"To Have and Have Not"
Chapter Three – "Having Questions and Doubts"
By: purpleu
The elevator doors opened and House exited the car. He started down the hallway toward the Radiology Department as he kept running through his mind the possible ailments and conditions that could be causing Bell's problem. The brick wall he kept hitting was that the results of the blood tests run on his father just a week ago stymied everything on the list, which is why he found himself on the way to watch as his team ran a series of non-invasive tests to delve further into the mystery. Normally he'd be in his office surfing the web, napping or forcing himself to do paperwork; House would just wait for the team to report back to him. However, the circumstances of this case were made special by both the patient and the fact that House found the situation truly intriguing; Bell, a non-diabetic, was presenting with severe hypoglycemia, rare to say the least. He had no prior illnesses for them to pursue as a cause for the sudden glucose drops he was experiencing. Yet the lack of any pre-existing health problems should make any new issues stick out like a sore thumb; so far they were not. Hopefully between the blood work they were processing here at the hospital and the other tests, something would stand up and take credit for the malady. House turned the corner on the hall leading down to x-ray, Bell's first stop; he frowned at the sight of the logjam in front of him. Instead of already being inside with the test started, Chase and Thirteen were waiting to take Bell into the room. It appeared there was also a woman and a young boy with two orderlies waiting around. House realized right away that he knew the mother and son from Ben's soccer games. The boy was in a tremendous amount of pain; his right ankle had a bandage on it to control bleeding.
"What's the story with the line cutters?" inquired House as he came upon Thomas' stretcher. Given the boy's condition, he figured they would take priority over Bell who was drinking a soda, and happily munching on Lydia's cookies.
"Car accident. Mom's having a CT scan, the kid's right leg got trapped in part of the wreckage," Thirteen said quietly. "He's in a lot of pain, so I told them to take him first." House was annoyed at the delay, but he could hear the child's distress as his mom tried to comfort him.
"Honey, you'll be OK. I'm more concerned that you didn't do any permanent damage rather than you being ready for soccer season."
"But Mom… I was supposed to do indoor winter league… I made the travel team… I can't… " The boy began to cry intently. Against his better judgment, House walked over to the stretcher; the child's eyes widened as he recognized him.
"You're Ben's dad… you're a doctor," the young man said sniffling.
"Not exactly and yes," House said in response. Without acknowledging the orderlies he picked up the chart that came down from the ER and saw right away that multiple fractures of the ankle were suspected, possible ligament tears as well. Not good for a sports player hoping to be active this season, or perhaps any other.
"How bad did I get hurt? Did I break anything?" House put the chart back and frowned at the child.
"While there are those who say I'm super-human, I don't have x-ray vision, and my real name isn't Clark Kent. You'll have to wait until they take the really weird pictures of your ankle so they can see what's going on in there." House glanced over at the boy's mother who was listening to the conversation between the two; she didn't recognize House and wondered who this man was. "My team mentioned a car accident," he said to the woman. "You two don't look too worse for the wear."
"Several cars were involved; we were the last one hit, t-boned in the back part of the car. I hit my head, Noah had to have part of the car door cut away from his leg," the woman said. "We were among the lucky; two people in the first car died at the scene."
"They said I'm going to need stitches," the boy said sadly looking down toward his lower leg. "I won't be able to play on the indoor team." House remained stone-faced; without having films to review, his instincts told him the boy wouldn't be playing soccer for a while.
"No, you won't," House said twirling his cane, hoping to distract Noah. "Not tomorrow, and probably not next week."
"When do you think... ?"
"It's not for me to judge your ability to heal," House said cutting the boy off. "Talk to your coach from the travel team, Tom Wilkinson. He's a PA as well as a physical therapist," House said to Noah's mom. "He'll know how to handle getting him back on his feet." Noah's mom nodded.
"They said he may need an orthopedist… can you recommend someone?"
"Bellamy or anyone from his practice. He's got a kid who was also chosen for the travel team and is the recommended Pediatric Ortho MD for the club. He'll take care of things."
"OK, we're ready for the soccer star," the x-ray tech said as he emerged from the room.
"Mrs. Crosby's turn now, too," one of the orderlies said as he positioned the gurney by the door to the CT room. Noah's mom turned her head, and looked in House's direction.
"I'm sorry, but I just remembered your name… you're Dr. House, correct?" House begrudgingly acknowledged his identity with a quick nod. "Thank you for calming Noah down. We… we're lacking in a support system within our family at the moment; my husband and I are separated and I'm not expecting him to show up and be of much help in the situation." Mrs. Crosby looked sad as she stared at the doorway her son was taken through. "I… I'm a realist; I can tell Noah's leg doesn't look good." House looked away for a moment.
"I have news for you; neither does mine," he said as he tapped his cane on the floor. He looked back at Noah's mom. "He's young, he's strong, and he has the desire to fight back. He'll have a good therapist and coach to help him. Don't count him out." House turned, and headed back to Chase, Thirteen and Bell as Noah's mom left to have her CT scan.
"When the hell did you turn into Mother Theresa?" Chase asked in amazement. "The kid isn't even your patient, and you're over there offering comfort and encouragement?"
"Now that is odd," Bell said looking up at Chase. "I've heard lots of people refer to Greg as a mother, but with various parts of speech following the word… never something as kindly as a reference to a religious icon." House shot the old man a look.
"I think hanging around with you has softened him up," Thirteen said patting Thomas on the shoulder. He smiled as he took another bite of one of Lydia's cookies.
