Author's Note #1- A very big thank you to my wonderful beta Ceciilee, who just never ceases to amaze me with her patience and editorial skills.
As I mentioned before, I have at least 2 (maybe 3) chapters left. I hope you click on the "Review this story/chapter" button at the bottom of this page and send me your feedback.
***
As Jake spots his frantic parents walking into the ER, he immediately turns to Cameron "I thought you said you called my dad?"
Cameron replies "yeah, but he wasn't in his office so I called your mom instead. And as luck would have it, your dad was with your mom."
Jake glares at Cameron and calls her "Tattle-tale!"
Cameron smiles and snaps back "Cry-baby!"
Cuddy immediately goes to Mommy mode and starts fussing about her son.
"Are you okay honey?"
"I'm fine Mom. I just hit a patch of gravel and took a spill. Nothing to be worried about."
Cuddy looks at his arms and asks "Does it hurt?"
"It's nothing Mom. It's just a gash."
As Cuddy asks "Are you sure?" she notices House takes a step closer to their son.
Jake replies "I'm just a little embarrass for taking a spill but I'm fine."
When House tries to smell his son's breath and examine his eyes.
Cuddy asks "Greg, what are you doing?"
Jake interrupts his dad "I'm cool Dad. I didn't take any alcohol or drugs."
Cameron supplies "the tox screen will be available in a few hours."
When House frown at Cameron, she adds "he asked for it. He thought you both would want to know."
Jake sarcastically adds "I asked for a lot of things but you conveniently agreed with only the tox screen."
House signals for Cameron to leave the room.
Before Cuddy could say anything, her pager goes off. She takes a quick look at it and informs both men that it's the daycare. She tells House to take care of Jake while she figures out what's wrong with the twins.
Cuddy addresses her son "I need to go honey but your Dad will take care of you, okay?"
"Sure Mom."
After Cuddy leaves the room, House gives his son a penetrating look.
He asks his son "what really happened?"
"What do you mean Dad?"
"Don't lie to me Jake. You've been riding that bike for years and never once have you fallen or even been close to taking a spill. You know why?"
Jake looks at his Dad and shrugs his shoulder.
"Because you're too careful and responsible; you got that from your Mom. So, why would a kid who's too damn careful slide off the road in good weather and no apparent cars around him?"
"I don't know Dad. I can't remember what happened."
"You don't remember what cause the accident?"
Jake stammers "I remember flashing my brake light when I slowed down to get off the exit ramp. But, I can't remember anything after that."
"You blacked out?"
Jake nods and replies "I must have. I don't remember anything Dad."
"Is this the first time you've experienced a blackout?"
"You think not remembering is a symptom?"
"It depends. Did the accident cause the blackout or did the blackout cause the accident?"
Jake admits to his dad that he has experienced blackouts a couple of times in the past week.
"I just ignored it. I thought I must have overslept because I was too tired."
"Where were you when they happened?"
"I was in my apartment both times. I just remember waking up with a pounding headache. I simply couldn't recall anything that happened before I fell asleep."
"You can't account for how many hours?"
"The first time, it was about 2 hours and second time was about 30 minutes."
House nods and tells his son that he's keeping him for more test and observation.
"I'm sure it's nothing Dad."
"I hope so too. If not, we'll fix it."
***
House writes on the white board: "18 year-old male, motorcycle accident, sudden blackouts."
Chase asks "where's the patient's file?"
"You don't need one. Everything you need to know is on the board."
Foreman says "which isn't much. I'd say some brat out partying with his friends, most likely drunk or high on drugs while driving his bike."
Cameron answers "He was neither. His tox screen came back clean."
Chase gives Cameron a puzzled look and asks "how do you know that when he didn't give us the file?"
Cameron replies "because he's talking about his son. While I was doing my rotation in the ER this morning, Jake was brought in for a minor bike injury."
House asks Cameron "ever heard of doctor-client privilege?"
"Yeah, they'll know it soon enough. Besides, you need all the help you can get to solve this puzzle for you."
Before House can argue back, Chase asks "is it true? We're talking about Jake?"
House nods and replies "yes, but I don't want Lis…Cuddy to know that we're examining Jake."
Cameron asks "Why? Jake is her son, she has a right to know if her son is ill."
"When you and the wombat here" House points at Chase "decide to have spawns of your own then you come back and lecture me how to handle my family."
Both Chase and Cameron blush at the thought of having a wombat family of their own.
House continues "Cuddy doesn't need to know until we are sure of what's wrong with Jake. I don't want her to worry about him. Do I make myself clear?"
All three ducklings nod their heads.
House erases the white board to only show "sudden blackout."
After a few heated rounds of DDx, they've added the following items on the white board "Epilepsy, Arrhythmias, Autonomic neuropathy, Adams-Stokes, Wolf-and Parkinson-White syndrome, Transient Ischemic Attack, etc." House looks at the board one more time and summarizes "it's either cardiovascular or neurological." He tells his staff that Jake is in the room next to the coma guy under the name of 'Ekaj Esouh' (Jake House spelled backward). He orders them to run additional blood work, stress test, CT, MRI of the brain, EEC and ECG on his son.
