"How creepy was it?" Chase asked as he leaned against a counter in the lab, his arms folded in a relaxed manner.
"It was beyond creepy," Foreman replied as he peered at something through a microscope, "We're talking a dungeon. There was nothing to that basement."
"And you're sure you had the right house?"
"Yes." Cameron and Foreman said together, quite bitterly.
"Well why would they keep her in the basement?"
"Why would they abuse her?" Cameron replied, "Who knows, it's just one of those things that people think they can justify."
"Maybe there's more to it..." Chase muttered.
"Like what?" Foreman asked bitterly, She's a homicidal maniac they have to keep locked up in the basement? Listen, the kid is beyond over weight, she's skin and bones, no one can justify keeping another human being in those conditions."
"All I'm saying is maybe there's more to this 'family secret' than just abuse." Chase turned back to a tray of test tubes and did not see Cameron and Foreman exchange pained looks.
xXx
House stood outside the room of Jenny Corbin and watched the young girl sleep soundly, her face was pale, drops of sweat her visible on her brow even at such a face distance.
"She's stable.. For now." Wilson had somehow crept up behind House, "Any idea what could be doing this?"
"I've got them doing tests on the spores they found in the vent," House said quietly, "The x-rays aren't back yet on the mother's lungs."
"Is it true? The house?"
House nodded awkwardly and tried to push the description of the basement out of his mind, it was no use, Cameron had come back in near tears, Foreman looked as if he would be sick. It had taken quite a few minutes for either of them to calm down long enough to explain to both House and Chase what they had seen.
"So, what are you going to do?"
"Call child services probably." House said quietly, "I want to wait till she's stable enough, I'd like to talk to her parents about it too."
"You're going to be asking for trouble you know." Wilson said quietly, "Daniel Corbin has fingers in a lot of pies."
"I don't like pie."
"You don't like Daniel Corbin."
"How did you guess?" House asked as the sarcasm dripped from his voice, "I'd like to stick my cane up his..."
"Maybe there's a reasonable explanation to all of this." Wilson suggested, he winced at the thought of a cane being stuck up anywhere. "Besides, we haven't talked to Jenny yet, maybe there's something else."
"You seem oddly determined to not have me confront the abusing prick..." House muttered.
"I'm oddly concerned about your safety, apparently that's what a friend is supposed to do."
"You know something." House pointed out.
"I...know that Daniel Corbin is coming to the hospital later on today and he's not known as Mister Happy Pants by his friends."
"Spill."
"What?" Wilson asked, "I know nothing, I'm just giving you a heads up, all right? Don't get into anything unless you're certain, I've heard this guy has a record..."
"For assault by any chance?"
"I don't know, Cuddy wouldn't tell me anything else."
"Cuddy even knows? Good grief."
"Just.. Be careful, this kid is not good news from what I've heard, get her better and out of here..."
'And on a bus to New York.' House thought bitterly as he continued to watch the young girl from behind the glass.
"Cuddy says she'll do what she can when the guy arrives." Wilson said softly, suddenly toning down his cold and brutally honest words. "But she said to warn you, so that's what I'm doing."
"Thanks, you're a real friend."
xXx
"Aspergillus."
"Bless you," House said as Cameron walked into the conference room with Chase behind her.
"Here." She passed him a large folder. "It fits all the symptoms,"
"X-rays?"
Chase nodded and put them up on the glowing window for all to see. At firs the image seemed clear enough, two perfectly healthy lungs, no shadows, no unseemly blotches of darkness. Everything about Gloria Corbin's chest cavity seemed healthy until... House stood up, limped over to the x-ray and squinted at it.
"There's the little bugger," House muttered, "Aspergillosis." He said firmly, turning to face the other doctors, "A fungal infection caused by the Aspergillus spore, found in the air vents in the house."
"But Jenny is presenting stronger symptoms." Chase pointed out, "She and her mother have been breathing the same air..."
"Jenny's vent was right over her bed," Cameron said quickly, "She was breathing the spores in every night."
"I want a chest x-ray of the kid as well." House said as he pulled the first down, "Her mother's condition isn't too far gone, start her on amphotericin B, start Jenny on it too until we get the x-rays back, she's presenting worse, she may need stronger meds."
There was a dull silence in the room for a moment, for once, House hadn't danced around the answer, teasing them with possibilities and solutions. Instead he had gotten straight to the point, and further more, he had even referred to a patient by her name.
"Well go!" House snapped, "You think the fungus is going to wait? Go! And get someone to their house to clean the place."
xXx
"Mr. Corbin, you must understand my position on the information the doctors received..."
"You entered my house without permission, I think that states enough for a lawyer."
"Your daughter gave them permission." Cuddy lied and hoped that House would be able to talk the young girl into following the tale. "And what was found there was fairly disturbing. Your basement..."
"Is a rec room, I'm not sure what your doctors think they saw..."
