CHAPTER FIVE
Wilson cut into his steak and took a bite, "Mmm," he said. He finished chewing and swallowed, "I've really missed steak."
"Obviously, this is the second day in a row you've brought it," House replied.
"Are you complaining?"
"Not hardly; beats the heck out of chicken strips and fake potatoes or mystery meat," House said with his mouth full. He reached for the remote and flipped the channel.
"Hey! I was watching that."
"Not anymore," House said as he changed the channel to Ice Road Truckers.
Wilson rolled his eyes and settled in to watch as he finished his steak. "These people are insane," he said as he watched a truck barrel down the ice sideways.
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"Susan!"
Susan quickly set her laptop on the coffee table and rushed into the bedroom. David and Phillip were in the bathroom. Phillip was on the floor convulsing. Susan knelt down, "Don't hold him; just keep him from hurting himself." David sat on the floor near Phillip's head to keep him from slamming it into the bathtub. Phillip kicked out repeatedly slamming his feet into Susan's thighs as she knelt on the floor. She shifted over and placed her hand gently on his leg, "What happened?"
"He was sick again and then just as he finished, he passed out. I barely caught him before he hit the floor and then he started convulsing."
Phillip's fit started slowing down until it finally stopped. His eyes were open, but he wasn't seeing anything, "Phillip?" Susan asked. He didn't answer. "Phillip?" this time it was David. Phillip rolled his eyes toward his dad and tried to talk. It wasn't coherent.
Susan pulled out her phone and punched a number, "This isn't a stomach bug."
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The driver careened off the side of the ice road right over the top of a crack that had started to develop in the ice, the music cued and the television went to commercial, "Why do they always do that?" Wilson said to nobody in particular.
"To give you time to get up and get us another beer," House said.
Wilson looked over at House, "Right," he said and then got up and headed to the kitchen. House's phone rang. "Don't recognize that ring tone." Wilson called from the kitchen. "Who is it?"
"Susan," House answered as he opened the phone to answer it. "House," He listened and closed the phone. "Take me to the hospital."
Wilson set the beers down on the coffee table and grabbed his keys. House got up and followed Wilson out the door.
House and Wilson arrived in the ER before Susan got there with David and Phillip. When they finally came through the door, David was cradling Phillip in his arms as well as he could for his size. An orderly ran over with a gurney and David lay Phillip down. The orderly pushed the gurney into position in the ER bypassing other patients waiting in the ER waiting room. Two nurses moved Susan and David out of the way while they started checking vitals and announcing the stats out loud. House stood back and listened to the numbers while he observed. Finally the nurses finished their immediate task and an aid came over to dress Phillip in a gown. When David carried him in, he'd just been wrapped in a blanket and wearing only his t-shirt and underwear as he had soiled his pajama bottoms. If he'd been aware of what was going on, he'd have been very embarrassed. Susan stood quietly watching and absorbing everything she could, David paced back and forth. House turned toward David, "Would you sit down? You're getting annoying."
Susan put her hand on David's arm, "Let's sit down over here and let them do their work." Susan guided him over to the side and sat down next to him holding his hand.
House moved into position and started his exam. After several moments he said, "Call Park and Adams and get him moved into pediatric ICU."
"What's wrong with him?" David asked standing up and moving toward House.
"Don't know," House said as he turned and left.
"What does he mean he doesn't know?" David stopped and turned to look at Susan.
"Just exactly what he said," Susan said as she stood up and walked to her husband. "I know it's hard, but try to put your mind at ease, if anybody can figure out what is wrong with him, it's Greg."
The staff prepared to move Phillip to ICU in the pediatric department and soon they were headed out of ER. David and Susan started to follow when they were stopped at the front desk, "Susan, we're going to need you or your husband to go to admitting and fill out some paperwork. Susan looked at David, "He's in good hands, let's go take care of that while they're getting him settled." David watched the staff continue down the hall with his son. He felt so helpless. He looked at Susan with tears in his eyes. Susan picked up his hand and held it, "Come on. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can be with him. He's in good hands," she repeated.
"Why don't you take care of that and I'll go with them?" David asked.
"I can't David; I'm sorry" Susan said. "I don't have any parental rights and I don't know all the answers; not yet anyway."
David looked down the hall again as the gurney entered the elevator and the door shut behind them. He looked at Susan, "Ok." Susan led him to admitting where they went through the arduous process of providing insurance and basic medical history. Susan learned that Phillip didn't have any medical allergies that they knew of and nothing extraordinary from his medical past. He'd had chicken pox when he was small and all of his vaccinations were current. He had the typical illnesses when he was small: ear infections, respiratory infections, one slight case of pneumonia that was caught early and didn't even require hospitalization. Finally they were finished with all the questions and the clerk printed off the documents for David to sign. "I'm sorry," David said to Susan. "I just never thought of all this when we got married. We need to get you listed as his legal guardian."
