Bubonicon was lots of fun even though they didn't have the tea on Sunday, and we didn't sell as much as in previous years. Here's the next chapter for you wonderful readers.

Chapter 28.

House and Cameron entered Pete's room as he was finishing his dinner.

"They sure treat ya well here." Pete grinned. "A fella could get used to it."

"I don't think you want to, though." Cameron laughed. "You're not the type to lie around all day doing nothing."

"Well, yeah. Ya gotta point there. But fer a day or two, it's kinda nice."

Cameron stepped closer to the bed. "Pete, you are going to have slow down and eat better than you do if you want to avoid another mini-stroke."

"Is that what I had?" Pete shook his head. "Thought I was too fit fer somethin' like that."

"Sure, being fit helps, but as good as Mo's cooking is, you should be more careful what you eat of it." Cameron looked at House. She hoped he was listening and that he'd take his friend's condition as a wake-up call.

House winked. "Bet you can talk Linda into monitoring what you eat."

Cameron nodded. "She does care about you. I'll give her a list of foods you should be eating. Don't worry, I won't cut out all your favorites."

Pete's mouth twisted into a frown. "I was afraid someone would do that someday."


Dr. Chatterji hovered behind them as the team ran tests on Jacob. "Why are you doing an MRI?" she asked. "I already did a CT scan." She crossed her arms and watched.

"You were focused on seeing the bone structure, and we want to look at the tissue and bone marrow," Simpson replied. "The combination of what you found and what this test will reveal can tell us much more about his condition and what's affected by it."

Jacobs tried to mollify the pediatrician. "You proved he didn't have meningitis and that his lymph nodes were swollen. I think you were on the right track."

"It has to be an infection, but where?" Magnani asked.

"The rash is on his leg," Chatterji said. "I've cultured a piece to see what it is."

"Not completely useless," Simpson muttered, but she heard and bristled.

"And I expect you would have looked at him and said," she pointed a finger in the air, "Aha, it's the flu."

"It could be, you know." He smirked. "Listen, if you want to help, meet us in our conference room with your earlier results in half an hour. We should have the MRI to look at then too."

She looked at all the team members, nodded and left.

"She's okay, Bart." Jacobs' hands went to her hips. "Stop giving her a hard time."

Simpson frowned. "It's not any harder than she gave me when I went to see how Jacob was doing earlier in the day."

"But now we know her better."


"Hungry?" House asked as they left Pete's room.

"I know you are." Cameron snickered. "But I still want to check in on Jacob."

"We can eat here."

They headed for the cafeteria and were surprised to find Hadley eating a bowl of soup.

"Why haven't you gone home yet?" House asked.

"Because that's what you always did when your team was in the middle of a case?" She tilted her head to look up at him. "You probably didn't know that Meisner insisted we take over Jacob's case. Chatterji could only go so far with it. The team is meeting with her now to go over her results and an MRI they ordered."

"Is there a problem?" Cameron sat down, her eyes wide.

"His b.p. dropped suddenly earlier in the afternoon but came back up within minutes. I think she panicked when that happened, and so did Meisner."

"But he's stable now?" Cameron asked.

"Yeah. So what are you two doing here?" Hadley asked.

House didn't honey-coat it. "Pete had a TIA."

"Poor guy."

"He's almost completely recovered, but they've kept him overnight for observation." Cameron pointed to her food. "We decided to eat something then visit Pete again and then Jacob. Is he awake?"

"Yes. Heather volunteered to read him a story after the conference with Chatterji. I think his mother and sisters are with him now."

Cameron nodded. "That's good. Being in a hospital at that age can be a scary experience." She and House got in line but returned quickly with a salad for her and sandwich for him.

As Hadley left to get dessert, a woman entered the cafeteria. House called her over, "Dr. Chatterji. You can sit with us."

She looked at him with a frown, then her gaze swept the room. Almost every table was taken. She stopped near Cameron and looked at her quizzically. "I'll get my food and return."

The line was short so it wasn't long before she returned. Hadley had come back earlier with a fruit salad.

"Dr. Chatterji, this is Dr. Cameron," Hadley said, knowing House was introduction-deprived.

"You're the one who first examined Jacob Briggs." Chatterji might have sounded accusing, but she hadn't.

"Yes. His mother is the office manager at my clinic in Shelby." Cameron smiled. "I'm glad you proved it wasn't meningitis."

"Although it could be something worse." Chatterji pushed her salad around the plate. "I hope Dr. Hadley's team can diagnose him." She glanced Hadley's way.

Cameron nodded. "I hope so too."

"We will. And we hope you'll help, Dr. Chatterji." Hadley leaned toward the pediatrician. "You know better than we do what's normal for a child that age, and what isn't. You saw Jacob when he arrived at the hospital and you're following his progress."

"Of course I want what's best for the boy," Chatterji said.


With Hadley and the team still at the hospital, Anita had a quiet dinner with Wilson and Jessica.

"We captured the kids who were vandalizing the stores and House's building, not to mention hit you over the head, Jess." Anita smiled at her friend. "I didn't know whether you'd pressed charges, but it's your right to."

Jessica looked at Wilson, but he didn't say anything. It was her decision. "Yes, I should. They'll have to learn that they can't get away with what they did."

"They'd barricaded themselves in the restaurant at the end of the pier, holding a waitress and bartender hostage and forcing the manager to close at lunchtime." Anita sipped her iced tea. "I think he'll add his accusations to yours. Those teens are in for quite a bit of punishment."

Jessica nodded. "Where's Remy?"

"She and the team have taken over Jacob Briggs case. It'll be a late night for them all, I expect."

"Are House and Cameron at the hospital too?" Wilson asked.

"Yes, I understand that, besides Jacob, they're concerned about Pete Carver."

