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Chapter 75. WORKING MY WAY BACK TO YOU

So here I am in my office. Maybe I'll just sit here, listening to my music and

surfing the web. We don't have a case. Sully and Yen easily diagnosed the one

Cuddy wanted me to take. Sheffield has been working in the clinic, probably the

only thing he's qualified to handle. I really should fire him, but then I'd have to interview again.

I know! I'll go annoy Wilson. That's always good for a half-hour diversion. But

Wilson's not in his office, probably off with one of his bald-headed patients.

Who else can I bug? Maybe Josh Beaumont has some new toys. I head down to

computer central. Beau's not there, but the person sitting at his desk is

familiar. "Kinda young to be heading hospital computer security, aren't you?"

"Dr. House!" Scott seems surprised to see me. "Mr. Beaumont went to fix Dr.

Hartmann's PC." He shakes his head. "You'd think a doctor would know how to

reboot his own computer."

"You like working with Beau?" I ask.

"It's a helluva better summer job than any of my friends have!" Scott replies.

"I'm learning so much more about computer networks. Maybe I'll study computers

instead of medicine in college."

I wasn't sure I'd advise that, but then again, who knew what the future would

hold? "Is Beau testing any new software?"

"Is he! You should see this one." He turns a monitor toward me. After a short

set of keystrokes, the screen is filled with overlapping windows, each showing

a photograph or a clip. The screens seem to randomly resort themselves.

Interesting concept.

"Now, this one isn't as visually impressive," the teen says, hitting a few more

keys. A bunch of screens come and go, and finally one comes up saying 'DONE'.

It's obvious that the program analyzed a lot of data and somehow generated an

integrated summary. "It works on all kinds of data." The kid sounds excited.

Strange what appeals to some people.

He turns the screen back toward himself. "Dr. House, can I ask you something?"

Here it comes. He's going to ask me for advice. ME! He takes my silence as an

affirmative.

"How hard was it going from living alone to having Dr. Cameron and Gretchen

living with you?" When this kid asks a question, he doesn't pull his punches.

How do I answer? I usually avoid the truth where my emotions are concerned. But

I think I know why he's asking. He's worried about how his life will change

after his father's impending marriage.

"They may have had a harder time adjusting to living with me." I think that's

true, but he'd have to ask Allie and Gretchen. "As long as I can still sleep in

when I want, and don't have to worry about how I squeeze the toothpaste tube,

everything is copacetic."

"Huh?"

I smirk. "It means, um, OK, dandy, not a problem."

"Oh. Copacetic. I'll have to remember that," he says with a grin.

"Some people go out of their way to make it easy for you to adjust to change.

Allison and Gretchen are like that. I wouldn't be surprised if Clair and Emily are too."

He nods. "I think you're right. Thanks Dr. House."

I leave him playing with the computer, and head back to my office, or rather

to Wilson's. Maybe he's back and ready for lunch. After all, it's already

11 AM. But when the elevator stops at the lobby floor, it's not Wilson who gets

on. It's his wife.

"I heard you were back" she says. "I've got another case for you." She slaps a

slim file into my hands. Guess I'll have to take this one.

Allison never hesitated about taking a case. In fact she was eager to take

Doris Schultz on as a patient. She managed to convince Collins to let her review

his notes, and to have him send the woman to see Nancy and her.

Mr. Schultz brought his wife to their office one day after work and that's why

they were there when I arrived.

"House, this is a private patient consult," Allison said as I pushed through the

door.

"I came to see if you were ready to go home," I told her.

"Obviously I'm not. Why don't you go. Nancy can drive me home."

"I think I'll just pull up a piece of wall and wait." I lean against the

far wall.

She glared at me. "What part of patient confidentiality didn't you understand?"

I put my hands over my ears and shouted, "I didn't hear that."

She narrowed her eyes and frowned, but then let it go. "Don't mind my husband,"

she told the couple sitting in front of her desk.

I studied them as she and Nancy asked them questions. The man had the same

coloring as Ruth. Everything about him was average - average height and build,

even his voice had an average timber to it. The only distinguishing thing, if

you could call it that, was the worry in his eyes and the tired slump of his

shoulders.

His wife was shorter and thinner. She looked almost frail, which isn't unusual

for MS patients. Bent shoulders from the constant fatigue, and probably pain

too.

"Dr. Collins has tried all the standard medications," Allison said. "But since

they linked MS to a complex of genes, and then to abnormal variants of the

IL-7 and IL-2 receptors, researchers have developed effective gene therapy.

With Dr. Collins agreement and your consent, we recommend that you try that."

"Will it lessen her pain?" Schultz asked. "Will she have more stamina?"

"We can't guarantee anything," Lloyd answered. "But that's been the result in

the majority of cases."

"We'd also like you to see a neurologist here at PPTH. You know, I'm sure, that

the disease affects the myelin in the sheath around nerves that send signals to

the brain. There's been some additional research by nerve specialists so he may

have some other suggestions for treatment." Allison looked at them hopefully.

She and Lloyd needed the couple's cooperation to go forward.

"Anything that can help," Mrs. Schultz said. "I'm so tired of being a burden to

my family."

"You're not a burden," her husband said, rather automatically, like they'd had

this discussion before.

