Wilson entered the conference room first to make sure that the blinds were drawn so their little meeting could go on undetected. Foreman and House followed behind him and plopped themselves down into the chairs next to the table. All were a little mind-boggled by what they had just witnessed.

"Foreman," House said as he pointed to the coffee machine.

"Are you even allowed coffee yet?" Foreman asked as he got up to make a pot.

"I'm not here remember, so how can I be drinking it?" replied House. "Where's Cameron?

"I ordered her to get some sleep for a few hours. She was a bigger wreck than Chase." answered Wilson. "I also gave him tryphtophan to calm him down."

"Not too much I hope," said House. "We will need him alert later."

"You mean you are actually still thinking of going through with it?" Foreman asked incredulously. "I was a little uncomfortable with the idea before, but now I think it is just plain wrong. The patient is a mess."

"Chase is a mess, not the patient." said House. "I know you don't want to personalize this since you have never liked him, but this is not our typical case."

"You are losing focus because you are personalizing it." Foreman countered.

"I know what I'm doing. I'll admit that the trauma and intense emotional response to it was far greater than I thought." replied House.

"You think?" asked Foreman sarcastically. "EMDR is still considered highly controversial and experimental. Many mental health professionals see it as a sham. It isn't even accepted by the American Psychological Association."

"I don't accept the American Psychological Association." replied House. "EMDR is usually dismissed because those so called professionals don't see any logical reason as to why it works. I can't explain why, but it works. There are studies out there proving its effectiveness."

"From my understanding, the emotional toll of this method is huge. It requires some form of emotional stability in the patient. From what we just saw, that is far from the case here." added Wilson.

"I'm certain I can still work with this." House replied. "I just need a few hours to do some case research."

Wilson and Foreman both looked at him with a 'you can't be serious' look on their faces.

"Look, we tried. He needs more time and some traditional therapy." argued Foreman. "He has obviously kept that to himself since it happened. The terror alone must be worse than actually being shot."

"Uh, no, speaking from experience here!" replied House. "I suppose we now know why the shooting triggered his nightmares. That fact alone gives us quite a bit to work with."

"So you still want to do this?" asked Foreman. "I know you are reckless, but we are dealing with a real human being here."

"You wanted me to be reckless when you were sick."

"I was dying."

"So is Chase!" House shouted as he slammed his fist on the table. He took a second to pause and continued. "Death isn't just the physical end. If your mind is gone, you might as well be dead."

Wilson and Foreman took a moment to glumly recognize that once again House was correct.

"Okay?" asked House.

Wilson and Foreman both gave their agreement to proceed. "So what do you need us to do?" Foreman asked.

"Get me a laptop and then go rest. I need a few hours to modify my plan. I will page you all when I'm ready."

-------------------------------------------

"Chase, wake up." the voice said.

His eyes slowly opened, but he was weary and inattentive. A light flashed into his eyes and he could see House's eyes peering into his.

"How much tryptophan did you give him?" House asked Wilson.

"A very low dose. He should be alert by now." Wilson replied.

"We will give him a few more minutes while we are waiting for Cameron and Foreman. It he isn't alert by then, I have something that will fix that."

Cameron and Foreman arrived ten minutes later to see Chase sitting alertly with his eyes wide open. "What did you give him?" Cameron asked.

"Methylphenidate." replied House.

"Ritalin?" asked Cameron, amazed. "I wasn't aware that drugs were going to be involved."

"Wilson started it. Anyway, how else are we going to create a stable emotional state? Now that the gang's all here, let's get started."

Everyone moved into place while House started giving all the instructions needed to start the session. "Cameron, you need to watch the heart rate and vitals. We stop for a break if those look outside of normal parameters."

"Heart rate already looks a little high." she replied.

"Well duh, he's stressed." House said mockingly.

"Foreman, check for any abnormal neurological symptoms. I'm going to need all of you to assess emotional responses. Wilson, watch me. I'm still injured here and might pass out." Everyone looked at him with a 'what the hell are you doing?' glare. "It's a joke!" he replied in response to their gazes.

"Chase, I'm going to start with eye movement exercises. First, you need to focus on the most vivid visual image of your mother's death. While doing that follow my finger with your eyes. We will do this in 30 second intervals. You ready?"

Chase took a deep breath and started remembering the terrifying scene of his Mother pointing a gun at him while she was dying. He then followed House's finger for 30 seconds. Cameron, Foreman and Wilson watched for any warning signs. The one they noticed was that tears started welling up in his eyes and his breathing got heavier.

"Good," said House after 30 seconds, "clear your mind."

Chase tried, but was clearly having trouble. "What are you thinking about?" House asked.

"Why did she want me dead?" he replied. A few tears started to run out of his eyes and he held his head in his hand to pull himself together.

