"So," Jenny said finally, brushing away a tear from her face, "They aren't my parents."
"No." House said firmly.
"Do... do you know for sure if I'm that baby... that was kidnapped?"
House shook his head, "No, but it seems likely, your X-ray shows sever damage to your adrenal glands, suggesting you had tuberculosis at some point in time that wasn't properly treated, which would account for the Addison's..."
"But... I might not be..." Jenny whispered, "I might not be that baby... So... why are telling me this?"
"Why are you so reluctant to believe that you might be the kid?" House asked quietly, "These people, they aren't your parents, they have never treated you like parents should... Why is this so upsetting?"
"They're the only family I've ever know." Jenny whispered quietly, "Through the bad and the good... They're the only ones that have ever cared..."
"They've used you." House said quietly, "That isn't love, that's heartless."
"That's what I've grown up knowing," Jenny replied, "I don't know any different."
"And what if your real parents want to meet you? What if they want to give you a home?"
"I-..."
"You going to be selfish and keep that from them too?"
"I...I don't know." Jenny muttered, "I don't know what I'm going to do..."
"Get better." House said as he stood up, "And stop worrying about what'll happen to others, you've got to think about yourself."
xXx
"That doesn't make any sense." Chase said as he sat in the dimly light room adjacent to House's office. "Her tuberculosis was advanced, if she was only two when she received treatment... it should have killed her, she was only given three days of meds."
"Gloria Corbin is a nurse," Foreman pointed out, "It probably wasn't much of a challenge for her to sneak out the medication needed for the kid."
"And with Daniel Corbin as a big hospital donator, they probably ignored all the signs." Chase muttered, "But do we know if she's the missing girl yet?"
"Cameron's waiting for the information from the RCMP." House said as he tapped his cane on the floor, "We'll compare it when it gets here."
"Then what?" Foreman asked.
"I'm not sure." House replied, "It depends if she is the missing kid or not."
"If she isn't?" Chase asked.
"Then someone will have to tie her to a stake and try to get her to admit her abuse one last time. If she doesn't budge then we discharge her and don't give her a second though."
"How did she react?" Foreman asked, "When you told her they weren't her biological parents?"
"She recovered miraculously, danced a little jig and drank a pint of Guinness." House said with sarcasm, "She was depressed, what did you expect?"
"I would have been happy to learn that those assholes aren't my real parents." Chase muttered.
"She was upset because they're the only family she's ever known." Foreman pointed out, "It wouldn't be easy for any kid, especially one that's gone through so much hell."
"Almost makes you wish that she is the kidnapped kid." Chase said, "At least then she would be able to get away."
"She'd get away no matter what." House said thoughtfully, "She was going to run away."
"How is it you never want to talk to patients," Foreman began to ask, "And yet, when you do finally talk to one, you learn a lot more than the rest of us?"
"I don't know," House replied, "People just like opening up to me I guess."
"People don't open up to you," Chase pointed out, "You make them feel bad, you give them no choice."
"That too." House nodded, "It's a good strategy though, never seems to fail."
"You think it's the kind that works for a kid like Jenny?" Foreman asked quietly, "Because I think she's had enough of people yelling at her and telling her that she's selfish."
House simply shrugged and continued tapping his cane on the floor as he pondered all that had happened over the past few days. Never had a patient worried him so much, never had he feared for the life of another like he did now. He didn't want to worry, but he did, he feared that his usual techniques of rude but blunt truth would be too much for such a broken child.
"Go home, both of you," House said suddenly, "Get some rest, we're not done yet."
Chase and Foreman exchanged worried looks but did not argue, they were just as tired as House and were grateful for the chance to get a little sleep.
House watched his minions walk out of his office and disappear down the hallway, Cameron was still working on obtaining DNA from the RCMP, she would be able to go a while longer without sleep. Besides, she was just as anxious to find out what was going on as House. He leaned back in his chair and tried to make sense of everything, Jenny was getting better, in a week or two she would probably be in good enough condition to be discharged, but to what? She would either go back with those parental figures of hers or she would run to New York, who knows how long she would last there. Either way, she was being doomed to a dismal life, so why did he care?
House closed his eyes and continued tapping his cane, the hollow 'thunk' was rhythmic and almost haunting in a strange way. Tap... tap...tap... This was his life...Tap...tap...tap... Forever doomed to remain within the walls of the hospital, curing runny noses, prescribing cough medicine to worried mothers, dealing with patients who didn't care. Just like Jenny, the only difference was she didn't care for herself, she hated the image of herself.
Just like he did.