"No, hanging out with Fraulein around all these soccer moms has taught me one very important thing; the soap operas lived by some of these families makes the stuff they write for TV sound like a designer fairy tale. Take our two car crash dummies for example. The dad left a few months back to move in with his girlfriend… who just happens to be the mom's sister. Why let the dirty laundry hang out for the whole world to hear? Because it's unavoidable; in a few months, diapers will be joining all the other stuff that's being aired out." Thirteen shook her head. "Oh, and the dad had a fling with one of the kid's teachers at some point. Investigating committee is still trying to figure out if there was only one teacher involved."
"That poor kid. Probably playing soccer was one of the few things he's been able to focus on in the midst of all that," she said.
"The kid is one of the best sweepers I've seen play at this level," House noted. "Or even several levels above his age group. As good as Ben is as a forward and goalie, this kid is his equal in the sweeper position. It's why he made the travel team. Taking away any normalcy that would come from home or school, soccer's the only safe haven he has."
"If the accident takes that away from him, it'll be a damn shame… whether there was anything else going on in his life or not," Chase noted. "Being that you're unofficially Tom's right hand-man with the team, I get why you went over to check him out."
"It's also that the child reminds him of Ben," Bell said tossing his two cents in. House shook his head.
"The entire travel team is made up of kids the same age and sex as Fraulein's rugrat. Saying that I see a similarity between him and any of the players on the team isn't exactly a grand revelation." House stepped over and took a cookie out of the bag that Bell was holding.
"Hey… that's my medicine you're stealing!" Thomas protested.
"No, it was supposed to be a part of my lunch," House said through a mouthful of the treat. "Do a glucose check on him before we go in for the pictures." Chase set up the monitor; he noticed Thomas squirm uncomfortably as he poked him in the finger for the blood sample.
"Are you OK?" he asked.
"I'm beginning to feel like a bloody pincushion," Thomas complained as he waited for the result.
"I hate to say this but by the time this is over, we may actually get you to start cursing," Thirteen said with a laugh.
"I'm on the edge of doing that right now," Bell said ruefully.
"Maybe not… the news is a little better. He's past the century mark… 102," Chase reported.
"Good," House said. "We'll keep the IV levels and snacks that we're doing now through the testing. Once he's back in his room, we'll see about lowering the drip and having him eat some regular meals. A more normal diet will give us an idea of what he can handle."
"I hope we can begin to get some answers by the time we get him back up to his room," said Chase. "We have limited options at this point." Thirteen let out a sigh; House picked up on it and could see she was hesitant to say something.
"Since when did you ever hold back an opinion or comment?" he asked her. Thirteen nodded and looked at Thomas.
"You've had several life-changing events occur in the past few months," Thirteen started to say. "Would you guess that any of them have prompted you to make changes in your social habits or behavior?" Her discomfort in questioning Thomas was painfully obvious. Bell looked puzzled as House rolled his eyes.
"Really? That's all you've got? 'Changes in your social habits or behavior?' He may be a man of the cloth, but that doesn't mean he's not a man of the world," House said mockingly. He looked down at Bell. "She wants to know if you've been hitting the bottle any more than usual." Thirteen shoved her hands into the pockets of her lab coat in embarrassment. She had intended on pursuing the issue a bit more delicately than she knew House would. Fortunately, Chase stepped in to save things.
"Thomas, to be honest with you, there are very few things that fit into a differential diagnosis concerning severe hypoglycemia," he began to say. "Believe it or not, Lupus is a valid… " Chase got no further before Bell himself let out a snort of disapproval.
"Are you sure you haven't been the one drinking?" Bell exclaimed in disbelief. "Even I know better than to mention that as a possibility, especially in front of him," he said indicating House. Leaning up against the wall at the end of the gurney, House managed to hide his amusement at his father's strong reaction to the utterance of the disease.
"There are some things that can cause problems between the pancreas and the liver," Chase explained. "At the risk of getting my hand slapped, Lupus is one of them. Paraneoplastic syndrome is another. It can produce hormones that are insulin-like and have the same cause and effect on the body."
"Out and out liver failure leads the body to be unable to produce glucose anymore." Thirteen said. "Which is why I was trying to ask you if recently… " Bell shook his head.
"I understood what you were asking, and I now understand why," he said with a laugh. "Blythe would be the first one to knock the bottle out of my hands if she thought I was doing any harm to myself, intentionally or not. As tempting as it may have been to go overboard searching out comfort in the days after her passing, it's out of respect to my lovey that I kept things in check. Most weeks I have a beer or two… for the entire week. If I have a retirement dinner, or a social function to attend, I might add on a glass or two of whiskey or wine. The same holds true if I come up to visit Lydia and Greg; but that's not an increase from my previous routine. And I never drink and drive. Blythe would organize a chorus of angels to ream me out but good if I did."
"Come on, give me a break," House said moving away from the wall. "You're making Mom sound boring, which I know she wasn't. You two managed to get worked up enough to conceive me."
"And we had fun doing it… lots of fun," Bell pointed out with a smile. Both Chase and Thirteen doubled over laughing at the look their boss and his father exchanged; the bit of humor was just what was needed to break the tension while they waited for their turn in x-ray.
"How are you doing on the soda?" Chase asked when he had regained his composure.
"Finished it," Thomas said holding out the empty can.
"We're ready for you guys," the x-ray tech called, poking his head out of the room.
"I'll go get Lover Boy another soda," House said moving down the hall. "Then I'll go call dibs on our spot in ultrasound." Without waiting for a response, he started making the walk by himself; it gave him the chance to openly chuckle at the thought of his mom and dad as young lovers. House had to admit there was something both romantic and passionately lustful about the two of them sneaking around just to be with each other. Very often when he lay awake at night, too much in pain to sleep, House thought about how things would have been different for both him and Lydia if they had met when they were younger. Of course they had met at House's lecture at John's Hopkins when she was just twenty and a student there, but there was no chance of forming a relationship of any kind at that point. And meeting at Mayfield? Timing in life is everything, and theirs had once again been off… until now. Just like Blythe and Thomas, a lot of things could have been so different; the house with a white picket fence and a family wouldn't have dissolved into a bitter disillusionment for House. But Lydia somehow had made him believe that those things weren't lost forever; they were just desires that had to be deferred.
