House had been right. Cuddy was more than happy to take over Mr. Park's care from Dr. Livingston. Of course she wanted the i:s dotted and t:s crossed in the paperwork, but since the request for transfer came from the patient and his family, there was really no problem.
"So can we go on the ambulance to get her father?" House asked.
"You don't want to travel in an ambulance," Cuddy frowned. "You don't even want to meet the patients, why would you want to make a special trip to get this one and then travel back with him?"
"I don't really," House admitted. "But I do want to see Dr. Livingstone's face when he has to hand his patient over to me."
"Sorry, House," Cuddy refused. "You have clinic duty. You cannot go."
"You are hiding something from me," House glared at Cuddy. She was up to something.
"No, I'm not hiding anything. There just is no reason for you to go to Princeton General," Cuddy insisted.
"Aha!" House realised what was going on. "You decided to go yourself, didn't you? You want to reserve the pleasure of rubbing Livingstone's nose on the fact that even our medical students are better trained than the doctors at PG."
"Yes, I'm going myself," Cuddy said with dignity. "But I'm not going there to rub anyone's nose in anything. It's just easier for the paperwork."
"Sure, it is," House didn't believe her for a second. "Fine, have the fun. But I want a detailed report!"
"House! You are giving Ms. Park a very strange picture of the running of this hospital and the doctors in it." Cuddy tried to rein him in.
"Oh, she is going to get a very good picture of me in the near future," House dismissed Cuddy's concerns. "Firstly her father is going to be my patient, and secondly she is going to tag along with me for the time being." The latter part of House's announcement caught both Cuddy's and Soo's attention.
"For the time being?" Cuddy wondered. "How long is that?"
"Oh, till I say enough," House was pointedly playing with his cane, though Cuddy couldn't see why. "Isn't that right, Soo?"
"Yes, sir," Soo agreed – though she did swallow nervously.
"What about her studies," Cuddy asked feeling suspicious, though not quite knowing why. House was definitely up to something.
"She can copy from friends if she misses classes for this. Besides, how much do you think she is going to learn anyway while worrying over her Father?" House shrugged. "Why are you so against this? Haven't you been trying for years to get me to take on students for training?"
"Yes, I have tried" Cuddy agreed. "But the operative word in that is tried. You have usually resisted it to your utmost ability. So why now?"
"I have this sudden urge to give back," House looked at her with an overly earnest gaze. "I feel I can teach her a lesson or two, show her what is in store for her, give her a taste of what's coming to her. You know, just give her a glimpse of what could be."
Cuddy bit her lip in hesitation. She looked at Soo, who was rather pale, but seemed determined. "Is this what you want? Are you ok with tagging along with Dr. House for a few days?"
"Yes," Soo's answer came swiftly and without the slightest hesitation. "He is accepting my Father as his patient. I am honoured that he is taking interest in me, too."
"Good," House smiled – and Cuddy got even more nervous, but what could she do! – "That is settled then."
"Please, there is one more thing," Soo interrupted before the doctors could close the meeting. "I need to ask something, concerning my Father."
"Sure, what is it?" Cuddy smiled reassuringly.
"If it is muscle death that my Father has, I would like you to tell him about the treatment that might restore his leg entirely." Soo spoke timidly, but again her determination was apparent.
"Four day blockage has in all likelihood caused so much damage that the best option for the patient is amputation," House said neutrally. "With a prosthetic leg he has a good chance to live a normal life. There are kids who run the hundred meter dash in under 12 seconds wearing them."
"Yeah, but they just don't look so pretty," Soo dared to flip back at him. Though again she seemed almost scared to death the moment the words were out of her mouth. "My Father is in some ways a very old fashioned man. Very much of the old school. For him to choose which kind of cripple he will be just in order to escape death or pain is not an option. I'm almost certain that he will refuse to let you operate on his leg at all, if both the options will leave him crippled."
House stared at Soo without a word. Cuddy wanted to say something, but the atmosphere in her office was so thick she was afraid that the slightest sound might end up in an explosion.
"Have you spoken to him about this so called option yet?" House asked Soo.
"No," Soo said immediately. "I'm aware that his problem might not be muscle death. It can be cancer, infection that is resistant to antibiotics or it could even be that it's referred pain from somewhere else entirely. I didn't see any point in speaking to him about treatments before we know what really is wrong with him."
"Good," House nodded. "The treatment you are suggesting is extremely dangerous. Are you familiar with Russian roulette?"
"The one where you take five bullets out of a revolver, leave one, roll the chamber and then shoot yourself?" Soo asked.
"That's the one," House agreed. "This treatment would be like playing Russian roulette with reversed odds with your Father's life. He would have one in six chance of even surviving the treatment at all, and his chances off getting his leg back in fairly good condition after the treatment are even smaller. If he survives, it is true that his leg will probably be in better condition than if we just remove the dead muscle tissue. How much better, we have no way of knowing but we do know that the if in if he survives is very big."
