A Few Hours Later...

"Ahhhhhmmmm….Ahhmmmmm…" House mumbled in a low tone as he sat quietly in the corner of his office.

"Is he trying for divine intervention or mocking God?" Chase whispered quietly from outside the door while Cameron grinned before glancing around the corner.

"Have you ever heard about the devil falling into the choir loft?" She asked on a small laugh as Foreman rolled his eyes and looked down at the folder in his hand.

"He's probably trying to make you guys think he's communicating with UFOs. There's not enough time in the day for us to try and diagnose House's psychological issues." Foreman ranted as he glared at the clinic cases House was determined to shoulder off on the group.

"Nose bleed or hemorrhoids?" Foreman asked quickly as he held out two folders toward Chase and Cameron. Both ignored him.

"If he starts singing Kum-Ba-Ya, I'm running to the hills." Chase murmured as a voice behind them caused them all to spin quickly.

"He's channeling his dead victims or haven't you figured that out by now." Dr. Wilson proclaimed softly as House snorted from inside his office.

"I've been imitated so well I've heard people copy my mistakes." House proclaimed in a loud, mocking tone as Wilson shook his head and perused House's team of doctors sardonically.

"Better yet, to coin a phrase, he's channeling Jimi Hendrix. Unless, of course, I've become horribly out-dated on House's strange fixation with the 'let's guess which rock star said that' game." Wilson declared as House cracked one eyelid open before smiling and pointing his cane toward the door.

"And they say you can only quote lab results. I'm impressed, Wilson." House commented in sly amusement as Wilson rolled his eyes before walking into the office, a file dangling precariously from his outstretched hand. House followed his movement with interest.

"Either that's a case file or my birthday got here a little early this year. Tell me that's a folder full of hot, highly aroused women's phone numbers and I'll forgive you for last year's lame gift." House promised solemnly as Wilson raised an eyebrow and attempted to hide a smile.

"Unless you are hitting on ten-year-olds now, then you are sorely out of luck, my friend." Wilson announced as he opened the folder and handed the papers to House.

"It's a ten-year-old girl presenting with severe headaches and fainting spells. She's…." Wilson began as House looked over the file quickly before throwing it on top of his desk in disinterest. All the while, Cameron, Chase, and Foreman had moved into the room quietly and they picked up the folder before balancing it between them, all perusing it with more than a little interest.

"Is she anemic?" Cameron asked as Wilson shook his head.

"An early on-set of pre-menstrual syndrome?" Chase inquired as, again, Wilson shook his head while Cameron gave Chase a look that said, 'you have got to be kidding me.'

"Chase, she's ten." Cameron pointed out as Chase shrugged.

"It's been known to happen in female children below the age of ten and it does present with headaches. Some severe." Chase defended as Cameron shook her head.

"Behavior changes?" Foreman questioned, interrupting the squabble as House pounded the top of his desk with his cane.

"It's streptococcal or viral. Possibly bacterial. All present with severe headaches." House announced as Wilson looked over at him quietly. House always shrugged off a case before it finally caught his interest.

"I've already considered that. The test for strep came out negative and she's showing signs of delusion." Wilson offered as House sat up quickly. That did it. He rubbed his chin absently.

"Delusions?" House asked quietly under his breath before struggling to a standing position and hobbling into the room next door, picking up a dry-erase marker before scribbling quickly on the board. The wince he gave as he turned around was noted, but no one bothered to mention it. House slipped something out of his pocket before popping it into his mouth. Wilson shook his head as House's team quickly fell into their routine.

"So what do we have?" House asked as he looked at the board before tapping each symptom with his cane.

"Headaches, fainting, possible delusion…?" He stated quietly as he shook his head.

"All still could be contributed to something viral or bacterial." House remarked matter-of-factly before pointing at Cameron.

"Start her on antibiotics and see where her symptoms go from there. Let's eliminate the possibly of a bacterial infection first. We should know something in a matter of hours." House commanded as Cameron nodded before brushing past the group into the hallway. Wilson followed her with his gaze a moment before looking back at House.

"I don't think it's bacterial or viral." He reiterated as House shrugged.

"We'll know soon enough, won't we?" House asked with conviction.


Author's Note: All of those who have already read through the first four chapters will realize that I made some minor editing changes and re-uploaded them. Thank you to everyone who had, has, and will hopefully review (fingers crossed). You are fantastic!