigh.
"For lack of a more appropriate, descriptive word… yeah." Taub and Lydia headed into Alvie's room; she hoped he wouldn't put up too much of a fuss so she could get his registration taken care of. House stood between his two patients' rooms, pondering what to do next; what he actually wanted to do was to go lay down and rest, but he knew that wasn't happening.
"Which of the two do you least want to deal with?" House looked to his left and saw Thomas standing there.
"It's a toss-up," House replied. "The circus going on in there is one of the biggest bastardizations of medicine I've ever seen," he said angrily gesturing toward Cuddy's room. "And he just has me confused," he said pointing to Alvie.
"Confused? Lydia told me you had a firm diagnosis," Thomas said, more than a little puzzled.
"He, the patient, I understand; he; the person, I don't. He's a moron; he's not just taking the plunge, he's diving in head first into the fire."
"He's getting married?" Thomas asked. If that were the case, Bell would understand House's remarks, given the comments he heard him make about marriage in the past.
"Not only is he getting married, he has a kid on the way; not a good thing for someone who's so unstable that he has to keep being locked up."
"How many times has he had to go back to a rehabilitation facility?" Bell questioned. House made a face.
"He didn't give me a tally; but I know Alvie. He enjoys trying to scam his way around things."
"Hmm… sounds like someone else I know," the reverend replied with a smile. "At least with you, it's the challenge of accomplishing the ruse. I can't speak about your friend." House would give Thomas this much; for someone who only dealt with him in fits and starts over the years, there was a lot he seemed to know about him. "I thought that you simply were against him getting married."
"Even though my opposition to the concept of marriage falls over a broad range of reasons, I can and do allow for exceptions," House noted. "I'm OK with Wilson and Annie tying the knot because Wilson is finally getting it right; and Annie constantly proves why Fraulein chose her as a best friend." Thomas smiled.
"And you? Never say never or is it written in stone?" Lydia came out of Alvie's room and headed to the far side of the nurses' desk so she could work on the computer to register Alvie. House's face softened a little as he watched Lydia type away and do what was needed to help out with a patient.
"There are few absolutes in this world," House said, then looked at Bell. "But at this point the institution of marriage remains just that in my opinion; an institution."
"I'm not trying to be intrusive, Greg. I just thought an extended conversation with me would be the perfect excuse for you not to go into either of your patients' rooms," Thomas said, looking rather pleased with himself. House looked down at the floor and away from Thomas with the slightest smile on his face.
"Was Mom anything like this? Or should I be calling her by her secret identity, Mata Hari?" he asked.
"Oh, come now; you don't think we managed to sneak around the way we did for all those years without a certain level of secret agent blood flowing through our veins, did you?" The elder gentleman seemed both happy and sad at recalling the memories. "Maybe a few of our more interesting adventures can be added to our discussion when I show you the family tree." House didn't reply as he detected movement off to his left; out of the corner of his eye he saw Foreman, Wilson and Annie coming toward him with Ben and surprisingly, Elise, tagging along.
"House, what's going on? The nurse who paged me said there was an emergency up here involving Stein," Foreman said as he came over to House.
"I'm waiting till Chase and Thirteen get here to spring the news; then we'll discuss it in Cuddy's room," House said, looking grim. "I'm going to need you, too," he said to Wilson.
"Lydia sent me a text, indicating we all needed to talk about Cuddy," Wilson said. "But she gave me no clue as to what it was all about."
"Is there anything I can do to help with Rachel while you talk to Mrs. Cuddy?" asked Annie. "Maybe have these two munchkins help me keep her busy?"
"He could use a hand with Cuddy Junior," said House as he nodded toward Thomas. "Especially if potty breaks become an issue."
"Speaking from experience?" Annie teased. House rolled his eyes; he would never admit the answer was yes. He looked down at Lydia's two kids.
"Where'd Curly Top come from?" he asked, watching Elise hop from floor tile to floor tile in what he assumed was her own version of hopscotch.
"Tom called when the party was finished to check and see where we were," Annie said. "We told him to bring her over, that way everyone was a little less scattered about. Do you want us to take them into the lounge now?"
"Might as well; Chase and Thirteen should be here soon," House noted. Foreman looked into Cuddy's room.
"Where's Taub?" he asked.
"Taking care of the team's newest acquisition on the patient roster." Foreman looked at House quizzically, then took a few steps to look into the room next door.
"Who is that guy? And what are his symptoms?" he inquired.
"He has either West Nile virus or dengue fever. My bet's on dengue," House said. "And as far as who he is… "
"His name is Juan Alvarez, but he likes to be called Alvie, and likes to rap," Lydia said coming over with some papers and a binder in her hands. "I've got him registered with all his information, including emergency contacts. I just have to run down to the ER to get wristbands for him."
"How'd we pick up his case? West Nile and dengue are fairly easy to spot, especially for you, House," Foreman noted. It was obvious that he was becoming suspicious.