"Pete?"

Anita nodded. "He had a TIA, although I hear he's doing better already."

Wilson's eyes went wide. "Makes me wish I'd stayed on at the hospital tonight."

"If you want, we can go there after dinner," Jess said.

Wilson smiled. "No, if both of those cases, as well as my own, are under control, I guess I don't have to

be there."

After minutes of quiet eating, Anita said, "So how are the kittens doing?"

"They're ready to be separated from their mother, but we'll wait until we move into our apartment and the team is ready to take care of theirs. Meanwhile, they're all being kept together in the same room with Tabby."

"What about Mrs. McClellend's?" Anita asked.

Jess smiled. "She might take hers tomorrow."


After they ate, House and Cameron visited Pete first. He was sitting up and begging to be allowed to leave.

"Your doctor said tomorrow morning," said the nurse.

"Had enough of this place? I thought you said you wanted to take advantage of this, Pete." House pulled a chair close to the bed and sat on it backwards. "You have a pretty nurse. Let her pamper you. It's just overnight. Who knows? You might like it so much you won't want to leave."

"What'r ya talkin' about, House?"

Cameron smirked. "He's trying to tell you to sit back and enjoy being here tonight. Let the nurses take care of you." She pointed to House. "And he'll be here in the morning to take you home."

"Is she right?" Pete asked House.

"Something like that." House smiled. "Yeah, I'll come get you in the morning. Then you can come back with me to the diner for a second breakfast."

"What did you say earlier 'bout the foods I eat?"

"I said we'd work with Linda to make sure you eat well." Cameron winked. "You won't mind, will you?"

"Nah." Pete laughed. "Okay, see ya in the mornin'."

"Good-night Pete."

They left his room and went straight to Jacob's. Naomi and the girls were still there. "As long as the docs say he isn't contagious, we'll spend as much time with him as we can."

But Jacob was sleeping. Hannah sat cross-legged on the floor with Sarah in her lap and was reading her little sister a story in a quiet voice.

"I can get another chair, Hannah." Cameron pointed to the door.

"I'm fine. So's Sarah, aren't you, toothless?"

Sarah grinned displaying the gap where two baby teeth used to be.

"Have you eaten?" Cameron asked.

"The blond doctor, Jessica's brother, brought us sandwiches from the cafeteria."

"Bart," Cameron and Hannah said simultaneously.

Naomi laughed. "Don't know why I have such a hard time remembering his name."

Cameron laughed with her, but Hannah said, "Oh, Mom!"

Meanwhile, House studied the boys vitals, wishing he had his chart. He'd diagnose him in a minute. He slipped out as the women talked and went to the nurse's station. A cute young nurse sat there. "Can I help you?"

"My team is consulting on Jacob Briggs. I wanted to see his latest test results."

"Oh." She stood and opened a file drawer. "There's a note here that the team has those." She looked at him through suddenly narrowed eyes. "And you are?"

He flashed a smile and scampered off as fast as a man with a bum leg could. When he entered Jacob's room again, Cameron and Naomi were still chatting.

"Where'd you go?" Cameron asked.

"Ready to leave?" he countered.

She shook her head, said good-night to Naomi, Hannah and Sarah, and walked to the door.


Anita was putting the finishing touch-up paint on a kitchen wall when Hadley finally arrived at the apartment. "Long day?"

Hadley just nodded and dropped into a chair.

Anita brought her a cold can of soda and sat too.

"What about you? I heard you caught the bad guys."

"With a bit of help from our landlord." Anita removed the nitrile gloves on her hands. "It did feel good to resolve my first case on the force here. How's Jacob?"

"He's stable. We still don't know for certain what caused his symptoms, but the broad-spectrum antibiotic we put him on is helping." Hadley gulped her drink. "At least his temperature is down."

"You don't have to do anything here tonight. Let me get cleaned up and we can go back to the motel room."

"I don't think I can lift so much as a sponge."

Anita hammered the top of the paint can closed, rinsed her hands in the kitchen sink, and removed the old college sweatshirt she was wearing, changing into her blouse again. By then, Hadley finished her soda.

They closed the door on their new home and locked it, then left through the side door of the house and locked that. "No taking chances even though we caught the vandals," Anita said.


"I passed that pediatric nurse three times today without her giving me even one glance," Simpson complained. The team was relaxing in their living room that evening.

"I talked to her," said Magnani. He shook his head. "She's not worth worrying over. I'd set my sights elsewhere, Bud."

"Bart, Rocco's right. There are nicer nurses in a few other departments," Jacobs said. "At least Chatterji has turned out to be someone we can work with."

"Not to change the subject, but what do you think is wrong with Jacob?" Magnani asked.

"Could be some sort of exotic infectious disease. One that isn't passed on to anyone else by casual contact."

"Where would a kid in Maryland pick up something like that?"

Simpson shrugged. "Just trying to think outside the box."

"Outside the box would be to say he isn't sick at all, just runs fevers and develops rashes for no reason."

"Maybe he got it from something he ate," Magnani said. "Some sort of intestinal bug that's manifesting in strange ways."

"Anything he ate should have cleared his system by now, shouldn't it?" Simpson asked.

"Unless it's a parasite. Hmmm." Jacobs pulled down a few text books.

"What do you think she's thinking?" Simpson asked Magnani, but Magnani shook his head.

Jacobs rejoined Magnani on the couch and showed him a page in a book.

Simpson came over and looked at it too. He shook his head. "He hasn't been to Central America or Africa. There aren't any black flies in New Jersey that carry Mansonellosis."

"But the symptoms match. It explains the skin rash, fever and weakness. We should look at a blood sample and one from the rash, search for microfilariae. If it's not this parasite, it can be another one. Let's find out what it is, then find out how he picked it up."