"He hit you again, didn't he? That son of a bitch, I'm going to break his fu-."

"Shush, he'll hear you." Jenny quickly put her finger to Spencer's lips as she looked around, making sure that he wasn't anywhere nearby. "Yes he did, don't worry, alright? Remember, two days, three at the most, I promise I'll be right behind you."

"But..."

"You asked for her people, Jennifer Corbin and Darkest Hour!"

"Come on," Jen smiled gently and tugged on Spencer's hand, "Let's go and enjoy this last show."

They walked out into the lights of the stage, there was a loud applause and Jenny gave Spencer one last look of hope before taking the microphone in hand. This was what she stayed around for, the music, the lights, the applause, while she was on the stage with her love and best friends behind her nothing else mattered.

"I have given, I have given and got none... Still I'm driven by something I can't explain. It's not a cross it is a choice, I can not help but hear his voice. I only wish that I could listen without shame..."

The pain in her jaw was great but she continued to sing, it hadn't taken long for a bruise to appear across her right cheek, she had enough coverup to hide most of it, but Spencer had noticed the moment she had walked backstage.

" Let it rain, Let it rain on me. Let it rain, oh let it rain. Let it rain on me..."

House had arrived in time to see the first song, the minute he heard her voice, he knew at once it was the same young girl he had treated earlier in the day. Wilson was right, she was young, too young to be working in a bar and certainly too young to be leaving home. He had chosen a seat near the back of the bar, ordered a beer and pulled out his video game. He wasn't interested in the drink, or even being around people, he was interested in seeing what might happen to the girl.

"I have been a witness to the perfect crime, I wipe the grin off of my face to hide the blame. It isn't worth the tears you cry to have a perfect alibi. Now I'm beaten at the hands of my own game..."

Jenny had seen a figure arriving late and at first, payed him no heed until she recognized the cane... Mentally she swore and wondered if it was just coincidence or if he knew who she was. She hoped it was a coincidence and he wouldn't recognize her, it was dangerous for him to be there, if her dad saw... Not many doctors had canes, he would stand out.

"It isn't easy to be kind, With all these demons in my mind I only hope one day I'll be free. I do my best not to complain, My face is dirty from the strain I only hope one day I'll come clean."

House chuckled quietly as Space monkeys began attacking him again, it was strange how this song compared to his own life. He wondered how many of his associates would laugh at him or be shocked to hear him relate his life to a song.

"Come take my hand. We can walk to the light, And without fear, We can see through the darkest night..."

'Leave,' Jenny thought desperately, 'Get out of here, you have to leave!"

The song ended and there was a loud applause, Jenny smiled graciously, the room began to spin... She gripped the microphone stand as her body began to sway back and forth, her mind became clouded. Spencer saw her stumble slightly and gently reached out to support the young girl, she smiled at him and gave a feeble nod.

"I'm fine," She whispered, "Don't worry." Spencer nodded and moved back to his position. The second song began playing and Jen shook her head slightly to clear her mind.

"And I'd give up forever to touch you, cause I know that you feel me somehow. You're the closest to Heaven that I'll ever be, and I don't want to go home right now."

Jenny turned as she sang and looked at Spencer who was strumming on his guitar. He grinned back at her, it was clear that there was a spark between the two of them.

"And all I can taste is this moment. And all I can breathe is your life. And sooner or later it's over, I just don't want to miss you tonight."

From the shadows off stage, a man watched this spark take place, his eyes were colder than the arctic breeze, his arms were folded in a defensive manner. If one word could be chosen to describe the man, it would be 'evil', a person didn't have to speak to him to realize it.

"And I don't want the world to see me, Cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am..."

"It's your lucky day House, no clinic duty."

House looked up from his game of solitaire on his desk as Cuddy walked in and turned down the blasting music from his mp3 player.

"Obviously all this blasting music has impaired my hearing because I thought I just heard you say there was no clinic duty today."

"No, you heard fine, a nurse from pediatric is sick, Gloria Corbin. I'm putting you on it, have fun."

"Well what's wrong with her?"

"I don't know what's wrong with her," Cuddy said sharply as she glared at House, "That's why I'm having you... a diagnostician, deal with her."

"Well what are her symptoms?" House turned back to his solitaire game and placed the black queen on a red king.

"extreme fatigue, fever, cough-."

"Tell her to stop kissing boys."

"What?"

"Mono."

"She doesn't have mono. Weight loss, and she's coughing up blood, not a lot, but enough to raise alarm."

House sighed.

"What?"

"I can't find any other moves."

"Just... deal with it." Cuddy said as she rolled her eyes, and turned to leave the office, "And seven on diamonds on the black eight of clubs."

House looked back down at his cards as Cuddy left his office and put the seven on the eight. With a slight sigh he stood up and hobbled towards the conference room where his little minions waited for him to tell them what to do, since apparently they weren't capable of doing it themselves.

Doctor Allison Cameron glared at her coworker, Eric Foreman, as he continued to rant and rave about House's methods of curing patients. Robert Chase sat off to the side of the long table and sipped his coffee, not paying any attention to the argument taking place. A whiteboard stood blankly across from him, many times he and the others had quarrelled viciously about the disease they were trying to cure, fewer times they actually agreed with each other.