"Don't worry about it," Susan said. "It hasn't been that long and we have other things to think about right now. We'll take care of all that when this is over."
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Adams and Park were examining the patient when David and Susan walked in. "Where's House?" David asked. Neither doctor was able to answer his question. "How can he see to my son, if he's not here?"
"That's not the way he works David," Susan said. "Don't worry; he's fully aware of what is going on."
"He can't be fully aware if he isn't here!"
"Trust me," Susan said. "He knows."
David moved to Phillip's side and grabbed his hand, "Phillip?" Phillip opened his eyes and looked toward his father. "It's going to be OK."
"Look at me now Phillip," Park said. She shined a light in his eyes. "Pupils normal and equally reactive," she said. Having completed that assessment, she moved on to his arms and legs. "Phillip, can you feel this?" Phillip didn't answer.
"Phillip," David said. "Answer the question. Can you feel what she is doing?"
Phillip looked at his dad and back at Dr. Park, "No." He closed his eyes.
"Phillip, squeeze my hand," Dr. Park said. Phillip didn't respond.
"Phillip, squeeze her hand," David repeated. Phillip opened his eyes and looked at Dr. Park, but didn't respond.
Adams held out a pencil, "Phillip reach for the pencil with your left hand." Phillip put his hand out and grabbed the pencil. "Now, look at me and reach out and hold your dad's hand." Nothing. "Ok, look at your hand and reach out and hold your dad's hand." Phillip found his dad's hand. Dr. Park repeated a similar test with his left leg and foot. "Loss of proprioception on his left side."
"Whatever it is, it's neurological," Park said. Park and Adams left the room to report to House leaving Susan and David alone with Phillip.
Phillip looked at his dad and Susan. When his eyes fell on Susan, he started to speak. He was hard to understand but Susan caught what he was trying to say, "No Phillip, that's not true."
David looked at Susan, "What did he say?" Susan just shook her head not wanting to repeat the comment.
"He said that she poisoned him," House said as he entered the room. "You're his dad, can't you understand him?"
"Greg please; that's not helping," Susan said.
"No kid. Susan hasn't poisoned you," House said.
"Do you know what it is?" David asked.
"I know what it's not and it's not poison," House answered. House pulled a couple of tubes out of his pocket along with a phlebotomy kit. He looked at Susan, "you want to do this?"
Susan shook her head, "He already thinks I poisoned him, I'm not going to help the situation by sticking a needle in his arm. You do it."
"Too bad for you kid, she's a lot better at it than I am," House said. After he pulled the blood, he wrote an order on the chart. "How much of that cream has he had?"
"Just the first dose," Susan said.
House wrote something else on the chart and then left the room, stopping by the nurse's station to say something as he headed down the hall. The nurse came into the room and added some medication to the IV bag.
"What is that?" David asked.
"Something for the nausea," she answered. She gave Phillip a pat on the arm, "the medicine will start working in just a minute." The nurse left and Susan started to walk out of the room as well.
"Where are you going?" David asked.
"Thought I'd go down to the lab to see what House ordered and get it started," Susan said.
"Can't your people do it? I'd rather you stay here," David said.
"Sure they can, but I wasn't sure Phillip wanted me around. He might be more comfortable with me out of the room," Susan said looking at Phillip who was averting his eyes.
David looked at Phillip, "Son, I wish I understood where this mistrust was coming from. Susan would never do anything to hurt you. Do you want her to stay or to go?"
Phillip looked at his dad, "go," he said.
Susan nodded and walked out of the room. She made her way down to her office and sat in her chair at her desk. As hard as she tried, it was impossible for her eyes not to fill with tears although she managed to keep them from running down her face. The light flipped on, "No reason to be sitting in the dark," House said.
"Don't need the light on either," Susan said. "I'm not trying to see anything."
"Just hiding," he answered.
"If I was hiding, I wouldn't have come to my office," Susan said. "I'm just acquiescing to my son's wishes."
"Apparently, he's not your son," House said.
"Well, he doesn't seem to want me to be anyway," Susan conceded with a sigh. "Do you know what's wrong with him?"
"Not yet, the blood work will help but I'm also ordering a CT, an LP and a full tox screen."
"Just in case I am poisoning him?" Susan asked with some hostility in her voice.
"Just in case he's poisoned himself," House said. "Do you have any reason to believe he's doing drugs?"
Susan shook her head, "No, not drugs. But he's been pretty curt with me ever since we got married. I really don't know where this is coming from; we got along really well before. Now he thinks I made him sick because he got sick right after he ate lunch."
House sat for a moment, "How long after?"
