Chapter 16

After Chase reported back to him that her psych evaluation revealed nothing unusual, and Foreman reported that the MRI showed no sign of any tumors, House sent them both home. He looked in his bag for his Ipod, he needed some music to help him think. Then he remembered that Cuddy had taken it before he went to the clinic that morning, and hadn't returned it. He glanced at this watch, 8:15pm. Well, she'd already gone home.

House walked into Cameron's small office, and began rummaging through her desk. He hoped she hadn't brought it home with her. Jackpot, he thought, as he discovered her Ipod in the middle drawer. Now he could only hope that her taste in music wasn't as bland as her work wardrobe. He went back into his office and lay on the couch. He turned the Ipod on and began scrolling through Cameron's music. He was surprised; she actually had some good stuff here. It was kind of a weird mix though. Toby Keith, Eminem, Etta James (that one really surprised House), Pink Floyd; he even found a play list of Gregorian chanting. Settling down, he chose Pink Floyd's The Wall and closed his eyes.

After about an hour, House got up and went to the patient's room. She was asleep. He checked her chart, and saw she was responding well to the meds. All of her symptoms had lessened, in fact. Strange, he thought. Whatever was causing her hallucinations wasn't the meningitis; it should be rearing its head up again now that the rest of her symptoms were in check.

Instinctively, he reached for his cane to bang against the side of the bed to wake the patient. He realized he'd need a new tactic to wake his patients up now that he couldn't easily make such an awful racket. He glanced around and decided just for once, it wouldn't hurt to just wake her up like a normal person.

"Hey, wake up, um," he reached for her chart, "Joetta, wake up." House leaned forward and shook her arm.

"Dr. House?" she asked him groggily.

"That's right. I've been overseeing your case. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" She motioned for him to go ahead. "This, uh, vision that you had, have you ever had one like it before?"

"Of course," she replied. "I've them since I was a girl. But that's not really what you want to know."

"It's not?" House asked. Now he was intrigued. Normally his patients had no idea what he was getting at with his questions. It was just his way of leading them around to something they didn't want to tell him. "What do you think I want to know?"

"You want to know if I'm crazy, or I'm hallucinating or on drugs." House nodded. "I'm not surprised. That's the same reaction I've gotten from doctor's my whole life. Men and women of science don't want to believe in my abilities because they think its mystical, or spiritual or something. They want proof, facts, tests that can them it's real. Test me if you like, I'm happy to convince one person at a time."

House pondered this for a moment. Maybe Cameron had been right. Maybe this woman felt sick, but wasn't sure what was wrong, and remembered seeing the hospital logo somewhere.

"That wouldn't explain how I knew 'house would save me'," Joetta said softly. "Don't worry," she laughed at House's expression, "I can't read your mind or anything; I've just been through this with so many other people before. You're thinking of some perfectly logical explanation for how I saw the things I saw. And I'm sure you could be right. But you aren't. That's not easy for you, is it?" House was amazed, how could this woman, who he'd never met, peg him with such deadly accuracy? "You like being the smartest one, always being the one to figure things out. It's driving you crazy that you can't solve me."

She reached out her hand and touched House's arm. She closed her eyes; a small frown crossed her face. She seemed to be concentrating very hard; then slowly a smile played across her lips. She let go of House, opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"You're in for a rough road these next few months. It's going to be okay in the end though. You stick with that young woman, and it will all work out." Joetta smiled at him.

"I'll have you discharged in the morning." House said. He turned and went back to his office. He gathered up his things, slipped Cameron's Ipod in his pocket, put on the headphones and started home.

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As House walked toward his office the next morning, he saw Cameron was waiting for him. He prepared himself for some long, sappy apology about how she'd had such a hard day and was tired. It was so typically Cameron.

"Good morning, Dr. Cameron. How nice of you to decide to grace us with your presence." House was hoping maybe he could avoid this whole emotional moment she had planned. Maybe some biting sarcasm would scare her away.

"Did you take my Ipod out of my desk last night?" she asked. House turned and looked at her; she didn't look apologetic at all. In fact, she looked pretty annoyed.

"What?"

"My Ipod. I left it in my desk drawer last night; it's not there. Did you take it?" Cameron was really annoyed now. It was like he was being intentionally dense.

Actually, he was just stunned that after she threw a fit last night and stormed out in front of everyone, she was angry with him. It was so out of character for her. He thought for a minute about what Wilson and his last patient had said. He decided he wanted to test the waters a little, and see where it might take him.

"Sorry," he said. "Cuddy took mine yesterday before clinic and forgot to give it back. I can't think straight without my music, and I needed to go over some things on the case last night." He hoped a simple explanation, without any snide comments, would throw her off guard a little.

"Oh," she said. "Fine. Could I have it back please?" She extended her hand to him.

He unzipped his bag and took her Ipod out. Instead of simply handing it to her, he turned around, aiming for her outstretched hand so that it grazed across his chest lightly. With one hand he held her arm at the elbow, and with the other he pressed the Ipod into her palm, but didn't let go.

"You have interesting taste in music," he said quietly. "I think we may even have some of the same songs. Thanks." House looked directly at her. She hadn't moved at all, in fact it looked like she was holding her breath.

Cameron barely heard anything he said. As soon as her hand had brushed across his chest, she'd stopped breathing. He held her arm lightly, and she could feel a blush creeping into her face. She looked up, and his stunning blue eyes were staring directly into her own.

"You're welcome," she managed to get out. She just couldn't break away from his gaze. They stood, staring into each other's eyes. Cameron realized she was forgetting to breathe again. How long could they go on staring at each other like this? She was starting to feel a little lightheaded; she longed to reach her hand up and feel the stubble on his cheeks. The blush came back again, but she still couldn't stop staring.