"His methods usually work..." Cameron pointed out as she took a sip of her bitter coffee.

"He has no methods!" Foreman protested angrily, "It's pure luck!"

"He walks with a cane, wouldn't call that lucky." Chase muttered.

"That man is a maniac!" Foreman protested again, "We're lucky we haven't been fired from having to be the guinea pigs for his crazed ideas!"

"Hey, you could have gotten out," Chase pointed out, "But you stuck around, so don't go complaining about his methods. He must be doing something right in your mind..."

"Alright!" House entered the conference room and grinned slightly, "Are we ready to cure a nurse?"

Dead silence as the three doctors exchanged nervous glances with each other.

"Wow, tough crowd." House muttered, "Okay, so what do we know?"

"Gloria Corbin, forty-two years old, mother of one-" Cameron began saying.

"I didn't ask for her dating agency profile tape, you should know me better than that by now. What are her symptoms?"

"Coughing up blood," Chase said as he watched House pick up a black whiteboard marker and quickly jot down the words, as he had so many times before, "Weight loss."

"Fever, fatigue and chest pain." Cameron finished, "It leaves a wide range of possibilities."

"So, should we start guessing and testing or has an independent brain cell grown between the three of you that will allow one of you to make a reasonable guess."

"It could be lung cancer." Foreman suggested.

"Family history?" House asked.

"None," Chase replied as he gave Foreman an apologetic glance for supporting the 'enemy'. "No cancer in any family member, she doesn't work with and mutagens, she works in peds for goodness sake."

"Lab tests?"

"White blood cells are elevated, she's obviously fighting something rough." Cameron said, "But it's not too high yet, her BP isn't responding to the iv drip."

"Alright, anyone else with a brilliant diagnosis?"

"It could be Wegener's granulomatosis," Chase suggested, "That does account for all the symptoms..."

"Nice call," House said, "Any objects? Anyone at all?" Silence. "No? Alright, Start her on prednisone and cyclophosphamide pills, I've got a solitaire game against myself that I have to finish. I'll be in my office if you need me."

And with that said and done, House limped out of the conference room back into his office, leaving the three doctors in a small amount of shock.

"Well, that was painless." Cameron muttered.

"For you." Foreman replied, "I don't get why he always has to shoot my ideas down."

"Because you're usually wrong?" Chase suggested.

Foreman glared angrily at him, "Et tu Brutus? Is this your knife in my back, do you want it returned?"

"While you two are busy being childish, I'm going to tend the patient. Would anyone else like to do their job?" Cameron stood up, her voice was icy and both Foreman and Chase knew that they had hit a nerve, so they mutely followed her out of the conference room and down the hall.

Jenny watched with curiosity as the female doctor, what was her name? Cameron, Doctor Cameron hooked a bag of liquid above her mother and checked the iv. Her mother looked strangely content with her situation, although she was dreadfully pale and thin, she did not complain, instead she smiled as Cameron stood back.

"This should help you feel better in a few hours."

"Thank you," Gloria smiled at the doctors and cough weakly, "This is a bit of an imposition."

"Well, I'm sure you're daughter will help you get back on your feet." Foreman said with a grin as he looked over at Jenny, who had her legs hanging over the edge of the chair, a book in hand. "That's some bruise you've got on your face, what happened?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Jenny said with a weary smile as she looked up from her book.

"Try us." Allison said with a smirk.

"I was walking up the stairs, my cat likes to lay right in the middle, I tried to step over him when he tried to hook my foot, I fell into the banister."

"Ouch," Chase muttered, "Want some ice for it?"

"No thanks," Jenny replied, "I'm okay."

"Alright, well, We'll come in and check on you in a few hours Gloria." Cameron could have sworn that she saw the nurse glance sharply at the young girl who had turned back to her novel and obviously not seen her mothers cold eyes. The three doctors left the hospital room in silence and walked down the hall a few meters before stopping and looking at each other.

"Hit... the banister?" Chase asked.

"At least she's creative," Foreman muttered.

"Most people just say they tripped." Cameron said quietly.

"She tripped alright, right onto someone's fist." Chase shook his head, "I thought Gloria was a stable person."

"What should we do?" Cameron asked.

"Nothing," House had somehow crept up behind them and obviously understood the conversation from the few words they had exchanged. "She's not our patient, and it's none of our business."

"Thats never stopped you before." Chase pointed out.

"Well I thought I'd try something new for today. Anyways, it's none of our business, our job is to get her mother better. Besides, I'm sure she'll deal with it."

"How do you-." Foreman began to say.

"Don't... ask." Cameron hissed sunder her breath.

"It doesn't matter how I know," House said calmly, "Just leave it alone."

And with that said, House quietly walked back to his office where a game of solitaire begged to be finished. He couldn't concentrate on it any longer though, his mind was on that young girl, so many things seemed wrong with her situation, that was her in the bar. She wasn't any older than fifteen? Why was she working in a bar? Why was she throwing up so violently yesterday?

Why didn't he ever take his own advice and not concern himself with her?