I'm not sure whether House is going to hook up with anyone, but if he does, based on votes it'll have to be House/Cameron. Sorry Huddy's and OC's! Again, though, he may not hook up at all.
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8:52 pm.
Eight more minutes.
8:53 pm.
Seven more minutes.
8:54 pm.
Six more minutes.
The phone rings just then, and Ruby hisses and picks it up quickly.
"You only have 5 and a half minutes to talk, so make it snappy."
"Good evening to you to, Akkie." Ruby perks up at the voice on the other line.
"Daddy? Oooh! So good to talk to you." She greets childishly, but she hasn't seen him in months.
"You do, Flower. How are you?"
"Good. Great. Fantastic. Guess what's starting in… 4 minutes and 56 seconds?"
"What?"
"The SEASON PREIMERE OF CSI!" She screams, flinging her arms into the air and pinning the phone between her head and shoulder.
"Okay, okay, honey," Her dad laughs, and she giggles manically.
"Did you see how last season ended?" Her voice is strained and high, and he chuckles.
"No, I missed it, darling."
"Grissom and Sara are together! They are one! My life is complete!" She squeals, and her dad shakes his head.
"I see. Well, Akkie, I was calling to tell you that I'm going to be in Plainsboro for the next few weeks. And that I've got some bad news."
He meets silence on the other line.
"You younger brother is sick. He has seen lots of doctors, but none could diagnose him. I'm bringing him to the teaching Hospital to see the head of Diagnostics."
"Oh my. What's wrong with Seth?"
"He has had neurological weakness and some choral acne. He's going down hill and we're not sure what's wrong. He was hospitalized once and got better, but when they released him, he got worse."
"I know a doctor at PPTH. Who's he seeing?"
"A doctor Gregory House. Do you know him?"
Ruby smiles. "Dad, I clean his house."
"Akkie, you're still cleaning houses? Honey, why don't you let me help you?" Ruby's smile fades.
"Not now, Dad. Tell me when Seth gets here."
They speak for a few more hours about the specifics of Seth's disease and other life situations they need to catch up on.
----------
"Greg?"
"Uh?"
"Have you heard of Seth Bryant?"
"No."
"He's my brother."
"Amazing."
"He's sick."
"Tragic."
"You're treating him.
"What?" House snaps his head around and glares at her. "Apparently I have no choice in the matter."
"Apparently not." Ruby smiles and reaches over and ruffles his hair. He narrows his eyes at her, but lets a smile slip out, tipping his head back to get a better look at her,
She looks really hot from this angle.
"What's wrong with him?" She's about to answer when there's a bang on the door.
Ruby opens it and grins excitedly when Wilson raises his eyes and smiles.
"Wilson. What?" House barks, and Ruby throws him a nasty glare.
"Hi James. May I call you James?" Ruby blushes, and Wilson's eyes dance.
"You most certainly can, Ruby."
House stands and limps over, poking Ruby in the side.
"You were saying what was wrong with your brother?" He prompts, and she nods.
"He's been experiencing paralysis and an odd rash on his face." She informs him, handing Wilson a mug of coffee, which he accepts gratefully.
"Who says they're related? Could be lots of things. Has he had an MRI?" House asks, and Ruby nods.
"It didn't show anything."
"What about blood tests? Sounds like Lupus to me." Wilson pipes up, sitting down next to House on his left, Ruby on his right.
"They tested for Lupus, it was negative, but gave him chemotherapy drugs anyway. He didn't respond to those or another dose of Corticosteroids."
"That rules out inflammation or autoimmune problems." House answers and sighs. "Ok, I'll take the case."
Wilson furrows his brows as House speaks softly and gently to the pretty young girl, unfamiliar with House's kindness.
He will be sure and prod House about it later.
Ruby's phone rings and she answers it quickly.
"Daddy? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Both men can hear the urgency it her voice.
A few moments of rushed words later, Ruby hangs up.
She turns to House and Wilson, tears wetting her eyes.
"Seth's in the ICU now. He can't breathe on his own anymore." She looks at House hard. "Is he going to – to die?" She sobs the last bit, and then crawls into House's lap and buries her face in his neck.
Wilson's watches this exchange and raises his brows. House stiffens and looks desperately at Wilson, who wisely stands and waves goodbye as he slips out the door.
"Ruby?" House asks timidly, and when she answers he can hardly hear because her mouth is buried in his neck.
He squeezes his eyes shut and tries not to feel her soft lips on his skin.
"Yeah?" She mumbles, and he breathes out sharply.
"Are you ok?" She pulls her head back and cups his chin. His hands are shaking and he's staring at her lips, but trying not to.
