Hi guys! Sorry it took me so long to publish the next chapter! Was kinda busy with that thing called… um… life. But here it is. :)

Chapter 4- One Patient.

"Doctor Magnus will return shortly," Terrence assured the young woman who was pacing nervously in the room. She looked up at him, and he suddenly realized how similar her eyes are to her mother's.

"They left a few hours ago," Ashley said, still pacing around the room. It was clear to him she had an important information for her mother. "They should have called by now."

"They have-"

"Yes, four hours ago, to say they needed a judge," she cut him off. "And they're not answering their phones." A moment later she finally stopped as an idea came into her mind. She quickly took her phone out, pressing the numbers as fast as one can. Moments later the person on the other side picked up, and she started talking. "Can you track down mom and Will by their phones?"

The man on the other side smiled slightly as he pressed a few buttons on his computer's keyboard. "Sure." He waited a moment as the computer worked, tracking Magnus and Will's cellphones using the special Sanctuary computer chips. "What's going on?"

"The abnormal they picked up could be dangerous. They're not answering their phones. They might be in trouble."

"More trouble than in any of your other adventures to find abnormals?" Henry chuckled to himself.

"She thinks he's a half Vamp half Empath, and word on the street is he's dangerous." She replied quietly, moving away from Wexford's hearing range. "They only have one gun. If they're still at the hospital, that wouldn't be a problem, but-"

"-If they're outside alone…" Henry completed. "Yeah. Got it. According to this, they're already in NYC. They're driving towards the Sanctuary. They should be fine."

"We're going to meet them." Ashley spoke loud enough for Wexford to hear as well. The abnormal got up and hurried to call some of the Sanctuary's men, readying them for a fight with a dangerous abnormal. "What's their ETA?"

"Eh… About ten minutes," Henry replied quickly.

"Alright. Guide us there," She said as she turned towards Wexford and the people he gathered. "Magnus and Zimmerman might be fighting a dangerous abnormal. Follow me," was all the briefing she could give them without exposing too much. She knew that despite her mother's trust in every one of the Sanctuary, she had her own suspicions, too, and always preferred getting the information before deciding what she would reveal. "So where are we going?" She returned to Henry.

"Turn left right after the exit," He started, guiding them to one of the less busy parts of New York City. A few minutes later, after they have gone through a labyrinth made of alleys and small streets, he finally said what she wanted to hear. "They should be right in front of you."

And indeed, the dark car Helen ordered was there, slowing down as the people inside noticed Ashley and the armed soldiers. It stopped a few meters from the young woman and as soon as it stopped Helen came out of it, looking slightly angry.

"Ashley? What on earth is that supposed to mean?" She asked, stepping towards her daughter.

Releasing the others with a sharp nod, Helen stepped away, clearly expecting Ashley to follow her. And indeed, young Ms. Magnus walked after her and only stopped by the car to see the man strained inside. Then, as relief washed inside her, she hurried towards Helen, who was standing a few meters from the car, in a spot from which she could see everything going on inside.

"Word on the street is this man is dangerous." Ashley spoke quietly. Her mother's face turned slightly darker. "He's been involved in most of the fights in New Jersey in the past few weeks. The others hate him. And they fear him, too."

"He's using both his Empath and his Vampire gifts," Helen said quietly. Ashley nodded. "Did you find out what the Vampire blood did to him?" She asked.

Ashley shook her head. "No. Either the people who fight him don't remember anything, or they're dead. There's still no way to tell."

Helen looked at her seriously before nodding briefly. "Alright. Let's get him to the Sanctuary," She said as they started walking back to the car. "Ashley, you sit next to Will. I trust you brought more than one gun?" Ashley handed her one silently. "Good. Let's go."

They drove back to the Sanctuary silently, not noticing the bike following them all the way.

"You know that really big house in the edge of Manhattan? The one no one's allowed to go into?"

"What about it?"

House smiled to himself as he drove inside, sneaking in when nobody noticed him. "Well, I'm in now," He replied quietly, following the gurney on which Sung lay.

"Why would you go there?" Wilson put down the plate he was holding on the coffee table in his living room. He then sat down, turning the TV on.

"That's where they took my patient," House replied, hurrying up towards the third floor, where they heard they were going to put Sung. "Whoever this Magnus is, she sure has some weird connections."

"What's in there?" He asked curiously, ignoring the TV. A lot of his best friend's actions were silly and dangerous, but they were far more interesting than anything shown on TV these days. "Is that some sort of a hospital?"

"No. Who thought it was?"

"Chase."

"Tell him he owes me fifty bucks." Wilson chuckled. Looking around him, House sneaked into the infirmary and was slightly surprised to find out it was empty. "That's weird. Don't normal people put patients in infirmaries?"

"If by 'normal' you mean every person who won't take a patient out of a hospital for an almost certain death, then yes, they do."