"He came into the ER while we were there with Beckham," House said indicating Ben. "He was my roomie at the Looney Bin." Now alarms were ringing in Foreman's head.
"Does he have a job, and therefore insurance?" he asked.
"Yes, he's employed by Goldsmith Brothers Construction, Incorporated," Lydia replied. "He's currently working on a condo complex being built south of here." Foreman seemed surprised, but he also seem to accept the information Lydia was giving him; he trusted her not to lie.
"You know, once blood tests confirm either disease, we're going to have a ton of paperwork to fill out for the CDC," Foreman noted. "Wilson and I as Deans of Medicine and you as the doctor of record."
"No paper cuts from handling annoying forms will ever show up on these hands," House noted holding his up. "That's what I have a team for."
"And here we are," Thirteen said as she and Chase approached the group.
"Arriving together?" House asked. "The implications of that are endless."
"I wasn't awake enough to drive safely," Chase explained. "Thirteen offered to pick me up and get coffee."
"I'm going to go get those wrist bands; Alvie told me he's allergic to penicillin. Want to get them on him before you proceed too far," Lydia said to House. She turned and looked at her son. "And how are you feeling?" Ben shrugged with only his right shoulder.
"It was really bad a little while ago," he said quietly. "I feel a little better now."
"I think the Ibuprofen has had a chance to kick in," Wilson noted. "Remind me to give you the bottle of medicine before we part company later."
"Oh, and we have your food; although I don't suppose you feel much like eating right now," Annie said.
"I don't feel like keeling over either; gives a bad impression of competence to the patients. It also hurts if I hit the floor. All I've had is this," House said holding up a half-empty bottle of soda. "Fraulein's had even less."
"I'll be fine," Lydia insisted. "I can nibble on what Annie and James picked up while we're talking," she said her eyes widening slightly as she saw Arlene and Rachel come out of Cuddy's room.
"I was just going to take her down to the cafeteria to get something for lunch," Arlene said, indicating her granddaughter. "Or do you need to talk to me?" Mrs. Cuddy was aware that the call from Stein was not a welcomed event.
"Need you around," House quickly replied. "There's no telling when Stein is going to try to call you or show up here." Arlene scowled.
"If he tries to talk to me or comes near my daughter… " she began.
"You're going to be a diabetic's delight," House said. "Sickeningly sweet."
"What? Why?" Foreman asked.
"You'll find out," House replied.
"Let me go get those ID bands for Alvie," Lydia said heading toward the elevators. "You're sure you're OK?" she asked her son. He half-heartedly nodded.
"We can't take them outside; it's started to drizzle," Annie said. "If he wants to take a nap, he can lay down on one of the couches in the lounge; you all do what you have to." Lydia came back, and took the food from Annie.
"Mrs. Cuddy, does Rachel like meatballs? I have hero here I could split with her and some chips."
"I love meatballs!" Rachel exclaimed.
"Are you sure?" Arlene asked. Lydia removed the sandwich and the chips from the bag and handed them to Rachel's grandmother.
"Get her set up in the lounge, and then just leave me the other half in your daughter's room. What are you going to have?" Arlene shook her head.
"I have no appetite right now." Lydia nodded. She handed the remainder of the food to House.
"Dive in; I'll be right back." She headed toward the elevators once again, but then realized it would be faster if she took the stairs.
"Come on, guys; I'm sure Rachel has some cool games in her tote bag that we can use on a rainy day," Annie said leading her niece and nephew, and Cuddy's daughter into the lounge. Wilson smiled as he watched his fiancée interact with the kids; he enjoyed the preview of the future. Thomas followed right behind, as did Arlene to set Rachel up with her food.
"Here's Alvie's blood draw," Taub said as he left the ICU room. "He's running a 103.4 fever. I was going to start him on acetaminophen through his IV. However, he also just had a nasty nose bleed and couldn't stand the tension of the blood pressure cuff on either arm. His BP is a little on the low side, 88/60. And respiration is slow and shallow."
"He mentioned severe overall body aches in the ER. NPO until we get the labs back," House said tersely. "Give him the acetaminophen; don't want the fever to fry what little he has of a brain. Ice chips only if he asks. Put him on two liters of O2."
"Did Lydia get a chance to print out labels I can put on the vials?" asked Taub.
"Inside the binder," House replied. "He let you take the blood without a fight?" Taub smiled as he filled out the paperwork to be sent to the lab. The team would re-run the bloodwork if anything odd came up; Foreman had become a real pain about utilizing the hospital's facilities.
"Lydia talked him into it. She told him you'd throw him out of the hospital if he didn't co-operate."
"You didn't really threaten a patient, did you, House?" Foreman asked as he made a face. "The last thing this hospital needs right now are lawsuits."
