Once Catherine turned the corner and was sure that the two men at the nurse's station were no longer looking at her, she returned to walking normally, and followed Dr. Chase to the sitting lounge nearest to Grissom's room. They sat down on sofas across from each other and Dr. Chase started speaking to her, "Ms. Willows, I need to know, does Mr. Grissom have any allergies to medicine that we need to be aware of?"
"No."
"Any previously occurring disorders or surgery?"
"He had surgery three years ago on his ears. He was going deaf."
"Alright. Has he recently complained of any pain?"
"Just a headache."
"Anything else?"
"Nausea and fatigue."
"And nothing else?"
"No."
"Okay. Now, what happened to him?"
"Well, he'd been complaining of a headache, but he brushed it off, claiming it was a migraine. He was also nauseous and tired, and told me that he was going to take the night off. He's the night-shift supervisor. Then, there was this escape from High Desert State Prison. Darren White. Gil, Warrick, and I were the ones who caught him to begin with. White apparently overpowered a few guards and escaped. Warrick had another case, so when I put in a call for assistance at the prison, Captain Brass, the homicide detective on the scene, called Gil. He was doing pretty well, no complaints. Then he sent Brass and me to check out a few leads while he stayed in the office to do some paperwork. I received a call about another homicide and I went to that scene when I received a phone call from Nick Stokes, another member of the crime lab, that Gil had collapsed at the lab and cracked his head pretty good on the linoleum floor. He was rushed to Desert Palm Hospital where they told us he had a concussion, but they couldn't tell what caused the collapse. I don't know what other problems he had."
"What made you decide to bring him to see Dr. House?"
"It was actually Heather's suggestion. She called me with the idea. Said a friend of hers out here in Princeton recommended your department to her. Also, we received independent advice from my father. Apparently you treated one of his investors. Joey Arnello."
"Your father received investments from Joey Arnello? Who's your father?"
"Sam Braun."
"You're Sam Braun's daughter? Wow. I didn't even know he had a daughter."
"You've met him?"
"Sure. My father knew him. When I was little, about six or so, my family came to the States on vacation. I don't know why, but we went to Vegas. We stayed at the Rampart Inn, and I got to see my father buddy up to a man he introduced to me as Sam Braun. I've even been back to see him on my own a couple of times. So, who was this friend of Heather's who initially recommended that you come here?"
"I don't know. You'll have to ask her."
"Thank you, Ms. Willows."
"Please," she flashed him her brightest smile, "call me Catherine."
"Alright. Catherine. That's all we need from you," Dr. Chase looked down at the forms, and noted that Catherine had put her cel phone number on the form.
Catherine nodded, and stood up. "You're welcome." She left and made her way back to Grissom's room. When she walked into the room, she noticed how both Heather and Warrick looked up expectantly, then looked a little relieved. "What?" she asked their strange expressions.
Warrick answered, "While you were off talking to Dr. Chase, we got to meet Dr. House."
"How is he?"
"He's arrogant, but he's got the Grissom look, with the blue eyes that seem to take in everything and digest it rapidly."
"That might be why he's the best in the country. Oh, Heather, as a warning, Dr. Chase will probably be in here asking you about your idea to bring Gil here."
Heather nodded, "That's fine."
Catherine smiled at her, then turned to Warrick, "I gave them my cel phone number, now, how about we go see what we can learn about White?"
Warrick smiled and looked excited. "Great, I've been bored hanging around here. Let's go." Catherine and Warrick made their way out of the hospital to the Infinity she'd rented. They drove to New York, making idle small talk, preferring to keep speculation about the case out of their minds.
Heather looked up from Gil when Dr. Chase walked into the room. She looked him over again. She noticed that he was just as much of a skirt-chaser as Dr. Wilson, but he wasn't married. He also wasn't her type, though she detected something in him. If she could only put her finger on it . . . That was it! He'd been trained! flashed through her mind. He'd been worked on by a professional dominatrix. Not Annette, at least, not primarily. Heather recognized Annette's telltale signs on her submissives. She looked at him closer, and noticed his eyes were not fixed on hers. She followed his gaze and was surprised. He wasn't staring at her chest or leering in any way. He was looking at her feet. She smiled slightly. In the presence of a trained individual, she had put on her airs from her job. That was definite evidence, he recognized the aura of a dominatrix when he felt one. She broke the silence building up in the room as she forced herself to relax, "Is there something I can help you with, Dr. Chase? And please, I'm not here in any occupational capacity, so I don't need such behavior from you." At her words, his eyes rose quickly to her face and he visibly relaxed.