"I'll be fine." She answers, and then stands and grabs her bag. "You'll treat him, right?"
"Yes. I'll find out what wrongs with him. I've been a doctor for twenty odd years and have only lost one patient because a couldn't diagnose them." He whispers, looking at her intensely. She smiles.
"I hope so."
With that, her gym back slung over her shoulder, she opens the door and leaves.
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The man is very young, possibly under 18, looking even younger with his deathly pale flesh and thin face. Wires come out of his arms and are stuck to his chest, a thin tube taped to his lip and shoved down his throat. His eyes are closed and the machine beside him hums steadily.
A woman is collapsed in a chair next to him, sobbing desperately, her hair coming down in strings over her shoulders.
An older man is leaning against the wall, thinning white hair hanging limp over his dark grey eyes. He looked worn and broken.
"Ruby." The voice came from the doorway, and she matches it to her boss, Greg House.
"Hey."
He limps into the room and scans Ruby's father with a cynical eye.
"Who are you?" Her father asks, worried eyes dancing.
"I'm your son's doctor, House." He answers, uncharacteristically kind.
"Hello, Dr. House. I'm Leslie, their fathers." He nods toward the two others in the room. His voice is thin and weak.
"Yeah," He turns to Ruby. "Does Seth take any drugs?"
"No." Leslie answers.
"Sports? Weird friends? Estranged relationships? Anything?"
"He loves to garden." Ruby states, and House snaps his head to her.
"Does he use any pesticides?"
"No." Leslie replies. "I do, but he refuses." He smiles weakly at the memory.
"You do? Do you wash your hands afterward?"
"Of course."
House nods and turns to Ruby.
"Ruby, I need to go to your house and see if I can find what's making him sick."
"We can go right now." She offers, and he nods again.
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House straddles his bike and hands Ruby his helmet. She climbs on behind him and wraps her hands around his waist tightly, her eyes fixed on the road in front of her.
House is speeding a little, partly because he likes the feel, partly because he can hear Ruby crying into his shoulder and wants to drown out the sound.
She guides him to her father's home 30 minutes away, and they leave the bike on its kickstand in the driveway.
They walk cautiously into the house, and Greg can feel Ruby's grief. He places his hand warmly on her shoulder and squeezes lightly.
After searching the house, the two are in the garage when House comes across a pesticide, and he glances at the ingredients.
He recognizes the chemical as a diluted form of Agent Orange, a deadly herbicide used in Vietnam warfare. The container is nearly empty, and he knows what is poisoning Seth.
"Ruby, does Seth use this?" He jiggles the bottle and Ruby looks over.
"Oh, yeah, on the corn. It kills weeds like you can't believe."
"Does your dad?"
"He did, until he his lymphoma got really bad."
"He has lymphoma?" House sounds interested, and she nods.
"He got it about a year ago. He took chemo, but it didn't work. The tumors just kept coming." Tears are in her eyes again, and she looks down.
House sighs. "Ruby, I think I know what's making your dad and brother sick."
He meets her strange maroon eyes, with his own silver ones. "What?" She rasps.
"This pesticide has Agent Orange in it. Agent Orange causes peripheral neuropathy, Lymphoma, and chlorance."
When they get back to hospital, House orders that Seth is washed down and her dad retreated with Chemo.
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House is in the clinic, glaring at a woman with red eyes and a stuffy nose.
"H-A-Y F-E-V-E-R." House says for the third time when the door opens. He looks back and is surprised to see Cameron.
"Seth's doing better."
House nods. "Good." He breathes. "Where's Ruby?"
She looks at the ground. "She's in the cafeteria." She doesn't mean it to sound that sharp.
House nods again and leaves.
When he's in the cafeteria, he spots her in the corner table devouring a hamburger.
"Ruby." He sits down next to her and touches her shoulder. She smiles at him warmly, and his eyes bulge.
"Thank you for saving my family." She whispers, and he can feel her breath in warm puffs on his face.
He hasn't wanted to kiss somebody this bad in years.
She seems to know what he's thinking and turns back to her food. House closes his eyes.
He limps out of the room and watches Cameron filling out a patient file.
"She really loves you." He doesn't have to turn to know Ruby followed him out.
"But I don't love her."
"Then who do you love?"
He faces her briefly. "What makes you think I love anyone?"
She smiles. "That whimsical look in your eyes."
He swallows thickly and shakes his head. "No one that matters." She hears that his voice is choked and high, but has no chance to respond as he hobbles hastily away.
No one that matters.
What could that mean?
TBC.
