*Chapter 11*
Jamie enters into the cafeteria on her search for McGee who she spots on the line putting breakfast onto his tray. As McGee opens the mini refrigerator, Jamie approaches.
"I've been looking for you, Tim." Jamie said.
"I'm hiding." McGee said.
"Ha…" Jamie chuckled slightly. "Hiding from Tony. I understand."
"Every time I see him he always talks about me returning to NCIS. It's becoming really annoying at this point. I'm not returning to NCIS. He just doesn't seem to get it through his thick…"
"It's his way of expressing that he misses you."
"Well, Tony missing me is annoying." McGee said. "You want anything?"
"The blueberry yogurt." Jamie answered. "Thank you."
McGee grabs a blueberry yogurt and an orange juice before closing the door to the mini refrigerator. They approach the short line for the cash register.
"I just wish he would stop." McGee said in reference to what Tony always talks about.
"I don't want to pry in your business, but what have you thought about doing now?" Jamie wondered.
"I don't know yet." McGee answered. "I'm still on disability due to my shoulder."
"Yeah, I notice you seem to have a hard time moving it."
"At least all the surgeries are done with. My doctor said I should regain full movement of my arm within a couple months. I just have to keep up with my physical therapy so the tendons don't…"
"That'll be $8.50." The cashier said after ringing up everything on McGee's tray. He hands her the money.
"I'm glad you're here, Jamie." McGee said as the two of them walk to find an empty table. "I've been meaning to talk to you about something." They sit down at one of the empty tables in the back. "My therapist mentioned something the other day that made a lot of sense to me. I still feel this overwhelming fear, particularly at night when it's dark. When we were trapped in that funhouse, I depended on you to get me through it… And I… I don't know. I guess I'm still depending on you to get me through this fear I still feel."
"Tim…" Jamie reaches her hand across the table and gently places it on his. "I will help you as best I can. I'll be there for you as I was when we were trapped." She said with a smile. Then she pulls her hand back. "What happened was my fault anyway. You should've never been there."
"It's nobody's fault."
"No, it is my fault. If you weren't out helping me choose all the computer parts I need to build my own PC then…"
"What do you that supped up PC for anyway?"
"Abby and I play this MMORPG where she constantly kicks my ass all over the place because my computer lags, is kind of slow and…"
"Ha…" McGee laughs. He covers his mouth and tries to hold in the laughter. "I never thought you would be into video games."
"I wasn't until Abby got me into it one day when we should've been working instead of playing." There's a brief pause as Jamie thinks. "You're a good friend, Tim. I hope whatever you're going through is something I can help you with. I'm here for you no matter what. I'll back you on wherever you decide to go from here." She said with a smile.
"Thanks Jamie." McGee said. "I appreciate it."
"And I'll try to keep Tony in check."
"Good luck with that one."
Jamie's cell-phone rings.
"Excuse me." Jamie said as she leaves the table, walks away and opens the phone in order to answer it. "Hello…"
"I have vital information to save your father's life." A voice stated.
"Who is this?"
"Who I am is unimportant. What I can give you is what's important." The voice replied. "I cannot divulge specifics or even much information about it. But what I can tell you is that your father was injected with a biological organism, a parasite. It wreaks havoc inside the host, grows rapidly and reproduces. Your father is probably infected with several of them. In order to save your father, the parasitic worms must be removed before they cause permanent damage…"
"I don't…"
"If you need proof, the injection site is a small crevasse in the belly button. Spread the skin apart to expose it." The voice said. "Or you can always have the doctor give your father a high concentration of Folic acid, also known as Vitamin B9. The worms will absorb the Folic acid. Wait thirty minutes then inject the patient with an iodine contrast material. The high concentration of Folic acid causes the worms to need iodine in order to survive. It's a fail-safe. The worms will then light up like Christmas trees in any contrast machine. But the worms must be removed from the host or else their dead bodies will release a deadly toxin. So it's best to remove them while they're alive." The voice continued. "Your father's life lies in your decision on what to do with the information I've given you."
Jared Lucas Gibbs closes the secured phone, ending the conversation.
"It's a shame such a beautiful biological weapon won't be completed, or ever really used." Jared said to himself about Pharsbrook Pharmaceutical Company's secret experiment with its genetically altered parasitic worm with Folic acid fail-safe. After chuckling evilly for a couple seconds, he re-opens the phone with the attached voice modifier and dials another number. A secretary on the other line picks up and states a formal greeting. "Hi. I'd like to speak to Curtis Franklin, please."