"Excuse me, sir." The sound of the orderly's voice pushing a gurney through the hall snapped House back to the present; he was startled to see he had been standing in front of the beverage vending machine and had probably been there lost in thought for at least a minute. Glad that no one appeared to have noticed him, he obtained a soda for Bell and one for himself, and then continued to the ultrasound room. He was surprised to see Foreman waiting for him.
"What happened? Did those two crazy kids decide they wanted to be alone after all?" House asked. Foreman smiled.
"No. Annie had to get back over to the school for a meeting. Something about setting up a finals schedule since her due date is near the end of the semester and she may be out on maternity leave." House made a face as he popped open his soda.
"She was yammering on and on about it last week. The written tests she can set up directly from her syllabus. It's the performance finals for her individual students she's worried about."
"Why can't they just do their final performance pieces a few weeks early?" Foreman asked, sounding confused. "Will it make that much of a difference?"
"Cuts down on the amount of time they can practice and prepare," House replied after taking a drink. "And bleeding heart Songbird doesn't want to short-change them even by a day."
"Hey, I wish I had teachers like her when I was in school. Face it… Annie's a sweetheart in all aspects of her life."
"Yeah, which is why Wilson fell for her hook, line and sinker," snarked House.
"You're glad they're together. Wilson and Annie are perfect for each other… just like another couple we all know." House had started to raise his soda can to his lips, but stopped midway after hearing Foreman's comment.
"Let's clarify things; Bell's the one who needs all the sugary sweetness he can get right now… not me," House said firmly. He looked down at Foreman who had taken a seat in front of the control panel. "I don't care how many Hershey's Kisses you blow my way, I am not going to try and convince Fraulein to step in and rescue this sinking ship. If you two can't do it, the board will have to find someone else to man the oars." Foreman shook his head.
"How did you know where I was going with the conversation?"
"You've shared an office with Gabby Gus for how long now and you haven't yet figured out that he can't keep his mouth shut?" House asked. "Wilson's been telling me for a while now how unhappy he's been; he recently added your name to the chorus of malcontents." Foreman stared down at the floor.
"I always thought I wanted to be in charge of things… making decision, running the show. But now that I'm actually doing it?" He looked up at House. "I became a doctor because I wanted to work with medicine; not budgets and human resource decisions on a regular basis. The only dealings I've had with medicine lately is working on your cases."
"And that's only been when you've stuck your nose in on certain cases; certain cases being all of them," House said with a smirk. Foreman sighed.
"True. I can't help it… I miss the medicine." House pulled out a chair for himself and glanced at the door in annoyance, wondering where Bell and his team were. He turned to Foreman.
"Fraulein is going to medical school and get what was denied to her for too many years. If she wants to change her mind on that, it'll be her decision, not anything I pressured her into doing. Not going to do it for either you or Wilson. You two are on your own."
"I don't blame her," Foreman said. "I just know she said something about continuing to work, even part-time, while going to school since her classroom work was going to be mainly in the evening. I was thinking maybe we could get her to consider moving over to our area, but it might be too much for her to take on. Although I sincerely believe there isn't too much of anything that Lydia couldn't do." House let a smile slip; for once there was something he and Foreman agreed on. His phone began to play "Down Under" indicating that Chase was calling.
"What happened? A slow parade of patients with sob stories clog up the halls?" House asked as he answered the phone.
"No, we saw that the EEG room was available, so we grabbed it," Chase replied with his phone on speaker. "We're on our way to you now. Both the EEG and the x-ray were clear. And Taub called… all the labs came back completely normal, except for the low glucose reading." House sighed.
"OK, get him over here so we can keep digging. Have you done another finger stick since I left?"
"Yes, he's up to 114. At least it's moving in the right direction for now." House thought for a moment.
"Don't let him eat anything else. Let's see what happens when only the IV's are pouring glucose into his system."
"He only has two or three cookies left," Chase advised.
"I've got the extra soda here if he needs it."
"Put your phone on speaker," Foreman said to House, who complied with the request. "Chase, what's Thomas' patient and admission numbers? I'll start entering the information so we can get going right after you get here." Chase read off the details from Bell's chart.
"Taub's meeting us by you," Thirteen said. "So you should see the four of us within a minute or two."
"About time," said House as he ended the call. While he appeared to be watching Foreman as he logged the data into the computer, House was in fact rolling more ideas through his head. Never had he been so disappointed to get positive results from tests; it wasn't caused by a seizure, and all blood chemistries are normal. It meant that Thomas was another step closer to exploratory surgery, a road House did not want to travel down. His thoughts were interrupted by Taub's arrival.
"I hate to say it," Taub said as he walked over. "But I can only hope that I'm this healthy when I'm Thomas' age." He held the print out of Bell's tests to House, who frowned as he started to read it over.
"Kidney and liver functions all normal, thyroid perfect, sed rate number right in the middle… nothing to latch on to as the cause," said House sounding disgusted. Foreman and Taub exchanged looks.
"You're thinking about taking him into the O.R.," Taub said. "If we do choose to go that route, I'd wait a day to try and stabilize his blood sugar." House nodded.
"Wednesday would be the soonest I'd have him go under the knife." He turned his head to the door as he heard Chase and Thirteen bringing in Bell. They positioned the gurney by the ultrasound machine and began to prep him for the test. Thirteen draped a sheet just below Thomas' belly button and began to fold up his hospital gown. Bell looked startled and uncomfortable at her actions.