She didn't have a cane to proclaim her scars, instead she had her memories of time in the dark where terrible violations had taken place. House had his cane to support his dead leg, what did Jenny have? She had no cane, she had no support, she was yearning to tell someone... anyone who would listen her story, but her own fear and concern for complete strangers got in the way. She needed to create some kind of support, she needed a cane of her own...
xXx
Cameron waited impatiently for the paper to print off, she had Canada on hold, the RCMP had just faxed over the DNA from the case to be compared to Jenny's DNA. Cameron wasn't entirely certain if she wanted to throw the young girl's world into complete chaos, but every time she remembered the smirk and calm manner of Daniel Corbin, she wanted to throttle him.
"Got it." Cameron said as she picked up the phone receiver and held it to her ear with her shoulder.
"Are they a match?" The police officer asked from the other side.
"Just a second, I'm checking." She picked up the sheet of paper that held the genetic code of Jenny Corbin and compared it to that of the baby that had been kidnapped thirteen years ago.
"Well?" The police officer asked again after a moment of silence.
"It's a perfect match," Cameron murmured, "Every allele, every chromosome fits. She's your kid."
"I'll inform the parents." The officer said, "I'll contact the department on your end and set out the warrant for the Corbin's arrest."
"Good," Cameron muttered.
"Are you all-right Doctor Cameron?" The police officer asked. "You don't seem very happy about the whole situation."
"I am," Cameron replied swiftly, "It's just sad... Jenny has gone through so much, I'm glad the Corbin's aren't her real parents."
"Do you want me to contact the biological parents?"
"Could I? I need to explain her medical situation, I think it'll help when... if they come down, they need to understand ahead of time."
"Sure thing, I'll fax over their contact information." He paused for a moment, "And don't worry Doctor Cameron, she won't have to go through anything like this again."
The fax machine beeped again as a second paper printed off, Cameron gripped it in her hands for a moment and wondered what exactly she would say to the parents.
"Thanks so much Officer Morrison."
"Anytime, I'm glad you finally found her." He replied, "It was a hard thing for the whole community when she went missing. Anyway, I'll talk to you later on in the week."
"Bye." Cameron hung up the phone and stared at the information for a moment, It was late in Canada, she would have to wait until it was morning. Then she stopped, if she were in the same position as the parents, would she want to be kept in the dark for those few extra hours? While Cameron was pondering what needed to be done, House had crept up into the lab and watched her for a moment.
"The results are in, I take it?"
Cameron turned and nodded, the papers still in hand, "She's the missing girl from BC."
"Do you have her parents phone number?"
"Yes."
"Are you going to call them?"
"I...I don't know yet. I think I should but it's really late in BC right now and..."
"You need to get some sleep." House said firmly, "They can wait a few more hours."
The young doctor nodded again, rather slowly this time, as if she was unsure whether or not the information she had should wait.
"Go home." House said, "She'll still be here in a few hours."
xXx
The phone was ringing and Cameron waited patiently. She was awake and refreshed from the few hours of sleep she had and was no ready to make the life altering phone call. She sat at the glass table in room bordering House's office, all was quiet. It was mid morning, Foreman and Chase had both gone to check on Jenny, House was down in clinic duty. For the first time in over a week, everything was calm. Cameron took a sip of her coffee and picked up the phone, her hands shook slightly as she called the number.
The other end rang.
'I wonder if they have other kids now.' She thought as the ringing continued, 'Would they welcome Jenny into their lives?'
The ringing stopped and someone picked up.
"Hello?" A male voice asked on the other side.
"Mr. Kendall?" Cameron asked, taking a deep breath in.
"Yes?"
"Richard Kendall?"
"Yes."
"My name is Allison Cameron, I'm a doctor at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey."
"What can I do for you Doctor Cameron?"
He sounded cheerful enough, the voice of a man who had perhaps faced a few struggles in life but continued to get through them with a smile and a song.
"Recently a patient was admitted to the hospital, we've been treating her for a rather serious illness. One thing led to another and we ran a DNA test against her and her parents. She's not biologically related to them..."
"I suppose you've called to tell me she's my long lost child or something." Richard Kendall said with a chuckle.
"Thirteen years ago your wife and you lost an infant girl, The DNA from this patient was put through the system..."
"Oh...my god."
"And we matched her to you, Mr. Kendall, you and your wife, Olivia."
"Our daughter was kidnapped...so many years ago... we were told she was probably dead."
"Mr. Kendall. It's your daughter in our hospital."
The line went dead and Cameron wondered if Richard Kendall had fainted or died of a heart attack.
"Mr. Kendall, are you all right?"
"M-my daughter..." He asked quietly, "Is she...how is she...what..."
"She has Addison's disease," Cameron said quietly, "But I don't see why I have to tell you all this over the phone, If you'd like to come down here..."
A/N: Wow, I was going to do something crazy with the characters but I really didn't want to throw the story out of sync, instead... big-ish thing yet to come! Maybe I'll make a series of House stories for fun... I love doing research! Anywho, there may not be an update tomorrow, I might be helping my dad move into his new place. There will be one saturday though! Promise!