"I just would like to know who recommended that you come here."
"No problem. Annette Raines." Dr. Chase nodded and left.
House and Wilson were engaged in a game of catch in House's office when Chase entered the conference room. He sat at the table and sighed loudly. Cameron looked up from the lab results that she had before her. "What is it?"
"I believe this may be the strangest consult request ever."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, don't you find it strange that they brought the patient here on their own volition, though they made sure to include a request from Dr. Richardson? Also, you won't believe who made the initial recommendation and who confirmed it."
"Who?" House's voice cut through the air like a razorblade. "Who are you talking about?"
"Our new patient came to us because we were recommended by Annette Raines and Joey Arnello." Cameron's head jerked up at that remark.
"So, let me get this straight." House sounded amused. "Our patient, who is a supervisor at the best local crime lab in the nation gets referred to us by a mobster and a dominatrix?" Wilson heard the last part and came into the conference room with a strange look on his face.
"What?" Wilson's voice echoed Cameron's and Foreman's silent incredulity.
"Remember Joey Arnello?" Chase handled the answer.
"Yeah," Wilson smiled slightly.
"Well, apparently Joey is a good friend of Ms. Willows' father, and her father recommended that our patient come here, but he wasn't the first recommendation. The initial recommendation came from Annette Raines, a friend to Harvey Park, who we treated for jaw infection. Annette is a dominatrix. Apparently the patient's girlfriend, Ms. Kessler, knows Annette." Wilson laughed at that. Then House's pager went off.
"What is it?" Cameron was curious.
"It's Cuddy, it's not clinic, and I haven't done anything yet." House stared out the window for a second, then turned and picked up the patient's file. He scanned through it quickly, nodded once, returned the file to the table, and left without another word. Chase, Foreman, and Cameron looked at Wilson, who shrugged and left the room to go to the clinic to do his hours.
House walked into Cuddy's office without saying a word. He stood there, waiting for her to finish her phone call. Once she hung up, he started speaking, "Dr. Cuddy. So nice to see you this morning. I was wondering, though, if you could be a little more subtle regarding your desire for punishment in the middle of the day. I'm more than willing to spank you, but . . ." he trailed off, shrugging slightly.
Cuddy's eyes sparkled as she responded, "I just called you to let you know that one of your team will not be helping you on this case. Dr. Foreman will be going to the neurology seminar in Las Vegas."
"Does he know about this?" House looked irritated.
"Not yet," Cuddy grinned slightly, House returned it.
"Can I tell him?"
"Why?" House's only response was to sigh at her as he left her office and made his way to the elevators. He rode back to his office and walked in. He noticed that the entire team was still there.
"What are you still doing here?"
Foreman handled the answer, "The results of the blood test came back while you were out, they're sitting on your desk. The MRI isn't for another fifteen minutes."
"Well, Foreman, I'm sorry to tell you, but you're no longer on the case."
"What?" Foreman's voice rose a minimum of twenty decibels.
"Relax, it's nothing you did . . . this time. Cuddy's making you go to the neurology conference in Vegas. You're leaving tomorrow."
"Oh," Foreman calmed down a bit once that information was revealed, "alright then."
"While you're there, can you do me a favor?"
"What is it?" Foreman suddenly looked wary.
"Well, we need to rule out environmental causes at the patient's residence. So, could you take around the inside of 1375 East Cactus Lane for me?"
"Is that the patient's home?"
"Yeah. Try talking to a . . . Captain Jim Brass about this. He might be able to get you in without legal problems."
"Alright. I really don't want to be arrested in Vegas."
Author's note: I'm sure someone else has noticed this, but I just feel the need to point out some similarities between the personnel of CSI and House (the shows, obviously). Both contain brilliant older men with poor people skills in positions of authority (House and Grissom), attractive older women with a bit of spunk (Cuddy and Catherine), attractive younger women with hero-worship complexes (Cameron and Sara), younger men from outside the area with interesting accents (Chase and Nick), each contains an African-American on the team with quite a bit of brains (Foreman and Warrick), finally, each main character has a good friend with a first name that is some derivative of James (James Wilson and Jim Brass). I don't mean to sound offensive if I do.