"I didn't threaten him; Fraulein did on my behalf. And as far Alvie filing a lawsuit… follow me." House walked to Alvie's room and took a few steps inside; the team and Wilson followed. "Alvie!" called out House. "This is my team; they're going to take care of you." Through half-closed eyes, House's ex-roomie looked over at the group at the door, and managed a weak smile.
"House has got himself a crew, and they know just what to do. Said they'll make me better if I stayed… " As usual, silence followed Alvie's attempt to rap.
"No reason to be afraid," House said to the group as he finished the rhyme off. He reentered the hallway and turned to face Foreman; he knew the paranoia within the man hadn't settled yet.
"House, right now, the patient is clearly very ill," Foreman noted. "But when he's feeling better… "
"When he's feeling better, the worst that could happen is he'll nag Greg to do some rapping with him," Lydia said, returning from downstairs. "Those two put on quite a show back at Mayfield."
"Yeah, Alvie has a problem with finishing what he starts," House said. "If you think it's painful for me, imagine how his girlfriend feels during sex."
"His girlfriend's pregnant; I'm sure he did just fine at some point," noted Taub. House scowled.
"Instead of spewing facts that would be better dealt with on social media, did he tell you anything pertinent to his care? Like his meds by any chance?"
"He said the bottles are in his backpack; but he only wants you or Lydia to touch the bag."
"I have to go put the bands on him; I'll get them and bring them out," Lydia said. As she passed by the group, it was very apparent that she was limping.
"What's with you? Having sympathy pains or are you mocking me?" House asked in flat voice. He was concerned because he saw the pain on Lydia's face, something she usually hid fairly well. Not wanting to show his true feelings, he looked down at her legs instead of up at her face.
"I tripped coming back up the stairs," she said waving her hand dismissively. "Missed a step and hit my knee. I'm fine." Yet as she walked away, it was quite obvious she wasn't alright; she hung on to the door and the wall as she entered Alvie's room. House followed her inside.
"Are you trying to follow in your son's footsteps? Am I going to have to take you to the ER to be x-rayed, too? Because I'd rather not do that; I don't know what other specter from my past will show up around here." Lydia managed to laugh as she placed the ID bands on a groggy Alvie.
"It's nothing. I just hit my shin first and then slid and got my knee; so both parts are hurting. I'm sure I just have to walk it off." House nodded.
"If that doesn't work, grab a seat while we're talking in Cuddy's room. Where'd his bag wind up?"
"Right here," Lydia said pulling out the Patient Belongings bag. She dug around for a moment. "There appears to three medicine bottles in here." She held them out to House.
"Lexapro, Vistaril and Seroquel," he noted. "Let's take these somewhere we can count them." Lydia returned the bag to the closet, and slowly limped out of the room to join House out by the nurses' station.
"Are those his meds?" Chase asked. House handed one bottle to Chase, one to Lydia and one to Thirteen.
"An anti-depressant, an anti-anxiety, and an antipsychotic/insomnia treatment," House confirmed. "Verify that the amount left in the bottle corresponds to the date filled, amount dispensed and dosage," he said. The three of them worked silently and quickly.
"Mine matches, "Chase said.
"This does, too," Lydia added in.
"Good here," Thirteen reported.
"So he's taking his meds," House said sounding surprised.
"What made you think he wasn't?" Thirteen asked.
"Because not staying on his medication was his signature shtick; it's what kept landing him in Mayfield." House thought for a moment. "Nolan is the one who diagnosed him as bipolar a long time ago; we all know how much weight I put on Dr. Feelgood's opinion, but after living with Alvie for all those months, I'm inclined to agree with him. And these drugs are in-line with the diagnosis."
"He said he's been seeing a new doctor down in Florida. We can try to get the doctor's name from Alvie or Carmen, and see what his take on Alvie's case is," Lydia suggested. "I'm sure he or she would be more accessible than Nolan was."
"Can we… not mention Nolan's name in front of Annie as you continue to treat Alvie?" Wilson asked shaking his head. "She gets herself so upset with any mention of that man's name. I finally had to tell her at lunch to take it easy since Ben was with us. The more time has passed, the more she blames Nolan for her remaining in the catatonic state for as long as she did."
"That's another place that ought to be investigated by the state," Lydia said. "Between Annie's treatment and the conditions I found Greg being kept in… "
"And yet Mayfield is considered one of the best facilities in the state," Thirteen noted.
"Yeah, the local S&M club gives it a five whip rating," House snarked. He turned to Taub. "Set up the acetaminophen at a rate of 2 grams every twenty-four hours. If his labs show his liver's intact, we can up it to 4 grams, if needed. Check his temp again after we talk about Cuddy, and get him hooked to the oxygen." Taub took out his cell to call in the order to the pharmacy. House looked down the hall and saw Arlene emerge from the lounge. "Let's get back to Cuddy's problems," he said stepping into her room. His team followed him, as did Lydia, Wilson and Arlene.
