Ghost From the Past (12?)

Rating: PG-13 (I think)
Word Count: 908
Disclaimer: I own House. Um, right. That was a lie. I don't own anything. Except seasons 1 & 2 on DVD and my own insanity.
Summary: In the middle of a case, a figure from Cameron's past arrives, creating complications and confusions in her life.
Author's Note: As I said, this is my first House fanfic. The characters may be very, very OOC. It is possible. I have no medical experience, therefore anything I write is probably very wrong. I got an offer for a beta, who went over this part. :) No spoilers after season 2.

Ghost From the Past
Chapter Twelve: Mea Culpa

ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc

"This is ridiculous," Chase muttered irritably. He shuffled through the papers in his hands. "How many tests is House going to make us do?"

"Chase a little girl is sick. We'll do as many tests as we need to do until we figure out what's wrong with her," Cameron answered, taking one of the sheets from him. When she read that the results were negative, she sighed, taking off her glasses.

"I knew I shouldn't have said anything to you," Chase said, dropping the file next to the microscope.

She looked at him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Her symptoms are fatigue, headache, and fever. That could be any one of thousands of things. It could be a cold. The only reason House is interested is because the antibiotics didn't work," Chase said. He looked at Cameron. "And until you found out who her uncle was, you agreed that most of those tests were expensive and pointless."

"Chase—"

"Look, isn't it better if I'm right? If she just has a bad cold?" He asked. "There's no mystery, but she's not going to die. That should make you happy."

"Yes. It would," she agreed. "But I feel like there's something more."

"Did you feel like that before House decided she had something more than an infection?" Chase asked. It was unfair. Cameron had been the one that saw Elizabeth in the clinic. She'd sent her home with a prescription for antibiotics.

"Chase—"

He sighed. "I'm sorry, Cameron. It's just that we've been at this for hours without so much as a break. I haven't slept or eaten in hours."

"None of us has," she said. He was rude, but at least he'd apologized. And he was cranky. "Why don't you take a break? Get some coffee."

"Can't," Chase said, looking at his watch. "I've got to take Elizabeth for a CT scan in five minutes."

"Five minutes?" Cameron asked. Frowning. She dug in her pocket. "Here. Take these. Mrs. Stanton brought them for Elizabeth."

"Cookies?" Chase asked. "Her daughter is in the hospital. I know the food's terrible, but she can't have cookies until we know what's wrong."

"I know. When I told her that, she said I might as well take them," Cameron told him. "Too bad Elizabeth likes coconut."

Chase looked at the cookies dubiously. "Coconut?"

Cameron laughed. "It's better than nothing."

"Sure," Chase agreed, pocketing the cookies.

ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc

"Okay. Let's focus on what we know," House began, studying the board. He had half of it devoted to Elizabeth Stanton and the other half devoted to Chase. Both sides had the same symptoms listed on it, but Elizabeth also had a diagnosis. MBPS. Chase's had a big question mark on it. "I'm assuming our little housewife insists that she never did anything to Chase."

"According to the police, she finally confessed to dosing her daughter, but she says she has no idea how Chase got sick. She denies giving him anything," Foreman said.

"And we can't ask Chase because he's unconscious," House muttered. "Which he wouldn't be if you and Cameron would do your jobs."

"Cameron was right. We don't know what she gave Elizabeth, and we can't prove that she gave Chase anything," Foreman defended himself.

"Right. So, back to what we know. Patient presents with fatigue, headache, and fever. Doctor says it's a cold, maybe an infection, prescribes antibiotics," House recounted. "Two days later, she's back. Fever's higher. Antibiotics aren't working."

"We run tests," Foreman continued. "No apparent cause. Chase gets sick, so you bar him from the patient. He comes up with a theory of MBPS."

"Which is?"

"Are you kidding me?" Foreman asked. "You want me to define MBPS?"

"Humor me."

Foreman sighed. "Munchausen's by proxy syndrome is a form of child abuse. The parent induces symptoms in their child for attention. They relish the role of caretaker, going so far as to make an illness to treat. Most MBPS perpetrators won't admit to MBPS, even when confronted with the evidence."

"So what made our girl talk?" House asked.

"Probably the fact that the police wanted to arrest her for Chase's illness, too. Could be that means she's telling the truth about Chase," Foreman said thoughtfully.

"Everybody lies," House insisted. "She was poisoning her daughter, Foreman. She's not telling the truth."

"If she wanted to avoid charges of attempted murder, she might. A lawyer could argue that she's mentally unstable—"

"She isn't. MBPS perpetrators know what they're doing," House interrupted. "A part of them knows."

"But she is sick—"

"It was the cookies," Cameron said, bursting into the room.

"Cookies? Sounds delicious." House said, grinning.

Foreman frowned. "What about cookies?"

"I know how Chase got sick," Cameron answered. "It was the cookies."

"Again with the cookies," House said, taking a sip of his coffee. "What kind of cookies are we talking about?"

"Coconut. Elizabeth's favorite," Cameron answered. "But that's not the point. The point is that Emma—Mrs. Stanton—was going to give them to Elizabeth. I told her that she couldn't, so she gave them to me. I thanked her, but I said I didn't like coconut, so I wouldn't eat them. She shrugged. I put them in my pocket, thinking I'd throw them out later. Then Chase was hungry, I gave them to him. It's my fault."

Foreman looked at House. House sighed and picked up his marker. On Chase's side of the board, he wrote MBPS.