"I don't know for sure, but definitely within an hour. He was in his first class after lunch when David was called to pick him up. Greg, all three of us had chicken salad sandwiches. I made it fresh this morning and neither David nor I have gotten sick. It's not food poisoning," Susan said.
"No, it's not. But that doesn't mean you didn't get him sick. Is there any left?"
"Yes," Susan answered.
"Go home and bring it here – and while you're at it, bring me something to eat too," House said.
Susan nodded and got up. She went to Phillip's room and peaked in the door. Phillip was asleep and David was sitting by his side holding his hand. When he saw her, he stood up and came over to her, "Susan, I don't know what to say, I'm so sorry."
"Don't worry about that now, we'll deal with it later. I'm headed home; Greg wants me to bring the left-over chicken salad to him in my old lab."
"What's he testing it for?"
"I'm not sure," Susan said. "Does he have any food allergies?"
"Not that we've ever discovered," he answered.
"Well anyway, that's where I'm going. Are you planning on sleeping here all night?" Susan asked.
"I don't want to leave him," David said.
"Then I'll pick you up a change of clothes for tomorrow."
David stepped out in the hall with Susan and walked her to the elevator, "Susan, I…"
Susan looked up at him and saw the emotion. She put her hand on his cheek, "It's OK. We'll work through this together. I love you and I love Phillip too."
David pulled her close and kissed her. The elevator opened and Susan stepped inside, "I'll be back in about an hour."
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Susan pulled up in front of the house and went inside. First she went to their bedroom and pulled out David's overnight bag and pulled out clothes for the next day. She grabbed his travel pack from under the sink in the bathroom and threw in his toothbrush, shaver and deodorant as well as some shampoo he'd swiped from the last hotel he'd visited. That complete, she went to the kitchen. She pulled out the plastic container she had put the leftover chicken salad in and set it on the table, then set about fixing something for Greg and David to eat. She searched her cabinet and noticed she had everything she needed for spaghetti. It wasn't fancy, but it was quick and easy. She fried up the hamburger while the spaghetti was boiling. The hamburger finished about the time the spaghetti was softened. She pulled a jar of sauce from her pantry to add to the mixture. Normally, she would have fixed homemade sauce, but there really wasn't time and this would do in a pinch. Susan packed it up in an insulated casserole dish, grabbed the overnight bag and the chicken salad and headed to the hospital.
Once at the hospital, Susan dropped by the cafeteria to get drinks and the rest of what they would need for dinner and then headed to Greg's office. He wasn't in there, so she left the food on his desk and then headed to pediatrics. "David?" she said when she got to the door.
"Come on in," he said.
"He's still asleep," she observed. David nodded. She set the overnight bag on the floor next to the chair David was sitting on. "I brought you something to eat; it's in Greg's office."
"I'm not hungry," he said.
"Actually, you probably are, you just don't realize it. You haven't had anything since lunch and it's almost midnight. Please, go eat your dinner. I'll sit with him until you get back," Susan said. David looked at Phillip and all the tubing and equipment hooked up to his son.
"How are you staying so calm with all this?" David asked. "I mean, I know he's not your biological son, but I know you love him and with him saying these things... It has to hurt."
"Of course it does," Susan admitted, "but I know that deep down he knows better. If he was really afraid, he wouldn't have let me take him home from school or take care of him until you got home. Let's just get him well." Susan looked over at the monitors and watched Phillip as he slept, "He's going to be asleep for a while. He's exhausted and with the medication Greg's giving him, he'll probably sleep for several more hours. It'll be OK for you to take a break." David nodded and then got up and left the room. Susan sat down in the chair that David had just vacated. "Ok kiddo, it's just you and me for a while." She sat watching him breathe as he slept. Facially, he looked so much like David, it was uncanny. She'd seen photos of his mother; she was very pretty. Phillip had her eyes and hair color, but the rest was all David. It was sad that Phillip was too young when she died to remember her. Susan wondered what kind of relationship she and Phillip would have together once they got through this crisis. She sincerely hoped that it would improve. She'd been denied more children after Laura and she always wanted a son too. She really wanted her and Phillip to develop a close relationship. Where did this sudden attitude come from? "What on earth is going through your mind son? I love you." she said softly. She picked up his hand and held it.
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David walked in House's office and found House had already served himself and was eating, "Susan sent me down for dinner," he said. House gestured to the chair and David sat down. He picked up a plate and dished out some of the spaghetti. "What are you looking for in the chicken salad?"
"Not sure exactly, but we have to rule out everything. Tell me about his mother," House said.
"She was beautiful. We were married for three years when she got pregnant…." David started.
"I don't care about the wonderful life you had together. Tell me about her."
"What do you want to know?"