"Sorry… we need to get at your abdomen so the wand can go over all of it and give us images," Thirteen said. "I'll let you do the next part; just roll down the waistband on your underwear and tuck the edge of the sheet into it. That's so we don't get any gel on your clothes or gown." Bell gave Thirteen a wary look as he followed her directions.
"Glad you let me at least keep my skivvies on when I got changed before," he said nervously.
"Take it easy. If she can handle seeing Foreman's junk, she can deal with yours," House said as he approached the gurney. Seeing Bell was confused, he continued. "Foreman and Thirteen used to be Foreteen."
"We dated for a while," Thirteen explained. "It didn't work out, but we're good friends now." Thomas smiled and nodded.
"Good for you two. It does no one any good to harbor bad feelings toward each other."
"Spoken like a true minister, Thomas," Lydia said as she walked into the room. "I came to see how things were going."
"He's healthy as a horse, which is not what we wanted to see," Chase said. "X-ray, EEG and blood tests have all been good." House handed her the papers with the blood test results on them. Lydia shook her head as she looked the numbers over.
"There's not even the slightest variance in anything to zone in on," she said, the frustration that all of them felt heard clearly in her voice. "Did you eat anything out of the ordinary this weekend? Something you've never eaten before?"
"No… nothing I can think of. I did indulge quite a bit yesterday at my friend's eightieth birthday party. It started at three in the afternoon and went on till midnight; the food was non-stop," Bell said. He paused for a second. "I did eat quite a lot of sweets. The whole event was catered with endless, delicious food, a chocolate fountain, and an entire table that looked like a bakery exploded on it."
"You mean the way our kitchen counter usually looks?" House inquired.
"Exactly so," Bell replied. Lydia smiled at the compliments directed toward her.
"Were you thinking he ate something exotic like some form of sushi?" Taub asked. "And that maybe it sent his pancreas into overtime?" Lydia looked a bit embarrassed.
"Honestly, I was clutching at straws. I was remembering one of the hallucinations you told me about from your time in the coma," she said to House.
"You mean old crazy doctor who kept trying to take his clothes off?" he asked. His girlfriend nodded.
"From what I remember about that story, the guy went to some sort of foodie convention and ate something he had a severe allergic reaction to," Thirteen said.
"That's roughly the tale I conjured up," House said. "Unfortunately that doesn't apply here. There's nothing that would kick-start the islets of Langerhans in his pancreas into hyperspace. Shut them down, yes; crank them up, no." He looked at Lydia. "Idiotic idea since you're talking about two different systems in the body… but at least you were willing to stick your neck out with a suggestion." Everyone's jaw, with the exception of House's and Lydia's, were hanging open as Lydia nodded her head.
"You're going to take that from him?" Foreman finally asked.
"Yes," Lydia replied. "Just like I'm going to have to take it from professors who may be even tougher and more demanding of excellence than he is. We were talking a few weeks ago about how things can go in medical school; if I don't start to learn now how to accept and handle blunt, even nasty criticism, I'll be one of those students who wind up visiting the Psych Department because they're having a nervous breakdown. So I told Greg that when I'm helping out with a case, or merely making a suggestion, he has my full permission to call me out the same way he does to all of you. The best teacher is experience, and I'll get the best experiences I ever could from working with all of you under Greg's supervision."
"Can't say I'd argue with you on that point," Chase said. He looked at Foreman. "Is Thomas all logged in and ready to go?" House picked up Bell's chart, and began to page through it.
"Yep. Which one of us is driving?" Foreman said holding out the scanning wand. He wasn't sure if House trusted one of them to do it, or wanted to perform this test himself.
"Check his blood pressure." His team looked startled at House's direction.
"We did before the EEG," Thirteen said. "It was… "
"I saw what it was," House snapped. "For someone who was brought in with a twenty-three glucose reading and is on blood pressure medicine, 150/90 doesn't add up."
"He wasn't hooked up to the monitor in the ER until after we had stabilized him and he was responsive," Taub noted.
"And at that point I was scared out of my wits," Bell said.
"Lie still for a moment, Thomas," Thirteen said wrapping the cuff from the wall sphygmomanometer around his arm. She pumped the cuff up and took a reading.
"He's consistent… 148/89."
"I'm not shaky at the moment," Thomas noted. "Just nervous." House wasn't entirely satisfied with the reading.
"Are you sure you took your medicine this morning? You haven't been forgetting it?" Bell rolled his eyes.
"You know the routine I follow; you've seen me when I stay at your house. I take out a glass for my juice, I take out the pill bottle and place it next to the glass. Then I pour the juice, take the pill and eat the rest of my breakfast. Your mother got me into that habit when I first needed the medicine." House knew Bell was right; he had seen him follow the exact steps he had just named. Putting the thought to the back of his mind, he took the scanning wand from Foreman.
"My turn," House said, leaning his cane against the counter and moving to the gurney. Thirteen lowered the head to have Bell lay flat, and the test began. House squirted some gel onto Thomas' belly, and moved the probe all around, intently watching the monitor as he did. He took pictures of several areas, but they were merely to have a reference point; nothing worth noting was making an appearance. His team and even Lydia asked him to focus on several images, but all wound up to be disappointing in revealing any clues. Thomas was concerned from the beginning of the test, but his anxiety heightened as he watched his son's face and tried to interpret his reactions. It took a bit, but Bell soon realized that the same blank stare House gave a poker hand was also at work here; give nothing away.
"Nothing lost, nothing gained," Chase noted as House ended the test and began to wipe the scanning wand. Lydia stepped over with paper towel and began to clean Thomas' abdomen as Taub raised his head up. She saw that Bell seemed uncomfortable as she tried to remove all of the gel.
