Her words had played over and over in his mind since she'd left; the almost hurt tone of her voice haunting him in his sleep. House knew he couldn't avoid the subject of Emily forever, but he still couldn't bring himself to think about his past just yet.
He had come in to work the next morning extremely early, for him. It was, of course, his plan for avoiding Wilson or Cameron until he could get himself locked up in his office with the blinds drawn. He got as far as the elevator before Cuddy spotted him. House groaned loudly, desperately thinking of an insult as she came to join him in the elevator.
"Good morning, Dr. House," she said cheerily. By the look on her face, House figured that she thought he had had a major personality change since yesterday what with being early to work.
"Dr. Cuddy…" Damn. His wit was failing him. "…Good morning." Cuddy glanced up at him, shocked at the words coming from Gregory House.
"Are you alright?" She asked suspiciously. House nodded slightly, holding his breath to ward off any other 'nice' comments. "Wilson was in to see me yesterday."
"I don't want to talk about it," he snapped. That was more like House, Cuddy thought.
"Of course you don't. But when you do…" she gave him a look as the doors opened with a ding. "…You have plenty of people who are willing to listen." House glared at her before stepping briskly from the elevator.
To his great relief, the conference room was dark and empty. He limped into his office, pulling the blinds shut before he set his bag down. His plan was to sit brooding in his office all day with his I-pod. But as he reached his desk, something hit him, settling into his stomach like a lead weight. Gripping his cane, House turned and left his office, heading for Emily's hospital room. Although the room was dark, he could see she was awake. He glanced around him before sliding the door open and stepping inside. He looked at her; small and pale, save for the large red bumps that had overtaken her skin, scratching fiercely at the inside of her elbow.
"Don't do that," he said gruffly. Emily stopped only for a moment, glaring up at him.
"But it itches," she growled, throwing her arms in the air. "My whole body itches and you haven't done anything!" House sat in the chair beside her bed as she wiped away a tear. It was a moment before he could find his voice.
"You don't remember me do you?" he asked sadly.
"Sure. You're that doctor; the one that nobody likes." A small fleeting smile formed on House lips, disappearing as quickly as it came.
"Can you tell me how you cracked your skull? How you got those pins?" Emily looked at him for a minute, a confused look etched into her face.
"When I was about twelve, my brother pushed me out of the tree house in our back yard. Fractured my skull and I was in the hospital for a few weeks. He was a lot nicer to me after that." She smiled faintly, before she reached up and scratched her cheek.
"You're sure that's what happened?" House asked. The smile left and she nodded. "Well, thank you." House closed his eyes as he stood up. He slid the door open and stepped back out, and nearly screamed when he saw his three ducklings staring at him. Foreman was the first to get his jaw off the floor.
"Bonding?" He asked.
"Go away," he barked at them. He took two steps before he stopped and turned to them. "And get her started on Acyclovir. Soon." Cameron shook her head in confusion.
"But that's the treatment for chickenpox," she said slowly.
"Yes," House replied. "Which is what she has. And none of you got her the calamine lotion." With a final glare, he left them and hurried to his office. But the three doctors were not satisfied with his diagnosis. They followed him into his office, waiting until he was seated behind his desk before speaking.
"Wouldn't she know if she's had chickenpox before?" Chase asked.
"Look, I gave you the diagnosis and the treatment. What else do you need?"
"We'd just like to know why you're so sure it's chickenpox. Chase is right, she's probably had the disease before." Foreman looked at House skeptically.
"If she can't remember how she fractured her skull, chances are she's not going to remember having the chickenpox." His team's jaws once again fell to the floor.
"How do you-" Cameron started.
"She told me that when she was twelve her brother pushed her out of their tree house." Foreman tilted his head, prompting House to explain. "Well, that's not what happened."
"You're expecting us to believe that?" Foreman exclaimed.
"Get her started on the Acyclovir," House ordered. "When she gets better you can believe me."
Emily had been started on the medication, not to mention slathered head to toe in calamine lotion. Within days the itching subsided, and her fever was falling. Usually, everyone would be congratualting House on his brilliance. But the mystery of how he had managed to solve this one hung in the air, waiting to be solved.