"Lydia, do you want a chair?" Wilson offered. She glanced over at House who gave her a knowing look.
"Yes, thank you," she replied. The last thing she wanted was to distract House at this point, so she thought it better to follow his previous suggestion.
"Stein called here this morning," House began. "And according to the nurse who took the call, he said he was coming back to finish what he started."
"That son-of-bitch!" Chase exclaimed.
"Damn!" added Foreman. "That's a threat, considering we know what he started. We're going to have to call the police."
"No offense to the fine men in uniform, but do you really think the average beat cop is going to understand Cuddy's chart from the hellhole she was in? And if you bring in detectives, they're going to need time to build up a case," House noted.
"Even the DA is going to want time to look over the evidence," Wilson observed. House was standing with his back to everyone except Cuddy and Lydia; his girlfriend watched him carefully as his expression changed when Wilson spoke, and a gleam came into his eyes. He saw that she picked up on it, and gave a slight shake of his head to let her know not to say anything.
"In the meantime, we have to fire the first salvo of the battle by directing the tone of his next phone call," House said. He turned to Arlene. "No matter whether he calls into the nurses' station or directly to your phone, you're going to say the same thing; you're daughter's not doing as well as you hoped and does he think that there's something he could do to help?"
"We're not going to give him an open invitation to come back here and hurt Cuddy again," Wilson said firmly.
"House, that's crazy even for you," Thirteen said.
"The first part is the truth; she hoped we could perform a miracle and get Cuddy up and tap dancing again," House said, cynically at first as he gestured to Arlene. But then his tone softened a bit as he continued. "Unfortunately, your daughter's life is going to be measured in months, not years or decades… and there's not a damn thing we can do about that." Cuddy's mom nodded her head in sad recognition of the facts.
"I know. I told you earlier… I've done a lot of thinking these past hours, and I realize what I wanted was cruel and selfish. Lisa was already suffering and I was asking you to let her suffer more."
"Actually what you did was help get her off the road to hell that Stein had started her on," Chase said. "By bringing her here, we were able to reverse the damage he had done and made her more comfortable."
"And you made us aware of what was going on at the facility that Lisa's been in for the past few months; the mismanagement, overcharging patient's families… and care being provided by at least one person without a medical license," Wilson noted. "We can notify the Attorney General's office about that and they can be prosecuted so this can never happen to anyone at that place again." Mrs. Cuddy smiled, grateful that her daughter's colleagues were attempting to comfort her.
"Thank you. Lisa always had kind words for all of you, and I see now why she did. You were all important to her. Truthfully, I was surprised when Lisa adopted Rachel," Arlene began. "With how much time and energy she put into this place, I didn't see how she could handle a child. It seemed that all she cared about was this hospital, its staff and its patients."
"Which would have been a much easier job for her if she didn't spend most of her time getting her thong in a twist over my chosen methods of treatment," House noted. Arlene managed to laugh.
"I've told you, Dr. House; Lisa had the greatest respect for your abilities. She just had a hard time figuring you out sometimes… on many levels." House caught the slight teasing tone in her voice and saw the look in the woman's eyes; it seemed she understood the complicated nature of his and Cuddy's relationship. "Now, besides lying through my teeth to that horrid man, what else do you need me to do?"
"Stall him," House replied. "The soonest we'd want to see him around here would be tomorrow afternoon or Tuesday morning."
"That won't be a problem. His wife's scheduled to have a stress test and an echocardiogram tomorrow," Arlene said. "He's supposed to go with her, so I think it may be a little bit before we see him back here. But just in case, what do you want me to say to delay him?"
"Tell him she's having respiratory therapy, dialysis… that she always seems to be taken to some other department and is rarely in her room," said House.
"That's all well and good to stall Stein," Foreman said. "But the authorities are still going to need more time… "
"They'll have plenty of time if she's right about his social calendar," House said pointing to Arlene. "In the meantime we can continue to treat Cuddy, and deal with the new kid on the block."
"Dr. Taub?" A nurse poked her head into the room. "Pharmacy delivered your order."
"Thanks. Be right there," he replied.
"There's one more thing you need to do," House said, directing his words toward Mrs. Cuddy. "Find a decent place we can ship your daughter out to."
"She… she's ready to leave?" Arlene asked with surprise.
"She will be by Thursday or Friday," House noted.
"I hate to say this, but I'm sure you can guess who guided me to the facility Lisa had been in. I wouldn't even know where to begin."
"Mrs. Cuddy, there are many excellent social workers on staff here; several even specialize in the placement of a younger person into the best care facility. I can have one of them come up here to the room first thing in the morning," Lydia said.
"Thank you very much," said Arlene. "Could I impose on you for one more thing? I don't want to drag Rachel around from one facility to another as I check them out. Do you think whatever daycare you have Elise in could accommodate my granddaughter for a few days? I'll pay whatever the cost is."