"My doctors are going to need therapy after what they witnessed, I'm obligated to call the police and child services."
Daniel Corbin smirked and brushed back his dark brown hair, his neatly trimmed suit did not have a single crease, it was almost disgusting how neat the man looked. "I assure you Doctor Cuddy, any calling of the police is fine with me, have them search my whole house if you'd like, they won't find anything incriminating and certainly no sign of any abuse."
"And your daughters black eye-?"
"Jenny has been dating a rather unfortunate young man lately, I'm afraid he's the culprit, I've told her to stop seeing him but.. Well he's smitten with her I suppose."
Cuddy raised her brow in curiosity, "Well," She said finally, "I will have to contact the police and they will want to search your house. I'm sorry if this will cause you trouble."
"Not at all Doctor, I just want to see my wife and little girl get well again."
Cuddy said nothing but instead forced a small smile on her lips, determined not to show the man the anger which was boiling within her and which he wanted to see.
"We've started them both on the appropriate medication, they should be on the road to recovery..."
xXx
"... That man is a complete ass, I've never met such a pompous twit in all my life!"
House and Wilson exchanged nervous looks as Cuddy stood over them in the conference room, fire raging in her eyes.
"You had better hope that when the cops show up there.. They find something because so help me god, if you are putting me on House..."
"Why would I joke about something so serious?"
"I don't know." Cuddy collapsed on a chair and sighed, "This is ridiculous, I can't believe I had to call the cops on one of my nurses... You had better watch your back, everyone, Daniel Corbin is creepy."
"I don't think-..." House began to speak when the door to the conference room opened and Chase walked in, followed by Cameron and Foreman.
"You might want to see this."
He put the x-ray he held in his hand against the lit board, there was a moment of complete silence as House stared at the film.
"That's...what's her faces lung x-ray?" He asked quietly.
Chase nodded, "It is."
"Oh my god..." Wilson said, "There must be... twenty spores in her lungs."
"Taking over her lungs is more like it." House muttered, "This is putting the 'fun' back in 'fungus'."
"How the hell can this happen?" Cuddy asked quietly.
"Why don't you ask Daniel Corbin?" House limped toward the film and stared at it with awe, "He seems to have an answer for everything."
The lungs of Jenny Corbin were shadows upon shadows, one would almost assume her lungs were not there, they were speckled with dark patches. In all his years as a doctor, House had not seen such an advanced case of the fungus disease.
"The meds are helping Gloria, she's awake, her husband is with her now." Cameron said quietly, "Jenny's BP has fallen over the hour, she's still coughing up blood, the amphotericin B is having no effect."
"No wonder, all those spores are choking the kid."
"They're going to have to be surgically removed, look at that one," House pointed to one the size of a pinky nail, "That could starts bleeding at any moment. Prep her for surgery, Chase, how's your math?"
"Well, it's good but-..."
"Good, start counting these little buggers, I want every single one taken out."
Chase could only roll his eyes and start counting while House stood back and observed the x-ray from afar.
"You could try her on Itraconazole." Wilson suggested, "Next best thing to amphotericin B."
"What we need to do is find out how long she's been living with this," House muttered, "It hits people with deficient immune systems, just like this."
"Are you thinking that there might be something bigger behind it?" Cameron asked as she walked up beside Chase, who was busy counting the right lung.
"It's a possibility," House replied. "All right, Foreman, go prep her. If you run into her parents, tell them everything, don't leave anything to their imagination. I want to see just how concerned they really are."
"Are you sure you want to-..."
"Do not mess with me right now." House snapped at Wilson, "I am not in a happy 'lets be positive and have group hugs' mood at the moment!"
"You're never in the 'lets be happy and have group hugs' mood." Wilson muttered as her stood up and left the conference room, obviously a bit offended by House's rude snap, he had only been trying to help.
"I'll go prep her," Foreman said swiftly, obviously not wanting to be caught in the crossfire.
"I'll... help." Cameron quickly followed him out of the room.
House sat back down, disgruntled and now even more confused about the situation, he didn't mind showing his fear for the young girl, nor did he mind the idea of finding Mister Corbin and showing him the many ways a cane could enter a body and then be surgically removed again.
Tap, tap, tap... his cane went on the floor, tap, tap, tap...There was something much more to all of this, something he could not see.
xXx
"How much did she tell them?" Gloria's voice was weak and slightly hoarse, she coughed slightly but there was a bit more colour in her cheeks.
"I'm not sure, it may be a fair amount, some doctors were over at the house and saw the basement." Gloria opened her mouth to reply, her face was full of sudden fear. "Don't worry," Daniel added, "I called in a favour or two, when the cops go over there, they won't find anything."
"She's costing us everything..." Gloria murmured, "What are we going to do?"
"You let me handle it," Daniel smiled wickedly, an evil gleam in his dark brown eyes, "Doctors are prepping her right now, I'll have a little ... chat with her after."