In this chapter House reveals yet another language he can speak. I do not know if it really is in House's repertoire but it just felt cool. We know he speaks Spanish, Mandarin and Hindi at least. He may speak Japanese as he has lived there, so I just decided he knew this language, too. This is my story, after all, and I may do as I choose, right?

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House didn't stay long with Andie. He exchanged a few words with Wilson to check how things were going and asked if he wanted Cameron to help – either with Andie or her mother. Wilson accepted the offer; another one of his patients had just been checked in and Wilson needed to be there for him.

House limped cautiously into Mr. Park's room. At the door he stopped to take another Vicodin. He looked inside and saw Soo sitting near her father, holding his hand. Cameron was hovering about but not trying to strike up any conversation with Soo, who was obviously deep in thought. House walked in letting his cane thump audibly on the floor. Both women looked up to see him enter.

"Cameron, I'm taking over for now," House said. "Wilson needs your help with Andie; or more precisely with her mother. When is Chase due?"

"In an hour," Cameron answered. "Is Dr. Wilson in Andie's room still or do I go to his office for instructions?"

"He is with Andie still," House said. "Anything unexpected here?"

"No," Cameron answered. "Everything is going pretty much exactly as you predicted."

"Ok, you can go then," House said and Cameron left the room. "So, Soo, what can you tell me about your father's condition?"

Soo was startled all over again. She didn't know why. Sure it had been just one day so far, but surely she had figured out already that House was going to put her to every spot he could. She took her father's chart, checked the monitors and gave it her best shot. It wasn't good enough. House went through every reading, every notation every little detail with her, explaining what she should have seen from them, how she should have read them, what she should have concluded and what she should have predicted. It would have looked like a tirade for someone listening in, but Soo saw is as a detailed explanation of her father's progress. She was grateful for it, though she did have the sense not to thank House.

Just as House had finished his lecture, Soo's mother and brother came in as well. House stepped aside to let Soo talk with her family. He checked Mr. Park's readings and potassium level while Soo was explaining things to her family. He didn't like the readings. He pressed the call button and told Soo to take her family outside. He gave Mr. Park an injection of calcium gluconate but it didn't work fast enough; Mr. Park went into cardiac arrest. The cardiac team arrived almost at the same time.

It took them about five minutes to stabilise Mr. Park. Since House had seen the cardiac arrest coming the heart hadn't actually stopped for more than fifteen seconds before they had got it beating again, but it took a little longer to get the beating steady. But they rescued the patient and there was no risk of brain damage. At least not this time.

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"That is it. We tried it his way, I am not watching him kill himself," Mrs. Park stood in front of House and practically ranted. "I want you to either amputate his leg or do the other surgery. I don't care which, you can decide, but I am not watching my husband die just because he is too stubborn to do the sensible thing."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that Mrs. Park. Your husband was very clear about his wishes," House told her.

"I don't care. He wasn't in his right mind. He is in no position to decide now, as his wife I demand that you stop this nonsense and save his life," Mrs. Park insisted.

"No. I'm afraid I can't," House said.

"Then I'm afraid we must ask for a different doctor," Soo's brother told House. "If you will not do it, I'm sure there is another doctor in this hospital who will."

"I'm sure there are several doctors in this hospital who would be only too happy to cut off his leg," House agreed. "However, you do not have the power to replace me. Not without a court order. Your father made sure of that."

"What do you mean? We are his family; my mother is his next of kin. There is nothing you can do to change that," Kwan Park asked.

"I mean that your Father figured that as soon as he had his first cardiac arrest, his family would want to choose a safer treatment than the one he wanted. Therefore he appointed a medical proxy for himself. You do not have the right to decide what happens to him, unless you go to court and have that proxy revoked. And I don't think you can," House explained.

"He cannot have made you responsible for his care," Kwan insisted. "That would be unethical. You cannot both act as his medical proxy and his doctor!"

"Absolutely true, which is why I am not his medical proxy," House agreed.