"Well, Elise is in kindergarten," Lydia explained. "But there are several of the women I work with in the billing area who all use the same pre-k school. I could ask them for the name tomorrow."
"I appreciate that. Goodness, I knew your children were bright, and Ben told me he had skipped a grade, but I didn't know Elise did, too." Arlene said.
"The boy is perfecting robotic brain surgery using a PS3 player and the girl can play a blues riff on the piano that would make you think she's Foreman's kid. Actually, the girl has more soul than Foreman could ever hope for," House said. Arlene laughed, getting just as much amusement from Foreman's reaction as she did from House's words.
"I think that's the first time I've seen you smile," Lydia commented. Mrs. Cuddy nodded.
"I'm not happy about what going to happen to Lisa, about what the inevitable outcome is… but now that I've made the decision to accept it, I feel like a burden has been lifted from me. And I'm not as afraid to face the future with Rachel. We'll be OK," she said.
"You still have to fight the hospital for a proper and equitable settlement on her workman's comp payout, though," Wilson pointed out. "Make sure you have someone who's a specialist in the area to represent you."
"I found several business cards from lawyers in Lisa's personal papers. There was one card with wording that gave me the impression that she was a specialist in medical cases; I can always contact her and then go from there."
"What was her name?" Lydia asked, curious to see if it was anyone the hospital had used in conflicts with insurance companies.
"I… oh dear, I forget. Wait! Stacy… Stacy… "
"Warner?" Wilson asked, looking over at House as he said the name.
"Yes! That's it!" Arlene said. House's eye opened wide and the color drained from his face. He quickly turned his head away from the group, and looked toward the window in the room.
"She knows medical law and liability; and she's one of the best in the field," House said quietly. "But she usually worked on the hospital's side of an argument; she may not be appropriate to help your daughter's case." House turned to his left and started to head to the door.
"House, where does Cuddy stand with things medically? Where do we go from here?" Chase inquired. House stopped, dropped his head down and turned back to face Chase.
"We've manage to avoid the oil, lube and filter for her," he said referring to the dialysis. "From this point on, it's a slow progression of improving her status. See if we can readjust her nutrition infusion to the proper rate, remove more fluid slowly enough not to shock her, all the while keeping an eye on her blood pressure rate and blood chemistries."
"I'm going to stay overnight as planned," Foreman said. "And then contact security in the morning to arrange for a guard outside the door. I'll let the nurses know that I'll be in here, but I may try and grab a little bit of rest."
"Notify security to be aware of every person who signs in the visitors' log," Wilson said. "That way they can call up here and tell us he's on his way. We can get the guard out of sight so he doesn't suspect anything."
"Won't work if he uses a phony name," House noted. "A photograph would be of more help." He looked at Arlene. "Like a typical woman, I'm sure the kitchen sink plus half the bathroom fixtures are in your handbag. You wouldn't happen to have a snapshot of Dr. Doom in your satchel, would you?"
"Yes! Yes, I do!" Cuddy's mom started digging through her bag. "I brought a small, old photo album with me. These are pictures I haven't transferred onto the computer yet. The pictures are of the family and friends through the years and I know there's one of Richard and Elaine." A moment more of poking in the bag, and Arlene triumphantly brought out the album. She rapidly flipped through the pages, and found the picture she was looking for. Arlene pulled it from the album and handed it to House. "It was only taken two years ago at their 50th anniversary party, so it's an accurate image of him." House passed the photo on to Foreman.
"Have security enlarge this, and then crop the woman out. Instruct them to call up to the nurses' station and/or page one of you two and the team if he shows up," House said indicating Wilson and Foreman.
"I still can't see what the purpose of this is, and to what end we're taking it," Foreman said, shaking his head as he held the picture.
"The purpose of it, you'll know by sometime tomorrow," House said. "And we're taking it to the point of finding out what the hell Stein was thinking." House looked at Taub. "Get into Lord-Mix-It-Up and get that acetaminophen flowing." Taub left the room to pick up the medicine that pharmacy had sent.
"Do you need us to stay?" Thirteen asked. "Or can we just start things up again in the morning?"
"You can go back to what or whoever you were amusing yourself with," House said. "Now that you know the situation and game plan, you and Chase can head out." He turned to Foreman. "Do you want Taub to stay to help you handle things?"
"Since the guy's a new admit and definitely a unique individual, I'd think it would be best if there are two covering the bases for now," Foreman said shaking his head. House looked at Arlene.
"You and Cuddy Junior should take it easy; somewhere in the next two days, you're going to need your strength." House left the room and paused by the nurses' station. Wilson and Lydia followed him out.
"Now what?" Lydia asked as she rubbed her knee.
"I have a phone call to make; it's a favor I need to collect on that will help out big time. Get me the book of lies that Stein created," House said to Wilson. His friend returned to Cuddy's room, and came out with the chart in hand. House took it from him and flipped through some pages; as he read, a sly grin overcame his face.