"Here you go, Thomas," she said handing him some towels. "I have the feeling you'd rather do this yourself." The elderly man smiled and took the towels from her, appreciative of her discretion.
"So his body is still refusing to yield any secrets," said House frowning as he washed his hands. "One last way to play peek-a-boo."
"I'll see if the MRI room is clear," Thirteen said. The MRI was located diagonally across from the ultrasound lab, and she returned quickly.
"Orthopedics is in there now. They said they'll be done in fifteen minutes."
"Maybe the break will give you a chance to eat this," Lydia said, holding out a brown paper bag. House knew the sandwich and chips Lydia had packed for his lunch was in there; Bell had already eaten most of the cookies.
"I'll hold on to that until later," he said. "I think I'm going to do an overnight here with him," House said indicating his father. "He's going to need finger sticks at short, regular intervals; I don't know that I want to rely on the nursing staff. All it would take is two emergencies at once, and he gets ignored for too long."
"Speaking of which," Chase said pulling out the glucose monitor. "How are you feeling?" he asked Bell.
"I don't have any of the shakiness or sweating I felt when my sugar was low earlier, but I do have a horrible headache; and I want to do nothing more than take a nap right now."
"Common reactions by the body after a hypoglycemic event," said Thirteen. Bell winced as Chase performed the test.
"Damn! He's lost more than ten percent from the last test; he's down to 98. Want him to eat again?" Chase asked. In response, House popped open the soda he bought for his dad and handed it to Thomas.
"Start in on my lunch again," House said indicating the cookies. Bell did so eagerly, not needing to be told twice.
"Oh, Greg, I have an idea," Lydia said.
"Hope it's better than your last one," cracked House. His girlfriend narrowed her eyes at him as she folded her arms across her chest.
"This has nothing to do directly with the case, so put it in neutral for now," she replied with a glint in her eyes. "I realized that Thomas' car was still over in the Dunkin' Donuts parking lot. I gave them a call and told them we'd come and get it by later this afternoon. If you're going to do an overnight here with Thomas, you'll need a car. You can take a ride with me, we can pick it up, and you'll be all set to go."
"I filled the tank this morning, so it's all ready for joyriding," Bell said with a smile. House screwed his face into a look of disapproval.
"I don't think hot rodding around town in a four-year-old, beige Toyota Camry is going to earn me any points with NASCAR."
"It's newer and flashier than what you drive," Chase remarked.
"Except mine has an all-important secret weapon; handicapped plates. His does not," House said pointing to Bell. "Plus there's another advantage to me stopping back at the house; I can snag some of Fraulein's chili that somehow had leftovers from last night."
"Both Dutch ovens I have were filled," Lydia said with a laugh. "I hope there would be some leftovers. So, you still have to do the MRI on Thomas, and I have a conference call in about fifteen minutes. I'll text you when I'm done and we can head out then." House nodded.
"How hard are you going to have to fight for this one?" he asked.
"Oh, this one is in the bag; the insurance company screwed themselves over by not disputing the claim within the terms of the contract we have with them. They're liable for the whole thing… I checked with our Legal department. In fact, Frank reviewed the contract for me and is going to be sitting in on the call," she said referring to one of the in-house lawyers. Foreman shook his head.
"Lydia, I'm just glad you're on our side," he said with a laugh. She gave a mock curtsy then looked at her watch.
"I'd better get going. See you all later." House was standing in the doorway as Lydia exited the room and he followed her to the elevators.
"You know you're incredibly sexy when you're smart, clever, and sneaky," he said.
"I'm glad you think so," Lydia said as she pushed the call button. House was about to reply, when he was startled by his girlfriend suddenly slumping forward against the wall, her knees buckling.
"What the hell?" House grabbed her by the arms and pulled her upright; he leaned her against himself, and was about to lead her to a chair when she pushed back away from him.
"I… I'm sorry. I'm OK," Lydia protested.
"Funny, people who are OK don't have their skin tone turn ashen white and almost hit the bricks," House said, still holding onto her arms.
"My stomach was a little off, so I haven't eaten lunch yet. I probably just need to get some food into me," she said dismissively.
"That's a fairly extreme reaction to simply having a delayed meal… sure I'm not dealing with hypoglycemia times two? Maybe you and Bell can swap sugar-coated war stories." Lydia managed to laugh at her boyfriend's comments.
"I'm fine, Greg. I'll manage to get something into me before the phone call so I'm ready to do battle on behalf of the hospital," she said with a smile. Lydia hesitated. "But there is something I need to talk to you about." It wasn't in House's nature to panic, but the tone of Lydia's voice and the fact that she was staring at the floor let him know something was very much bothering her.
"How soon do I have to have my things packed and be out?" he joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Don't be ridiculous," Lydia replied, nearly choking on her words. "I need to ask you your opinion on something." House began to see the direction of the conversation.
"I take it that it's a medical opinion you want from me," he said with a gentler than usual tone to his voice. Lydia raised her eyes up to his, and House could see she was tearing up.
"Yes," was her simple answer. He thought quickly, but realized that with the call that she had to deal with, there was no way for them to talk any sooner. House took a deep breath.
"Ditch the morons from the insurance company as soon as you can. Even if we're not finished down here, I can have them complete the test," he noted, gesturing to his team who were just coming out of the ultrasound room with Bell. "I have a feeling I already know what the results are going to be. You've already missed your ride upstairs; let's see if we can convince another one down into dungeon." House reached over and pressed the elevator button with the tip of his cane. He tried to assess Lydia's condition as she looked up at the indicator lights for the elevator, avoiding his gaze. The color was returning to her face, and her demeanor appeared normal. He was sure that the incident would be delved into and discussed later. The bell pinged signaling the arrival of the elevator car; the doors opened and Lydia stepped inside.