The team gathered for a conference. "What did you see?" asked House.

"He was really freaked out." Cameron said.

"That's a start." replied House. "We are in for a very long day."

House repeated the process again several times over the next hour and a half. Each time ended with Chase showing signs of greater physical and emotional distress. He had a particularly rough time after the latest attempt and ended the process early.

"Chase, take a break." Cameron told him after the failed try. "I'll get you some water." He couldn't respond to her. She noticed from the heart monitor that his heart was beating fast. Then she saw his hand tremor when she tried to give him the cup of water. "I think something is wrong." Cameron said. Before she could check him, Chase passed out.

Foreman came over to help. "He seems physically okay. He probably had an anxiety attack." he observed.

After two minutes, Chase came back around. "How are you feeling?" Cameron asked him.

"Overwhelmed." he replied wearily.

"Okay, we'll break for an hour." said House.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An hour later House arrived back in the room. Cameron was there taking care of Chase. "How is he?" House asked.

"He's calmer, but his heart rate and stress level is still elevated. He says he is ready to go on though."

House nodded and sat down next to the bed. "Okay Chase, let's try again. If you need to stop, just raise your hand." Chase nodded and they started again.

After doing several more exercises for another hour, House took some time to consult with the team.

"His reaction to the negative images and thoughts seem to be improved." said House.

"Yes, but he is still clearly distressed. We have made progress, but it doesn't seem we are close to moving onto the next step." replied Cameron.

Just then Foreman noticed something unusual and walked over to Chase. "House, we have a problem."

Everyone looked over to find Chase's eyes wouldn't stop blinking and his left cheek was twitching. They all looked at each other with concern, wondering why this was happening. Chase looked very scared, but said nothing hoping his colleagues would come up with the answer.

House started talking. "I suspect the facial tics are a temporary side effect to the combination of stress and methylphenidate. That should be worn off at worse a couple of hours."

"A new problem is a good sign that something is working." Chase said.

"Look at that," said House, "even while mentally distressed he tries to be a kiss-ass."

House walked over to the corner of the room, sat down in the chair, and put his legs up on the table. "We can't continue until the tics go away. They could get worse or become permanent. Foreman, start him on a very low dose of an anti-depressant. Just enough to take the edge off. That will address the stress. I need a break anyway." House then leaned back and closed his eyes to take a nap.

-----------------------------------------

"Don't pretend anymore, Robert." Chase realized this time the voice was different. He turned around to see Althea, all dressed in white. He wasn't scared at all to see her. She reached out and grabbed his hand. He felt the same intense calm he had experienced when she touched him before. Then she let go, smiled and walked away. "Althea!" he called out.

Chase abruptly woke up. "House," said Cameron. "He's awake."

House got up from the corner chair and walked over. "Chase, we noticed the tics stopped while you were sleeping. It looks like they are still gone now that you are awake. Dr. Foreman, you concur?"

"Yeah, he seems okay, but I know my recommendation of waiting a few hours to be sure will be rejected."

"Yep, pretty much. Okay, we lost a couple of hours. Let's try again. We are going to start with auditory signals now. After having eye tics, I suspect the eyes need a rest."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The intensity of the day was almost too much, but Chase knew he had to keep going. They had been going on for hours, and each hour showed slight improvement. He was feeling less anxiety than when the day started, but his responses were still inconsistent. He was still having trouble getting over the negative images. His mind felt like swiss cheese, but so much was at stake here.

"Are you ready to try again?" House asked.

Chase nodded. Another deep breath; another attempt to maintain focus. Then, he heard the sound on the left, then the sound on the right. Left, right, left, right, left, right… All of a sudden, Althea was standing right next to him. She was again dressed in white and had her trademark soothing smile on her face. "Let go, Robert." she said. She touched his shoulder and he was overwhelmed by feelings of serene calm.

"Chase?" House asked. "Chase, snap out of it!" he yelled.

Chase was unresponsive. He was staring straight forward.

Cameron came over. "Did we lose him?" she asked House. "Chase, don't stop on us now. Please, talk to me." She slapped his cheek lightly a few times to see if that would get his attention.

"What do his vital signs look like?" House asked.

"Perfectly normal. Actually, this is the calmest he has been all day." replied Foreman.

Everyone nervously paced around for a few minutes quietly waiting for Chase to come around. They had seen this happen before in other patients, but it was never as frightening as it was now.

House realized he had waited long enough for action. "Foreman, hook him up to an EEG. Let's see if his brain waves tell us what type of fantasies are going through this skull."

"The EEG won't tell us much if he is hallucinating." replied Foreman.

"There are slight indicators." said House. "It's something. If anything we can prove there are no abnormalities."