Chapter 17

"House!" shouted Mathiessen sitting in her usual seat at the glass table, "It's not Lupus! Drop it!"

"Why do you say that?" he retorted, "It all fits!"

"It's never lupus." She glared at him.

"If it was never lupus, it wouldn't be a disease."

"It's not lupus, House. It's got to be something else."

House stared at the whiteboard. He tilted his head and thought for a moment. "Get me an EEG."

"An EEG?" she asked rudely, confused. "Caryn's got no neuro-" She was cut off.

"Get me an EEG!"

With this, Mathiessen stormed out of the room. What was House thinking?! An EEG?! Their newest patient, Caryn, had NO neurological problems... Mathiessen remembered her own EEGs. How she hated them so. Now she began to wonder how much torture House and his team were putting their patients under. All these mean, boreing, dumb tests. It must be so... horrible. Mathiessen felt bad about her career for the first time in her life, and this didn't go unoticed by House.

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"So?"

"She's got epilepsy." Mathiessen sighed dropping the scans on House's desk. Why did he always have to be right?

House stared at them thinking for a second. "She's not the only one..." House raised his eyebrows suggestively at Mathiessen.

Confused, she looked at him before realizing what he meant. "You... you..."

House continued to read a file.

"That's not Caryn's file is it?"

"You had hayfever AND epilepsy? A small case of anemia too, I see..." House continued to read.

"You had no right to..."

"That must have sucked." He didn't look up.

"It wasn't that bad."

"Oh... trying to sound modest again, are we? You don't fool anyone you know."

Mathiessen stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"Everyone knows you're proud of yourself, for getting all the answers you get and all." He finally looked up at her.

She just stared at him.

"You have right to be proud. After all, overcome --"

"I didn't overcome anything. It was just absonce epilepsy, the hayfever sucked, but I didn't 'suffer' from it. The anemia was barely even noticed. I AM proud of myself, but not because I overcame any medical condition... because I worked hard to get where I am."

House looked down at the file again.

"Can I have that back please?"

"You overdosed on narcotics?!" He laughed almost, "Love to hear that story..."

She stared, "It was an accident. I... My neuroligist over prescribed me... It... I didn't pass out... I just... I just got dizzy, and disoriented... House... can I have my file back... please?" She glared at him.

House handed her the file.

"You do background checks and medical histories on every fellow you get?"

"Just the ones I know have something to hide."

"I'm not hiding anything."

"Then why didn't I know about it until now?"

"I don't boast about it. Like I said, I overcame nothing. If you would have asked, I would have told you!" She grabbed her file. House just looked at her.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sure..."

House looked at the floor. Well, now that he knew all her little secrets, he had to wonder... how does someone get epilepsy, anemia, AND hayfever?

"Stop thinking!"

"I can't."

"I know what you're thinking about."

"Liar." He quipped.

"You're wondering how I got three diseases." House urged her to continue.

"I guess you can blame my mom. Her mom was epileptic; her dad had hayfever. The anemia... well... that's all on me." She smiled and left the room.

House was totally taken back by her. How does someone go from spending their life at a doctor's office to wanting to work in one the rest of their lives? Juding by her, she had no personal life; all she cared about was this. Why?

"I can hear you thinking!" she shouted from the hall. House smiled.