Not much time had passed after his wife's departure before he sensed rather than noticed another presence in the room. Turning his head, he looked toward the door. He recognized Chase, but not the two other doctors with him. Chase came forward as Goren sat up and released his hold on Maggie's hand. "These are my colleagues, Mr. Goren: Dr. Cameron and Dr. Foreman. They'd like to hear what happened to Maggie from you."

Foreman made an excuse to leave the room, knowing that House wanted separate accounts. The man was suspicious of everyone. Cameron stepped forward and looked at Maggie. She touched the child's hand, then looked at her distraught father. "I'm Dr. Cameron. Tell me what happened to Maggie."

She was touched by the real pain in his dark eyes as he recounted the hours up to Maggie's transfer to Princeton-Plainsboro. She could hear the grief in his voice, and she felt for him, having to recount this story time and again, reliving his daughter's trauma, and his own. She touched his arm. "We'll do everything we can for her."

It wasn't real reassurance, but it was the best she could do, not knowing why the little girl had fallen ill. She saw in his eyes that he understood that she could not give him more than that. He did not want false promises and she would not offer any. She gave him a soft smile, then left the room. Foreman went right in, and Cameron looked at Chase. "I feel so bad for him. I think House is barking up the wrong tree if he thinks that man did anything to his daughter."

Chase nodded. "You know House. He thrives on barking up any and every tree he can find." He sighed.

"What's your impression of the little girl?"

"Based on the file and what he just told me, I would say something in the ocean hurt her."

"Like what? There isn't a mark on her."

She shrugged. "That I can't say, but what else could it be?"

They waited for Foreman, and when he came out of the room, his face was grim. "Let's go talk to House. I want to find out what's wrong with this kid."

Chase and Cameron looked at each other, surprised by Foreman's fervor. He was their resident pessimistic nay-sayer. Chase poked his head in the door. "We'll be back, Mr. Goren."

He had to jog to catch up to Foreman and Cameron.

Eames walked the short distance from the hospital to the motel where her son was with his grandfather. Right now, she wasn't sure what she would do without the bright little boy she was going to see. She didn't have the luxury of focusing on Maggie, and for that she was almost grateful, which made her feel guilty. She had a focus beyond her sick little girl that Bobby was not allowing himself. But she understood that. It was just the way he was. Once that mind of his grabbed hold of something, it didn't readily let it go. She had seen that single-mindedness of his many times over the years she had known him. It served him very well in the pursuit of the criminals he went after. His focus enabled him to get deep into their minds but it was his attachment to her that enabled him to come back. She also knew that his attachment to her was what was keeping him together now.

But what was keeping her together? Part of it was her own resilience and inner strength. For all his physical strength, Bobby's emotional side was very fragile, an artifact of his childhood. Her own emotions were much more stable, and she knew he drew on that stability to keep himself on an even keel. She didn't mind being his strength, for in doing so, she drew strength of her own from him.

She opened the motel room door and stepped into the room. "Mama!" Tommy squealed.

The sight of his smile shone through the darkness she had found herself trapped by. Her little shining star, complete with a ring of jelly around a mouth that reminded her very much of his father. Bobby's smile was rarely so bright, but it was his smile that graced their son's face.

"Jelly, Dad?"

"He had eggs, bacon and toast first."

Tommy took his sippy cup from the table in front of him and held it up for his mother to see. "Mik, Mama."

"Milk is very good, baby." She kissed the top of his head and looked at the jelly donut he had smashed on his plate as he ate it. "What a mess."

"Mess," he repeated, giggling.

"Yes, little man. Mess."

He tipped his head back to look at her. "Dada?"

"I'll take you to see Daddy in a little while. After a bath."

"Maga?"

"Yes, and Maggie, too."

He shoved another fistful of donut into his mouth. Eames looked at her father. "Why a jelly donut? You know what he does to them."

John smiled. "Yes. He obliterates them. I let him pick the one he wanted because he finished his breakfast."

"He will always choose a jelly donut if you give him the choice."

John studied her with an eye that knew her well. She was focusing on the donut to keep her mind away from darker thoughts. It hurt his heart to think of his little princess in a hospital bed, fighting for her life. He couldn't imagine how hard it was for her parents. Bobby would be in a fragile state right now, he knew, and Alex would have to be strong for them both. It was a heavy burden. He stepped to her side and touched her cheek, his eyes filled with sympathy and pride. He saw her resolve to be strong fade and she stepped into his arms, allowing herself the freedom to touch her emotions and cry in her father's embrace. There was no one else in the world right now she could lose herself with, and she needed him.

Logan had no trouble finding the intensive care unit. The nurse at the center station in the unit directed him to Maggie's room, and he wondered at the look she gave him. He stood in the doorway for a moment, his eyes riveted to the little body in the big bed. He felt an icy hand squeeze his heart and his eyes shifted to Goren, who hadn't yet noticed him. He stepped into the room and Goren turned to look at him. Logan made a weak attempt at a smile. "Hey, man."

Goren seemed glad to see him. "Thanks for coming, Mike. How's Tom?"

"He was looking under the bed for Maggie when I left. That was after he went looking for Alex and you."

A wave of guilt hit Goren. He shifted his eyes toward Maggie, knowing this was where he needed to be, but he missed his happy little son and couldn't blame Alex for leaving to be with him. "What did you give him for breakfast?"

"I left before he ate, but he asked for a donut."

"Alex was afraid of that. You would have given him a donut, too."

