AN: Haha It puts the fun back in fungus, I killed myself for like thirty minutes last night when I came up with that line. Hahah.

"Surgery?" Jenny gaped weakly at Foreman, "You've got to be kidding me."

"I wish we were." Cameron said from the other side of the young girls hospital bed, "But you've got a lot of these little spores in you that we have to take out."

"What...would happen if you didn't take them out?"

"They would continue to grow, eventually they would start bleeding into your lungs." As foreman spoke he gave Cameron a weary glance. "I know, surgery is a scary thing, but it's the best bet for you."

"Can't... you just give me the medication, like the stuff you gave my mom?"

"We tried." Cameron said, "But it had no effect on your body, the chances are you're immune to it, or there are too many spores for the medication to do its job. Either way we need to take them out."

The young girl, despite her very pale face and obvious terror, nodded bravely and swallowed her fear.

"Don't worry, we'll be beside you the whole time." Cameron said with a small smile as she sat on the edge of the girls' bed, "That's a pretty bracelet." Cameron motioned to a small silver chain which hung loosely around the girls thin wrist.

"Thanks," Jenny smiled slightly, "A friend gave it to me..."

There was a knock on the door and the two doctors turned to see who was there. Jenny tensed up and Cameron knew immediately who the man was. Daniel Corbin stood in the doorway, a small smile on his face, an air of snobbery radiated off of him.

"How's the little patient?" He smiled broadly as he walked forward, he gave Cameron chills up her spine.

"We're just prepping her for surgery." Foreman said, trying to maintain a professional attitude despite his loathing for Daniel Corbin. "It should be a simple procedure, but she'll have to be in the hospital for a while after."

"That's fine. As long as she's safe."

xXx

"There was nothing there." Cuddy's voice was oddly calm and cool as she walked into House's office and stared at the doctor who was in the middle of another game of solitaire. "The police searched the place for three hours, they checked every room, every dark corner-..."

"Every broom closet?"

"There was nothing there, House. The basement was a rec room, Jennifer's room is upstairs, they found it plastered with posters, Cosmos laying everywhere. It was a teenage girl's room. What the hell are you trying to pull, House?"

"Nothing," House put the ace of diamonds above the cards and continued to look over his game. "You were told what Cameron and Foreman saw, you chose to act on it. Not my fault if the bastard is able to pull some strings and get the place made over in..." He checked his watch, "Oh, about forty-five minutes. Talk about your fixer uper."

"I'm going to have the board on me like a grass fire." Cuddy snapped, "The police are pissed beyond belief and Corbin is demanding a public apology, what do you suggest I do?"

"Buy him a fruit basket and forget the whole thing?"

"What the hell is wrong with you? Do you understand the repercussions of this? This is bad House, this is very, very bad. They tore apart the man's home for nothing!"

"It wasn't for nothing, he just dusted a few objects and made it look more homely." House sighed and put the handful of cards down. "Do you think Foreman and Cameron were lying?"

"I don't know any more!" Cuddy snapped, "As far as I can tell it's just a severely dysfunctional family with a problematic daughter..."

"Yes, it's amazing how teens these days are able to fake black eyes, I remember back in my day, a person would have to go all the way to the ghetto just to get a good bruise."

"House-..."

"These days, you can get 'instant bruise', just add half a cup of water and a good witty remark."

"House!" Cuddy yelled, "You think I like the idea of letting him get away with this?"

"Well it's looks like-..."

"I don't," Cuddy said swiftly, "But there is nothing we can do, he's covering his tracks, unless someone can get Jenny to say that she is in fact being abused, there is nothing..."

"She won't." House said, "She's too scared of facing him."

"I... can't do anything." Cuddy said finally, "I want to but there...there is nothing we can do."

House sighed bitterly and shrugged his shoulders, "Then I guess that's it."

"Just... get her better." Cuddy said quietly, "I'll keep trying... I don't know what, but something."

xXx

House had been limping toward the post-op waiting room when he spotted a young man looking rather lost, a pained look on his face, sheer fear and worry. In an instant he recognized the man, not only as the guitarist at the bar but the boy 'Spencer' whom Jenny had planned to run away with.

"She's in surgery." House said simply as he passed by the boy, "I'm going to the post-op if you want to come."

The boy struggled a moment to comprehend what the doctor had just told him, there was no time to ask any questions, House was already down the hallway. Spencer simply sighed and followed without raising his voice.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Aspergillosis." House said as he desperately tried to fight back the ghosts on his pac-man game.

"What's tha-..."

"Fungal infection. Her case is pretty advanced."

"Is she going to be okay?"

House shrugged as he struggled against the blue ghosts, "It's hard to say... There may be something else wrong with her as well."

"How can you tell?"

"Aspergillosis effects people with already compromised immune systems. She has a very advanced case, it's hard to believe nothing else is wrong with her."

"Can you figure out what it is?"

"When will you know?"

"We'll have to wait at least a day or two till after her surgery before we can perform any tests, we need to find a proper medication to control the infection as well."

The post-op waiting room was deathly quiet apart from the beeping coming from the game. Spencer sat across from House, his hands were clutched tightly together, he looked weary...

"You didn't stay in New York very long." House noted as he battled through the game. "Didn't trust her to come or did you hear she was sick?"

"How did you-..."

"Magic."