"May I ask what this concerns?" The secretary asked.
"Just tell him CI Gallagher has Intel of the utmost importance. I do apologize for the break in procedure, but this cannot wait." Jared said, using the codename Gallagher which is one of Franklin's confidential informants who Jared is impersonating for his own evil purpose.
"One moment… Please hold." The secretary said.
As Jared is on hold trying to reach the person he needs to contact to proceed in his agenda, Jamie runs out of the cafeteria. McGee is left sitting at the table wondering why Jamie is in such a hurry.
Jamie enters into House's office in haste. The rushing intrusion of the patient's daughter into the room interests House.
"I know what's wrong with my father." Jamie stated.
"So you went to medical school, earned a degree specializing in infectious disease and somehow managed to gain years of experience in an hour." House commented. "If I knew it was that easy I wouldn't have wasted the time…"
"It's a parasite. We need to remove…"
"I'm guessing you completely missed my previous comment about the medical degree stuff."
"I received a phone-call. The person on the other line told me we need to remove the worms before they cause permanent damage. Give my father a high concentration of Folic acid, and then inject him with an iodine contrast material thirty minutes later. The Folic acid causes the parasites to absorb the iodine. Afterwards, stick him in a contrast machine, MRI or whatever you use for contrast images. The parasitic worms will light up like Christmas trees."
"Do you even hear yourself?" House wondered. "Maybe I should just refer you to the psych ward."
"I know it sounds crazy."
"Folic acid doesn't…"
"Humor me. Please." She said. "Just one measly little crazy test. That's all I'm asking for."
"You're determination for me to do a pointless test is intriguing."
House stands up, grabs his cane and walks toward the door. Jamie follows. They enter into the patient's room a couple minutes later.
"Your daughter seems to think you have some type of magical parasites inside you." House stated upon entering into the room.
"You're not going to do the test are you?" Jamie asked.
"The symptoms don't fit with…"
"I trust my daughter." Gibbs stated.
"Your daughter is desperate for any type of explanation for your condition." House said. "There's no medical evidence to suggest…" He stops upon noticing something strange on the patient; a little bulge in an area close to the base of the neck. "Hold still." He said as he approaches the bed. The little bulge is hardly noticeable but to House's keen eye, it just struck him. House pokes at the bulge with his finger. "Huh, it's probably nothing. I'll biopsy it just in case."
House walks to the side, unlocks the cabinet drawer and takes out a syringe. He returns to the patient and rubs the little bulge and surrounding area with alcohol. Then he sticks the needle into the little bulge. The bulge moves and House pulls back.
"Turn over, turn over!" House yelled at Gibbs.
Gibbs complies and quickly turns onto his side to expose his back. House quickly unties the hospital gown and opens it up. The shock of what House sees leaves him speechless. The little bulge is moving underneath the patient's skin and down his back.
"Oh my God…" Jamie said in astonishment.
The bulge finally stops in the middle of Gibbs' back. House walks to the cabinet again. After pulling the drawer open, he grabs a scalpel and a jar. He approaches the patient's bedside.
"Hold still." House said.
"What are you doing?!" Jamie exclaimed.
"I need to see this." House said as he grabs the bulge with three fingers of his left hand to prevent the worm from escaping.
Jamie turns her head as House uses the scalpel to cut her father's skin. Blood quickly begins to flow.
"Ah…" Gibbs cried as the scalpel cuts him. "You could've at least numbed the area first."
"You're free to sue me for malpractice." House commented.
After cutting a large enough area, House folds the skin over. Blood flows out of the newly opened wound like the tears of a child whose favorite toy was taken away. The exposed worm squirms as it tries to break free from House's grip on it. He puts the scalpel down, grabs the worm and pulls it out. After putting the worm into the jar, he looks at Jamie.
"Looks like your trip to the psych ward isn't going to happen after all." House said. "Apply pressure to the wound. I need to schedule an emergency OR." He continued. "I'll send nurse in with Folic acid."
House leaves the room with the jar in hand as he wonders what exactly is in the jar to begin with. The worm inside the jar wiggles and squirms in an effort to escape its entrapment.
Jamie quickly puts latex gloves on and applies pressure to the wound House created on her father's back. She gazes happily at her father with the knowledge of all that needs to be done is to remove the parasitic worms.