"Then who is?" Mrs. Park demanded to know.

"I am, mother," Soo revealed.

"Oh, that's ok then," Kwan said. "Now just tell Dr. House that he is no longer needed and we can ask Dr. Cuddy to appoint a new doctor to Father."

"I'm sorry Kwan, I cannot do that," Soo said. "The reason Father asked me to be his proxy was precisely to make sure that Dr. House would not be replaced. He knew the risks of this treatment he chose, I made sure of that, as did Dr. House. He wanted this and I am not going against his wishes."

"But this is killing him!" Mrs. Park cried.

"Maybe. I hope not," Soo said. "But it is his choice. I cannot, I will not overrule him. He was of sound mind when he chose this; I have to respect his choice."

"You are an unnatural daughter! Do you want your Father to die," Mrs. Park accused her.

"If you say so, Mother," Soo bowed her head. "But I have to do what he wanted me to do. I'm sorry Mother."

"Well, that seems clear," House called a halt to the conversation. "If you want to overrule your daughter you have to go to court. Your chances of success are slim, since we made pretty sure of that, but you can try." House then turned his back to Mrs. Park and Kwan. "Come on Soo, I have other things to do with my time now that Chase has got his butt here." He limped off and Soo followed him.

"You do know that they will come after you?" House asked Soo.

"Yes, I know," Soo agreed. "Why didn't you just let them have their say now?"

"They had their say," House pointed out. "But there was no point in letting them vent their fear and frustration on you right now, when you are in similar emotional turmoil. They might actually have badgered you into agreeing with them. It's better if you have time to calm down, gather your thoughts and be ready for their arguments when they come. It may take as long as four days before we can bring your Father out of the coma and your mother and brother will be on your case most of that time – if they can find you, that is. Though I expect their next move is to go to Cuddy."

"Why are you protecting me from then?" Soo asked puzzled as they made their way to House's office.

"I'm not protecting you," House denied. "I'm making sure I stay on as your Father's doctor." House gave Soo a mock earnest look: "I'm quite curious about this treatment your Father chose. It would be such a shame if we didn't find out if it actually works." Then he turned her back to her and walked on, expecting her to follow at his pace.

Soo looked at House with a lot of questions in her mind. She didn't dare voice them, but they almost literally burned her tongue: if this worked, would he resent her Father for having been cured, when his doctor had robbed him of a chance to be whole? Or was he making sure her Father had this chance to make a point? Was he rubbing his own doctor's nose in this? And for some reason the biggest questions, the ones she hardly dared even to think in fear House might read her mind was: how painful was this for him to watch, to do? What did this do to him, to go through this again only now as the doctor not as the patient? How did he feel about giving a chance he himself had been denied to someone else?

In High school Soo had liked to read poetry. She especially liked Byron because he was dark and brooding, just the thing for teenage girls. Now, from somewhere in her memory she suddenly remembered a bit from Byron's Prometheus: Titan! to whose immortal eyes / The sufferings of mortality/ Seen in their sad reality/ Were not as things that gods despise; / What was thy pity's recompense/ A silent suffering, and intense; / The rock, the vulture, and the chain/ All that the proud can feel of pain/ The agony they do not show/ The suffocating sense of woe/ Which speaks but in its loneliness / And then is jealous lest the sky / Should have a listener, nor will sigh / Until its voice is echoless. ... Soo shook her head. That thought she better dislodge immediately, because if House did read minds – as it sometimes seemed – seeing her attach that maudlin piece of poetry to him would quite likely make him send her to bedpan duty or something.

They had reached House's office and as Soo followed House inside she saw that there was someone waiting for House in there. The man looked distinguished, wealthy and powerful. He was probably just shy of sixty, but it was difficult to say for sure, though his hair was very liberally sprinkled with grey. He turned to watch House as they entered and measured him with his gaze. Obviously he did not find House wanting as he stepped forward extending his hand.