Spencer heaved a grand sigh, "I got to the place we were staying and got a call from Danny, our drummer, he told me she was in the hospital."

"So how long has she been abused for?"

"She's not abused." Spencer said quietly.

"What is this?" House demanded as he snapped his game shut, "Some kind of government conspiracy, is she a spy? Did she suffer some sort of terrible interrogation? Did you hit her?"

"No!" Spencer said sharply, "I would never-..."

"Did her father hit her?"

"No." The young boy said firmly, "It doesn't matter okay? As soon as she's better, we're both getting out of here, I'm not letting her stay..."

House rolled his eyes at the boy's foolish childhood innocence and pulled out his Vicodin. Popping another pill in his mouth, he prayed that the numbing effect of the drug would kick in soon. He didn't like the feeling of not knowing what to do or what to say.

"You probably shouldn't be here," House said quietly, "Her father's hanging around the place."

"If I see that bastard..." Spencer muttered, "I'm going to rip his head from his shoulders..."

"Now this is what I don't understand, you obvious dislike the man a bit."

"Hate." Spencer corrected.

"Now, hate is such a strong word."

"That's why I choose to use it."

"Yeah, can't say I blame you." House muttered, "You hate him so much, and you're telling me the guy hasn't abused Jenny at all?"

"I'm allowed to hate whoever I want."

"Yeah, you are." House replied, "But if there's something we can use to help her get out of here then you should tell someone..."

"Listen, there's nothing all right?" Spencer snapped, "Just leave it alone..."

"Doctor House?"

Both boy and Doctor looked up to see a middle-aged man in aqua green scrubs.

"Doctor Macklin, how is she?"

"There were problems during surgery..." Doctor Macklin said slowly, "Her BP began to fall drastically, we had to close before we could remove all the spores."

"How many did you get?"

"Twenty-two, we managed to fish out all the major ones, anyone that looked as if it would cause a risk was taken out, but I won't be able to go back in to remove any until she's healthier. I told the nurse to start her Itraconazole, I'm not sure how effective it will be."

"What do you mean?"

"Itraconazole is a general fungal infection treatment, it works just fine but with such a strange case I'm guessing she didn't respond to the meds to begin with because she's become resistant to the drug."

"Caspofungin?" House asked.

"That's the next best bet." Doctor Macklin agreed, "But we'll try the Itraconazole to start with."

"Is... She going to be okay?" Spencer asked meekly from his spot on the rather uncomfortable hospital chair.

"We'll see," Doctor Macklin said kindly, "It's going to be rough for her."

"Thanks Doc," House said, "Come on kid, let's go check your bonnie lass."

xXx

"There you are, you little whore..." Daniel Corbin stood over his still unconscious daughter. The soft beeping from the heart monitor filled the room, Jenny was just as pale, if not more than from before the surgery. "How much did you tell them Jenny? Do you want to ruin what's left of your life?" He leaned down and gently brushed a curly brown lock away from her face, "You're lucky I was able to fix everything before the police got there, it wouldn't do you any good to have our secret found out."

"Well, if it isn't Daniel Corbin." House walked through the open doorway into Jenny's room, Spencer trailing behind him.

"You must be Doctor House," Daniel Corbin smiled broadly, it was a gift, the ability to turn on his charm came naturally. "And Spencer, how are you?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Spencer hissed quietly.

"Is that any way to talk to the father of your girlfriend?" Daniel asked in a bemused voice, "Really Doctor House, I thought they had warned you about this boy's abusive nature."

"Abusive?" Spencer scoffed, "You've got to be kidding me..."

"I've told you time and again," Daniel began advancing slightly on the young man, "Stay the hell away from my daughter."

"All right," House put out his cane in between Daniel and Spencer, "You've seen her, she's alive, this is the part where you get out so the angry father doesn't rip you to pieces."

Spencer stayed and glared at Daniel for a moment longer before turning on his heel, and leaving the room in a huff. Daniel looked thoroughly pleased with himself and went back to his daughter's side. House, on the other hand, was only more angered by everything that was going on. He decided it was best to forget Wilson and Cuddy's warning about Daniel Corbin and instead find some way to deal with the father.

"She's in bad shape." House said quietly, he wondered how much reaction he would get from Corbin by enhancing just how sick Jenny was. "It's going to be a challenge to get her fully recovered."

"Well I'm sure she's getting the best care possible." Corbin said softly, his eyes not leaving his daughter. "I would like to get her home though... how soon?"

"Not for a while yet." House replied icily, "In fact, she may be here a month or longer."

"Is that really necessary?"

"We think it's best." House said, "That way you can take the time and clean your home, so this won't happen again."

"I suppose you believe the rumours too then?" Corbin asked. "That she's been abused?"

"I really don't know."

"She's a very eccentric child, You shouldn't believe anything she says, it's not... healthy."

"It's not healthy to believe in fairytales either," House replied, "But they're just so intriguing."

"I assure you Doctor House," Corbin said thoughtfully, as he finally looked up and made eye contact. "My daughter is doing just fine in the home she is in, there's no need to get yourself pulled into what could become a very messy situation."

"I'll wear gloves." House retorted. "Lysol kills ninety nine percent of all bacteria, you're the one percent I'm worried about."

Daniel Corbin smiled wickedly, "Don't get yourself involved Doctor, It's not worth it."