"Did she have any allergies? Did she have any weird birthmarks? Did she have any siblings?"
"No to the first two, she had a sister that died when she was young," David said.
"How'd she die?"
"Marie never really knew, she said she just got real sick and then a few days later she died," David's eyes grew wide, "Do you think Phillip has the same thing? Oh God, I can't lose him," David said fearfully.
"I don't know what your son has and I don't know what she had, so there isn't any way to know if they have the same thing," House said. "Pull yourself together and tell me everything you know." Other than a very few facts like how old she was when she died and that she was older than Marie, David really wasn't able to tell House anything about Marie's sister.
"She never said anything about things they did together or her habits?" House asked.
"Marie was only five when her sister died, so she didn't really remember very much," David explained.
Park walked in the office, "LP was clear, it's not meningitis," she said. "There's also no evidence of any drugs in his system, other than the Phenergan you gave him for his nausea."
"What's the CT show?" House asked.
"Adams is taking him down now," Park said. "We should have the results in a couple of hours."
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Adams came into Phillip's room with a couple of orderlies to transport him to the CT room. Susan watched them leave with Phillip and then got up and walked to House's office. David was alone, "Where's Greg?"
"He said he was going home," David answered.
"How was he getting there? Wilson brought him to the hospital," Susan said.
"And Wilson took him home."
"He can't do anything more until he has results, so he may as well get some rest," Susan said. "You need to rest too, let's go up to Phillip's room and you can crash out on the recliner there. That way if Phillip wakes up, you'll be there."
"What about you?" David asked.
"I'll be around," Susan said. "I'm not going home either."
Susan made her way to her office after she walked David to Phillip's room and pulled up the lab's work order for Phillip. Results were coming in as the techs were working their way through the tests. So far everything she was seeing was in normal range for an adolescent male. One of his liver enzymes was a little high, but it wasn't anything to worry about. Susan smiled to herself, that particular enzyme meant that Phillip was entering puberty. It wouldn't be long and he would shoot past her and be rivaling his dad in height. His jeans were already getting high water so when he got past this illness she would take him shopping for new jeans and shoes. Her phone beeped with a text, Phillip's back in the room now.
She responded: Try to rest. I'm watching the lab results come in.
See anything unusual? He texted.
Not yet. 3 U
U2
Susan put the phone on her desk and moved the other chair closer so she could put her feet up and leaned back. She closed her eyes and tried to turn her brain off so she could rest while the rest of the results came in. It didn't work and she ended up watching the numbers populate the electronic report one at a time until each line was full.
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Susan opened the door to House's office and walked in; it was dark and quiet. She placed the lab results on his chair so he'd see them when he first walked in, not that it would do any good. Everything was normal and while that was good, it was also bad because it didn't help solve the puzzle. She'd gone by her old lab and looked at the cultures that Dr. Park had set up, nothing. She hadn't expected anything, but it didn't hurt to look. She glanced around the lab when she heard someone walk in. "What are you doing?" Dr. Foreman asked.
"You're here rather late tonight. I wanted to see the cultures from the chicken salad," she said. She went over to the chemistry analyzer and opened the lid. She could see that the monthly maintenance hadn't been done, so she started that while Dr. Foreman was standing there.
"I'm on my way out. You know that isn't your responsibility anymore. Dr. Park will take care of all that."
"So you're giving it back to him?" Susan said.
"Not really, it belongs to all the doctors who want to run their own tests, but House will choose to do that more often than the others. You know he doesn't trust the main lab."
"He trusts me," Susan said, "and now that includes the main lab. I bet he'll be using the main lab more often." She continued her work while he stood there. "Besides, just because I'm the lab director doesn't mean I can't get my hands wet from time to time."
"You're not going to be part of his team," Foreman said.
"Not officially," Susan said. "But if he needs me to run a test for him or present findings, I'm within my responsibilities as lab director to provide the support he needs to make a diagnosis. Like you said, we need him around here and I'm going to do everything I can to make him successful. If that means I run a few tests myself, then so be it."
Foreman smirked, "He's lucky to have you. Most wouldn't care."
"And most people don't know what they're missing. Despite what you and everybody else thinks, he's a good man. He just approaches life from a different angle." Susan shut the lid on the analyzer and washed her hands. She walked by the bench where she had put the lab results and walked out with Dr. Foreman following her.
In House's office she sat down in his Eams chair and thought about her conversation with Foreman. While he had told her that she would remain where she was as far as the hospital was concerned. He hadn't forbidden her from working with House either. Susan was glad about that as working with House forced her to use her brain much more than managing day to day operations of the main lab. She knew that she'd been directly responsible for helping House solve a number of cases in the past. If only she could help him solve Phillip's case. What were they missing? Susan said a silent prayer for guidance and healing and then dozed off.