A/N: Again, so so sorry! Two chapters left Snif Then my baby will be done... Then I'll take a short break for exams and then... SUMMER! Yessss, If anyone has any good ideas for a Series title, let me know, I was thinking Spinal Tap XD, but maybe not. I already have the next story planned out. Hahaha, I love summer time!
"Differential diagnosis people." House said with a firm voice as he entered the room, Cameron, Foreman and Chase were all sitting around, the medical books already open on their laps, their eyes madly scanning the pages for answers. "What do we know?"
"It's not the Aspergillosis that's doing this to her," Foreman said, "We removed enough spores to put her out of risk."
"And the Addison's treatment was working," Cameron added swiftly, "Her BP was rising, her temperature was down, her joints were getting their normal colour back . . . "
"And yet . . . Here we are." House said with mock surprise, "My . . . my goodness, could she still be sick? Is it possible we missed something?"
"We've gone through everything!" Chase retorted, "We haven't missed something."
"And yet again, here we are." House replied. "We've still got a sick patient with a high temperature, in a coma and . . . surprisingly enough, dying. I must admit, I feel like we've really accomplished a lot today, what do you say? Drinks on me!"
"Will you stop being so sarcastic for just a minute!" Cameron shouted quite abruptly, stopping all movement in the room and some out in the hallway. "She . . . is a fifteen-year-old girl." Her voice turned deadly low, "She is dying . . . her parents, who love her dearly and who haven't seen her for thirteen years are waiting to talk to her. We don't have time for any arguing."
House, Chase and Foreman just stared at the usually quiet Allison Cameron, their mouths hanging open in shock from the violent outburst they had just witnessed.
"Okay," House said slowly after a long and drawn out silence, "So what do you suggest?"
"I don't know!" Cameron snapped again.
"Well little help you are." House muttered, "All right, fine. Let's look at this whole situation. A variable changed since she was admitted, something was added or taken away between the time that her Addison's was clearing up and she slipped into a coma, what was it?"
There was silence in the room again as all three ducklings tried to think of any small thing that may have changed. At last Chase spoke.
"Nothing, nothing's changed. Her diet's been the same, same medication, same people visiting her. Same everything."
"Same people . . . " House muttered to himself quietly, "I told him not to leave her side . . . "
"What? What are you talking about?" Foreman asked.
"That kid, Steve-..."
"Spencer," Cameron corrected as she, Foreman and Chase all stood up to follow House.
"That's right, him, I told him not to leave her side, but he was just getting back when we responded to the Code Blue call."
"He was gone all of fifteen minutes!" Chase retorted, "Are you suggesting that she's allergic to his lack of presence."
"That's stupid." House said as he hobbled down the hallway, "I'm suggesting that she wasn't alone. Foreman, get the chart and the times that her new IV's were put in."
"What is that going to prove?" Cameron asked as the group slowed and stood outside Jenny's room.
"What is the variable in the situation?" House asked as they watched a nurse walk into Jenny's room, carrying a bag of saline solution and hydrocortisone, a second nurse followed carrying bags of ice to pack around the girl. Spencer was sitting beside her once again, more determined than ever not to leave. Even through the glass and a good four meters away, the four doctors could see the beads of sweat on Jenny's forehead as her fever spiked further. Hyperthermia, her temperature was going to kill her.
"What is always changing?"
"The air? The sheets? The type of Ice?" Chase named off random variable.
"I don't pay you for assumptions, give me something better to work with." House said sternly, "Think minions, think."
"The nurses." Foreman said suddenly, "They're always different on shifts."
"See who was assigned to Jenny's room when she lapsed into the coma." House said firmly, "And then hunt him or her down with a tranquillizer gun."
Foreman walked into Jenny's room and began looking over the clipboard, the remaining three doctors outside the room could see Spencer leaning forwards in anticipation and asking Foreman question after question.
Suddenly Chase's mind went back to his last conversation with Gloria Corbin, what had she said? Jenny would be long gone before her parents were given a chance to talk to her. At the time Chase had considered it nothing more than the woman's psychotic behaviour, but now it seemed almost unreal.
"What if the Corbin's did something to her?" Chase suggested, "Gloria was acting really strange when we got the call, saying weird things like Jenny wouldn't see her parents and stuff like that."
"They've been locked up," Cameron pointed out, "What could they have possibly done?"
"I don't know, maybe they hired someone to do it, they seem like the kind of people that would do that."
"That's not a bad idea," House replied, "In fact, it's actually a fairly good idea, several questions remain though. Who? Why? How? When? I could keep going if you'd like."
"No thanks." Chase muttered darkly.
"Does anyone know a Nurse Logan?" Foreman asked as he walked out of Jenny's room, "It says she administered the meds just before Jenny went into her coma."
Chase, Cameron and House shook their heads.
"Never heard of a Nurse Logan before." House replied, "Not completely unbelieveable because I don't like any of the nurses here."
"I'll go check with Cuddy," Chase said quickly, "This is getting too weird."
"Could a person really just walk in and administer a drug without anyone noticing?" Cameron asked as she and Foreman followed House back down the hallway. "I mean, this hospital is packed, how could a person get away with it?"
"A clean pair of scrubs and an axe murderer could get in here." House replied, "Check around and see if you can find anything on this . . . Nurse Logan. Foreman, I want you to monitor Jenny every minute of every day, let us know the minute her condition changes. We don't have a whole lot of time left."
Two hours later . . .
"Cuddy says there's no record of a Nurse Logan," Chase announced as he stepped into House's office, "And she's about to blow her stack, she's not happy . . . "
"Cuddy's never happy," House muttered as he threw a red ball into the air and caught it, "At least it isn't my fault this time."
"She also said if you don't figure out what's wrong soon, she'll give you three extra hours of Clinic duty."
"That's not fair."
"I think she's probably just trying to encourage you a little."
"Well she could try to encourage me other ways, like wearing lower cut- . . . "
"You aren't going to believe this," Cameron said as she stepped into House's office, "I found our Nurse Logan."
"Who is she?" House asked as he put the red ball onto his desk and stared at the duckling.
"You remember Jenny telling us about the doctor that Daniel Corbin made her go see? To check if she had Hep B?"
"Yes . . . "
"Doctor Katrina Logan," Cameron said firmly, "A family friend."
"I was right?" Chase asked in disbelief, "Daniel Corbin got the old family doctor to poison her?"
"It seems possible," House replied with a nod, as he did his pager went off, and for some strange reason his heart leapt in his chest just a little. He was . . . afraid.
"Code blue." He said sharply, "Come on."
"BP is 45 over 62 and dropping!" Foreman yelled as the other three doctors raced into Jenny's room, "Her fever is at 106!"
"Get ice!" House yelled at a nurse who was near by. Without thinking twice he unhooked the bag of meds hanging over Jenny and tossed them to Cameron, "Test it, priority one!"
"No pulse!" Foreman yelled, "Paddles!"
Outside of the room, Richard and Olivia Kendall had just arrived and watched in horror as the doctors tried to shock their daughter back to life. House yelled something inside the room and a nurse closed the shades, blocking the horrendous image from their sight. Olivia gave a cry of hysterics and fell to her knees, her husband knelt beside and gently tried to comfort her while suppressing his own cries. Inside the young girl struggled to survive, her heart had ceased function, the simple line on the monitor that had represented her life dropped and ran flat.
'Hold on,' House thought swiftly, 'Just a bit longer...'