"I'll send you a text when I'm done," she said, finally facing him. House gave no response, but didn't break eye contact with her until he was forced to by the closing door. Hoping he had put a neutral expression on his face, he turned back to Bell and his team who were still waiting for the MRI machine. This was seeming like a waste to House as more and more time passed; the temptation to call off the test was growing by the minute. Suddenly, the orthopedics team started to leave the testing room, and he admonished himself for considering cancelling things. House knew it would be best if they went ahead and eliminated all possibilities.
"House… sorry, but I have to get back to the office to finish some things up," Foreman said as he walked over. "But it should free Wilson to come down."
"Have fun pushing your lead," House replied making his way into the MRI room. It was Taub who was at the console this time, registering all of Thomas' information; Chase and Thirteen were helping Bell get on the sliding table of the machine, giving him instructions so the test would go smoothly.
"I hope I can stay still for as long as you need me to," Thomas said. "I'll try, but I can't promise."
"You've been complaining that all you want is some sleep," House said. "A nap is what I've most frequently used the MRI for." Bell's eyes widened.
"You're pulling my leg; you've done no such thing," he said.
"Oh, yes he has," a voice replied. "Multiple times." Wilson entered the room, and said quick hellos to everyone. House gave him a look as his friend came over and stood next to him.
"Were you the victim of a lot of atomic wedgies when you were a kid? If the answer is yes, I understand why," House commented.
"I passed Foreman on my way down here," Wilson said, ignoring the dig. "He told me no luck so far," he said looking at Bell as he sat on the exam table.
"Greg, do we have to even bother with this?" Bell asked. "I'm not naïve; I know you're going to have to do exploratory surgery to try and figure this thing out." He seemed very uncomfortable, but it was hard for the others in the room to see if he was nervous about the test itself, or the diagnosis it might provide.
"If we back out now, it'd be like a guy telling a hooker to forget it after he paid for the motel room. We've got the time and space… might as well see it through to the end," replied House.
"It's a non-invasive test," Chase noted trying to soothe Bell. "And we might get some clues to help us know how to proceed with the surgery." Thomas looked back and forth between Chase and House.
"You two will be in the operating room?" House was getting antsy; he wanted to calm Bell down and just get the test over and done with.
"One or both of us will be. Nothing's going to happen until Wednesday, so quit worrying and drink your soda," House said as he walked over. Bell took two more gulps, then handed the can over to his son.
"It's empty," Bell said.
"Good… that should hold you until this is over," replied House. "Now lay back and relax."
"Want another finger stick before we start?" Thirteen asked.
"No, just get it going." House went back over to Wilson, who had moved to a position where they could see the monitor, but still lean against the wall. Ever since he had his hip replacement, Wilson had become very aware of the necessity to give your limbs a rest once in a while. He and House were close enough to see things clearly, but were also able to talk without the others being aware of their conversation.
"You want to run this one since you'll be in the O.R.?" Taub asked Chase. "You'll know what you want to look for."
"Yeah, good idea," Chase said as he slid into the chair in front of the screen. Wilson moved over closer to House as final adjustments were made.
"Has Lydia talked to you yet?" he asked in almost a whisper. "About… the way she's been feeling lately? Annie's concerned." The test had begun, and House never took his eyes off the screen as he answered Wilson.
"So am I after she almost keeled over by the elevators before." Wilson turned to House.
"What happened? Did she actually pass out?"
"No, but her skin tone made her look like she was Anne Rice's new leading lady," House said referring to the author who favored vampire characters. He leaned forward to get a better look at an area that Chase chose to linger over; he quickly realized that there was no abnormality to be found.
"What… are you going to do? Run some tests? I mean… do you have any idea of what it could be?"
"We're picking up Bell's car in a little while and bringing it back to the house; Fraulein wants my medical opinion on something." Wilson closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.
"Do you think she knows what's wrong and didn't want to tell you while at work?"
"I think she has some theories and wants to run them past me. My thought is she's assuming worst case scenario based on something we talked about over the weekend… who takes care of the kids if something happens to her." Wilson leaned his head back against the wall, brought his hand up to his brow and began to rub it.
"She's mentioned the subject several times recently to Annie and it's been freaking her out. Do me a favor… when you find out what's going on, clue me in." House didn't reply as he stared at something on the monitor. "House… please? It'll either be me or Annie bugging the hell out of you if you don't say something. I hate to say it… but I think you'd rather deal with me."
"Actually, I'd rather deal with your wife. The scenery is better… she's got a bigger chest than you." Wilson gave his friend a disapproving look.
"That's because she's pregnant," he said. House smirked.
"She had a nice shelf even before you knocked her up." Wilson nodded his head.
"Well, yeah… I did notice. It was a little hard to miss." House managed a smile at his friend's discomfort in talking about his wife in a lecherous manner; he was definitely more protective of Annie than he had been with any of his ex-wives.
"I'll give you the 411 on Fraulein when I know something." Unfortunately for House and his team, the MRI revealed no hints as far as what was making Bell ill. Wilson watched as his friend repeatedly rapped his cane on the floor as he paced back and forth.
"I guess the only thing you can do is work on stabilizing Thomas tomorrow and do the surgery the next day," he offered.
"If he's stable by then," House said grimly.
"Hate to abandon you, but Foreman and I have a meeting with the facilities manager in a few minutes. Keep me in the loop… about everyone." Wilson gave House a quick pat on the back as he called out goodbye to Bell and the team, then headed to the elevators. Chase did another glucose test on Bell before they left to return to the ICU; the number had dropped again. House handed over the remnants of his soda as Thirteen called to dietary to request a tray of food. The trip back to Bell's room was made in uncomfortable silence in the face of their failure to find any clues; not unusual, but most unwanted. As the team got Thomas settled back into his bed, House received a text from Lydia. She was finished with her call and wanted to know if Bell was back in his room; admitting had given her some paperwork for him to sign. Replying that he was back on the second floor, House waited near the elevators for Lydia to come up; he wanted to see how she was doing. The doors soon opened and Lydia came onto the floor. She looked tired, but otherwise fine.