"And the fat lady is singing," House said, obviously pleased. "I need you to come up to my office with me," he said to Wilson. "I want a witness to this conversation I'm about to have."
"Sure, no problem. Is… this going to take all night? I'm just thinking of Annie."
"She can go home with Fraulein and kick her feet up; something you should do, too," House said looking at his girlfriend. Lydia was leaning heavily on the counter, using it to help keep pressure off of her leg. "Do me favor; go up to my office. Under my desk is one of my canes I keep around for an emergency. Get it and bring it back to the nice German lady."
"Greg, don't be ridiculous; this is no big deal," Lydia said.
"Humor me; you've heard of soul mates? I need a cane mate." Lydia rolled her eyes as Wilson smiled and left to get the cane. Lydia looked around to make sure they were out of earshot of everyone.
"What trick do have up your sleeve? I know James said something that made you react," she said in a voice not much above a whisper. "Can you clue me in, or are you not ready for the big reveal yet?" House tapped the handle of his cane in a slow, rhythmic beat on the countertop.
"Not until I know it's in place," he replied. "There's a lot that could go wrong. But if this goes right, Stein will be wearing silver bracelets."
"Correct me if I'm wrong; but euthanasia is against the law in new Jersey as is assisted suicide. But neither of these things are happening here. He was going against the health car proxy's wishes, and was causing more harm, not ending suffering." Lydia looked at House. "You think there might be a mental issue involved." House made a face.
"I suspect it, yes; but if a smart lawyer can prove that he's not within his right mind, he won't see any jail time, especially not at his age. If he allows himself to be voluntarily committed, he'll only stay a short time to make things look good, then he'll get cut loose." Lydia shook her head.
"I think I know who you're planning on calling," she said, not looking at House. He nodded his head.
"Don't really have too many options. Since all of my team plus Wilson and the prodigal child were involved in this, maybe I can put the burden of contact on them."
"If by 'prodigal child' you mean Allison," said Lydia referring to Cameron, "Don't forget she's pregnant and doesn't officially have privileges here anymore. You may not be able to use her."
"I can mold the rest of the lumps of clay I have to work with into what we need," House said. "I just need someone to power the potter's wheel." He stood up straight as he saw Wilson approach with a cane.
"I'm afraid the one he has as a spare here is one with skulls," Wilson said reluctantly hand the cane to Lydia.
"That's OK; seems to go with the mood here this weekend," she said. "I don't really need this, you know," she said to House.
"Tell you what; I'll race you to the end of the hall, you with the cane, me without. I'll still beat you. Take it and quit complaining." House pushed away from the counter. "Let's get all unnecessary personnel out of here. Going to have Songbird and Papa Smurf head out with you and the short ones. Hopefully everyone else here will either leave or take care of what's needed."
"Sounds good. You know," Lydia said sheepishly. "Neither one of us touched our sandwiches."
"Take them home and see what you can salvage from them. I'll survive on the chips for now and get something else later. I left mine in Cuddy's room."
"Mine's in there, too. I'll be right back." House watched Lydia walk away with the cane; she handled it like a pro, probably from watching him. He felt better knowing that she had it with her.
"House!" Taub came out of Alvie's room looking concerned.
"Casa; I'm changing my name to Casa," House said dryly.
"Alvie's O2 sats have dropped to 90%...and his gums are bleeding." House looked bothered by the latest development.
"First a nose bleed, now his gums," he said. "Did he have any ID on him that indicated blood type?"
"Not that I'm aware of," Taub replied. House frowned.
"Given that there's already a question with the antibodies, we don't want to go with O negative unless we have to," he said referring to the blood type that was a universal donor. "Call the lab; tell them you need his type right away. Once we get it, hang a unit of whole blood. And increase his oxygen to three liters."
"It sounds like Alvie's having a lot of problems," Lydia noted as she returned with their uneaten sandwiches.
"He is. The idiot waited too long to come in and get help," said House, making a face of disapproval.
"You heard what he said; no work, no pay."
"He wouldn't have to worry about that if he only had himself to take care of," House remarked. "Worrying about other people creates all sorts of problems." House had turned away from Lydia, so he didn't see the surprised look she gave him. She didn't know whether to interpret his comment as being about the incident with Ben today or not. But then she realized that besides his disapproval of someone with Alvie's medical history taking on such large responsibilities, House was also concerned about his ex-roommate's current state of health. That and the situation with Cuddy and Stein was putting pressure on him, too.
"I'm going to round everyone up and get them out of here," Lydia said. "The fewer bodies that are floating around here, the calmer things will be."
"Let's hope," House replied. Lydia went into the lounge to announce they were going home. Rachel and Elise were already making plans for the next time they were together, but Ben who had been lightly dozing, just trudged behind the group.
"Would you like to come back to our house for a little bit and then I can bring you back here later?" Lydia asked Arlene. "Maybe you could use a little break from the hospital."