"Harrison," was all he said. House took the hand, though everybody knew his aversion to hand shaking. Some actually speculated that that was the main reason why he held the cane in his right hand instead of the recommended left one.

"House," was all House said, too. There was some kind of assessment going between them and Soo started to feel like she was very much in the wrong place; this was a meeting of alpha-males if ever she saw one. She sure hoped there was going to be no battle.

"I was told that you admitted my grandson," Harrison said.

"The boy with the Henoch-Schönlein purpura," House acknowledged.

"His Nanny called me; said you had recommended it," Harrison kept his sentences laconic.

"She seemed to think you were the only responsible member of the boy's family," House could piss with the best of them.

"What happened to your leg," Harrison asked suddenly.

"Tangled with a lawyer," House responded. "You know how they are, if you're not careful they charge an arm and a leg."

"And you weren't?"

"Not quite careful enough," House agreed. "Not that time."

"I'm a lawyer," Harrison revealed.

"You have the look," House stated. "Now, have we danced enough for you to get to the point of this visit? I don't really mind, but with this leg – you know, the more complicated steps are out of the question."

"I don't think your leg is much of a hindrance to you in this dance," Harrison told him, but nodded. "I want to talk about my grandson."

"I haven't seen him but that once, so I might not be the man you want," House pointed out.

"But as you also met his parents, I think you are the man I want," Harrison said. He then looked a Soo. "Who is she?" He asked mildly.

"My mail-order bride," House flipped. "I disguised her as a medical student so nobody would question why she is at my beck and call all day."

"I'd like to talk to you alone," Harrison requested – though it did come out almost as an order. House pondered the request for a moment, but decided then to comply.

House took some money out of his pocket gave it to Soo and told her to get him a Reuben, dry no pickles from the cafeteria. Only he did it in Korean. Soo took the money and promised to do as ordered and left the office before it registered on her that they had spoken in Korean. Her family spoke the language at home, between themselves though they all had been born in America and were completely fluent in English. How had House known? And where had he learned Korean!

"So, what was it you wanted to talk about," House asked Harrison indicating him to a chair in front of his desk and moving to his chair on the other side.

"What is his condition? How serious is this purpura he has?" Harrison took the offered seat. He dropped his guise of a high powered; this was just a grandfather speaking now.

"Henoch-Schönlein purpura is a rare condition but normally it is not serious. I would not have hospitalized Kelsey had I been able to be sure he would get responsible care at home. The illness needs to be monitored carefully as it can, in some rare cases, cause renal failure or kidney problems. Usually, though, it just runs its course without any real problems. His Nanny seemed sensible enough, but his parents did not impress me." House explained.

"So if I can assure you that he will get proper care at home, you have no problem in my removing Kelsey from the hospital?" Harrison asked.

"None whatsoever," House agreed.

"Good," Harrison sighed. "I failed my son. I wasn't much of a father to him, so how could he be a father to his son. I married his mother for looks and pedigree, for what her family could do to my career; and of course I wanted to have a son. Didn't hang around much after that. She did her best, I cannot fault her for that, but she was more a good-time parent; when he was good, she was happy to be with him, when he was bad or ill or anything, it was up to the Nanny. And of course, there was nobody to really provide a male role model. I was too wrapped up in my career and my businesses. I may have woken up to my responsibilities too late for my son, but I will do right by my grandson."

"I don't really do family counselling," House grimaced.

"No, I don't suppose you do, sorry," Harrison acknowledged. "However, I'm taking Kelsey in to live with me – with his parents, of course. I will try to mend fences with my son as well, but I don't know how that will go. Anyway, I'm taking my grandson home and I will make sure he will have good care."

"I assume you are not replacing his Nanny," House asked curiously.

"No. She seems to be a sensible girl and she has been with Kelsey almost all his life. Probably more of a mother to him than his real mother is," Harrison told House.

"Ok, I see no problems then," House agreed. "You will be given all the necessary instructions for Kelsey's care and if there are any problems just bring him right back."

"Thank you, House," Harrison stood up and left to take over his grandson.