"Doris, we'll explore every possible treatment," Lloyd said. "Ruth and your other

children deserve to enjoy their lives, and so do you and Roger." I could only

assume that was Mr. Schultz's name.

It struck me what a good team Allison and Nancy Lloyd made. But I was also

pondering how I might get a good look at Doris Schultz's file myself.

Chapter 76. HAVE YOU HEARD?

Gretchen

"Mom, are you sure we can do this without Dad?" I'm thinking about how

he and I took care of Alex when Mom was still unconscious. But then, all those

years when he wasn't around, she and I managed OK on our own.

She's nursing the baby now in the rocker in his room. She smiles toward me and

says, "We'll be just fine."

"I've gotten used to having Dad here," I say.

"I know. So have I, but he won't be gone long." She chuckled. "He can't stay

away from us. But he did have to go back to work sometime."

"Will you go back to work even if..."

"Gretchen, Sweetie, my sight will come back. I might go back to work before

then, if it takes much longer. There are still some things I can do even if I

can't see. Meanwhile, I can spend the rest of the summer home with you and your

brother."

"And then? What about Alex?" I'd never thought about it before.

"We'll find someone to watch him. And when he's older, he'll go to daycare just

like you did," she explains. "That's always been the plan."

I should have known Mom and Dad had a plan. Alex seems to have had enough.

Somehow Mom can tell. She shifts her hold of him and closes her nursing bra,

letting her top slide down over it.

"He's getting heavy," she says with a smile.

"Don't I know it! I can hardly carry him anymore." We're both smiling at him.

"He's smiling back at you," I tell her.

She runs a finger over his cheek. "His skin is still so baby soft."

He reaches out to her so I guide his little hand to touch hers. "Did you help

him do that?" she asks.

"Yeah, he was trying but he still can't quite control his arms and legs."

"Give him time, then you may regret wanting a sibling," she says, chuckling.

"Never!" I say. "Can I take him for a walk? Show him the neighborhood?" We'd

gotten him a carriage, but hadn't used it yet. Usually if we went somewhere, it

was in the car and he was in his baby carrier/carseat.

Mom doesn't have to think for long. "Sure. Then I can go take a shower and we'll have lunch when you get back. What's it like outside?"

"Sunny, and probably hot," I tell her.

"I'll change him and put on a little sunsuit and lots of sunscreen, but take a

blanket in case it gets windy." She gets up and walks confidently to the

changing table, removing his onesy and diaper, and putting on a clean one. I

hand her a cute pair of shortalls with sailboats on it and she puts them on him. "I'll carry him," she says, remembering my comment about how heavy he was getting. She puts him in the carriage while I collect a blanket and a bottle of water for each of us in case we get thirsty.

"Don't go too far," Mom warns.

"I won't. Maybe to Ruth's house and back."

Since Audra didn't live on the next street anymore, Ruth was the school friend

who lived closest to me. I'd been to her house a few times, especially since

her mom's been better. I didn't even know that my mom and Aunt Nancy were

treating her until Ruth and Audra told me at school.

It was lunchtime and we were talking about the school carnival. "The sixth

graders plan the games and run them," David was telling me and Elizabeth, since

neither of us had been at the school at the end of the last school year.

"And we get to plan, cook and serve the food with the fifth graders," Tommy said.

He seemed to like that idea, because his parents had been teaching him to make

some of their recipes. I was already dreaming about Macademia Nut pancakes.

"Don't forget," Nelson said. "Some fourth graders help the second and third

graders with the poster and signs."

"Yeah, and the decorations," Audra said. I would have thought she'd want to bake,

since she was the baker when we went to Our Town.

"I did some of the fancy lettering on the posters last year," Ruth said.

Just then Tara wheeled over to us. "You better tell your sister that the next

time she breaks one of Cousin Denise's figurines, she'll be fired," she taunted

Ruth.

"Mrs. Appleton knows that wasn't her fault," Ruth replied. "If your brother

wasn't always getting in her way, she'd get her work done much faster, and

without any 'accidents'." Then Ruth smiled like she had a secret. "Besides,

she'll probably be able to quit soon." She couldn't hold in her excitement. "The

doctor Audra's staying with is gonna cure my mom and she'll be able to go back

to work again soon."

"That's right," Audra confirmed. "Nancy and Gretchen's mother are consulting on

her case. I'll bet they'll have her much better in no time!"

"They are?" I couldn't help exclaim.

"Yeah, my dad took Mom to see them yesterday. They've already suggested some

new treatments for her. Didn't your mom and dad tell you?"

I shook my head. "What does my dad have to do with it?"

"He was there, too," Ruth said.

"What's wrong with your mother?" Elizabeth asked. We'd all dismissed Tara who

went off to try and torture someone else.

"She has Multiple Sclerosis," Ruth said, careful how she pronounced the words.

"No wonder they consulted Mom," I said. "You know they can't cure her, just make

her better, don't you? It's an autoimmune disease. Does she have a lot of pain?"

I asked. "She's probably weak, too." I tried to remember all I knew about MS.

At least it wasn't like Audra's grandmother. I didn't think Mrs. Schultz would

die, but I understood now why Ruth had to help her mother so much. I just hoped

that Mom and Aunt Nancy could make her better just as Ruth and Audra thought

they could.