House couldn't tear his eyes away from hers. He could tell she felt something; she kept holding her breath. House felt his pulse begin to quicken. He was tempted to pull her into him, but managed to control himself. The longer they stared, however, the harder it became. Just when he thought he really couldn't stop himself any longer, a noise from the conference room startled them both. Cameron's eyes darted in the other direction; House released her arm, took a deep breath and turned around.

As Chase and Foreman chatted and got coffee, Cameron turned to join them. She walked slowly, hoping the blush would fade from her cheeks. She didn't know what just happened, but she didn't want the boys getting any ideas.

"Cameron," House called as she put her hand on the conference room door. She turned around. "Gregorian chanting?" House made a face.

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When Cameron entered the conference room, she was surprised to see such grim looks from Chase and Foreman. She'd checked when she came in this morning, and had seen that House had already given orders to have their patient discharged. Were they upset that she had left last night?

Before she could ask, House entered the conference room from his office. He too, noticed Foreman and Chase's expressions.

"What's wrong, boys?" House asked. "Somebody run over your puppy?" House made a sad face and pretended to wipe away a tear.

"Joetta Reynolds collapsed this morning after we discharged her. She didn't even make it to her car." Foreman said. "She woke up and said she'd had another vision, but this time it was followed by a severe headache and loss of vision in her right eye. That's probably when she collapsed; she couldn't remember anything after the pain. She's been slipping in and out of consciousness ever since."

House grabbed his marker and went to the whiteboard.

Visual hallucinations

Severe headache

Right side blindness

Loss of consciousness

"Okay, kiddos, let's hear some suggestions." House turned to face the group.

After several suggestions from the ducklings, House sent them off to perform the new round of tests. He walked back to his office for his Ipod, when he realized he'd still never gotten in back from Cuddy. He walked out of his office and towards the elevators.

When House stepped out of the elevator door downstairs, he saw that Cuddy was in the clinic. He groaned. Stepping into the clinic meant being harassed into seeing patients. Was he really that desperate for his Ipod? As he stood debating, Cuddy looked up and noticed him in the hall.

"Dr. House," she said as she came through the clinic doors. "How wonderful that you've come down to the clinic voluntarily." Her voice was sincere, but her face couldn't quite pull it off.

"Actually, Cuddy, I have a patient. I could stay here and wipe noses, but I'm afraid the witchy psychic upstairs might put a curse on me if I'm not giving her my full attention." House turned to walk away, hoping he'd be able to outrun her now that he didn't need the cane.

"House!" Cuddy called. "If you seriously have a patient, the clinic will wait. It's slow today. But I thought you discharged Ms. Reynolds."

"I did." House turned back to Cuddy. "I guess she missed me. You know how that is." House was surprised Cuddy didn't know his patient had been brought back in; she was usually very aware of what was going on in his department.

"Right. The only reason I still work here is so I can see your shining face every day." Cuddy walked toward her office. "I have something for you," she said to House over he shoulder as she entered her office and sat behind the desk.

"If it's flavored massage oil, I'll lock the door behind me," House quipped. Cuddy just rolled her eyes. Why did she think the ketamine would change him? It only eliminated his leg pain. He was still House.

Cuddy reached into her top drawer and took out House's Ipod. She handed it to him, and picked up a pile of paperwork. House mumbled something that might have been thanks, then turned and walked to the door.

"House," Cuddy said. "Have spoken to Wilson today?"

"No," House replied. "My patient collapsed before I even got it, I haven't seen him yet. Why?"

"No reason," Cuddy said. "He mentioned to me at a board meeting that you two haven't been getting along so well. I was just wondering if you boys have patched things up?"

House looked at her. She was lying, and he knew it. He just didn't know why. Actually, he hadn't talked to Wilson yesterday either, it was almost like Wilson was avoiding him. House was about to question Cuddy when his pager went off.

"People dying, gotta run," House said and left the office. He walked past the elevator and took the stairs. He almost smiled when he reached the top; his leg was just the slightest bit sore, hardly even noticeable.

House walked into the conference room, where the ducklings were now poring over the patient's medical files.

"You paged me to watch the three of you read?" House said. All three jumped, startled. He did have the most unnerving habit of sneaking up on people.

"She's experiencing tremors and aphasia," Foreman reported. "And she's barely able to maintain consciousness for more than a minute or two. When she is conscious, she's complaining of severe head pain."

"What did the tests show?" House asked, while writing the new symptoms on the whiteboard.

"Nothing they haven't shown before. Everything looks perfectly normal, except for the dying woman," Cameron said. House, along with Chase and Foreman, turned to look at her in surprise. It was not a typical Cameron comment.

"I think House is beginning to rub off on you, Cameron," Chase said. He looked at her with real concern; if she couldn't be with him, she was going to try to be like him?

"I think if any rubbing off was going on, I'd be aware of it, Chase. Can we stick to the patient?" House retorted.

"It has to be a brain tumor," Foreman said. "The symptoms are classic."

"Find me a tumor then," House said.

"Her MRI was clean. There's nothing there." Chase reminded them.

"Fine, repeat the MRI, this time with contrast. Foreman, I want a really good look at the optic chiasm. Chase, check her vitals and give her whatever sedative won't put her in a coma." Foreman and Chase left the room, while Cameron sat and waited for some instructions.

"What?" House said, as he could feel her staring at him.

"That's it? No snide comment, no instructions, you're done?" Cameron was surprised. Whenever a patient was taking an unexpected turn, House always wanted to be alone. Sometimes she suspected he gave them tests to run just to get them out of his office.

"I want you to call her primary care physician and go over everything in that file. Nobody is that healthy, it's not natural." House walked into his office and lay down on the couch with his Ipod.