"I appreciate the thought, but I think I'd better stay around here in case a phone call comes in," Arlene replied.
"True," Lydia said with a sigh. "I'm so sorry you have to go through this."
"It'll be over soon; then we can move on. Rachel, say thank you and goodbye to everyone." Words were exchanged, then Cuddy's mom and her granddaughter disappeared back into Cuddy's room.
"Are you heading out now, Lydia?" Thirteen asked. "Because Chase and I are leaving, too. We can help you carry things if you need the help."
"The only thing that I may need carrying is this one," Lydia said putting her arm around Ben's shoulder. "I think we woke him up." Ben didn't respond, but leaned into his mother as he stood waiting to go.
"Bye, Sweetie," Annie said to Wilson, giving him a kiss. "Talk to you later." She turned to House. "Behave yourself; don't pick on my husband-to-be."
"Damn, you take all the fun out of things; I might as well send him home with you then," House replied. Wilson laughed as he moved into Annie.
"Bye, Babe; see you later," he said returning her kiss.
"Later, gentlemen," Thomas said as he joined the group and headed toward the elevators.
"Bye, Hon," Lydia said standing in front of House. "Text me on your way home and I can have something waiting for you to eat."
"Thanks," he said. "You'll be alright with that?" he asked gesturing toward the cane she held.
"I'll be fine," she assured him. "Bye." Unlike Annie and Wilson, there was no public display between them, even the simplest. As House always said, what they lacked in public, they made up for in private. The kids waved to him as they got in the elevator; then the doors closed and they were gone.
"Ready to dive into the depths of despair?" House asked Wilson.
"Why the negative attitude?"
"Because if this doesn't work, we're screwed," House replied bluntly. He was about to turn toward the elevators, when Taub and Foreman approached him at the same time.
"Didn't I teach you how to take care of things on your own? Just play with yourselves." House saw the look the two men were giving him. "I meant by yourselves, although the other thought would have worked, too."
"How long do you want me to give the lab?" Taub asked, ignoring House's comments. "He just had another nose bleed." House looked aggravated by the continued worsening of Alvie's condition.
"Hang the O negative; we've got the first blood sample you drew. Let's hope the lab plays nice with it. Of course we wouldn't have to worry about this if the goons in charge around here didn't limit our access to the facilities." Taub spoke and stopped Foreman from arguing with House.
"I'm just going straight down to the blood bank here; it'll be faster than calling it down," Taub said as he walked away. House looked at Foreman.
"What can I do you for?" Foreman shook his head at House's jumbled words, but didn't let them stop him from inquiring about what House was planning on doing.
"I'd like to know who you're calling and what scheme you're working on. The hospital can't be involved in anything illegal," Foreman said firmly, folding his arms across his chest.
"Chillax oh Ninja Turtle Darkatello. The person I'm going to talk to will make quite certain nothing illegal is done; unless I convince them otherwise," House said.
"Why is Wilson the only one listening in on this conversation? As Co-Dean… "
"Someone has to keep guard on Cuddy," House noted. "Besides, if this doesn't work out, I'm going to be licking my wounds. And Wilson's the only one who has ever seen me… "
"OK, House," Wilson interrupted. "We get the picture… all too vividly."
"Then my job here is done," he said with a smirk. "Have Taub call me if anything else happens with him," House said gesturing toward Alvie's room. House left Foreman standing in the hallway, at a loss for words.
"You do push the limits with him sometimes," Wilson said under his breath, feeling Foreman's icy glare on their backs.
"If he doesn't like it, I can always take my team and leave."
"He's a part of your team, you know," Wilson said as the elevator doors opened and they stepped inside.
"Only when he wants to be," House noted. They headed to the fourth floor and arrived at House's office. Wilson took the chair opposite the desk; House slid behind it and turned on his computer.
"I'm surprised the number's not in your phone… or memorized," Wilson said. House taped on some keys, and pulled up the information he was looking for. He took out his phone and dialed the number that had come up on the screen. Wilson turned so he could see the monitor; his eyes opened wide when he saw the name and number on the screen. When the call went through, House began the discussion by engaging in a very brief round of niceties at first, an unfortunate necessity; then he got down to business. It was at that point that House switched over to speaker phone so that he and Wilson could both explain the situation. The person on the other end of the call was appreciative of Wilson's participation in the call, and things went relatively smoothly. There was going to be another call tomorrow, this one including Foreman; Stein would have to be stalled until Tuesday, but this person felt they could help.
"I have to admit I'm… impressed by that call, House. I did not expect that," Wilson said shaking his head. House gave his friend a look.
"You thought I was going to call Stacy; the thought crossed my mind for a nano-second. But I knew the better person to contact."
"I completely forgot that you had an in with any lawyer that hadn't represented you in court," Wilson replied.