"Well, he's not here," House replied quietly as he sneaked out and started checking other rooms in the long corridor. "So either they've got more than one infirmary," he continued, closing the door of a small room filled with medical equipment, "or they've taken him somewhere else."

"Whatever the truth is, there's no way you can search the entire place now," Wilson stated. "Considering how big that place is, it can take you days."

"I don't have days," House replied, walking towards the elevator in the end of the corridor. "I have a dying patient who's – for some idiot reasons – been moved out of PPTH. I need to find him before she kills him."

"Why do you care so much about that patient?" Wilson asked as he suddenly realized House was actually going after the patient in order to save him.

"Because I care about everything that moves… No, wait, that's you," House retorted, as cynical as ever.

As usual, his response wasn't enough for Wilson. "You're avoiding it. Meaning you really care about this patient. Why would you care about a patient you haven't even met?" He asked, thinking out loud.

"Because his symptoms are interesting. And that woman's interest in him is interesting," House cut his friend's thoughts off. "She thinks she knows what he's got, but she clearly has no clue, or she'd have kept him in PPTH. I'd say there's something genetically messed up with him because of some blood anomalies, and so she probably knows part of his problem, but she won't tell the best doctors in the world. Something's not right."

"Sounds reasonable. Now all you need to do is find out if you're right and what's wrong."

"What, you don't believe me?" House entered the elevator and pressed one of the buttons for the lower levels, not caring which floor it will take him to.

"Oh, I believe you. I'm just not sure a judge will," He replied. "You know, when they'll catch you there."

"So you can bail me out, like you always do," House said lightly. Hearing footsteps ahead of him, he lowered his voice and quickly sneaked into a room nearby. To his surprise, he found himself in a big room filled with vegetation. There seemed to be saliva all over the plants, as if someone was moving or spitting on them. "And she says he won't die," he murmured to himself, examining the room.

"What?"

"Gotta go," He murmured before shutting down the phone. On the other side of the line Wilson stared at the phone for a moment before shaking his head slightly and turning back to the TV. Despite their years' friendship, Gregory House was one of those things he knew he would never understand.

Suddenly realizing his friend may have gotten into trouble, Wilson sighed and turned on the TV. He quickly took a couple of bites from the hamburger and then got up. He put his shoes and jacket on and then left his apartment. A moment later he was already on his way to Cuddy's house, hoping she could get House out of this.

"He did what?" was the first reaction he got from her as he told her what happened. "Why would he do that?" She continued, letting him in the house.

"He… wants to save his patient," Wilson shrugged, "God knows why. So he followed Doctor Magnus, and I think… they may have found him." He sat down on one of the couches in the living room. Looking at him for a moment, Cuddy followed and sat in front of him.

"Well, here's another symptom of House's craziness," she muttered. Then, as Wilson drank the coffee she brought him, she took her cellphone and quickly called the hospital's lawyer. "It's House," She said, clearly used to saying these words to him. "Doctor Wilson thinks he might be in trouble." Moving the phone away from her, she turned to Wilson. "He hopes he can help," she said quietly. Wilson nodded briefly, telling her he understands, and then sighed quietly. House and his habits will one day kill him.

Helen left the Sanctuary's O.R, taking her gloves off as she turned towards the three standing outside. Ashley was sitting on a table, which got her a slightly reproving glance from her mother, Will was standing next to her, slightly leaning against the table as well, and Wexford was sitting a few meters from them. He got up as soon as he noticed her and hurried to join the group.

"He's sedated for now," Helen said quietly. "I will give him another dose in six hours. That should do. Looking at his organs, I do not believe anything was hurt too severely, but the drugs they gave him at the hospital damaged his kidneys. I might be able to fix it, but we have to go home for that," She added, seeing the concerned looks on the three's faces.

Noticing a slightly rushing look Helen gave him, Terrence turned to leave. "I'll schedule you a flight for tomorrow morning."

"Actually," Helen's voice stopped him, "I'd appreciate it if you'd manage to schedule it for tonight."

He nodded. "I'll try my best," was all he said before leaving.

"What's going on?" Will and Ashley spoke together immediately after Terrence was gone.

Despite the humor in the situation, Helen didn't smile. "Mr. Sung has acute meningitis, that's on top of the kidneys failure I mentioned. I have a few drugs that might help an Empath in his situation, but in order for him to live we must return to out Sanctuary as soon as possible. Before all of us will join him, too."

"It's not meningitis." House's quiet voice made them all turn around. Will stared at him while Ashley jumped up, ready to fight. Helen stepped forward, a cold expression on her face. "And we didn't cause the kidney failure. Whatever Empath is," his voice was slightly sarcastic, but as he continued it returned to the low, serious tone he used before, "He has a brain tumor, one that he will die from if it won't be treated now."

"Doctor House," Helen's voice was cold, "I do not appreciate breaking into my house. How did you get here?"

"That's what you care about? How I got here?" He paused. "Well, I thought you might wanna know how to cure the guys, but sure, let's sit down for a coffee and I'll tell you everything." The sarcasm in his voice was clear from miles away.