Cuddy was by this time sitting behind her desk in utter silence. She stared at House with wide eyes, and covered her mouth with her hand to make sure not even a sigh escaped. She didn't know how much House was actually revealing about his own operation while talking to Soo, but she knew she wanted to remember every word and she was going to go through every one of them in her mind with a fine-tooth comb to get the last bit of information about House out of them.
"Even so," Soo said. "It is up to my Father to decide what he wants and he needs to know about that possibility."
"Fine," House seemed to make up his mind. "This is what we do – and this is not negotiable, so if I find out that you have talked to your Father about it, I will immediately remove myself from his case and good luck trying to get any other doctor to even listen to you on that subject." Soo nodded but didn't dare speak. House went on: "If we find out that your father has had an infarction that has resulted in muscle death I will present him with the two conventional options and I will strongly recommend amputation. I will not even hint that there are any other treatments in existence. If, and only if, he refuses both treatments, and if I'm convinced that he really does mean it. That he truly would rather die than choose which kind of cripple he will be, then, and only then, will I bring up the third option. If once I have explained to him the dangers in it, he still chooses it we will need wavers from him, from you, your brother, your mother and everyone in your family who could even think of suing us for having done that instead of the safer procedures. If all that comes together I will do it your way."
"Thank you," Soo didn't think it was safe to say anything else, but then she didn't even want to say anything else. She had done what she could for her father, now it was up to him.
"Right then, the clinic calls," House stated. "Since I'm not allowed to have my fun with Dr. Livingston and the other incompetent jerks in Princeton General."
"No you are not," Cuddy confirmed. "It would not be fair, since we have our quota of jerks as well."
"But not incompetent ones," House reminded her.
"Maybe not," Cuddy had to agree. "I would like a word with you alone, though, before I go."
"Ok," House stopped and turned to Soo. "You... hmm... What was your name?"
"Soo Park," Soo had a feeling she was going to get heartily sick of her own name long before House was done with her. She really, really, really ought not to have grabbed his cane.
"Right, Soo," House repeated. "Go and check with Brenda how the heart attack woman, whatever her name was, is doing. Then wait for me in the clinic."
Soo left feeling relieved that she was going to have a moment's respite. House turned to Cuddy.
"So what was it you wanted, mistress?" He asked. "A quickie, I'm afraid, is out of the question. I'm not as fast as I used to be. Old age and all, you know."
"Very funny!" Cuddy huffed. "Are you really going to recommend the removal of the blockage to Mr. Park as a treatment?"
"If it is an infarction and if he really refuses all other treatments, we don't really have a choice." House responded.
"You didn't tell me the odds when you requested the procedure for yourself," Cuddy reminded him.
"You didn't need to know," House said. "You knew there were risks, but that was all you needed to know, as I was the one who suggested the treatment. As the patient I had the right to risk what I wanted. It wasn't as if I didn't know what I was doing."
"Did you tell Stacy?" Cuddy asked.
"No. She didn't need to know," House answered. "Mind you, she did what I was afraid of anyway. I didn't tell her how dangerous it was because I was sure she would find a way to circumvent me. Ironically enough, the little I did tell her, and what you told her, was enough to make her do it anyway. I really should have revoked her medical proxy."
"Soo seems to think her father would rather be dead than a cripple," Cuddy mused. "Was that your reason, too? For refusing amputation?"
"Why do you try and find my reasons now? It's all over and done with," House questioned. "It never was as simple as just a choice between two things. I don't believe it is for Mr. Park, either. And I don't think Soo thinks so either. If I preferred death to being a cripple, I could do something about it. I am a doctor, you know."
"I know, I know," Cuddy sighed. "But I cannot help but wonder what if...What if I hadn't presented that middle ground option to Stacy? What if I had refused to go against your wishes? What if you were right, what if I robbed you of a life without pain?"
"What if is the most useless pair of words in English language," House told her. "I can tell you what would have happened if you hadn't told Stacy about the other option. She would have talked you into amputating. And frankly, after that I would have hated you. The rest of it, who knows. There is no point in dwelling on it. What is, is, and you did what you thought was best. Sure, I'm the one who is living with the consequences, but as I told you once before, your guilt is what makes you a great administrator."
"Thanks, but originally I meant to be a great doctor," Cuddy sounded a little defeated.
"You give others room to be that," House decided to be nice for once. "Besides, you're not that bad a doctor either, when you don't let emotions get in the way."
"Gee, thanks," Cuddy said, but she did feel comforted.
"Was that all?" House asked. "Only I have to go to the clinic and you have to go and get my patient."
"Yes, that was all," Cuddy told him.
House walked out of Cuddy's office to the clinic. Soo was waiting for him at the nurses' station.
"So?" House asked.
"Yes, it was a heart attack," Soo replied. "And Mrs. Burns is in stable condition, and her family has been alerted."
"Hah! I told you it was a heart attack," House gloated. "This is turning to be an excellent day. Five patients to Cuddy and you as an icing on the cake!"
Soo had a feeling she most definitely did not want to be the icing on Dr. House's cake.