House M.D
Smells like a Teen Rebel
Note: Hey peeps! I love the show House and I wanted to make a lil' fanfic on it. I want to state, however, than I am only a 14 year old girl with NO background in medicine, so I'm doing the best I can. I could use a little assistance from you doctors and nurses out there, I want to be a nurse when I grow up, so I'm doing the best I can. Thanks again!
Love, Katrina Izumi :3
Chapter Three: CT spells Constant Trouble
A loud thumping noise startled the girl inside the room. Areka Manson jerked awake as House banged his cane on the glass door. He let himself in.
"Hello, my name's House."
"I don't want to see another doctor," Areka said, rolling over to turn her back to him. "The others were pathetic."
"Oh, they were right," said House, limping over to a metal chair right next to her bed. "You are a little firecracker, aren't you?"
Areka rolled back over so that she was facing him. "They were right. You are pathetic."
House gave a sharp intake of breath and pretended to look hurt. "Sheesh, I guess my occasional one-liners won't work against you, huh?"
"I'm sorry," she said. House blinked in surprise.
"Well then, I guess out little competition ends. I'm giving you a 6/10, only because you gave up sooner than I thought."
Areka managed a smile. She cleared her throat. "So, do they know what's wrong with me?"
"I'm thinking asthma," House said. "But, it wouldn't explain the coughing up blood-wait a minute, you tricked me. I'm not supposed to address my theories to you."
Areka smiled again. Now that she wasn't wearing make-up or her bad-ass clothes, she looked like a normal teenager. House sighed.
"So, living a hard life, huh?"
Areka shrugged, clearing her throat again. "I'm sick and I've visited over a million doctors. I have to admit, it's not a walk in the park."
"God!" House exclaimed, making Areka jumped. "You are me!"
Areka laughed, but regretted it when she went into a fit of coughing. He pressed her face into the pillow, but it didn't cease. She lifted her head up, now wheezing instead of coughing.
"What's wrong with me?" she managed a House jumped to his feet. He reached for a tube and shoved it down her throat.
"We're going to open your throat," House said, as a very shocked Foreman and Chase walked in. "We need to get her into surgery."
"We don't even know what's wrong with her," Chase argued.
"Get her throat open again and get a CT scan on her chest."
"The machine's broken," Foreman said.
"Well then," House said, pissed off. "Do something of relevance! She's not going to be able to live if you just stand there!"
Foreman nodded and ran off into the hallway. Chase helped House reopen her esophagus.
"So, Areka choked on her own laughter."
Cameron, Chase, and Foreman were once again in the investigation room with house. House was leaning on the whiteboard.
"It's obvious then," Chase said. "She's asthmatic."
"Well duh it's obvious," House retorted. "After all, the only way we got her to breathe again was by shoving an inhaler down her throat."
"But asthma doesn't cause bleeding-"
"Which is why we're in here," House said. "We know the blood is coming from her lungs-"
"We know that?" Foreman said. "The blood can come from anywhere, her stomach or teeth-"
"Lungs," House said simply. "The lungs are a sensitive thing. We know that on Melinda's side of the family there runs diabetes, but it skips a generation and Melinda has it now-"
"You call her by her first name?" Chase remarked. House sucked his teeth.
"Yeah, Cuddy forced me to."
"You're actually listening to Cuddy?" Cameron said, surprised.
"I'm not giving her another reason to fire my sorry tushy," House said. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes. We know Melinda Manson's side of the family is clear. But, what about the dad? Was he hemophiliac? Did he have asthma?"
"You think this is a genetic disorder?" Foreman said. "What about Li-Fraumeni syndrome?"
"She's not the incredible walking cancer girl!" Cameron argued. "What if it's not genetic? What if it's sarcoma?"
"There's nothing wrong with her bones," Chase said. "It's her lungs. I'm thinking bronchitis."
"You're all wrong," House said, twirling his cane. He looked somber. "In those five minutes that I saw the girl, I knew enough to have a hunch at what's eating her. Almost literally."
"Well," Foreman said testily, hating being called wrong by House. "What does she have then, big boss?"
"When I was trying to save her life," House said, getting in his story mood. "I was thinking about what you guys were saying about her. She's a rebel, her mom works 24/7, and she didn't know she was asthmatic."
Cameron covered her mouth in shock. "You don't think she…smokes, do you?"
House nodded. "I think she has COPD."
"Lung disease?" Foreman exclaimed. "You think she has lung disease?"
House sighed. "Yes, Chase, are you going to burst out too?"
Chase looked shocked. "But, how?"
"Simple," House said, walking over to the table and sitting on the edge. "You have a girl who just moved here from Georgia, which is in the south, which is where tobacco grows. The girl recently moves to Princeton, is rejected because she either dresses differently or smells weird, you know how kids are these days, and she becomes an outcast. So then girl dresses in a semi-gothic way and walks around, intimidating people with her stares, and immediately follows the wrong crowd. Girl gets drawn into the crowd and soon they're forcing peer pressure on her and she's smoking, unaware that it's slowly killing her and her mother's never at home to know, so why does it matter to her?"
Silence followed House's story.
"If we have to go all the way to Las Vegas to get a CT scan, then let's do it," House said.
"But, COPD is incurable," Foreman said. House nodded.
"I now, but what if it's not COPD? We can't just let her die and then have the autopsy report show that she died of an asthma attack because we didn't treat her correctly."
"House." Wilson.
"Not right now, boy-toy," House said. "I'm busy right now."
"CT's working," Wilson said. "I wanted your patient to be first."
"Wow, is this pure coincidence or are you pulling my leg?"
"How about both," Wilson said. "You're scheduled for it in 10 minutes. Get a move on."
"Greg."
House spun around and sighed in relief. He was in his office. "Allison. Why'd you call me by my first name?"
Cameron shrugged. "Don't know. I think you may be right about the COPD. Unfortunately, the original suspect was bronchitis, but since she refused to get treatment, it spread. I think you may be right about her smoking. The smoke contributed to making this a deadly disease."
House sighed. "I know. You guys worked pretty quickly. Is she awake?"
Cameron nodded. "She doesn't know she's dying though. I-I think I should-"
House shushed her. "I will. Wish me luck."
House limped down the hall outside of Areka's door and knocked. The girl turned around and smiled at House through the glass barrier. House walked in.
"I'll make this quick and easy," House said.
"I'm dying," Areka said, sadly. "I know already. You guys need to learn how to whisper."
"I'm sorry," House said, somberly. "You're dying from lung disease."
"Lung disease?" Areka said, sitting up. "Isn't when there's a tumor in my lung?"
House shook his head. "That's lung caner. Lung disease is incurable-" House frowned and he narrowed his eyes at her.
"What?" Areka said. "I'm dying and you're staring at me?"
"How long have you been smoking?" House said bluntly.
"Ah!" Areka said, offended. "You think I smoke?"
"Why wouldn't I?" House said, frowning. "Your lung screams 'death.' If you don't smoke, why is it so poisoned?"
"I don't smoke," Areka repeated. "Got it, old man?"
"I think I got it. Young…girl."
Areka bit her bit and lied back down. House limped to the door.
"You are leaving me?"
"Just for a little bit," House said, pausing for a minute. "Trying to save your life, y'know?"
Areka closed her eyes and sighed. "I have a GPA of 3.7."