"Ashley-" Helen started.

House cut her off, ignoring the armed young woman who came to get him. "You wanna kill that guy? Fine. But he has a tumor that presses down on different areas of his brain. It causes the arrhythmia and the depression. His kidneys could have failed for something we did, but it might have happened because the tumor is growing or because of a completely different disease. And you won't know which is true, not until you let us test him. Don't make this stupid decision." He finished as an armed man broke into the room and grabbed him.

"Thank you, Doctor House, but I do not need your help." Turning to the man, she said, "Take him out of here. And search for other people, too. From what I know, he never comes alone."

They watched as House walked away, the man behind him. Only after they were gone they allowed themselves to continue their conversation. Only this time House's words echoed in all minds.

"Is he right?" Will asked, unsure what to believe.

Helen shook her head, still looking at the place where he stood. "No," She said, turning to Will. "The drugs they gave him damaged the kidneys. The tumor they saw was simply the cause of his abnormality. It is not a tumor, not even close. Meningitis fits his symptoms." Turning back to the room, she continued. "I will prepare him for moving. You make sure that we are ready and that the plane goes as soon as possible."

A couple of hours later, House was back in his apartment. He wasn't surprised to see both Wilson and Cuddy inside, both looking worried. As soon as he walked in, leaning heavily on his cane and looking tired, they started asking questions, ignoring his obvious need for peace and quiet. He wanted to be alone, wanted to think. But they refused to let him, not until he answers their questions.

"What the hell where you doing?" Cuddy's voice was dangerously high. "They could have sewed you! You're lucky they didn't! You could have lost your medical license because of that stupid idea!"

"House, this was… crazy! What did you think it'll give you?" Wilson's voice was lower and calmer, even though not by much. He was clearly worried, yet in his eyes House could see curiosity, too. He wanted to know what he found out.

Ignoring both of them, he picked up his phone and quickly called Foreman. "Hi. Get back to Princeton," He said, not letting the other man talk, "And finish the blood work. Search for infections. Also, did we get CSF?"

"Just before Doctor Magnus took him."

"Good. Search for Meningitis. She seems to think that's what he's got. Get the team, search for whatever you can think of. Let me know the answers in the morning."

"House-"

He hung up, finally turning to Wilson and Cuddy. "It's late and I'm tired. Breaking into places isn't as easy and… not-tiring as it sounds. Goodnight." He turned to his bedroom, leaving the two of them behind, staring at him in surprise. As he got into his bed he could hear them talking quietly and then heard the door opening and closing. "Wilson!" He called, assuming they refused to leave him alone.

And indeed they did. "Yeah?" Wilson's voice replied.

"There's an extra blanket in one of the drawers."

He heard voices of movement and drawers opening. A couple of minutes later Wilson was already ready on the couch in the living room. "Thanks." He said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

As usual, most of Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital was already closed. The lights were out. Most doctors were away, either in their houses or enjoying their night off outside with friends and family. However, not all doctors off night duty were away. To be more specific, four doctors weren't away, but were sitting in the lab, running tests.

"I got some sandwiches," Kutner entered the lab, holding a bunch of sandwiches. "I thought we might need those."

"Thanks." Still looking through the microscope, Thirteen took one of the sandwiches. Both Taub and Foreman quickly did the same, starting to eat as they continued running the tests House requested. "Negative for Epstein-Barr," She said, crossing out the disease from the page she was holding. "We could be here all night," she added, slightly irritated.

"Trust me, it won't be the last time," Foreman assured them.

"That's great." Taub looked up at them. "Negative for Meningitis."

"She's wrong, then. He was right," Thirteen seemed slightly surprised. But after Magnus' assurances that she knows exactly what's wrong with the patients, it was easy to be surprised to find out she was wrong. "Someone should call her and let her know."

"How? We don't have her number," Taub reminded her.

"We can try asking House," Kutner suggested. "He broke into her house; he probably knows how to contact her."

"It's worth a shot," Foreman agreed. "You can cross out parasites. He may have been eating rotten food, but there's no sign of parasites from any kind."

"What do we-?"

"There's something wrong with his immune system," Kutner said, handing Foreman, who was standing next to him, the test results. "He's barely got half of his immune system."

"How come we didn't notice it?" Taub asked.

"Good question." Foreman's voice was quiet and thoughtful. "We need to test for diseases that hurt the immune system." Passing on the page, he turned to take a blood sample, only to find out they have nothing left.

Noticing that as well, Taub, Kutner and Thirteen quickly got up. "We tested for whatever we could think of until we had no blood left. Guess that means we can go home?" Taub suggested, exchanging looks with the other two.

"Sounds good to me." Thirteen agreed quickly.

"Same here." Kutner nodded.

Foreman opened his mouth to tell them for House it won't be enough, but before he could speak, the three of them were gone, each turning to his own home. He sighed, then turned the machines and lights off, and left the hospital as well.