"You know me. I'm a sucker for a little please." He rested a hand on Goren's shoulder. "How are you doing, Bobby?"

"I...I don't know what to do, Mike."

Logan looked at Maggie. "She looks..." He searched for the words but they eluded him.

"She looks so small," Goren whispered.

"Yeah, she does." He touched her cheek. "She just went into the ocean?"

"That's it. She took a nap and woke up sick. I-I have no idea what made her sick, Mike, and I have no idea what to do to help her."

"You can't fix everything, you know. She's in someone else's hands now."

"I-I don't like that."

"I know you don't. But you have to trust them. What choice do you have?"

Not for the first time, he felt cornered, trapped, and he didn't like that feeling at all. "I don't know if I can do this."

"Sure you can. You've never let her down; you won't start now."

Goren turned back to his daughter. Logan walked around to the other side of the bed and sat in the chair that was over there. He didn't know what else to do.

House looked up as his three team members came into the office. "Well?"

Comparing stories, it was clear that every detail of Goren's account was exactly the same. "I don't think he's lying about what happened," Cameron said.

"Of course you don't," House replied. "You're gullible."

"We agree with her," Chase said.

"The man is sincere," Foreman agreed.

"And he's clearly distressed by what's happening to his daughter," Cameron added.

"Gullible," House repeated to her. "Any opinions about what made her sick, if Daddy didn't do it?"

"Something in the ocean made her sick. There's no other explanation," Chase insisted.

"She was fine before that," Cameron added. "It had to have been something in the water. A microorganism of some kind."

"None of you think her parents had anything to do with this?" He looked at each of them in turn as they shook their heads. "Then it's time for a real opinion."

Foreman frowned. "And what is a real opinion?" As if they didn't know...

"The only one that counts. Mine."

They watched him leave the room and turned back to the file, looking for something in her labwork or her medical history that would tell them what was wrong with the little girl. Every immunization was received on time, and her history was negative for significant illness or injury, aside from a dislocated shoulder she'd gotten eight months ago. Chase picked up the phone and dialed her pediatrician's office in New York. Cameron turned to the computer and began searching for any marine organisms that could cause such havoc with a child's system. There had to be an answer, and the three young doctors were determined to find it.

House stood outside Maggie's room, watching the two men who sat with her. They were big men, obviously distressed by what was going on with the small child on the bed between them. He stepped into the room, drawing their attention to him. His eyes shifted from one to the other. "Mr. Goren?"

The bigger of the two nodded. "I'm Goren."

"I am Dr. House." His eyes shifted to the other man. "And you must be Mrs. Goren."

Logan frowned and looked at Goren. Then he looked back at House. "My name is Logan. Detective Mike Logan. I'm a family friend."

"How nice." He turned back to Goren. "So, Mr. Goren, when are you going to tell me exactly what happened to your daughter?"

Goren frowned and glared at the doctor. "What are you talking about?"

"According to my Wunderkinder, you gave three different accounts of what happened to Maggie."

Goren got to his feet. "That's a lie."

Logan silently stepped around behind House to stand near Goren. He was already stressed to his limit, and Logan knew it would take little provocation to tip the scales and send his friend over the edge. Something told him this doctor could be the one to do it.

House shook his head. "People lie. And it's hard to keep the story straight when you tell it more than once. 'Did I say this?' So you add or subtract or change details and that tells us you're not telling the truth."

Goren's eyes narrowed. "I'm a cop. I know what it means. And I didn't change my story."

House moved to stand by the bed. "Who hurt this child?"

Goren had been accused of many things in his life, but no one had ever accused him of harming his daughter. His voice was tight. "No one hurt my daughter."

"So why is she in a coma after doing something thousands of other people do every day without falling into comas?"

"I don't know," Goren answered, moving into House's personal space. "That's your job, to find out why so she'll get better and I can take her out of here and go home. I expect you to do your job, doctor."

"And this sparkling personality would be why there is no Mrs. Goren around?"

Logan's voice refocused Goren's attention away from the maverick doctor. "His wife stepped out to check on their son."

House dismissed the explanation without comment and leveled his gaze at Goren. "So, let's hear the truth, detective. What did you do to your daughter?"

Logan should have anticipated Goren's reaction, and he kicked himself for failing to see it before it happened. One moment, Goren was staring down the doctor, the only indication of his anger the scowl on his face and a slight tremor of his hand. The next moment, House was on the floor and Logan was grabbing Goren, wrestling him backwards, falling into the bedside tray table with a crash. Two nurses came running, stopping in the doorway as House struggled to his feet, grabbing his cane and holding his jaw. He waved off the nurses. "Just a misunderstanding. Everything's fine."

They looked with suspicion from House to the two detectives on the floor. Slowly, they left the room. House turned back to the two angry men, watching as they picked themselves up from the floor. "Not bad, detective. Okay, I believe you. Your stories were consistent."

They looked at each other in confusion and Logan said, "But you said..."

"I lied," House admitted without remorse.

Goren glared at the doctor. "You baited me."

"And you took the bait--hook, line and sinker. Though I admit I wasn't quite expecting to get punched," he said as he rubbed his jaw. "But your reaction was an honest one. I believe that you didn't hurt Maggie."

He turned toward the door. "Wait," Goren called after him. "Aren't you going to look at her?"

"What for?" He shifted his eyes toward the bed. "She's cute."

He turned and left the room before Goren could recover from that. He looked at Logan, confused. Logan shrugged. "That was...different."

Goren's jaw set and he offered no other reaction, other than the clenching and unclenching of his left hand.