"Tests all revealed nothing," House said as they headed to the hallway. "We've got a full meal ordered for him; let's see if that can stick with him more than cookies and soda." House's head was facing forward, but he kept stealing sideways glances at Lydia to make sure she was steady as she walked. The looks he was giving his girlfriend were not lost on her.
"Stop it," she finally said, stopping to turn and look at him.
"What? I wasn't aware that walking without engaging in stimulating conversation is a crime," House replied, trying to feign innocence. Taking a few more steps, he realized Lydia hadn't moved and he returned to stand in front of her.
"You're looking at me the way you'd look at a patient when you're trying to assess them," she said.
"If you want my medical opinion later, then it's a good idea to get an assessment going now," he replied, looking away at first, then back at his girlfriend. "Or are you afraid of what I might see?" Lydia rolled her eyes.
"Greg, please… not now." She continued down the hall to Bell's room, pausing a moment before she stepped in.
"Hello," she said with a cheerfulness she did not truly feel.
"Hello, dear," Bell said. "It would seem I failed all of my tests."
"No, you passed all of them… which I'm afraid is worse," Lydia replied. "In the rush to treat you and get those cursed tests started, it seems procedures weren't followed; you were admitted, but you never signed any of the paperwork. I had stopped by admitting to drop off some files for them to verify, and I got handed these in return." She held up a small packet of papers, walked over, and began to make room on his tray for him to sign the materials.
"Oh… I'm going to need my reading specs to do this," Bell said. "They're in the front pocket of the little backpack I had."
"It's in the closet," Chase said. Lydia retrieved the bag and found the glasses right where Bell said they would be. Taking them from her, he looked at the first sheet. Lydia placed the bag on the end of the bed, waiting for Thomas to finish so she could ask him if there was anything else he needed from the pack before she returned it to the closet.
"That's a HIPPA agreement; it's a basic right to privacy document," she explained. "Although, I have to admit… I called Jack and Millie and told them what happened. They send their love, and said they're coming up tomorrow to see you." Thomas smiled.
"Thank you. I was thinking about contacting them when things quieted down, but I was a little afraid; this coming on only a short time after Blythe passed… Millie can be terribly emotional. I'm just not up to handling anything like that right now." Bell went back to signing the papers Lydia gave him, while Chase and Taub sat down in the chairs that were in the room. Thirteen wandered over to the window, and sat down on the sill. Each of the team members had a feeling they knew how House wanted to proceed, especially since he had said earlier that he would stay with Bell overnight to monitor him. It was the next step, surgery, that none of them wanted to discuss with their boss. House was distracting himself with a game on his phone while he leaned against the doorframe. He was anxious to get out of there and have Lydia start talking about what was going on with her; his team could handle Bell for now.
"Thomas, where are your keys? Greg and I are going to need them to pick up your car," Lydia said. He didn't answer right away as he read over another bit of paperwork.
"I don't remember things too clearly, but I think when the police were with me at the donut shop, one of them put the keys and my cell phone into my pack."
"Do you mind if I look for them?" she asked.
"Be my guest," Thomas said with a frown. "I'm busy trying to figure something out."
"What's the matter?" asked Chase.
"Well, it says that I should sign this form to consent for treatment… but you've already done plenty of treatment on me without me signing this. What would happen if I refused?" Bell asked with a twinkle in his eye.
"Then you'd find out just how good I am at faking your signature," House replied without looking up from his game. "Just sign the damn thing so we can get going. That bowl of Fraulein's chili waiting at home is calling my name." Bell shook his head in amusement at House's response. He finished up the papers while Lydia fished around for his keys. There were a lot of things in the bag that she had to poke through, and wound up putting both hands in to aid in the search. In a moment, her right hand found the keys and she smiled as she placed them on the bed. However, a second after that, her facial expression changed as she withdrew her left hand from the bag. In it was a prescription bottle.
"Thomas, what are these?" He looked down to the end of the bed.
"Those are my blood pressure pills; I always bring them with me when I'm going to stay overnight."
"This is not your blood pressure medicine," Lydia said quickly looking around the room to make sure everyone was listening. "I've seen it on the kitchen counter many times at our house, and this is something different." She looked at the bottle again. "This isn't your regular pharmacy, either."
"No, that's the pharmacy at the care center I went to."
"They have a pharmacy there, too?" Thirteen asked incredulously. "I don't believe it." Chase and Taub had stood and come closer to the bed as did Thirteen. House had an annoyed look on his face as he slipped his phone into his pocket and walked over.
"You said they gave you a script," he said tersely. "You never said anything about you filling it."
"I had to," protested Bell. "Or else I would run out over the weekend." Lydia had opened the bottle and spilled some pills into her hand.
"These are bigger than your blood pressure pills; didn't you notice the difference?" She wasn't annoyed or mad, but rather concerned that perhaps Thomas was losing some of his sharpness.
"Of course I saw the difference; the young man told me it was the same medicine, but from a different manufacturer." House took one of the pills from Lydia's hand as did Chase, Thirteen and Taub. They all rolled their eyes as they looked the medicine over.
"This is a different company alright," House said grimly, looking up at his team and Lydia. "One that doesn't make blood pressure pills." He turned to his girlfriend. "Want to redeem yourself for your idiotic guess earlier in the day?" House held up the pill in front of her.
"I'd say it's Sulfonamide," she said. House nodded.
"Congratulations… you've won the right to continue to tag along with the witch doctors," he replied.