"Maybe all the blood you lost in the shooting effected your brain more than we thought it did," wise-cracked House. Wilson made a face.
"Very funny. There are times when I question if that's not the case; then I realize between running this place, the wedding and Annie's pregnancy, I have just a few things on my mind."
"And I'm about to add one more; how about a makeshift guys afternoon out? It'll be a poor substitute for our usual venue, but it's needed right now. At least on my side of things." Wilson was puzzled at first, then concerned as House pulled a bottle of whiskey out of his desk drawer along with two plastic cups. It had been a long time since House had alcohol at work.
"When did you start keeping that as part of your office supplies?" Wilson asked suspiciously.
"Snuck it up here on Saturday after we got the call about Cuddy. Didn't know what we'd be dealing with and I figured worst case scenario, Fraulein could drive home." House cracked open the bottle and poured a serving for each of them. Whiskey wasn't Wilson's usual poison, but he was planning on drinking it slowly anyway. He wanted to keep his wits about him since it was obvious something had House upset. His friend held out his cup in a mock toast, and he took a large swig of the beverage.
"So… I take it Alvie has you concerned? You didn't seem to be expecting the other symptoms Taub was reporting to you," Wilson said sipping his drink.
"They're not unusual," House said as he frowned. "But they're more and more leading to an illness that can be life threatening. I'm hoping he got here in time."
"Can you start to treat him for the other illness, whatever that may be, without hurting him?"
"The treatment's basically the same. And the illness is dengue hemorrhagic fever." Wilson shook his head.
"That… is usually life threatening, especially if not treated in time. Do you have to wait for the blood work or will the other symptoms start showing up first?" he asked.
"At the rate things are going, they'll become obvious at about the same time. His titer levels will be off, his blood count and chemistries are going to hit rock bottom; the most apparent signs will be sweats, irritability and shock-like symptoms." House took another large drink of his whiskey and set the nearly empty cup on his desk.
"House, you usually don't miss a diagnosis on something… well, it's not common, but it's fairly simplistic. What… "
"Dengue hemorrhagic fever has three prerequisites: prior incident of exposure, and therefore symptoms present at some point in the past, the patient has to be female, and they have to be below the age of thirteen."
"You can immediately eliminate it on two of the three," Wilson noted.
"And Alvie didn't report that he's felt like this before. He doesn't match the criteria, but his symptoms do. I'm going to hope we get a fast report on his blood type so he can get the antibodies he needs into him. Besides that, all we can do is hydrate him, keep his fever down and his electrolytes in balance." House finished what was left in his cup. He reached for the bottle and poured another.
"You might want to think about slowing down," Wilson noted as House took another swallow. "I know you're upset about your patient and the situation with Cuddy, but… "
"I'm not driving," House said cutting Wilson off.
"I'm aware of that," Wilson said, realizing that there was something more eating away at his friend. "House, what's going on?" House ran his finger along the rim of his cup before picking it up and holding it. He took another large gulp that made him start to cough; Wilson was becoming alarmed.
"Your relationship cheerleading worked great for a while yesterday; but now your pom-poms are beginning to droop." Wilson was extremely confused.
"You… were in a great mood when you left here yesterday; you texted me this morning to brag about the great night you had with Lydia… what happened? Did you two have a fight today?"
"A couple of things happened; and they all worked out perfectly. That's what's wrong. Because one day they won't and I'll run. When that happens, not only do I get hurt again, but I drag Lydia and the kids down with me."
"Why are you assuming that things are going to go wrong?" Wilson rolled his eyes. "You know what your problem is, House? You have everything you've ever wanted, but never thought you'd ever be able to have… and now you don't know what to do with it!" Wilson's voice was become a bit louder and more intense; he hated it when his friend did this to himself.
"I get what you said about throwing off the past; emotions aren't my strong point but, I understood the logic behind what you were saying." House dropped his head down. "There's something from my past that I just can't toss off and forget. I was going to talk to Lydia about it when I told her about the dream house I was building for us and the trip to her homeland… but I couldn't do it. I know she'd accept what I have to say and that's part of the problem; I can't accept that I still have a problem with it. But if I told her she would understand why I could never marry her. And despite all her protests to the contrary, I know it's high on her priority list." Wilson couldn't imagine what House was talking about. He was beginning to suspect it was the liquor talking more than anything else.
"House," Wilson said in a quieter, gentler tone. "Lydia knows it's going to take you a while to get rid of feelings about Cuddy, even though the true nature of the relationship was a friends with benefits sort. And she's the one who told you there's going to be a part of you that will always love and care about Stacy; she accepts that. What more…?"
"What more?" House asked slamming down the cup and splashing the liquid out. "There's a hell of a lot more than just living with someone for five years."
"More than living with… " Wilson was baffled. But as his friend turned his head to him, and House's piercing blues eyes came up to meet his own, Wilson had a shocking realization.
"Oh my God… House… were you married at some point in the past?"