"Call me if you find anything or after you've completed the test."
Cameron asks "Where are you going?"
"I'm going home to check on the twins."
"What's wrong with the twins?"
House shrug his shoulders "the usual fever and crankiness after they get their scheduled shots."
The ducklings know better than to question House's parenting or his diagnostic skills, so they leave as ordered.
***
House gets home to see Cuddy, Lina and Lina's daughter Elsa fussing over the twins. Cuddy has made arrangement for Elsa to attend PPTH's hospital-based registered nursing program that emphasize clinical experience. It's a two-year program and afterward, Elsa can prepare for the Registered Nursing Licensing Examination. But more importantly, Lina now has her daughter to keep her company. Lina is simply beside herself and has been smiling non-stop since her daughter arrived from the Philippines about a week ago.
When Charlie spots House, he immediately jumps off the sofa chair and runs over to give his Dad a kiss and a hug. Charlie is wearing nothing but his pull up pants and start's telling his dad "I'm a big boy now Daddy. I went potty by mysewf."
"Fantastic! Great job Charlie!"
House looks over to the ladies and asks "So, why is my son running around in his diaper?"
Charlie immediately corrects his dad "No! Diapers are for babies. I'm a big boy daddy."
Cuddy who is carrying a very lethargic looking Ethan on her arms answers "Greg, don't use the word D-I-A-P-E-R around the boys. The twins are in a kick where they want to be referred to as big boys now."
House rolls his eyes "when did this happen?"
The staff at the daycare said that they noticed the two acting differently after they have a baby addition at the center. Cuddy asks her son "Charlie, can you tell Daddy about your new friend at the daycare center?"
Charlie's eyes light-up and reply "I'm a big boy hewper to Izzy. She's a baby and needs my hewp."
Both House and Cuddy give each other the look as if to ease their concerns that the twins will be okay if they have another baby.
Charlie pulls his dad's arms and says "Daddy pick me up, pwease."
House smirks and asks his son "I thought you're already a big boy. Big boy can walk by themselves, right?"
Charlie nods his head and replies "I wuv you Daddy. I just wanna give you a huggy."
Both parents laugh at their son's response. After House picks up his son, Cuddy gives little Charlie a peck on his cheek and says "Mommy and Daddy love you too. You, Ethan and Jake will always be Daddy and Mommy's babies."
Cuddy immediately turns to House "speaking of Jake, did you discharge him yet? How is he? Where is he?"
House replies "yeah, he's hanging out with my team right now. They might go bowling tonight or something."
"That's odd. I didn't even know Jake bowls. Should he be going out so soon after his accident?"
"Lise, Jake will be eighteen next week. You can't baby him forever. Beside, he's with three doctors. I think the ducklings know how to take care of him if anything happens."
Charlie interrupts "the ducklings! Homey, Wombat, and Camster."
Cuddy yells "House!"
House immediately changes the topic and asks "so, is anybody going to answer why my son is running around in only his undies?"
Lina replies "Dr. House, it took us two hours to get him to wear those pull ups."
Cuddy explains "they're teaching the boys dexterity skills at the daycare these past few weeks. So, they've been zipping, tying, lacing, snapping, and buttoning their clothes. I think your son just had about enough of it and thinks that if he isn't wearing anything, then he doesn't need to do it."
House gives Charlie a high-five and says "way to stick it to the Man. Fight the power!"
Charlie mimics his dad "fight the power!"
Ethan smiles and adds "powerpuff gir(l)s!"
Charlie replies "Powerpuff girws! Bwossom, Bubbwes, and Buttercup."
House shakes his head and says "okay boys. You lost Daddy already."
Cuddy, Lina, and Elsa just start laughing. Elsa supplies "Dr. House, the 'Powerpuff Girls' is a cartoon show. They're names are Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup."
Cuddy smile and replies "where do they get these things?"
"I think they watch too much girly TV at the daycare. I'll need to talk to the daycare staff."
"No, you're not talking to any of their daycare provider. The last time you talk to one, she quit."
"She was an id…"
Cuddy immediately stops House from saying the word near the twins.
House continues "you should be thankful that I gave her a piece of my mind. Or else our kids would have continued to get daily exposure of S-T-U-P-I-D-I-T-Y. We're talking about our kids here, Lise; they have the brain power to rule the world. We can't risk endangering their destiny of world domination." And then House gives her an evil laugh that Charlie proceeds to imitate.
Cuddy simply rolls her eyes and before she can say anything. Lina gives her a signal informing her that Ethan is finally asleep. Cuddy quietly leaves the family room and heads to the twins' room. After seeing Charlie yawning, Lina gently takes the boy away from his dad as well.
House receives a phone call around nine at night from Foreman. He informs him that all of Jake's cardiovascular and neurological tests came back clean.
Foreman says "The blood works will not be ready until tomorrow morning. Do you want me to drive Jake home?"
House replies "No, I'll pick him up. And leave all the results on my desk; I want to review them myself."
TBC
Author's Note #2- For those of you who live in the US, Happy Martin Luther King Day!!!
In honor of the inauguration of our 44th President tomorrow, I might be persuaded to have two updates. So keep them feedback coming… ;-)