"What the devil is sulfera… whatever she said," Bell asked, becoming more fearful and confused as the moments passed.
"It's a class of drugs given to type two diabetics to lower their blood sugar," explained Thirteen.
"And when given to a non-diabetic can be extremely dangerous, as you just found out," noted Taub.
"Well then why in the world did the moron give it to me?" raged Bell. The older gentleman sounded so much like his son when he said the word 'moron' that Chase and Lydia both began to chuckle.
"To me this just more proof that these pop-up clinics are dangerous," Thirteen said. "There really wasn't anything for them to diagnose because he's perfectly healthy; they couldn't screw up in that area. But dispensing drugs incorrectly? That's a recipe for disaster." Thomas had calmed down, but he didn't look very happy.
"I'm so sorry for all this trouble," he said looking at everyone. "Is there anything I could have done that would have prevented this?"
"Yeah… when it comes to your health, only go to people and places you know you can trust," House said. "And even then, ask questions." Thomas nodded.
"I guess from now on I'll have to make the effort to get up here," he said.
"You come up to see us at least twice a month, if not more," Lydia pointed out. "There's no reason it can't be more often if needed." She replaced the pills she had spilled out back into the bottle.
"Or we could come down to you," Chase offered. "Any excuse for a road trip is a good one." House was about to say something about taking his motorcycle out for a ride, when he noticed a change in his dad's demeanor.
"How do you feel?" he asked. Thirteen grabbed the glucose monitor and started to prepare it.
"Low," Bell replied.
"I'll get some juice," Lydia said, heading for the hallway.
"I'll check on his food tray," said Taub, following behind her. The two of them didn't get very far as they were met at the door by a woman from dietary services holding a tray.
"Reverend Bell?" she asked.
"Yes, thank you," Lydia said as she took the food.
"He's down to 52," announced Thirteen. "There should be a couple of apple juices on there and two rolls, plus the entrée, soup and two desserts."
"Good Lord… I'll look like… a beached whale… if…"
"Quit talking and start drinking," House said noticing Bell's breathing was labored. Lydia had opened one of the juices and held on to it as Thomas drank. After consuming both drinks and some of the rigatoni with Marinara sauce that was his entrée, he was noticeably better.
"When am I going to stop having these incidents? They're exhausting," complained Bell.
"How many of those pills did you take?" Chase asked.
"Two… one yesterday morning, and one this morning."
"You're lucky you didn't take more. As it is, you'll be a guest of the Hotel PPTH for the next three days," House said.
"Three days!" Thomas exclaimed.
"That's how long it takes for the drug to get out of your system," Thirteen explained. "In the meantime, you need to stay hooked up to the IV's and monitored carefully."
"If I have no other choice," he said sadly, stabbing another bit of pasta. Not willing to delay his departure any more than it already had been, House kept any comments he wanted to say to Bell in check.
"You three can manage him for now," House said to his team. "I'm going to stop home and grab some primo chili. Then I'll be back to babysit him the rest of the night."
"House, I don't have any plans until later tonight," Chase said. "It's almost three-thirty now… why don't you take your time coming back here? You're not going to get much rest overnight with the way he's going to have to be tested. I can stay until eight." House looked toward the door where Lydia was standing; a little extra time at home would be useful right now.
"Thanks," House said. "Sounds good." Lydia moved back over to the bed. She gave Thomas a quick hug and kiss.
"You behave yourself… I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, dear. I promise not to cause more trouble," Bell said.
"See you two tomorrow," Thirteen said as House and Lydia moved to the door.
"Night, Lydia; Night, House," Taub said.
"Night," House replied.
"Good night," Lydia said to all.
"House," Chase said. "What do you want us to do with these?" He held up the bottle of Sulfonamide. A look of disgust came over House's face as he glared at the pills.
"Hold on to them for now. I'll lock them in my desk when I get back. And get him something that will actually do him some good like Lisinopril, his usual poison." House exited the room before anyone else tried to engage him in conversation. Lydia was following behind him, noting that the way he strode down the hall indicated he was either annoyed or mad… or both. When they got to the elevators, House slammed his hand against the call button.
"Hon, what's the matter? Why are you so angry?" House didn't look at her, but instead stared down at the floor.
"You know when the worst time to hear 'I told you so' is? When you have to say it to yourself." He turned to Lydia. "When I heard they were bringing Bell in, I knew I should have let the ER staff handle it."
"What? Why?" House turned back to the elevator doors. The whirring sound of the motor indicated it was soon arriving.
"What do I always tell the team? Don't get emotionally involved with a patient. Don't treat anyone you have an emotional attachment to; your common sense and logic goes right into the gutter. Another doctor would have thought to question the 'script' he got from that medicine show clinic." The doors to the elevator car opened and he and Lydia stepped inside.
"Greg, stop being so harsh on yourself... " Lydia began.
"I'm being harsh on Moe, Larry and Curly, too," House said. "My idiotic team engaged in the height of moronic behavior."
"It was just a miscommunication," said Lydia, trying to calm him down.
"It was a series of mistakes leading to missed opportunities to wrap this up quickly and save everyone some problems." He shook his head. "I never should have trusted him."
"Of course you should have; Thomas is your father," admonished Lydia.
"He's my patient," House replied, almost shouting in frustration. "And I never trust any of them." The elevator doors opened onto the lobby; the two left the car and took a few steps.
"I have to take these papers to admitting… I'll be right back," Lydia said quietly. She reached out and put her hand on his arm. "Try to calm down." House watched as his girlfriend walked away. He let out a deep breath knowing that it was partly Bell's situation that had him wound up; the other part was the question of what was troubling her. House went over to a wall, leaned against it and closed his eyes.
This very long and stressful day was far from over.